“Between the shores of imagination and reason, she drinks your dreams, replacing them with restless nightmares. Surrender. Let her enthrall you. Let her consume you. Feel her transformations within you and it will carry you in her womb.” -Asuras Durvasas, Psynumbra Mindshredder, “RV-7544R: Nihilistic Rebellions”
Hail, Commanders. I’m Glenn, part of the game design team at Triumph Studios. Today I’ll be sharing the details on the Voidbringer Invasion, a brand new mechanic included in the Invasions Expansion.
The Invasion Begins:
The Voidbringers are coming. Planets where Commanders are fighting over remnants of the Star Union can now be targeted by these extradimensional monstrosities. Be prepared, or you too shall become a thrall to the Voidbringers.
Conceptualization:
For this Expansion we wanted a system to shake up the mid- to late game. The Voidbringer Invasion is meant to keep players on their toes and adapt their defensive and offensive strategies as the game progresses.
Commanders facing the Voidbringers need to reconsider alliances, bolster defenses and send designated strike teams to take down Voidbringer structures. Those who welcome the new overlords, however, can simply surrender and side with the dark powers of the invaders…
The Voidbringers and their Thralls:
The invading armies consist of the Voidbringers and their thralls. The thralls are a set of familiar Planetfall units who have been corrupted and enslaved by the Voidbringers, now fully under their control. Thralls cannot survive if Voidbringers aren’t close by, so killing off the Voidbringers results in all thralls in the current combat dying instantly.
The Strix is an elusive Voidbringer willing to sacrifice thralls to lead to its enemies’ demise. It’s Thrallbomb ability targets an allied Enthralled unit and blows it up, dealing massive damage to surrounding enemies.
The Naga is an aggressive Voidbringer that forces its destructive will through its thralls. It shoots a damaging spike from long range. Thralled Tendrils sends forth damaging tentacles from target thralled unit, dealing damage to enemies around that unit. By focusing it’s Dark Strength on a thrall, it empowers that unit with 20% bonus damage for 2 turns.
The enigmatic Undine flays enemies with dark energy. On top of that, it can refresh allied Enthralled units using Cleansing Darkness, healing them for 30hp and removing all negative status effects.
The devastating Leviathan is the pinnacle of the Voidbringer incursion. It warps all dark energy around it in devastating attacks. Siphon Thrall allows it to gain health, shields and armor by damaging an Enthralled unit. It can Resuscitate Thralls to bring fallen soldiers back to servitude. Beware of its Call of Terror, an extremely powerful artillery strike that can cause multiple units to panic.
Forms and Alliances
In the Voidbringers’ long track of extradimensional devastation, they’ve adapted to control various elements and mould them to their will. This led to various Voidbringer Forms, each dubbed with names by those who have surrendered their souls.
The Forms cover Psionic, Thermal, Arc and Biochemical damage channels, and their chosen thralls vary depending on their Form. Every Form resists all damage types except one.
When the invasion begins and the Voidbringer Spawners start landing around the planet, you will be given an ultimatum: join the Voidbringers, or oppose them and fight.
Opposing the Voidbringers starts a faction war with them, leading to rewards for every 10 Voidbringer or Enthralled units killed. It also starts the quest chain to defeat the invasion. It will start a war with with any Commander who joined the Voidbringers.
Joining the Voidbringers will start a war with every Commander who opposed them, as well as with all NPC factions. It also unlocks two very special operations: Call Spawner and Call Voidbringers, allowing you to place a Spawner or summon a stack of Voidbringers and Thralls under your control, respectively.
Commanders who gave in to the invaders are signified with a special icon under the minimap and will have a special diplomacy environment:
Defeating the Voidbringers:
The Invasion has a chance of appearing on any planet type that has it enabled. There are two foreshadowing events that can help the Commanders prepare for the impending attacks.
At first, an unidentified force of hostile creatures might be spotted near your borders. Defeating these monsters will grant some insight in what form of Voidbringers are preparing their assault.
