New Units/Abilities in Crossworlds

[Zechnophobe]

(Thread has been edited for formatting)

Units:


Orcs


Ogre Chieftan (or something). An Ogre with Reddish highlights. Might have a lot of leadership, as we can see a 26k leadership Amelie holding only 10 of them. It has the same abilities a normal Ogre has(had) but two charges on the 'Steal action points' skill, and can also use:

Strike: Throws enemy into the air dropping it into a random cell within a 3 cell radius. Target receives 70-90 Physical damage and is stunned for one turn. Available at a level of Adrenaline. Reduces Adrenaline by 10. Reload 3.

Orc Tracker. Looks like Veteran Orc, but it has two Extra Abilities:

Snare - Snares any nearby enemy of level 1-4. Target cannot move for 2 turns. Available at a level of Adrenaline. Decreases Adrenaline by 10.

Summoning Spell - Summons animals, more and better ones based on amount of adrenaline. Has 1 charge.


Goblin Shaman . Similar in look to the normal goblin (Black hat) but with red highlights. It has the Web of Life ability:

Web of Life: Selects a detachment of Goblins, which will absorb 50% of all damage recieved by the Shaman Troop. Lasts 3 turns. Available at a level of Adrenaline. Decreases Adrenaline by 5! 1 Charge

Training: Requires level 3 adrenaline, turns nearby normal goblins into goblin Shamans (5 to 1 ratio)

Sacrifice??: Kills one of the shamans, but does a lot of damage to a target stack.

Blood Shaman. Similar in look to the normal shaman, but with red highlights.

"Spirit Rage". It does 10-18 Astral damage (At level 1, whatever that means). If it kills the stack it leaves an 'eviln' that does area damage if it is attacked. Available at a level of Adrenaline. Reduces Adrenaline by 5. Reload 3.

Blood Shamans also START with 10 adrenaline in each combat, and gain more whenever any other unit gains adrenaline.

Neutral

Witch Hunter:

Level 3
Race Neutral
Leadership: 120 (!)
Attack 20
Defense 14
Initiative 5
Speed 3
Crit 15%
Damage 5-8 (Physical)
Health 110

He has three talents:

Magic Shackles: Prevents target unit from using special abilities, lasts 2 turns, reload three, does NOT end turn.

Anti Mage effect??: Causes a 'caster' style unit to take damage whenever it uses an ability or attacks.

Magical Aid: Grants random beneficial spell (cast at level 2) to Witch Hunter. I saw haste, battle cry, hellfire, Holy Anger as possible options. Does not end turn, reload 2

Mage Hunter: 50% magic resistance, does 150% damage to casters.


Persistence of Mind: Gives unit immunity to mind effecting spells (No Fear on here!).



Assassins

Interesting new ability "Find Weakness" lets them do 5% more damage to stacks they kill with a crit or backstab... that persists between fights! It resets if you ever lose all your assassin's, or otherwise don't have any in your army (not sure if reserves counts).

Human

Rune Mage. It is the Red Archmage model that is seen in the game in rare places. 2000 Leadership, 15k cost to buy. His special powers grow stronger based on how many runes you have stockpiled, one ability for each rune type.

Fire Bolt: Does some fire damage, might have been in an area (More damage for might runes)

Resurrection: 100 Health per Rune Mage, +7% for each mind rune you have saved up.

Illusion: Creates a clone of a randomly selected level 1-3 Squad with a total of 550 Leadership. If there are no such creatures, then Heavenly Guardians will be summoned instead. +10% of talent determined by number of magic runes. +5% for each magic rune. Reload 5

Other Humans

Favorite Enemy: A very odd ability indeed. Each type of human unit with this will have one 'favorite' enemy the entire game. The first time they are attacked, that enemy gets set, for the rest of the game. Don't waste it on useless stuff like peasants and devilfish!

Undead


Pirate Ghost
Level 3
Race Undead
Leadership 50
Attack 12
Defense 15
Initiative 4
Speed 3
Crit 15%
Damage 5-8 (Magical!)
Health 30

Treasure Hunter: If there are no chests on battlefield at start of fight, he digs one up. (Edit, despite description, will get chests even if there already are some)
Avarice: Takes 5% of gold from battle (Meaning you get LESS money with him on most fights!)
Marine: Bonus Morale on the High Seas
Vulnerable: -30% magic and fire resistance
Vindictive: Does 50% (maybe 100%) more damage to pirates, and guardsmen/swordsmen. Don't know if that includes other pirate ghosts.
Undead: Racial trait
Phantom: 50% resistance to physical damage, same as ghosts and cursed ghosts.

