Mar 14, 2019

Viking RTS Northgard adds giant-summoning Relics and more in big free update

Northgard: Definitive Edition

Developer Shiro Games' entertaining Viking-themed real-time strategy, Northgard, has just received a major new content update - introducing, among other things, powerful Relics that can grant serious benefits to your ever-beleaguered clans.

The free update, appropriately titled Northgard Relics, is described by Shiro as the "biggest content update" since launch. Unsurprisingly, the focus is those game-changing Relics, with each clan able to choose between five common Relics and one clan-specific Relic, although only one can be used per game.

Common Relics grant the likes of defence bonuses, feast bonuses, and more for the duration of play - which, while supremely useful, are considerably less spectacular than the clan-specific Relics. These are able to summon such wonders as mercenary giants, massive boars, the undead, and white wolves to do your bidding, which - I think we can all agree - is far more exciting than having a couple more apples for your tea.

Mar 14, 2019

Northgard gets game-changing relics in a free update

Northgard: Definitive Edition

Viking RTS Northgard received a meaty update today, introducing powerful artefacts that can buff your clan. They're accompanied by an expanded crafting system, along with changes to tool mechanics and the forge, which is where your smiths will be working away to make your fancy relics. It's live now.

Just by luck, the vikings have remembered how to craft these relics, and each clan can pick between five common and one clan-specific relic, activating one at a time. With these handy artefacts, you'll be able to summon giants and undead monstrosities to do your bidding, just like the old vikings.

Inside the updated forge, you'll be able to put three smiths to work, letting you craft items quickly. They can upgrade civilian and military tools, and it's now possible to queue up multiple items. The smiths can be upgraded, too, giving them a boost in forge speed.

It sounds like a good excuse to return. It's one of my favourite Age of Empires-style RTS romps, and some of these relics sound like proper game changers. 50 percent defensive bonuses, colonising tiles with lore, summoning the wrath of gods—they're not messing around.

Take a look at the patch notes and relic list here.

Mar 14, 2019

[Patchnote] Northgard Major Update - Relics

Northgard: Definitive Edition - Brioche [Shiro]

Greetings Warchiefs!

We're glad to finally present you our new major update: Northgard Relics!

Relics is the biggest content update since the release of Northgard Ragnarok, and we truly hope you’ll enjoy what we’ve introduced!

The creation and usage of tools has been completely changed in this patch.

The Forge

The Forge has gained a lot of importance in Northgard. The building requires a Woodcutter’s Lodge to be created and costs 80

and 20

.
The building can be upgraded with 100

, 50

and 5

You can assign 2 smiths to a non-upgraded Forge and 3 to an upgraded Forge. Add Smiths to craft items quicker.
You can build more than one Forge, but you won’t be able to use both buildings to craft the same item.

The Tools

In the Forge, you now have the possibility of 3 different actions:

Upgrade civilian tools
Upgrade military tools
Forge a Relic

You can queue multiple items in the Forge. When the first item is finished, the Smiths will start forging the next one.

If there isn’t any adversity in the Forge’s tile, you can cancel the creation of an item, and you’ll be refunded its original cost.

You’ll have the possibility to improve the Smith’s tools, granting them a 15% increase in Forge speed!

The knowledge of building Relics has just been rediscovered. Every clan can choose between 5 common Relics and each clan has one specific relic. Each clan can only have one relic per game and can only use the relic it creates.

To build a Relic, go to the Relic tab in the Forge menu and select the type of relic you want to build. Once it’s built, it will appear in the list of available buildings. Forging a Relic costs 10

, 50

and 100

The Common Relics

Here is their list, the requirements needed to build them and their effect:

Relic

Name

Clan

Effect

Eldhrumnir

All

+40% Feast bonus
Feast price halved
Units are healed during feasts
The healing effect depends on the number of wounded people you have

Mjölnir

All

Summon Thor's Wrath with thunder strikes
Damages units and building in the targeted tile
Cost: 150 150
Has a 12 month Cooldown

Svalinn

All

+50% Defense for all units and Towers in the tile where the relic is built
Protects the tile against negative events (such as Draugar invasion, mercenary raids, etc…)
The relic can be moved

Jörmunr

All

Lore production bonus depending on the player’s number of tiles
Maximum at 13 tiles => +20 Lore
Can colonize tiles with Lore

Bragaful

All

Produces depending on your Commercial Influence
Adds a new available Trade Route

The Clan Related Relics

Relic

Name

Clan

Effect

Gefjun's Jar

Goat

Spend to summon villagers and sheep
Cost is based on your current population
Reduce the needed by your population by 10%

