[Ogre 1.2] Age of Wonders 4 - V1.010.002.106550

[TriumphJordi]

Hey All,

It's a tad late in the day but we're putting up a small, short Open Beta for the next Update. Beyond the slew of fixes below, we have a few performance and crash fixes that we want to review in a live environment to see if they have the desired effect.

You can switch to the Open Beta from your Betas Tab in the game Properties.

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Updates

General

• Disabling DLC in the Paradox Launcher now works.
  
• Made it more obvious when Crossplay Multiplayer is automatically disabled due to mods being installed.
  
• Added Mitigations for players with overpowered GPU’s experiencing stutters.

Combat

• When a unit starts its turn in the zone of control of an enemy, it can no longer flank that enemy (replaces an old rule where a unit could not flank an enemy if it had moved through that enemy’s zone of control)

Combat AI

• Siege Defenders will now leave their walls if the enemy army is 60% or more Ranged units
  
• Siege Defenders will now leave their walls if 25% or more of their units are already outside (previously 1 unit would trigger this behavior)
  
• Siege Defenders always stay on the wall during the first round
  
• Improved unit targeting while in Spite Mode
  
• AI will no longer apply heal over time effects on units with blocked healing

Cultures
Feudal Monarchy

• Updated subculture description to indicate the ruler gains Monarch's Dominion
  
• Updated Monarch's Dominion's description to clarify the ruler's stat bonus
  
• Monarch's Dominion now reduces soul upkeep correctly as well.
  
• Monarch’s Decree can no longer be cast when the leader is present in the battle

Feudal Aristocracy

• Rebuilding a razed city will now automatically restore its Feudal House
  
• Liege Lord upkeep reduction now affects Magic Origin units as the description implies.

Oathsworn - Strife

• Warrior’s Fury can no longer be dispelled.

Dwellings

• Updated the Hero Item rewards from the Crystal Dwelling Quest when on the Stone Pact or higher.
  • Tier 1-2 Quest: Tier 2 item
    
  • Tier 3-4 Quest: Tier 3 item
    
  • Tier 5-6 Quest: Tier 4 item
• Added a To-Do Event to notify players a Dwelling was destroyed by another player
  
• Added a To-Do Event to notify players when a War was Declared on a Dwelling (when in positive relation state)

Factions
Society Traits “Reclaimers”

• Razing Binding Essence reward reduced from 40 to 20 per population of the city
  
• Razing Binding Fragment reward reduced from 20 to 10 per population of the city

Eldritch Sovereign

• When Fleshlings are summoned via the fleshweave signatures skills, they now get unit enchantments.

Giant Kings

• Giant Kings now correctly have dedicated skills that persist when recruiting them as Pantheon Heroes
  • The Signature Rune at level 8 persists and is active from recruitment.
    
  • The Signature Rune at level 16 persists in a Dormant state, only activating once that level has been reached.
    
  • Storm, Fire and Storm Giant Kings now have a permanent -1 Defense and -1 Resistance
• Rock Giant Kings now have a permanent -1 Resistance
  
• Rock Giant Kings now have Mountain Walk
  
• Weapons:
  • Giant Axe - Reduced the Charge Damage from 30% per hex travelled (up to 3) to 20%
    
  • Warhammer - Reduced Base Damage from 14 to 12
    
  • Obelisk - Reduced AoE damage from 75% of the Main Damage to 50%
• Hero Skills - Hurl Boulder/Ice Boulder/Flame/Ice Tree
  • Increased base cooldown by 1
    
  • Empowered Throw now grants +20 damage for Single Shot attacks
• Hero Skill - Craft Runes:
  • Rune of Command: Fire - Reduced the Critical Chance for units in the Army from 20% to 10%
    
  • Rune of Command: Storm - Reduced the Resistance for units in the Army from +2 to +1
    
  • All Rune of Creation: Infusions - Increased Infusion Point Cost from 1 to 3.
• Signatures Skills
  • Vitality Rune - Reduced the HP from +20 to +15

Item Forge

• Reduced the Item Value of Tier 2 Items from 100 to 75. This affects the price AI rulers are willing to pay for these items in trade.
  
