Shields of Loyalty News

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[/p][p]Prepare for the Ultimate Strategy Experience!
Our team has worked relentlessly to bring you the best version of Shields of Loyalty. Here's what's coming with the long-awaited 1.0 release – straight from our dev team's workspace:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of these points in the list were derived from our visions, your feedbacks and the general strategy game knowledge of out team. Please note that the most important ones are WIP (Work-in-progress) but some may won't be finished or even not included in the final build. We are trying to deliver the game to you in the best condition possible but delivering it is the most important point that we are focusing on! Thanks a lot for your patience and support![/p][hr][/hr][h3]⚙️ PERFORMANCE & QUALITY OF LIFE BOOSTS[/h3]

• [p]Massive Performance Improvements – Faster AI, smoother animations, and snappier gameplay across the board.[/p]
• [p]Simultaneous Combat Resolution – Damage effects, spell visuals, and support actions now play out in parallel for faster, smoother battles.[/p]
• [p]AI Turn Optimisation – AI decisions (movement, spells, and abilities) now execute with less delay and more efficiency.[/p]
• [p]Camera Movement Tweaks – Enhanced camera flow and zoom during battles.[/p]
• [p]Faster Spell Effects – Weather, lightning, and special abilities now trigger more quickly and cinematically.[/p]
• [p]Multi-unit Move System – Control up to 3 units simultaneously to speed up your army’s advance![/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]⚔️ COMBAT & STRATEGY ENHANCEMENTS[/h3]

• [p]Full AI Rework – Smarter decisions, better positioning, and strategic use of spells and abilities.[/p]
• [p]Cinematic Spell Effects – Camera shakes, flashes, and new visual cues for healing, buffs, debuffs, and elemental magic.[/p]
• [p]Zone of Control (ZOC) – Adds tactical weight to unit positioning (coming post-launch if not ready at 1.0).[/p]
• [p]Movement Cost Display – Clearly see movement costs per tile to optimise your pathing.[/p]
• [p]Improved Pathfinding – Navigate around enemies, fire, storms and blocked paths with ease.[/p]
• [p]Stack-aware Combat Logic – AI avoids overcommitting to heavily protected or weak target units.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🗺️ CAMPAIGN & MAP CONTENT[/h3]

• [p]Final Level Unlocked – Discover the climactic battle with epic terrain combining Darkwoods and Lava Desert tiles.[/p]
• [p]New Maps Added – Several new battle maps included for campaign and custom games.[/p]
• [p]Special Victory Conditions Update – Victory only triggers when you end your turn after objectives are met, so you can loot freely![/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🌌 FACTION AURAS & BALANCE[/h3]

• [p]Void Faction Auras – Malphas, The Goat King, Succubus, Spider Queen, The Void (each with unique passive effects).[/p]
• [p]Knight Faction Auras – New aura abilities for Aglovan and other Knight heroes.[/p]
• [p]Warlord & High Priest Auras – Unique faction-specific buffs to enhance tactical depth.[/p]
• [p]Mummy’s Curse Reworked – Balance adjustments for this fearsome spell.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🧙‍♂️ SPELLS & MAGIC SYSTEM[/h3]

• [p]Missing Spells Defined & Implemented – All T3 and faction spells are now complete and in-game.[/p]
• [p]AI Spellcasting Behaviour – Magic-wielding enemy units now behave strategically, using spells according to situation and trigger logic.[/p]
• [p]Spell Descriptions Finalised – Localisation and visual effects defined per spell type.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🛠️ USER INTERFACE & VISUAL POLISH[/h3]

• [p]Updated Tutorial Texts – Reflecting the latest UI and gameplay changes.[/p]
• [p]Upgrade Indicators for Units – Easily see which units are ready to be promoted.[/p]
• [p]Attack Animation Revamp – Clean, focused, with the death blow and death animation aligned visually.[/p]
• [p]New City/Castle/Ruin UI Graphics – Fresh designs for a more immersive experience.[/p]
• [p]Hover Tooltips for Artefact Menu – Clearer indication when artefact management becomes available.[/p]
• [p]Critical Hit Banner – Now displayed clearly in combat like other special effects.[/p]
• [p]Dual Unit Display – Toggle between airborne and ground units when occupying the same tile.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🏰 WORLDMAP, EVENTS & LOOT[/h3]

• [p]Loot Buff – Cities and ruins now offer 1.5x increased rewards. More reason to explore![/p]
• [p]Mercenaries Added – Hire unique units in cities, tents, and mines. Stack size 1, temporary until mission ends.[/p]
• [p]Event Sequences Reworked – More cinematic with camera pans, character dialogue, animations and return focus.[/p]
• [p]Event Units Placeable via Editor – Enables richer scenarios with wounded units, narrative triggers and more.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]📺 RESOLUTION & VISUAL SUPPORT[/h3]

