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Now is the ultimate time for you to dive in, defend humanity, and experience Age of Darkness: Final Stand for yourself!
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.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – v0.9.1 Hotfix Update – Out Now!
Protectors of the Light,
We hope you are enjoying Act I and II of the Campaign and the latest features from Flames of Retribution. This hotfix build will address some of the main issues that have arisen in the latest update to ensure that your playing experience continues to be as smooth as possible.
Eagle eyed players noticed that lightning within The Veil was not appearing correctly to warn players which direction a Death Night horde would approach from. This has now been fixed. Additionally, we have focused on eliminating game-breaking crashes during Campaign. As an added treat, we have also refreshed the main menu to highlight the visually captivating art that you see in the Campaign.
It’s time to jump into the latest update and defend Erodar from the ominous terrors that threaten its very existence.
As always please continue to report bugs to our Steam forums or in the player support channel on our Discord, as we’re constantly monitoring those channels.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Release Notes
Features
New: Flames of Retribution Main Menu Visuals
Crashes
Fixed a crash related to Cutscene Characters not being in the correct position.
Fixed a crash related to loading Campaign Autosaves.
Fixed a crash that could occur after restarting M03.
Fixed a rare crash that could occur when two units - player and enemy - were directly on top of one another.
Fixes & Changes
Fixed an issue where the Death Night Path would not always follow where the Lightning Indicated during a Death Night.
Fixed an issue where the player would not correctly progress to the End of Game screen after defeating the Final Stand on all Survival Difficulties.
Fixed an issue where Edwin’s Level and XP would not carry over correctly to Mission 4 in Campaign.
Fixed an issue where there would be a Loading Screen tip that displayed as “Missing String”.
Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.
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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.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Thank You and Upcoming Fixes
Protectors of the Light,
It’s now been a few days since Flames of Retribution has been out in the wild, so we wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your amazing support for Age of Darkness: Final Stand and talk about some upcoming fixes.
Since we launched into Early Access, through to the release of Flames of Retribution, our amazing community has been with us every step of the way. We’ve been wrapped with the reception to the first part of our campaign and are truly excited for things to come!
Our devs have poured their hearts and souls into Age of Darkness: Final Stand and are delighted to release the first part of the Campaign and an expanded vision for the world of Erodar. To you, our valued community, we can’t wait to bring Act III to life, and we hope you are all eagerly anticipating what happens in the thrilling crescendo of the Campaign later this year.
Hotfix Incoming
We are always listening to our community across all our social platforms, and with that, we are aware that some bugs are occurring throughout Campaign and Survival. We are actively working on a hotfix update that will address many of these issues and aim to share more information on this by the end of this week. Specifically, we are looking to address Death Night pathing, crash fixes, and Hero level correctly carrying over correctly between Campaign missions.
Skipping Cutscenes
One change that has been highly requested by our Discord community is skipping cutscenes. Cutscenes can be skipped in the current build by pressing “H”, however, players should be wary of intermittent issues. The main issues we have noted are instances where the In-Game Camera can invert, or the Cutscene Audio can play over the in-mission barks. The game autosaves before cutscenes, so should you encounter a crash, loading the autosave should resolve this.
Evaluating Resource Distribution
In the Flames of Retribution update, changes were made to iron, stone and gold resource veins to ensure that the advancement and upkeep have a more even balance when building out your base and army.
Gold has been lowered around the edge of the map but more has been added towards the middle as the value of getting to the perimeter of the map outweighed the risk. Some iron deposits have been swapped for stone as it was quite common for players to get bottlenecked by stone, especially as you need it to build T3 houses.
We will be monitoring how players adapt to the new balancing changes and will continue to adjust resource distribution in future patches if needed. For now, we hope you will embrace the new challenges and strategies these changes open up, and keep us informed of your experiences with them.
For the Light!
On behalf of the Age of Darkness: Final Stand team, we are honoured to continue building our title around the incredible community that has formed alongside it. Thank you once again.
