Welcome to Conqueror's Blade Boot Camp! In this new video, we go over the basic controls of Conqueror's Blade, including moving your character, wielding weapons, riding mounts, and commanding your units.
Whether you’re starting your journey today or just need a refresher, check out the video below!
Note: This video is intended for players using the QWERTY keyboard layout.
Localisation Spotlight: Christiane (Jenny) Müller
Now that German players can enjoy new levels of immersion thanks to fully localised German voice acting, we want to shine a light on the entire team of people who work behind the scenes to bring all the aspects of Conqueror’s Blade to life.
We’ve already spoken with the talented voice actors, director, and others who worked behind the scenes to bring these new voices to the game, but now we want to highlight someone else who played an essential part in the project—Christiane (Jenny) Müller, German Localisation Editor for Conqueror’s Blade!
We caught up with Jenny and talked about everything from her day-to-day to the German voiceover project, her favourite part of her job, and more.
Q: Talk us through your role on Conqueror’s Blade.
A: I’m the translator and localiser of Conqueror’s Blade and work full-time on the game.
In this role, I try to make all the texts the players get to see as realistic and attractive as possible to make the game as enjoyable and entertaining as possible.
Q: Your contribution to the German voiceover project was truly a remarkable effort, as you wrote thousands of lines and created the entire script for more than 100 Units based solely on a list of triggers. How did you find the process, and what were your biggest challenges?
A: Well, the process was quite easy as I have worked as a translator with the game for many years already and know the game and the units very well. Therefore, I just needed to think of what a Claymore or a Kheshig would scream when rushing into battle. More interesting was the process of making similar situations sound different and entertaining. I had to work with a thesaurus to find enough words, as German has a lot of words, but it’s often a bit cumbersome when it comes to making short sentences.
I also tried to write some rather funny texts for the idle lines where the character waits for the player to continue.
Q: You also attended recording sessions with the new German voice actors; what was that like?
A: That was so awesome! I do theatre acting myself, so I know how difficult it can be to get yourself involved in a certain role. The actors had to shout or scream a lot while still making the whole thing believable, and especially female voices tend to sound somehow awkward or even kind of ridiculous if screamed, so we had to be sure that wasn’t happening.
The coolest thing was that I was allowed to intervene if a line wasn’t to my liking, and I could actually ‘show’ them what I meant by acting with my voice, so the actors understood what I was looking for.
Q: How do you approach establishing a tone and a character for each Unit and making sure it matches the game's localisation (which you also wrote)? Do you imagine a certain personality or motivation behind the soldiers in question?
A: Oh yes, definitely! Usually, we either get images of the relevant units, or we can watch the trailer of the current season, so you have a good picture of the people you are writing about.
Acting on stage as a hobby helps me a lot to imagine how those soldiers might feel or think, so it’s just a small step to write something that meets their characters.
Q: Do you have a favourite voice line from the new German recordings for Conqueror’s Blade?
A: I definitely love “Mich juckt’s am Hintern” (“my backside itches”) for the idle lines most.
Q: What’s your favourite part of the job?
A: When I was a teenager, I always wanted to become an actor or an artist and to draw or paint pictures. Now I actually do that for a living—-only with words. It’s like doing your hobby for a living. What could be better?
Q: What do you want people to know about localisation as a feature in games?
A: I think that most game developers totally underestimate just how important a very good localisation without grammatical flaws is. I play a lot, and I know many people who tell me how much some games suck because they don’t have a good localised version. Players get irritated by typos and grammar mistakes, or they get the feeling the developers don’t take them seriously by publishing a sloppy localisation. Yes, it costs money and time, but it’s also important for success.
Stay tuned for more interviews with the people behind the scenes of Conqueror’s Blade, coming soon!
Get 40% off the Helheim Battle Pass and Progress!
The halls of the Æsir still have much to yield… From now until August 25 (08:00 server time/08:00 CEST), you can pick up the Helheim Battle Pass with a 40% discount and save 40% on Battle Pass progress too!
The Battle Pass allows you to earn extra rewards this Season by completing Seasonal Challenges and amassing Glory. Storm through dozens of tiers of exclusive Viking-inspired rewards like new Emotes, Einherjar Unit Attire, Thunder's Call Unit Banner, the Horned Gulltoppr Mount Set, the Thor-inspired Bringer of Thunder Hero Attire, and so much more.