• [p]Multiple Resolution Support – Full compatibility with:
  1920x1200, 1680x1050, 1440x900, 1280x800[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]✨ ADDITIONAL POLISH & FINAL TOUCHES[/h3]

• [p]Looted Ruins Are Marked – No more rechecking ruins! Icons now mark explored locations.[/p]
• [p]Editable Unit Names – Customise your army even further.[/p]
• [p]Victory/Defeat Animations – New ending animations to celebrate your glorious conquests (or noble sacrifices).[/p]
• [p]Final Intro Dialogues per Avatar – New character-based opening stories tailored to your chosen hero.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🔮 FUTURE-PREP FEATURES (Not in 1.0 but Planned Shortly After)[/h3]

• [p]Steam Workshop Support – Share and download custom maps.[/p]
• [p]Zone of Control Finalisation – Tactical layer still under discussion.[/p]
• [p]Modifiers Rework – Unified logic for Auras, Artefacts and Abilities.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h2]💬 Your Patience Pays Off[/h2][p]With all of these major updates, we are confident Shields of Loyalty 1.0 will deliver the strategic experience you’ve been waiting for. Thank you for your trust, your feedback, and your continued support through Early Access.[/p][p]🗡️ Prepare your armies, ready your spells – the time of loyalty is upon us!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some of these points in the list were derived from our visions, your feedbacks and the general strategy game knowledge of out team. Please note that the most important ones are WIP (Work-in-progress) but some may won't be finished or even not included in the final build. We are trying to deliver the game to you in the best condition possible but delivering it is the most important point that we are focusing on! Thanks a lot for your patience and support!

The Shields of Loyalty Team

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀[/p]

[p]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀[/p][h2][/h2][p][/p][p]"The strongest blades are forged in fire."[/p][p]Every day brings us closer to release.

We know it’s been a long road — delays, silence, and battles behind the scenes — but the passion never faded.
[/p][p]This is just a small reminder that Shields of Loyalty is alive, evolving, and worth the wait.
Your support means everything. 💛
[/p][h3]🛠️ Did you know? Steam wishlists directly influence visibility, discoverability, and even launch success for indie games like ours.

"Did you know that games like Vampire Survivors owe part of their success to wishlists? Steam notices and rewards games with strong pre-release interest — every wishlist helps Shields of Loyalty reach new players!"[/h3][p]
If you want to help, wishlisting is one of the most powerful things you can do![/p][p]If you’ve been with us from the beginning — thank you.[/p][p]
If you just joined — welcome to Mantaria.[/p][p]More reveals coming soon. Stay tuned, commander.[/p][p][/p][p]🎯 Wishlist & Follow on Steam
🛡️ Join our Discord[/p][p][/p][p]— The Shields of Loyalty Team

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀[/p]

[p]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀[/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][h3]"In strategy, the longest path often leads to the greatest victory."[/h3][p]Today, let’s reflect on why we love turn-based strategy games and dark fantasy so much — and how Shields of Loyalty fits into this legacy.[/p][p][/p][h2] 🔍 A Brief Origin of Strategy Games[/h2][p]
Turn-based strategy games trace their roots to classic tabletop wargames like Tactics (1954) and Kriegsspiel (1824), long before computers brought them to our screens.
Titles like Fire Emblem, X-COM, and Fantasy General later shaped the genre into what we know and love today — deliberate, challenging, and deeply tactical.[/p][p]Shields of Loyalty follows in their footsteps, combining precise positioning, synergising unit types, and calculated risks across epic campaigns. If you're a fan of careful planning and heroic sacrifice — you’re in the right place.[/p][p][/p][h2]🌑 What Makes Dark Fantasy So Appealing? [/h2][p]
Dark Fantasy pushes against the high-fantasy tropes of perfect heroes and clear good vs evil. In its place:
• Morally grey choices
• Tragic heroes
• Corrupt gods, cursed lands, and grim victories[/p][p]Shields of Loyalty embraces this tone fully, drawing inspiration from stories like Berserk, Dark Souls, and The Witcher. Our world of Mantaria is no shining kingdom — it’s broken, twisted, and in need of a last stand.[/p][p][/p][h2]🔁 Tactical Features in Our Game [/h2][p]
• Unit synergy combos (e.g. flying guardians & shield cavalry)
• Combat roles: front-line tanks, flanking scouts, and support casters
• Terrain impact and weather effects (ice storms, lightning, etc.)
• Heavy siege units, stealth skirmishers, and flying units
• Future mechanics: Zone of Control & Attack of Opportunity coming soon![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]🎯 Question for the Community: [/h2][p]
What’s your favourite tactical mechanic in turn-based games?
Or: What made you fall in love with dark fantasy settings?[/p][p]Let’s talk tactics — and get hyped again.

