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Dev Diary #54 - Dark Culture

[p][/p][p]Greetings Dark Lords, Maidens, and Despots unknown. I am Thomas Schuiten, Senior Designer at Triumph Studios, and today I will proudly share with you a rework of one of the most popular cultures: Dark![/p][p]Thrones of Blood releases on November 11th and will be accompanied by the Gargoyle update. What better time to rework the Dark Culture than alongside an expansion all about those gothic, edgy themes?[/p][p][/p][p]The dark is cold, but godir don't have to be! Here's some merch to keep warm![/p][p]Age of Wonders 4 Christmas Collection (Sweater, Socks & Beanie!)[/p][p][/p][h3]Why Dark?[/h3][p]Dark was always a somewhat unusual culture. It was the only culture in the base game that lacked a Support unit in its lineup and featured some unconventional interactions with city stability and heroes held in prisons or crypts. All these features, while evocative, felt like they left something to be desired and were not as effective as hoped. Despite this, their themes and visuals have ensured they remain a popular culture among players.[/p][p]Their culture passive, "Cull the Weak," had already been reworked in the past but never quite hit the sweet spot, failing to be as successful at opening up new builds as might be hoped.[/p][p]The goals of this rework were thus:[/p][p]●     More effectively serve the obvious thematic fantasies that Dark culture reflects:[/p][p] ○     Evil overlords, scheming tyrants, cults, black magic, and assassins.[/p][p]●     Ensure the culture's mechanics support interesting (new) builds when combined with Tomes.[/p][p]●     Give the culture as a whole a clearer niche among the available cultures.[/p][p][/p][h3]What is the Dark Culture[/h3][p]The Dark culture represents many things: tyrants, overlords, dark wizards, and sinister cults all at once. These themes have been divided among the two new subcultures of Dark, while the Dark culture as a whole is themed around a central question: How do you treat those you defeat?[/p][p]If your answer is, "Use their remains for eldritch or nefarious purposes," then congratulations! You are a perfect fit for the Cult of Death subculture, where heroes are embalmed and used as resources, and during combat, each fallen friend or foe empowers those who fight on![/p][p]If your answer was perhaps a more pragmatically questionable, "Imprison them and use these new hostages as leverage," then you might be better served by the Cult of Tyranny. Defeated heroes are captured and used as leverage to control your vassals, while in combat, you oppress your enemies with the relentless application of debuffs.[/p][p][/p][h2]Subcultures: The Ruling Cults[/h2][p][/p][h3]Cult of Death[/h3][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Affinities: Shadow + Nature[/p][p]Theme: Power from death[/p][p]Combat Focus: Expendable units, Critical Strikes, anti-healing and Blight[/p][p][/p][p]The Cult of Death subculture is one where sacrifice is the norm and a tool for those in power. Their units gain power from the deaths of both their allies and their enemies, critical strikes coming more steadily as the slaughter continues.[/p][p]This subculture prefers expendable units and critical strikes.[/p][p][/p][p]The above is an exact excerpt from the original design doc for the subculture, which summarizes the subculture quite well. The Cult of Death was the first concept  to solidify as I personally always wanted a culture that worked around “expendable” units and fit for a bit more of an “occult” theme as well. They would gain power as units die, more if they slew them personally, and thus logically flowing from that for their strategic gameplay they would use the Crypt. This in turn led to the logical split in subcultures, with Tyranny using the Prison instead.[/p][p]In early drafts the Crypt interactions were significantly more complicated, having the player build structures in their cities to unlock “Embalm slots” for their heroes in the crypt. These heroes would then be assigned to cities that have available embalm slots and provide a bonus to that city. In the end this system was simply too clunky, required bespoke UI and could frankly just be simplified while retaining the same overall feel.[/p][p]Power from death, likewise, went through a lot of iteration, in first drafts granting a quite unhinged 100% crit chance when at full power. This obviously could not really survive, not only would it be too powerful, it would undermine any combo with other sources of critical hit chance the player might build towards.[/p][p]Lastly, the chosen affinities for this subculture reflect their focus on death, both mechanically and thematically. Being partially Nature lets them naturally flow into animal summon builds, fitting with the Tome of Cycles and utilizing Decay and Blight, which are often associated with the domain of Death alongside Frost. This also helped set them apart from the Cult of Tyranny, whose pure shadow focus leads them towards Frost damage.[/p][p][/p][p]Now with the hypotheticals and “what could have been” out of the way, let us talk about what we actually have![/p][p][/p][p]Power from Death (Culture Passive)[/p][p]●     Units with this trait gain the following when any unit dies:[/p][p]○     +1 Mortal Blessing (+2 if this unit struck the killing blow)[/p][p]■     This unit gains +5 Max HP per stack (And heals for +5)[/p][p]■     +2% Critical Hit Chance[/p][p]●     Last until end of combat[/p][p]●     May stack up to 10[/p][p][/p][p]Though the effects are relatively simple, this is a rather powerful effect, resulting in a solid 50 HP and 20% crit chance when fully powered![/p][p]Cult of Death players may seek to bring many expendable units to quickly power on this effect, summoned chaff or using the new Immortal Tier 1 unit swiftly power this effect on. But even without that, focusing on damage and assassinating weak enemy units can also provide a certain source.