PlaySide Age of Darkness: Final Stand dev team in Melbourne
Expect more announcements from us soon but until then, we hope you continue to enjoy the Campaign experience.
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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.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Flames of Retribution Update – Out Now!
Dear Protectors of the Light,
Brace yourself, as the Veil creeps in and cloaks the land in darkness. The time has come to step into the light and reveal our biggest update ever.
Welcome to Flames of Retribution and the first part of the epic and long-awaited Campaign for Age of Darkness: Final Stand.
Flames of Retribution is free and available now to all Age of Darkness: Final Stand owners. The update includes Act I & II of Campaign, where players will embark on a perilous journey throughout the lands of Erodar – from its dark and bloody past through to present day. Comprising of the Prologue and seven uniquely captivating missions, players will bravely face not just the horrors that lurk in the darkness, but humans who have strayed from the Light.
The campaign provides a landscape to expand on the intriguing story of our heroes and how they came to be, as well as their relationships with one another. Flames of Retribution weaves a web of rich lore for each Faction as well as new characters introduced throughout the storyline, with plenty more to come.
Discover the history of Erodar and the Elosa in the Flames of Retribution: Before the Darkness blog Part 1 and Part 2.
Helping Edwin herald the ranks of The Order, Merek Longhold is stepping in to take charge and show his strength in Survival. With his imposing stature, he’s a heavy-hitting hero who can smash through hordes of Nightmares while being able to bolster his fellow soldiers and lead them into battle. Read more about ‘The Bolstering Might’ in our Hero Deep Dive blog.
Although Campaign is the main focus for this update, there is no shortage of improvements made to Survival Mode – including damage and VFX fixes for current Hero abilities, improved AI pathing around buildings and a range of stability improvements.
As always please continue to report bugs to our Steam forums or in the player support channel on our Discord, as we’re constantly monitoring those channels.
To ensure the smoothest experience for Flames of Retribution, the minimum and recommended specs have been updated and are as listed below:
MINIMUM SPECIFICATIONS
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-10600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT
Age of Darkness: Final Stand has received a Steam Deck Compatibility rating of 'Playable'. The game is functional, however, some UI and text may be harder to read and interact with.
Check out the full patch notes below:
Release Notes
Features
Age of Darkness: Final Stand Campaign – Flames of Retribution – Act I and Act II.
Three visually captivating Cinematics
Full VO across all Campaign Missions.
New Order Hero: Merek.
Localisation for New Features.
Additional Changes
UI & VFX Improvements and Optimisations.
Added Hardware Cursor to the game.
Credit Updates.
Balancing
Cyrus: Reduced Cyrus’ range from 7 to 6.
Lightbearer: Removed Gold needed to research, previously needed 500 Gold.
Lightbearer: Removed time needed to research, previously took 120 seconds.
Lightbearer: Increased the attack range from 0.4 to 0.75.
Sentinel: Increased Health from 200 to 250.
Catapult: Increased the purchase cost to now require 3 Food.
Catapult: Reduced the Shred while in Siege Mode from 50 to 25.
Catapult: Reduced the Shred while in Mobile Mode from 25 to 10.
Flamer: Reduced the knockback from 0.35 to 0.2.
Flamer: Increased the movement lock time from 0.75 to 1.75.
Impaler: Increased the attack range from 5 to 6.5.
Design Notes: The catapult is the absolute dominant siege weapon for Order defense, and the Flamer tends to do very well both defensively and during exploration. These changes are designed to slightly lower the Catapult's impact (no pun intended) in late Death Nights and make the Flamer less effective as an all-rounder.
Lodges: Increased the Gold earnings on Lodges from 18 to 20 Gold per Tick.
Houses: Increased the Gold earnings on Houses from 40 to 42 Gold per Tick.
Gold Veins: Decreased the size and quantity of the large Gold veins at the edge of the map.
Gold Veins: Increased the quantity of Gold deposits closer to the centre of the map.