You can also draw more Blades to exchange in the Seasonal Store for other rare rewards, including brand-new and Viking-inspired weapon skins and Antique variants of attires and weapon skins inspired by Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok.
Grab the Helheim Battle Pass or Helheim Battle Pass Bundle for 40% off from the ‘F5’ menu (the Helheim Battle Pass is also available via Steam and MY.GAMES Market). Additionally, you can boost your existing Tiers to clean up those last rewards quickly with 40%discounted Helheim Battle Pass Progress (in-game only).
This Battle Pass is only available during Conqueror’s Blade: Helheim. The Season is due to end later this month, so don’t delay!
Server downtime - August 11
Please be aware that from 07:00 CEST on August 11 (22:00 PDT on August 10), the Conqueror’s Blade servers will be inaccessible. The downtime is expected to last for 6 hours.
Please refer to the Patch Notes for documented changes. Meanwhile, stay tuned to our Discord channel in case of any immediate server updates.
Ask The Devs #1: August 2022
Welcome to a new monthly Q&A series presented by the Conqueror’s Blade development team! We’re starting with questions focusing on the current season of Conqueror’s Blade (Helheim), but this is just the beginning.
We’ve gathered your burning questions and paid attention to feedback from the community to bring you this instalment, so we hope you enjoy the insight from the developers at Booming Tech!
Q: Why did the team decide to make a second Viking-themed season rather than one with a new theme?
A: The Viking era is too vast to cover in a single season. After Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarök, which focused on the early Germanic and Scandinavian mythologies (Sons of Fenrir, Berserkers, and Shieldmaidens), many players requested that we add Vikings more akin to the massive and brutal warriors of history.
Many asked for the Huskarls and Varangian Guards. And with those two units, the game now features five Viking-inspired units, rivalling the rosters of our units inspired by China and Western Europe.
(Editor’s Note: Check out the Behind the Scenes article about this very subject here!)
Q: Why did the team decide to only release two units this season?
A: As this is the first time ever we've only released two units, we believe it’s important that we explain our reasoning.
First of all, designing and creating units' behaviours, animations, and balancing takes plenty of resources and effort. This means that the devs working on these are unable to undertake other equally important tasks. We have collected a lot of feedback from our players that focussing on releasing new units may slow down the game as a whole and that perhaps we should focus more on fixing balance issues and bugs.
We wanted to give our design team and animators time to polish existing animations and AI behaviours, and work on improving the balance of existing units and heroes.
The team was able to release weekly balance patches and address multiple issues for heroes like the Glaive and Nodachi during the production of Helheim. These changes are our initial steps for making these two weapons more viable in the current meta, and we will be analysing data before making any further changes.
Regarding Unit balance, we made changes to the Ottoman-inspired units (Azaps, Jannisaries, and Royal Janissaries), adjusted the Shieldmaidens slightly, and re-worked the Mongolian-inspired Kheshigs. In addition, we made over a hundred minor changes to other units and worked on AI behaviours, animation bugs, and map balancing.
Q: How does the team select themes for new seasons?
A: Many factors play a part in the decision-making. Firstly, while Conqueror's Blade is not a historically accurate game, it is heavily inspired by history and encompasses certain historical time periods from which we seek inspiration for factions, units, and stories. We want the units on the battlefield to look organic when fighting one another, as opposed to having a melting pot of units from every possible era all mashed into one.
While we are based in China, we are an international company with an intercultural team comprising members from all across the globe, similar to how our players come from all over the world. This is why we aim to create a game with a multicultural representation of factions and units.
Some themes and cultures are expansive and very popular among our players, and we naturally want to expand on these when possible.
We need to respect the lore and world vision of Conqueror's Blade. Each following season must be connected and naturally integrated into the world with respect to the game's geography and the lore of previous seasons.
Finally, players often express their opinion on desired factions, and that plays a part in which theme we choose.
Q: Are there any plans to remove "Play X Mode" quests from Seasonal Unit Challenges to make them more accessible?