Horn of Managarm

Wolf

Summon up to 3 white wolves from the relic tile
Cooldown 2 months, 1 month if built on a Wolves Cave
White Wolves have the same behavior as Skirmishers
Cost: 50 per wolf

Hlidskjalf

Stag

Your warchief gains the ability Annexation:
whenever your Warchief uncolonizes a tile, you will colonize it for free

Naglfar

Raven

You can send Mercenary Giants raids
Merc Giants have AoE attacks, hurting and fearing enemies (1 out of 3 attacks) and get resources to players (like a regular raid)
Cooldown: 6 Months
Cost: 200

Scabbard of Gram

Bear

Your Warchief gets Gram, the legendary sword and gains +15% Att and Def
Gram freezes enemies when hit. When frozen, nearby enemies get -20% att speed and -20% move speed

Mask of Gullinbursti

Boar

When built, a giant boar spawns in every forest on the map
Reveals every Forest tiles on the map
Giant Boars in ally territories are peaceful and defend you and your allies
When owning the Relic, Giant Boars can be sacrificed for 500

Gungnir

Snake

If you have unlocked a military path, you can unlock a new military path
Your military experience is common for both paths

Skull of Hrungnir

Dragon

You can summon an undead Jotnar
Costs 200
Cooldown: 6 Months

General Changes

It is no longer possible to launch a construction in a conflicted / decolonizing tile.
Small deposits now frequently spawn in Town Hall surrounding areas.
We reduced the income generated by trading
When destroying a building, the amount of resources reimbursed now depends on the difficulty you are playing on: easy => 30% (60% if upgraded) // normal => 20% (50% if upgraded) // hard => 10% (40% if upgraded)

Clans Modifications

The Goat’s feasts have been improved
The Goat’s Fame 200: the tools for Farmers, Hunters and Fishermen are free and can be crafted 50% faster

The Dragon men AoE attack now deals 100% damage only to the targeted enemy, and 70% on nearby enemies

Special Tiles

In the Magma Lake victory tile, forging Odin’s Sword no longer requires building a forge. The tile has an “Anvil of the Gods” where you’ll be able to assign Smiths. You have to build the 3 parts of Odin’s Swords to win as usual.

The Wyvern stats have been increased:
- 50 Attack power
- 25 Defense
The Vedrfolnir has been buffed:
- 25% Quicker to heal
- 25% Quicker to scout
- Now scouts tiles
The Geyser has been buffed (it now gives +2 )
Thor's Wrath has been buffed (+10% att power)
The Specter Warrior's defense has been reduced to 10
The Raven's Harbor now costs only 70
Depending on the difficulty the player is playing on, the number of Valkyries has been increased (on hard difficulty, each Valkyrie tile has been given +1 Valkyrie)

New multiplayer season: Relics

Test yourself against others in a brand new Multiplayer season!

We hope you enjoy what we've been working on!

Feb 28, 2019

Northgard Relics - the Open BETA begins!

Northgard: Definitive Edition - Brioche [Shiro]

Hey guys!

We've been working hard in the past few months to improve the game offer you some exciting new content!
Here is Northgard: Relics, the next major update for our game!

This BETA's primary goal is for us to determine if the Relics change the game in a positive way and work as well as they should.

The Beta will run for 2 weeks (until March 14th). We'd really appreciate it if you'd share your feedback with us on our official Discord (in the open-beta channel): https://discordapp.com/invite/northgard

How can I join the Open BETA?

It's very simple:

Fill in this form: https://goo.gl/forms/t7KWaQZkuVxaYdPu1
Get your Open BETA code at the end of the form
Right-click on Northgard and go to Properties
Jump into the BETA Tab
Enter the code
In the drop down menu, select Open Beta Relic
Quit and restart Steam
Northgard should require an update!

Congrats! You're in!

You can find the full patch notes below!

The creation and usage of tools has been completely changed in this patch.

The forge

The Forge has gained a lot of importance in Northgard. The building requires a Woodcutter’s Lodge to be created and costs 80 Wood and 20 Kröwns.
The building can be upgraded with 100 Wood, 50 Kröwns and 5 Stones.

The tools

In the forge, you now have the possibility of 3 different actions:

Upgrading civilian tools
Upgrading military tools
Forge a Relic

You can queue multiple items in the Forge. When the first item is finished, the Smiths will start forging the next one.
If there isn’t any adversity in the Forge’s tile, you can cancel the creation of an item, and you’ll be refunded its original cost.

You’ll have the possibility to improve the Smith’s tools, granting them a 15% increase in Forge speed!

The knowledge of building Relics has just been rediscovered. Every clan can choose between 6 common Relics and each clan has one specific relic. Each clan can only have one relic at a time and only can use the relic it creates.

