Battle for Tamriel: Introducing Empire news

Hello everyone! Six months after the announcement of Battle for Tamriel, we decided to tell you about one of the two factions that will attend the first beta release of the mod. Which of the forces of Tamriel could be honored to be the first in such a project? Skyrim fans will name you the brave and freedom-loving Nords, and Morrowind fans will name Dunmer mysterious race, intolerant of strangers. But the Nords and Dunmer are coming and going, and there is a power in the world of TES that is invariably present in every game in the series: The Empire.

Empire is a powerful state of Men, whose history is full of ups and downs, conquests and great deeds. Throughout its history, the Empire often occupied the place of the most powerful state on the continent, and in the Third Era it completely united all the territories of Tamriel under its banner. This alignment was facilitated, among other things, by the geographical location of its capital, a land called Cyrodiil, because Cyrodiil is located right in the center of Tamriel, and in its very heart, in the middle of Lake Rumare, stands the majestic White-Gold Imperial City.

The Empire is in many ways similar to its prototype from the real history of mankind - the Roman state, but it also has many differences with it. Unlike the Romans, the Cyrodiilians despise slavery, which is not at all surprising, because their state itself arose as a result of a slave revolt. However, there are still more similarities, ranging from the world's most powerful army and navy to civilization, ambition and cosmopolitanism. The Imperials have a penchant for trade, science, and discipline, but they are also the most culturally tolerant of the rest of Tamriel's races.

Thus, the Empire became in our eyes an excellent contender for the right to become the titular faction of the mod.

In a world full of powerful magicians and amazing creatures, the continent's greatest army looks somewhat conservative. The Imperial Legion relies primarily on strong infantry, archery support and light cavalry. In the mod, the Empire occupies a niche of a balanced faction without obvious disadvantages and advantages, a kind of “jack of all trades” like Gondor from the original game.

The Empire's “conservative” power spirit is also reflected in its spellbook. Many of the Empire's special abilities are aimed at boosting up the work of its war machine: for example, Draft allows you to briefly double the recruiting speed in the selected barracks, and Expedited Deliveries allows you to give upgrades to selected units for free.

The base of her army at the beginning of the game will be units of townguards - light swordsmen, spearmen and archers, who do not have any upgrades other than banner carriers, but are cheap and quickly recruited. Despite this, by reaching level 3, the units of the city guard will receive the passive ability Patrolling Experience, which will increase their weapon and armor indicators by 15%.

During the midgame town guard units will be replaced by Imperial Legion - the regular army of the Empire, represented by armored footmen and spearmen, capable of building up into shield walls, marksmen that can’t compete with their elven analogs in firing range, but are able to withstand the blow of enemy infantry much more confidently than their counterparts from the Dominion, as well as units of maneuverable cavalry. In the later stages, the elite units of the Imperial City Cohort will join the battle - ironclad soldiers with two-handed swords and heavy horsemen, they are also capable of detecting hidden enemy units at a great distance. When it comes to besieging an enemy fortress, the Empire will be able to deploy battering rams and fiery onagers on the battlefield.

By capturing the tavern, the player will also be able to recruit Tsaesci, monstrous warriors from the distant and mysterious Akavir, perfectly using both sword and bow. However, the Tsaesci are proud and prone to seclusion, and there are few of them left in Tamriel, so hiring them will be an expensive pleasure for the player.

While the Empire's unit designs are inspired by later parts of the series such as Oblivion and Skyrim, most of the faction's buildings have been designed based on the dark and practical colonial Empire architecture from TES III Morrowind. The only exception is the statue of Talos, the god of war and the greatest emperor in the history of Cyrodiil, which design was inspired by the fourth part of the series; the road sanctuary of the Nine, near which units can rest and restore health, and also Imperial Farm.

The Empire also possesses an extensive array of defensive structures such as shooting towers, battle scorpions (small ballistae, not the eight-legged ones with tails), and hidden doors in the walls.

Many great personalities left their mark on the history of the Empire, so it took a lot of effort for us to select among these great personalities the most outstanding commanders, as well as easily recognizable heroes, who would be suitable for the early stages of the game.

