Shar Dundred
Hosted Project: LoA
- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Messages
- 6,412
Legends of Arkain Series
Ladies and gentlemen,
a month has passed since the release of the final maps of the B and C parts of the Path of the Nameless.
I have used some of that time to regenerate as well as prepare for the A part - and now we are in full production!
In the meantime, I will show you some of the "cleanup" that has happened behind the scenes as that will also be part of the next release.
Today we will take a look at several hero ability changes I am making.
Several heroes from the Prelude (and some heroes you didn't get to use yet) have gained new abilities or had other abilities replaced.
To avoid any cache issues such as losing ability points, I will make sure you get a refund of all "lost" ability points.
Let us take a deeper dive at this. I will also tell you a bit more about my reasoning.
Veln the Nameless / Volarian Redfist
Veln's warrior kit has been serving him well but I always thought that it was a bit generic.
Given his past and the special relationship he has with his children, I felt it was more appropriate to rework him as a anti magic fighter.
His Hurl Boulder ability has been replaced with Mana Burn to avoid others from using their magic against him.
Devotion Aura has also been replaced with Feedback to make him more effective against possible summoned enemies while also removing casters' ability to sling their spells at him or his allies.
And lastly Veteran Rank has made way for Endless Vigor. This new ability increases the damage dealt by Veln and makes him regenerate health upon dealing damage. It is basically an upgraded version of Dark Secrets.
While this takes away Veln's ability to stun enemies, it makes him more effective when dealing with other heroes or casters.
I had considered replacing Shockwave instead of Hurl Boulder with Mana Burn but I thought that Shockwave was still fitting for his brute force approach against great numbers of enemies.
Out of the heroes that have been playable so far, Veln is the one I changed the most so far.
Richard van Durce
Richard has only been playable for a portion of the Prelude but given his role and importance, I have decided to make a few changes for him as well.
Holy Light and Resurrection both fit him quite well. Parry is also fitting because he is a good duelist but I wanted to further empathize his role as leader of the Golden Guard - even if he has not acted as one for a long time, he has started doing so and should act accordingly.
To replace Parry, Richard has gained the Richard's Banner ability. The banner provides an attack boost to all nearby allied units - both melee and ranged. Yes, this stacks with both Command Aura and Trueshot Aura.
Thunder Clap also gets replaced by Lord's Decree. This deals damage over time to an enemy unit and prevents it from casting any spells. A prime candidate to use this on in the Prelude is a certain captain. After you got through her Amulet of Spell Shield.
These changes should make Richard feel more like a lord who has returned to actual leadership rather than a simple fighter.
Sir Praxeus "The Holy Bastion" Braelon
Praxeus has only received a minor update. I am overall fine with his kit, only his ultimate was suboptimal - Resurrection is a good skill but the Prelude was not really designed for it.
I also think the replacement is quite fitting for him: Immortal Bastion.
Considering everything that has happened, a Reincarnation effect seems more than appropriate for the Holy Bastion.
Calere
Calere already has a unique kit with her abilities. Rather than replacing anything, I gave her a fifth ability Performer's Tales.
This spell book like ability lets her use abilities like Sleep, Dispel Magic and Drunken Haze to further empathize her support role.
Darkan Hammerfall
I am a bit on the fence for Darkan. On one hand, his abilities are pretty vanilla. On the other hand, those skills are pretty good.
It is possible that I will make adjustments in the future but for the time being, Darkan will remain unchanged.
Krom the Immortal
Everyone's favorite skeleton (and according to one conspiracy theory I have read a few times over the years the mastermind behind everything) has only received a minor update.
No Bone Curse has not been renamed back to Crack.
I have given him a fifth ability: Marked for Death. A simple debuff to decrease an enemy units' armor.
Two other heroes that have received updates have not been playable (so far): Lord Marin and Valerie van Durce.
I still feel like sharing these changes with you as a bonus, I have been a bit silent last month.
Valerie van Durce
Valerie has received only a small change but it is still worth talking about.
Those of you who used her in Struggles of Arkain or actually fought her in the Last Stand of the Golden Guard in the True Story before she departed may recall her having Healing Energy.
This spell was an aoe heal, basically the same ability Krom had in the First Undead Book, the same ability Aridon still has as Power of Death.
The hero version of this spell was not really meant to be used by players and be AI only. Valerie is definitely going to be playable however, therefore I made an adjustment.
Her Healing Energy has been replaced with Sacrificial Sacrament. It still heals all allies in an aoe but it no longer heals Valerie. Instead, she is going to take damage whenever she casts the spell. Yes, this CAN kill her if you are not careful.
Valerie is an excellent healer but her selflessness and altruism mean that she is willing to fully exhaust herself to help others.
Lord Marin
Last but not least, Lord Marin himself. His kit has been substantially changed.
First of all, he no longer has access to Firebomb. I can hear the relieved sighs from everyone who fought him in Last Stand of the Golden Guard already - don't be too relieved, he still has it there.
In its place, he has gained Field Support which will summon one of his shock towers to attack enemy units.
Marin's Advanced Warfare which summoned a swarm of flying attack drones has been replaced with Containment Protocol. The target unit is put in a cage and unable to defend itself for a period of time. This may or may not be Marin preparing to move them to his laboratory.
Marin also no longer has Bash. In its place he has gained Field Lab. The Field Lab created through it will create ranged automatons on the field to support Marin in battle.
Finally, Marin has gained a fifth ability Overcharge. This will boost his machines by greatly increasing their attack rate while dealing damage over time.
His ultimate which summons a Pride of Humanity remains unchanged.
This should make Marin be less of a warrior hero and more of an engineer - which is very fitting.
I hope you enjoyed this read of changes I made before the next path, the next newspost will feature a bunch of outstanding models @Rhapsodie created for a certain faction.
