A small update to take care of problems reported to us since yesterday.

If you encounter any other issues, please report them here so that we can fix them ASAP.

If the game doesn't start for you, remove all mods. If you don't know how, delete the game folder manually and download the game again.

• Fixed players unable to cancel the 'Drive Away Nomads' or 'Secure Cemetery' contracts during certain twists.
  
• Fixed players not getting the armor bought during the retired gladiator event.
  
• Fixed missing sounds in the 'Blazing Deserts' DLC for player who don't also have the 'Warriors of the North' DLC.
  
• Fixed gladiators sometimes complaining about food even though there's good food available.
  
• Fixed small issue with eunuch event triggering at city states.
  
• Fixed arena tournament notification event not working.
  
• Fixed some other minor issues.

The ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC for Battle Brothers has been released into the world!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361280/Battle_Brothers__Blazing_Deserts



Enjoy!

With the 'Blazing Deserts' DLC comes a big free update that improves the game in many aspects. Below you'll find a list explaining the most important additions, changes and fixes.

Note that all of this is in addition to the many things brought by the 'Blazing Deserts' DLC.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361280/Battle_Brothers__Blazing_Deserts

If you'd like to continue your current campaign with the previous version of Battle Brothers, or continue to play it altogether without the DLC, you can do so as well. Find Battle Brothers in your Steam library, right-click it and select 'Properties'. Navigate to the 'Betas' tab and select the '1.3.x' branch from the dropdown menu. Steam should now update Battle Brothers, and once done, you're ready to go.

Starting a new campaign is recommended. You may continue your current campaign, but if you do, expect some glitches.

Note that most mods will not work anymore until they've been updated by their authors to work with the new version of Battle Brothers. Make sure to remove them, as otherwise the game may not work correctly or crash outright. This includes any language mods.

• Added a new player banner as a thank you for your continued support.
  
• Added combat environments reflecting locations where battles take place. Attacking a bandit camp will now have that camp appear in combat, and likewise will a graveyard or some ruins. Locations may have fortifications like walls and palisades, which you'll be informed about in a location's tooltip and the engage dialog.
  
• Added exploration mode, allowing you to start with an entirely undiscovered map.
  
• Added toggleable highlighting of any tiles blocked by environmental objects (such as trees) in combat via button and hotkey.
  
• Added treasure items selling for full value as possible loot for all beasts, old and new, in order to make fighting them a more profitable endeavour.
  
• Added a line to the tooltip of any items used in crafting to inform you of this fact, as to better differentiate between crafting and loot items, if the Beasts & Exploration DLC is installed.
  
• Added tooltips explaining in more detail beforehand what is expected of the player, and what the expected rewards are, when choosing between ambitions.
  
• Added tavern rumors about situations of nearby settlements, including some hinting at the presence of particular beasts, as well as rumors specific to each of the late game crises, and reduced chance of pure flavor rumors slightly.
  
• Added 'enter' cursor to display over locations that can be entered on the world map, like friendly settlements.
  
• Added better and up-to-date tutorial videos.
  
• Added '-nohwcursor' command line option for people experiencing issues with their mouse cursors.
  
  
• Changed 'Nine Lives' perk to also clear any damage over time effects (e.g. bleeding, poisoned) upon triggering, and to give improved defensive stats until the character's next turn.
  
• Changed 'Relentless' perk to also remove the penalty to initiative when waiting with a character.
  
• Changed 'Head Hunter' perk to guarantee a hit to the head for your next attack after hitting the head of your target once. Resets after your hit connects or if you miss your attack.
  
• Changed 'Fearsome' perk to also carry a penalty equal to 20% of the attacker's resolve for each morale check triggered by inflicting damage.
  
• Changed 'Sword Mastery' perk to lower the threshold to inflict injuries with the 'Gash' skill to 50%.
  
• Changed 'Rally' skill to cost 5 action points to use, down from 6.
  
• Changed 'Indomitable' AP cost to 5, up from 3. The previous cost erased too much the choice between going offensive or defensive and allowed you to have the best of both.
  
• Changed 'Adrenaline' skill to cost 1 AP, up from 0.
  
• Changed 'Fast Adaptation' perk to give +10% chance to hit with each miss, up from +8%.
  
