The Conqueror's Blade operations team receives lots of valuable feedback and suggestions from our players every week. Today, we want to talk about balance issues and the fact that there are currently too few units that are viable in combat.
We play the game ourselves, and as such, we share many of your sentiments. Naturally, we passed on this feedback as quickly as possible to the design team, who then took a closer look at issues prevalent in the current iteration of the game. After some observation and putting their heads together, they came up with a series of changes to remedy some of these issues.
One core issue has had widespread consequences: units that are currently underperforming haven't been able to find a role on the battlefield that fits their niche. This in turn has led to a series of issues, including the fact that only a handful of units are actually used from a wide range of available ones, and that when faced with huge armies of cavalry units, there has been no effective tactical response but to do the same. Additionally, beginners may find it difficult to meet veteran players on equal footing.
Starting in Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok, we decided to slowly but surely make changes to the weaker units (of which there are around 50) that have outdated mechanics and unclear roles on the battlefield. This will resolve some balance issues and create a more varied and fun gameplay experience. Naturally, we’re sure you're all dying to know about the first units to receive such changes. That said, we think that you may have felt some of the changes already.
The first unit to hit the design table was the Ironcap Swordsmen. This unit felt great to use and had excellent damage-dealing potential during the game's early stages, but in time, this low-star unit lost much of its charm and enjoyment. Their role when standing against 4- and 5-star units was nothing more than avoiding the butcher's cleaver. Even if they struck upon the perfect opportunity, the outcome would end in certain death.
We wanted the Ironcap Swordsmen to find their place in any type of battle. But how would we approach this? Would it simply suffice to increase their armour penetration and damage? No, as doing so would break the balance when they’re pitted against other low-star units. Instead, we began thinking about their AoE (Area of Effect) charge. By increasing the damage capabilities of their AoE charge, we can emphasise how the soldiers cooperate with one another, a core feature of this unit. When we saw that their damage was more in line with what we expected, we continued improving them by granting them ‘Rally to Me’, a new skill that enables them to quickly return to their commanding Warlord. Players can now use them to greater effect by ordering a charge, a recall, and another charge, for a more streamlined experience.
Here’s a tip: the power of the Ironcap Swordsmen really shines if you send between three and five units of Ironcap Swordsmen out in a single charge!
Another issue in the current iteration of Conqueror’s Blade is that the combined charges of units, including the Ironcap Swordsmen, are devastating to Warlords, especially as some weapon classes have a fairly low survivability rate. But worry not, we will be resolving this issue before long!
Your enjoyment of the experiences in Conqueror’s Blade is incredibly important to us, so adjusting weak units is a long-term project we’re committed to. We will continue improving upon underpowered units in different areas, including their stats, AI, their general gameplay feel, skills, unique features, and other elements. We will also be making minor adjustments to other issues in new updates.
Got any more feedback and suggestions about units in Conqueror’s Blade? We would love to hear from you! Drop your feedback in this survey and we’ll review it for future updates. This survey will be updated every time we improve another unit, so check often back and send us more feedback if you have any. Thank you for your continued support of Conqueror's Blade, we’ll see you on the battlefield!
Our scouts have discovered a Mechanoid drill on Terra and more importantly, a passage leading underground. Of course, we immediately began inspecting the location and got as far as establishing a forward camp before Phytonides emerged, drove our units back, and forced our squad to retreat. We need your help to claim these areas.
TERRAN RIFT
The first scout squad attempted to transport an ether beacon to the cave but faced heavy resistance from Phytonide forces. Find the group, help them clear the enemy outpost, and deploy the beacon as planned. They cannot do it without you, and it will be an invaluable opportunity to learn more about these dungeons. Perhaps we’ll finally learn more about the Mechanoids and the past of Terra. After all, this is their home planet.
The Phytonides have dug in well, so prepare yourselves for a difficult battle. It would be best to explore in groups of three. Get in, get out.
ANCIENT TRAILS
Of course, clearing out the cave and planting the beacon is only the beginning of our journey to discover more about this subterranean location. Before they were forced to fall back, our scouts managed to collect some data on the area. According to the readings, there is a multi-level network of tunnels under the caves.
Data also suggests that there is heavy Mechanoid activity below. The Phytonides and Mechanoids are clearly not working together—there is evidence strewn around that suggests they have also clashed. Not only that, but we have found temporary bases and scouts affiliated with the Draconids nearby too.
Once you’ve secured a position in the caves, you will need to scout the first level of the tunnels and set up another camp. With so many enemy factions nearby, we cannot afford to get lost or separated in this maze. The outpost will allow us to continue conducting research while you go on ahead. Facing so many enemies in unknown territory will be difficult, so running with a small fire team will be more efficient. We recommend a group of five immortals.
Grab what you need, upgrade any equipment, and get ready to explore the depths of Terra with your allies. It is imperative we unravel the mystery of what’s going on down there and what the Mechanoids are planning to do on this mysterious planet.
Prepare to delve into the depths of Terra when the new update, Hunters of Terra, launches on PC on June 2!
Do you remember that Fridays are the days when the furious battles rage? Today is no exception - you will be able to fight enemy squads, willing to kill you at all costs, in a few hours. But we are sure that there is no one to beat you up on the battlefields! Only you can team up as a clan and prove that helping each other, being brave and persistent are the keys to success. Nevertheless, we wish you luck - it is always needed on the battlefield!
As usual, the challenge consists of 3 stages, and you do not bound to start from the first one - you can choose which one is more interesting to you and start with it. Clan Challenges will begin today at 4 p.m. GMT and finish exactly in a week — next Friday, at the same time.
For receiving a necessary amount of victories your clan will receive a nice reward, this time, the prizes are:
I hope you noticed that surroundings look like post-soviet era, and what are soviets good at? Building hidden bunkers. Our level designer created a new hidden level, which might be hard to find, but is rewarding with juicy loot. Work is in progress, and right now, our level designer is working on the inner cave, then on the bunker entrance, and then on the bunker itself, so we'll show you what he came up with in a few weeks.
Food rebalance. And food features
We've decided to remove the death penalty for not eating. And now it will provide you certain buffs if you ate something cooked, debuffs you ate something rotten or raw, and huge debuffs if you didn't eat at all. So in terms of survival better to eat something than not eat at all. This will remove the annoyance of dying from starvation during fight or loot but still will remain crucial as a survival feature.
Fixes
And there are always fixes. Right now we are working on collision, to get rid of stuck-in-the-rock issues. This will take some time, but it is necessary.
You may have noticed that Steam is currently running the Open World sale. We consider ourselves pioneers of the open-world exploration genre with our truck sims, and we are happy that both Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator have been included in such an offer among other great titles.
We had a really fantastic time with our #BestCommunityEver on our developer stream yesterday. It was a pleasure to present our progress on Convoy, our take on implementing multiplayer support into our games Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator.
Currently, this new feature is still under testing in Experimental Beta for American Truck Simulator. But as of the upcoming Update 1.41, Convoy will give you a chance to enjoy both games with your friends! We thought that this is a great opportunity for us to make it a no-brainer for loyal fans of either of our games to pick up the other title if they are still missing it in their game library. We have created a special time-limited Open World Trucking Bundle through which anyone can easily grab ETS2 and/or ATS. No excuses, everyone will be ready to join their friends' convoys!
The sale is already underway and it will end on May 31st at 10:00AM PDT (5PM UTC). Besides both of the games being on sale individually, the whole bundle will be a part of the sale too. Also, don't forget to check out some of our other games and DLC as they are receiving a discount as well.