A: We are continuously adjusting Weekly Challenges and Unit Challenges and plan to continue doing so throughout the upcoming seasons. As many players have noticed, we are adding more and more alternative choices for challenges so that each player can choose those that they enjoy.
At the same time, we want to encourage players to play a variety of game modes and not only grind Siege Battles. That's why we plan to add more alternative goals that can be completed within PvP sieges while still retaining the challenges of other game modes.
Q: Are there any plans to introduce more Weapon Classes to the game?
A: New weapons are always a hot topic when it comes to a new season. For sure, we would love to add more weapons to Conqueror's Blade and plan to do so. However, that being said, we won't be adding new weapons as often as we add units due to balancing reasons and the development time required.
We've seen some really cool ideas from the community and have had serious discussions about those (and I do believe some of you have received our feedback). It also takes plenty of time to bring new features into the game. Most importantly, we would love to hear your crazy and creative ideas! You guys are like a never-ending spring of fantastic ideas!
That's all for the first instalment of Ask The Devs! We know that you have plenty of other questions that need answering, and the Conqueror’s Blade community team will be choosing the most popular topics and sharing feedback with the Development team for next time. Keep sharing your thoughts with us on Discord!
Join the Content Creator Program Today!
The Content Creator Program is an opportunity for video creators, streamers, and social media influencers to gain revenue, rewards, and growth for their channels in partnership with the Conqueror’s Blade team.
If you’re a content creator making amazing Conqueror’s Blade content on any platform, we want to work with you! You can read more about the Content Creator Program, benefits, eligibility, supported games, and more via the newly relaunched Creator portal.
In a nutshell, here are a few of the benefits official Content Creators can enjoy by working closely together with Conqueror’s Blade:
Revenue Sharing: Joining the Content Creator Program makes you eligible to earn revenue—check the Creator portal to learn more.
Exclusive Events: As a member of the program, you’re eligible to participate in creator-exclusive events such as Q&As, Preview Events, and Twitch Drop campaigns.
Giveaways: Creators are provided with codes that can be given away to their audiences to reward them with in-game items and content.
Promotions: Your channels, videos, and streams have the chance to be featured on official Conqueror’s Blade social channels and websites.
Rewards: Creators may receive in-game items (where applicable) like skins and cosmetics, premium currencies, Battle Passes, early unlocks, and more. This allows you to stay on top of the latest content and showcase the most exciting and up-to-date gameplay to your audiences.
Connect with the Team: When you join the Content Creator Program, you gain access to the teams behind our games, who will be available to provide news and information and help organise the promotion of your channels and activities.
Piqued your interest? Apply to become an official Conqueror’s Blade Content Creator today!
Spawn of Loki: Supernatural Sales ‘til September 1!
A new monster has been unleashed. Go beyond myth with the Spawn of Loki Limited-Time Event between now and September 1! Tackle quests, claim free loot, and acquire mystical items from phenomenal events and sales.
Fortune's Bounty
For a limited time, you can claim FREE Golden Keys when you spend Sovereigns at the in-game Store.
The more Sovereigns you spend before August 18 (08:00 server time), the more Golden Keys you receive - along with bonus items including Lotus Water and the Dragon Garrison Unit Attire!
Check out the details below: [table][tr][td] Sovereigns [/td][td] Chests [/td][td] Bonus Items [/td][/tr][tr][td] 500 Sovereigns [/td][td] 1x Golden Key [/td][td] 2x Rare Schematics Chests [/td][/tr][tr][td] 1,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 1x Golden Key [/td][td] 3x Chests of Silver (10,000 Silver Each) [/td][/tr][tr][td] 2,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 2x Golden Keys [/td][td] 2x Greater Scrolls of Glory [/td][/tr][tr][td] 3,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 2x Golden Keys [/td][td] 2x Random Epic Artillery Chests [/td][/tr][tr][td] 5,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 3x Golden Keys [/td][td] 10x Lotus Water [/td][/tr][tr][td] 10,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 5x Golden Keys [/td][td] Dragon Garrison Unit Attire [/td][/tr][tr][td] 20,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 8x Golden Keys [/td][td] 15x Lotus Water [/td][/tr][tr][td] 30,000 Sovereigns [/td][td] 10x Golden Keys [/td][td] ‘Loyal & Righteous’ Epic Player Title [/td][/tr][/table]
Sea Monster Attire Chest
The depths of the ocean are home to many terrifying creatures—-and also to bountiful treasure! Dare to discover what lurks beneath with the Sea Monster Attire Chest, filled with cosmetics to dive for, before September 1 (08:00 server time).