• Changed 'Brawny' perk to reduce the fatigue penalty from armor and helmet by 30%, up from 25%.
  
• Changed 'Anticipation' perk to always give a minimum of +10 to Ranged Defense.
  
• Changed 'Knock Back' skill to have a fatigue cost of 20, down from 25.
  
• Changed 'Repel' and 'Hook' skills to have a fatigue cost of 25, down from 30.
  
• Changed 'Split Shield' skill to trigger the 'Overwhelm' effect.
  
• Changed 'Exposed Ribs', 'Stabbed Guts', 'Grazed Kidney', 'Deep Chest Cut' and 'Deep Abdominal Cut' injuries to have more of an effect, including reducing hitpoints of the victim to certain thresholds if currently above. In essence, those injuries are now a bit more useful for the player to inflict upon enemies, and both the 'Crippling Strikes' perk and the 'Gash' skill were indirectly buffed this way.
  
• Changed Ranged Defense levelups to range from 2-4, up from 1-3. Only affects characters generated after this update.
  
• Changed damage of Scimitar to 40-45, up from 35-45, and increased efficiency vs. armor to 70%.
  
• Changed damage of Three-Headed Flail to 30-75, up from 21-66.
  
• Changed damage of Billhook to 55-85, down from 60-90, and efficiency vs. armor of 140%, down from 150%.
  
• Changed efficiency vs. armor of Polehammer to 185%, up from 175%.
  
• Changed damage of Reinforced Boondock Bow to 30-50, up from 25-40.
  
• Changed damage of Heavy Javelin to 35-50, down from 40-55.
  
• Changed damage of Heavy Throwing Axe to 30-50, down from 35-55.
  
• Changed Living Tree Shield to regenerate by 10% of maximum durability each turn.
  
• Changed Undead Trophy to double the wearer's resolve when defending against fear and mind control skills, and no longer grant complete immunity.
  
• Changed surrounding mechanics to no longer count stunned characters, or characters armed with ranged weapons, towards the surround bonus.
  
• Changed zone of control mechanics for actors that are stunned or without skills to actually perform attacks of opportunity (like if armed with a ranged weapon) to no longer exert zones of control.
  
• Changed 'Dazed' status effect to -25% damage, -25% initiative and -25% max fatigue, down from -35% of each.
  
• Changed 'Charmed' status effect to make the afflicted immune to some morale effects, as to avoid odd situations of characters fleeing after the charm has worn off.
  
• Changed 'Sleeping' status effect to last for 3 turns, up from 2. It still can be removed at any time using the 'Wake Up' skill.
  
• Changed 'Cat Potion' to be used on the worldmap and give a +20 bonus to Initiative for the duration of the next battle.
  
• Changed 'Lionheart Potion' to be used on the worldmap and give a +20 bonus to Resolve for the duration of the next battle.
  
• Changed 'Iron Will Potion' to be used on the worldmap and give the same effect as before for the duration of the next battle.
  
• Changed 'Night Vision Elixir' to be used on the worldmap and give the same effect as before for the duration of the next battle.
  
• Changed 'Second Wind Potion' to be used on the worldmap and give +4 to Fatigue recovery for the duration of the next battle.
  
• Changed 'Berserker Mushrooms' to be used on the worldmap and give a +25% bonus to damage in melee, and reduce both melee and ranged defense by -15 for the duration of the next battle. Using these no longer carries an additional risk of getting sick, but characters still risk getting sick/addicted from taking too many potions of any kind at once.
  
• Changed 'Antidote' to also give immunity to poison for the duration of 3 turns after use.
  
• Changed 'Potion of Knowledge' effect to last for 3 battles instead of 2 days.
  
• Changed Geists to no longer have the 'Anticipation' perk, but instead have a perk of their own that increases both their Melee and Ranged Defense by small amounts the further away an attacker is.
  
• Changed the tails of Lindwurms to also exert a zone of control.
  
• Changed 'Trade Caravan' origin to only receive 66% of all renown, up from 50%.
  
• Changed starting renown of some other existing origins to better work with the new Retinue feature.
  
• Changed targeting icons for AoE skills to also show up on empty tiles as to give a better idea of the area those skills can cover.
  
• Changed hotkey for showing/hiding footprints on the worldmap to the 'F' key, as to avoid players accidentally hiding footprints by pressing the 'Tab' key while switching between applications.
  