Iron Veins: Decreased the quantity of Iron deposits to make the resource a bit more scarce than it currently is, whilst making room for Gold and Stone.
Design Notes: Gold accumulation from mines at the perimeter of the map usually greatly outweighs gold income from housing. This has led to the 'best' strategy being a focused push to the edge, followed by scouting for gold mines. With these changes, we hope to reduce the massive advantage that tactic provides and smooth out midgame income.
Stone Veins: Increase the quantity of Stone veins across the map.
Armor System: Buildings that regenerate unit’s armour have had their regen range increased from 6 to 14.
Armor System: Set armor regen time to be quicker and universal amongst all units. All units now regenerate from zero to maximum armour in 10 seconds once regeneration starts. Design Notes: The rate and requirements for recovering Armour were too stringent, and as a result a lot of players would never attempt to bring a lumbering Sentinel back to a workshop to recover. By upping the range and reducing (and standardising) the recovery time, it will feel like far less of a hassle to mend your military in the wild.
Triage Tent: Reduced the time it takes for units to be revived from the triage tent from 1.6x their training time to 0.75x their training time.
Triage Tent: Reduced the build time from 30 to 20.
Triage Tent: Selling the building now recoups the entire cost.
Triage Tent: Will now also regenerate unit armour.
Triage Tent: Adjusted the placement within the UI to reflect its place within the build order.
Design Notes: The Triage Tent has struggled to find a comfortable role in the meta. These changes are designed to make building and utilising a Triage Tent significantly faster, cheaper and easier, and reduce the penalties of progressing beyond the range of a tent.
Treasury: Increases the player’s gold cap by 1000 Gold on placement.
Treasury: Reduced the research cost of the Treasury from 1400 Gold to 1000 Gold.
Treasury: Reduced the purchase cost of the Treasure from 2000 Gold to 1500 Gold.
Design Notes: The Treasury is another building that, outside of its passive income effects, sees very little use, and rarely sees more than one built per game. By moving some of the Warehouse's storage utility into the Treasury and lowering the upfront costs, it will be easier to feel like you're getting your money's worth, and less punishing to build it anywhere but in the middle of your housing mass.
Storehouse: Reduced the Gold cap provided on placement from 1000 Gold to 500 Gold.
Braced Wall: Increased the health of the Braced Wall from 500 to 750, and the armour from 50 to 75.
Braced Gate: Increased the health of the Braced Gate from 1000 to 1500, and the armour from 80 to 125.
Braced Tower: Increased the health of the Braced Tower from 600 to 900, and the armour from 65 to 100.
Fire Sconce: Added 3 Wood upkeep to the cost of the Fire Sconce.
Fire Tower: Added 5 Wood upkeep to the cost of the Fire Tower.
Design Notes: Wood is a resource that tends to require very little thought after the opening few days of a Survival match. Building fire towers tends to also be a fairly safe place to put resources during exploration and expansion. With this change, we are aiming to stretch Wood's relevancy later into the game, and make Sconce and Tower building a more thoughtful decision.
Crashes
Fixed a crash caused when Vizargo would use Claw Dash.
Fixed a crash when Vizargo would attack enemies during Serenity.
Fixed a crash caused by Cyrus’ Splintering Shot.
Fixed a crash that could be caused from Units having their Armour regenerated.
Fixed a crash related to losing a Survival Game with the Mortal Coil Hardship active.
Fixed a crash related to selecting the Nightwatch Blessing when playing Survival on the Nightmare Difficulty.
Fixed a crash related to killing Elite Nightmares when playing Survival on Nightmare Difficulty.
Fixed a crash related to having too many resource drops onscreen at once during Final Stand.
Fixed a crash related to starting a Death Night.
Fixed a crash that could occur on the start of Death Night 4.
Fixed a crash related to having ranged units target dead enemies.
Fixed a crash related to loading specific Saves.
Fixed a crash that could be caused related to Auto-Saves.
Fixed a crash related to loading save files while Alt-Tabbed.
Fixed a crash caused by Ballista Towers completing construction.