[/p][p]And yes, slaying your own unit can grant you two stacks of this blessing![/p][p][/p][p]Embalming is a relatively straightforward mechanic, Heroes in your crypt can be Embalmed. This is an alternative option to selling the bodies for gold, granting Mana (in equal amounts) and an Embalmed Sacrifice.[/p][p]Embalmed Sacrifices are required for the Cult of Death’s unique city structures, as well as a uniquely powerful Strategic spell that we will show further below![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Mausoleum is a knowledge granting province improvement available to the Cult of Death, powerful but costly as it requires Embalmed Sacrifices to be built.[/p][p]Cult of death has, similar to most cultures, 2 replacement structures in their city, in their case these replace the Obelisk and Temple. These replacements still provide mana, but in much larger quantities in addition to some city stability. A useful economic boost that can allow a Cult of Death to fund early summons or undead armies![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]They also have their Unique Tier 3 structure, the Soulvault. An expensive structure, requiring two Embalmed Sacrifices to be built, it provides a unique benefit to the governor of the city it's built in: Passive XP gain![/p][p][/p][h3]Unit Lineup[/h3][p]The Dark subcultures have a unique unit lineup -  featuring no support units, they focus on aggression. Though the two Cults share their Tier 1 units, their Tier 2 units are variations of each other, with their Tier 3 unit as with other subcultures, being wholly unique.[/p][p][/p][p]Tier 1[/p][p]As mentioned the Tier 1 units are shared, so the Immortal and Pursuer are shown here, not in the Cult of Tyranny section.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Immortal[/p][p]The Immortal, formerly known as the Dark Warrior, has always been a difficult unit to balance and is considered by some to be the weakest combat unit in the game. As a shock unit, it is aggressive and strikes first, especially in auto-combat, often leaving it exposed. However, as a Tier 1 unit, it lacked the stats to survive such aggressive moves.[/p][p]The solution was to simply lean into this by making them truly expendable units.[/p][p]The Immortal now has two passive traits: Lesser Resurgence and Expendable.[/p][p][/p][p]Lesser Resurgence is simply a less powerful variant of Resurgence, the unit may die in combat and survive as long as you are victorious, but it does not return with as much HP and does not return with move points, as though it had fled the battle. This was done to allow the unit to be expendable without allowing for too much reckless movement on the world map.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Expendable itself is new, but its effects are not. Many would not have known but things such as Combat Summons already had this built in. (I updated the tooltip to clarify this as well)[/p][p]The Immortal however, not being a summon needed this property to grant it the same treatment. It is worth noting that this same Expendable property has been extended to Skeletons as well. (as had been requested)[/p][p][/p][h3]Pursuer[/h3][p][/p][p]The Pursuer, while in less trouble than the Dark Warrior it shared its tier with, had a bit of an identity problem. It did not really do much other than shoot and apply weakened, an effect that was eventually extended to all ranged attacks of the Dark culture. It also did not really live up to its name.[/p][p]Thus the new Pursuer is simple, it lost its inherent weakened application, but instead gained a powerful positioning ability: Relentless Pursuit.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This short range jump lets them aggressively move into a prime shooting position, or escape from encroaching enemies, but there is a catch. It starts on cooldown, and after its first use it only recharges when the Pursuer themselves makes a kill. So use it well![/p][p][/p][p]Tier 2[/p][p]This is where the variations come in. Where Cult of Tyranny has the Warlock, Cult of Death instead has the Mortalist. And where Tyranny fields the oppressive Tyrant Guard, Cult of Death instead fields the extremely resilient Death Guard.[/p][p][/p][h3]Mortalist[/h3][p][/p][p]The Mortalist is a more mobile and support oriented variant of the Warlock, it has a decent magical attack, but more importantly: Death Hex.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]A single action ability that can suppress enemy healing through applying Decaying, while providing a source of healing through Life Seed.[/p][p]
[/p][p]A useful bonus for slaying your enemies![/p][p][/p][h3]Death Guard
[/h3][p]The Death Guard is a simple unit, a sturdy polearm unit that makes particularly effective use of the Mortal Blessing stacks gained through Power from Death.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Deathly Vitality is a powerful self-heal that lets the unit enter Defense mode, its healing scales more the more Mortal Blessing stacks the unit has. In addition this obviously gains more value the more max HP the unit has, which again combines neatly with the effects of Mortal Blessing.[/p][p][/p][h2]Tier 3[/h2][h3]Death Stalker[/h3][p][/p][p]The Death Stalker is your stereotypical Assassin unit, it's always felt like somewhat of a missing archetype in the game except for Ways of War’s “Shade” unit. The Death Stalker is an even more specialized take, as a Fighter they are purely melee.