Skeleton Warrior

Now have two abilities:

Make Bone Piles: Creates three random 'bone piles' on map (These are NOT corpses, so can't be targeted by Eviln, or such effects). Uses up turn to do this.
Bone Pile Teleport: Teleport to target bone pile. Will have 1 Action Point after this is done, giving them a chance to 'run' to get to someone they want to kill.

Elf


Faun
Level 2
Race Elf
Leadership 60
Attack 16
Defense 15
Initiative 5
Speed 4
Crit 15%
Damage 1-4 (PHysical)
Health 23

Fatigue: Target stack WITHOUT ANY ACTION POINTS falls asleep for 2 turns, has leadership cap. Reload 3. (Note that the 'no action point' restriction isn't in the normal description text)
Nightmare: Deals a lot of damage to a sleeping unit, but wakes it up. Reload 2 or 3. Also FEARS the target (great anti hero effect)
Heal Plants: 2 Charges, Heals plants nearby for quite a bit.

Enchanted Projectile: Targets hit suffer -1 ATK and DEFENSE
No Melee Penalty: Because honestly, do any units in the game actually HAVE a melee penalty?
Fears Darkness:-2 Initiative in underground and at night.
Forest Spirit: +10 defense if there is a plant in the party. +2 initiative when a plant stack dies.

Dwarves

Engineer . Dwarf. 380 Leadership, does fire damage (like alchemists do poison damage). This is basically the most awesome thing to come to stupid droid armies.

It has three abilities:


Create Droids: 2 Charges, Summons a decently large stack of random droid force.
Droid Resurrection: 2 Charges, Heals a mechanical troop for a fair bit of life.
Shock Potion: 1 Charge. Does 5-20 fire damage to a creature, and blinds ALL level 3 and lower creatures adjacent to it! Extremely good.


Also has the Alchemist trait, meaning that they can use a turn to 'regenerate' potions they have run out of (sometimes getting 2 instead of one) This only works on the Shock Potion.

Alchemist

Force Potion: If there are no undead or demons on battlefield, the holy water is replaced with a force potion, that can be used to give the alchemist 2 action points.
Alchemist effect: Same as engineers.


Guard Droid

Now has a 'beam' ability: Casts level 1 helplessness on everyone in a line ahead of it three long. If the target has night sight, or is a beholder, it is blinded for two turns instead. (Very strong).

Other

Inferno Dragon: A high level chaos spell (Chaos Dragon) summons this. It deals damage when it arrives, lights things on fire nearby, and generally causes problems for people.



Spells

Ice Orb: Has the same icon as the Rage chest ability from "the Legend"

Dark Shoal: Has the same icon as the Rage chest ability from "the Legend"

Underground Blades: Has the same icon as the Rage chest ability from "the Legend"

... Most Rage chest abilities are also now represented by spells.
I also encountered a spell that was meant to go with orcs. It created a totem that gave adrenaline to your characters, and damaged enemies.




Misc
Amelie has all the exact same skills (In the mind tree at least) as she did AP.

There also seems to be more 'arena' style combats. Where you get to choose a badguy to fight from a list, and then fight him for money. Especially in the 'Arthur' campaign.

The MOST IMPORTANT THING however, for most of us, is that all these screenshots are shown in pretty much flawless English. That means that perhaps the English release will coincide with the actual release!

WOOT!

I shall update this thread with any other info we get.

UPDATED:

One screen shot clearly shows Amlie in Debir, talking to a new NPC named Captain means about trophies, etc:
http://www.gry-online.pl/S055.asp?ID=186383

One screen shot shows that you will now be told the Experience your pet dragon gets every time it uses an ability, in the combat log. Cool!

One screen shot shows Arthur in combat with Rage, but no rage ability (NO chest of rage icon or Dragon icon). SO what does he do with his rage?

Reformatted to show items better.

[N3MES1S]

One quiestion... wat is "crossworlds"??

