The three pillars that support Conqueror’s Blade’s blend of action strategy are undoubtedly it’s fast-paced combat, squad tactics and army-level campaigning. However, unpinning everything is the game’s easily obscured RPG foundation, which of course not only offers some measure of character progression, but carefully limits the units they can have by their side at any given moment. 

However, unlocking new units isn’t simply a case of dinging a new level and +1 archers suddenly becoming available in the next town. There are level requirements and you need to have “researched” prior units and technology, but you also need Honor to attract higher-tier units to your cause. From a role-play perspective this makes sense since we can assume that the more effective a unit is, the more invested it is in its abilities and so the more discerning it must be in its alignment.



In Conqueror’s Blade unit accessibility resembles a 4X game’s tech tree and begins with researching the necessary technologies, which is done via the Institute building at your Personal Camp. There are three areas of research to follow (during CBT this is limited to two): resource, equipment and unit technologies  - with the latter obviously pertaining to your personal retinue. However, before you can recruit a new unit you have to have the required resources at hand in order to craft the equipment each unit needs before it can take the field. In that sense, all three research areas are interdependent and fundamental to unit advancement.



This step is skipped during the CBT, but in later versions, once you have all the prerequisites for unit unlocking, you can approach the Recruit Master in any friendly town to hire your new troops. They will then be billeted in the Unit screen as Recruits (press ‘U’ to access) until they need to be called in action as either a new squad or replacements for a recently depleted unit - so long as you have all the necessary equipment for each recruit as it enters service. This is an important consideration since, without shining armor, weapons and fresh steeds to hand, your troop of knights aren’t going to be effective at imposing your will on the battlefield. Thankfully they’re not stupid and will simply refuse to serve unless they’re suitably equipped. 

At the start of the Guild CBT we challenged the game’s nascent Houses to take over as much of their chosen region as they could, with the most successful across each earning for their members a rather fetching unit skin. The criteria for success was simple: the House that controlled the most regional territories when the test ended would be crowned - and it’s archers clothed - as one of two server champions.

However, things didn’t quite go to plan: Across all three game servers (NA, EU and RU) the fighting was far more intense than we’d envisioned and we ended up with a couple of tied positions that were hard to separate. It’s for this reason that we’ve decided to crown three winning houses per server rather than just two (one for each region). 

Here we are then, the most dominant Houses of the Guild CBT, whose members during recent testing will be the ones in line for a reward (rather than their Guild Hub associates):

Top NA Houses (by territories controlled)

• The_Legion (19)
• Ming (14)
• Uncrowned (10)

Top EU Houses (by territories controlled)

• Blutschwur (15)
• SoulWings (8)
• SalutarisNova (8)

Top RU Houses (by territories controlled)

• CSM (12)
• DarkTriad (9)
• RedWingOrl (9)

Well done to all the above, who now enter the pioneering annals of Conqueror’s Blade’s short history. Honorable mentions too for the “Unlucky Sevens”: Chaos on the RU server, which held on to a respectable seven regions, while on the EU server both ThelynEnnor and Millennium missed out on lasting glory by a single territory.

To those that fought hard but ultimately came up short, don’t worry. We’ll have more world domination-style contests in the future, with other prizes to look forward to as guild and warfare mechanics evolve, units develop and more regions become ripe for conquest.

As the Guild CBT neared its end last Sunday, we had a flurry of video entries make it in time for this week's Best Bits. As expected, there was much internal gnashing of teeth and grinding of axes as we fought over who should be crowned video victors, but we got there in the end. Did we choose right? You decide:

BEST (TEST) BITS - episode 3

Winners: SleepingRabbit, ElFlocko, Rexar, Nickster110, Anthrage & Eciton.

As a reward for their efforts, all the winning entries will be receiving a Conqueror’s Pack. If you want one a top-of-the-range pre-order pack for yourself, here’s what you need to do. 

Well done and keep those clips coming!

We have a new video for you today, this one starring Senior Producer Alexey Larionov (last seen alongside Booming Games founder/CEO Xi Wang), who, as you might expect, has been somewhat preoccupied of late with the ongoing stresses of closed beta testing. However, with the storm of the recent Guild Test fading and next phase of the CBT gathering itself, Alexey has been enjoying a period of relative calm - one in which he shares some details about how testing is progressing, and how close we all might be to enjoying the full and free Conqueror’s Blade experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQElVXiP9yw

While there’s an impressive variety of resources to gather in Conqueror’s Blade, ranging from things like iron ore, wood, food and wool, the game’s crafting system is actually very simple. Fundamentally it’s about getting the raw materials to the site of production and then getting the produced goods to where they are needed, be that into storage, directly into the hands of an army (in the case of food supplies), or taken to market to help bring in revenue to acquire resources that can’t otherwise be sourced locally.



