Greetings, Warriors! We hope your Summer has been going great! 😊
It's about time we've released another update, but first, let's discuss some things before we really dive into the changes.
• Delays, Open Beta and Development Pacing
At this point we reckon that frequent delays are an integral part of the game's development, but trust us, they happen for good reasons. It's always better that we delay something rather than have it released as is. We would like for things to be as stable as feasible.
1.58.2 has suffered multiple delays again, and we had to sit down and think how we would like to approach the development of BR:ZE in the future. As a result, Open Beta will be terminated post 1.58.2 release as we're shifting away from this model, now for good. All changes will be timely provided in live as hotfixes and patches.
• Roadmap
You guys have been asking us for a roadmap, and our answer is basically always the same- we don't have one, at least not for public sharing. Our main focus is to have the game as stable and smooth performing as possible, while we fix the game and implement new functionality.
• Languages
Once again, we hear you! Please, understand, providing translations for ZE requires many tweaks not only to translations themselves (different text from the original game), but also making it work within Steam. These things will take time and we're working on them. Stay tuned for an exclusive translation announcement in the future. :)
1.58.2 Changelog:
Technical:
The SM (Spectator Mode) and JM (Judge Mode) teams can now see Battle Gears and Techniques on Units, as well as training queues in combat buildings.
• We wanted to add Crypt/Keep into this too, as well as seeing techniques in the buildings, but at the moment the game really doesn't like the idea of having that happen.
- AI won't micro healers on medium and low difficulty profiles.
- Fixed a crash related to dismounting a horse and using the "Look Here" command.
- Fixed an issue with horse/rider damage sharing abilities that prevented some abilities from working correctly (i.e. Wolf Tower not slowing horses down, Stun Spear not affecting units on horses, Caltrops damaging riders instead of horses etc.)
- Game will now show the current key bind action if the player assigns a key that is already bound to a different action (thanks, Grubby!).
- Fixed Multiplayer lobby selection info not always showing correct data.
- Disabled key hold event in the game interface (holding keys forcing same key press event multiple times).
- Made allies nearby setting be considered only if there are actual teams with more than 1 player on them. That means players will always spawn randomly when playing 1vs1 or FFA games.
- Fixed an issue which denied combat units from training in buildings on fire.
- Fixed a 2001 bug that sometimes denied targeting enemy units that were queueing into training buildings.
- Fixed an issue where Pack Wolves did not always respond to owner's combat state (if owner is on passiveness wolves will be on passiveness as well).
- [UnitAI] Units will not prioritize attacking Lotus Brothers over other combat units.
- Restored AI behavior on some of the campaign missions to make them more fair.
- Fixed an issue where the attack cursor showed for Wolf Units when targeting allied horses (and allowed attacking them).
- Fixed an issue that made peasants stack resource at the same hut due to distance calculatioins. Peasants will now distribute resources evenly among huts.
- Fixed an issue that made units stack in each other when attacking buildings on Stand Ground order.
- Allied player abilities that harm units will not trigger combat alerts (i.e. Dark Pact, Budo's Whip).
Gameplay:
UNIT TRAINING TIME
For balancing purposes, we have once again revised training time for all units:
All units, no matter their tier (and including Geisha/Druid/Channeler), will train the same amount of time, which is set to be 25 ticks right now.
A tick is a single "clock cycle" of the game engine. Think “second” that varies with the game speed.
Unit Alchemy in BR is a tricky system. Tiers in our game only denote the number of trainings that units have to undergo. For example, Spearman is Tier 1, Kabuki is Tier 2 and Samurai is Tier 3 because they undergo 1, 2 and 3 trainings respectively.
The issue we’re trying to resolve is the increased time on 2nd and 3rd trainings. Since Update 1.58, the time to train a Peasant into a Samurai is 20+25+40= 85 ticks. With our new implementation the time of all trainings is equalized making it 25+25+25 = 75 ticks. In the legacy game, for example, that time would equal 25+30+45= 90 ticks.
A higher tier unit (a unit that underwent more than 1 training) does not mean a better unit, but merely a unit with a different, specific purpose. Due to the armor system in the game, and the need to pick counters against your opponents, one always has to shuffle units and be flexible. In order to make that more straightforward and less bothersome, we have reduced the training time for Tier 2 and Tier 3 units.