Fixed a crash caused by selling a Training Hall while training a Unit.
Fixed a crash related to the Fog of War being updated.
Fixed several crashes caused by the Mini-Map being updated.
Fixes & Changes
Implemented a new Load Game Menu to accommodate Loading Campaign Saves in addition to Survival.
Edwin’s Enlighten Ability now lists full percentage points rather than decimal places, and updates as he levels up.
Fixed an issue where Edwin would not gain armour as he levelled up.
Fixed another instance where Edwin could get stuck after using Crackfire.
Fixed an issue where Aelis’ Loyal Guards could not damage enemies after the Royal Decree Ability was triggered.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Caltrops ability could cause a performance hitch.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Violent Volley VFX would not appear during the ability being cast.
Fixed an issue where Cyrus’ Violent Volley ability would play while the game was paused.
Fixed an issue where Vizargo could appear invisible while Serenity was active.
Fixed an issue where units could not move around buildings and would get blocked by collision.
Fixed an issue where some research options would still be missing when selling the Wood Workshop.
Fixed an issue where in some cases repairing a building would not deduct the correct resources.
Fixed an issue where the player can pause during the end game Victory / Defeat Screen.
Fixed an issue where Edwin would not enter combat when getting attacked by a Spitter.
Fixed an issue where the player could still see a Point of Interest radius ring during a Death Night.
Fixed an issue where arrows and bolts would fire off in random directions if a targeted enemy was killed mid-flight.
Fixed an issue where the Fearless & Stability Perk Tree Traits would not function correctly.
Fixed an issue where Enemy units would also receive Perk Tree bonuses.
Fixed an issue with the Hazy Skies Malice not functioning correctly.
Fixed an issue where Nightmares would twitch when getting too close to the player’s base.
Fixed an issue where the Middle Mouse Button would not work correctly after having the player Attack Move.
Fixed an issue where buildings were being constructed rotated by 180 degrees.
Fixed an issue where Ballista Towers were not aiming at enemies when firing.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect tier of Nightmares could spawn in the outer perimeter of the map within Survival.
Fixed an issue where the Mini-Map would not update vision as the player explores.
Fixed an issue where the Gameplay Tips button would not function properly.
Fixed an issue where the game could lose functionality when a Gameplay Tip appeared on screen.
Fixed an issue where the player would still see a Gold Quarry Income bar when they had no Gold Quarries active.
Fixed an issue where the maths for the Earning / Upkeep of Food could be incorrectly calculated.
Fixed an issue where the player’s units would disappear from the Unit Count in the top left of the screen if garrisoned in a Tower.
Fixed an issue where the Death Night Horde would stop before reaching the player’s Keep in Survival.
Fixed an issue where the game could soft-lock after winning the Final Stand.
Fixed an issue where the Burster’s VFX would not display in Survival.
Fixed an issue where being defeated in Survival would not trigger the Keep Destruction Animation.
Fixed several instances where Hero Ability VFX would remain on the ground after being cast.
Fixed an issue where UI elements were not displaying correctly on the 1280x1024 resolution.
Fixed several instances of missing Localisation.
Fixed several instances of Crash Analytics not being reported correctly.
Fixed instances where gates would not function as intended.
Known Issues
We have observed an issue with Death Night Swarming pathing not following the lightning path all the time. This will be fixed in a subsequent update.
Potential for the game to soft lock during the Final Stand in Survival.
We have observed an issue that in rare cases the game will not end after defeating the Final Stand in Survival. This will be fixed in a subsequent update.
If the player attempts to load a Campaign save file made in v0.9.0 within the roll-back version of v0.8.4 this may cause the save file to corrupt at worst, or a host of unintended Campaign related issues if it does in fact load.
Allowing the Keep to be destroyed in the Mission 1 ‘Protect Village’ Objective and then loading the autosave will cause the title to soft lock, please use a Manual Save in this instance.
Control Groups will be reset during Cutscenes. These will have to be manually re-added post in-game cutscene.
