Hello!
We're finally here - major update to Version 1.02 is complete and now live! This update comes with some new game features, as well as a large amount of fixes and balance/economy changes that we believe will enhance the Symphony of War experience. Notably, as has been often requested, Warlord difficulty feels significantly more challenging!
New Game feature: Resource Exchange
-At Bazaars and at Home Base, you will now have the option to trade Iron, Gems, Horses, Obsidian, Sunstone, and Pyrocite on the Resource Exchange! It is automatically unlocked at the Chapter 5 Home Base.
-There is no net loss or fee for using the exchange, you have total freedom and flexibility to invest your resources however you want without risk.
-Exchange rate is the same regardless of which direction you're trading.
-The "fire and hire merc to gain resources" meta was never intended as a primary source of upgrade materials. Now, new Mercenaries will no longer come with resources, but rather, there will be no resource cost for the class they start as. This is exactly how the new Apprentice conscripts work in that they don't cost Gems
-You can also exchange arena tokens for other tiers of arena token
Graphics
-Replacing legacy text with proper text strings to both clean and align certain pieces of in-game text, but also to prepare the game for full translation
-In Chapter 7, changed the ship's steering wheels colors (red/blue) to indicate who owns them, player or enemy
-A huge swath of pictures with text in them have been replaced by actual dynamic text
-Added color and contrast to the "Bazaar" map objective to increase visibility
-Fixed a background association with heat wave weather + desert tiles
-Zanatus Mage graphic has been updated to more closely match the character sprite during cutscenes
-Critical Hit number pop-ups have been slightly increased in size, and displayed in yellow
-Glancing Blows have been slightly decreased in size, and displayed in grey
-Barnabas now has a unique battle sprite
-Increased the visibility of full Nephilim Powers in the HUD
Music/SFX
-Changed the "Alex" theme
-Adjusted the sound effect for loading a save to be more pleasant
UI/UX
-You can now rename individual units. Do so by going to "Use Item" and using a Rename Scroll on that unit.
-You will now have the option to display "Ambush Terrain" in the tactical map, which displays both which terrain is Ambush terrain, and which tiles are adjacent to those tiles and thus also subject to Ambush attacks
-You will now see which tiles, if moved into, constitute a Charge attack by your melee cavalry with a different colored movement tile
-You can now adjust the volume of Voice SFX
-All Unique Mercenaries now display in Orange text to delineate their status as a Unique Mercenary rather than their power or rarity
-Tutorial entries have been added for several unique classes
-Using multiple codexes, stat up items, trait books, and affinity scrolls now much faster as animation lock removed, allowing the player to "spam" these items
-Skip button has been added to the ending cutscenes and ending credits
General Changes/Fixes
-Protagonist now properly displays graphic based on gender selection during ending credits
-Narima now gains maxed Swordfighter CP on legacy saves where she started as archer to facilitate transition into her Blademaster class
-Narima's "Gilded" class graphic now has more gold trim
-Chapters 14 and 15 now offer a Deploy Phase, though the Squad limits remain the same
-Trait List has been greatly improved, updated, and reinstated back into the Tutorial list
-Impassible wall tiles in Chapter 27 have been fixed
-Fixed the unintended flying tile access in Chapter 30
-Restricted access to the enemy reinforcement tiles in Chapter 8
-Clarified class description for Paladin
-A new Bond is now potentially available between Lysander and Beatrix. Complete chapter 29 to unlock, both must be un-bonded
-If you missed Chapter 20E, you will now be granted its 2 ultimate rewards upon starting Chapter 29
-All Bazaars starting from Chapter 6 and on will feature one extra slot with a guaranteed unique Artifact available for purchase. This Artifact will be priced at double the normal cost
Gameplay/Balance
-Enemy HP, Magic, and Weapon Power has been slightly increased on Warlord Difficulty past Chapter 14
-Enemy formations in Chapter 25 and 26 made larger and more formidable
-The large enemy Cavalry army in Chapter 26 is now 5 levels higher, and starts with very high Morale
-The appearance of the enemy reinforcements in Chapter 26 has been deferred to the beginning of the next turn, rather than immediately
-Chapter 30's walls have been reduced by 1 tile in certain places