HITPOINTS & STAMINA
- All melee units spend less stamina when running, including horses and wild wolves.
- Units will now regenerate stamina and health when walking. The recovery rate is 50% slower than idling.
- Limping units (red health) will not recover unless they idle until their health bar becomes yellow.
- Red health units on a horse will recover health if the horse walks.
SIEGE SYSTEM
- All buildings will equally take 100% damage from any incoming attack. Armor Multipliers no longer apply to buildings.
- Techniques that provide Siege will now return to their previous iterations or remade to provide a different effect (i.e. Serpent Cannoneer’s Steel Cannonballs).
- Techniques that increase damage will NOT increase damage against buildings. Units only.
- All units' damage against buildings has been revised. It is somewhat of a middle ground between what you saw in the original and previous version of ZE (1.58.1). You would still need Siege units to effectively dispose of enemy structures.
We have to make this system easily understandable and customizable. Previously Siege went through 2 multipliers, which should not be a thing. The original game's system relied on Building AM, and the ZE implementation lies on individual unit Siege multipliers.
Our end-goal is to properly customize each siege and non-siege unit in a more flexible way. We are rolling out a V1 of this version that we hope you guys can help us shape. 🙂
BUILDINGS
1. Revised and equalized building hit points across all clans
Hierarchy, lowest hitpoints to highest hitpoints:
Well (500 hp).
Peasant Hut (650 hp).
Towers / Training buildings / Stables / Battle Gear buildings (900 hp).
Townsquare / Crypt / Cairn / Monument / Warlock Tower / Throne (1000 hp).
Keep (1200 hp).
2. Revised Tower abilities
- Dragon Watchtower Stun is now 6 ticks (vanilla value).
- Serpent Watchtower Blind is 15 ticks (vanilla value).
- Wolf Watchtower Slowdown is 15 ticks (vanilla value).
- Lotus tower damage 50 explosive / 50 magic (vanilla value is 60 explo/50 magic).
3. Tower Flammability value normalized
Towers will no longer have increased flammability value that made them more susceptible to fire than all the other buildings.
HORSES
- Horses will take 125% damage from piercing attacks and 100% damage from the rest.
- Horses HitPoints reduced from 400 to 350.
Dragon Clan
- Spearman Magic AM increased from 1 to 1,25 (Takes 125% damage from magic attacks).
- Chemist innate duration increased from 10 to 15 ticks.
- Chemist Starburst Rocket will be a single projectile (instead of 1 + 3 cluster rockets). We had to remove the functionality introduced in 1.58.1 due to its unpredictability. The projectile itself will also be less powerful.
- Archer Fire Arrows charges decreased from 15 to 10.
- PK Indirect Fire LoS reduction removed to avoid iffyness in PK behavior (until we come up with a better BG idea).
- Kabuki Stardust duration is 15 ticks (20 previously).
- Concussion Smash Explosive damage decreased from 60 to 40.
- Guardian’s Concussion Smash’s stun effect will no longer stack indefinitely.
- Guardian Cutting AM increased from 0,5 to 1,25 (takes 125% damage from cutting).
- Guardian Magic AM decreased from 1,5 to 0,75 (takes 75% damage from magic).
- Last Stand state increases Guardian attack speed by 20% and damage by 50%. Drain rate decreased from 8 to 6.
Serpent Clan
- Cannoneer’s default projectile is a new projectile called “Stoneball” which flies at a slow speed and hits 1 target only.
- The “Steel Cannonballs” technique replaces Cannoneer’s default projectile by Steel Cannonballs, which travel faster and hit multiple targets in a row (basically what Serpent Cannoneer used to be before).
- Restored default Cannoneer Mine functionality. We had no choice but to do this since the new functionality caused unexpected bugs for units on horses. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a way to fix it.
- Cannoneer’s “Steel Cannonball” projectile speed reduced from 15 to 13.
- Cannoneer's Mines Area of Effect changed from 4 to 2.
- Cannoneer's Smoke Duration decreased from 20 ticks to 15.
- Swordsman's Glass Sword will not kill undead creatures (Zombies, Spirit Warriors, Shamblers).
- Poisoned Weapons technique Yin cost decreased from 4 to 3.
- Crossbowman FatigueRecovery decreased from 6,25 to 5.
- Crossbowman StaminaWhenRunning increased from 1,25 to 2,5.
- Crossbowman’s Phosphorus Bolt LoS value increased from 11 to 12.