[/p][p]Featuring what one might expect from the archetype, they benefit from Universal Camouflage on the world map, and Slippery in combat, letting them move into advantageous positions to strike.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]While they specialize in destroying weakened foes through the Death Stalk ability, their basic strike is not to be underestimated either, providing a decent strike while staying mobile that may inflict 2 stacks of Decaying, ensuring that the foe stays weakened.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Death Stalk, the signature ability of this unit, is a powerful jump attack that displaces the target and takes their place. More importantly its damage increases the more health the target is missing, letting it finish off weakened or exposed foes swiftly. It recharges only on kill, so use it well.[/p][p]A pair of passive effects let it exploit Mortal Blessing more effectively than other units: Blessed End and Fatebringer.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Blessed End lets them stack up Mortal Blessings faster than any other unit, this stacks with the default Power From Death effect, meaning that if the Death Stalker gets the kill they get 3 stacks of Mortal Blessing in one go![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Fatebringer gives the Death Stalker a bit more oomph out of Mortal Blessing, increasing their damage alongside the other effects it normally gives. This means that at 10 stacks the Death stalker has a whopping 50 max HP extra, 20% critical hit chance and 50% increased damage![/p][p][/p][h2]Research Skills[/h2][h3]Mark of the Death Cult[/h3][p][/p][p]An enchantment that spreads the Power from Death property to non-culture units.[/p][p][/p][h3]Deathwaltz[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]A unique tactical spell that lets you give doomed units another chance to prove their worth, or force a breakthrough. It can even be used to save at-risk units as it does grant Resurgence as well![/p][p][/p][h3]Morbid Sacrifics[/h3][p][/p][p]A strategic spell that costs an Embalmed Sacrifice to cast, but in return for this, it affects multiple armies in the same province and gives them a full heal as well as powerful buffs for their next battle. It even grants Camouflage should you wish to surprise your foe.[/p][p][/p][h3]Cult of Tyranny[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]Affinities: Shadow + Shadow [/p][p]Theme: Subjugation of the weak[/p][p]Combat Focus: Status effects, control and Frost Damage[/p][p][/p][p]The Cult of Tyranny subculture sees domination as the ultimate show of power; they specialize in debilitating their opponents and grinding down their weakened foes. Strategically, they utilize Vassals to great effect, enforcing their dominion through tyrannical might. While in combat, they specialize in breaking the enemy’s resistance and controlling them through powerful status effects.[/p][p]This subculture took longer to materialize; there were versions that focused on morale and stability at first, but these systems proved too volatile. Morale is a tough system to interact with without making it a mandatory build focus, while stability likewise does not grant as much benefit as to be worth the focus of the culture. Both elements still remain to an extent in the culture but did not become the primary focus.[/p][p]If you are familiar with the old Dark Culture, the Cult of Tyranny may feel most natural to you. Their culture passive, “Cult of Tyranny,” has quite some similarities to the old Cull the Weak effect but allows for more build variety.[/p][p][/p]
  • [p]Cult of Tyranny (Culture Passive)[/p]
    • [p]Adjacent enemy units suffer -1 Status Effect Resistance[/p]
[p] (this effect stacks with itself and other units)[/p]
  • [p]Repeating attacks and abilities gain 60% chance to inflict 1 Status Vulnerability and heal the attacker for +5 HP[/p]
  • [p]Single Shot attacks and abilities gain 90% chance to inflict 1 Status Vulnerability and heal the attacker for +10 HP[/p][p]
    [/p]
[p]This effect may seem more complicated than it actually is, but to put it very simply, when playing as the Cult of Tyranny, your units lower the status resist of adjacent enemies, but much more importantly: they have a chance to inflict status vulnerability with their attacks and when they do, they heal themselves.[/p][p]This chance naturally improves as the enemy’s status resistance is diminished, letting the cult of Tyranny terrorize foes and bury them in debilitating effects.
[/p][p]Strategically, things get a little more interesting. I’d always wanted to do a more “hostile” take on Vassal diplomacy, and this subculture seemed like the perfect chance to do so. Rather than slowly placating Free cities to obtain new Vassals, the Cult of Tyranny instead greatly benefits from acquiring their Vassals through warfare. They do this by utilizing Hostage Diplomacy.[/p][p][/p][p]Whew, that is a lengthy tooltip. But to make a long story short: Defeat heroes to take them hostage, having any hostages counts as though you had a whispering stone with their home city, and each hostage adds additional allegiance on top.
[/p][p]The third bullet point might stand out, this ensures that whenever you conquer a city and choose to release it as a vassal you always gain another Hostage. This is also to provide an additional benefit for fully conquering a free city rather than just making peace with them once you gained enough Hostages.