Hero Level and XP does not carry over from Mission 3 to Mission 4.
In Mission 7, the Playable Hero’s Third ability may not consistently deal the correct amount of damage.
Mission 7 starts with an increased amount of repairs due to walls not starting at correct health.
Some VO lines within Campaign will still contain temp VO. These will be removed within subsequent updates.
Some VO lines can be accompanied with the incorrect Character Dialogue Portrait.
If the player manages to skip a cutscene using unintended debug functionality this may cause unintended Mission behaviour or crashes. This will be fixed in the next update.
Saving and loading back into a mission may create strange behaviour such as seeing Campaign triggers, gaining vision or possession over buildings or units, or in-game mission timers not working correctly.
Enemy archers ejected from destroyed towers may become invisible and will continue to attack player units.
Fishing Nets display grey squares when ready to collect.
Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance.
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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.
Continue the journey from our last entry as we learn more about the history of Erodar and its ongoing tensions, glorious triumphs, bitter failure, haughty greed and noble sacrifice – along with its heroic struggles against the unrelenting Nightmares of The Veil.
THE ELOSAN WARS - PART 2
In an effort to secure more secret Elosan technologies and blood rites for himself, Ezekiel bargained with the Elosan lords, offering resources, crafts, weapons – even human slaves. The Elosa rejected them all. Nothing could be done to sway the Elosa to give up more sacred knowledge.
Increasingly frustrated by what he perceived to be a slight against humanity and an undermining of his own sovereign authority, Ezekiel began to quietly amass weapons of war, training conscripted soldiers from across Erodar in secret in a vicious attempt to usurp the Elosan power structure.
A bloody and prolonged war ensued, plagued by indiscriminate waves of Nightmares that spewed forth from the Veil. Amidst the chaos of battle, Dark Crystals fell into disrepair – and through this neglect, Nightmares took hold once more. Fighting against enemies that vastly outnumbered his army, once more King Ezekiel was humbled in the face of superior Elosan technology and strategy.
The Elosan rulers captured Ezekiel, dragging him in chains to the abyss in the desolate lands of Erodar’s Northeast. It was here that Ezekiel was cast down into The Veil. The fissure was sealed, along with Ezekiel’s fate.
Rather than quelling the ongoing war with Ezekiel’s defeat, the King’s fanatical loyalists were incensed by the death of their leader. The Elosa were wise and powerful, to be sure – but humans were low, cunning and desperate to prevail.
War ravaged Erodar. Human soldiers from far shores and distant lands joined forces to push back the duplicitous Elosa in a final climactic battle that would spell the ultimate downfall of the Elosa and the end of their bloodlines.
From the ashes of the Elosan empire, The Order was formed; Brothers and Sisters were enlisted based on strength and aptitude. Order acolytes were trained to maintain public peace in a post-war land – and do what little they could to repair the Dark Crystals that remained. Without the Elosa, it soon became clear that such repairs were temporary at best. Certain teachings and techniques had gone to dust with the Elosa themselves, despite the late King Ezekiel’s best efforts.
Many thousands of years later, Elosan ruins still dot the landscape, but stories of the Elosa are treated as little more than a creation myth. However, one thing is clear: much sacred Elosan knowledge was lost in the aftermath of the Elosan wars, never to surface again.
Today, the Alderin Empire rule much of Erodar, despite the pressing threat of Nightmares, alongside competing Houses and other factions. Now there are whispers that brush across tongues beside hearthfires and in the halls of power. Dark times bring dark thoughts; without the Elosa, can humanity put an end to the Nightmares of The Veil.
WARDEN OF THE LIGHT
In the Prologue cinematic trailer, we are met with the commanding voice of Bishop Hector Greymont.
Hector sought out orphans to shape into initiates and teach them the ways of The Order. He would assign them under the guidance of one of his prestigious Order Knights to further develop their skills and knowledge. Once they were trained and had come of age, they would continue their studies and fill one of the many Order postings. Under this initiative, Hector has developed a new generation to serve and protect The Order.
