Age of Darkness: Final Stand - v1.0.1.4 Balance Tweaks
Protectors of the Light,
With this update, we’re bringing a wave of balance changes aimed at refining unit roles, improving underperforming heroes, and ensuring more strategic variety across the roster. Whether you’re a frontline warrior, a ranged tactician, or a master of deception, these adjustments should give you new ways to dominate the fight.
From Vizargo’s much-needed buffs to Soldiers gaining more survivability, and a shake-up for the Pikemen, this patch focuses on enhancing gameplay depth while ensuring every unit has a place in your army. Let’s dive into the details!
Balance Changes
VIZARGO
Vizargo has needed some love! Even before Armour, he was tricky to use, and post-1.0, it was clear he needed attention. We hope you enjoy his buffs to Serenity, Veiled Coil, and Claw Dash.
Veiled Coil range now scales more dramatically over levels to account for larger melee armies nearby.
Adjusted Veiled Coil maximum heal percentage per unit slain from 3/5% to [color=green]30%[/color].
Serenity damage has been significantly increased to match other heroes' damage output.
Reduced Serenity base cooldown by almost [color=green]50%[/color].
Claw Dash now has scaling charges from [color=green]2[/color] up to [color=green]4[/color], allowing Vizargo to move in and out of combat or aggressively clear enemies.
SOLDIER
The Soldier has been underperforming as newer units and systems have been introduced. Meanwhile, Pikemen have taken the crown as the best all-around melee unit. To make Soldiers a more viable choice, we’ve improved their survivability.
Reduced Soldier upkeep from 2g to [color=green]1g[/color].
Added [color=green]25[/color] armour.
Increased base Health from 150 to [color=green]200[/color].
Increased base damage from 7 to [color=green]9[/color].
Increased knockback from 0 to [color=green]0.3[/color].
PIKEMEN
As mentioned, Pikemen have become the strongest value melee unit. To help diversify unit choices, we’ve made slight adjustments but will monitor these values closely.
Adjusted base damage from 13 to [color=red]12[/color].
Added [color=red]1[/color] food cost.
Adjusted knockback from 0.35 to [color=red]0.2[/color].
Adjusted shred from 5 to [color=red]4[/color].
ARCHER
Archers were once a powerhouse, but as other units have gained benefits, their effectiveness has declined. To address this, we’ve improved their shred effectiveness and increased their tower attack speed.
Tower attack speed improved from 2.5s to [color=green]1.8[/color] cooldown.
Increased Tower Shred increased from 2 to [color=green]5[/color].
Increased base Shred from 0 to [color=green]1[/color].
ORDER KNIGHT
The Order Knight desperately needed additional shred, and we’ve delivered!
Order Knight Shred increased from 2 to [color=green]7[/color].
HARBINGER
The Harbinger was falling behind in the ranged department, making them feel awkward to play. We’ve given them a small boost to their tower and general range effectiveness, and reduced the frustration of needing to recast Dark Prophecy by increasing its range and duration.
Tower attack range improved from 5 to [color=green]6.5[/color].
Normal attack range improved from 2 to [color=green]3.5[/color].
Dark Prophecy range [color=green]doubled[/color].
Increased Dark Prophecy duration from 25s to [color=green]80s[/color],
Increased Dark Prophecy cooldown from 60s to [color=red]140s[/color].
ROGUE
Rogues had a slightly higher damage per hit than intended, making them a DPS powerhouse when paired with attack speed and charge melee perks. We’ve adjusted their base damage while keeping their gold-steal and stealth utility intact.
Base damage adjusted from 7 to [color=red]3[/color].
AELIS LOYAL GUARD
The Loyal Guard plays a crucial role in Aelis’ clear speed and survival, but she has fallen behind recently. We’ve increased their HP, damage, and shred to keep them competitive.
Base HP increased from 65 to [color=green]120[/color].
Damage increased from 10 to [color=green]13[/color].
Shred increased from 0 to [color=green]3[/color].
CO-OP DEATHNIGHT DURATION
While we’d love to provide more customization options, for now, we’ve slightly increased Deathnight 3's duration and made significant increases to easier difficulties. This should allow players to create custom games with Forgiving Duration as a temporary workaround.
