Greetings Godir and Gentlemortals all, I am Thomas Schuiten, Senior designer at Triumph Studios and today I will be sharing with you the rather unique culture we are releasing with Rise From Ruin: The Nomads!
p.s. Scorpion Open Beta Information available at the end of the journal
The great rabbit conquest will come!
What are the Nomads?
Nomadic cultures in AoW4 represent those that developed in Realms where resources have become scarce or where staying in one place for long is dangerous. Ever on the move, looking for new resources to harvest and grow their mobile cities, the Nomads are perfectly suited to survival on these Fractured Realms.
Their Nomadic nature also means they can make do with significantly less cities and territory than other cultures, making them well suited for building “tall” while maintaining a wide presence.
The Nomads feature two subcultures, referred to as traditions: The highly mobile and aggressive Conquest Nomads and the resourceful and scrappy Scavenger Nomads.
Nomads are Nomadic
This section is more about the iterative process of development of the culture, if that isn’t in your interest you can skip to the next section!
Nomads are Nomadic may seem obvious, but it was actually a huge question when going into developing this culture. Sure we want to represent a nomadic people who live after a magical apocalypse, but how does that work in practice?
We experimented with concepts such as teleporting cities, creeping territory where the player could move their throne city steadily province by province, but these approaches felt too clunky and didn’t capture the correct fantasy. Thus we settled on a perhaps more obvious approach: Nomad Cities can pack up into a unit and be moved to a new location where they unpack and retain all their features.
So we have decided that their cities can pack up and move, but there is a more pressing question to be answered after this: Why do they move?
Giving the culture an incentive to move around meant having to deplete resources off the map, something that AoW4 normally does not feature at all, as the resource nodes and wonders are all infinite. The closest equivalent would have been pickups and those are never relevant on the city level.
The first iteration of this incentive was to have Nomad cities gain double income from Resource nodes, but each node would gain a timer which when it expires destroys the node, leaving it depleted and barren.
This worked in principle but resulted in an uncomfortable pressure for the player, and very awkward math in what the value of moving vs staying behind to get the resources from those last 1-2 nodes would be.
The second iteration, which we stuck with in the end, would mean Nomad cities collect what is called an “Essence” from nodes that they Overharvest.
Essences are attached to the city, in a similar way that city structures are, and grant income equivalent to the Node that was harvested (including magic materials!)
This means that Nomad cities gain power the more essences they harvest from Nodes.
Nomad Cities
A Nomad City, harvesting nearby Nodes.
Nomad Cities have several aspects that make them unique:
Resource and Magic Material Nodes in the Domain of these cities are Overharvested over time.
Nomad Cities can Pack Up into a unique unit: The City Barge. Letting them relocate their cities.
Nomad Cities grow 50% more slowly than other culture cities, relying on grabbing territory by moving the city rather than holding a lot of it at once.
Overharvesting
Resource and Magic Material Nodes in the domain of Nomad cities are overharvested over time. When the timer expires, the City gains the corresponding Essence and the node is depleted, becoming Ruined.
Essences grant an income to the city they are in, Magic Material Essences also grant the magic Material.
Should the city be razed, the Magic materials it’s carrying as Essences will be placed back onto the map in nearby provinces.
Overharvesting can also be rushed by using imperium, this can be useful when there is a particular node your city acquired through growth that you want to harvest before moving on.
The City Barge
When a Nomad city is packed up into the City Barge, it can be moved around the map like any unit. Once a satisfactory province is found, the Barge can unpack there, immediately able to claim provinces as its population allows, and able to place Special Province Improvements it had previously built back in its domain without cost.
Though the City Barge moves like unit, it has some unique characteristics to be aware of:
The City provides its income (minus province improvements since those are obviously not present) and still costs City Cap.
The City Barge also still counts as the Throne City if it is, Rulers returning from the void can appear at their throne city’s City Barge, similarly this can be done for Rally of the Lieges.
The City Barge cannot participate in combat, if it is the sole combatant it is captured without a fight.
If the City Barge is attacked, the combat is fought on a Siege combat map as if it were a regular city (though it doesn't need to be besieged)
This seems complicated, and that is because there are a lot of edge cases to account for, but all that you will need to keep track of when playing is that the city needs to be defended and led to its new home.
Nomad Conquerors
Nomad Conquerors are all about aggression, preferring to unpack their cities right on their enemies’ doorstep and rapidly taking their territory.
Pillaging grants Nomad Conquerors food to grow their cities, these pillaged provinces can then be annexed by the Nomad City, rewarding Draft, Production and Gold through Aggressive Annexation.