The ultimate prize is the brand-new Midgard Serpent Shortsword & Shield, the first weapon skin to feature unique visual effects. Claim it to unleash its astounding runic power in battle!
Sea Monster Attire Chests have a chance of containing:
Antique Weapon Skins from Season IV: Blood of the Empire
Antique Weapon Skins from Season V: Legacy of Fire
Unit Attires
Banners
Mount Sets
And much more!
Snatch up Spawn of Loki Bundles
The riches and skill of Norse legends can be yours to possess with new bundles available from the in-game Store with up to a 12% discount! Each Bundle contains Golden Keys, which can be used to unlock Sea Monster Attire Chests throughout the Spawn of Loki event.
Eitri's Trove: Seek the glorious riches of the infamous dwarf Eitri with 3x Golden Keys and 2x Rare Weapon Schematics. (Purchase Limit: 2)
Brokkr's Armoury: Honour the work of the great blacksmith Brokkr by crafting your own fantastic weapons with 5x Rare Weapon Schematics, along with 5x Golden Keys. (Purchase Limit: 5)
Wayland's Wealth: Restore the legend of the skilled smith Wayland and stock your coffers with 10x Golden Keys, 5x Huge Chests of Resources, and 5x Large Chests of Bronze (50,000 Bronze total). (Purchase Limit: 5)
Spawn of Loki: Ethereal Events ‘til August 25!
Discover a monstrous legend in the Spawn of Loki Limited-Time Event, active now until August 25! Complete mythical quests, claim free rewards, and obtain items from extraordinary events and sales.
Spawn of Loki Events
Play Conqueror’s Blade between now and August 25 to enjoy these mythical events:
Sign-in Event: Log in daily until August 18 (08:00 server time) to earn Lesser Scrolls of Glory and Astronomer's Almanacs (which can be traded for rewards).
Warden Quests: Complete legendary Daily and Weekly quests from the Warden before August 18 to receive Bronze, Honour, and tradeable Flasks of Wisdom.
Divine Exchange
Log in daily to pick up Astronomer’s Almanacs and complete quests from the Warden for Flasks of Wisdom.
Head to the Event Exchange to exchange these items for rewards such as Treatises and Assault, Guardian, and Rangers' Mobility Doctrines! Reward exchanges are available until August 25 (08:00 server time).
IMPORTANT: Any unspent Astronomer’s Almanacs and Flasks of Wisdom will not expire and should be kept safe for future events.
Check out the supernatural Spawn of Loki sales taking place during this event, and don’t miss out on picking up Sea Monster Attire Chests and Golden Keys for your chance of claiming the Midgard Serpent Shortsword & Shield!
Server downtime - August 4
Please be aware that from 08:00 CEST on August 4 (23:00 PDT on August 3), the Conqueror’s Blade servers will be inaccessible. The downtime is expected to last for 5 hours.
Please refer to the Patch Notes for documented changes. Meanwhile, stay tuned to our Discord channel in case of any immediate server updates.
VO Spotlight: German Voiceovers Available Now
German players can enter a new world of aural immersion, with fully localised German voice acting now available in Conqueror’s Blade!
A team of dedicated professionals worked tirelessly to bring the German language to life through the game’s units and heroes. Featuring the talented tones of Jean Paul Baeck (Borderlands 3, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us 2), Anja Taborsky (The Last of Us 2, Hearthstone), Oliver Wronka(Final Fantasy XV), Vincent Fallow [i(Cris Tales), direction by Tim Hennemann (Rainbow Six: Siege, Watch Dogs 2), and guidance from German Localisation Specialist Linda Weikert, join us aswe explore the journey, process, and people behind the scenes who helped bring these new voices to life in-game.