[RYTEDR]

May I direct all of you to this ol' thread I made quite a while back, for the people who may not have seen it:

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=12416

As all of this stuff is slowly getting revealed, it's quite certain that the rest of the stuff is coming with the game as well, like the two companions and maybe those two talents for elves and ancient ents.

Quite disappointing that all the interesting unit possibilities, like the orc hunter/goblin shaman/faun/infernal dragon...they're just recolors. Oh well, I am loving all this new content!

Also, those aren't orc veterans. :P You can see in the battle log. They're "Orc Trackers". Damn, they aren't archers! Also, I'm pretty sure that the alchemist recolor are gonna be the engineers. Just a guess.

Very exciting stuff!

[travelingoz]

The 'new' Orc's "adrenaline" looks suspiciously similar to HOMM5's Tribes of The East. The Orc's there have "Blood Rage".:rolleyes:

[Zechnophobe]

I think it is going to be specific to the campaign, and 'adrenaline' will be your Rage. So no dragon or spirits, just kick ass orcs and their abilities. That's just spec though.

[rancor26]

The 'new' Orc's "adrenaline" looks suspiciously similar to HOMM5's Tribes of The East. The Orc's there have "Blood Rage".:rolleyes:

Does it matter both homm and kb are really good and i'm enjoying both of them :-P

[Metathron]

Does it matter both homm and kb are really good and i'm enjoying both of them :-P

That doesn't mean they have to be clones.

[Zechnophobe]

Added a bunch of info from Polish website. Once again, the articles were in Polish, but the screens were all in English.

[BB Shockwave]

Rune Mage sounds intriguing. I wonder whether the 2. talent will be the placement of magic runes (similar to Demon's bloody pentagram) on the battlefield, which will increase the Mage's abilities. Perhaps using 2 stacks of Rune Mages will work better.

Also, I can already predict Fauns and Beholders will be a killer combo. :)

[RYTEDR]

I'm willing to bet the Rune Mage's other two talents deal with something related to the Might and Mind runes, making it a different kind of unit for each class I.E. Firebolt doing massive damage with a high amount of might runes.

I'm pretty confident at least two of the Faun's talents involve A: Forcing the targeted troop to sleep and B: Causing nightmares to sleeping troops.

Side note: This is just a hunch but I think the Ghost-Pirates' ability "Avarice" summons an extra chest randomly on the battlefield. You can see on one of the screenshots in the battle log something along the lines of "Ghost-Pirates spot a chest on the battlefield!" or something, and also there's a chest model that you typically only see when the pet dragon digs there. Link: http://www.gry-online.pl/S055.asp?ID=186381

One thing though, I think it's a tad redundant that we're getting stone wall as a spell while the pet dragon essentially has the same spell. I hope one doesn't completely outclass the other, and hopefully they both have different tactical uses (especially since I already think stone walls are sort of underpowered).

[bladeking77]

I don't think that there will be two walls, as on the screenshot, on the spell it says "клинки земли", and that would be translated to "Earth Blades", so I think that it will actually be Zerock's "Underground Blades".
On the other note, I like that they finally put a 5th level Human Unit. :)
Can't wait to see all the new Features.

[zini4_tha_grunt]

Also, I can already predict Fauns and Beholders will be a killer combo. :)
it is more like dryad and fauns.


On the other note, I like that they finally put a 5th level Human Unit. :)
Can't wait to see all the new Features.
there are much more interesting will be revealed after the release with patches.

[zini4_tha_grunt]

On the other note, I like that they finally put a 5th level Human Unit. :)
Can't wait to see all the new Features.
there much more iteresting will be revealed after the release with patches.


PLEASE: DELETE THIS POST.

[guciomir]

I see we have 10 creatures already (all of them painted versions of old monsters).
I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but i read somewhere that we are getting 9 new monsters. What do you think does it mean? I tried to google-translate russian forum but i could not find an answer.
1. We will get 9 new monsters models and we do not know anything about any of them. Above that we will have repainted versions of old monsters, so the number of new creatures will be quite large.
2. 10 creatures from this thread are in fact 9. (for example 1 of the new goblins will replace old goblin)
3. My memory is crappy and it wasn't said anywhere that 9 is the number.

[Zechnophobe]

I'm willing to bet the Rune Mage's other two talents deal with something related to the Might and Mind runes, making it a different kind of unit for each class I.E. Firebolt doing massive damage with a high amount of might runes.