Stay tuned & enjoy the rest of your weekend!
a month has passed since the release of the final maps of the B and C parts of the Path of the Nameless.
I have used some of that time to regenerate as well as prepare for the A part - and now we are in full production!
In the meantime, I will show you some of the "cleanup" that has happened behind the scenes as that will also be part of the next release.
Today we will take a look at several hero ability changes I am making.
Several heroes from the Prelude (and some heroes you didn't get to use yet) have gained new abilities or had other abilities replaced.
To avoid any cache issues such as losing ability points, I will make sure you get a refund of all "lost" ability points.
Let us take a deeper dive at this. I will also tell you a bit more about my reasoning.
Veln the Nameless / Volarian Redfist
Veln's warrior kit has been serving him well but I always thought that it was a bit generic.
Given his past and the special relationship he has with his children, I felt it was more appropriate to rework him as a anti magic fighter.
His Hurl Boulder ability has been replaced with Mana Burn to avoid others from using their magic against him.
Devotion Aura has also been replaced with Feedback to make him more effective against possible summoned enemies while also removing casters' ability to sling their spells at him or his allies.
And lastly Veteran Rank has made way for Endless Vigor. This new ability increases the damage dealt by Veln and makes him regenerate health upon dealing damage. It is basically an upgraded version of Dark Secrets.
While this takes away Veln's ability to stun enemies, it makes him more effective when dealing with other heroes or casters.
I had considered replacing Shockwave instead of Hurl Boulder with Mana Burn but I thought that Shockwave was still fitting for his brute force approach against great numbers of enemies.
Out of the heroes that have been playable so far, Veln is the one I changed the most so far.
Richard van Durce
Richard has only been playable for a portion of the Prelude but given his role and importance, I have decided to make a few changes for him as well.
Holy Light and Resurrection both fit him quite well. Parry is also fitting because he is a good duelist but I wanted to further empathize his role as leader of the Golden Guard - even if he has not acted as one for a long time, he has started doing so and should act accordingly.
To replace Parry, Richard has gained the Richard's Banner ability. The banner provides an attack boost to all nearby allied units - both melee and ranged. Yes, this stacks with both Command Aura and Trueshot Aura.
Thunder Clap also gets replaced by Lord's Decree. This deals damage over time to an enemy unit and prevents it from casting any spells. A prime candidate to use this on in the Prelude is a certain captain. After you got through her Amulet of Spell Shield.
These changes should make Richard feel more like a lord who has returned to actual leadership rather than a simple fighter.
Sir Praxeus "The Holy Bastion" Braelon
Praxeus has only received a minor update. I am overall fine with his kit, only his ultimate was suboptimal - Resurrection is a good skill but the Prelude was not really designed for it.
I also think the replacement is quite fitting for him: Immortal Bastion.
Considering everything that has happened, a Reincarnation effect seems more than appropriate for the Holy Bastion.
Calere
Calere already has a unique kit with her abilities. Rather than replacing anything, I gave her a fifth ability Performer's Tales.
This spell book like ability lets her use abilities like Sleep, Dispel Magic and Drunken Haze to further empathize her support role.
Darkan Hammerfall
I am a bit on the fence for Darkan. On one hand, his abilities are pretty vanilla. On the other hand, those skills are pretty good.
It is possible that I will make adjustments in the future but for the time being, Darkan will remain unchanged.
Krom the Immortal
Everyone's favorite skeleton (and according to one conspiracy theory I have read a few times over the years the mastermind behind everything) has only received a minor update.
No Bone Curse has not been renamed back to Crack.
I have given him a fifth ability: Marked for Death. A simple debuff to decrease an enemy units' armor.
Two other heroes that have received updates have not been playable (so far): Lord Marin and Valerie van Durce.
I still feel like sharing these changes with you as a bonus, I have been a bit silent last month.
Valerie van Durce
Valerie has received only a small change but it is still worth talking about.
Those of you who used her in Struggles of Arkain or actually fought her in the Last Stand of the Golden Guard in the True Story before she departed may recall her having Healing Energy.
This spell was an aoe heal, basically the same ability Krom had in the First Undead Book, the same ability Aridon still has as Power of Death.
The hero version of this spell was not really meant to be used by players and be AI only. Valerie is definitely going to be playable however, therefore I made an adjustment.
Her Healing Energy has been replaced with Sacrificial Sacrament. It still heals all allies in an aoe but it no longer heals Valerie. Instead, she is going to take damage whenever she casts the spell. Yes, this CAN kill her if you are not careful.
Valerie is an excellent healer but her selflessness and altruism mean that she is willing to fully exhaust herself to help others.
Lord Marin
Last but not least, Lord Marin himself. His kit has been substantially changed.
First of all, he no longer has access to Firebomb. I can hear the relieved sighs from everyone who fought him in Last Stand of the Golden Guard already - don't be too relieved, he still has it there.
In its place, he has gained Field Support which will summon one of his shock towers to attack enemy units.
Marin's Advanced Warfare which summoned a swarm of flying attack drones has been replaced with Containment Protocol. The target unit is put in a cage and unable to defend itself for a period of time. This may or may not be Marin preparing to move them to his laboratory.
Marin also no longer has Bash. In its place he has gained Field Lab. The Field Lab created through it will create ranged automatons on the field to support Marin in battle.
Finally, Marin has gained a fifth ability Overcharge. This will boost his machines by greatly increasing their attack rate while dealing damage over time.
His ultimate which summons a Pride of Humanity remains unchanged.
This should make Marin be less of a warrior hero and more of an engineer - which is very fitting.
I hope you enjoyed this read of changes I made before the next path, the next newspost will feature a bunch of outstanding models @Rhapsodie created for a certain faction.
Stay tuned & enjoy the rest of your weekend!