- Rebalanced Vetkin's Running stats a bit. He will have limited running potential.
- Musketeer’s base damage increased from 25 to 27,5
- Musketeer’s Sniper Scope damage increased from 25 to 27,5
- Musketeer’s movement speed decreased by 5%.
- Musketeer’s Sniper Scope movement speed increased 10%.
- Dark Pact duration reduced from 60 to 30 ticks.
- Bandit’s Paralysis Darts amount decreased from 6 to 4.
- Ronin Explosive AM increased from 1,5 to 1,75 (takes 175% damage vs explosive).
- Ronin Blunt AM decreased from 0,5 to 1 (takes 100% damage vs blunt).
- Ronin Cutting AM increased from 0,25 to 0,5 (takes 50% damage vs cutting).
- Ronin Magic AM decreased from 1,75 to 0,5 (takes 50% damage from magic).
- Ronin base damage increased from 25 to 30 (Yin Swords remain unchanged).
- Ronin's Cursed Swords AoE increased from 6 to 8 (legacy value).
- Glass Sword will no longer kill a Swordsman with full hp (even without technique).
- Glass Sword is 1 time use.
- Enforcer's default movement speed increased 10%.
- Enforcer's Hobnailed boots increase his missile avoidance from 0 to 3.
- Enforcer's Low Blow will now dismount units from horses.
- Enforcer's Low Blow will deal 80 units of blunt damage. Will not slow units down, but will stun them for 5 ticks.
- Utara now deals poison damage (5 damage / 5 ticks).
- Utara's stamina damage on hit removed.
- Budo's Whip ability affects all clans' peasants.
- Budo's Whip allied damage decreased from 40 to 30.
- Vetkin's damage increased from 12 to 16.
- Taro's damage increased from 17,5 to 20.
- Necromancer's attack increased from 15 to 18.
Wolf Clan
- Fixed an oversight that allowed Pitch Slinger's Scorched Earth to deal double damage with his mines.
- Wolves’ Den max. Wolf capacity increased from 8 to 12.
- Pack Master will only be able to get 2 wolves maximum.
- Wildeye's damage increased from 12 to 18.
- Gaihla's damage type changed back from Magic to Cutting.
- Gaihla's active Healing ability will now cost 20 stamina to activate.
- Druid and Dryad entanglement will no longer completely stun units. It will only immobilize and prevent them from using their active abilities.
- Druid’s base range damage decreased from 14 to 12,5 (legacy value)
- Dryad damage decreased from 23 to 20.
- Scorched Earth mines total placed amount increased from 16 to 20.
- Mauler’s base damage decreased from 15 to 14.
- Added 10 Stamina Activation Cost on Mauler’s Wrecking Ball BG.
Lotus Clan
- [Dark Canopy] Pitch Slinger's Scorched Earth will not penetrate Lotus Adept's Dark Canopy. Unclean One's Death Sentry and Warlock's Soul Chill will do that on the other hand.
- The Three Brothers will be put on a 30 tick cooldown when they are defeated akin to heroes in the Keep.
- The Three Brothers will grow stronger with Yin points like Zen Masters (10% per 1 Yin).
- Lotus Peasant hitpoints increased from 135 to 150 (equal to other clans’ peasants).
- Lotus Brothers will not be killed by Serpent Swordsman's Glass Sword but will be killed by Wolf Brawler's Zen Punch.
- Melee Brothers (Lythis and Tausil) hitpoints decreased from 400 to 375.
- Staff Adept's Dark Canopy will now cost 10 Stamina to activate.
- Staff Adept will be Siege by default.
- Staff Adept’s Iron Staves (damage) technique effect increased from 1,2 to 1,3 (vanilla value).
- Leaf Disciple Melee Counterstrike innate damage decreased from 5 to 2,5.
- Leaf Disciple Melee Counterstrike damage type changed from Magic to Piercing.
- Fixed an issue with previously incorrectly set fatigue recovery rate for Leaf Disciple (decreased from 3,75 to 2,5).
- Blade Acolyte speed decreased by 5%.
- Blade Acolyte base damage decreased from 15 to 14.
- Diseased One’s base damage reduced from 15 to 14.
- Warlock Stamina Siphon range decreased.
- Warlock's Siphon will work on any Lotus unit with the exception of Brothers and Heroes (not just T2).
