-
Tactician simplified – the +2 to hero stats is restored (though armor is only +1 in battle). All units (not just terain-favorable) standing in tree, swamp, and rock tiles gain 2 armor, negate FS, and 5% to hit. However, when standing anywhere else, the +1 armor from Caster of Magic is removed. Basically retort instead of giving you a consistent +1 armor bonus, it either gives nothing or a lot more depending on unit placement. Still fun!
-
Benefactor no longer grants the hero stat bonuses – it is relatively strong anyways thanks to now starting with 'heroic heart' and earlier mercenaries
-
Each realm has 10-11-14-12 spells in order of rarity (from 10-12-16-12), removing 15 spells
-
When adding books and having 10 spells of an uncommon or rare tier, the next step grants 11 instead of 12.
-
Books 8, 9, and 10 of a type ultimately gives you 1 more starting common than before.
-
Chaos common Rust changed back to Caster of Magic 'shatter' and new Shatter removed. However, new shatter also removes magic weaponry permanently, costs 1 more.
-
True Light removed. Discipline comes back in game, albeit as a combat-only spell yet granting +1 move in combat.
-
Removed 'Venom', 'Blaze of Glory', 'Purity',' Shadow Strike', 'Revenant', 'Mariner Mastery', 'Transmute Equipment', 'Teleport', 'Aether Sink', 'Inner Power' , 'Inquisition', 'Angelic Guardians', 'Vampirism'
-
Insulation reworked to be a global enchantment that grants all your units 'lightning resistance', assisting Chaos at attacking capital cities. Note: resistance simply removes armor-piercing effect.
-
Hurricane no longer researchable (but can be cast by nature casters)
-
Reaper Slash moved to Uncommon-tier, same as Caster of Magic
-
Sanctify, Bless, Blood Lust, Focus Magic, Nature Link, and Flame Blade unit buffs restored to Caster of Magic version
-
Invisibility no longer grants 'stealth' programmatically
-
Kraken loses stealth overland when in ocean (very resource intensive)
-
Mystic Surge does not provide removed buff effects anymore
-
Combat rare spell beat of Swiftness simplified - +2 move to all units during combat.
-
Combat spell Temporal Twist simplified - -1 move (minimum of 1), removes first strike, negate, teleport, and merging.
-
Soul Flay simplified – reduces 3 armor per level of experience instead of a mix of stats. Cost reduced.
-
Zombie Mastery simplified – reduced cost and only 'zombie' units gain +1 to melee, armor, resistance.
-
State of Rot rare global enchantment moved to a very rare combat enchantment that costs 70 and reduces enemy units 'to defend' by 15%. Also units with regeneration lose regeneration in combat.
-
Eternal Night no longer gives 'poor sight' effects in combat.
-
Dance of Death no longer gives 'misfortune' to random units in combat.
-
Some item powers removed, but 'create undead', 'zeal' and +6hp stayed.
-
Food economy redesigned to be 80%-90% as prevalent as Caster of Magic, reducing unit spam
-
However, each wizard has 2 additional starting food income (compensating for the 4 starting units)
-
Enemy slightly less likely to produce cheaper low-to-mid tier units, reducing unit spam.
-
Many economy buildings cheaper to produce, to balance the food economy reduction and tilt the benefit to cost ratio of mid-late game economy buildings over military units (the latter getting more and more beneficial the later game goes on). This also reduces unit spam.
-
Some armory units gain +1 armor, +1 resist, +1 upkeep, and +15 cost … bringing them closer to Caster of Magic level and reducing unit spam.
-
Spearmen gain +1 melee and +5 cost, making them worth a bit more given the food availability nerf.
-
Lizard riders no longer require armory – slight buff to lizardmen.
-
Monsters and raiders appear a few turns later and progress 5% slower, to compensate for slightly slower city development early in game.
For more details on what Warlord itself changes from the original Caster of Magic, please see included manual file.
Changes from 1.0.3
- *All 1.4.19 warlord mod updates compatible with Warlord Lite established (except exaltation costs 29, not 25) *Insulation now costs 250 (from 200) - note that this spell operates very differently from Warlord mod *Warlord Lite's State of Rot now costs 70 (from 60) and now affects effectiveness in auto-battles and AI (from none) - note that this spell operates very differently from Warlord mod *Fixed spellbook description for Temporal Twist (misplaced) *Colossal Strength spell returns, considered too important for Nature realm balance *Hurricane no longer researchable, but nature caster (gorgon) can cast it, thus Thunderbird + Gorgon research combo remains available