FORTRESS CREATURES

Balance Discussion

• The Fortress has received numerous buffs that focus on getting creatures engaged in combat sooner and inflicting multiple debuffs on enemy troops, with multiple creatures sharing similar abilities and giving tactical players the opportunity to be more considerate about their troop choice.

• Gnoll Marauders have received a sizable buff to their Health as well as a slight stat shift to make them the more offensive of the two upgrades. Gnoll Shamans are a chance-based debuffing unit, allowing them to potentially cripple multiple stacks of creatures' offensive power if used wisely.

• The Lizardman line has received a small set of buffs to prevent them from slowing the army down and under-performing in comparison to other Level 2 shooters. Lizard Warriors now have the standard chance to Poison an enemy in addition to dealing above average Damage, while Lizard Assassins always Poison their enemies but cannot shoot unless an enemy is within 10 hexes. This means that they will always deal full Damage, but they are ineffective at range; they are a tech-based unit that PvP players in particular may enjoy using due to their incredible kiting and Speed, perfect for taking creature banks and winning strategic fights.

• Damsel Flies are a simple Harpy-like alternative to Dragon Flies, allowing the player to keep them in relative safety with the potential to be completely unharmed if a retaliatory strike is absorbed before they attack.

• The Basilisk line has had its power shifted into its upgrades, with the Basilisk receiving a small Attack and Defense nerf with a Cost reduction to compensate, primarily due to them being present in some starting armies. Greater Basilisks now have an appropriately greater chance to inflict Stone Gaze as well as a larger Health pool, whereas Basilisk Flamespitters have a higher potential Damage output with their Breath attack.

• Corrosive Gorgons are a great unit for dealing with larger stacks of smaller creatures compared to the Mighty Gorgon's fantastic capability to fell an Azure Dragon as easy as a Peasant. The Damage dealt from their Acid Breath is much lower than usual (6 compared to 25), but this is still half of their lower base Damage range and their growth is higher than that of a Rust Dragon.

• The Wyvern line now regenerate half of their Health every round of combat. This makes them incredible in the early-game and allows for taking harder fights earlier on while keeping themselves safe. Wyvern Monarchs have received a sizable buff to their Damage and Health, the former of which is now on-par with their alternate upgrade. Paokais deal roughly the same Damage as Wyvern Monarchs, albeit spread across multiple units with their Lightning Breath. This ability strikes the target for [# of Paokais x 10] Damage and the 2 closest enemy stacks for [# of Paokais x 5] and [# of Paokais x 2.5] Damage, with the Damage decreasing along the chain, just like Chain Lightning.

• The Hydra line now also regenerate for a quarter of their Health every round of combat. They have also received a plethora of buffs that allow them to function more efficiently in combat without being overly reliant on Haste, Teleport, or Prayer, with their Speed and Health increases being most poignant. The base Hydra's all-around attack has been downgraded to a 3-headed attack both to compensate for its buffs and to be better aligned with its 3-headed design. The Chaos and Ruinous Hydras retain their all-around attacks with their multiple heads, and both upgrades present the player with a clear-cut choice between a defensive tank and an offensive powerhouse. Chaos Hydras are bulky yet relatively fast, remaining a consistent threat with 2 retaliations per round instead of 1. Ruinous Hydras are speedy and strike twice, giving them fantastic offensive potential at the cost of a large amount of Health compared to their alternative upgrade.