[/p][p]The last point requires perhaps the most explanation, it is important that this mechanic still works even against cities conquered from other players, thus this particular rule was added. The function is quite simple: if you conquer a city from another empire and Vassalize it, any heroes of theirs that you have in your prison become Hostages of the newly created Vassal. This does not affect any heroes of that empire you capture afterwards, those would be assigned to the next city of theirs you vassalize should you choose to do so.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Prison UI needed an update to represent all this. Thus, prisoners and bodies in the crypt are now generally grouped by their faction. For the Cult of Tyranny in particular, you can view the allegiance they gain from each Vassal or Free city.
[/p][p]They can further exploit this additional allegiance on their Vassals through Tyrannical Exploitation, a unique strategic spell that converts Allegiance into additional income from the Vassal. The details will be in the Research Skill section further below.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Lastly this culture has some simple yet interesting City Structures. Their two replacement structures grant a significant amount of gold at the cost of stability.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Overlord’s Tower is a unique source of additional Imperium, while also granting more Stability the more Vassals your empire controls![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Special Province Improvement you may recognize from the old Dark culture: The Dark Forge. It got a bit of a boost to its usefulness though. Rather than granting 7 gold and Draft (with more draft for mines or quarries) it now simply grants 10 gold income base and 5 Production per adjacent mine, quarry or forester, letting it be used as a much more versatile improvement than before![/p][p][/p][h2]Unit Lineup[/h2][p][/p][h3]Tier 1[/h3][p]As both subcultures share their Tier 1 units, I will not reiterate them here.
[/p][h3]Tier 2[/h3][p]The focus on status effects is reflected in the Tier 2 unit variants the Cult of Tyranny fields: the Warlock and the Tyrant Guard.
[/p][h3]Warlock
[/h3][p][/p][p]The warlock is mostly as one remembers them, having been a favored unit even when the culture as a whole was considered weak.[/p][p][/p][p]Sundering Curse in particular had some changes, its impressive range remained. And its ability to apply debuffs likewise does but has become a bit more focused, instead focusing on sundering the defense and resistance of their targets. This has a 90% chance now rather than being guaranteed, but applying 2 of each on success combined with plenty of sources in the culture to reduce enemy status effect resistance, this should result in a more effective sundering of your foes![/p][p][/p][h3]Tyrant Guard[/h3][p][/p][p]The Tyrant Guard is a powerful anchor in the frontline. Utilizing status effects to lock down their foes and weather their attacks with contempt. Their base attack has a 60% chance to inflict Immobilized, which ensures their foes stay in melee with them rather than running away to strike more vulnerable targets.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]More notably their passive, Armor of Contempt, lets them weather attacks from debuffed enemies without suffering much of a scratch. They are exactly the unit you would want if you wanted to lock down the frontline while you barrage the foe with withering debuffs![/p][p][/p][h3]Tier 3[/h3][p][/p][p]Tyrant Knight[/p][p][/p][p]The Tyrant Knight, formerly the Dark Knight, after stealing the name from what is now the Subjugator, has taken on a new identity.[/p][p]The Tyrant Knight inflicts Weakened with its base attack, but more interestingly it has a new ability: Trample.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Knocking back the enemy and taking their place, this lets the Tyrant Knight disrupt enemy formations, getting as many enemies into its Aura of Tyranny as possible. And getting maximum use out of its passive effect: Despotic Vitality.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To keep your Tyrant Knights in the fight, simply send them into the midst of battle. You will need to be careful not to overextend them of course, but they will prove disturbingly resilient to foes who fail to finish them off.[/p][p][/p][h3]Research Skills[/h3][p]Mark of Tyranny[/p][p][/p][p]This unit enchantment spreads the culture’s mechanic to non-culture units. Not much more to be said.
[/p][p]Baneful Curse[/p][p][/p][p]Unlike the old version which inflicted 1 weakened, sundered defense and resistance, the new version is more focused. Inflicting 2 weakened and Misfortune lets this be a powerful control debuff to reduce incoming damage from a dangerous group of foes! (and combo’s nicely with weakened resistance, or any Tyrant Guard you may have in the frontline!)
[/p][h3]Tyrannical Exploitation[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]This strategic spell is rather unique, costing no upkeep, rather this spell converts the Allegiance gain of the target Vassal into a modifier of their income. 20% per point of allegiance is nothing to scoff at and provides a powerful benefit to high-allegiance vassals well beyond maximizing their loyalty to your cause![/p][p][/p][h3]Outro[/h3][p][/p][p]This was a lot of writing in the end, and the culture’s creation likewise was a lot of work. In the end, I hope this provides you with new ways to express your characters, stories and build your empires in Age of Wonders 4. Whether you choose to be a Death Cult of assassins, Tyrannical Despots, Necromantic Theocrats or conniving Barons. I look forward to seeing what you create when you get your hands on them.[/p][p]These changes should be available in the Open Beta on Steam if you wish to give it a try early, and become available to everyone when Gargoyle update releases alongside Thrones of Blood on November 11th![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Follow us and be the first to know when we drop new content![/p][p]
[/p]

