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Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Hero Deep Dive: Aurelia Pelegren



Protectors of the Light,

The Volatists grow stronger with Aurelia Pelegren, the Daughter of Ruin, joining the ranks as the faction’s second hero. In her quest for vengeance, Aurelia has learned to harness Dark Essence and use it in devastating new ways.



WHO IS AURELIA?

Aurelia was a troubled orphan adopted and raised under the care of The Order. Growing up, she was quiet and emotionless. As she began to train under The Order, she began to find great merit within their teachings and practices. She excelled in a variety of academic and athletic skills, and after seeing the fire inside her, she was chosen to train as a Lightbearer of The Order.

Aurelia has a lot of unanswered questions about her past and is determined to find out about her family and where she fits into the world. She is desperate to find her purpose and seek adventure, as deep down she was somewhat of an outsider. When she encountered the Volatists, however, there was something about them that called to her, and she allowed their corruption to influence her, joining their fight.

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HARNESSING THE DARKNESS

Aurelia was an intriguing character to create, as we were able to play around with combining elements of both The Order and Volatists for this hero. You will find elements of both factions in her aesthetic, skills and voice lines.

For her armour, shredded fabric and jagged shapes are found throughout her design, as well as the Volatist handprint motif on her tabard. As Aurelia used to be a Lightbearer for The Order – elements of the Lightbearer's design can be found throughout her outfit – notably in her weapon, the flail.



As Aurelia doesn’t have total control over Dark Essence, she has imbued her weapon with a Dark Crystal to enhance her abilities and take advantage of the powers the Volatists have learned to harness innately over the years.

Aurelia’s fighting style is a combination of elements from Edwin and Vizargo, taking inspiration from Edwin’s fortitude and Vizargo's damage output. Despite this, she's still reasonably agile, so her smaller build helps visually reflect that. As our youngest hero, what she lacks in experience, she makes up for in sheer aggression.

Feeling more at home with the Volatists, Aurelia styles herself in certain ways to appear more similar to Vizargo through her face paint and simple, unmanaged hairstyle.

AGGRESSION PERSONIFIED

Unlike our other Heroes, Aurelia doesn’t have a passive skill or an ultimate, and each skill in her set is an active one. So from the beginning, her play-style reflects her personality and has the elements of aggression that is the makeup of the Volatists faction identity.

Flail Whip:
At Level 2, Aurelia unlocks her first active skill. Flail Whip gives her the ability to launch her flail forward to hit enemy units, but as she whips it back, it hits and damages each enemy still in its path. When using this skill on Spitters, Wraiths, Bursters and Crushers, they will drop one Dark Essence if hit.



Midnight Bloom:
As devastatingly beautiful as it sounds, at Level 3 Aurelia uses Midnight Bloom to manually select a location to raise a crystal shard. Standing for a set duration of time, the crystal shard has an Area of Effect that slows enemies within it. Upon reaching the set duration or upon enemies depleting the crystal’s health via attacks, the crystal detonates, damaging enemy units within its radius.



Dark Fury:
Unlocked at Level 4, Aurelia consumes a single crystal of Dark Essence to enter a Dark Fury state for a set duration. While active, Aurelia and nearby allies gain extra Shred and regenerate health as if they were not in combat for the duration.



Crimson Lightning:
Aurelia unlocks her full potential at level 6 with Crimson Lightning. This skill allows her to command dark energy to damage enemies in an area, healing Aurelia and granting an attack speed buff in the process. Aurelia’s heal value and increased attack speed are determined by how many units she hits with Crimson Lightning.



Did Aurelia make the right decision to align herself with the power hungry Volatists? Time will tell as her thirst for strength grows. Side with her, or move out of her way. Your disloyalty may be the last decision you ever make...

We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool.

[h3]AoD Social Links:[/h3]

AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.

Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1426450/Age_Of_Darkness_Final_Stand

Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Exile’s Return update arrives 5th December



Protectors of the Light,

We are pleased to announce the much-anticipated Exile’s Return update will arrive at 4am PST on 5 December, available for all Age of Darkness: Final Stand owners.



Buckle Up

Exile’s Return includes:

  • Act III of the Campaign, encompassing the final three missions, a unique boss fight and a new cinematic
  • A new Survival hero, Aurelia
  • Various updates and fixes including:
    - Formations
    - Pathfinding improvements
    - Spanish localization
    - 3D Hero Select Screens


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Multiplayer & Roadmap Update

In addition to the launch of Exile's Return, our full attention will now be on Multiplayer. Players can expect an update on Multiplayer development, and our updated 1.0 Roadmap, to be revealed in early 2024. We appreciate your patience.

Till next time, Protectors of the Light…

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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool.

AoD Social Links:

AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.

Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1426450/Age_Of_Darkness_Final_Stand/

Save 33% on Age Of Darkness: Final Stand during the Steam Autumn Sale

Prepare for battle, warriors! ⚔️🛡️

Age of Darkness Final Stand is now 33% off during the Steam Autumn Sale! Immerse yourself in this epic strategy game and lead your armies to victory. Don't wait, grab it now at a discounted price!

Now is the ultimate time for you to dive in, defend humanity, and experience Age of Darkness: Final Stand for yourself!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1426450/Age_Of_Darkness_Final_Stand

AoD Social Links:

AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.

Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!

Vote for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Steam Awards!

Greetings Defenders of Humanity!

The Steam Awards are rapidly approaching, much like the Nightmares who wish to destroy your keep! We need you to help bolster our chances of success in our fight (for a Steam Award 🏆)

Do your duty to your heroes, Edwin, Vizargo, Aelis, Cyrus and Merek by voting for Age Of Darkness: Final Stand in the Labor Of Love category 🙏🏼

Age Of Darkness has come a long way since it launched into Early Access in 2021, and we're not done yet!



As always, if you come across any bugs or crashes, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘bug-reporting’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.

[h3]AoD Social Links:[/h3]

AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.

Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1426450/Age_Of_Darkness_Final_Stand

Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Hold the Line with Formations



Protectors of the Light,

While we have been focusing considerable resources on completing the Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign, it’s now time to talk about one of the major Survival updates coming up in Exile’s Return.



Fall In, Attention!

Formations is a highly requested feature allowing players more tools and flexibility to fine tune the positioning of troops. On the battlefield, this means the ability to move units together at a matching speed, and to more easily define the position of individual units without microing them on a per unit basis. Players can now move groups of faster, stronger units to defend slower more expensive units with a click, and guarantee they won’t be caught wandering alone. All this adds up to very bad news for Nightmares!

Form and Function

Players play as per usual, but can now right click-drag or click S (or the bind for Formation command) then right click-drag to perform a formation command.



To adjust orientation and size, simply click, hold and drag your mouse. To adjust the spacing of units, click, hold and use your scroll wheel.

Units will automatically sort into an order that benefits their combat role effectively, for example, melee units will take their place at the front of a formation, and ranged units will stay at the back.

Units in formations are given matched speeds, meaning if a faster unit and a slower unit are in a formation command together, their speed will be averaged as to ensure they approximately move and arrive together. Certain thresholds break the formation into small sub-formations, such as having a group of rogues (fastest) and catapults (slowest) in the same formation, or if they’re required to travel very long distances.



Hold the Line

We’re continuing to push towards the launch of Exile’s Return in 2023, creating new content and introducing new features, such as Formations. Much of the work we are doing also has the effect of improving other systems, for example Formations assisting with pathing updates, an ongoing effort for Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Expect more updates shortly.

Till next time, Protectors of the Light…

Next up, we will be deep diving on Aurelia…

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We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.

AoD Social Links:

AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community
YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel
Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server.
Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here!

Age of Darkness: Final Stand