I'm pretty confident at least two of the Faun's talents involve A: Forcing the targeted troop to sleep and B: Causing nightmares to sleeping troops.

Side note: This is just a hunch but I think the Ghost-Pirates' ability "Avarice" summons an extra chest randomly on the battlefield. You can see on one of the screenshots in the battle log something along the lines of "Ghost-Pirates spot a chest on the battlefield!" or something, and also there's a chest model that you typically only see when the pet dragon digs there. Link: http://www.gry-online.pl/S055.asp?ID=186381

One thing though, I think it's a tad redundant that we're getting stone wall as a spell while the pet dragon essentially has the same spell. I hope one doesn't completely outclass the other, and hopefully they both have different tactical uses (especially since I already think stone walls are sort of underpowered).

Good eye on that Pirate Ghost ability. It looks like he can spot a chest at the beginning of each combat (since it is not an activated ability).

Also note that in that same shot everyone on the field is 'buffed' already with something, and a note in the log says demons and undead will suffer great damage. Special arena that gives all units holy anger at the start?

Also, Underground blades sounds as reasonable as Wall for that picture, so I'll change my description.

[karabaja]

check out this thread:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=12416

many "new" units are already part of the game code :)

[Minecontrol]

I know this is not a wish list thread but i would suggest as a unit...

Archlich 22500 leadership. 300 HP. Immune to magic damage, 65% phys res. 125 def, 100 att. It's strength comes from it's magic spells which regenerate. Including Antimagic Corona (magic shield for all units), Protection from Good (troops take less damage from good units), Protection from Evil, and a massive cloud damage spell that persists, doing death magic to all within, maybe even a few more specials.

Make it very rare, so that the player is rewarded if he is lucky enough to come across it and make it destroyable too (because it is clear the game becomes trivial if any super tank monster were to be introduced - the computer AI had a hard enough job killing one red dragon tank in AP).

Then maybe introduce Chronomancers, also very expensive (approx 5000 Leadership), with the ability to 'turn back time' one charge and they do astral damage and their attack temporarily slows the enemy (because the manipulate time). Instead of restricting their special turn back time based on leadership - instead have it so that if you have 1 you can only use it on lvl 1's, 2 for lvl2's etc.

Ah... playing around with the mechanics of the new game sounds like great fun, i almost envy the designers.

[megakill]

Some info on some new units:

- 4 newly redesigned and retextured orc units: Goblin Shaman, Orc Hunter, Orc Chief, and Blood Shaman, each with unique skills. All other orc units also received new abilities.
- During combat, orcish units will increase in adrenaline. This improves their combat performance, and gives orc units new abilities and skills. Now, fighting with or against the race of orcs is even more interesting than before.
- A new level-3 undead unit: The Pirate-Ghost (based on the Pirate unit) can now be found amongst the forces of the undead. Further additions to this race include new skills for the Skeleton and the Bone Dragon.
- The Rune Mage, a level-5 human unit based on the Archmage, whose powers are based on the hero's talent runes. In addition, all human units gain the Favorite Enemy ability.
- The Engineer, a level-4 Dwarf unit, based on the Alchemist. In addition, the Droid Guard receives a new skill, and the hero's "Neatness" skill now affects Droid recovery.
-The Faun, a new level-3 unit for the elven race, based on the Imp unit.
-The Witch Hunter, a new unit for the neutral races. In addition, Assassins receive a new ability: "Find Weakness".
- The Black Dragon can now plot a complex flight path, using the ability "Reign of Fire".

Enjoy

[Zechnophobe]

Some info on some new units:

- 4 newly redesigned and retextured orc units: Goblin Shaman, Orc Hunter, Orc Chief, and Blood Shaman, each with unique skills. All other orc units also received new abilities.
- During combat, orcish units will increase in adrenaline. This improves their combat performance, and gives orc units new abilities and skills. Now, fighting with or against the race of orcs is even more interesting than before.
- A new level-3 undead unit: The Pirate-Ghost (based on the Pirate unit) can now be found amongst the forces of the undead. Further additions to this race include new skills for the Skeleton and the Bone Dragon.
- The Rune Mage, a level-5 human unit based on the Archmage, whose powers are based on the hero's talent runes. In addition, all human units gain the Favorite Enemy ability.
- The Engineer, a level-4 Dwarf unit, based on the Alchemist. In addition, the Droid Guard receives a new skill, and the hero's "Neatness" skill now affects Droid recovery.
-The Faun, a new level-3 unit for the elven race, based on the Imp unit.
-The Witch Hunter, a new unit for the neutral races. In addition, Assassins receive a new ability: "Find Weakness".
- The Black Dragon can now plot a complex flight path, using the ability "Reign of Fire".