• Infusions “Inflict Bleed” and “Rune of Power: Rock” no longer can be applied together as it was redundant.
  
• Increased the cost of forging 1 point Tier 1 Items from 50 to 75 Binding Essence
  
• Physical Infusions received a new Physical Icon.

Pantheon

• Presence Trait “Pretender Kings” - The Pretender Kings now meet each other at the start of the game which should make them behave more expectedly towards each other.
  
• Titan’s Greatbow blueprint now has the correct damage values, accuracy and range as seen on the non-item forge versions of this item
  • Issue: Pre-patch saves with this blueprint unlocked won’t be able to craft the Titan’s Greatbow from the blueprint

Tomes
Materium

Tome of the Dungeon Depths
• World Map Spell “Dungeon Hazard” - Now only Slows units on Combat Start and for 3 turns only
  
• Clay Soldiers summoned in combat now correctly gain bonuses from Cosmic Overdrive

Units

• Unit “Rock Giant” - Now has Mountain Walk.
  
• Unit “Fleshling” - Explosion is no longer a Base ability

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Fixes

Art

• Fixed an issue where the Item Forge (Metal) Giant Axe became invisible when equipped.
  
• Fixed an issue where changing a Races Body Shape would change their eye color.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Council Prolocutor was shrinking and appearing too low in the Quest Event screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Council Prolocutor was too zoomed in in the Crystal Dwelling Siege portrait.

Units & Abilities

• Fixed an issue where the Giant King ruler had an animation delay when using the “Cloud in a Bottle” ability.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Clay Charger was not holding the weapon correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue where Ogrekin units would appear inside their Mammoth mount.
  
• Fixed an issue where Rulers would hold Polearm weapons incorrectly in the Victory Screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where units on Cavernbear mounts were not looking in the right direction when attacking.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Industrious Bastion was missing a mount with Mount Masters.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Dark Knight would be holding the Lance incorrectly

Transformations

• Fixed an issue where the Ruler would be placed way back inside the “Transformation” screen when the “Blessed Dragon Mount” is equipped.
  
• Fixed an issue where Ruler/Heroes with the “Spawnkin” transformation would float above certain mounts.
  
• Fixed an issue where a Ruler with Naga Transformation would be floating in the Pantheon view.
  
• Fixed an issue where Halflings with Reveler’s Heart Transformation would still have their foot hair.
  
• Fixed an issue where units with Naga Transformation would grow legs when dying in water combat.
  
• Fixed an issue where Syron Units with Draconian Transformation would fall through the Stag mount.
  
• Fixed an issue where Toadkin with Naga Transformation and Supergrowth would cause the removal of eyes.

Environments

• Fixed an issue where Underground Passages in the Dungeon Theme could disappear.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Cave Passages were not receiving their Dungeon visuals.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Mangrove Tactical map had a passable rock.

Combat Map

• Fixed an issue where Clay Golems could not spawn correctly when the Ruler starts on top of an obstacle.
  
• Fixed an issue where immobilized units wouldn’t turn to face the units they were attacking

Crystal Dwelling

• Fixed a crash that could occur when an Infestation Quest ends from the Crystal Dwelling without it being completed.
  
• Fixed the Crystal Dwelling Quests and issues with the extra rewards from Pacts when Story options are taken that change the Pact level.
  
• Fixed the Crystal Dwelling not sharing vision inside its domain while having an “Eternal Pact” with it.
  
• Fixed the countdown for reaching a new pact inside the diplomatic overview screen for the Crystal Dwellings.
  Events
  
• Fixed one of the options after defeating the Fey Fissure guards rewarding Binding Essence, but not Binding Fragments.

