PATCH 8.0: ARDANIAN ALLIANCES

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HIGHLIGHTS
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» 4 NEW lords
» 3 NEW units
» 2 NEW buildings
» 2 NEW spells
» 1 NEW Great Mage
» Allied Unit improvements
» Free Town improvements
» Improved artwork for Great Mages
» Various tweaks, rebalancing & fixes


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NEW CONTENT
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4 NEW LORDS
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Four lords complete Renaissance Mod, bringing the final lord count to 60 total -- 22 usual, 20 famous, 18 legendary.

» Knife Thrower (famous) Ranged Fighter Lord; perma-stealthed blade throwing assassin; deals melee dmg at range
» Flamedancer (famous) Lord of Fire; highly resistant fire caster w/ waterwalking & 'Flame Wreath' action
» Runespeaker (legendary) Mage Lord; long range elemental dmg; applies permanent protective runes to friendly units
» Sachi, Tribal Huntress (legendary) Archer Lord; can wade in water; +25% death dmg aura; +5 regeneration aura


3 NEW UNITS
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» Pygmy Bearmen (sylvan) tough tier 1 melee unit with limited ranged ability; +1 regeneration; may be upgraded to Bearmen
» Bearmen (sylvan) strong tier 2 melee unit with 'Maul' & limited ranged ability; +4 regeneration; may be upgraded to Dragon Bearmen
» Plaguemaw Bats (sylvan) tier 3 Grum-Gog flying fighter; deals death dmg at melee range & weakens enemies; +8 regeneration {replaces 'Rodents of Unusual Size'}


2 NEW BUILDINGS
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» Bearmen Den (sylvan) allows recruitment of new Pygmy Bearmen & Bearmen {replaces 'Koatl House' in build tree}
» Elven Crafters (common) +7 gold; upk = 1 food; 5x Elven Arrows perk for archer classes {replaces 'Elven Bungalow'}


2 NEW SPELLS
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» Summon Great Bears (fervus) Summons a unit of Great Bears to the selected hex {replaces 'Summon Bears' in research tree}
» Summon Polar Bearman (fervus) Summons a Polar Bearman to the selected hex {replaces 'Summon Bearman' in research tree}


1 NEW GREAT MAGE
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» Lord Tharayn (elves) aggressive demeanor; perks: Master Training, Intolerance, Minotaur Slaver {replaces 'Byron Strongarm'}


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SYLVAN IMPROVEMENTS
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In an effort to make the lore and identity of the Sylvan Order more cohesive, their faction has been overhauled. Bearmen units replace Koatls as Sylvan melee troops, while the previously neutral Wood Elves permanently join the faction to provide superior ranged power.

» Worship 6 gods, up from 5 (excellent variety of divine units and epic perks)
» May now build Temple of Lunord, Shrine of Lunord & City of Lunord
» Many units are now susceptible to Missile damage {was 'Some units'}


