The Conqueror’s Blade community team will be conducting streaming maneuvers this week, continuing its collective effort to inform and entertain via the official Conqueror’s Blade Facebook page. From special guests to in-depth looks at various aspects of gameplay, there should be something for everyone, regardless of their mother tongue.

Here’s who’ll be at the helm, where and when:

• EN: December 7, 18:00 CET (09:00am PST), https://www.facebook.com/ConquerorsBlade/ – Get your quiz on with CM Kaeden, who’ll have key codes to bestow!
  
  
• ES: December 7, 16:30 CET (07:30am PST), https://www.facebook.com/ConquerorsBladeES/ – CM Pablovanu will be delving into the depths of Conqueror’s Blade PvP, answering the questions of the Spanish community.
  
  
• FR: December 8, 17:00 CET (08:00am PST), https://www.facebook.com/ConquerorsBladeFR/ – CM Ishtrall will be parlaying with a special guest about their CB hopes and dreams.
  
  
• DE: December 7, 18:00 CET (09:00am PST), https://www.facebook.com/ConquerorsBladeDE/ – One of the biggest German clan leaders will be joining CM Chibs for an in-depth chat.

As with all games where a successful attack results in dwindling health, there is within the codified logic of Conqueror’s Blade a system that determines how damage is applied. Given all the weapons and player attributes in play, the system at heart is quite complex. However, with just an overview of the various damage types and the elements that govern how damage is worked out, it could make all the difference in your future closed beta battles.



Health: In order to survive any attack a player needs a resources of health, represented by Health Points (HP). The more HP a player has, the more damage can be absorbed, until, of course HP reaches zero and the player is returned to limbo. As you might expect, the amount of damage sustained will largely depend on the weapon being used.

 

Weapon type: There are three dominant types of attack in Conqueror’s Blade, determined by the type of weapon or ammunition. These are piercing attacks (delivered via a sharp point such as a spear or arrow), slashing or cutting attacks (such as from a edged blade) and blunt attacks from the hilt or butt of a weapon (or from a shield). Other types of attack include fire, bleeding and poison, which usually deliver damage over a period of time.

 

Damage: The damage from each type of attack is calculated differently, depending on the attributes and skills of the attacker, the weapon being used and the armor attributes of the defender. For melee attacks the relative speed between the attacker and defender - such as from a mounted charge - is an additional factor, while for ranged attacks attenuation is important - the proportion of energy in a projectile that’s lost over distance.

 

Armor type: Broadly there are three types of armor in Conqueror’s Blade, light, medium and heavy, which roughly equates to padded or leather armor, chainmail armor and plate armor. Historically there was a wide variety of armor types and mixes that were effective in many different situations, but broadly speaking link mail tended to be effective against piercing weapons (arrows often being an exception) and plate armor was a counter to heavy bladed weapons.     

 

Damage over time: While not a consideration for individual attacks, damage over time (DoT) is an important element of any combat encounter. Usually the more damaging a single attack is, the more limited its future use might be, either by extending the delay between attacks, or imposing some kind of stamina, agility or equipment cost. For example, a two-handed and/or heavy-bladed  weapon will usually have a greater reach and incur more damage per attack than a one-handed and/or piercing weapon, often at a cost to attack frequency by way of stamina requirements.


Skills and Abilities: Currently each weapon type (class) can have up to three abilities assigned. These abilities are specific to the weapon, but might not necessarily generate the same type of damage for which the weapon is typically associated. For example a spear is a piercing weapon, but there are skills that allow it to generate blunt damage, which, for example, would make it more effective against a heavily-armored opponent.

This video brings a first hand sneak peek, where we'll be revealing various game features in detail. Today we start with Houses, Alliances and Territory Wars.

Enjoy this short video with ingame test footage brought to you by the CM team! This is the first in a series of posts about our upcoming game features. Don't forget that the game is still in active development and subject to change. There are tons of features to cover! Let us know in the Video's comment section which features you'd like to see next!

https://youtu.be/J4xicSpS9Hw

We’re bringing out a little Black Friday something for anyone who purchases a pre-order pack between now and November 30. All owners of an Explorer’s, Adventurer’s or Conqueror’s pre-order pack - yes, that includes everyone who has bought one to date - will in time for the closed beta test, take possession of 30 in-game siege weapons. These aren’t your anyone-can-craft ones either, but high quality items forged of the finest pretend materials!