To build a Relic, go to the Relic tab in the Forge menu and select the type of relic you want to build. Once it’s built, it will appear in the list of available buildings. Forging a Relic costs 10 Iron, 50 Wood and 100 Kröwns.

The Common Relics

Here is their list, the requirements needed to build them and their effect:

Relic

Name

Clan

Effect

Eldhrumnir

All

+50% Feast bonus.
Feast price halved
Units are healed during feasts
The healing effect is based on the number of wounded clan member

Mjölnir

All

Summon Odin’s Wrath with thunder strikes
Damages units and building in the targeted tile
Cost: 150 Food 150 Krowns
Has a 12 month Cooldown

Svalinn

All

+50% Defense for all units and Towers in the tile where the relic is built
Protects the tile against negative events (such as Draugar invasion, mercenary raids, etc…)
The relic can be moved

Jörmunr

All

Lore production bonus depending on the player’s number of tiles
Can colonize tiles with Lore

Bragaful

All

Produces Kröwns depending on your Commercial Influence
Adds a new available Trade Route

The Clan related Relics

Relic

Name

Clan

Effect

Gefjun's Jar

Goat

Spend food to summon villagers and sheep
Cost is based on your current population

Horn of Managarm

Wolf

Summon up to 3 white wolves from the relic tile
Cooldown 2 months, 1 month if built on a Wolves Cave
White Wolves have the same behavior as Skirmishers
Cost: 100 Food per wolf

Hlidskjalf

Stag

Your warchief gains the ability Annexation:
whenever your Warchief uncolonizes a tile, you will colonize it for free

Naglfar

Raven

You can send Mercenary Giants raids
Merc Giants have AoE attacks, hurting and fearing enemies
Cooldown: 6 Months
Cost: 200 Krowns

Scabbard of Gram

Bear

Your Warchief gets Gram, the legendary sword and gains +15% Att and Def
Gram freezes enemies when hit. When frozen, nearby enemies get -20% att speed and -20% move speed

Mask of Gullinbursti

Boar

When built, a giant boar spawns in every forest on the map
Reveals every Forest tiles on the map
Giant Boars in ally territories are peaceful and defend you and your allies
When owning the Relic, Giant Boars can be sacrificed for 500 food

Gungnir

Snake

If you have unlocked a military path, you can unlock a new military path
Your military experience is common for both paths

Skull of Hrungnir

Dragon

You can summon an undead Jotnar
Costs 200 food
Cooldown: 6 Months

In the Magma Lake victory tile, forging Odin’s Sword no longer requires building a forge. The tile has an “Anvil of the Gods” where you’ll be able to assign Smiths. You have to build the 3 parts of Odin’s Swords to win as usual.

The Goat’s feasts have been improved
The Goat’s Fame 200: the tools for Farmers, Hunters and Fishermen are free and can be crafted 50% faster
It is no longer possible to launch a construction in a conflicted/decolonizing tile.
Small iron deposits now frequently spawn in Town Hall surrounding areas.
We reduced the income generated by trading iron
Please note that the Story Mode and Ranked Games will not be playable on the Open BETA
We forced english for this Open BETA, when switching back to regular northgard, you may need to switch back from English

Once again, the Beta will run for 2 weeks (until March 14th). We'd really appreciate it if you'd share your feedback with us on our discord channel: https://discordapp.com/invite/northgard

We hope you enjoy what we've been working on!

Dec 4, 2018

PATCHNOTES - Clan of the Dragon

Northgard: Definitive Edition - Alethleon [Shiro]

Description

The most alien of all clans, the Dragons follow ancient customs and embrace sinister traditions. They use sacrifice and slavery to further their goals, often earning the other clan's distrust.

Starting Bonuses

Your civilians can go into neutral territory.
No Happiness or Production penalty for being wounded.
You start with a Sacrificial Pyre. You can build a Dragonkin Altar instead of other military buildings.
You start with 2 Thrall and 3 regular Villagers. You can buy Thralls from your Longship Dock

Description

Slavery is an important part of the clan’s economy. Like the regular civilians, Thralls can travel in neutral territory and fight.

Thralls do not count towards your population

and do not require housing. Their maximum number (

) is based on your current population number: 33% of current population

.
They consume only 33% of what a Villager usually consume and they gather 50% less resources than a civilian.

How to get new Thralls

There are 2 different ways of getting new thrall:

You can buy them from your longship dock. the price of each thrall will increase after each purchase (+40 ) , and this price will slowly decrease over time (-2 /month).
After getting the Capture Lore, you’ll be able to enslave enemy civilians. You’ll need to get them to 33% HP to have a chance (10% chance per hit) to enslave them. This also works for neutral factions. Please note that each enslaved Kobold will take 1 slot in your Thrall population , each Myrkalf will take 3 slots, and each Jotunn will take 5 slots.