• Changed auto-saves when leaving towns in ironman mode to be faster.
  
• Changed AI turns to be faster when multiple characters do nothing but move one after the other.
  
• Changed AI to perform better in various situations.
  
• Changed lots and lots of minor things for the better.
  
  
• Fixed rare issue with game speed on very long campaigns.
  
• Fixed potential crash when in a three-way fight with Alps and other enemies.
  
• Fixed issue with temporarily invisible Alps when getting knocked back and receiving damage at the same time.
  
• Fixed potential crash with bleeding Lindwurms as they retreat from the map.
  
• Fixed potential crash with AI use of Three-Headed Flail.
  
• Fixed characters devoured by the Kraken rising as Wiedergängers when fighting it during the undead crisis.
  
• Fixed fatigue cost reduction of named items not applying to 'Reload' skill of crossbows.
  
• Fixed 'Lunge' skill potentially moving a character onto a tile they can't attack from.
  
• Fixed 'Riposte' skill sometimes not working against Unhold attacks.
  
• Fixed rare issue of armor and helmets not dropping even though they're named items and should be guaranteed to drop.
  
• Fixed rare issue with 'Reset Equipment After Battle' function losing items.
  
• Fixed wolf gained via event having incorrect stats.
  
• Fixed issue with a particular twist of the 'Siege' contract.
  
• Fixed retreating from fight with bounty hunters in 'Drive Away Brigands' contract not removing the robber baron's head.
  
• Fixed 'Big Game Hunt' contract potentially pointing to regions that neither Lindwurms nor Schrats are native to, or to regions undiscovered by the player.
  
• Fixed potential crash with the 'Investigate Cemetery' contract.
  
• Fixed potential crash with 'Barbarian King' contract.
  
• Fixed pathfinding issue where characters would move through zones of control when they shouldn't.
  
• Fixed hate/fear trait events not firing properly.
  
• Fixed guaranteed building spawns across the map not always working.
  
• Fixed multiple pieces of text appearing one after the other at game over screen, instead of just one.
  
• Fixed various minor issues.

Welcome to the final part of our preview video series on the upcoming ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC. This time we take a look at the new throwable pots and primitive firearms coming to Battle Brothers, and fight an army of the mighty city states. If you missed earlier installments of this preview series, you can find the first part here and the second part here.



The ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC will release on August 13th for the price of $14,99 or your regional equivalent. You can already wishlist it on Steam by following the link below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361280/Battle_Brothers__Blazing_Deserts/

Welcome to the second part of our preview video series on the upcoming ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC. We continue with a look at the new retinue feature and the ‘Manhunters’ origin, and fight a few nomads at one of their desert camps. If you missed the first part of our preview series, you can find it here.



The ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC will release on August 13th for the price of $14,99 or your regional equivalent. You can already wishlist it on Steam by following the link below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361280/Battle_Brothers__Blazing_Deserts/

Welcome to the first part of our preview video series on the upcoming ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC. To kick things off, Jan will take you on a quick tour through the extended world map, the town screen of the city states, the Gladiators origin and the arena feature.



The ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC will release on August 13th for the price of $14,99 or your regional equivalent. You can already wishlist it on Steam by following the link below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361280/Battle_Brothers__Blazing_Deserts/

Polishing the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC continues as we take a look at another potpourri of smaller additions and quality of life improvements coming with the release on August 13. You can already wishlist the DLC here. Let’s take a look!

A new and entirely optional way to play your campaign is with a map that is unexplored in the beginning, save for your immediate surroundings. You’ll have to discover the lay of the land and uncover every settlement yourself, as everything is hidden by thick fog covering the map at the start.



If you’re into exploration, this could make for an interesting and fresh campaign. It’s only recommended for experienced players that know what they’re doing, however, as exploring the map as you go adds some difficulty to keeping your men alive and well, and contracts may send you to settlements that you’ve never been to and that you have to find first.

As you probably know by now, the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC adds several new types of terrain. But if you’ve ever wondered from afar what terrain a particular enemy camp sits on, fret no more. The game will now tell you in the tooltip of camps what terrain your men would be fighting on, without having to first engage the camp. That’s even more important as the combination of terrain and fortifications is about to change the dynamic of battles thanks to objects like palisades making it onto combat maps!



