Iron Horde Extra Info

Riki · Friday at 8:30 AM

KEY MECHANICS & DESIGN


Dreadnought Plating The impenetrable black iron of the Horde is the foundation of their supremacy. All Iron Horde units are forged with a secondary layer of Dreadnought Plating that absorbs a large portion of incoming damage, deducting it from a separate Plating health pool. Plating regenerates automatically after a delay out of combat. Iron Horde buildings feature reinforced architectural plating that is highly resilient to conventional attacks, taking only a small portion damage to their Plating pool from non-siege sources.	Blast Furnaces Operated by the highly skilled blacksmiths of the Blackrock clan, the Blast Furnaces serve as the logistical hub for the Iron Horde's outposts. Here, the warriors' already formidable weaponry and armor are further enhanced, and unique upgrades are produced that directly benefit the army's Dreadnought Plating. Furthermore, mere proximity to a Blast Furnace allows Iron Horde units and structures to regenerate damaged Plating more rapidly, while also granting bonuses to nearby towers.	Gears of War The roaring engines of the Iron Horde drive their war machine forward. Mechanical contraptions dominate their forces, taking on specialized roles including lumber harvesting, devastating siege artillery, and aerial supremacy. Due to their complex and heavy engineering, all Iron Horde units and structures require longer repair times. Certain biological units can even temporarily mechanize their gear to gain construct advantages in the heat of battle.


Bunker Down The Bunker is the beating heart of any forward encampment, providing essential supply for the war effort. When under siege, vulnerable Foundrymen can garrison inside to hurl explosive shrapnel grenades at encroaching enemies. Additionally, the Bunker serves as a fortified field hospital; any allied unit stationed inside will slowly regenerate hit points.	Steel Skies Shielding ground divisions from the sky, the Iron Horde's relentless air forces provide the support and mobility needed to help break through enemy lines, ranging from the Iron Shredders, capable of transforming into a flight mode effective for air superiority, to the fierce and versatile Rylaks. Yet the most notable aerial unit is the Dread Blimp; it performs vital support roles and can transport the slow ground troops through the skies.	Heavy Metal Iron Horde warriors march to war encased in suffocatingly thick layers of black iron. This grants them naturally high base armor ratings at the cost of movement speed and agility. In dire times, even lowly Foundrymen can equip scrap-metal battle gear to upgrade to Large armor. Furthermore, Iron Horde casters have the unique ability to mechanically modify their garments with heavy plating, allowing them to benefit from Large armor as well.

UNITS

Tier 1

Foundryman

Brutalizer

Grimshot

Basic worker unit. Can harvest gold and lumber, build structures, and Repair. Can purchase a Battle Helmet.
Attacks land units and trees.

Battle Helmet

Purchase a Battle Helmet, slightly increasing armor and changes armor type to Large.

Brutal warrior. Can learn Bulwark Block and gain Grounded Armor.
Attacks land units.

	Bulwark Block	Activate to reduce damage taken from the front and reduces damage taken to Dreadnought Plates. While Bulwark Block is active, move speed is reduced.
	Grounded Armor	Reduces the damage taken from spells and Magic attacks.

Ranged attacker, effective against air units. Has Rapid Reload. Can learn Pneumatic Chamber.
Attacks land and air units.

	Rapid Reload	Every attack increases the Grimshot's attack rate by a small amount, stacking up to a max percentage. All stacks decay after several seconds of dealing no damage to enemies.
	Pneumatic Chamber	Attacks have a small chance to deal additional damage. Each stack of Rapid Reload increases this chance. At maximum stacks, the additional damage dealt is increased.

Tier 2

Grenadier

Machinist

Metallurgist

Eviscerator

Iron Shredder

War Machine

Dread Blimp

Medium ranged support attacker. Good against clusters of enemies. Has Combustibles Grenades. Can learn Searing Shrapnel.
Attacks land units.

	Combustibles Grenades	The Grenadier utilizes advanced, unstable munitions. Attacks deal split damage, with half of the payload dealing Pierce damage, and the remaining half erupting as Magic damage.
	Searing Shrapnel	The Grenadier coats their explosives in caustic foundry residue. Basic attacks corrode the target upon impact, reducing enemy armor and slowing their movement speed for a few seconds.

Primary spellcaster. Can initially cast Galvanic Coating. Can also learn Machine Heart and Scalding Steam. Can also learn to Modify War Armor.
Attacks land and air units.