- Warlock Dark Arson damage decreased 200 to 150.
- Warlock Ready Attack Animation fixed.
- Warlock Soul Chill range increased from 5 to 6.
- Warlock Soul Chill damage increased from 60 to 70.
- Yvaine's Ice Prison Stamina Cost decreased from 75 to 60.
- Yvaine's Ice Prison Duration decreased from 10 to 6 ticks.
- Infested One will regenerate health to 100%.
- Infested One will regenerate health twice as fast (like Wolf units).
- Infested One Fire AM changed from 0,25 to 1 (Will take 100% damage from Fire).
- Infested One Blunt AM changed from 0,25 to 0,5 (Will take 50% damage from Blunt attacks).
- Infested One Explosive AM changed from 1 to 0,75 (Will take 75% damage from Explosive attacks).
- Infested One Cutting AM changed from 1,25 to 1,5 (Will take 150% damage from Cutting attacks).
- Infested One Famine becomes a targetable ranged ability, range is equal to Kabuki Star Dust.
- Stamina Cost changed from 60 to 40.
- Koril's damage increased from 20 to 25.
- Soban's damage increased from 15 to 20.
- Zymeth receives his own weapon and projectile entries.
- Zymeth damage increased from 17 to 27.
- Zymeth is now Siege.
- Unclean Death Sentry LoS value increased from 8 to 12 (this gear will scout the area around better).
- Unclean Death Sentry will no longer cause horses to rear-up/dismount units.
Starting Army -> Starting Peasants
Combat units will no longer spawn at the start of the game. Only peasants, defined by the setting.
Small - 2 starting peasants.
Medium - 4 starting peasants.
Large - 6 starting peasants.
VFX
- Fixed weapon impact SFX/VFX issues regarding Spirit Warriors when hitting Lotus/Wolf buildings.
- Enhanced “Strong Explosive” VFX to reduce visual clutter.
- Enhanced “Strong Magic” VFX to make it a bit more visible.
- Added new Impact VFX for Cannoneer’s “Stone Cannonballs”.
- Projectile VFX and SFX fixes for Hurler's default Rock.
- Increase VFX uptime for Unclean One's Spreading Goo.
- Restored and enhanced Guardian's Last Stand SFX.
- Fixed and enhanced Guardian's Last Stand VFX.
- Increased visibility for Mauler’s Wrecking Ball VFX.
- Changed color/visibility for Leaf Disciple’s Counterstrike (to also denote the change from magic to piercing damage).
- Restored and revised Ronin’s Cursed Swords VFX (after death effect/innate ability).
- Fixed WorldMaster VFX: Dust_Cliff.lfx and Volcanic_Vent.lfx not looping
Map Changes:
New Map: [ZE] Crescent Island
Crescent Island is an XS map for quick 1vs1 games.
The distinct feature of this map is that it has unique trees previously seen only in the campaign and only in the "Dragon's Spire" mission. You will also be able to find the White Wolf Skull Totem in there.
We hope you like it, and some action-packed skirmishes happen on it! Let us know if it can be improved further down in the comments.
New Map: [ZE] Great Divide
The ZE version of Great Divide features:
- 2 more river crossing at the top and the bottom (center river).
- 3 more forest spots near the river crossings,
- Updated humidity settings (rain is now possible)
- Updated lighting and fog of war.
New Map: [ZE] Spirit Island
Added a map by Toki that was created specifically with our team's wishes in mind. You might've played the original V1 version of this, but V2 is the one that is now in BR:ZE. :)
Map Updated: [ZE] Freedom At Last
- Both horse spawns have been moved into the middle of the map.
Map Updated: Arborlake Ruins
- Recalculated lighting.
- Updated tree shadows.
- Fixed player spawn points (no more spawning 1 peasant on the hill and 1 below).
- Fixed the incorrectly working horse spawn in the south-eastern region.
Map Updated: Battlefield
- Replaced with updated WOTW retail version - Winter Cataclysm
Legacy Map Added: Archipelago
Legacy Map Added: Vetkin's Redoubt
Legacy Map Added: Pariah Peaks
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Populated by more than 4000 warriors, it is a solid communication bridge between us and all of you.
If you're having issues, planning to report a bug, or just want to learn something new about the game and communicate with other fans or even developers -- we'd like to see you there, come around!
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- The Battle Realms Team