On top of this, you of course start to Overharvest the Nodes in the newly taken province. Take all you can and leave the pretenders nothing.
In combat the Conquerors particularly favor mobility, their culture mechanic “Empowering Momentum” grants the unit Momentum for the turn once the unit has moved at least 3 hexes away from where it started the turn.
Momentum increases the unit’s damage and healing output by 20%.
A solid buff to their power, and one that can be activated in interesting ways, since the movement is purely distance, teleporting the unit, pulling them elsewhere or any other kind of movement will allow you to enable this ability.
Units
The Nomad unit roster was surprisingly difficult to nail down, they focus on mobility, but creating a roster that supports this focus was not easy. Similarly their art style was something that took some consideration, originally veering more towards the ritualistic while we pivoted to a more “utilitarian” theme as we iterated.
Conquerors are more akin to the hordes of the steppes or desert raiders, this comes through most in their unique units: The Raider and the Champion.
Tier 1
Dunerider
The Dunerider is the Nomad culture’s scout, what makes them unique compared to the scouts of other cultures is their combat utility. Duneriders double as Ranged units through their Warfare Training passive, and deal damage equivalent to a T1 Ranged unit rather than a scout.
This unit represents the classic horse archer unit for any Nomad Culture.
Raider
The Raider is unique to the Conqueror subculture, functioning as a mobile, light shock unit who spreads fire when attacking with momentum and retreats when combat gets too rough through Slip Away.
Fiery Momentum lets the Raider act as an early battering ram against fortifications if needed, striking with Demolisher and igniting the hex to force the enemy out of their position.
Should you wish to go for a more mount-heavy playstyle, the Raider has Optional Cavalry as well!
Wind Warrior
Wind Warriors are a uniquely mobile shield unit, but in a supportive role. Windborne Rescue lets them swap places with a friendly unit giving both themselves and the target a slight heal and leaving the Wind Warrior with one action point to either enter defense mode or strike a blow against the opponent.
This movement swapping allows for a lot of interesting maneuvers in combat, helping units get into range that otherwise wouldn’t be able to make it, rescuing ranged units who got caught out or even just pulling the Raider out of melee so they can freely move to a new target where they can make full use of Momentum!
The Wind Warriors have foldable shields to stay mobile, when they enter defense mode they deploy their shield to face the threat!
Tier 2
Dustweaver
Where the Wind Warrior supports some mobility, the Dust Weaver specializes in it through their powerful “Recovering Windpull” ability. This Ability lets them heal a unit, remove debuffs and most uniquely pull the unit towards themselves. This lets you charge in and pull a unit out of danger, pull a friendly ranged unit into an advantageous position or even pull a friendly unit into an enemy’s exposed flank!
The Dustweaver also has a unique secondary support ability depending on the subculture, for the Conquerors it has “Weave Momentum” letting it grant Momentum to a single unit that does not currently have it, this lets you maintain the pressure even on units that are unable or unwilling to move from their current position.
Strider
A Nomad culture could not be without a dedicated Archer unit, thus the Strider.
This unit stays mobile despite using repeating attacks through the “Opening Shot” modifier, increasing the damage of their first attack each turn and through the Windstride Ability.
Windstride can be used to rapidly maneuver this unit to a good vantage point, gaining Fortune to strike critical targets. The range of this ability also means that when moving the maximum distance, this lets them activate Momentum on themselves.
As you can see, they know how to ride as well thanks to Optional Cavalry!
Tier 3
Champion
The Champion, the strangest unit on the roster by far. This unit was made to represent the elite warriors that fight alongside their warlord.
The Champion is unique in that it has two base attacks:
Storm Strike, a charge attack that inflicts 2x Sundered Defense and grants the unit Storm Stance.
Wind Strike, a repeating attack that grants Wind Stance and whose third hit in the combo knocks the target back.
The unit gains a benefit based on which attack was last used through War Stances:
As you can see, the Champion is rewarded with Momentum for constantly switching their attacks up, letting them stick into a fight longer while still using Momentum than other Nomad units.
Stormstance gives the unit a bit of Defense and Resistance, letting them survive the retaliations after they’ve charged in. While Windstance lets the unit rapidly reposition thanks to Slippery and Swift.
