BALANCE – THE CLASSES

Most of these changes were designed to either elevate skills that were considered too weak to be useful, or to reduce the strength of those skills that were considered to be so strong that they were imbalanced. Also, changes to the game’s economy were putting non-summoing classes at a distinct disadvantage. The cost of maintaining summons has been raised across the board to help counter this.

Archdruid

Animistic Knowledge now gives 3 knowledge per structure (was 5), now affects all Treasure Sites (before it only affected a limited subset of them) Animistic Knowledge is now Tier 4, 350 knowledge (was Tier 3, 200 knowledge) Shamans now have Awaken Spirit ability, grants one animal +500 morale and +3 melee damage until the end of combat The three Favored X empire upgrades from the Archdruid are merged into one Favored Enemy (was Favored Giant, Favored Monster and Favored Dragon) Call Ancestral Spirit is now Tier 3, 220 Knowlegde (was Tier 5, 700 knowledge). Casting cost is now 20 (was 25) Call Beast Horde now summons 2-3 animals per turn instead of 1. For the Horde! Insect Plague now reduces city production by 65% (was 25%), maintain cost is now 15 per turn (was 20) Disjunct cost is now 50 (was 70) Poison Domain no longer affects Undead, Machines or Elementals Vengeful Vines now damages city happiness and the casters relation to the city’s race when cast during city sieges, as well as reducing the city’s population by 5% Sun Burst now reduces target city population by 1500, causes a minor city happiness penalty and a major happiness penalty with the race that owns the city. Hunter’s Finesse now gives Razor projectiles instead of Inflict Bleeding Wounds Summon Wild Animal now costs 9 mana per turn (was 6) Summon Eldritch Animal now costs 12 mana per turn (was 9) Summon Gargantuan Animal now costs 28 mana per turn (was 24) Arch Druid Henge now gives +100 population, no longer +100 mana capacity. Arch Druid Megalith now gives +100 mana capacity and +20 mana, no longer +100 population. Thorn Hedge Walls now has a maintain cost of 15 per turn (was 30) Feral Mount now lasts 3 turns when applied by Revive Instinct or Control Animal Archdruid hero upgrade Inflict Bleeding Wounds is now unlocked at level 3 (was level 9) Archdruid heroes can now learn Call Lightning at level 11, for 7 points. Archdruid heroes can now learn Regrowth at level 11, for 10 points. Dreadnaught

The Dreadnaught has had major changes to its unit lineup to discourage all Musketeer armies and encourage more of a combined arms approach. We had to demote one of the T3s to T2. We chose the Golem because we felt that gameplay wise it was the best choice, since it can be used as a melee screen for the now weaker musketeers. We understand that in terms of flavour and lore it makes no sense, but in this case the design of how the class played was considered more important.

Cannon now costs 130 gold, 20 mana (was 150 gold, 30 mana). Musketeers and Cannons must now reload between shots. Reloading takes one action point, and ends the unit’s turn. Engineer’s rapid reload will also reload a unit. Musketeers now have base defense 11 (was 10) Musketeers now have a base melee attack of 10 (was 9) Fire Musket now does 25 damage (was 30), has a chance to reduce target’s current movepoints (not max movepoints) by 50%. This chance is affected by long range and line of sight penalties. Fire Cannon now does 30 damage (was 25). More Dakka, Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Produce Golem is now Tier 3, 240 knowledge (was Tier 4, 400 knowledge) Golem is now Tier 2, stats and price have been adjusted to match Engineer now has the Maintenance ability, it will heal all Machines in the same stack as it for 3 hitpoints per turn on the world map. Engineers can now throw flash bang grenades, a weaker version of the grenades used in the spell Engineers are now credit to team Flame Tank now has Ram (strength 16) and reinforced Summon Siege Engine now has a chance to summon a Cannon or Flame Tank, as well as a small chance of summoning a Juggernaut. The spell will no longer summon a battering ram. Summon Siege Engine casting cost is 30 (was 32) Choking Fumes now damages city happiness and the caster’s relation to the city’s race when cast during city sieges Destabilized Mana Core now severely damages city happiness and the casters relation to the city’s race when cast during city sieges, as well as reducing the city’s population by 15%. This is aborted if the spell is disjuncted before it detonates (but not if the battle ends with the spell in play). Summon Spy Drone now costs 9 mana per turn (was 6) Forge Blast now reduces target city population by 500, causes a minor city happiness penalty and a major happiness penalty with the race that owns the city Forge Blast can now only be cast on cities Dragon Oil now has a maintain cost of 15 per turn (was 30) The Great Mobilization now correctly grants all machines +2 damage, rather than just +2 melee damage. The Great Mobilization now grants +8 move points to Musketeers and Engineers. This bonus will not stack with Trail Running on Engineers. Dampening Field is now tier 5, 700 knowledge (was tier 6, 1200 knowledge). Casting cost is now 15 mana (was 20 mana) Reduced the chance of Overload stunning the target by 5% Rogue

Rogues now have a new skill called “Dark Pact” which is unlocked by researching Produce Shadow Stalker. Researching this skill buffs all Bards, Succubi, Assassins and Shadow Stalkers to help the Rogue in the late game. Lesser Shadow Stalkers will now only evolve once Produce Shadow Stalker has been researched Age Of Deception now only applies its Empire Happiness penalty to players the caster is at war with. Urban Cover is now Tier 4 (was tier 3), research cost has not been changed Summon Crow now costs 9 mana per turn (was 6) Assassins now have Undead Slayer Rogue Heroes can now learn Undead Slayer at level 1 for 2 skill points Corrupted Killers is now Tier 3, 200 knowledge (was Tier 2, 120 knowledge) Courtesan Ambassadors now give +150 bonus to independent city relations (was 300) Rogue Heroes can now get Free Movement as an upgrade at level 5 Human Assassin now costs 100 gold, 20 mana (was 90 gold, 20 mana) The Shrouded Altar (max tier rogue class upgrade) now gives +1 medal to irregulars as well as elementals Rogue heroes can now learn Total Awareness at level 11, for 10 points. Sorceror

Magical Structures now gives 3 mana per structure (was 5), now affects all Treasure Sites (before it only affected a limited subset of them) Orc and Goblin Apprentice now have Bane Fire instead of Fairy Fire. Base cost of Apprentices now 95 gold and 20 mana (was 90 gold, 25 mana) Sorceror Master Illusionist upgrade now requires a hero to be at level 11 (was level 7) Chaos Rift now damages city happiness and the caster’s relation to the city’s race when cast during city sieges Summon Wisp now costs 9 mana per turn (was 6) Summon Node Serpent now costs 22 mana per turn (was 18) Summon Fantastic Creature now costs 16 mana per turn (was 12) Summon Phantasm Warrior now costs 12 mana per turn (was 12) Sorcerer Mana Vault now gives +200 mana capacity (was +100). Sorcerer Wizard’s Academy now also gives summoned creatures in the domain a medal. Lightning Storm now reduces target city population by 1500, causes a minor city happiness penalty and a major happiness penalty with the race that owns the city Dome of Protection now protects stacks stood in the city as well as the city itself from magic. Player can now enchant their own cities through the Dome Of Protection. Chaos Rift now expires after running for 4 rounds Enchanted Walls now has a maintain cost of 15 per turn (was 30) Apprentices now have Floating on gold (was Invisibility) The Dragon Slayer Party hero upgrade now also gives Draconian Slayer, costs 3 points instead of 4