This offer is the same regardless of the pre-order pack you’ve ordered and the bonus items contain 10x single-use Well-made Ballistas, 10x Well-made Cannons and 10x Well-made Culverins. However, be aware that the 30 Black Friday siege weapons will only be available during closed beta testing.

Just to be clear, ALL pre-order customers will be receiving the bonus siege items on newly created characters, not just those who make a purchase between now and midnight CET on Friday, November 30 (3pm PST). However, if you do delay your pre-order until December, while you will of course be able to access the closed beta, you’ll have to find some other way to acquire such high quality artillery pieces.


Based on the "triple bed crossbow" used during the Song Dynasty, which was lethal at 500 metres. Ballistas make ideal precision weapons for picking off generals, or for enfilading fire against masses of troops.



Smoothbore cannons were used in medieval warfare in Europe since at least the 1340s. They originally fired large metal darts, before moving on to metal or stone shot. An early form of incendiary ammunition involved iron shot heated to red-hot before firing, or a stone ball wrapped in burning pitch-soaked rags.



Culverins were medium-sized cannons employed as field pieces or sometimes aboard ship. They made ideal field artillery in that they were accurate, quick-firing, and not as cumbersome as cannons firing heavier ammunition.

We are in the midst of a collective effort to increase our Conqueror’s Blade video output, in service to which our most senior (and wise, generous, handsome, etc) community leaders have come together to create a short news update for your viewing pleasure.

As well as a recap of the recent Siege Tests, our hosts look ahead to the highly-anticipated closed beta test and what features we can all look forward to as Conqueror’s Blade approaches its most important development milestone so far!

https://youtu.be/79iBUH0gv5U

We have a new video today, for those of you yet to experience the challenge of trying to prize an enemy from their castle.

Imagine yourself on the throne of a great house, with all manner of upstart lords and barons whispering among themselves and challenging your regional dominance. It’s time to teach one of them a lesson that they’ll hopefully all learn from, and so your most trusted advisor comes to you offering you some insight into the best way to keep your neighbours in check.

Roll VT...

https://youtu.be/WxOqHz29M5k

If in Conqueror’s Blade we can loosely equate the Bow to a rifle and the Musket to a shotgun, where might the Short Bow be stowed on our metaphorical medieval gun rack? Well, as absurd as the comparison might be, let’s go with a modern submachine gun.

Ok, sure, you’re not going to be loosing off any more than a few dozen arrows per minute, but the rapidity with which you can take aim, fire and move towards your next objective is fairly typical of your contemporary skirmisher or scout; one whose task is to probe the enemy lines, report weaknesses and take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself without fully engaging with enemy forces or taking any undue risk.



With a Short Bow you don’t have the range of the standard bow, nor the stopping power of a musket, but you can still make your presence felt while fulfilling a unique battlefield role that the users of other ranged options are less able to perform.

You can, for example, become something of a distracting presence, by attracting the attention of the enemy and leading them away from matters that might be more pressing. Using waspish speed and threatening constant attack, it’s possible to deliver a feint that ties up more of the enemy that they can tactically afford, allowing allies to press home advantages elsewhere on the battlefield.

The short bow is also a capable secondary or support class, less able to deliver a crushing alpha strike, but able instead to root enemy Generals to the spot for others to focus their more substantial attacks upon. Supplement that with damage over time abilities and the Short Bow General surely deserves its place in the Conqueror’s Blade roster.
 

• Wrath of Artemis: Twin sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus, Artemis comes from impressive Greek stock, and, being a famed hunter, is often depicted with a bow. Naturally, she’s not to be messed with, lest her wrath of five rapidly-delivered arrows be incurred.
   
• Poison Arrow: It was seen as advantageous in ancient times to use arrows to deliver toxins to debilitate an enemy. However, in medieval Europe, a filthy bit of rag trapped under a barbed arrowhead was probably just as draining to an enemy’s health.
   
• Bola: Sometimes, when you lack the firepower to bring down an enemy, it’s better to let your more heavily armed allies do it for you. What better way to enable a job well done than to pin your target to the ground for everyone to focus their ire upon.
   