As the esteemed Bishop of The Order, Hector’s influence dwindles as his morals and the values of The Order are called into question.
THE BATTLE FOR ERIN’S CROSSING
In previous blog entries, the relationship between Edwin and Aelis as teacher and protege has been hinted at, so let us tell you a story of how they came to be in each other's lives.
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The Battle for Erin’s Crossing is where the fall of the Syren empire transpired. At that time, Sir Edwin Everard was sent by The Order to be a part of the Syren King’s Guard, to help fend off impeding forces from the Alderin Empire’s tactical warriors – The Aldegard.
The loss of the Syren’s power would disrupt the balance of power for the entire continent and beyond…
Edwin and the King’s Guard were preparing their defences for the Aldegard to strike, in hopes that they would gain the upper hand. In a desperate attempt to gain the element of surprise, Edwin gathered his own troops to stage a strategic attack. Among his company was his Squire, the youngest Princess, Aelis Syren.
In the heat of battle, the Princess was critically injured. Presumed dead, Edwin reluctantly left her behind. With the fall of House Syren, the Alderin Empire claimed all their lands and people.
After the devastating loss of Erin’s Crossing, Edwin was recalled to High Keep – where he was given the news that there were no surviving heirs to the Syren throne. The loss of Aelis felt like a dagger to the heart for Edwin, he felt a strong paternal bond for her, now carrying the guilt of her death around with him…
A new age was beginning, House Alderin had won the battle for power and began ruling with an iron fist.
Aelis’ apparent death created a sense of longing and emptiness in Edwin..
FOR THE LIGHT?
As the world spirals deeper into darkness, the lines of morality are blurred. Navigate the darkness of Erodar for yourselves, on April 19th, and see how the story unfolds in Flames of Retribution.
Please report bugs or crashes to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘bug-reporting’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
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.
Merek Longhold, also known as “The Bolstering Might”, is the newest Hero to join the distinguished ranks of The Order. Wielding a massive halberd and with an ego to match, this hard-hitting, close-combat bruiser is an imposing figure on and off the battlefield. Despite presenting himself as a paragon of law and order, Merek has been known to demonstrate some moral flexibility when it benefits his desires and coin purse.
WHO IS MEREK?
Merek has been a lackey for Hector, the Archbishop of The Order, for more than 20 years. Throughout that time, he doggedly followed Hector’s orders, doing whatever was needed and without question, regardless whether the actions were “right” or “wrong”. Such is the will of The Order.
Merek has developed a desire for living large – with his affluence and narcissism pushing him further into his vices of gambling and drinking. Although he wouldn’t give Edwin the honour of knowing, he is secretly ashamed of how far he has fallen. That said, as the world of Erodar continues to fall deeper into ruins, The Order continues down its broken path, and the glory days fade to just a distant memory, why not have a little fun and earn a bit of coin while doing it?
HALBERD AS BIG AS HIS EGO
It was important to have Merek to have a unique visual identity compared with Edwin and demonstrate his tank/support abilities at-a-glance.
As a starting point, The Order's faction identity generally consists of more use of metal and heavy armour than the other Factions – to emphasise their strength and defensive capabilities. Keeping this in mind, there needed to be a differentiation between Merek and Edwin. Edwin was always intended to be more of a conventional Knight, whereas Merek has been able to take more liberties over his years, with plenty of flair linked to his questionable morality.
Merek is a very powerful and heavy hitting character. He has a much larger and imposing body build, which lends to the visual representation of him being a tank hero, who can also protect those valiant warriors who fight alongside him. Out of all the Heroes, Merek has the largest build and weapon, just to bolster his ego a little bit more.
Merek flaunts his authority with badges adorning his flamboyant armour. Merek's design features pieces of The Order’s flame motif across his metal armour, along with the flaming sword on his tabard. He's much more proud of his affiliation with The Order than Edwin, so we wanted this to feature heavily in his outfit.