Join the Fourth Thrones of Blood First Look Stream on Thursday, October 30!

[p]Rulers![/p][p]Here we go again! Our fourth Dev Stream for Thrones of Blood is almost here! Join us as we share what’s next and move closer to release.🦇

This Thursday, October 30 at 14:00 CEST![/p][h3]
[/h3][p][/p][h3]Watch on our YouTube: https://pdxint.at/aow4-tobs4[/h3][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Meanwhile, our players on Discord can discuss what will happen during the stream - join our Discord to join the discussion! [/p][p]What time is the stream for me?[/p]
  • [p]PDT: 5am[/p]
  • [p]MDT: 6am[/p]
  • [p]CDT: 7am[/p]
  • [p]EDT: 8 am[/p]
  • [p]GMT: 12pm[/p]
  • [p]GMT+3: 3pm[/p]
  • [p]GMT+7: 7pm[/p]
  • [p]GMT+8: 8pm[/p]
  • [p]GMT+9: 9pm[/p]
  • [p]GMT+11: 11pm [/p]
[p] Follow us and be the first to know when we drop new content![/p]

Dev Diary #53 - The Art of Thrones of Blood

[p][/p][p]Good eve’, creatures of the night and mortals alike! I’m Elle, 2D Artist at Triumph Studios. Previous dev diaries have already shown what’s in-game and how it works; tonight I will pull back the curtains and give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we got there.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Our Elder Vampire Rulers[/h2][p]Each ruler type we have designed so far has had a unique design process, and vampires, being a well-known fantasy creature, presented their own distinct challenges. Unlike our series-original Wizard Kings and Eldritch Sovereigns, lots of people have opinions about which vampires are the ‘right’ ones, and expectations about what ours should look like.[/p][p]Early concept exploration therefore needed to cover a wide variety of fantasies, so we could narrow down what felt right for AOW4.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Instead of defining our vampire guidelines from the start, exploring freely lets us take note of only the design details that jump out at us.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]For example, after the concepts above, we noted how that rose theme in the last concept could combine with the thorns and chains in the earlier ones. This concept then took those aspects even further:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]These notes hit all the right spots for us, and you’ll see a lot of what this final concept presents in the final in-game-visuals. From noticing what we love and what works well together, we create huge boards combining concepts, photo references, and notes to determine which options we want to make and their priority.[/p][p]Among the frilly dresses, corsets, high collars, and rose-thorn chains on this board, we also wanted a full armor option. I’ll use this armor set to explain in more detail how the full process for a customization set may look.[/p][p]Initial 2D and 3D concepts for the armor set explored armor textures and shape language, from ribbed to spiked. These touched on interesting themes, but felt too human and missed that unique AOW4 Elder Vampire identity we were creating.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We did another take, now much more focused on their bat heritage and pushing silhouette further so they’d be recognizable even at a distance:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The red glass idea merged well with this expansion's new magic material, Blood Glass. Please play pretend with us and accept that this Blood Glass is shatterproof as opposed to its real-world counterpart. We loved how this concept hit on all of the core aesthetics, so took this into 3D. There we refined further through collaboration with our 2D and 3D departments, adding rose illustrations to the Blood Glass in the breastplate and shield.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Pureblood vs Hybrid[/h3][p]Elder Vampires come in two bloodlines: Pureblood and Hybrid. Mechanically identical, visually and thematically distinct.[/p][p]Pureblood Vampires look like the vampires we know and love. They range from beautiful to beastly, but all with bat-flavored features. Inspired by the saying “blind as a bat”, they also offer the possibility for two differing eye colors.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Vampires, however, are not known to be picky with their prey. Thus, they quickly started turning anyone and everyone they came across; resulting in Hybrid Vampires. These mutts can be any form, because why would a rat not be able to be a vampire?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The Vampire Castle[/h3][p]We felt vampires worked best as a ruler type as opposed to a culture, but that came with the drawback of your vampire leading a very normal-looking city. We had a great desire to rule over a vampire castle, and we knew that you—the players—did too. So we give you the best of both worlds by replacing the Wizard’s Tower with a unique vampire version: The Vampire Castle.[/p][p]This castle is built using the vampire equivalent of wizard’s castle upgrades, where each upgrade is visualized with its own building. This way, you can create a castle that completely overshadows the culture city, feeding on it like an unwanted parasitic intruder.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]And more vampire quirks[/h3][p]The vampires obviously also come with cool new ability animations, movement visuals, poses, … here is a small snippet of all of that, the rest of which I’ll let you discover yourself![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] [/p][h2]Their Vampire World[/h2][h3]Sunless Lands[/h3][p]Bas previously covered the mechanics of Sunless Lands, the new terrain type. So let’s skip the talking and show you some of the behind-the-scenes goodies! We start with simple sketches as a proof of concept—these are quick, dirty, messy—but allow the team to see if the idea works visually.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Seeing this concept work in practice, and having everyone agree “yes, this is cool”, gives us the confidence to proceed with making all the individual assets. Some of these assets require further concept exploration such as the trees:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Many are also made directly from the minds of our 3D artists, based on the initial proof of concept sketch. Like the delicious Tactical Combat (TC) ground texture:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]All pulled together in the end with FX such as bats and gravity-defying blood trails (a team favorite):[/p][p][/p][h3]Structures[/h3][p]The terrain was also important because many structures in this expansion were going to call the Sunless Lands home. Their designs needed to heavily imply their connection to the terrain.[/p][p] For example: the Thorn Heart Landmark. By the time we were doing concepts for this, the Sunless Lands terrain was already (mostly) done. The concept below was done directly on top of a screenshot of the world map:[/p][p][/p][p]This landmark evolved throughout production, most noticeably with the center ‘heart’ turning into a literal heart.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Out of all the landmarks we’ve done so far, this is my personal favorite. Just look how epic it is in motion! Make sure to zoom in on it yourself too, it has some epic heart beating sound effects that GIFs don’t allow me to include.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Another one of my favorites is the Rose Choked Castle, our new Gold Ancient Wonder.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We have rarely shown TC map creation in the past, and I feel this structure has a particularly cool map to highlight. We had a pretty clear vision of what we needed the map to be, letting us start with photo references rather than concept art. From reference we derive a list of obstacles and props we need, helping us create a rough blockout:[/p][p][/p][p]Blockouts allow us to test gameplay early so we don’t commit time to making assets that don’t serve the actual gameplay. TC maps need to work mechanically first, and visually second (rare artist confession). Once we get the green light for gameplay, it’s up to us to bring it home. Polish is done to materials, models, lighting, and FX.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]All of this polish combined, we finally get what you—the player—will see in-game:[/p][p][/p][h2]Tomes and What’s In ‘Em[/h2][p]Thrones of Blood introduces three new tomes, jam-packed with all of the emo themes of your dreams (at the very least, of my own).[/p][p]Tome of the Blood Rite[/p][p]This shadow + chaos tome empowers the cultists among you through blood and sacrifice. I had recently rewatched the Da Vinci Code films, so conceptually there was definitely some inspiration from Silas, the bloodthirsty monk.[/p][p]
The themes of this tome converge in the Blood Cultist unit:[/p][p][/p][p]If you want to be equally fashionably scarred, you can take the Flesh Carved Runes minor transformation from the same tome:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Blood Cultist also comes with the new Dagger of the Rite ability, sacrificing their own health for increased damage.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In-game, with all that fancy FX:[/p][p][/p][p]And if you’re still craving more sacrifice, the tome comes with the Special Province Improvement (SPI) Blood Altar, to remind your enemies you’re all too happy having them over for “dinner”.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Tome of Torment[/h3][p][/p][p]This shadow tome is for those who want to master pain and use it to their advantage; for those of you with cold hearts and an affinity for the sharp and stabby. Just like the previous tome, the themes all come together in a single unit. For the Tome of Torment, that is the Pain Bringer:[/p][p][/p][p]As mentioned in the previous dev diary, the Pain Bringer unit from this tome is a revamped Death Bringer from AOW3. We wanted to stay true to her original design while updating her to feel at home in this tome. The Pain Bringer can get racial transformations, so if you have the Eldritch Realms expansion you can also give her some perfectly thematic umbral touches![/p][p][/p][p]If this tome’s pain themes overwhelm you, pay a visit to the Basilica of Lamentation SPI to lament about those woes.