Events are the spice of life, and the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC adds plenty of new ones both for your travels south and the interaction between characters. Observe a fire juggler in the city states, discuss astronomy with southern scholars, find cultists of Davkul doing something sinister in the desert, and have your men get sunburn. All events are illustrated with new art like that below.



Can’t do a new DLC without new achievements! A total of (currently) 12 new achievements to unlock await the completionists of you, as you can challenge yourself with defeating powerful new opponents, doing trick shots with a Handgonne, winning arena bouts, and more. Can you guess what other achievements there are based on the icons?



As with our previous DLCs, we’re again also offering a Supporter Edition for those of you who want to support us above and beyond in working on Battle Brothers. As a thank you, you’ll be given a special player banner that appropriately reflects the wealth, craftsmanship and culture of the south and its people!



You can wishlist the Blazing Deserts Supporter Edition on here.

With the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC releasing on August 13 (wishlist it right here), we’ve now entered the final leg of development. We’re currently ironing out all the bugs and balancing issues, and we’ll be able to show you actual gameplay in motion before release. For now, let’s take a look at a new human faction that we only mentioned in passing so far. Read on!

The southern deserts are dominated by mighty city states that impose their will on the surrounding lands. Outside their gates lies barren wasteland that is home to another people, called the Nomads. They’re a proud and free people that reject the strict and sometimes oppressive city state laws, their harsh criminal system and their corruption. But by doing so, they also reject the many achievements of the city states, which, for all their flaws, are also a place where knowledge and science have displaced superstition, where there is stability and order, and where there is food and water aplenty.



Nomads travel the barren desert from one source of water to the next, hunting and scavenging, and living the freedom that they chose. Faced with surviving in this harsh environment, many nomads turn to banditry. It’s not all of them, of course, but as a mercenary in this world it’s who you’ll be dealing with most of the time. Nomads have a roster of their own, roughly similar to that of northern brigands, but with their own equipment and a unique skill.



Home in the desert and experienced in desert warfare, nomads use the environment to their advantage. Quite literally, in that they may throw sand in the faces of their opponents, inflicting the new ‘Distracted’ status effect. A distracted target will inflict less damage and have less initiative for a single turn.

Nomad Cutthroats and Nomad Outlaws are roughly equivalent to Brigand Thugs and Brigand Raiders. They tend to have less armor than their northern cousins in crime, but are more evasive, and their cultural pride affords them a slightly higher resolve and thus makes them slightly harder to break.



Wearing traditional nomad armor fashioned from leather and hemp, they’re armed with commonly available southern weapons like saifs, scimitars and spears, but they also make use of whips in battle and use the nomad mace not found elsewhere.

Nomad Slingers and Nomad Archers are roughly equivalent to Brigand Poachers and Brigand Marksmen. Slingers are armed with nomad slings, a different variant of the regular staff sling, while archers use the composite bow. This bow has lower range than regular bows, but performs better against armor, putting it in between regular bows and crossbows on the spectrum.



Larger congregations of nomads are led by a Nomad Leader, roughly equivalent to a Brigand Leader, and may also be supported by higher tier specialists. The Desert Stalker is a master of using bows and killing from afar, the Nomad Executioner is a heavily armed and armored individual that likes to solve disputes by slugging it out with two-handed weapons, and the Desert Devil is a bladedancer of sorts, a whirlwind on the battlefield wielding a shamshir or a swordlance. He’s not quite as skilled in a duel as a Swordmaster, but makes up this fact by being considerably more agile and less vulnerable to getting peppered with arrows. Naturally, all of these characters may also appear as champions with named gear if you own the Warriors of the North DLC.

The largest and most ambitious DLC for Battle Brothers yet is almost ready. We’re happy to announce that the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC for Battle Brothers will be released on August 13th for the price of $14.99 or your regional equivalent. You can already find and wishlist it right here.



The artwork above can also be downloaded as a wallpaper here.

The 'Blazing Deserts' DLC for Battle Brothers expands the game with new lands of burning deserts and lush oases to the south. Visit independent city states, fight in the arena, face desert raiders and southern beasts in battle. Wear new gear inspired by Arabian and Persian cultures of the medieval ages, employ alchemical contraptions and primitive firearms, and forge your own path when the fires of religious turmoil threaten to engulf the world in a new late game crisis.