[table] [tr][th]DIFFICULTY[/th][th]DN1[/th][th]DN2[/th][th]DN3[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Forgiving[/td][td][color=green]4[/color] Nights[/td][td][color=green]4[/color] Nights[/td][td][color=green]7[/color] Nights[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Easy[/td][td]3 Nights[/td][td][color=green]4[/color] Nights[/td][td][color=green]6[/color] Nights[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Normal[/td][td]2 Nights[/td][td]3 Nights[/td][td][color=green]5[/color] Nights[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Veteran[/td][td]2 Nights[/td][td]2 Nights[/td][td][color=green]5[/color] Nights[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Horrific[/td][td][color=green]2[/color] Nights[/td][td]2 Nights[/td][td]4 Nights[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Nightmare[/td][td]1 Night[/td][td]2 Nights[/td][td][color=green]4[/color] Nights[/td][/tr][/table] Overall we’re aiming to improve weak points in the roster and give players more options. Ensure to let us know what you think of the changes as we continue to monitor.We’ll be closely monitoring how these changes impact the meta and will make further tweaks as needed. Your feedback is invaluable, so keep sharing your thoughts and strategies with us!
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: Crash Fixes and General Improvements
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you for your continued support and for all the feedback you’ve shared with us. Your insights have been incredibly helpful in identifying and resolving the issues players have been experiencing.
This latest hotfix focuses on stabilizing edge cases within Multiplayer and improving game performance; emphasizing on eliminating various crashes and bugs.
General Fixes & Improvements
Removed the ability to transfer Watch Towers to the other player in Multiplayer.
Fixed being able to transfer non-transferrable buildings to the other player in Multiplayer by shift-selecting multiple building types.
Fix for issues that prevented saving from working with some Windows settings in Survival and Campaign.
Fixed an issue where players could get negative Map Seeds that weren't properly re-loadable.
Added more player-facing messaging to some Multiplayer disconnect pop-ups and error pop-ups for lobby issues.
Fixed some situations where Multiplayer saves aren't available to load.
Crash Fixes
Fixed a rare crash that could be triggered by some campaign scripting.
Fixed a crash that could occur in situations where units are removed from a Triage Tent.
Fixed a crash when entering a Multiplayer match with high latency.
Fixed a rare crash related to the hover info UI.
Fixed a camera-related crash.
Fixed a crash when utilizing the cinematic system in-game.
While we’re currently hard at work to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand a smoother, more enjoyable experience for everyone. Right now, our top priorities are:
Fixing Multiplayer Desyncs – We know how frustrating these can be, and we're working hard to improve stability.
Continued investigation into Hero Abilities – Looking specifically into abilities going on cooldown but not triggering, and Projectile/Displacement Abilities causing crashes.
Tweaking Balance & Game Duration – Adjusting pacing and balance to keep multiplayer matches fun, fair, and engaging.
Gathering Community Feedback on QoL Improvements – Your input helps shape future updates, so keep it coming!
Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us pinpoint and address these issues swiftly. Please keep sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: Crash Fixes
Protectors of the Light,
Thanks to everyone for the continual support and feedback we’ve been receiving. The information provided by the community is incredibly helpful to us in identifying and resolving problems that players are encountering.
The latest hotfix aims to continue improving the player experience, with its primary focus being on addressing a number of issues players are having with game crashes.
The update includes:
Improvements made to reduce crashes occurring in relation to cutscenes and abilities usage
Improvements made to reduce crashes occurring in relation to analytics and network issues
Tweaks made to particle and lighting effects in order to reduce crashes
Fix for the Hero Completion Achievements not unlocking properly in Multiplayer
Tweaks made to improve formation spacing
Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support; they inspire us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: v1.0.1.1
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you for the continued support we’ve received during our 1.0 launch. The feedback and insight you’ve provided has been instrumental in helping us to identify and resolve issues facing our players.
Following our earlier 1.0.1 patch, we are rolling out a small update to address an issue affecting a small number of players:
Fixed a crash when launching the game and failing to access steam cloud save.
Thank you for your continued support and feedback as we work to improve Age of Darkness: Final Stand!
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Patch v1.0.1
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you for your ongoing support following our 1.0 release. Your input has been crucial in helping us identify and address the feedback shared by our players.
Our latest patch addresses a variety of community suggestions, including several fixes and improvements across Campaign, Survival, and Co-Op game modes.
You can read all the improvements and community feedback we have incorporated in v1.0.1 below:
Balance Adjustments
Increased melee range for the Order Knight auto-attack by 0.4.
Lightbearer attack range increased, now attack from a short distance.
Increased the Lightbearer’s base Health from 90 to 125.
Added Armour to the Lightbearer from 0 to 25.
Added Armour Regeneration to the Lightbearer from 0 to 0.02.
Changed the Rogue’s basic attack to now be a multi-hit cone attack.
Increased the Rogue’s Attack Rate from 0.25 to 0.15.
Reduced the Rogue’s Gold Steal on kill from 3 to 2.