	Galvanic Coating	Increases a target friendly unit's hit point regeneration and restores Dreadnought Plate points per second.
	Machine Heart	Alters the physical state of the target. When cast on an organic unit, it temporarily classifies them as Mechanical for several seconds. When cast on a unit that is already Mechanical or a Structure, it instantly restores hit points.
	Scalding Steam	Vents steam at a target area, enemies within it miss a percentage of their attacks and take more damage from physical attacks.
	Modify War Armor	Changes the armor type of this unit to Large.

Offensive spellcaster. Can initially cast Smelt Weapon. Can also learn Flux and Crucible's Bond. Can also learn to Modify War Armor.
Attacks land and air units.

	Smelt Weapon	Smelts a target enemy unit's weapon, causing it to deal less damage on attacks.
	Flux	Removes all buffs from units in a target area. Deals damage to summoned units.
	Crucible's Bond	Grants a friendly unit a floating orb that causes their non-area of effect attacks to launch an orb of fire at the target, dealing a small bonus damage plus a percentage of the damage dealt as Magic damage.
	Modify War Armor	Changes the armor type of this unit to Large.

Mobile rider, very effective in raids. Has Flaying Blade. Can learn Constrictor Chain.
Attacks land units.

	Constrictor Chain	Fires a motorized barbed chain that embeds into an enemy unit, tethering them for several seconds. The winch drags the victim toward the Eviscerator while inflicting a movement slow. The sheer weight of operating the chain also reduces the Eviscerator's movement speed. The tether will snap if the target manages to flee too far away.
	Flaying Blade	The Eviscerator's weapon is jaggedly honed to carve through cloth and flesh. Attacks deal bonus damage against targets with Unarmored defense.

Special melee unit made of iron. Excellent at harvesting large amounts of lumber. Can transform into an air unit, effective against flying enemies. Can learn Lumber Storage Ports.
Attacks land units and trees in ground form.
Attacks air units in air form.

	Transform to Flying Shredder	Transforms the Iron Shredder into a flying form, giving him the ability to fly and attack flying enemies.
	Lumber Storage Ports	Increases Iron Shredders lumber capacity.

Long-range siege weaponry. Effective against buildings but slow and vulnerable. Has Roller Payloads. Can learn Twin Javelins.
Attacks land units.

	Roller Payloads	Ground attacks deploy superheated, rolling iron core. Upon ground impact, the payload barrels forward, dealing fire and crushing damage to all enemy units caught in the path before completely detonating behind the enemy's front lines. The projectile will explode immediately upon making direct contact with buildings or upon impacting them while rolling.
	Twin Javelins	Allows the War Machine to launch powerful twin javelins at single air targets from afar.

Flying support and transport vehicle. Has Repair and True Sight. Can learn De-Ionizer.
Has no attack.

	Load	Loads a targeted friendly land unit for transport.
	De-Ionizer	Dispels positive buffs from enemy units, and negative buffs from friendly units. Deals damage to summoned units.
	True Sight	Reveals nearby invisible units.

Tier 3

Rylak Reaver

Ironhoof Destroyer

Howitzer

Sluggish flying attack creature. Has Dual-Head Focus. Can learn Ashen Breath.
Attacks land and air units.

	Dual-Head Focus	The Rylak's twin heads act independently in combat. Each basic attack also causes the heads to spit at up to two random enemies in a frontal cone, dealing Siege damage to each target.
	Ashen Breath	Increases Rylak Reaver's Dual-Head Focus damage.

Heavy lumbering war beast. Has Havoc Tusks. Can learn Iron Will.
Attacks land units.

	Iron Will	The Ironhoof Destroyer shatters all mental and physical constraints, instantly removing all negative magical debuffs. Upon activation, grants bonus movement speed and attack rate burst for a few seconds.
	Havoc Tusk	The Ironhoof Destroyer swings with colossal force, causing basic attacks to deal splash damage to enemies in a frontal cone. Additionally, each attack has a chance to trigger a devastating stomp, dealing damage to all nearby ground enemies.

Exceedingly long-range advanced siege weaponry. Slow and vulnerable. Can learn Seismic Shells.
Attacks land units and trees.

Seismic Shells

Causes the projectiles to embed themselves in the ground upon impact, activating one second later to generate a powerful seismic wave that slows enemy units in the area for a few seconds.
Attacks against structures will also ignore a portion of their defense.

Heroes

Chief Foreman

Pyrotechnician

Conqueror

Front Commander

Warrior Hero, adept at mechanical support and zone denial. Can learn Dismantling Slash, Overclock System, Assembly Aura and Hellstorm Grid-Lock.
Attacks land units.

