Not technically a bug, I suspect, but it does bug me. If you're still under the protection of the Dark Aura, then you can't attack anyone in the arena. I have no idea how the DA applies to being attacked, but I expect it would apply as well. (If you also can't be attacked, that makes it annoying for anyone under it who decides to just sit on the well forever as they can't be killed off of it.)

Anyway, this makes it very difficult for those who've yet to forgo the aura to get any combat experience in the arena, or compete for the coveted income. If at all possible, could the restriction on attacking be lifted whilst in the arena? Seems it'd be possible if casualties and usage of items can be reduced in there.

Noted.

Okay, so from what I can gather from combat chat log and talking to someone (who unfortunately has ESL, so it's kinda hard to figure out what he was answering) in the arena, even when attacked first units under the dark aura can't even counter-attack. This makes fighting in the arena pretty much impossible for anyone still under the DA (not to mention that it's a nightmare to combat archers), and if it's indicative of outside of the arena, this means that anyone new to the game (or still trying to reap the benefits of the improved economy) are absolutely at the mercy of everyone around them.

Personally, I think that you should be able to attack (not just counter-attack) any player or hero that has attacked you, at least within the past day or something. This still restricts the possibility to attack anyone, but makes it so that you can actually fight back against bottom-feeding aggressors. (Or just jerks that don't like that you spawned on their continent).