We hope you all have enjoyed the latest updates! We’ve been watching you all strategize, figure out the achievements, and we’re extremely grateful for the support, the tickets, and the shoutouts across Discord, Steam, Reddit, Youtube, and elsewhere. Keeping the flame of Battle Realms alive with you all is an honor that we take to heart.
Balance
Balance is a tough word. We discuss this weekly - what units feel off? What units feel like they’re too the same? Why do they feel that way? We also understand that there’s a charm to the way Battle Realms skirmishes unfold. So we wanted to take this approach slowly. We want you to play Battle Realms the way you want, which is why, in version 1.60, we released a way to share customized gameplay, based on your preference, through the in-game sharing of the BattleRealms.xlsx file.
We’re going to take this slow, make changes, gather feedback, and work together to find the right level for each clan that respects their spirit, play style, and, ultimately, make them more enjoyable to play in different scenarios.
In this first pass, we’re adjusting just a few units to bring them inline closer to that vision. We appreciate your feedback and want to know from you how these, or other units, feel.
Lotus Infested One
The Lotus Clan is a clan fighting for its sense of self, its sense of humanity. The corruption dwells within them and, though training, techniques, and, honestly, some luck, they are able to control it and regain their humanity.
Gameplay wise, units like the Diseased One, the Infested One, and the Unclean One, are going through that process. They’re losing their humanity as the corruption takes hold.
Some of these units felt that they played too similarly. Based on some of the feedback, the Infested One was slow, tanky, and did a considerable amount of damage - a role that was also filled by the Diseased One. It didn’t feel like the Infested One had a role to play on the field.
We’re making the following changes for the Infested One:
Increased blunt damage resistance from 25% to 35%
Decreased cutting damage resistance from 150% to 130%
Increased explosive damage resistance from 75% to 85%
Increased piercing damage resistance from 87.5% to 100%
Reduced Max Health from 360 to 320
Increased damage from 18 to 20
Increased recovery from 1 to 1.1
This makes the unit more vulnerable in many scenarios, rewarding players who stay on top of their Infested Ones, but making making them easier for your opponent to take down if you are distracted.
Serpent Enforcer
The Serpent Clan is a clan of bandits, raiders, and not always the fairest fighters in the Realms. They are struggling to survive in the aftermath and reward cunning, hit-and-run tactics, and distractions.
Based on the feedback, the Enforcer was in a strange spot. It dealt a lot of damage, but couldn’t survive. Being the only melee blunt damage unit for the Serpent Clan means that this role can’t be filled effectively and you’re left with only one choice.
We want to remedy that and give a bit more choice when facing different situations, so we’re making the following changes for the Serpent Enforcer:
Decreased blunt damage resistance from 150% to 130%
Increased cutting damage resistance from 50% to 60%
Decreased piercing damage resistance from 100% to 80%
Increased Max Health from 350 to 360
Decreased damage from 20 to 18
Serpent Witch
On the other hand we heard a lot about the Serpent Witch. Ideally, this unit fills a support role that can deal damage from range, moves fast, and rewards insightful gameplay and skill.
We’re adjusting the following so the Serpent Witch feels more rewarding to field when you need a unit to lean into that “hit-and-run” gameplay and harass the front lines to distract your opponent.
Increased Max Health from 300 to 315
Increased movement across Forest and Water by 10%, from 75% to 85%
Increased movement across all other terrain (Dirt, Grass, Mud, Rice, Rock, and Snow) by 15%, from 100% to 115%
With the big pieces of balancing out of the way, it wouldn’t be a patch if we didn’t have some more updates to talk about!
Gameplay
In the last mission, hordelings now spread across the entire map and will defend Nightvol when he spawns
Lotus heroes no longer take damage from their own shadow steeds
Zymeth has now improved his understanding and usage of his Battle Gear
The AI now uses heroes as regular units, if they are available
The AI can now use the 6th keep slot, if available (previously, this was a Dragon Clan exclusive)
Campaign
Addressed several campaign triggers that could lead to rare bugs
Addressed a campaign trigger that was originally restricted to Kenji’s story and made it global
Technical Fixes
Applied a fix to optimize detection of modifier keys and mouse inputs
Fixed color pickers in the WorldMaster/WorldEditor
Achievement Fixes
If you are still hunting achievements, this might be a good moment to click away and download the update. If you’re OK with knowing these fixes, read on!
Addressed a trigger that could fail during the Free the Prisoners achievement
Fixed an issue with Darkness Consumes so buildings were appropriately detected as destroyed by “The Dark” units
Addressed a condition that could block progression detection for the A Defenseless Prince achievement
Addressed how the game detects completion of the Essence of Wolf achievement
Adjusted the detection method for completion criteria of the Free of Corruption achievement
Fixed an issue related to the Soulmates achievement to fire more reliably