Reduced the Rogue’s base Damage from 15 to 7.
Increased the Rogue’s production Gold cost from 160 to 175.
Increased the Rogue’s production Stone cost from 2 to 5.
In Multiplayer T2 and T3 POI Camps reward slightly more Units/Siege Units.
General Fixes & Improvements
General improvements to load times and performance across the game.
Fixed a situation where unlocked Survival Difficulties wouldn’t save correctly.
Fixed a situation where Cloud Saves wouldn’t sync.
Fix for buildings that aren't impacted by the treasury getting icons as if they are impacted after paying off a debt.
Fixed Aelis's royal guards displaying a visual flicker under certain conditions.
Fixed a selection bug caused by holding shift and selecting buildings.
Fixed the objectives UI not updating correctly when you change the language.
Fixed UI not displaying correctly on the action grid when canceling research.
Fix for some situations in which some units wouldn't animate correctly.
Improved Audio balancing across all three game modes.
Fixed Audio timing issues present with Crushers.
Added audio to various buttons that were missing audio feedback.
Campaign Specific
Fixed a situation where Campaign progression wouldn’t save correctly.
Improved overall Cutscene audio within the Campaign.
Fixed an issue where Nightmares could get stuck during Mission 3.
Fixed audio timing related to Ritual Crystals in Campaign.
Fixed Vizargo's shield in Mission 10 not displaying during combat.
Fix for the wrong audio playing during cutscenes in Campaign Mission 10.
Multiplayer Specific
Fixed a crash that can occur when pressing the Multiplayer Button.
Added a pop-up when you’re not logged into Steam and try to access Multiplayer.
Fix for the host sometimes not properly loading into matches.
Fix for being able to select the other player's team color button in the multiplayer lobby.
Greyed out the "send" button in the trading window if no resources are going to be sent to the other player.
Fixed an issue where Units gained from captured POI camps spawned in a single point.
Removed the ability to transfer ownership of the Fishing Port in Multiplayer.
Fixed an issue where for Death Nights that break two Crystals only one would drop Dark Essence.
Disabled “+ buttons” in the trade menu when there are no more resources to send.
Balance Adjustments Deep Dive
As noted above, we've made a number of changes to balance Heroes, Units, and Buildings. The goal here is to improve early-game survivability, smooth out some frustrating aspects, and give a few underperforming characters a much-needed boost. Here’s a closer look at the v1.0.1 as well as 1.0 balance adjustments, and how your gameplay experience will change.
Heroes
Merek Merek has always had great potential but struggled with low survivability and clear speed, especially early in the game. We've made a few tweaks to ensure he can shine as a tank-healer hybrid, excelling alongside an army that benefits from his presence.
Improved base HP from 170 to 320 (this change reflects across all levels)
Improved base damage to 17 from 14
Increased damage of Crushing Weight across all levels
Vizargo Vizargo was a bit too frustrating early on, especially for new players, though his potential was clear. We've given him a boost to his survivability and skills, especially during those early stages, to make him more approachable and effective.
Improved HP across all levels, ie:
Level 1: 165 from 145
Level 10: 905 from 880
Added small amount of armour per level after level 3
Claw Dash cooldown reduced by approximately 7 seconds across each level
Small boost to Claw Dash damage DASH and VORTEX (swipe at the end)
Moderate boost to Impaling Wrath damage across all levels
Small boost to move speed from 1.6 to 1.65
Aelis We’re planning to revisit Aelis soon for some further improvements, particularly for the late game, but for now, she’ll receive a small armoUr boost at early levels to help new players get more out of her.
Added small amount of armour per level after level 2
Units
Rogue Rogues have gotten a rework! They now perform more like an aggressive soldier-pikemen hybrid. While they’re still squishy and gold-hungry, Rogues now clear more effectively but remain risky to use!
Added splash to attack instead of single target
Reduced gold gain to 2 again (to account for faster clearing)
Adjusted purchase price to reflect effectiveness
175G, 5 stone, 5 wood
Lowered base damage to 7 from 15
Increased attack count to 2
Lightbearer Lightbearers still need time to figure out their place but for now, they’ve received a range boost, allowing them to support from behind melee units instead of dying up front. They also get some bonuses to their survival.
HP increased to 125 from 90
Added Armour 25 from 0
Starting Engage range pushed forward from 0 to 0.65
Order Knight The Order Knight is still solid, but we’ve increased their attack spread so they can now hit more enemies at once, making them more effective in large fights.
Increased attack range to 0.4
Harbinger Harbingers still need further attention, but we’ve made a few changes to help their survivability and give them a slight edge in mobility.
