Ave Imperator, Force Commanders.
We are delighted to have the Update XII trailer showcased during the Warhammer Skulls Showcase today! In case you missed it, you can discover all the additional content available now for free in Update XII down below.
https://youtu.be/-rj5p-aoGS0
In the name of the Emperor, you are duty bound to assume your role in the new Bloom Assault mission type and prepare to engage a new enemy in Nurgle’s base and foul army.
Bloom Assault Missions
Vakir’s field agents have collected additional Bloom Seeds and stored them in Sanctified Servitors within an Astra Militarum outpost. This outpost is being relentlessly assaulted by the forces of Nurgle and the Baleful Edict must intervene.
Bloom Assault missions are an alternate Seeding mission type where you will escort a precious cargo of Bloom Seeds, dropping in to save as many as possible while destroying enemy reinforcements. New objectives and Glorious Deeds will provide additional boons if you are successful in protecting this vital research resource. These new missions will become available after completing the “Research the Seed” objective in the Campaign.
The War Dog Stalker
Furthermore, the Baleful Edict’s Prognosticars have identified a new daemonic presence deploying across the sector. The War Dog Stalker is a deadly threat, with an arsenal of weaponry which can be deployed at any range; their Daemonbreath Spear is a Melta weapon which can quickly vaporise armour at a distance, whilst their Reaper Chaintalon offers both offensive and defensive close-combat capabilities. Despite the War Dog Stalker’s size, Force Commanders should be wary of their mobility on the battlefield and the ferocity with which they hunt their foes.
The War Dog Stalker is the last Technophage Elite unit that you will encounter. They are powerful ranged combatants with single-target and blast weapons, so you will need to get in close and use body part targeting or go for an all-out assault with Armour Break to defeat these vicious foes.
The War Dog Stalker is equipped with the following:
- Daemonbreath Spear: a medium-range Melta weapon that deals high single-target damage and vaporizes Armour.
- Reaper Chaintalon: used for offense and defense with a powerful but narrow melee strike and a wide, sweeping Overwatch-like ability (see Sweeping Talon).
- Havoc Multi-Missile Launcher: a weapon that can hit multiple targets in an area.
Abilities:
- Sweeping Talon: an Overwatch-like ability that protects the War Dog Stalker from melee attacks from Power Armoured Units in a specific direction by knocking them away as they enter or act within its range. Can be Disrupted or waded through by the Dreadnought or Terminator Armoured Player Units. Damages all units within range when it triggers.
- Cover Shot: the War Dog Stalker gets a Cover Shot with its Missile Launcher on Ambush.
- Putrid Carapace: protects the War Dog Stalker from Armour Pierce. Using Armour Break is crucial to lower the unit’s Armour and consistently reduce its HP.
- Destructive Movement: as a Large unit, the War Dog Stalker can pass through destructible environments as it moves.
Update XII also contains a swathe of other improvements and fixes, which we list in our patch notes down below:
Update XII Patch Notes
Features
Major
- A new enemy, the War Dog Stalker, joined the forces of Nurgle.
- A new mission type, Bloom Assault, was added to the mission pool.
Minor
- Added a new system to detect when multiple tutorial tips occur simultaneously in combat. The system will choose and display the most important tutorial tip and save the others for later triggers, reducing missed tutorial tips and confusion.
- The Unit Info View panel now supports mutation stacking and will correctly display the correct mutation amounts during Warp Surges.
Balance Changes
Warp Surges
- Power of Mutation Warp Surge now happens during missions with the Tentarus strain.
- Revolting Regeneration Mutation now happens during missions with the Tentarus strain.
- Added two new Tentarus strain Warp Surges:
- Generous Effusions - Enemies will explode for 3 turns, buffing nearby allies with +3 HP.
- Roiling Mutations - All enemies on the map will mutate.
Other
- Increased the number of enemies which spawn on the first part of Nexus on Merciful difficulty.
- Noxious Blightbringers can now be affected by allies’ beneficial psychic abilities.
Bug Fixes
General
- Fixed an issue for ranged attacks targeting that could allow you to target enemies outside your Line of Sight if they were within range but behind full cover and in the fog.
- Fixed an issue where Precision Targeting damage previews would not display correctly while using a gamepad.
- Climbing, vaulting, or running no longer affects map lighting.
- Grey Knights will no longer destroy cover they are standing on when performing targeted attacks.