Some turns later, the Voidbringer Beacon will land. This is the source of the Voidbringer’s link to our dimension. At this stage, an impenetrable barrier is around it. The Beacon calls forth roaming armies of Voidbringers and their thralls.
This Beacon is the target that must be destroyed to vanquish the invaders from this planet.
After a few more turns, the Invasion will have begun. All around the world, Voidbringer Spawners are crashing down from orbit, sending forth armies of Enthralled units under their Voidbringer overlords.
Destroying these Spawners will damage the impenetrable barrier around the Beacon. Commanders who have destroyed enough of these Spawners gain access to the Voidbringer Beacon for the final showdown.
The more Commanders on the planet, the more Spawners will need to be destroyed before the Beacon barrier breaks.
Destroying the Beacon defeats the Voidbringers, and kills all players who surrendered to them. It’s up to the Commander who dealt the final blow to decide whether they want to claim their victory by unifying the remainders on this devastated world, or continue the game to prove their prowess in conquest.
Victory Conditions:
The Invasion will disable all ongoing Victory Conditions except Doomsday. Joined Commanders will also have Last Man Standing enabled, as their objective is to purge the world of those who oppose our new evil overlords.
Continuing the game re-enables these victory conditions if the winning Commander decides to continue the game after the Voidbringers have been vanquished.
Control the mayhem:
The Invasion has various settings in Advanced Planet Setup to provide the challenge you prefer:
Invasions Timing: From Earliest to Latest, this setting controls when the Invasion will roughly spawn. It can be set to Random for true uncertainty, or Disabled to turn off the Invasions mechanic.
Invasions Difficulty: Changes the strength of the invasion’s stacks, as well as the spawn rate of roaming stacks and the amount of defenders on the Beacon and Spawners.
Invasions Chance: The chance of the invasion actually occurring on this planet.
You are all that stands between this planet and it’s certain annihilation, Commander. Will you resist the urges to join, and be strong enough to drive them from your planet? Or will you lay down your arms in sweet surrender, succumbing to the power of our extradimensional overlords?
The Voidbringer Invasion is included in the Age of Wonders: Planetfall – Invasions Expansion, out now.
Hail, Commanders. I’m Glenn, part of the game design team at Triumph Studios. Today I’ll be sharing the details on the Voidbringer Invasion, a brand new mechanic included in the Invasions Expansion.
The Invasion Begins:
The Voidbringers are coming. Planets where Commanders are fighting over remnants of the Star Union can now be targeted by these extradimensional monstrosities. Be prepared, or you too shall become a thrall to the Voidbringers.
Conceptualization:
For this Expansion we wanted a system to shake up the mid- to late game. The Voidbringer Invasion is meant to keep players on their toes and adapt their defensive and offensive strategies as the game progresses.
Commanders facing the Voidbringers need to reconsider alliances, bolster defenses and send designated strike teams to take down Voidbringer structures. Those who welcome the new overlords, however, can simply surrender and side with the dark powers of the invaders…
The Voidbringers and their Thralls:
The invading armies consist of the Voidbringers and their thralls. The thralls are a set of familiar Planetfall units who have been corrupted and enslaved by the Voidbringers, now fully under their control. Thralls cannot survive if Voidbringers aren’t close by, so killing off the Voidbringers results in all thralls in the current combat dying instantly.
The Strix is an elusive Voidbringer willing to sacrifice thralls to lead to its enemies’ demise. It’s Thrallbomb ability targets an allied Enthralled unit and blows it up, dealing massive damage to surrounding enemies.
The Naga is an aggressive Voidbringer that forces its destructive will through its thralls. It shoots a damaging spike from long range. Thralled Tendrils sends forth damaging tentacles from target thralled unit, dealing damage to enemies around that unit. By focusing it’s Dark Strength on a thrall, it empowers that unit with 20% bonus damage for 2 turns.
The enigmatic Undine flays enemies with dark energy. On top of that, it can refresh allied Enthralled units using Cleansing Darkness, healing them for 30hp and removing all negative status effects.
