Hello, minions!
We've kept you waiting, haven't we? ;) You know what Moriana says: “Anticipation sharpens desire”... but enough of all the teasing. Let’s get to the fun part: OUR NEW MAJOR UPDATE IS AVAILABLE NOW!
TIME TO UNLEASH SOME RAGE
As always, let's dive into the changes and improvements this update brings. But before that, just a quick note.
Rage Unleashed wouldn’t have happened if not for you! In the last few months, we have received a wealth of great feedback following our previous update, Horde Reborn. Thanks to it, we realised we shouldn't be afraid to make bold changes. And so we… pushed the fear aside and embraced pure rage! That’s what this update is all about! Making you finally feel like the unstoppable force ready to conquer entire realms. After all, that’s what Moriana is, isn’t she?
So let's take a look at what we've prepared for you, because there's a lot to cover.
MINIONS GOT ANGRY…
This update introduces a completely new feature - ENRAGE METER.
When your minions engage in combat, the meter gradually fills. Reaching a certain level allows you to enter the ENRAGE STATE. It lasts for a few seconds, but while you’re enraged, your minions attack much faster, and your necromancy is more efficient and, let’s say, more aggressive.
So yes, Be My Horde is no longer a one-button game. We heard your feedback, and now we know we can play around with new features to improve the feel of leading your zombie army. This addition adds a new layer of depth to the gameplay, as it can either help you deal with a massive wave of foes, help you quickly raise bodies from the battlefield, or even save you from an otherwise hopeless situation. It all depends on how you will use it.
And it’s simply so freaking cool to obliterate a bunch of peasants with just a snap… Definitely give it a shot!
RISE MY SERVANTS
Enrage State temporarily improves your necromancy, but necromancy itself has also received several changes. Previously, there were four types of it, and they didn't differ much from one another. It’s time to deal with that.
From now on, there are THREE types of necromancy available in the game, and we did our best to make them distinct from one another. They are based on those you already know, but through plenty of minor tweaks, we made sure all of them feel good and provide a different experience.
PRECISE RESURRECTION
The basic form of necromancy available from the start. You need to hold a button for a moment to resurrect. In the Enrage State, you raise more opponents simultaneously, and it takes much less time.
AUTOMATIC RESURRECTION
Unlocked in the Dominion. Moriana automatically raises nearby corpses as she approaches them. In the Enrage State, she does it much faster, almost like vacuuming the battlefield, and the range is much bigger, as the basic one is quite limited.
MASS RESURRECTION
Unlocked in the Dominion. When holding the button, you create a circle around you. When you release the button, you raise ALL the bodies inside the circle. In the Enrage State, you can make the circle much bigger, and you definitely do it faster.
We plan to add more types of necromancy in the future. For now, we’re happy we finally made some order in the current ones!
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
Speaking of variety in experience, this update introduces CHALLENGES!
While choosing the level, you can now also challenge yourself with unique modes that alter the gameplay. There are five challenges available now:
STAGNANT SOUL
No levelling during gameplay, which means NO PERKS! Now that's the original Be My Horde experience. ;)
RAPID DECAY
Time is a precious commodity in Be My Horde because the longer the crusade lasts, the more powerful units appear. In this mode, the time passes TWICE as fast, forcing you to act quickly before you're overwhelmed.
UNDYING RESISTANCE
In this mode, your enemies have more Health.
DEADLY FORCE
In this mode, your enemies deal more Damage.
ROYAL GAMBIT
Very unique challenge only for the Kingdom realm that is not available in Hell. Here, our beloved King Richard spawns… at the very beginning of the crusade, bothering you from the start. So build your horde quickly and see if you can defeat him this time.
All of these Challenges can be COMBINED. If you’re crazy enough, you can even turn on all of them at once… good luck. And of course, it’s just the beginning. We’re testing what we can do with the Challenges now, so expect more unique modes in the future!
LET’S SELECT THE LEVEL… AND NECROMANCY… AND CHALLENGES
You can now easily choose your type of necromancy and the Challenge from a new level selector screen. We've improved readability and overall quality of life by consolidating everything into one place. You no longer need to visit a specific building to choose a resurrection style before starting the crusade.
MORIANA’S NEW HOME
And while we’re at it. We introduce a TOTAL MAKEOVER OF THE DOMINION! Moriana’s house had been in need of a revamp for a long time, and we finally did it. It’s not only a stunning visual upgrade, but also a functional one. No more constructing structures. By interacting with specific parts of the Dominion, you can go through everything you need. Checking out achievements, admiring Moriana’s outfits, looking at credits, and… upgrading your powers!
“I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST”
After reviewing your comments and reviews, we noticed that our approach to meta-progression wasn’t perfect. Previously, you were developing Moriana by raising structures in the Dominion or by spending souls in two different talent trees (one for each realm). Now it’s time for changes.