- Fixed an issue that locked the game if a mission expired while the Gladius Frigate was en-route.
- Fixed several issues that were causing missing SFX.
- Fixed several issues with incorrect VFX.
- Added several missing icons.
Ship Menus
- Core mission rewards display more clearly when offering a Grey Knight.
- Grey Knight portraits will now properly adjust every time you change their armour.
Maps
- Fixed an issue that would allow Knights to walk inside some objects on Reaper maps.
- Cleared up sections of maps where Terminators or Venerable Dreadnoughts could get stuck.
- Fixed an area on the Industrial Chasm Growing map that caused cursors to stick when switching between controllers and keyboards.
- Fixed bridges that caused 2x2 units to destroy the bridge and die when crossing.
- Fixed areas where the camera zoomed in too closely.
- Grey Knights can no longer climb up empty air to a bridge on the Dense Alley Echoes map.
- Fixed an issue that prevented an Archeotech Cache opening correctly on the Industrial Chasm Winter Growing map.
- Fixed an issue that caused HP bars to disappear temporarily during Flowering missions.
- Updated several visual and lighting issues on several maps.
Grey Knights and Story Characters
- First Strike now triggers as often as it should.
- Teleport and Teleport Strike no longer consider changes in height when calculating distance.
- Defend Position now works correctly on large enemies and bosses.
- Servitors no longer spawn on top of each other when you have multiple Techmarines with multiple Servitors teleporting down to the same map.
- If stepping out to Overwatch reveals an enemy squad, Grey Knights will no longer be able to set two Overwatches at the same time.
- Smite now correctly displays that it will trigger Heed the Challenge when used on Cruciatus.
- Fixed several issues that were caused incorrect barks to play.
- Adjusted the Grey Knight stand-up animation after being knocked back while behind cover.
- Castellan Crowe’s barks is now closer in volume to other characters.
Equipment
- Apostate’s Woe now deals the correct damage when used during Precision Targeting.
- Grey Knights will no longer deal double damage with Force Strike while wearing Mantle of the Elect and using Pale or Warpbringer.
Enemies
- Fixed an animation issue that affected several enemies when shooting up or down.
- Adjusted the timing of some enemy barks to ensure they happen correctly.
- Fixed a visual issue with the Noxious Blightbringer ranged attack animation.
- Fixed a Toast related issue with Noxious Blightbringer’s psychic immunities.
- The VFX for Toxic Malady will no longer play on a Lord of Virulence’s fist if it has been cut off.
- Fixed an issue that was causing Boltgun Plague Marines to face away from their Overwatch cones.
- Fixed an issue that allowed the Shredding Blades target point on the Fleshmower to be repeated.
- Choosing Destabilize in Precision Targeting for the Fleshmower or Foetid Bloat Drone will no longer award the Friendly Fire achievement if it kills an enemy.
- The description for Nurgle’s Gift will now be viewable in the Info View panel for the Plagueridden.
- Reveal VFXs for Apostate Preachers will no longer be unlinked from the unit.
- Fixed an issue with the Cultist Overwatch animation.
Bosses
- Imprisoned units will no longer teleport if freed.
- Disrupting Imprison will no longer cause animations to become stuck.
- Grey Knights can no longer move over, through, or on imprisoned targets.
- Improved the VFXs on Munificus.
Tutorials
- Fixed an issue that caused two Seed Carrier tutorials to appear at the same time.
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Recon tutorial tip from playing in Koramar if players grenaded their own Grey Knight off the initial starting platform.
- The First Stratagem tutorial tip will no longer cause issues with switching your Knights in the teleportarium before a Flowering mission.
Other
- Fixed an issue that caused unintended SFX at the beginning of the Kadex Defeated cutscene.
- Leaving and entering the victory screen for the Gladius Frigate will no longer count multiple times for the Strategic Command Achievement.
- Updated some tooltips in localised versions for clarity.
Performance Improvements
- Improved performance when moving on the Cruciatus map.
- Improved performance when collecting Bloomspawn Spores.
- Improved performance of the Dreadnought’s Smoke Grenade and Prometheum Flames.
- Reduced lag when interacting with melee objects while being hit by a rear strike.
We trust that the Prognosticars’ intel has prepared you for the Bloom Assault Missions and War Dog Stalker units arriving in Update XII alongside the myriad of other improvements.
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