Enjoy

Zoiks! Do all these changes effect all campaigns? Or are some of them specific to certain ones?

Surprised to see black dragons GAINING power, but still, a lot of stuff here.

This means that we've seen a little bit of just about every new unit in this thread so far.

[JQueue]

Some info on some new units:
...
-The Witch Hunter, a new unit for the neutral races. In addition, Assassins receive a new ability: "Find Weakness".
- The Black Dragon can now plot a complex flight path, using the ability "Reign of Fire".

Enjoy

Oh hells yes, especially the assassin part. I always love assassins and assassin like characters in whatever type of game I'm playing.

And I've always wished that I could do that with black dragons.

And as far as orcs go, I've always wanted to try and run an orc comp, but there were always drawbacks. 1.) Not as bad as the lizardmen, but usually came a little too late in the game. 2.) They seem a little too simple when I simulate their strategies in my head. Hack and slash, no terribly exciting abilities to speak of. These faults may have just been addressed.

[Nike-it]

Oh hells yes, especially the assassin part. I always love assassins and assassin like characters in whatever type of game I'm playing.

And I've always wished that I could do that with black dragons.

And as far as orcs go, I've always wanted to try and run an orc comp, but there were always drawbacks. 1.) Not as bad as the lizardmen, but usually came a little too late in the game. 2.) They seem a little too simple when I simulate their strategies in my head. Hack and slash, no terribly exciting abilities to speak of. These faults may have just been addressed.

In Crossworlds you'll be able to get several new orcs already in the begining:) Now orcs march is more then real:)

[JQueue]

All of that sounds awesome... Need a time rift to september 17th of 2010 if any time travellers are looking.

[JQueue]

Hmmm... sorry for the double post but something just occurred to me about those black dragons.

Will you be able to hit the same target more than once with advanced flight pathing?

Will there be an option for advanced manual movement? Hmm..... If not it might be worth making a mod that gives you the option to do so, like with the dragons advanced reign of fire.

[Nike-it]

Hmmm... sorry for the double post but something just occurred to me about those black dragons.

Will you be able to hit the same target more than once with advanced flight pathing?

Will there be an option for advanced manual movement? Hmm..... If not it might be worth making a mod that gives you the option to do so, like with the dragons advanced reign of fire.

1) You can't do that.
2)manual movement also is not available.
The Black Dragons will be too overpowered with such features

[Zechnophobe]

Updated with a bunch more information.

Orcs (all of them!) Now have three levels of adrenaline that gives them stuff. Some of their old abilities will actually require a level of it (10) before they go into effect. Such as irrascible for furious goblins and zeroing for goblins.

I didn't get a chance to play with them though, so I don't know exactly how adrenaline is gotten.

There is also a new White Kraken boss near Rusty Anchor island that you can fight. I didn't get a chance to kill it, but it looks to be easier than the other bosses. Summons devil fish and pirate ghosts.

One interesting change to the 'march of the orcs' expansion for AP, is that bad guy armies seem a bit more random. Fought orcs and other stuff on Debir. Also, the unit options seem more varied. Assassin's, fauns, alchemists, were all getable before getting even to Verona.

A fair number of units have new special abilities.

Read my initial post for updates to specific units and racial effects!

[Zhuangzi]

Updated with a bunch more information.

Orcs (all of them!) Now have three levels of adrenaline that gives them stuff. Some of their old abilities will actually require a level of it (10) before they go into effect. Such as irrascible for furious goblins and zeroing for goblins.

I didn't get a chance to play with them though, so I don't know exactly how adrenaline is gotten.

There is also a new White Kraken boss near Rusty Anchor island that you can fight. I didn't get a chance to kill it, but it looks to be easier than the other bosses. Summons devil fish and pirate ghosts.

One interesting change to the 'march of the orcs' expansion for AP, is that bad guy armies seem a bit more random. Fought orcs and other stuff on Debir. Also, the unit options seem more varied. Assassin's, fauns, alchemists, were all getable before getting even to Verona.