However, despite his flashy garb, Merek is also a little unkempt due to the debauchery he gets up to after a hard day's work. He cares little about his appearance outside his golden trinkets and his commitment to The Order, so his armour is never fully maintained. As Merek is always in need of a drink, he is never seen without his wineskin to slake his thirst. You’ll notice he also sneaks a drink during his idle animations and during some of his abilities.
Merek’s voice actor captures his arrogant personality as he tends to have a bit of a brazen attitude and often doesn’t care about the image he projects to others when speaking to them.
Each Hero bears small yet distinct features that link them to their storyline. Make sure to check out our Hero Select screen for even more detail on our characters. For Merek, he bears a scar on his face inflicted by Vizargo twenty years prior in a heated fight… but you’ll learn more about that encounter later in our Campaign.
“THE BOLSTERING MIGHT”
“The Bolstering Might” title came about when our team was deciding to create a Hero combining both tank and support archetypes. The idea was to encourage tight melee unit formations from start-to-end, via a hero with strong melee combat abilities and decent buffs for nearby allies. Merek’s gameplay style is quite different to the other heroes – he is most effective when paired with melee units rather than clearing hordes of enemies by himself. Cleverly using his ability to “heal” closeby units en masse in critical moments is key to mastering his playstyle.
Drinks on Me!: Merek’s passive Skill is unlocked from level 1. Drinks on Me! will activate once Merek takes enough damage, whereby he will then heal allies around him for 5% of his maximum HP. When Merek’s Ultimate, Holy Protector, is active, Drinks on Me! will also heal Merek.
Crushing Weight: At level 2, Merek leaps into action with his active Skill, Crushing Weight. This Skill gives Merek the ability to jump forward, slamming into the ground and damaging and stunning enemies within an Area of Effect radius. Merek also regains armour for each Nightmare slain, scaling per level.
Halberd Hurricane: Merek comes in like a destructive force at level 4 with Halberd Hurricane! The Bolstering Might sweeps his Halberd in a 360 degree arc, damaging all units in the area. There is also a chance to proc Drinks on Me! when he kills an enemy using this skill. Halberd Hurricane can be used multiple times in quick succession and the amount of uses that can be stored increases as Merek levels up. The time it takes for each use to be stored also reduced with each level.
Holy Protector: At level 6, Merek gains the ability to buff and support his loyal comrades with Holy Protector. When this Skill is activated, Merek temporarily grants nearby allies Armor equal to his maximum and recovers it to that maximum if it has been damaged – this applies even to units that don’t ordinarily have Armor. While Merek’s Ultimate is active, Drink's on Me! also restores health to Merek. Holy Protector also buffs Merek's other skills by temporarily increasing the area of effect.
His commitment to protecting The Order is unwavering, despite his questionable judgement… will Merek be the hero you side with? The drinks are on him once the battle has been won!
Please report bugs or crashes to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘bug-reporting’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
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.
Flames of Retribution is coming! Act I & II of the long-anticipated campaign for Age of Darkness: Final Stand will arrive 19 April worldwide! The Campaign will feature three different Acts, each with their own unique missions building upon the story and taking it to new and horrifying depths.
Let’s take a look back at the story of Age of Darkness: Final Stand, contextualising the perils Protectors face in Survival Mode and setting the scene for new explorers of the grim, dark world of Erodar throughout the Campaign.
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THE ELOSAN WARS - PART 1
Before the world of Erodar had been decimated by The Veil and the vile Nightmares that spewed from it, a different yet equally sinister battle was being waged between the people. Their greed for power created a corrupt world for The Veil to feed on and thus, plunged the world into darkness…
The continents of Erodar, Surabia and Va’Shin are situated on the lush planet of Marua. The overlands, specifically Erodar, were once inhabited by an ancient race known as the Elosa.
The Elosa appear to have originated in Erodar before gradually venturing across the seas to Surabia and Va’Shin, where they first encountered human civilization. Early humanity was scattered and tribal, living in basic communes, eking out their simple existences with meagre farming techniques, basic tools, implements and weaponry. Much later, these settlements would eventually combine to become the first regions of the human Alderin empire.
