Greetings, commanders,
Before goind with the detailled change, pay attention to the fact that as previous changes would nuke your preference, the new update will reset a few of your settings so [b]you may need to change your settings afterwards, especially difficulty[/b].
Here are the updates in the latest patch:
[h2]Citadel Recall and captured knights[/h2]
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[*]Completing the objective no longer ends the battle at once. Call the Citadel Recall, hold out during the countdown, and bring everyone home.
[*]Downed knights left behind with no ally next to them are captured. Pay their ransom, use Locate to find their prison, or storm it to free them.
[*]Freed captives are marked as VIPs. Walk them to the exit, or let the recall carry them once 3 turns have passed. Before you confirm, the recall lists anyone who would be left behind.
[*]A downed knight's marker now tells you how it can still be saved in this mission.
[*]Exits are marked on every mission and visible from the start, even under the fog.
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[h2]A smarter enemy[/h2]
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[*]A new AI commander coordinates enemy parties. They guard objectives, split up, flank, scout and protect their treasure.
[*]Escorts now protect their casters.
[*]Reinforcements arrive in waves tied to the threat level, faster or slower depending on difficulty.
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[h2]Armour and the forge[/h2]
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[*]The armour editor is open: design each sign's armour kits, materials and colours.
[*]The forge allows 2 armour upgrades per month until upgraded.
[*]Armour now has grades and materials. You get a warning before you deploy an overloaded knight.
[*]Visored helmets can be opened and closed: closed protects better, open lets you see and breathe more easily. Closed visors are now considered open when not in combat, so you don't have to manage their state as much.
[*]Enemy armour quality now rises with rank, and each faction has its own shields.
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[h2]Combat[/h2]
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[*]Downed knights bleed out unless an ally stabilizes them. A blood-drop icon shows how many turns are left. The stabilize action uses the craft skill.
[*]Lodestones must now be cleared of enemies and held for 3 turns. Large maps can have several.
[*]Spells deal damage of their own elements. Lightning will target the least armoured part of the body.
[*]Stunned units lose their zone of control and release any units they pinned.
[*]Shields rebalanced: a shield gives +1 melee defence (was +2). Knight, League and Zodiac shields give +1 more while you dodge. A weapon and a shield no longer add their defence together: only the better one counts.
[*]Lodestar ability added to provide a combat boost to your whole party for one turn.
[*]Two new perks open to every class: Tireless Strikes(reduced fatigue cost of non magic attacks) and Stalwart (you retain the dodge bonus until wounded each turn).
[*]The Thunderstrike Capacitor can only be fired once no enemy stands next to it, for both sides.
[*]Fixed an archer in a doorway giving its target cover when shooting straight across open floor.
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[h2]Interface[/h2]
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[*]The battle stat panel has Stats / Armour / Perks tabs, and Shift cycles them.
[*]Attack previews show clearer totals and signed modifiers.
[*]Actions that used to fail silently give some failure explanation,.
[*]New tooltips explain treating wounds, disarming traps and actions that take several turns.
[*]You can rename your characters and change their portraits from the roster. Champions are marked with a star.
[*]The combat log names the cause of every death and numbers enemies of the same type.
[*]Scry and Locate have their own icons.
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[h2]Settings reset (one time)[/h2]
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[*]After this update, a few settings still on their old default return to the new one once: animation speed, scroll speed, directional settings, difficulty, delete confirmation and the stat panel. Very Hard difficulty returns to Normal, in running campaigns too. If you had chosen these on purpose, please set them again.
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[h2]Tutorials[/h2]
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[*]New signs explain incapacitated versus dead, team Mana, extraction and the recall.
[*]Fixed tutorial missions having the wrong number or type of characters.
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[h2]Fixes[/h2]
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[*]Generated maps should be more robust (and shouldn't be split in 2 parts that cannot reach each other).
[*]Doors no longer appear on corners or wall junctions. Fixed a crash when opening some generated maps.
[*]The VIP now can leaves through the extraction portal OR through the spell of recall.
[*]Fixed the game freezing when you freed a captive standing on a teleporter.
[*]A knight freed, downed and captured again can be rescued on the next attempt.
[*]Captured knights no longer stay in party rows in the roster.
[*]Held stones light up when taken, and animated objects keep moving after they change state.
[*]Fixed campaign saves that would not load after using the forge. Broken saves repair themselves when loaded.
[*]Fixed a battle that ended during the enemy turn blocking the next mission.
[*]Older saves no longer load champions without their armour.
[*]Fixed the console window flashing at startup.
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May the stars watch over you.