A fair number of units have new special abilities.

Read my initial post for updates to specific units and racial effects!

Sounds great Zechnophobe! Someone said in another thread that the new units/spells are only in Orcs of the Marsh, not the 2 mini campaigns. Is this true? I can understand if it is, considering that Orcs of the Marsh is basically a mod for Armored Princess.

[Mandea]

Yes, it is true. March of the orcs is very interesting (or was because it longer can be played throug steam :)), you have academy, new units right form the start (high level), and I could see (requires 2000 leadership) the 5 level human unit, a mage. it is expensive 15000 but has very interesting abilities.

[JQueue]

Adrenaline Level is separate from Adrenaline. When I kill a single unit stack with an orc unit, all of my orcs gain one adrenaline level. The number on the adrenaline ability increases sort of like the Mastery ability or the offensive ability on black knights to indicate adrenaline level.

Gaining Adrenaline levels also not only give you new abilityes, but also gives you a bonus at each level (+1 speed, then +5 attack, etc.)

Adrenaline (not level) appears to be sort of a per-unit resource that you can spend to activate an ability. You gain Adrenaline (not level) by doing things in combat with your orcs.

However, I have never been able to reach level 3 Adrenaline level. Kill one unit -> level one adrenaline level. Kill another unit -> level 2 adrenaline level. Kill more units -> no more adrenaline levels. The behavior of these skills and other things I have seen in Orcs on the march seem to imply that level 3 adrenaline level needs to be somehow unlocked.

In any case, due to a lack of orc supply and a desire to use other new units, I have stopped using orcs. I may go back to them later in the game.

Currently, I am using Engineer + Guard Droid + Repair Droid. Verdict: Engineers are so hilariously awesome. They are VERY expensive leadership wise and do very little damage per leadership, but their utility is COMPLETELY unmatched. Well.. I haven't tried the rune mage yet, but i'll get to that later when I have some spare runes.

[Mandea]

I managed to get adrenaline level 3. But I don't agree with being two different things. When you get to an adrenaline level 1 for example you get some abilities but some of them cost adrenaline so if you use them you'll have a lower level of adrenaline afterwards.

[JQueue]

Really? Are you certain? How did you do it? Did you just keep killing units? Because I've wiped out whole armies without seeing it....

[JQueue]

I managed to get adrenaline level 3. But I don't agree with being two different things. When you get to an adrenaline level 1 for example you get some abilities but some of them cost adrenaline so if you use them you'll have a lower level of adrenaline afterwards.

Ohhhhhh I get how it works now. I started a new game to make sure as well. The reason I could not advance past level 2 adrenaline level is because I was never able to accumulate more than 20 Adrenaline.

Adrenaline level is a reflection of your currently accumulated adrenaline pool, perhaps 1 level per 10 adrenaline..

You must be playing a warrior, or put a talent into Rage Control. (Certain skills now additionally affect your ability to accumulate adrenaline).

Edit: Oh additionally a bug. The spirit linked companion you can summon with an Orc Tracker, if your orc tracker leadership is too low you will summon 0 units. Thats right 0. It pretty much just gets one shot by anything, including taking the damage from the spirit link.

[Mandea]

Yes, I started with a warrior.

[BB Shockwave]

Currently, I am using Engineer + Guard Droid + Repair Droid. Verdict: Engineers are so hilariously awesome. They are VERY expensive leadership wise and do very little damage per leadership, but their utility is COMPLETELY unmatched. Well.. I haven't tried the rune mage yet, but i'll get to that later when I have some spare runes.

Quick question - Rune Mage ability depends on runes stockpiled that you haven't used yet? Because that'd be a big waste of talent runes, IMHO...

[rancor26]

Quick question - Rune Mage ability depends on runes stockpiled that you haven't used yet? Because that'd be a big waste of talent runes, IMHO...

Yes it does depend on how many runes you havent used yet.

[Mandea]

Quick question - Rune Mage ability depends on runes stockpiled that you haven't used yet? Because that'd be a big waste of talent runes, IMHO...

so it seemed to me. not a very wise idea.

[JQueue]

It seemed to me that IF you started a rune mage strategy and started hording massive stockpiles of runes instead of spennding them on skills, they would be EXTREMELY good in that it would result in a quadratic expansion of power.

