Battle Realms turns 25 this November and it’s a been an amazing journey with all of you. Whether you’ve been playing Battle Realms since it came out, re-discovered a childhood favorite, or are just starting Kenji’s story, none of this would have been possible without your support.
Over those years, Battle Realms has seen a lot of improvements, balance changes, and mods. Balance changes are always difficult to land, since we all understand, strategize, and play Battle Realms differently. We’ve been discussing, a lot, how we should approach balance in the game that keeps the spirit of what makes Battle Realms truly different among RTS games and how the community plays the game.
To that end, we’re releasing our first pass of balancing units and buildings as part of this patch. We invite you all to play the 1.59.7, get a feel for some of the changes, and provide your feedback on our Discord. We’re really keen on hearing what you think about the changes and what you would like to see.
But that’s not all! Battle Realms is about your your decisions and journey. The choices you make early in the game can effect how the campaign unfolds. With each journey, you hone your skills, learn new tactics, and increase your mastery in the Realms. With 1.59.7, we’ve updated Battle Realms to support Steam Achievements!
These Achievements track your progress throughout the campaign and beyond. Some of these will require some creative thinking on how to accomplish them; others will require careful planning and management to be able to claim. The Achievements will be unhidden as the community discovers them! There’s plenty of Achievements to catalog your journey throughout Battle Realms!
Whew! That was a lot and I’m sure you want to see what exactly we have in store for your journey. So, without making this any longer, let’s dive in!
Technical Fixes
Addressed an issue in the WorldEditor (WorldMaster.exe) that would prevent the terrain texture from displaying in the picker.
Updated the WorldEditor (WorldMaster.exe) UI/UX to look and feel more modern.
Miscellaneous
Fixed a crash condition when loading certain saved games.
Addressed unintended exploits on some Battle Gears that negatively impact game play or performance, including:
A bug that impacted indirect fire with the Powder Keg Cannoneer.
A situation where Death Sentry would reset activation, allowing to throw a new Cursed Skull, if an Unclean One was sent to train and a player immediately canceled the training.
Translations
Updated translations for Italian.
Balancing
Dragon Clan
In lore, the Dragon Clan is peaceful, driven by faith in The Dragon. They aren’t combat oriented, out of necessity; they are villagers and warriors meant to support and defend each other.
From this way of life, instead of direct combat, the clan best shines when different units work together, leveraging their tricks, Dragon-related magic, and Battle Gear to excel on the battlefield.
In the spirit of this philosophy, this patch has the following changes for the Dragon Clan:
Spearman
Increased health from 240 to 245.
Increased cutting damage vulnerability from 50% to 66%.
Reduced base damage from 15 to 14.
Powder Keg Cannoneer
Increased health from 270 to 310.
Decreased piercing damage vulnerability from 87.5% to 75%.
Increased explosive damage vulnerability from 125% to 135%.
Increased melee damage from 10 to 11.
Increased ranged damage from 25 to 28.
Serpent Clan
In lore, the Serpent Clan is made up of shattered remains of a once proud kingdom. With drunkards, bandits, raiders, and mercenaries, the clan focuses on trying to rebuild itself to bring back some of its former glory.
With no rules or guiding hand, the clan is chaotic. The units work better as individual units, but can bring chaos to bear on the battlefield.
Trying to respect this context, this patch has the following changes for the Serpent Clan:
Cannoneer
Decreased health from 300 to 280.
Increased melee damage from 8 to 12.
Decreased ranged damage from 30 to 27.
Increased movement speed by 15%.
Ronin
Decreased damage from 28 to 24.
Decreased cutting damage vulnerability 50% to 25%.
Ronin’s Death Swords are not indestructible.
Lowered the active time of Death Swords to 5 seconds.
Lowered the Death Sword’s effect time to 5 seconds.
Wolf Clan
Even stripped of their freedom and forced to work in the mines, the Wolf Clan always remained close to nature. The chosen ones, who embodied their belief in nature, maintained the ability to use its magic, while others grew strong and bulky, using whatever was closest to them as weapons.
Their experience in the mines, and the lessons learned, has never left the clan. Favoring to attack first, and to defend last, their determination and strength comes from within.
Keeping true to the Wolf Clan’s origins, this patch has the following changes:
Ballistaman
Decreased health from 300 to 280.
Increased movement speed by 15%.
Increased melee damage from 8 to 12.
Decreased ranged damage from 35 to 31.
Dryad
Increased health from 350 to 380.
Decreased piercing damage vulnerability from 100% to 88%.
Decreased explosive damage vulnerability from 150% to 125%.
Increased blunt damage vulnerability from 50% to 66%.
Lotus Clan
Once a proud mage clan, the Lotus Clan is the result of abusing magic and allowing corruption to spread from within. While focused on removing their corruption, the Lotus Clan is not weak; they are strong defenders and, when pressured, leverage what the Tree of Corruption gives them to retaliate and go on the offensive.
Careful management and study is the way of life of the Lotus Clan. Their power isn’t in pure numbers but in the abilities their magic unlocks.
With this in mind, this patch has the following changes for the Lotus Clan:
Staff Adept
Decreased health from 280 to 250.
Increased cutting damage vulnerability from 50% to 75%.
Decreased piercing damage vulnerability from 100% to 88%.
Increased damage from 12.5 to 14.
Reapers
Decreased health from 350 to 280.
Decreased damage from 18 to 15.
Decreased Shambler’s summoning cost from 50% to 20%.
Decreased Shambler’s damage from 33 to 28.
Increased Shambler’s cutting damage vulnerability from 50% to 75%.
Achievements
The full release of Campaign Achievements are available with 1.59.7. These cover the different choices you will make during the Dragon, Serpent, and Wolf campaigns.
The full release of Challenge Achievements are available with 1.59.7. These cover different tactics, choices, and strategies that you will employ across different campaigns and skirmishes.
As always.... For The Dragon!