[/p][h3]Tome of the Crimson Reign[/h3][p][/p][p]This high tier shadow + chaos tome secures your ultimate rule over blood and the units that thrive off it. The standout unit of this tome, but perhaps also of the entire expansion, is the Blood Exarch.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Who of course has some epic abilities and FX:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The stragglers[/h3][p]Now I have definitely rambled enough, so here are some final quick-fire content highlights for your enjoyment![/p][p]A perfectly spooky & gothic UI Skin:[/p][p][/p][p]The icons that seem to just never end:[/p][p][/p][p]Also, free content! A full Hunter customization set for the Pantheon (in three parts - hat, cape, and outfit), as well as three item forge visuals to provide everything you need to hunt down those pesky creatures:[/p][p][/p][p]And lastly, also very much free-to-use, a variety of wallpapers attached to this dev diary!

Download the wallpapers here!

[/p][p]A big thanks for hanging out with me! As always, there is way too much I couldn’t include, but don’t fret: just like for Archon Prophecy, the art team will be compiling their favorite works of the expansion into an ArtStation art blast when ‘Thrones of Blood’ releases on November 11th.[/p][p]Look out for more information on that, and tune in again next week for the final dev diary on the Dark Culture Update![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Follow us and be the first to know when we drop new content![/p]

Gargoyle Update Open Beta (21.10.25)

[p][/p][p]Hi all!

The release of Thrones of Blood is slowly approaching and as with every release it’s accompanied by a Free Update. Starting now the Gargoyle Update is in Open Beta on Steam. Owners of the game on Steam can access the Gargoyle Update by opting into the gargoyle_beta branch (see instructions below).