Production of personal and unit weapons and armor, as well as artillery equipment, is undertaken by NPC builders in neutral or friendly towns, while siege equipment such as towers, trebuchets and battering rams, is constructed in player Workshops. Using a leased small, medium or large Wagon, production resources are brought to settlements and Workshops, while the finished items can either be assigned to units within the city, or shipped out, ideally under escort, to a Warlord’s own Personal Camp (currently restricted to settlements), where the items are stored in the Armoury until they are needed.



While creating or upgrading a unit via the Barracks, or when assigning siege equipment to your army, supplies will, of course, be limited to those you either produce or buy from the market. The point is that even the most successful army will need a cache of equipment and raw material supplies, especially when operating far from production centers, which makes caravans and resource security an important consideration for any sustained military campaign.

Just a quick thank you to those who managed to find the time to join us in-game over the last couple of weeks. Between the start of the CBT, the Open Weekend and the recently concluded Guild CBT, it’s been an intense and almost ceaseless period in the game’s development that’s given us a lot to think about.

Thanks to you it’s also been incredibly useful - we’ve received an immense amount of feedback that was already being acted on before the servers came down. Senior Producer Alexey Larionov will have more to say on such matters in a couple of days, but until then we just wanted to keep it simple: From everyone involved in Conqueror’s Blade, thanks!

Thank you for sending in your Conqueror’s Blade gameplay videos. We had a blast going through them and after much internal wrangling, we’ve have judged the following to be the bestest of the best (from the last two weeks).

BEST (TEST) BITS - episode 1

BEST (TEST) BITS - episode 2

Winners: Xos93, Anthrage, Haxxor, Ichininja, RolandFridge, Grimalitism, Elenderion, ElFlocko, Rexar.

As a reward for their efforts, all the winning entries will be receiving a Conqueror’s Pack. If you want one a top-of-the-range pre-order pack for yourself, here’s what you need to do. 

Well done and keep those clips coming!

We’re sorry that some people who are eligible to play the current Conqueror's Blade beta through Steam are having access difficulties. By way of apology, we’ll be issuing Steam users with a day of PREMIUM ACCOUNT status when open beta testing begins. More importantly, we have a solution:

SOLUTION
If you’ve pre-ordered Conqueror’s Blade through Steam and are currently having login issues, please follow these steps:

• Go to cb.my.com and login with your Steam account, then press "Sign up".
• Wait for a couple of minutes for the authorization process to complete.
• If after a few minutes the "Play" button has not appeared, restart the client.
• Select "Play" and enjoy!

Once again we're sorry for any inconvenience caused and we hope to see you on the battlefield without any further delay.


 

Hopefully, you found your feet in the first stage of the CBT. Now, with the Guild CBT about to get underway, we hope that you’ll be able to find and rely on your friends as the fight to establish great medieval houses begins in earnest. The servers are warming up as we speak and will open at 15:00 CET (6am PST). All being well they should stay hot until 11:00 CET (2am PST) on February 25th.

As well as being open to pre-order customers and all those with eligible CBT access, members of Houses whose leader has bought a House Founder’s Pack are also eligible to take part in the Guild CBT (for them no pre-order pack is required). Essentially we want established friends and colleagues playing together as much as possible so that the process of alliance building and sabre-rattling can begin, and so that all guild and warfare mechanics are tested to destruction. 

(Note: CBT codes issued by third-party sites between 11-15 Feb were exclusive to CBT1. To be in with a chance of securing full CBT access - including the Guild CBT - follow our activities on Discord and other social channels.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGqqKmNKi20

Be aware that the Houses that currently exist on the Guild Hub will not automatically be recreated in-game for the Guild CBT - nor will members of any web-based guild be automatically banded together. Should you wish to recreate your House, you will need to do so manually in-game, before inviting others to join. (Note: this does not impact guild membership as it pertains to House Founder’s Pack ownership - Guild Hub Houses and Guild CBT Houses are treated as separate and temporary for the time being ).

To make the process of establishing yourselves a bit easier, all newly-created characters will be receiving a boost to their starting resources for the full duration of the Guild CBT:

• Level 30 head start (inc. full set of level 30 armor)
• 25,000 Silver (House creation costs 20k)
• 3,000 Honor Points - so you can unlock units quickly
• 20 Extraction Tokens (get more from Siege and Field PvP battles)
• Level 10 horse 
• Ultimate Skills Scrolls (one per class)

Obviously, you don’t have to get involved in any high-level shenanigans if you don’t want to. Feel free to engage in as many siege and field battles as you wish, or just explore a different corner of the vast resource-rich open world. If you saw enough of the tutorial during CBT1, you can hit ESC at the start of each battle section and skip through it. What you won’t want to miss are the new Guild CBT tasks, that, should you complete them, will reward you with cool items in time for the open beta test:

• Speaking-trumpet (x3)
• Experience card (x3)
• Well-made Culverin (x3)
• Military Treatise

DOMINATE THE WORLD!