-2000 Max HP has been added to the final boss on Captain and Warlord difficulty
-Enemy Morale has been slightly increased starting from Chapter 11, with the exception of chapters in which the story dictates the enemy have lower Morale
-Added a large patch of "Wheat Field" terrain to Chapter 15, allowing ambush strategies by the player, without slowing down movement
-Kuroda has received a massive increase in starting LDR, now starts at 84
-Barnabas now starts Fire Affinity (requires fresh save)
--Artifacts/Items--
-Medal of Valor has been changed to further help low LDR stats - you now get 3 LDR under 50, 2 LDR under 60, and 1 LDR under 70
-4 Medals of Valor have been added to chests in early chapters
-Several artifacts have had their STR/MAG toned down by about 20% in a continuing effort to rein in single deathball play
-At max Faction Rank, gain Proofs of Merit instead of Medals of Valor for continued faction rank ups
--Conscripts/Mercenaries--
-All Conscripts start with 2 learnable trait slots instead of 1
-All Conscripts no longer naturally roll traits
-All Mercenaries naturally roll 1 trait
-A new Unique Mercenary joins the lineup: Lord Carnith. A capable Zweihander who starts with max Loyalty to your cause, decreasing his capacity cost immediately
-A new Unique Mercenary joins the lineup: Calvor the Tireless. A Ranger who is just about as beefy as a heavy infantry and then some, with all the perks of light infantry
-- XP/growth--
-We found that accumulating faction XP via Surrenders was slightly too high a proportion of player growth compared to chapter rank, challenge missions, and objective captures. To adjust the proportion, we have increased the Faction rank requirements by 50%, but adjusted cumulative faction rank potentially gained from Objective capture also by around 50%.
--Affinities--
-Slightly reduced the max leadership roll for Light affinity
-Removed LDR malus from Fire affinity
--Traits--
-"Thievery" Trait Tome has been made significantly more rare and expensive, and the Thievery trait has been made more rare for randomly-generated units. To make up for this, the Rogue and Assassin class all now possess the Thievery Trait.
-Stefan now starts with the "Treasure Hunter" Trait.
-Kuroda has a new, unique Leader Trait: Shadowchaser. Ignore Zones of Control, extra movement in Ambush Terrain
-The "Counterattack" Trait has been made into a learnable leader trait via Tome, does stack effect with the Black Belt Artifact
--Classes--
-Dragon damage tune slightly back up in response to slight over-correction in 1.01.1
-Red, Silver, and Blue Dragon variants made more distinct by increasing Silver HP, Red MAG, and Blue SKL
-Stefan's "Mirage" upgrade class now has a free attack in every battle
-Skirmisher and Ranger classes now have a 35% damage bonus when attacking Firearms
-Armor growth for all Heavy classes increased from about 0.8 per level to 1 per level
-Armor growth for all Dragon classes increased significantly
-Weather no longer prevents Gunner, Dragoon, or Siege Cannon classes from firing. This malus has been changed to a flat -50% damage modifier, and is active during Rain, Snow, Blizzard, and Storm weather. This is still offset by the "Breech Loading Rifle" tech.
-Militia can now class change into Archers
-Crossbowman class now has the same STR modifier as Archers, allowing the promotion to Warbow option regardless of which base class
-Paladins now require 5 additional STR (now 35) to promote
-Sorceress damage increased slightly
-Siren damage increased significantly
--Other--
-"Shadow" terrain has been added to most indoor maps. This terrain acts as Ambush terrain, as though it were woods or swamp, but otherwise is identical to normal indoor terrain. This gives Light squads an additional role in indoor maps
-Several Techs have been made standard to all enemies on all chapters. These include: Zones of Control, Polearm Mastery, Advanced Flanking, Psych Warfare
-Uncapped Resources from 99 to 999
-"Ambush Trench" terrain has been added to the final chapter, giving Ambush squads a role in the final battle
Short term Roadmap
-New Game Mode: Post game extra difficult final boss fight and/or some form of NG+
-Expanded difficulty settings
-Additional artifacts
-Main character will get more customization options from game start questions
-Far more robust interaction between Affinity and Weather and Day/Night
-Renaming Squads
-Continued UI and QoL improvements with each update
-Replayable past missions
Long term Roadmap
-Endurance Trial
-Translation to French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
-Porting SoW1 to Nintendo Switch, macOS, Linux
-New DLC campaign
-Additional character classes
-SoW2
As always, thank you so much for supporting Symphony of War!