	Dismantling Slash	The Chief Foreman violently slashes down on a target enemy, dealing damage. If the target is mechanical, the concussive force forcefully jams its internal gears, rendering it completely unable to attack for a few seconds.
	Overlock System	Surges a friendly unit with volatile industrial energy, temporarily boosting their attack rate. If the targeted unit is mechanical, the Foreman simultaneously conducts high-speed field repairs, restoring health over some seconds.
	Assembly Aura	Passively grants nearby friendly mechanical units a bonus to their attack damage.
	Hellstorm Grid-Lock	The Chief Foreman locks into a channeling defensive stance, readying a massive, mechanized Hellstorm array directly behind him. While maintained, the machine continuously blankets a target area in a devastating cascade of cluster missiles, dealing damage to enemies caught in the impact zone.

Mystical Hero, effective at burst and sustained fire damage. Can learn Spitfire Swirl, Crude Oil, Incendiary Aura and Thermite Countdown.
Attacks land and air units.

	Spitfire Swirl	Unleashes a volatile, swirling torrent of flame that travels outward in unpredictable, curving arcs. The fire scorches the earth in its wake, leaving a trail of blazing ground that deals fire damage per second. If the fire comes into contact with a terrain or unit soaked in Crude Oil, they will catch fire and sustain more damage over time. Ignited Oil Pools deal damage per second to units standing in them. Ignited units take damage per second for a few seconds.
	Crude Oil	Drenches a target enemy and the surrounding area in a thick, highly flammable industrial oil coat. Affected units find their joints jammed and vision blurred, reducing their movement and attack speeds, while the Oil Pool causes an additional movement speed slow to units standing in it. If an oiled unit or terrain is struck by Spitfire Swirl, the fuel violently ignites, removing the slow but causing an immediate burst of continuous fire damage.
	Incendiary Aura	Passively grants friendly units a spark catalyst, causing their basic non-area of affect attacks a chance to ignite targets, dealing damage per second for a few seconds.
	Thermite Countdown	Encases the target enemy unit in a pressurized, superheated state for some seconds, greatly reducing its movement speed and preventing it from casting spells. When the effect ends, the unit violently ruptures, dealing damage to nearby enemy units. The explosion is negated if the target dies before the duration expires.

Warrior Hero, adept at tanking and melee combat. Can learn Subjugating Strike, Blazing Wake, Unyielding Bulk and Reign of Terror.
Attacks land units.

	Subjugating Strike	Slam-strikes an enemy target at close range, dealing damage and a stun. Additionally, the target is struck with a crushing fear; as long as the victim remains near the Conqueror, their movement speed and attack damage are reduced.
	Blazing Wake	Slamming his weapon into the earth, the Conqueror unleashes a localized burst of lava around himself, stunning nearby enemy ground units and deals damage per second to enemies standing in it for a few seconds.
	Unyielding Bulk	Permanently hardens the Conqueror's conditioning and armor integrity. Grants a bonus to maximum hit points and mitigates all incoming physical attacks by a fixed amount. Attacks cannot be reduced below a certain amount of damage.
	Reign of Terror	The Conqueror taps into a surge of absolute dominance, instantly restoring his hit points. For several seconds gains total Spell Immunity, increased maximum hit points, and a bonus to movement speed.

Cunning Hero, adept at ranged support and summons. Can learn Penetrator Bolt, Explosive Munitions, Scrap-Jaw Trap and Enslaved Gronn.
Attacks land and air units.

	Penetrator Bolt	Fires a bolt that strikes a target enemy for some damage. The bolt continues to travel in a straight line behind the target, dealing damage to enemy units it passes through. If fired at a ground target, it only pierces ground units; if fired at an air target, it only pierces air units.
	Explosive Munitions	Manually cycles unstable, explosive-tipped payloads into the hand-ballista. The Front Commander's next few basic attacks erupt upon impact to deal some area-of-effect damage around the target.
	Scrap-Jaw Trap	Places a trap at a target ground point. After a few-second arming period, the trap becomes active. When an enemy ground unit walks nearby, the jaws violently snap shut, disabling, immobilizing, and dealing damage per second to the target for some seconds. The trap is immune to magic, but it can be attacked and destroyed by physical means.
	Enslaved Gronn	Subjugates a titanic, adult Gronn to enter the fray under the Front Commander's control. This colossal beast acts as an unyielding frontline anchor; its massive sweeps devastate enemy forces, while its crushing strikes deal devastating Siege damage.