• Penetrating Shot: As effective as arrows are at penetrating human flesh, to get through heavy armour the archer has to draw on immense personal strength and concentration. Thankfully this skill grants you amounts of both you didn’t know you had.
   
• Swift Dodge: It’s not a great idea for you to engage an enemy in hand-to-hand combat, especially if they have sharp implements in one or both of those hands. Thankfully, being unencumbered by armour and without a scabbard to cause you to trip over, you can quickly tuck into the limbs of your bow and attempt to roll away from danger.

Regardless of whether you took part in the action or jealousy watched from afar, we want to thank everyone who contributed to the recent Siege Tests that took place over the last two weekends.

As we knew there would be (and as some of you experienced), there were some issues to contend with, but nothing that seemed to dim our collective enthusiasm for Conqueror’s Blade. What’s important is that what issues remain are already being worked on as we prepare for the next test - the first phase of the closed beta test, no less.

While we pore over the technical data and user feedback from the two Siege Test weekends, you might like check out some of the videos and streams documenting the biggest battles that took place. There’ll be more to come from the community over the days ahead, but our favourites right now include:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRW_noumlaY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpSiQ4Iu9SA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThWWXDUoNWc

If you like to classify things into neat categories, you probably wouldn’t want to become an expert in medieval weaponry, least of all one that specializes in polearms, of which the poleaxe and the glaive are just two of a dozen or so confusing variants.



We can probably agree that all polearms are fearsome weapons, by virtue of being dangerous enough without the need to be attached to a lengthy haft, but in being so mounted it conflates to highlight their similarities rather than reveal what makes them different.

Essentially - which is to say simplistically - a poleaxe is polearm weapon closely related to the halberd, in that the profile of both is close to that of an axe rather than a hook (bill), sword (glaive) or scythe (fauchard).



Where the halberd and poleaxe differ is that the cutting blade of the of the latter tended to be a little smaller and the point longer.

The smaller head and piercing spear-like tip meant that less force was required by the user to penetrate plate armour, while the typically heavier, broader - and sometimes longer - halberd was better used to cleave into a more lightly-armoured foe.

In terms of effectiveness, the two weapons couldn’t be more different, even if when it’s difficult to tell them apart physically.



In terms of in-game effectiveness, the Poleaxe is practically impossible to distinguish from a halberd. Essentially they are one and the same and consequently it’s a weapon that seems equally as effective against light and heavily-armoured troops.

Partly, this is down to the fact that the Poleaxe character is paired with plate armour, which can lend the weidler an air of invulnerability that causes them engage the enemy rather impulsively and recklessly.



While the Poleaxe-wielding General is among the foremost vanguard classes in the game and can hold their own against among any other, it’s easy to ignore their weaknesses and get carried away in the moment.

• Bec du Corbin: Having a smaller, lighter head meant that poleaxes could be used in a similar way to quarterstaffs, which means they were great at hooking the legs out from under people.
   
• Lochaber Strike: Brace your weapon in the ground and you’ll be ready to repel almost any attack.
   
• Halberdier’s Thrust: There won’t be many generals on the battlefield who’ll be able to parry this powerful thrust forward.

If you’re not able to join us on the battlefield for this weekend’s Extended Siege Test, we hope that you’ll be able to follow the adventures of those that can.

Gaiscioch is pleased to announce that Conqueror's Blade is scheduled to stream on Sunday, November 4th, 2018 at 1:00pm PST (22:00 CET), as part of the Extra Life Charity Event Livestream series. It will air on http://gsch.info/twitch, and be available for later viewing on YouTube. Viewers will be able to catch up on prior Conqueror's Blade episodes by visiting http://gsch.info/l/539. You can learn more about Extra Life Charity Event at http://gsch.info/el.



There will be a number of streams and videos going live as hundreds of battles get underway, many of which we’ll be linking to in Discord and our other social media channels as the weekend progresses, but we just wanted to highlight a few channels you might like to tune into first.

You can also join us on Facebook Live with CM KillShift Saturday and Sunday at 8am PDT (22:00 CET)!

If after watching others join the fray you feel stirred to join them, it’s not too late to pick up an early access pre-order pack. Don’t forget that all pre-order packs come with access to all Conqueror’s Blade test phases, as well as a bunch of other fine stuff that will serve you long after testing has concluded.