Fated Regions

• Fixed the Crystalstorm Combat Auto Spell in the Crystalstorm Plateau also hitting Fated Region units.
  
• Fixed the AI blocker on the Giants Throne Ancient Wonder of Mount Godkeep not unblocking AI players when they complete the first phase of the Fated Region.
  
• Fixed the Negative Alignment effect missing from an option in the Mount Godking Outro.

Giant Kings

• Fixed the Ice Runestele not adding Snow and Ice features when the province is already filled with overlays supported by the Arctic theme.
  
• Fixed Lava Runestele in the Underground not correctly spreading Desolate Underground theme and Chasm overlay. Very sorry to all you subterranean magmamancers out there!

Heroes

• Fixed an issue where Heroes who die from Scripts/World Map Spells would not hav their inventory wiped properly.

Interface

• Fixed an issue where Eldritch Sovereigns could end up with a different class than selected in the list.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Location button in the Hero Panel wasn’t clickable
  
• Fixed an issue where the Mirror Mimic’s appeared to have gained all their XP in a single fight in the Combat Result Screen
  
• Fixed an issue where the Siege Timer on the World Map would not refresh when adding Siege Projects
  
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect Casting Points fill behavior and infinite animation played
  
• Fixed an issue where the Income Breakdown would include the income from occupied structures.
  
• Fixed Artisan Fortifications and Healing Spires not showing up in the siege interface when besieging a city that has either of them.
  
• Fixed Crucible Battlement string insert not displaying it was granting Fire Damage to units.
  
• Fixed missing string insert on the Throne of Mirrors combat enchantment
  
• Fixed Arcana Accumulation’s resistance modifier showing up with wrong text inside the breakdown tooltip of a unit’s resistance stat.
  
• Fixed wrongly displayed movepoint cost for Ruins overlay.
  Frenzy buff granted by Draconic Frenzy combat enchantment no longer appears in red as if it was a debuff.

Modding

• Added DEFUNCT to all names of overlays and deco types that should not be used when creating regions. This should help modders who want to create regions avoid unsupported resources
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when unlocking a Hero Skill Tree through the Player Property
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur in the BannerLords system when players remove their colors mod.

Pantheon

• Fixed an issue where the Dungeon Keeper Ascension Trait would sometimes not summon the Clay Unit correctly

Spells

• Fixed an issue where Summon Animal and Summon Greater Animal would spawn 2 units when in the Ice or Fire Caves in the Underground

Unit

• Fixed an issue where the Oathsworn Sealbearers' main attacks did not properly gain "Always Hit" from the champion versions of their seal abilities.

World Map

• Fixed crash that could occur during the AI turn where Bounties would target a structure without upgrade component
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to the Toll of Seasons - Summer terraforming in the Underground.
  
• Fixed an issue where Pangea map generation when paired with the Underground Start trait would not generate sufficient Surface
  
• Fixed an issue where some Sally Out Battles would not include Reinforcements
  
• Fixed an issue where Camera Shakes would still occur on the World Map even if the setting was disabled.
  
• Fixed Artisan Fortification, Healing Spires and Necrotic Spires not replacing the Ballista Towers when built.
  
• Fixed Chasm in the Underground being called Lava Chasm, which led to confusion about terraforming and the Fire Giant bonuses. The Lava Chasm is not a separate feature from Chasm.
  
• Fixed Altar of Marching Gloom not spreading its terraforming effects to other layers via Underground Passages.

[Astronimo]

Storm, Fire and Storm Giant Kings now have a permanent -1 Defense and -1 Resistance

Typo. I assume, all non giant kings got -1 def and res, but Rock kept 1 defense.

[Bob]

A bit sad that the Giant King's Heavy Charge Strike got nerfed. Granted it was maybe a bit insane to be hitting damage numbers in the high 100s and also hitting enemies behind the initial target and also ignoring charge resistance, but it was also very fun to just run your dude up to the enemies and BONK and kill some stuff, trigger Killing Momentum, get that Second Wind going and BONK something else for another kill.