The Gargoyle Update features the long-requested Dark Culture Rework, introducing the Ruling Cults. There’s also a variety of new Item Forge Infusions and an extensive update to the Onboarding Experience. With our Open Beta’s we set out for two things:[/p]
  • [p]A big benefit of our Open Betas is the incredible amount of Stability feedback we receive. What you’re receiving today is the version of the game we’ve just submitted for Certification. While this Open Beta is running we’re simultaneously developing our Day 0 Patch. Things might be a bit more hotcode but this allows us to implement the most pressing fixes into our Release Build.[/p]
  • [p]We also want to give the Modding Community a headstart in updating their content to match the new update. We’ve done some testing to verify initial compatibility but there’s a vast variety of mods and mod combinations out there.
    [/p]
[p]After updating to the Gargoyle Beta your in-game version will read 1.013.000.113600.[/p][h2]Leaving Feedback[/h2][p]The most effective way to provide us with feedback is by making a Discussion Thread in the Open Beta Discussions. There’s a couple different types of Feedback that we can process during this Beta period.[/p]
  • [p]Stability[/p]
    • [p]Crashes reported with the Crash Tool will automatically show up in our back end, so when you experience a crash please make sure to Upload those.[/p]
    • [p]If you have a Blocker i.e. a Crash or Hang that will not allow you to continue your game, please make a report and include your Crash Report Name - given after upload - so we can tackle it.[/p]
    • [p]Any general Bugs reported are welcome but not the main focus of this period, we’ll try to address those in a timely manner depending on our available resources.[/p]
  • [p]Modding[/p]
    • [p]If you experience issues and suspect that it might be related to one of the mods you have installed, then please verify which mod it may be by disabling your mods. If you’ve determined which Mod is causing your issue try to contact the Mod Developer first.[/p]
    • [p]If you experience crashes with your mods, then please make a thread as stated above. While outdated mods can cause issues, we do try to ensure that they do not crash.[/p]
  • [p]Balance[/p]
    • [p]We’re open to make Balance changes that focus on any extreme imbalances in new or updated systems needed to be tackled asap. These changes need to be known and implemented before Tuesday the 28th.[/p]
    • [p]Balance changes that are more general or require us to change text are not feasible during the Beta Period. This feedback is welcome but will be addressed during our regular development period as resources allow.[/p]
[p]
The final Update of this Beta will be when we submit the D0P for Certification. After that the branch will remain active until the release of Thrones of Blood & the Gargoyle Update on November 4th.  [/p][p]Thrones of Blood release[/p][p]When the time of release hits the Beta branch will be updated to include the Thrones of Blood Content, this ensures a smooth transition for users switching back to the Default branch. A few hours after release the Gargoyle Beta Branch will be disabled and removed, any remaining users will be automatically moved back to Default when this occurs but it’s advised to switch back yourself shortly after the release.[/p][p][/p][h2]Getting into the Beta - What you need to know[/h2][p]If you want to take part in the beta there are a few important things you need to know! [/p]
  • [p]This Beta is only available on Steam, owners on Console, Epic or Gog will receive the full Gargoyle Update alongside the Thrones of Blood Content Pack on November 11th.[/p]
  • [p]If a save has been made in Open Beta, there’s no going back! You will not be able to open that save in the game outside of the beta until the beta ends on November 11th![/p]
  • [p]Spent Pantheon Points & Unlocked Content do not transfer between branches. If you unlock the new Pantheon Content included with the Gargoyle Update during the Beta and decide to switch back your spent points will be lost. The Pantheon Content will need to be reacquired when returning to the beta branch or upon release.[/p]
  • [p]Only use this in multiplayer if all participants agree. Make sure you do not use the beta in multiplayer without checking with the other players first, once a multiplayer game session has been updated to use the open beta, you cannot go back to previous versions![/p]
[p][/p][p]With all of that said, to access the beta you will need to do the following:[/p][p]To switch to a custom branch in the Steam client, right-click on the game from the library page and select "Properties".[/p]
  • [p][/p]
[p]Among the available tabs will be the "BETAS" tab.[/p][p] [/p][p]The Gargoyle Beta should be listed in the dropdown menu under "Select the beta you would like to opt into:" A restart of your Steam Client may be needed if the Branch isn’t visible. [/p][h2]Complete Gargoyle Update Notes[/h2][p]Read the patch notes[/p][p][/p]

