Undead Army Update
This article covers the first half of the updates coming to the Undead race. Specifically, this update covers changes to the infantry units of the Undead armies; the Warrior, Ghoul, Crypt Guard, and Wraith Knight units.
Undead Warrior - Abilities
Lesser Bone Shield is a brand new ability for the Undead Warrior. Since the warrior has only one possible ability slot, this new ability lets the player choose if they want their main infantry unit to be a defensive unit (via this ability), or an offensive unit (via the Rusty Weapons ability).
Rusty Weapons has been modified slightly. Rather than reducing attack damage, it now reduces physical damage overall (reducing damage from physical abilities as well). In addition, it no-longer stacks, meaning you only need a single stack to get the full benefit.
Undead Crypt Guard - Abilities
The Crypt Guard receives some base changes. The Crypt Guard used to wield a two-handed mace, but now wields a one-handed mace and shield. This unit was changed to reflect its name, and to become a more defensive/utility unit. The goal of the undead army is to win by attrition, and making the crypt guard last longer achieves this goal.
Death Marty remains unchanged. It is still a very powerful ability to provide constant up-time to other undead infantry units.
Eternal Promise was changed to reflect the base changes to the Crypt Guard. It used to provide a massive attack speed boost and no defensive buffs. The attack speed was reduces, but the unit was compensated with new defensive stats for this effect.
Death's Resolve is a very simple ability that rewards the Crypt Guard for being in the correct situation. When being hit by melee or ranged attacks, Death's Resolve provides healing and keeps the Crypt Guard up for longer.
Mortalicom is a modifier ability for Death's Resolve. Running this combination, a player can ensure a more constant supply of soul power, allowing them to resurrect their units more frequently.
Undead Wraith Knight - Abilities
I've been waiting SO LONG to make this change to the Wraith Knight. Finally, the Wraith Knight is a unit that is mostly immune to physical damage, while being the focus of most of the enemies magical attacks. The Wraith Knight's health pool was reduced to compensate for this change. Make note that Ethereal is a base ability and comes free on every Wraith Knight.
Wraith Flames received an adjustment as well as a visual update. Now, Wraith Flames only requires 3 stacks instead of 5, and the visual effect is much cleaner and more noticeable.
Because the Wraith Knight is the offensive counter-part to the Crypt Guard, I wanted to give him an ability that would provide some mobility to the undead roster. Wraith Walk allows the Wraith Knight to engage enemies faster, as well as stick to enemies that are fleeing.
Undead Ghoul - Abilities
The Ghoul's job in the Undead army is to provide a near-constant debuff to enemy units. Previously the Ghoul only had two options, an offensive and a defensive debuff. Both of these abilities were adjust, as well as adding two new options to his ability line-up.
Corrupted Essence has been the go-to default ability for the vast majority of our internal play-testing. It just provides such a constant AOE damage-over-time effect that it's absolute essential to bring. The only major change to this ability has been to remove the multiple stacks effect, and make a single stack of Corrupted Essence sufficient.
Vile Essence was previously the only alternative to Corrupted Essence. This debuff is designed to be a utility-based debuff, reducing the capabilities of the enemy army. A 10% debuff to all damage (physical and magical), as well as 20% debuff to movement speed makes this a strong contender with Corrupted Essence. Additionally, just like the previous ability, it now only requires a single stack for the full effect.
Festering Essence is a new ability for the Ghoul. While the Vile Essence reduces the damage the enemy deals, Festering Essence increases the damage they take. While Corrupted Essence provides a flat, guaranteed amount of damage, Festering Essence has a much higher damage potential.
Shadow Essence is the 2nd new ability for the Ghoul. The idea is that the player could either sneak the ghouls around to the enemies caster-line, or just blow up the Ghouls in the melee-line to reduce the mana of units. Shadow Essence has the potential to shut down some of the enemies most powerful units.
Next Week
With this update, the more than half of the Undead units have been updated. Next week we'll see updates to the most interesting units, the Necromancer, the Necro-Titan, and the Lich King. Following that update, we'll finally have some play-test footage of the Humans fighting the Undead, start to finish, with narration. Stay tuned!