[Astronimo]

It's still "Heavy charge", so no charge resistance.

[Astronimo]

Hero Skills - Hurl Boulder/Ice Boulder/Flame/Ice Tree
Increased base cooldown by 1
Empowered Throw now grants +20 damage for Single Shot attacks

What's the point here? I mean, throw bolder is a single shot anyway. Or it is changed if you pick AoE?

EDIT: ok, was correct. AoE gives +10, single strike is +20 (so 55 in total)

[Zheyn]

Definitely still a few stutters, but performance is way smoother overall on my 7900XTX. Awesome to see the progress!

[TriumphJordi]

Pushed a new Version 1.010.002.106550 which has a fix for the Level Editor crashing on creating a new Story Region.

[Merethys]

Still no beards on Oathsworn Dwarves.

This should be highest priority! Why is it being ignored?

[Codyksp]

I'll post this here as well, and provide a little bit more detail below:

Initial thoughts after reading this update:
- Rock Giant King is the strongest, why did it only get -1 stats?
- The Production could be dropped to +2 and they'd be fine.
- Instead of nerfing their defenses, drop their HP by 20.
- Warhammer probably deserves a nerf to 10 base damage.
- Rune of Command should probably cost 3-4 infusion points.
- Frost is extremely powerful. It's hard to balance that one.
- Damage Rune / Grand Brawn Rune could lose 5% damage imo.

Everything else seems fine to me as far as I can currently tell.

I really don't feel that you should be messing with Giant King defenses.
I get that you're trying to be thematic, but it's entirely unnecessary.
Just reduce their HP globally by 20 and we're all gucchi on that front.

The +3 Production bonus is the strongest by far, with no downsides.
I understand Fire has extra bonuses, but those aren't actually useful.
The issue being that you just take Ashland Adaptation (or Sabertooth).

Warhammer at 12 damage is still equal to a normal 1H weapon.
Meanwhile it deals damage in a 1-hex cone (so up to 3 targets).
I feel it should really be dealing less damage if you look at it like that.

Rune of Command is an army buff in a "free" item slot on every Hero.
It shouldn't be an instant craft, cheap item you just slap on everyone.
There is already no strong competition for that specific item slot.

Damage Rune and Grand Brawn Rune stand out as the best choices.
The other choices are either situational or simply not worth picking.
This is especially true after you lowered Vitality Rune to 15 HP.

[Dreepa]

Originally posted by Codyksp:

I'll post this here as well, and provide a little bit more detail below:

Initial thoughts after reading this update:
- Rock Giant King is the strongest, why did it only get -1 stats?
- The Production could be dropped to +2 and they'd be fine.
- Instead of nerfing their defenses, drop their HP by 20.
- Warhammer probably deserves a nerf to 10 base damage.
- Rune of Command should probably cost 3-4 infusion points.
- Frost is extremely powerful. It's hard to balance that one.
- Damage Rune / Grand Brawn Rune could lose 5% damage imo.

Everything else seems fine to me as far as I can currently tell.

I really don't feel that you should be messing with Giant King defenses.
I get that you're trying to be thematic, but it's entirely unnecessary.
Just reduce their HP globally by 20 and we're all gucchi on that front.

The +3 Production bonus is the strongest by far, with no downsides.
I understand Fire has extra bonuses, but those aren't actually useful.
The issue being that you just take Ashland Adaptation (or Sabertooth).

Warhammer at 12 damage is still equal to a normal 1H weapon.
Meanwhile it deals damage in a 1-hex cone (so up to 3 targets).
I feel it should really be dealing less damage if you look at it like that.

Rune of Command is an army buff in a "free" item slot on every Hero.
It shouldn't be an instant craft, cheap item you just slap on everyone.
There is already no strong competition for that specific item slot.