In the fortress, the player will be able to hire seven heroes - only three factions in the mod will be able to boast of such a set. The role of the starting hero in the Empire will be taken by the Spymaster Caius Cosades. Champion of Cyrodiil will take the place of the main combat unit and the hero killer. Delphine, Grandmaster of revived order of the Blades will also become one of the key "fighting heroes", and will also boost characteristics of Empire's elite unit - the Blades, bodyguards of dynasties of the Emperors of Tamriel and the famous dragonslayers.

General Tullius, Skyrim’s Military Governor, will become a key hero in the middle of the game, because his skill set will include the ability to give a leader bonus to legion units, except for the city cohort, heroic charge and the ability to boost experience for chosen units. Martin, the last heir of the Septim dynasty, will become a support hero, and at the right time, by sacrificing him, player will be able to summon for a short time a fire-breathing dragon, the embodiment of the god of time Akatosh.

Emperor Titus Mede II will take on the role of the faction leader, but his abilities are also indispensable in close quarters. Finally, the most expensive hero of the Empire will be Abnur Tharn - an imperial battle mage and influential politician, whose knowledge of magic is comparable to the power of Istari from Middle-earth.

That’s all we’ve got for you about this faction for now. In the next Empire article, we'll go into more detail on this faction's spellbook, as well as talk in depth about some of its mechanics.

Now let's move on to another important part of this article - the mod roadmap.

As you can see, we have nine major releases planned for the mod. It is worth saying that we expect that if this schedule changes, then only for the better, that is, we will release some features in earlier versions, rather than delay these. This applies primarily to the Great War, our single-player campaign, as well as our analogue of the Ring Heroes mechanic. As for factions release schedule, we hope to keep it unchanged.

- In the first demo version of the mod, we will introduce two factions - the Empire and the Dominion (which will be described in our next article);

- In version 1.0 we will add two more new factions - Nords and Morrowind. Nords will include the Kingdom of Skyrim, Stormcloaks, and the Skaal tribes united under one banner. Morrowind faction will concentrate on the Great Houses, Tribunal Temple and the Clockwork City units, but it will also mention House Dagoth and Ashlanders in some way;

- In version 2.0, subtitled as Marble Jaws of Oblivion, we will introduce the Daedra faction. Looking ahead, we note that it will not be limited to the creatures from the Dead Lands of Mehrunes Dagon and will become, perhaps, the most unconventional faction of the mod;

- In version 3.0, subtitled as Hammerfell’s Finest, we will add the Redguards faction. It will present the mighty desert warriors, as well as our gameplay interpretation of their eternal conflict between the clans of Forebears and Crowns;

- In version 4.0 subtitled as Rise of the Worm King (He is “King of the Worms” technincally, we could not miss such an analogy) we will add the Undead faction with vampires, necromancy and hordes of zombies;

- In version 5.0 subtitled as Kings at the Hills, we will introduce the Bretons faction. This faction will reflect both the knightly and magical side of High Rock and its folk, as well as their past associated with the Direnni clan;

- In version 6.0, subtitled as Of Hist and Sithis, we will add the Argonians faction. Thanks to the variety of creatures in Battle of Middle-earth series, we will be able to show in our mod not only human-like Saxhleel, but also specific tribes of Black Marsh, such as Sarpa, Naga, Paatru and Agacephs;

- In version 7.0, subtitled as Mighty Sons of Orsinium, we will add the Orcs faction. Together with the orcs of Orsinium directly, the faction will include their forest cousins from Valenwood, as well as Ogres, goblins and other creatures of Malacath;

- And finally, in version 8.0, subtitled as Blood of the Reach, we will add the 11th and last faction of the mod - Reachmen. We thought for a long time who to give the last available slot and decided that the mysterious sons of eastern High Rock are more than worthy of this. Along with the enigmatic half-bloods folk of the Reach, this faction will also include various creatures that have been adjacent to their tribes for centuries, such as Hagravens, Mammoths and Minotaurs, as well as the famous coven of the Glenmoril Witches.

That's all for now. If you still have any questions, you are welcome to our Discord server, where a full-fledged mod section has appeared from today. Also, if you are interested in our mods, you can support us on Patreon.

Your LoRdNazguL and DaedraWarrior