Bringing Characters to Life in a New Language
Adapting voiceovers that were originally in English to an altogether more wordy language like German can be tricky, but some of our talented actors faced no challenges in that area. Anja Taborsky, who provides the voice for female Units, describes it as “just different. When I develop the character myself, I have more freedom. It's easier for me to bring in my own ideas. When I adapt, I stick to the original as much as possible. And if it's good—which it always is—I can just ‘hang on’ to it, and it goes by itself.”
Jean Paul Baeck takes the same positive approach, expressing that while the adaptation can be challenging, “in the end, it’s twice as much fun”. Oliver Wronka argues that it “actually makes the creation of a character much easier, because there's already a voice actor who has taken the trouble to give the character a voice.”
Each voice actor has their own process of bringing the characters of Conqueror’s Blade to life in German. Anja takes on her posture and puts herself in the situation she is in, while Oliver tells us he “transform[s] my own body in my imagination into that of the character and then see what kind of voice and language comes out of it.”
Vincent also enjoys the transformative approach, describing voice acting as “kind of like restaurant quality fast food. You have zero prep time. You need to make great choices instantly. You have to be good and fast. Just like fast food—but gourmet.”
But when it comes to directing these talents in their new roles, how does director Tim Hennemann approach bringing the Units and Heroes of Conqueror’s Blade to life in a new language for the game? Tim explains that a lot of this work happens in casting and selecting voice actors. “You look at the roles and what characteristics they have. In the case of Conqueror’s Blade, it was especially important that the roles differ from each other in attitude and voice, even though they have very similar texts. That's why we needed particularly versatile voice actors who could cover as wide a range as possible.”
Working on Conqueror’s Blade
With voice actors and a director that has worked on everything from Rainbow Six: Siege to Ghost of Tsushima, the range of genres, settings, and themes that encompass these different games is vast; so how did the people that lent their talents feel working on Conqueror’s Blade compared to other titles?
Oliver Wronka, who worked on Final Fantasy XV, describes the distinction between voicework for fantasy characters and historical ones as almost non-existent in its approach and says that “every character has to be believable in their own way and sound accordingly, whether they exist in a fictional universe, in a parallel world, or in the past.”
Jean Paul Baeck describes his experience from the perspective of a voice actor and offers that “these different works are actually not that different from each other” and explains that he prefers to “orientate myself exclusively on the information given to me about the game and my characters by the director and the developers.”
Direction is a key part of bringing out the best in voice actors, and Tim Hennemann was the man for the job of implementing German voiceovers in the medieval-inspired Conqueror’s Blade. Having worked on futuristic or present-day games such as Rainbow Six: Siege and Watch Dogs 2, adjusting the speech to fit the time period takes great care and attention. “We take care to avoid anglicisms that are firmly anchored in today's linguistic usage, and in return, leave in some phrases that one would rather not use today,” explains Tim. “However, we have to intervene with some things that would sound completely silly in the context of today's language.”
Also on hand to lend her expertise was German Localisation Specialist Linda Weikert, who “joined each recording session to provide answers for the team and actors regarding the game or the text lines”. Linda also suggested re-takes of voiceovers if necessary and spoke highly of the “great atmosphere during the sessions”. In fact, Linda enjoyed working with the “professional [and] friendly” actors and director so much that “testing the unit and hero lines in-game afterwards was bliss, not only because I recognised the voices from the sessions but also because there are so many funny lines which reminded me of the great time we had.”
Acting With A Voice
Hearing characters in your favourite game speak in your own language can be as exhilarating as it is immersive, and although the voice actors cannot be seen, their vocal talents can transform a game for the better, adding an entirely new dimension to the experience. As challenging as it is fun, being a voice actor is a multi-faceted job, so we asked the actors what their favourite part of their work was.
Jean Paul Baeck and Anja Taborsky agreed that being able to “slip into” different characters and roles is the best part, with Anja adding that she can be “anything from a shy girl to an evil murderess”, and although it can be exhausting, the variety of work is “just fun”.
Vincent Fallow describes the life of a voice actor as “a wild ride”, explaining that “some days may be slow, and on some days you’re working so much that you’re begging for a break—and if you’re really lucky, you even book your dream roles.”
We hope you enjoy the new fully localised German voice acting in Conqueror's Blade. Update your game to the latest version to experience a new level of aural immersion!
