Announcing Invasions, the new AoW: Planetfall expansion!
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As nice as it sound I think it would take away the uniqueness of those two factions you mentioned. But there are still possibilities. Triumph didn't show us all their aces up their sleeves: maybe we will get terraforming abilities or mods? Plus there are world events - if you read "Earthquake" description it says mountain ranges pop-up at random places. I also think the world events will be a huge thing if the description is to be belived. Space pirates popping up on map? Acid Rain? Might change how you will play the game...
I analyzed the screens and here are the Shakarn units I noticed (aside from Rider and Infiltrator):
- big bulky lizard
- thiner lizard with wings/cape. Looks like Kir'ko Hidden. There seems to be a variant without sniper rifle but with claws (?) . Might be the one on the left of the middle guy on key art?
- a bigger thiner lizard with a collar (?), that can hover
- small drone like fliers (I assume they belong to the faction, I think key art confirms this)
So that makes six (seven?) units.
I really like Shakarn armor, it has a chromatic hue and there are some really nice variants, especially the red, hallmark one.
Double damage channel? Interesting concept, maybe it works in such a way that it "picks" one of the two based on damage resistance?
My only little letdown are the Voidbringers - for me they don't look unique enough, they're basically a variant of psi-fish, it's even in the description. But we still don't know much about them so they can turn out to be great! Or maybe they aren't even a playable faction...
Btw on the trailer we see Shakarn arriving in some big'ol ships. Maybe a foreshadow of some new mechanics?
@Rafoca
I think we can hear a new piece in the background of Invasion trailer
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We already have double damage channels in the game thanks to Syndicate Psynumbra units with conversion mods (bio/fire + Indentured psi bonus) and the Heritor Quintessence Ark's ability that adds a % of a linked unit's damage as extra entropy damage per essence (last I tested with Assembly Commander on Chopper it really made him deal kinetic + entropy damage, not sure if Triumph addressed that yet).
They work just like they did back in AoW3: Each channel gets its own separate flanking bonus (so you can get like +4 flanking damage total where a single damage channel might only get +2, for example). Not sure if Triumph will change that with this upcoming DLC, however.
They have also updated the info on the third expansion:
https://www.paradoxplaza.com/age-of-wonders-planetfall-season-pass/PFPF01USK0000004.html
It will add empire mechanics... someone said predictable?
No new secret tech announced though
Anyway... can't wait!
https://www.paradoxplaza.com/age-of-wonders-planetfall-season-pass/PFPF01USK0000004.html
It will add empire mechanics... someone said predictable?
No new secret tech announced though
Anyway... can't wait!
It was that way in AOW3 but Isn't flanking just +25% damage in Planetfall? Since armor/shields also work on a percentage basis double damage channels should work exactly like single damage attacks, with the only exception that they are a little bit harder to defend against (you'd need two damage channel resistances) and harder to exploit (since you would need to apply two weaknesses to your opponent)
I don't think it will be orcs or draconians next. If you see cover of third expansion on steam it will be some healing or some dedicated to good faction.
So basically Triceratons from TMNT.
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Triceratons
It's just place-holder art and even maybe a background for the Celestian secret tech
LIZARDS! Thats great.
I hope Voidbringers are more than another NPC faction differently named. They need to have some long term quest, some bonuses for fighting and defeating them. Also a big invasion that forces players to temporarely ally or be destroyed. This could be interesting. OK I've read there will be something like invasion. Thats nice.
World events seems to be a letdown. We will see whats more in it.
More everything is always welcome
Voidbringers also look like they assimilate/enthrall other races. Look at the screens and the description. some of their units look like assimilated kir'ko. Something like Psi-Fish parasite mods are on the units, only they are void effects. Should be quite an invasion at the end of the game.
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As far as I know double channel attacks simply deal damage with each channel and there's nothing special about them in Planetfall. Multiple channels mattered in AoW III because defence subtracted damage from each channel so effectively units multiplied their defence/resistance by the number of damage channels they got hit by but in Planetfall defence works multiplicatively and multiple damage channels should not make much difference to damage reduction, the only difference would come from rounding up calculations.
For example if unit has 1 defence the reduction is -10%=0.9, a 12 dmg attack would deal 12 x 0.9 = 10.8 = 10 damage, double channel 6 + 6 dmg attack would be 6 x 0.9 + 6 x 0.9 = 5.4 + 5.4 = 5 + 5 =10 damage. No difference.
I know there's two ways to get double channel attacks in Planetfall at the moment: 1) Quintessence ark has an ability that gives bonus enthropy damage opening a new channel; 2) Fueled by servitude ability of Psynumbra Syndicate units opens a new channel if damage was converted with a mod.
Whether it's strong for a T1 unit to have 12 dmg repeating attack devs wrote this
Usually shots only lose accuracy at long range so if the damage penalty is big enough it should be a fair trade for having high base damage.
I also expected some of this, I figured it would be an invasion themed DLC, and given what we saw in the campaigns, I expected void-like enslavers. I didn't expect Space Lizards, but I did expect the race to be savage and clawed given the tease, and hoped for a savage and high tech race, like Tigrans or draconians.
I'm very glad for what we are getting and can't wait for more info!
I love that the new faction is an alien "outsider." Not so thrilled that it's an anthropomorphic Earth lizard, but I'll roll with it. And a furry NPC faction? Uh, okay.
It will be interesting to see how well they can balance the Voidbringers. Late game crisis designs intended to mix things up for the player and prevent steamrolling don't always work well in 4X games. So I hope there's an option to disable it in game settings if it isn't fun.
It will be interesting to see how well they can balance the Voidbringers. Late game crisis designs intended to mix things up for the player and prevent steamrolling don't always work well in 4X games. So I hope there's an option to disable it in game settings if it isn't fun.
Space lizards, huh...
The second most generic alien race in sci-fi. I'm a bit disappointed, but who cares. I hope that we'll see more balancing and, of course, fixes for some pretty annoying bugs.
The second most generic alien race in sci-fi. I'm a bit disappointed, but who cares. I hope that we'll see more balancing and, of course, fixes for some pretty annoying bugs.
Haha yes, think of the possibilities
Or, like, Heritors with their "immortal chosen ones" religious cult tropes.I wonder what they will specilize in. Most NPC races have a dominant damage channel plus sometimes a second one. Therian Sharpshooter seems to be using bio but I actually feel that each of their units will either have a different damage channel or they will utilize the new "sonic" channel. But like I said I totally dig them cus they're so different from existing NPC factions.
Regarding Voidbringers, judging by the screens their main units seem to be palette-swapped psi-fish. Maybe the end-game mechanic will work like this that a couple of doomsday stacks consisting of various faction units appear in various places on the map?
Can't wait for more dev dairies!
Nice, more aliens to flesh out the Star Union's galaxy! Also, I love how the invaders are reptilian infiltrators; such a lovely sci-fi cliche.
I think the Spacers use like four damage channels. And sonic may just be different Kinetic weapons (like Plasma and Laser are both Thermal).
Here we go boiS and girlZ xD
I was betting Reapers would come as NPC faction. they're not. a shame. but ...
L I Z A R D evil knevil does !
I was betting Reapers would come as NPC faction. they're not. a shame. but ...
L I Z A R D evil knevil does !
Those are definitelly Hidden. The question is: can they enslave any unit or do they have a set of units, that they always use. Really climatic would be if they use only units from races that are present on the planet the invasion is fought on.