Dev Diary #52 - The Tomes of Thrones of Blood

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Greetings, night creatures! I'm Luis, a Senior Designer at Triumph Studios, and now that you have journeyed through the sunless lands, I'm thrilled to unveil the new Tomes I've crafted for Thrones of Blood. My aim with these Tomes is to not only complement the new Elder Vampire leaders but also make sure they possess their own unique identity.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Tome of Blood Rite[/h3][p][/p][p]The first tome, the Tier I Tome of the Blood Rite, focuses on cults, enabling you to damage your own units with spells for powerful effects and make your enemies bleed.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Blood Cultist is a Tier II Battle Mage whose fanatical duty is to let blood flow. Their Scarlet Plague ability applies Blood Parasite, a new Bleeding effect. This negative status effect acts and counts as bleeding, with the key difference being that most units, even bloodless ones, can suffer from it. If a unit dies while under this effect, the parasite matures and spawns a new unit called a Blood Parasite.[/p][p]Hemorrhage Bolts facilitate this by dealing extra damage per stack of Bleeding on its target. If that's not enough, the Dagger of the Rite ability increases all their damage by 50%, with the downside of the unit dying at the end of the turn. However, not all is lost, as the Dagger of the Rite also grants the Cultist resurgence; if the battle is won, you can get your cultist back.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Blood Maggot unit is a Tier I Fighter that spawns from this new status effect. It moves through the battlefield, feeding on corpses and engorging and strengthening itself. When it dies, it splatters all adjacent enemy units, dealing damage and inflicting Blood Parasite, thus restarting the cycle.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Blood Carved Runes is a minor transformation in this tome. It grants all your racial units increased World Map Regeneration and makes their attacks and debuffs ignore 1 point of Status Resistance per stack of Bleeding on the target.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Blood Drinking Blades is an enchantment for your melee units that increases their physical damage and heals them when attacking Bleeding enemies.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Sanguine Focus is an enchantment for your magical units that grants them a chance to make their targets bleed, thereby facilitating your melee units' thirst for blood or the Blood Cultist’s increased damage.[/p][p][/p][h3]Other Spells and Unlocks:[/h3][p]Rite of Bloodletting and Rite of Lifeleeching function similarly but achieve different outcomes. Both Rites require targeting a friendly unit, dealing a flat, unblockable 5 damage. The Rite of Bloodletting then inflicts Bleeding on all enemy units within a 2-hex radius of the targeted friendly unit. Conversely, the Rite of Lifeleeching grants Strengthened and Life Drain to all adjacent friendly units for 3 turns.[/p][p]The Blood Altar is a Special Province Improvement unlocked by this tome. It is a Conduit that provides draft, increased per nearby farm, and a flat amount of mana whenever you are victorious in battle.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Tome of Torment[/h3][p][/p][p]The second new tome is the Tier III pure shadow Tome of Torment. This tome focuses on demoralizing your enemies and transforming your units to benefit from the pain inflicted upon them.[/p][p]Torment is a new negative status effect that punishes a unit for using abilities, damaging them and causing them to lose morale whenever an ability is used. It can stack up to 5 times, and when it triggers, a stack is removed. It also counters the Grace status effect, acting as its opposite.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To lead your army of torment, we are introducing the Pain Bringer, the first racial Mythic unit in the game and a callback to the Death Bringer from Age of Wonders 3. As a Mythic unit, it cannot benefit from most unit enchantments, but it will still have Transformations applied to it.[/p][p]It has a free Shadow Step ability it can use every turn to teleport up to 2 hexes, and its melee strikes heal it for half the damage they deal. Together with its Flanker passive, this can be a deadly combo.[/p][p]Additionally, it also has a ranged Whip ability called Tormenting Lash that instantly applies 4 stacks of Torment.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This tome has a Minor Transformation called Painbound that makes units relish pain. Whenever a Painbound unit is struck, it gains a small amount of Morale and a random status effect.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Tormenting Projectiles makes your battle mages and ranged units apply Torment with every strike.[/p][p][/p][h3]Other Spells and Unlocks:[/h3][p]Agonize deals Frost damage in a 1-hex radius and has a high chance to apply 3 stacks of Torment.[/p][p][/p][p]Lens of Anguish is a throne-only building that grants Mana and Combat Casting Points while making all your combat Damage and Debuff spells inflict Morale Loss.[/p][p][/p][p]Basilica of Lamentation is a Special Province Improvement gained when unlocking the tome. It grants Mana, Knowledge, and Stability to the city, gaining more Mana from adjacent Farms and more Knowledge from adjacent Foresters.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Tome of the Crimson Reign[/h3][p][/p][p]The Tome of the Crimson Reign is a Tier IV tome that centers on a corrupt and eldritch nobility. This tome delves into the sanguine and gory aspects of eldritch monsters, portraying them as a symbiotic force that empowers your units.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Blood Exarch is the source of this corruption. This Undead unit is an otherworldly monster of flesh and gore that bestows blessings. Its Parasitic Cleave slashes three enemies in front of the Exarch, bestowing them with a Blood Parasite so they may be reborn as maggots.[/p][p]Siphon Lesser deals increased damage the lower the unit's tier and heals the Exarch for half of the damage dealt. It also connects to its Grant Blood of the Exarch ability, which starts on cooldown. However, if Siphon Lesser kills an enemy, Blood of the Exarch’s  cooldown is refreshed. This ability can then be used to target your Tier III or higher units—those who deserve to be part of the Crimson Reign—to grant them increased Damage, Critical Chance, and Critical Damage.[/p][p]Blood Pull is a free action ability that pulls an enemy unit adjacent to the Exarch.[/p][p]In addition to these active abilities, the Blood Exarch also has three new passives. Coagulate grants it Bolstered Defense and Resistance once per turn when struck. Its Oppressing Aura passive has a chance to make adjacent enemies lose Morale and gain Misfortune, increasing their chance to Fumble. Lifedrinker heals the Exarch and grants it Strengthened whenever a unit, friend or foe, dies adjacent to itself.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Things get even more interesting and dark with Gift of the Old Blood. This new Major Transformation, a new way to gain the Undead unit type, comes a bit later than Wightborn but offers additional benefits. It grants your units the new Lifedrinker passive ability, seen on the Blood Exarch, which heals and strengthens your units as enemies die around them. It also gives all their attacks a chance to spread the new Blood Parasite status effect.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To help you create your Crimson Reign, there’s the new Mantle of the Blood Noble enchantment. It attaches to all Tier III, IV, and V units, giving them the Exarch's Coagulator passive. When entering battle, the enchanted units gain a small amount of maximum hit points and healing received in combat, scaling with the number of Tier I and Tier II units you bring into combat.[/p][p][/p][h3]Other Spells and Unlocks:[/h3][p]Crimson Court is a throne-only structure that, once built, grants all your Tier III, IV, and V units increased regeneration on the world map and a small amount of experience each turn.[/p][p]Additionally, building this structure grants you a passive ability called Crimson Court Magistrate. This ability causes all your Vassals to provide extra Mana based on their population and generates large amounts of Mana when Migrating or Razing cities as well as Pillaging provinces.[/p][p]Tears of the Crimson Sovereign is a combat spell that when cast and for the next 2 turns damages and inflicts blood parasite to up to 3 enemies and heals and gives fortune to 3 friendly units.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We hope you like what you've seen here; these were very fun to design. Become a cultist of the Blood Rite, a Tormentor who knows a myriad of ways to inflict pain, or a brazen leader who summons an eldritch being of flesh and undeath upon your lands to bless your units and turn your enemies into maggots.[/p][p][/p][p]This content pack comes out on November 11th, and we here at Triumph are all super excited to see what you come up with! Join us next week as Elle will show you the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making this content come to life.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p] Follow us and be the first to know when we drop new content![/p]