Thrall are a powerful economic and military asset but beware of their number! If by any chance your regular population falls under your Thrall population (if

), they will rise against you!

The Clan of the Dragon starts each game with a pre-built exclusive building: the Sacrificial Pyre. Through this building, you’ll be able to send every unit you have (except warchief, Jötnar and Bláinn, spectral warriors) to be sacrificed to honour the gods and gain their favours.

Sacrificing a unit will earn you some Dragon Essence that can be used to unlock various bonuses:

Sacrificing a regular (non Thrall) unit gives 2 Dragon Essence Units ()
Sacrificing a Thrall gives 3 Dragon Essence Units ()

Each Fame step will improve the available bonuses and will unlock additional parts of your Dragon Essence gauge.

The different bonuses that can be unlocked are:

Nanna’s Influence: +2 in (Thane: +3 / Jarl: +4)
Andhrimnir’s Influence: +2 in production (Thane: +4 / Jarl: +8)
Niorun’s Influence: +2 in Production (Thane: +4 / Jarl: +8)
Njörd’s Influence: +2 in Production (Thane: +4 / Jarl: +8)
Mimir’s Influence: +2 in Production (Thane: +4 / Jarl: +8)
Hönir Influence: Your slightly increases over time
Idunn’s Influence: Will heal your Dragonkin, wherever they are (if not in combat)
Magni’s Influence: +10% for your Warband and non-thrall units (Thane: +15% / Jarl: +20%)

The Clan of the Dragon does not have access to the regular Military Building. The only military camp you’ll be able to build is the Dragonkin Altar. Each Altar increases your warband size by 1 (2 if upgraded).

Giving a Villager his Dragonkin form is a non-reversible process and will consume 50 Krowns (+10 per new Dragonkin) and 1 Dragon Essence Unit

.

Dragonkins are ferocious military units, more powerful than warriors.

Thanks to the Frenzy Lore, they can get a +50%

bonus when fighting alone in a tile.

The Clan of the Dragon has 5 new Lore:

Hard Labor: Your Thralls can be conscripted to production buildings to increase their output (You can assign a maximum of 1 Thrall)
Blood, Sweat and Tears: You can assign 2 extra Thralls to production buildings. (You can assign a maximum of 3 Thralls)
Capture: Gives a chance to enslave wounded enemy civilians or neutral faction units. Enslaved Myrkalfar count as 3 Thralls, Jötnar count as 5 Thralls.
Slave Trade: Thralls are cheaper by 50% and minimum price is also reduced by 50%
Draconic Frenzy: +50% for a Dragonkin with no other ally unit in their zone.

Clan of the Wolf: The berserker now costs 200 and 5 . His defense has been raised to 10.
Clan of the Bear:
- The Clan now starts the game with Kaija .
- Fame 500: Kaija can now go into enemy territory
Clan of the Goat: 1 sheep has been added in nearby territories
Warcry: the time effect has been decreased from 4s to 3s. The CoolDown time has been increased from 1 month to 3 months. Only 1 Warcry can be shouted each month per tile and per team.
The Myrkalfar’s life has been decreased from 60 to 50
The Kobold spawn rate has been decreased, and they won’t start expanding on the players' territory before the middle of the year 802

We really hope you have as much fun with the Dragon as we did creating them! We still have a lot of awesome ideas for the future and cant wait to share them all with you.

Thank you for your continued feedback and support!

Have Fun!

Nov 26, 2018

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2018: Best PC gaming deals

Counter-Strike 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (The Dealer)

Is… is it over yet? Are the Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC gaming deals finally finished? Just a couple more hours to go now, you can do it deals herald, you can get through this. You’ve got a week and a half holiday coming up soon, just get through the afternoon and then you can go and lie in a dark room and not dream about Cyber Monday graphics card deals you might have missed for the seventh night running.

Ahem. Sorry, I don’t know what came over me there. Probably the Cyber Monday PC gaming deals fatigue settling in, or the Black Friday fever dream I seem to have been living this past fortnight. But your deals herald is stronger than that. Nay, THE DEALER is stronger than that, and with a renewed sense of vigor that may in fact be frenzied despair, I thus present to you the final monolithic installment of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday PC deals bonanza. Gone are the deals swept away by the ever-grabbing hands of internet shoppers. All that’s left is the best of the best that are still up for grabs, from graphics cards and monitors to SSDs, gaming headsets, CPUs and mice and keyboards and more. If you’ve yet to do your Cyber Monday shopping, act fast, as these PC gaming deals won’t be around for long.

(more…)