SYLVAN UNIT CHANGES
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» Pygmy Bearmen (NEW!) tough tier 1 melee unit with limited ranged ability; +1 regeneration; may be upgraded to Bearmen
» Bearmen (NEW!) strong tier 2 melee unit with 'Maul' & limited ranged ability; +4 regeneration; may be upgraded to Dragon Bearmen
» Plaguemaw Bats (NEW!) tier 3 Grum-Gog flying fighter; deals death dmg at melee range & weakens enemies; +8 regeneration {replaces 'Rodents of Unusual Size'}
» Elven Archers (formerly allied) now exclusively Sylvan; base damage reduced to 12, down from 15; given +25% elemental damage; cost increased to 175 gold, up from 120; upkeep changed to 6 gold, 1 food, 1 mana (was 8 gold, 1 food, 1 mana)
» Elven Sharpshooters (formerly allied) now exclusively Sylvan; base damage reduced to 14, down from 18; given +10 melee & +10 missile resist; cost reduced to 600 gold, down from 700; upkeep changed to 13 gold, 1 food, 4 mana (was 15 gold, 1 food, 4 mana)
» Hunting Wargs & Silver Wargs melee resistance reduced by 10; hit points increased by 1
» Roc upkeep changed to 7 food, 3 mana (was 3 gold, 7 food)
» Roc Matriarch upkeep changed to 12 food, 4 mana (was 4 gold, 12 food)
» Treant Protectors cost reduced to 250 gold, down from 265; upkeep changed to 2 gold, 4 food, 4 mana (was 3 gold, 4 food, 3 mana)
» Druids (fervus) moved to sylvan faction (formerly monsters); given 'Forester' perk; upkeep changed to 4 gold, 10 food, 2 mana (was 4 gold, 10 food)
» Agrela's Shepherds (agrela) regeneration aura reduced to +8 regeneration, down from +10; upkeep changed to 3 gold, 7 food, 7 mana (was 6 gold, 6 food, 6 mana)
» Nightmare Wargs (formerly fervus) base damage increased to 22, up from 20; realigned with lunord {now requires Temple of Lunord to build}
» Dragonwolf Brawlers (krolm) renamed 'Dragon Bearmen' & lore revised; base damage reduced to 25, down from 30; hit points reduced to 65, down from 66; melee/missile resists increased & elemental/death resists reduced; given +4 regeneration & 'Maul' action
» Daughters of Sahmet (helia) renamed 'Daughters of Helia' & lore revised; base damage increased to 20, up from 18; hit points reduced to 45, down from 50; movement points reduced to 3, down from 4
» Several sylvan units with 'beast' status no longer have the 'Forrester' perk, as these benefits were rolled into their innate beast perks
» Rodents of Unusual Size (grum-gog) have been retired {replaced by 'Plaguemaw Bats'}


SYLVAN BUILDING CHANGES
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» Bearmen Den (NEW!) allows recruitment of new Pygmy Bearmen & Bearmen {replaces 'Koatl House' in build tree}
» Elven Shooting Grounds added to 'gold' build tree {replaces 'Roc Roost'}; grants production of Elven Archers & Elven Sharpshooters; production = +2 gold, +2 research; upkeep = 2 food, 3 mana
» Roc Roost moved to 'mana' build tree {replaces 'House of Secrets'}; production = +2 mana, +2 research; upkeep = 2 gold, 3 food
» Sparkling Lagoon must now be built near water


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ALLIED UNIT IMPROVEMENTS
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Allied units (like Minotaurs and Dwarves) can be recruited by all factions. Most of these units already specialize in combating a specific type of unit. Dwarves, for example, excel at damaging combat buildings, while Halberdiers are strong versus Dremers.

With the changes to the Sylvan Order, Koatls (both tiers) have replaced Wood Elves as the new allied archer unit. In addition, they've been given combat bonuses versus certain unit types. The same is true of Minotaurs and Stubborn Knights.

The following table presents how each allied unit can be used as a "hard counter" versus certain units.


Here are the specific changes made to allied units in 8.0.

» Koatl Spears (formerly sylvan) restored as an allied unit; renamed 'Koatl Atlatls'; changed to a ranged unit w/ 'Trailblazing' action; promoted to tier 2; given 'Supporting unit' perk; base damage increased to 10, up from 9; movement points increased to 4, up from 3; cost increased to 120 gold, up from 50; deal bonus dmg to dragons; upkeep increased to 5 gold, 5 food (was 2 gold, 2 food)

» Koatl Hunters (formerly sylvan) restored as an allied unit; given 'Trailblazing' action; promoted to tier 3; hit points increased to 37, up from 35; base damage increased to 17, up from 12; death damage increased to 100%, up from 50%; movement points increased to 4, up from 3; can support 3 units, up from 1; cost increased to 700 gold, up from 140; deal bonus dmg to dragons; upkeep increased to 10 gold, 10 food (was 5 gold, 5 food)

» Stubborn Knights (allied) base damage reduced to 15, down from 18; given 50% life dmg bonus
» Stubborn Crusaders (allied) base damage reduced to 18 with 100% life dmg bonus, down from 22 with 50% life dmg bonus
» Minotaurs (allied, hostile) now deal bonus dmg to units with 'Armoured' status
» Black Minotaurs (allied, hostile) now deal bonus dmg to units with 'Armoured' status
» Minotaur Caves (resource) no longer guarded by Minotaurs; now an unguarded resource {like all other allied resources}


Continued here...

Notes for Patch 8.0 -- Part 2 »