Research Skills
Chimes of Momentum | Swift Strike Blessing | Watchful Eye |
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Chimes of Momentum, is a Unit Enchantment that enables the Empowering Momentum mechanic for non-cultural units. | Swift Strike Blessing, is a Tactical Buff Spell that grants Momentum and Fortune to the target and another friendly unit nearby, letting you make the most of a situation where you cannot maneuver freely and wish to strike a hard blow! | Watchful Eye, is a unique strategic spell that lets the caster keep an eye on the target province, giving them vision in the area. When entering combat in the affected province, all enemy units suffer a stack of Marked as well. |
City Structures
Like all cultures, the Nomads have two variants of basic structures, in the case of the Conquerors these are the Raider Tents and Trophy Stores, replacing the Store House and Granary respectively. These grant the usual food income but in addition provide gold and yet more food while the city shares a border with an unowned city!
Their tier 3 unique structure, the Conqueror’s Tower grants them significant vision to support their aggressive city placement as well as Draft to rapidly recruit new units.
Both subcultures also uniquely have a replacement structure for Stone Walls; the Sentry Nests. This defensive structure does not grant increased siege health or tougher walls in combat. Instead it grants two Strider units on your side to assist the defense!
Lastly the Conqueror’s Special Province Improvement; The Warcamp, is a uniquely aggressive province improvement. Place it next to a hostile domain to speed up pillaging these provinces and give your units additional regeneration! In addition it also grants a healthy chunk of Draft to speed up recruitment of new units to replace losses or expand the offensive.
Nomad Scavengers
While the Conquerors focus on aggression and gaining power from hostile domains, the Scavengers instead take all they can from the Realm itself to sustain themselves. Seeking out Ancient Wonders to gain unique Essences and looting bodies in combat to turn the tide of battle!
Wonder Scavenging lets the Scavenger subculture extract unique kinds of Essence from Ancient Wonders, the nature of the Essence depends on the Improvement type of the Wonder, while the power level depends on the Wonder’s Tier.
Each Wonder can only be harvested for Essence once, but unlike resource Nodes or Materials, the Wonder is not otherwise affected.
Ancient Manuscripts are gained from any Research Post Wonders, granting Knowledge for each Essence obtained (This includes themselves and those from Resource Nodes!).
Each of these Essences also grants City Stability, further enhancing the economy of Nomad Scavengers as they collect these Essences.
In combat, Nomad Scavengers still rely on movement, but theirs is a more opportunistic approach. As units fall in combat, either friendly or hostile, they leave behind Loot. This Loot can be picked up by any unit that has the Scavenger property (meaning this subculture’s units, and any others you apply the enchantment to!).
Picking up loot grants the unit a 15 hp heal and a stack of Looted Power.
Each stack of Looted Power provides a significant power boost to a unit, granting it:
+1 Defense and +1 Resistance
+20% damage on attacks
+20% Healing on support abilities
Stacking up to 5 times this can be an incredible boost on vital units if stacked, though one should of course be wary of putting all their hope into a single unit.
Units
Most units in the roster are shared of course, so here I will only show the Scavenger exclusive units and abilities.
Tier 1
Looter
Instead of the Raider the Conqueror subculture utilizes, Scavengers use the Looter. A Tier 1 Skirmisher unit which weaves through the battlefield to grab loot and pass it onto friendly units!
The “Catch!” Ability lets them transfer Looted power from themselves to another friendly unit in range.
It is also of note that this unit, like the Raider in the Conqueror subculture, can optionally be mounted!
Tier 2
Dustweaver
The Scavenger’s Dustweaver does not have Weave Momentum, instead it has Distributing Wind, this ranged ability lets them grab otherwise hard to reach or even inaccessible Loot from a distance and give it to the unit nearest to it!
Tier 3
Collector
These ladies are hoarders of the useful variety, powerful Polearm units that can push the frontline and pick the bones for even more loot!
The “Plow Through” ability lets them push units back to access loot, even that of the unit they pushed if this attack slew them!
Collectors leave nothing wasted, able to generate additional Looted Power by destroying corpses using “Dig Up”, this nicely doubles to help deal with pesky undead or units which could otherwise return from the dead to haunt you (like the mighty Phoenix).
This results in a unit uniquely capable of acquiring Looted Power and gaining strength as the battle rages on, they are in for the long haul.
Research Skills
Scavenger’s Bags | Improvised Remedy | Empowering Trophies |
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Scavenger’s Bags, is a Unit Enchantment that grants non-cultural units Scavenger, letting them collect Loot as well. | Improvised Remedy, is a combat healing spell that affects all units with Looted Power, healing them for a relatively minor 10 HP, but more notably cleansing all negative status effects! Spread your Loot around your units during a rough battle to make the most out of this useful tool. | Empowering Trophies, a simple buff spell to grant a unit with Scavenger a stack of Looted Power. This lets you empower key units where needed early on. Though this spell will have stiff competition from spells that come in as the game progresses, it is a good early boost to the Scavenger’s bold exploration! |
City Structures
Though they share the Sentry Nests with the Conquerors, the Scavenger Nomads have their own set of structures.
