Gondor Update news - Middle-earth Extended Edition mod for Battle for Middle-earth

The Kingdom of Gondor will also receive a rather significant update in the next version of Middle-earth Extended Edition. The update includes the addition of new and the rework of some old abilities of existing heroes, two new units, changes in the Spellbook and balance changes.

• Faramir - the captain of the Ithilien Rangers and the later Steward of Gondor. He start off at rank 1 at the cost of 1200 resources. His starting ranged attack has been increased from 30 to 40, received a new ability and had his leadership buff modified:
  
  • Rank 5: Leadership - Nearby friendly units gain +25% Armor. Also, nearby Ranger and Dunedain receive an additional bonus in the form of +15% Vision range and +10% Speed.
  • Rank 6: Desperate Charge - Faramir and nearby Knights, summoned Rohirrim and Knights of Dol-Amroth gain +50% Attack, +10% Speed and have their crush deceleration reduced for a short period of time. The ability doesn't affect non-gondorian units for balance reasons.
• Pippin - a member of the Fellowship and later Knight of Gondor. Pippin is an early game hero and starts off at rank 1 at the cost of 200 resources. He received a new ability in order to give him more depth and usefulness:
  
  • Rank 3: Dagger of Westernesse - Deals significant damage to an enemy unit. Deals 25% additional damage to the Nazguls and the Witch-King, while also reducing their movement speed for a short time.
  • Rank 5: Knight of Gondor - Walls, Battle Towers and Sentry Towers become 50% cheaper while Peasants are trained 30% faster for 60 seconds.
• Note: Merry also received the Dagger of Westernesse ability and had his Knight of Rohan ability moved rank 4 to rank 5.

• Boromir - a durable warrior hero, also adept at leading troops. Boromir starts off at rank 3 and is recruited at the cost of 1600 resources. His regular attacks can now knockback enemies.

• Prince Imrahil is no longer a recruitable hero.

• Tier 1: The Light the Beacons spell has been replaced with:
  • Rallying Horn - Friendly units within the target area temporarily gain +25% Attack and Armor and +10% Speed.
• Tier 3: The Southern Fiefdoms spell has been replaced with:
  • Light the Beacons - Summons a Beacon, which provides nearby friendly units with +25% Armor and fear resistance. Can also train Lossarnach Axemen, Pelargir Spearmen and Morthond Bowmen. Lasts for two minutes or until destroyed.

• Tiers 4 and 5: Cloudbreak and Aid of Gwaihir have switched places with the later now being in the 5th row on the left and the first being in the center of the 4th row and has received a buff:
  • Cloudbreak - Enemy units are stunned in fear, with their Attack and Armor reduced by 33%, while also losing any additional knockback resistance they might have had.

• Captain of Gondor - a new supportive melee unit. The Captains of Gondor are trained at the rank 3 Barracks at the cost of 700 resources and are limited to 3 at any time. They have the following abilities:
  • Rank 1: Captain of the Gate - Nearby Gondorian melee units gain +10% Attack and Armor.
  • Rank 3: Captain of the Walls - Nearby Gondorian archer and artillery units gain +15% Attack and +10% Attack range.
  • Rank 5: Captain of the City - Nearby friendly units gain +50% Experience, while the Captain receives +100 health.
  • Note: The first two abilities affect only Gondorian units for balance reasons.

• Bowmen of Morthond - a new unit from the Southern Fiefdoms of Gondor. They are trained at the summonable Beacon at the cost of 350 resources. They can toggle between Skirmish and Line formations and are limited to 3 battalions at any time.

• Gondor Spearmen no longer use the Fountain Guards command set. They had their cost increased from 125 to 175 and their health reduced from 120 to 110. Also, they can now form a combo battalion with Trebuchets.

• Gondor Archers and Rangers had their costs increased from 200 to 250 and from 500 to 600 respectively. The Fountain Guards had their health reduced from 400 to 300.

• Summoned Dunedain had their health increased from 165 to 175 and received the Skilled Scouts passive ability.

• The movement speed of Soldier/Spearmen/Fountain Guard - Trebuchet combos has been slightly increased. The unit positions in the combos was slight altered as well, which has resulted in a less buggy behavior of these combos when ordered to attack.

• Pelargir Spearmen can now toggle between Tight and Line formations, with the later being the default formation and the first one giving the following effects:
  • Tight Formation - +25% Armor, +100% Knockback resistance and -50% Speed.
• Lossarnach Axemen and Pelargir Spearmen are now limited to 3 instead of 4 battalions at any time.

• The Knights of Dol-Amroth are now a summonable unit only.

Credits for the Captain of Gondor and Beacon models go to Mathijs and the former Shadow and Flame mod team.

That would be all for this update. I hope you like the changes and additions and feel free to post any suggestions and report any bugs you find in the current released version of Middle-earth Extended Edition.

Cheers,

Rohirim91