The only problem with this theory is that rune mages are 2000 leadership a pop, so one side of that formula would only expand about 10 times without specialized items throughout a game. Also, this is dependant on there being NO CAP to the amout bonuses you can attain through rune hording. Even still on paper, they appear to be VERY powerful.

The way I would execute a rune mage strat: It would probably be worth going for skills early in the game when your leadership gain is paltry and won't be able to get more runemages more quickly. When leadership comes by hundreds and thousands in the late game, you can switch to a rune mage strat.

[JQueue]

Anyways I posted in a different thread that Rune mage benefits cap at 20 unspent runes for each rune type.

Also, be sure to try the Chaos Dragon and Summon Phoenix spells.

Phoenix now scales it's stats according to your int, and has a new ability called Tears of the Phoenix which rezzes for about 400-500 points 1 charge.

The small rez and the extra survivability go a long way in making it more of a viable end-game option.

[BB Shockwave]

Update - please add to the beginning of the thread!

Skeletons now have TWO new Talents:

-Sow Bones: Scatters across the arena 3 piles of bones, which can then be used for magical movement.

-Undead Gate: Moves to the selected pile of bones. After arriving, 1 action point remains. Attack is increased by 10, but Defense is decreased to 1 for the remainder of the round.

Nice Talents, making the otherwise not-really-used Skellies more effective. This is essentially a low level version of Teleport. Still, the AI needs tweaking - when I faced them once, the two troops of Skeletons both used Sow Bones, instead of the second one teleporting to one of the gates.

The teleport animation is funny - it is the same as the Skeletons dying and being resurrected, so they simply fall apart and reintegrate at the selected spot.

EDIT: Also - New Guard Droid Talent

- Beam of Light: Droid produces a beam of bright light in any given direction, up to a 3 cell distance. Undead receive 5-20 Damage, soldiers with Night Vision and Beholders are blinded, all other creatures below level 5 have their defense reduced by 30%. The effect lasts for 2 rounds.

[Infiltrator]

Anyone think assassins will actually become useful with the new talent? Are there any new items to make them more viable?

For those who don't know, the Assassin, when he executes someone with a backstab or critical, gains a +5% damage bonus that gets carried over to other battles.

[BB Shockwave]

I plan to use them because these +5% not only stack, but stay for all units the Assassins have backstabbed... In my current game I only found 2 so far, but even those have now +15% against Goblins, +10% against Orcs and so on. Definetly worth using them, just have to take care never to lose them all.

[Zechnophobe]

Skeletons are crazy weird now.

Anyone consider saving some easy early fights, and going back with a 5 split stack of assassin's to backstab the heck out of them? Build up some damage bonus super fast.

EDIT: have added some more details to main post. There's so much stuff now it is getting hard to keep it all in place!

[Saiko Kila]

I think that many of new units and old units are kind of overpowered now. This makes fighting them harder. One example, which I haven't seen mentioned: alchemists can restore their potions now. At least enemy alchemists, because in my game they're unavailable in shop till late Montero :P

[Puce Moose]

I finally managed to convince a rune mage I was a fit enough leader to join me; so far I'm really enjoying this new mage. If you opt to leave talent runes sitting unused you can really turn the rune mage into a beast. Random summoning + resurrection + random debilitating spell + high HP makes for a fun 'one-man army' type of squad member.

[BB Shockwave]

Skeletons are crazy weird now.

Anyone consider saving some easy early fights, and going back with a 5 split stack of assassin's to backstab the heck out of them? Build up some damage bonus super fast.

EDIT: have added some more details to main post. There's so much stuff now it is getting hard to keep it all in place!


Does it work that way? I mean, merging the stacks keeps all the find weakness skills and groups them?

Also, would you mind adding my descriptions to the first post? Sorry to say but they are more detailed (for example for the Rune Mage or the Beam of Light) then what you have added.

[BB Shockwave]

A new Orc unit no-one noticed so far, apparently - or, undestandably, confused it with the Ogre, as it is the Ogre model, colored in green same as it was in The Legend.

Orc Chieftain (Level 5, Orc)

Attack: 40
Defense: 35 (20% Physical, 10% Poison, 10% Fire)
Intiative: 4
Speed: 2
Crit: 15%
Damage: 59-83 (? not sure, only seen them in battle with increased damage)
Health: 850 (!!)