• New Lands - Visit new lands to the south with independent city-states that have their own lore, equipment and services, as well as entirely new character backgrounds to recruit.
  
• Retinue - Hire non-combat followers for your retinue to customize your campaign experience to fit your playstyle. Hire a drill sergeant to train your men. Never lose shields again with a blacksmith that can repair gear no matter how damaged. Buy carts for additional inventory space.
  
• Arena - Fight in front of cheering spectators to earn coin, experience and unique rewards as an alternative to mercenary work.
  
• New Crisis - Survive a new late game crisis that tests the mettle of your company in the fires of religious turmoil.
  
• New Opponents - Face new factions of city state soldiers and desert raiders, complete with their own gear and unique mechanics. Hunt down and get hunted by desert beasts.
  
• New Origins - Play using one of three new southern-themed origins, each with special rules that shape your campaign into a different experience from beginning to end.
  
• New Banners and Gear - Dress in style with a collection of new banners, shields, helmets and armors inspired by Arabic and Persian culture. Use new weapons, alchemical contraptions and primitive firearms.
  
• Legendary Location - Visit a new legendary location and fight a new boss in a quest that leads to a legendary reward.
  
• New Location Environments - Fight amidst southern ruins and nomad tents on the tactical combat map, in addition to graveyards and encampments by brigands, orcs and goblins that come with a free update to the base game.
  
• New Contracts and Events - Earn your stay in the south by taking on new contracts. Immerse yourself in leading a mercenary company with even more illustrated events.
  
• New Music - Several new music tracks set the mood on your adventures.
  
• New Achievements - Challenge yourself with new achievements.

Please note: You'll be able to continue your current campaign with the DLC, but you won't have access to all of the new content until you start a new campaign. Starting a new campaign is very much recommended.

Things are coming together, and we’ll announce a release date for the ‘Blazing Deserts’ DLC in next week’s devblog! In the meantime we expand on a feature that many of you have asked us for more details on: The Arena. To arms!

While northerners will duel for honor, southerners do so for the entertainment of the masses, and not always willingly. Arena fights are to the death, or at the very least incapacitation, and in front of crowds that cheer for the most gruesome manner in which lives are dispatched. It is a different way to earn money with advantages and disadvantages over mercenary contracts. The arena is a building found in the city states, and entering it you start an arena contract.



Unlike with mercenary contracts, in arena matches you’re limited to fight with just three men of your choice against various opponents. Also unlike mercenary contracts, you’ll know exactly which and how many opponents you’re about to face - a certain number of beasts, slaves, captured desert raiders or professional gladiators, for example. If the upcoming arena match is not to your liking, you can simply wait until the next day and the next arena match. There’s no lengthy travelling involved, nor ambushes along the road, and you’re paid well for quick battles - but only if you win. If you’re looking for a quickstart into the gladiator lifestyle, the ‘Gladiators’ origin is a good pick.



Once you accept to fight in the arena, you’re given arena collars to equip up to three men of your choice with that are to partake in the match. Because an arena collar is worn in the accessory slot, this also means that you can’t take wardogs into the arena with you - you’ll have to do the fighting yourself!



Arena bouts are fought on a smaller map than regular battles and in front of cheering spectators. Your every move is commented with cheers and boos; missed that attack with a 95% chance to hit? People will gasp alongside you. Killed that beast with one swift stroke? People will cheer and applaud. Flee from your opponents? People will boo, because they paid for a match to the death and expect you to die proper bloody. Unlike with mercenary contracts, you can’t retreat once a battle has started and you won’t be able to loot your victims after the battle has ended. But if your men survive long enough, fighting in the arena will earn them unique traits as they climb the ranks from pit fighter to veteran of the arena. Traits that aid them both inside and outside of the arena.



Every fifth arena match is a special one; you’ll face harder opposition than usual in front of particularly important spectators that crave entertainment most thrilling, but you’ll also earn a piece of rare gladiator equipment not otherwise available in the game if you manage to win. Because of the perils of the gladiator profession, hiring a Surgeon for your retinue of non-combat followers may be a good investment to ensure that your men survive after a lost bout to entertain the crowd another day.