While we’re on the subject of challenges, there’s one specific to the Guild CBT that we’re excited to see play out. We’ll be watching the progress of all the guilds across both regions (Ostaria and Maoyang) on each server (NA, EU and RU) and the members of the six guilds that control the most territory at the moment the servers come down will all earn themselves an exclusive ranged unit skin, the Golden Sun Mercenary's Attire. It’ll look something like this:



Remember, you have until the morning of 25th February to help us establish what will be a massive social cornerstone of the campaign game. You’ll also be joining us as we pass through one of the most significant developmental milestones on the way to the full release of Conqueror’s Blade. In return, there are alliances to make, challenges to complete and spoils to collect  See you on the battlements!

IMPORTANT NOTES AND ISSUES

• "The Road Ahead" (end tutorial) mission is now available when you first meet Commander Adler.
• Not all features of the full game are implemented and some that are might not be finalized. 
• As with the recent Siege, CBT1 and open weekend tests, characters and progression will not be carried over.
• A bug that affected some AMD processors during the Siege Tests has been eliminated.
• Servers are planned to be up all day, every day until the Guild CBT ends. If there are any issues that require a rest or a reset, we’ll be sure to let you know as far in advance as possible.
• PvE gameplay is set to a single “Commoner” difficulty. More difficulty settings will be introduced prior to full game release.
• If you purchased the game via Steam and you still see the “Sign up for Beta” instead of being able to access the game, please follow the instructions in this article.

IMPORTANT LINKS

• CBT Page
• Download
• Installation instructions
• Discord
• Pre-Order
• Redeem Code

A brand new Conqueror’s Blade open weekend is underway, which means that if you’ve been chomping at the bit to try out the game without the prerequisite of a pre-order pack, the time is nigh to mount up and ride in while the guards are snoozing.

If you have friends, family or colleagues who might have a passing interest in medieval combat mixed with grand strategy, why not invite them in too? The more players we have between now and February 18 at 06:00 CET (February 17, 9pm PST), the merrier the experience for all!

Participate in the open weekend and enjoy a 15% discount on any purchase (or upgrade) of a pre-order pack. You will see the discount on our pre-order page from February 20th.

Update (March 6): Due to unexpected and unfortunate technical issues, it was not possible to activate the Steam discount as planned, nor the ability to upgrade founder packs. We have since removed all upgrade options, for which we apologize. Please know that we're working with our Steam counterparts to ensure such issues do not reoccur. If you’ve been inconvenienced by this, we invite you to submit a support request to our Customer Support team



If you took part in the previous open weekend back in December, know that the game has moved on a bit since them. Look forward to:

• Dynamic campaign: No longer limited to inconsequential castle sieges, warlords are encouraged to explore the unique gameworld; to secure resources - by trade or by conquest - and to establish themselves in competition with other players and roaming NPC bandits.
  
  
• Crafting and development systems: Warlords will divide their (peace) time between friendly settlements and their Personal Camp, between which research and resources will be acquired and spent to develop raw recruits into elite units equipped with the finest arms and armour.
  
  
• Territory Wars: On alternate days armies can take part in Territory Wars, which are effectively the acting out of war declarations. Attacking armies will converge on their pre-preferred targets, while the defenders must effectively come together to try to send the invaders packing.
  
  
• New tutorial: As soon as you’ve created a new character you’ll be taken to a quest-based tutorial area to learn the fundamentals of melee, mounted, and siege combat, as well as unit leadership. Afterwards, you can choose a home region to start your adventures.
  
  
• New maps: As well as new siege maps, there are new field battle locations that simulate the kind of skirmishes that occur when opposing armies meet on the open road or away from major settlements. Some of these battles can be played in PvP or PvE (using the same matchmaking system).
  
  
• 24/7 server access: The servers are planned to be up all day, every day until February 18, 06:00 CET (February 17, 9pm PST). If there are any issues that require a rest or a reset, we’ll be sure to let you know as far in advance as possible.

Whether you can do all that in a single weekend is another matter. Good luck trying!

• You need to be logged into an active My.com account to access the game.
  
  
• Not all features of the full game are implemented and some that are might not be finalized. Many social and guild features, for example, will debut in a later (closed) test stage.
  
  
• In order to encourage newcomers into the game, there will be a server wipe prior to both the open weekend (15-18th Feb) and the Guild CBT (18-25th Feb). This means that the characters created during CBT1 will not be accessible.
  
  
• As with the recent Siege Tests, characters and progression will not carry over from into subsequent tests.
  
  
• A bug that affected some AMD processors during the Siege Tests has been eliminated.
  
  
• PvE gameplay is set to a single “Commoner” difficulty. More difficulty settings will be introduced prior to full game release.

• CBT Page
  
• Installation instructions
  
• Discord
  
• Pre-Order
  
• Redeem Code