Abilities:
-Smash (damages any enemy troop which is standing behind the target)
-Commander (Orcs and Goblins in the Hero's army gain +1 Morale)
-Thick Skin (20% physical resistance, any attacker can get its attack reduced depending on its level - pretty much casts Weakness on the attacker)
-Recruiter (gives 1-2 Orcs after each battle, random type)
-Adrenaline (1. level: +10% damage, Sneer talent. 2. level: +20% damage, +1 speed, +1 charge to Sneer, Predator talent. 3. level: +30% damage, +2 Speed, +100% power to Predator talent, Spirit Strike talent.

Talents:

- Sneer: Provokes any Level 1-4 enemy to attack the Orc, except mind immune troops.
- Predator: Consumes a few units from a neighbouring Goblin or Orc troop, restoring 200-400 health, then continues the turn. Adrenaline is increased to maximum.
- Spirit Strike: does 35-45 physical damage around the Orc for all units (enemy/friend alike). Damage increases as per the numbers of Shaman the orc army has. Also knocks back enemies.

[Kas]

I finally managed to convince a rune mage I was a fit enough leader to join me; so far I'm really enjoying this new mage. If you opt to leave talent runes sitting unused you can really turn the rune mage into a beast. Random summoning + resurrection + random debilitating spell + high HP makes for a fun 'one-man army' type of squad member.

The spell isn't random. It depends on how many magic runes you have available. At around 15+ runes, (I'm not sure exactly what the minimum is) they sheep the enemy, which is just stupidly good. I've had up to three enemy stacks sheeped at once, courtesy of my lone rune mage's basic attack--and that's on impossible with stacks in the hundreds.:grin:

With enough runes, this unit is by far the most powerful in the game, hands down. They've got the best resurrection skill, an astral attack that's as good as dragon fire or better, summoning power superior to royal thorns, they increase the morale of other casters in your army, and just to ice the cake, they're near-invincible tanks. I've never had to heal my rune mage once.

And if you're thinking the rune investment is too steep, consider the extra fights and quests in OOTM. You have extra runes to play with now, anyway. Also, if you're playing mage, it doesn't take long to rack up the magic runes for their sheeping attack. And that one thing by itself makes them the best unit in the game.

Overpowered much? I think so.

[BB Shockwave]

I am accumulating magic runes - frankly, I feel some lower level abilities are more usefull... Anyway, here is what I know so far:

Magic Runes 0: No spell
Magic Runes 1-3: Helplessness
Magic Runes 4-7: Slow
Magic Runes 8-?: Weakness

Will add if I find out more.

[ckdamascus]

I am accumulating magic runes - frankly, I feel some lower level abilities are more usefull... Anyway, here is what I know so far:

Magic Runes 0: No spell
Magic Runes 1-3: Helplessness
Magic Runes 4-7: Slow
Magic Runes 8-?: Weakness

Will add if I find out more.

Magic Runes ~~~ Curse
Magic Runes ~~~ Doom
Magic Runes 19-20: Sheep

My take on it? The lesser ones suck. Just get 19 for the sheep. :)

[BB Shockwave]

Minor info about Witch Hunters:

You'd be suprised what units count as "Mages". Apparently, this includes Beholders and Evil Beholders - they can cast Magic Block on them, and most likely can do 150% damage against them too.

EDIT: Another thing - Faun's Talent, Fatigue only works against units that have already acted that turn... making it a bit less usefull.

[BB Shockwave]

New Bone Dragon Talent:

- Gobble Corpse (Charge:1)

The dragon eats the corpse of humanoid warriors, spawning a troop of skeletons in their place.

Haven't tried yet, but seems pretty usefull, most likely the number spawned is dependent on the original troop's numbers. Also wonder if it spawns skeleton archers from archers.

[Metathron]

I didn't find it especially useful, but in my last battle the AI did focus fire on them, so it might be good after all.

Their number equals half the bone dragons' leadership, and I only ever got skeletons, no archers.

[Mystic Phoenix]

Having eaten archers, I got skeleton archers in return. I don't think it's a coincidence.

[BB Shockwave]

Most likely, it makes Skelly Archers from units with the 'Archer' ability (Archers, Elves, Hunters, Skeleton Archers).