From now on, when interacting with the Abomination, a bloody tree in the Dominion, you gain access to a single, expansive talent tree, where you can spend souls harvested during crusades to unlock new types of necromancy, increase your starting army, your movement speed, improve the efficiency of the Enrage Meter, and much, much more. Progression is now clearer and more streamlined, also making it much easier for us to introduce new skills or upgrades in the future. In the previous design, we were slowly running out of space in the Dominion for new structures. :D Now it won’t be the case. But that’s not the end…
TIME TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING
The Rage Unleashed updates introduce new achievements and necessary improvements to existing ones. From now on, in-game achievements not only reward you with new perks or outfits, but also can increase your horde's overall power. Thanks to it, you no longer give your minions more health or damage by spending precious souls, which could be used in a different way. Now they are becoming more formidable through fighting and reaching new milestones.
And, of course, we plan to implement a range of new achievements in future updates. Also, to answer your upcoming questions - no Steam achievements for now. Those we will add with the full launch.
ALL THIS TALKING…
But that’s still not all you can do in the Dominion. From now on, by interacting with Moriana’s throne, you can review already unlocked dialogues with our Lady. Want to revisit different dialogue choices? Now you can! It’s the feature you've requested very often, and it’s finally here!
We have some huge plans regarding Be My Horde’s story with new dialogues that will have a bigger influence on your relationship with Moriana, but that’s a matter for the next major update. For now, feel free to return to the current dialogues whenever you like.
… AND TALKING
Even if we do not add new dialogues with Moriana now, it doesn’t mean we didn’t spend some time writing. The Rage Unleashed update introduces over 400 new lines for Moriana and bosses. Thanks to it, lines during the crusade will no longer be repetitive, and several unique one-time encounters between Moriana and both Richard and Devil will help build the relationship between our necromancer and her foes.
SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
With all those additions, we also introduce a range of gameplay changes to elevate the experience. Sounds a bit grandiose, but what we mean is that from now on, leading your horde of zombies should be more pleasant.
For instance, you now gain experience by killing enemies rather than resurrecting them, allowing you to level up much faster. You no longer need to slowly traverse through the battlefield to raise, even those poor, small peasants, to give yourself a chance to level up. Nope, now all that matters is killing and the pure destruction you can unleash upon your enemies.
We've also made significant changes to minion movement and weight. These improvements influence the combat’s dynamic and allow you to surround hostile units much more easily. It’s still challenging, and you can get yourself surrounded, too, if you aren’t careful. But from now on, no more pushing those stupid mages out of the reach of your horde.
SUCK UP THEIR LIVES!
That's not the end of the new features. The Rage Unleashed update also introduces a new skill: SYPHON.
Once unlocked in the Dominion, SYPHON allows Moriana to cheat death by draining the life force of her minions whenever she would otherwise receive a fatal blow.
It offers a unique last-chance survival mechanic when everything seems lost, while also addressing situations where Moriana could die despite still commanding a sizeable horde. Now, at the very least, your minions will accompany you into oblivion...
NOW I SEE MORE
We changed the WHOLE UI. It's now much clearer how close you are to levelling up. We added the aforementioned Enrage Meter. And you will spot plenty of changes in the game’s menu. All the changes should make the game more readable and feel more polished (pun very much intended).
EVEN MORE MAKEOVER
With this update, we added numerous visual improvements. You will notice a completely redesigned perk and achievement cards, along with new animations like the one when you level up.
The ending screen appearing after the crusade has also been revamped.
It all comes with a plethora of new icons, visual effects, and several new portraits! We refreshed the look of Moriana and Richard by giving them new portraits, both for the crusade and, for Moriana, for the Dominion dialogues. Moriana has never been more beautiful… and more deadly.
I WANT MORE…
We just covered the most significant changes to Be My Horde, but of course, there’s a colossal amount of regular and smaller improvements that the Rage Unleashed update introduces. For those very into details, check out the patch notes at the end of this announcement. But be warned… It’s a true wall of text. However, before that…
LET'S GET ANGRY!
And that’s it! Please check out the new version, have fun, and feel free to share any feedback regarding the Rage Unleashed update. This is a very important milestone for us. As we mentioned, this patch showed us what weird and crazy things we can do with our design. For a very long time, we didn’t want to add any skills that you need to use by pressing the button. However, Enrage Meter is so fun that it changed our thinking.
We’re also happy that this update helped us improve the core gameplay. Obviously, there will still be plenty of improvements in future updates, as this is why we decided on Early Access. To give us the time and opportunity to polish the game and make it the best it can be.
However, now we feel we can start creating much more new content for Be My Horde. And trust us when we say that we have a few surprises in store for you later this year. ;) For now, please enjoy the game! Make sure to share your feedback through the Steam review or in the Steam forum. You can also join our Discord server HERE. And if you like that game, tell your friends, share it with your family, your support means a lot to us!