Damage Rune and Grand Brawn Rune stand out as the best choices.
The other choices are either situational or simply not worth picking.
This is especially true after you lowered Vitality Rune to 15 HP.

Just out curiosity, are you talking from a PvP perspective?

[Codyksp]

Originally posted by Dreepa:

Just out curiosity, are you talking from a PvP perspective?

Yes. As to be quite honest this level of balance is probably irrelevant in SP.

[skywok]

ty

[Saishi]

If you think that the +3 production bonus is better than +3 gold, in pvp, you are delusional :). In pvp, gold is the difference between 2 armies or 3 in many instances.

Gold is used for item economy, rushing units and buildings, the new merchant, pacts etc.

Production is useful for... Building only?

[egos]

pls is it possible to give moutain walk to all giant ?

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by Codyksp:

I'll post this here as well, and provide a little bit more detail below:

Initial thoughts after reading this update:
- Rock Giant King is the strongest, why did it only get -1 stats?
- The Production could be dropped to +2 and they'd be fine.
- Instead of nerfing their defenses, drop their HP by 20.
- Warhammer probably deserves a nerf to 10 base damage.
- Rune of Command should probably cost 3-4 infusion points.
- Frost is extremely powerful. It's hard to balance that one.
- Damage Rune / Grand Brawn Rune could lose 5% damage imo.

Everything else seems fine to me as far as I can currently tell.

I really don't feel that you should be messing with Giant King defenses.
I get that you're trying to be thematic, but it's entirely unnecessary.
Just reduce their HP globally by 20 and we're all gucchi on that front.

The +3 Production bonus is the strongest by far, with no downsides.
I understand Fire has extra bonuses, but those aren't actually useful.
The issue being that you just take Ashland Adaptation (or Sabertooth).

Warhammer at 12 damage is still equal to a normal 1H weapon.
Meanwhile it deals damage in a 1-hex cone (so up to 3 targets).
I feel it should really be dealing less damage if you look at it like that.

Rune of Command is an army buff in a "free" item slot on every Hero.
It shouldn't be an instant craft, cheap item you just slap on everyone.
There is already no strong competition for that specific item slot.

Damage Rune and Grand Brawn Rune stand out as the best choices.
The other choices are either situational or simply not worth picking.
This is especially true after you lowered Vitality Rune to 15 HP.

your suggestions are absolutely absurd! the giants are fine as is, the nerf to their defenses was more than adequate to bring them in line, further nerfs would be ridiculous!

the giant runes are already really expensive and almost not worth the effort, not only do you have to waste several skill points for them, the infusion cost is also quite high. coupled with a nerfed item forge and the worth of them is questionable. you even said it yourself that "other choices are either situational or simply not worth picking"...so they got nerfed so heavily that its not really worth picking them...yet you want another round of nerfs...are you insane? stop refuting yorself man!

their production buff is fine now, other rulers get other strongh points like mana / spellcasting of the wizard king.

the weapons of the giants can't be further nerfed, otherwise it becomes a joke and nobody plays them, stop asking for unreasonable stuff. you disproofed your own point ffs, "warhammer at 12 damage is still equal to a normal 1h weapon" ...yeah...but those weapons are TWO HANDED!!!! Also you only have a very restricted selection of weapons and due to the nature of this special weapons its really rare to just get a new weapon from a drop, so you will most likely have to craft them. meanwhile most heroes / human rulers can just pick up random stuff and it will be an upgrade.

[Xerberus86]

Originally posted by Codyksp:

Originally posted by Dreepa:

Just out curiosity, are you talking from a PvP perspective?

Yes. As to be quite honest this level of balance is probably irrelevant in SP.

who cares about multiplayer, especially "PVP"...this game isn't a pvp game and never will be. if some people wanna try to be some wanna-be pvp-ler fine, go play in your corner, have fun. ... but stop spoiling the fun of the big majority.