ARTIFICER
- Artificer has always had an unhealthy amount of micromanagement. To alleviate this, all mini artifact effects now cost gems. There are enough gems to get Tier 3 artifacts on 4 units, just pick the combinations you are happy with.
- Consume Artifact and Magic Mirror have been toned down.
- Due to Enlightenment removal,you cannot get extreme Knowledge bonuses. However..
- The knowledge-based formula has been rebalanced and steadily rewards you investment into Knowledge. Also overly weak or strong bonuses have been revised. For instance..
SKILLS
- Summoning is mostly unchanged except for Conjuration summoning Deep Nagas with no retaliation and Phoenix whose hp also slightly benefits from knowledge. High spellpower factions like Necro and Dungeon will have stronger phoenix overall but Academy can shorten the gap a little. Like before, Academy's Summoning remains unique due to Mark of the Wizard allowing double casting for most spells.
- Light is mostly unchanged, other than Knowledge stat not being plentiful enough that you could keep resurrecting your units forever :) But Regeneration healing total hp instead of unit hp% opens up more possibilities. Originally you'd opt for a dual cast on Rakshasas and Titans but now even Gremlins can benefit from the new mechanics.
- Warmachines are a lot more viable. Not only does the core skill unlock Flaming Arrows that originally required a 2% skill to get but it also unlocks Artificial Glory in Artificer. This allows golems and Ballista to be affected by morale and sets Ballista morale to +5!
- Leadership no longer has Empathy because it could go out of hand with morale mini artifacts. But with the morale cap removed and morale minies, you can get morale bonus above 50% and also boost Retribution beyond most factions.
- Sorcery is mostly a choice between Swift Mind (and possibly Refined Mana) versus Distract (and possibly Teleport Assault).
LINEUP
- Gremlin Saboteurs have a reduced Sabotage coefficient because they can raise their hp easily with hp mini arties.
- Archmages can shoot through adjacent allies like Battlemages and their Fist spell has been improved. The latter have improved Attack/Initiative to stand out more as the shooter upgrade. They also get +5 mana so that that a single Fist won't prevent them from using Dispel.
- Genies get a little extra health at the cost of a damage. Master Genies are no longer random casters but can cast less spells: Haste/Slow/Bloodlust/Weakness. Vizier fortune special has been boosted to +/-3 (instead of random 1-3) as compensation for the luck effect getting toned down.
- Djinn Illusionist 3rd alt added! These lovely ladies can clone allies up to tier 5 and go Invisible! As large units, stealth is not their strong suit but Invisibility can also be used to avoid retaliations.
- Both Titans can use Call Lightning and Stormcaller. The Storm is stronger and has 2 additional uses. Call Lightning is also a little stronger and scales less per Titan. That way it remains useful even when most of your Titans have fallen.
- Colossus 3rd alt added! Melee upgrade with slightly improved Dmg/Hp and Bash. They cannot shoot but they can still Call Lightning which is a little better than the one used by its Titan counterparts.