Starting HP increased from 120 to 250
Move speed increased from 1.2 to 1.35
Flamer Flamers now have better survivability and a slight improvement to their knockback ability.
Added Armour to 16 from 0
Added Knockback 0.1 from ~0
Hunter The Hunter has been performing well, but we’ve given the Hunter Trap a small upgrade to improve its effectiveness.
Trap duration increased to 5s from 3.5s
Trap size increased to 2.5 from 1.5
Buildings and Research
Triage Tent We’ve reduced the cost of researching the Triage Tent, making it more accessible for players in the early game.
Research cost reduced to 300 from 750
Trade Bazaar The Trade Bazaar has had its purchase cost reduced, making it more affordable for players looking to expand their economy.
Purchase cost reduced to 650 from 850
Grand Bellow Tower We've given the Grand Bellow Tower a bit of a buff, especially in its range, attack rate, and damage, making it a stronger defensive option- We’ll be keeping an eye on this and other attack towers in the future.
Attack range increased to 15 from 12
Attack rate increased to 5 from 8
Base damage increased to 10 from 8
Advanced Farm The Advanced Farm was a little too pricey, so we’ve reduced its cost. We’ll keep an eye out for other later game research in the future.
Research cost reduced to 1200g from 1500g
Your insights and thorough reports have been invaluable helping us to better refine the gameplay experience for you, our players. We’re truly thankful for your engagement and encouragement, driving us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be. We encourage our community to continue to communicate with us regarding any feedback, as we’re always here to help.
To give back to you all, we’ve also launched a community challenge with prizes which you can check out here.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: Save Game & Crash Fixes!
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you for the continued support we’ve received during our 1.0 launch. The feedback and insight you’ve provided has been instrumental in helping us to identify and resolve issues facing our players.
Today, we’ll be releasing another hotfix, centered around a variety of save issues some players have been experiencing. This update addresses several reported issues, including:
Fixed a crash related to incorrect Light Radius calculation.
Fixed a crash related to audio that could occur in all game modes.
Fixed a crash related to Aurelia’s Crimson Lightning when it hit buildings.
Fixed a crash related to trying to load incompatible saves.
Fixed an issue where the player's resolution would change repeatedly after swapping monitors.
Fixed an issue where the player’s mouse could be offset from what’s in-game.
Fixed an issue where resolution could be set to something lower than the max resolution when Display settings was set to Borderless Windowed.
Fixed an issue where the game could start on the wrong monitor.
Disabled resolution drop down when playing in Borderless Windowed.
Pre-V1.0 Saves that are incompatible with the current game will now be marked as such.
Fixed a situation where the game failed to save. Backup saves will now be created in App Data > Local & App Data > LocalLow Folders.
Fix not being able to rebind controls to mouse thumb buttons.
Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support, it inspires us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - RTS Fest and Community Challenges
Protectors of the Light!
We’re excited to be taking part in the Real-Time Strategy Festival, and to celebrate, we’re inviting you to showcase your talents in an epic Community Creative Challenge! The theme? Bring the dark, epic world of Erodar to life through your unique perspective. Whether it’s a breathtaking piece of art, a cinematic video, or an intense in-game screenshot, we want to see the Age of Darkness through your eyes.
This is your chance to channel your creativity and make your mark on the community, all while competing for some incredible prizes.
So, how do you get started? Let’s break it down:
The Challenge
We’re looking for stunning works that capture the spirit of Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Your submission could focus on:
Epic battles with swarms of Nightmares.
Beautiful landscapes of Erodar’s shattered world.
Iconic heroes, buildings, or scenes reimagined in your unique style.
Whatever you decide to create, your submission should reflect the core themes of the game—darkness, survival, and triumph against the odds.
How to Participate
Create Content: Share your creativity through artwork, videos, or in-game screenshots.
Share Your Work: Upload your submission to the Steam Community Hub under the Artwork or Videos section.
Title Your Entry: Use the format: "AOD Contest Entry - [Give your post a cool title]”
Submission Rules
Here are the guidelines for submissions:
Your submission must feature Age of Darkness: Final Stand content.
All artwork, videos, or screenshots must be original and created by you.
Please include evidence of your process, such as a layered file or time-lapse video, to verify authenticity.
Images should be no larger than 2000x2000 pixels and under 15 MB in size.
Videos should be no longer than 120 seconds.
Keep your submissions appropriate—blood and battle are fine, but avoid nudity or explicit content.
Make sure your submission is your original work! AI assistance, tracing, or work not created by you is not allowed. We want to see your vision and creativity come to life.
Submissions will be accepted until February 3rd - 10:00 AM PT.