🛡️ Wishlist Shields of Loyalty here
🗺️ Join the discussion on Discord
[/p][p]— The Shields of Loyalty Team

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[p]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀[/p][p][/p][h2]We’re Back — Mantaria Awaits
[/h2][p]The storms may have slowed us, but they never stopped us.[/p][p]Shields of Loyalty is alive and well — and the march toward release has resumed![/p][p][/p][p]We're bringing back: [/p]

• [p]Weekly DevBlogs [/p]
• [p]Final Lore Pieces — Aglovan's journey will continue[/p]
• [p] Sneak peeks of remaining factions and units[/p]
• [p]Final testing & feedback rounds \

[/p][p]What We Need From You:[/p]

• [p]Wishlist the game if you haven’t yet. [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

• [p]Share the store page with your strategy-loving friends [/p]
• [p]Join our https://discord.gg/amTz2Cas Discord community.[/p]
• [p]Leave your thoughts, feedback, or just say hi![/p]

[p][/p][p]We know the delays have been tough — but we’re closer than ever. This is the final climb.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for sticking with us through the mist, the silence, and the setbacks. Mantaria is still calling.[/p][p]
We hope you’ll answer.[/p][p][/p][p]Let’s finish this journey — together.[/p][p]— The Shields of Loyalty Team

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Bug Fixes

• „Barrage“ skill causes no more game freeze
  
• “Bulls Eye” no more hangs up the game
  
• Healing spell of the Monks works as expected now
  
• Shaman buildings “Circle and Tree of Enlightenment” can be chosen as expected
  
• Issues with tier3 spells of “Mother Nature” fixed
  
• Infinite movement of the Unicorns fixed
  
• Reduced the glow of the Pyromaniacs
  
• Tooltips are shown properly now for spells, buffs and nerfs
  
• Improved the cursor and AoE when using spells
  
• The right portraits are shown in the dialogues now
  
• Fixed typo within dialogues
  
• Language changes effects immediately now
  
• Canceled false shadows which were shown underneath a few units
  
• Added missing sound effects
  
• Added the type of a unit within the detail mask and buildings
  
• Improved overall perfomance of the game
  

New Features & Improvemnts

• UI revamp – navigation and spell buttons relocated to the lower left
  
• UI revamp – detailed unit information incl. buff, debuff and spell DOT effects
  
• Avatar selection screen revamp
  
• Worldmap has now animations
  
• Avatar Karnoth has now a size of 4 fields
  
• Fraction skills of the Warlords implemented:
  
  1. Brother in Arms (adjacent heavy infantry units performs an addition attack)
     
  2. If an unit suffers more than 75% casualties, all adjacent units will gain +1 attack
     
• Fraction skills of the Noblemen changed:
  
  1. Shield Wall remains as implemented
     
  2. NEW: Formation (Light cavalry always retreat one hex and heal the wounded when attacked by light or heavy infantry)
     
• Added visible counts for all passive abilities and fraction skills
  
• New currency “Gems” added. They are needed for buying mercenaries
  
• New skins --> Monks instead of Believers
  
• Mercenaries are available now
  
• Warlord faction has now a new crest
  
• New AI Hero units added:
  
  1. Goatking (Heavy Cavalry)
     
  2. Flying Succubus (Sky Hunter)
     
  3. Spiderqueen (Heavy Cavalry)
     
  4. Dark Lord Desmond (Heavy Infantry)
     
  5. The Void (Sky Huner)
     
• New Noblemen Hero units added:
  
  1. Tiberius (Heavy Cavalry)
     
  2. Lord Valerian (Light Cavalry)
     
• Balancing – adjusted defense values for all units. Partly some Attack and other values like Hit Points, Hit Chance and Evasion
  

Map/Level Changes

• First Map of Darwoods has now a new shape including new type of AI units (Cultist and Acolyte)
  
• Slightly changes for the 2nd map of Darkwoods. A new location "Tent" is available for hiring mercenaries
  
• 3rd map for Darwoods has recieved slighty changes of shape and AI units
  

All rewards of all cities and ruins were doubled and gems as the currency for mercenaries added!

QoL improvements

• Fast animations were improved
  
• Force of Nature are much faster and without bothering the flow
  
• Spell animations and effects are shown at the same time
  

Currently we are improving all maps regarding new POI's and loot. We'll update them frequently!

Enjoy all the new content and improvments and let us know how do yu like them.