The Salvage Shop and Loot Armory handy early boost to growth in addition to the regular effects of the Workshop and Blacksmith which they replace.
The Scavenger’s Vault, their Tier 3 structure grants a healthy chunk of Structure Production as well as distributing 3 stacks of Looted Power to friendly units at the beginning of combat in this city’s domain.
The Scavenger’s Camp lastly is their unique province improvement, a Mine that grants a truly impressive gold income as long as it is placed on or adjacent to unharvested Resource Nodes. Keep the city moving to fresh locations to make the most of this!
Outro
The nomad culture was a unique challenge, this dev diary cannot really do the immense work of the Codir to make this culture work justice, nor the iterations of design or the hard work of the Art team (though there will be more from them in a future Diary!). We have arrived at something truly new and exciting, and hope you look forward to the arrival of the conquering hordes, or scavenging wanderers as much as we do!
Rise From Ruin releases on the 9th of March! Join us next week for another Developer stream and Development Diary where Luis will show off the new Tomes!
Scorpion Update Open Beta
The release of Rise from Ruin is slowly approaching and as with every release it’s accompanied by a Free Update. Starting now the Scorpion Update is in Open Beta on Steam. Steam Owners of Age of Wonders 4 can access the Scorpion Update by opting into the scorpion_beta branch (see instructions below).
Leaving Feedback
The most effective way to provide us with feedback is by making a Discussion Thread in the Open Beta Discussions. There’s a couple different types of Feedback that we can process during this Beta period.
Balance
With all of these changes there will naturally be a lot of Balance Feedback. Our goal is to address any extreme imbalances and important feedback that need to be tackled for the Release. We only have time to make these changes until Tuesday the 24th of February.
Balance changes that are more general or require us to change text are not feasible during the Beta Period. This feedback is welcome but will be addressed during our regular development period as resources allow.
Stability
Crashes reported with the Crash Tool will automatically show up in our back end, so when you experience a crash please make sure to Upload those.
If you have a Blocker i.e. a Crash or Hang that will not allow you to continue your game, please make a report and include your Crash Report Name - given after upload - so we can tackle it.
Any general Bugs reported are welcome but not the main focus of this period, we’ll try to address those in a timely manner depending on our available resources.
Modding
If you experience issues and suspect that it might be related to one of the mods you have installed, then please verify which mod it may be by disabling your mods. If you’ve determined which Mod is causing your issue try to contact the Mod Developer first.
If you experience crashes with your mods, then please make a thread as stated above. While outdated mods can cause issues, we do try to ensure that they do not crash.
Rise from Ruin Release
The final Update of this Beta will be when we submit the D0P for Certification. After that the branch will remain active until the release of Rise from Ruin & the Scorpion Update on March 9th.
When the time of release hits the Beta branch will be updated to include the Rise from Ruin Content, this ensures a smooth transition for users switching back to the Default branch. A few hours after release the Scorpion Beta Branch will be disabled and removed. Any remaining users will be automatically moved back to Default when this occurs but it’s advised to switch back yourself after you’ve verified that you have access to the Rise from Ruin content.
Getting into the Beta - What you need to know
If you want to take part in the beta there are a few important things you need to know!
This Beta is only available on Steam, owners on Console, Epic or Gog will receive the full Scorpion Update alongside the Rise from Ruin Culture Pack on March 9th.
If a save has been made in Open Beta, there’s no going back! You will not be able to open that save in the game outside of the beta until the beta ends on March 9th!
Spent Pantheon Points & Unlocked Content do not transfer between branches. If you unlock the new Pantheon Content included with the Scorpion Update during the Beta and decide to switch back your spent points will be lost. The Pantheon Content will need to be reacquired when returning to the beta branch or upon release.
Only use this in multiplayer if all participants agree. Make sure you do not use the beta in multiplayer without checking with the other players first, once a multiplayer game session has been updated to use the open beta, you cannot go back to previous versions!
To switch to a custom branch in the Steam client, right-click on the game from the library page and select "Properties".
Among the available tabs will be the "Game Versions & Betas" tab.
The Scorpion Beta should be listed in the dropdown menu under "Selected Game Version" A restart of your Steam Client may be needed if the Branch isn’t visible.