Prizes
Communnity Favourite (Most Likes):
Nightmare Mini
$100 Steam Gift Card
Dev Team’s Favorite:
Nightmare Mini
$100 Steam Gift Card
10 Random Participants:
Free copies of Age of Darkness: Final Stand to share with friends
Please note that physical prizes require the ability to receive shipped items. If shipping isn’t possible, we won’t be able to deliver physical prizes.
Share Your Work on Social Media!
For those entering the competition, we’d love to see your submissions on social media. Don’t forget to tag us—we’re excited to signal boost your creativity and celebrate your incredible work!
Winners Announcement
Winners will be announced and contacted on February 11th via Steam. Be sure to keep an eye on your notifications!
Good luck, and may the light guide you through the darkness. We can’t wait to see your creations!
—————
This competition is open only to individuals who are:
Not legally restricted from playing the ‘Age of Darkness: Final Stand’ game
Not in a country or territory at that currently has important restrictions in place or is affected by war
Not employees of PlaySide or their respective immediate family members
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: Stuttering Fixes & More!
Protectors of the Light,
Once again, thank you for your ongoing support for Age of Darkness: Final Stand through our full release. We appreciate the time taken by all of our players to share your feedback with us.
Our latest hotfix addresses several issues affecting players following our 1.0 release, including stuttering, audio, and unit selection.
You can find the full list of fixes for today’s Hotfix below:
Camera Stuttering improvements
Fixed a crash related to in-game particle FX
Fixed a crash related to audio loading.
Fixed a situation where Nightmares would get stuck on their way to a Death Night.
Added Shift Click improvements to Unit Selection.
Shift Clicking selected units in the world will add or remove them to or from the selection.
Shift Double-Clicking a unit adds or removes all units of that type to or from the selection.
Shift Clicking selected unit portraits in the Action Grid will remove them from the selection.
We remain committed to delivering ongoing improvements, quality-of-life updates, and bug fixes. Our next major focus will be addressing issues related to save files.
Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support, it inspires us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hotfix: Multiplayer Region Fixes & More!
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you for your continued support of Age of Darkness: Final Stand! Since the 1.0 release, we’ve been listening to your feedback and working hard to improve the game.
We’re excited to share our latest hotfix, which addresses several key issues:
Fixed Multiplayer region handling, players will now be able to invite one another without changing their Steam Download regions.
Fixed the Multiplayer End of Round Screen to correctly allow toggling of players.
Fix for auto-saving frequency setting string not fitting in the UI for German and Polish.
Fixed Researched UI not appearing greyed out if the Research Queue is full.
General save file improvements and checks to assist in debugging future save file issues.
We’re aware that some players are still encountering stuttering and performance issues. These are complex challenges, but we’re committed to addressing them as quickly and safely as possible.
Your feedback remains invaluable to us and it helps guide our improvements to ensure Age of Darkness continues to grow into the best experience it can be. Please keep your reports and suggestions coming; we’re listening every step of the way.
Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team
Cross-Region Play and Performance
We’d also like to highlight that cross-region play is not recommended due to latency inherent in peer-to-peer connections. While cross-region play is supported, players may experience suboptimal performance in this setup. For the best experience, we recommend playing with others in your region.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Hot-Fix
Protectors of the Light,
Thank you all for your incredible support of Age of Darkness: Final Stand following its 1.0 release! We deeply appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your experiences and feedback with us.
In response to the issues raised, we’ve released our next batch of fixes addressing the following:
Resolved an issue where the VFX on the Main Menu doubled up causing extra bloom and vibrance.
Improved the UI displayed when the game is waiting to receive network data from the other player.
Moved the UI for Auto-Saving in Multiplayer from the top left to the center screen to communicate with the player when saving is occurring during gameplay.
Fixed a situation where a client could no longer re-join an existing Multiplayer Lobby after leaving.
Fixed the trade panel UI displaying some text in the background behind the "send" button.
Adjusted “Default” windowed resolutions to be a more player-friendly resolution rather than the largest possible fullscreen resolution.
Fix for selected resolution resetting when you change monitors or between windowed / fullscreen modes.
Fix for displaying an invalid resolution when swapping monitors on uneven displays.
Fix for the game restarting on the incorrect monitor.
We remain committed to delivering ongoing improvements, quality-of-life updates, and bug fixes. Addressing game stuttering and resolving the Steam download region issue are top priorities. These fixes require careful implementation, and we’re working diligently to ensure they’re resolved safely and effectively.
Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us enhance the gameplay experience. Thank you for your continued support and active engagement—it drives us to make Age of Darkness the best it can be!