Both the Elosa and humans were plagued by an emerging threat: Nightmares - horrific creatures that emerged from fissures in the landscape to feed. The Elosa, over time, developed powerful techniques to keep the Nightmares under some semblance of control. Harnessing their own blood as a source of power, the Elosa were able to create enormous protective Dark Crystals, imbued with an energy that prevented the Nightmares from advancing.
Humans, however, had to rely on their own wits and rudimentary devices. As a result, they were heavily predated.
Humans were not viewed by the Elosan society as a threat, but as an opportunity to be harnessed. Through careful intervention, it was believed that human blood might help the Elosans uncover new discoveries, combining human ingenuity with Elosan techniques and capabilities. As such, the Elosan rulers took humanity under their protective reach.
After establishing diplomatic relations, a slow exchange of knowledge took place. It is believed the Elosa are responsible for conferring complex metallurgy and construction techniques upon humanity, teaching them how to create secure settlements and more sophisticated defensive techniques. They also taught the first human Kings how to repair the enormous Dark Crystals that had been damaged by ongoing Nightmare infestations.
These two races worked together and prospered, and for a time, the overlands of Erodar were purged of Nightmares completely. All known fissures were sealed beneath Dark Crystals, held in place by the potent blood rites of the Elosa, and upheld by both the Elosa and trained human representatives.
After several generations, the great human King, Ezekiel, took the throne. Until then, relations between humans and Elosa were steady, but discontent was spreading in the newly-settled human cities on Erodar. Ezekiel’s expansionist mindset proved fruitful for humanity; new cities were being constructed as populations swelled. However, Ezekiel craved more. It was clear to King Ezekiel that the Elosa had a firm hold on the most critical resources of all: Dark Crystal – and the blood in their veins that imbued them with powerful capabilities. Humans had become reliant on the Elosa for protection from the Nightmares for too long. It was time to shift that balance of power…
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In our next entry, we continue the story of the Elosans sombre fate…
FLAMES OF RETRIBUTION
Act I & II of the Campaign, Flames of Retribution, includes seven distinct Missions where you step into a world full of epic battles and dire threats. The aftermath of the Elosan Wars has created both internal and external threats for each Hero and character throughout the world.
Watch the story unfold in beautifully scripted cinematics and in game cutscenes, where you will be introduced to captivating characters, some who you have never met before. You may either love or loathe them, so who’s side of history will you be on?
Each Hero has such a rich backstory and thorough gameplay, you will have the chance to learn more about the past and present history of Erodar through voice-acted Lore entries. Within the Missions, Protectors will also have the opportunity to play with characters who are not available in Survival Mode.
The dazzling 3D Mission Select Map will help players feel grounded in the world of Erodar as it provides a visual representation of the landscape the story is taking place in. With each Mission complete, the Hero you are playing as in will move between the regions of the map to get to the next checkmark – which helps players keep track of where they are travelling to throughout the world.
For our apprentice Protectors who have only now joined the fight, the initial Campaign Missions can also act as a tutorial for those who have yet to brave the Darkness in Survival Mode. So whether you are a seasoned fighter or new to the cause, Campaign Mode will immerse you into a world where each decision you make could be the difference between life and death.
With every great saga, there will always be twists and turns… Flames of Retribution is only the beginning.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
Expect more updates and content will rise out of the Darkness once they are ready! A key player in Campaign will also be joining the stellar lineup of Heroes available in Survival Mode to help players defend their Keep from the looming threats that are invading the lands – You’ll be meeting our new valiant Hero very soon.
Keep your sharp eyes peeled for future Campaign release announcements as we are excited to share with you soon when Act III will be available.
So, Protectors, keep your villagers out of harm's way and the enemies abay… you never know what’s lurking in the darkness.
Please report bugs or crashes to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘bug-reporting’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool.
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.
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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.
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.