The devastating Leviathan is the pinnacle of the Voidbringer incursion. It warps all dark energy around it in devastating attacks. Siphon Thrall allows it to gain health, shields and armor by damaging an Enthralled unit. It can Resuscitate Thralls to bring fallen soldiers back to servitude. Beware of its Call of Terror, an extremely powerful artillery strike that can cause multiple units to panic.
Forms and Alliances
In the Voidbringers’ long track of extradimensional devastation, they’ve adapted to control various elements and mould them to their will. This led to various Voidbringer Forms, each dubbed with names by those who have surrendered their souls.
The Forms cover Psionic, Thermal, Arc and Biochemical damage channels, and their chosen thralls vary depending on their Form. Every Form resists all damage types except one.
When the invasion begins and the Voidbringer Spawners start landing around the planet, you will be given an ultimatum: join the Voidbringers, or oppose them and fight.
Opposing the Voidbringers starts a faction war with them, leading to rewards for every 10 Voidbringer or Enthralled units killed. It also starts the quest chain to defeat the invasion. It will start a war with with any Commander who joined the Voidbringers.
Joining the Voidbringers will start a war with every Commander who opposed them, as well as with all NPC factions. It also unlocks two very special operations: Call Spawner and Call Voidbringers, allowing you to place a Spawner or summon a stack of Voidbringers and Thralls under your control, respectively.
Commanders who gave in to the invaders are signified with a special icon under the minimap and will have a special diplomacy environment:
Defeating the Voidbringers:
The Invasion has a chance of appearing on any planet type that has it enabled. There are two foreshadowing events that can help the Commanders prepare for the impending attacks.
At first, an unidentified force of hostile creatures might be spotted near your borders. Defeating these monsters will grant some insight in what form of Voidbringers are preparing their assault.
Some turns later, the Voidbringer Beacon will land. This is the source of the Voidbringer’s link to our dimension. At this stage, an impenetrable barrier is around it. The Beacon calls forth roaming armies of Voidbringers and their thralls.
This Beacon is the target that must be destroyed to vanquish the invaders from this planet.
After a few more turns, the Invasion will have begun. All around the world, Voidbringer Spawners are crashing down from orbit, sending forth armies of Enthralled units under their Voidbringer overlords.
Destroying these Spawners will damage the impenetrable barrier around the Beacon. Commanders who have destroyed enough of these Spawners gain access to the Voidbringer Beacon for the final showdown.
The more Commanders on the planet, the more Spawners will need to be destroyed before the Beacon barrier breaks.
Destroying the Beacon defeats the Voidbringers, and kills all players who surrendered to them. It’s up to the Commander who dealt the final blow to decide whether they want to claim their victory by unifying the remainders on this devastated world, or continue the game to prove their prowess in conquest.
Victory Conditions:
The Invasion will disable all ongoing Victory Conditions except Doomsday. Joined Commanders will also have Last Man Standing enabled, as their objective is to purge the world of those who oppose our new evil overlords.
Continuing the game re-enables these victory conditions if the winning Commander decides to continue the game after the Voidbringers have been vanquished.
Control the mayhem:
The Invasion has various settings in Advanced Planet Setup to provide the challenge you prefer:
Invasions Timing: From Earliest to Latest, this setting controls when the Invasion will roughly spawn. It can be set to Random for true uncertainty, or Disabled to turn off the Invasions mechanic.
Invasions Difficulty: Changes the strength of the invasion’s stacks, as well as the spawn rate of roaming stacks and the amount of defenders on the Beacon and Spawners.
Invasions Chance: The chance of the invasion actually occurring on this planet.
You are all that stands between this planet and it’s certain annihilation, Commander. Will you resist the urges to join, and be strong enough to drive them from your planet? Or will you lay down your arms in sweet surrender, succumbing to the power of our extradimensional overlords?
The Voidbringer Invasion is included in the Age of Wonders: Planetfall – Invasions Expansion, out now.
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