PATCH NOTES
NEW FEATURES
💀 Added Enrage Meter - it gradually fills when in combat, and its segments can be consumed to gain a temporary (4-5 seconds, depending on the upgrades) boost to minions’ attack speed and to the efficiency of Moriana’s necromancy.
💀 Added Challenges - optional modifiers to the gameplay that could be chosen when selecting the level. They increase the game’s difficulty, offering a new experience.
These challenges are:
💀 Stagnant Soul
Disables levelling during a run.
Moriana's power depends entirely on the strength of her army.
💀 Royal Gambit
King Richard appears from the very beginning of the run.
He becomes more vulnerable to Moriana's abilities.
Available only in the Kingdom biome.
💀 Rapid Decay
Time passes twice as fast.
💀Undying Resistance
Enemies have increased health.
💀 Deadly Force
Enemies deal increased damage.
💀 Added Syphon - a new mechanic that prevents Moriana's death by sacrificing the health of her army.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
💀 Moriana Upgrades - they have been moved from buildings into a dedicated upgrade tree available in the Dominium. The number of upgrades has been increased, and their costs have been rebalanced to better match progression through biomes and difficulty levels.
New Upgrades
💀 Increased Enrage duration.
💀 Enrage can also be generated by enemy kills.
💀 Increased Enrage attack speed bonus.
💀 Achievement Progression - army stat upgrades are now unlocked through cumulative achievements based on:
Killing increasing numbers of specific enemy types.
Killing enemies from specific biomes.
Several talents that had a larger impact on units or gameplay are now unlocked through achievements earned by completing biome levels.
💀 The movement speed bonus gained from corrupting trees is now available from the start of the game.
💀 Resurrection Rework - the available resurrection types have been significantly reworked.
💀 Precise Resurrection
Formerly, the default cast-based resurrection.
Now officially called Precise Resurrection.
Can resurrect up to 6 corpses at once.
💀 Instant Resurrection
Removed from the game.
💀 Mass Resurrection
Functions similarly to before.
The maximum resurrection radius has been reduced.
💀 Automatic Resurrection
Base resurrection radius has been significantly reduced.
Radius now scales with army size.
ART
💀 Dominium Rework - the Dominium has been completely redesigned. Instead of containing Moriana Upgrade buildings, it now consists exclusively of interactive locations.
💀 Upgrades
Access Moriana's upgrade tree.
💀 Achievements
Browse the complete list of achievements in a brand-new interface.
💀 Credits
View the game's credits.
💀 Archives
A brand-new building that allows you to replay all Dominium dialogues you've unlocked so far.
💀 Outfits
Customise Moriana's appearance.
💀 Conquest
A portal leading to the Level Selector, where you choose:
Levels
Challenges
Necromancy types
💀 A redesigned Experience Bar that is clearer and easier to understand.
💀 New perk cards and descriptions designed to speed up decision-making.
💀 A completely revamped and more readable menu system.
💀 A new End Screen.
💀 New character portraits and dialogue screens.
💀 The Health Bar has been removed from the game, but the new Life Syphon mechanic should compensate for its absence.
STORY
💀 Over 400 new lines for Moriana, Richard and the Devil have been added to the game, significantly decreasing their repetitiveness during gameplay. From now on, every event in the game has at least 4 (and some even more) various one-liners that appear randomly.
💀 Game-pausing dialogue sequences have been replaced with a much larger number of conversations between Moriana and the bosses that take place during gameplay. These conversations no longer interrupt the action, allowing the game to maintain its pace while giving the characters more personality and development.
BALANCE TWEAKS
We've made a number of gameplay balance adjustments to improve combat flow, army management, and overall pacing.
💀 Enemy Units
Enemy mass has been significantly increased, making it much easier for your army to surround them.
To compensate, enemy health has been increased. Despite this change, enemies should generally die faster than before.
The number of high-tier enemy units on the highest difficulty levels has been reduced.
💀 Bosses
King Richard's and the Devil's health pools have been reduced to better match the new damage values across the game.
Boss encounters should now be noticeably shorter, especially the fight against the Devil.
💀 Kettle Unit
The Kettle unit's attack has been redesigned.
Its attack range is now significantly smaller.
However, the flame effect now follows its selected target.
💀 Sheep Unit
Sheep damage and spawn frequency have been reduced by 30%.
In later stages of the game, the number of sheep per group has been reduced by 50%.
Sheep damage upgrades have been reduced from 75% to 50% per level.
💀 Moriana Survivability
On higher difficulty levels, enemies now deal progressively more damage to Moriana.
This is counterbalanced by the new Moriana Health upgrades available in the upgrade tree.
💀 Other
Experience is now awarded upon killing enemies instead of resurrecting them.
The frequency of Blood Harvest events has been reduced.
Enemies in the Surround event should create a circle around Moriana
Health and damage values across all difficulty levels have been rebalanced to provide a smoother and more enjoyable gameplay experience.
PRAISE BE MORIANA!
The Polished Games Team