Hey everyone,
It’s time to look at the other faction returning from Endless Legend 1: The Broken Last Lords. They may have escaped the death of Auriga, but they have not yet overcome their curse.
Lore
Once nobles and honorable knights, an ancient curse turned the Last Lords into spirits trapped in their armor who must drain others to feed themselves.
Their ancestral home on the planet Auriga has been lost to cataclysm, but the Last Lords escaped their icy fate by taking to the stars. For all they knew, Saiadha would be a desert world so rich they could harvest the Dust they need from the land itself, yet when they arrived, they found a hostile ocean planet. Nonetheless, they tried to wake their people from the deep stasis they had entered for the trip.
Only a handful of these resurrections were successful, and most Last Lords remain trapped in their disembodied state. Now Consul Tyabana and her council must find a way to restore the rest of their people and either find a way to cure their curse or embrace their vampiric nature.
Art
Just as with the Necrophage, it was important to respect the visual legacy from Endless Legend 1 to maintain a strong connection despite the new planet. This meant the return of knightly armor, the fiery blue spirit visible inside it, and the gloomy, gothic architecture.
But the Last Lords have spent a long time in stasis on their way to Saiadha, and they’re a bit worse for wear. Their units and heroes feature much more worn and weathered materials, and often a much more ghostly appearance revealing their skull-like faces.
Notable Elements
Buildings: Gothic inspired architecture, arches, red roofs, dark stones and domes
Units: Majestic knightly armors, worn and crude materials, blue and misty soul bodies
Gameplay
The Last Lords offer a unique economic gameplay experience. Foregoing Food and growth and instead spending Dust to create population changes how you value regions and city placement. Your armies can also sustain long campaigns if you make good use of their healing abilities.
A brief word about our intentions for the Last Lords for our game director:
The Last Lords are our Economic faction and they are powerhouses when they are rich, and limited when they are poor. They are designed for players that enjoy building their perfect empire and go lightly on war and diplomacy, until its absolutely needed.
But when it is required, the Last Lords can buyout armies and keep them healed as long as their war coffer is full. New cities can fill with population instantly, and minor faction can be sacrificed to make new ghostly armies. As long as they can afford it.
Nothing comes for free for the Last Lords, and careful selections on how and when to use their Dust are critical to being able to play them effectively.
Faction Affinity: Knightly Husks
Spirits of Dust trapped in their armor, the Last Lords have no use for food and instead sustain themselves with Dust. When playing as the Lords, you will not see Food on any tiles, you won’t be able to construct Farms or Food-related Improvements, and your Citizens will produce Dust instead of Food. However, your population will not grow by themselves, and you have to create new population by paying Dust instead.
Minor Factions are especially important in this respect, as the Last Lords have some unique interactions with minor factions in their territories by creating one of two special buildings on their villages.
The Lord’s Estate allows Minor Faction population to continue to live and grow in the city while paying a small Dust tax to you. However, should their workforce be needed in the city, you can round them up to add them to the city population you manage, though this may cause a rebellion.
The Soul Repository on the other hand will drain the minor faction village to spawn a Primordial Last Lord in your city, a unique population type that will increase the yields of ordinary Last Lords working in the same category.
Traits:
Every Last Drop: Tiles that naturally produce Dust produce extra Dust for you.
Sacrifice for the Realm: You can sacrifice population of other factions to create new Last Lords population.
Dust Healing: Your units do not heal by themselves, but you can spend dust to heal them instantly.
Military
For the most part, the Last Lords offer a well-rounded army composition, with a solid infantry core, ranged support, and powerful cavalry. However, Lords armies can prove exceptionally tough thanks to their various abilities that allow them to heal in battle by leeching life from their enemies.
Battle Affinity: Gifts of the Fallen
Whenever a unit falls on the battlefield, adjacent Last Lords units will recover some health.
Thralls are the scouts of the Last Lords, able to see through many map obstructions, but they can serve as a support unit in battle in a pinch, as they are especially effective against wounded targets.
Shadow Lords focus on improving the mobility of any army they are part of.
Executioners on the other hand are great flankers, as they receive a massive damage bonus when attacking already engaged enemies.
Stalwarts form the core of your front line, recovering some of their health with each attack.
Merciless Knights are even harder to kill, as they gain extra protection when defending.
The Consul’s Guards are more aggressive fighters, dealing extra damage against enemies already in combat much like the Executioners.
The Palanquin of the Profane is a ranged support unit that will sap life from their enemies with every attack to heal the units around them.
If it can hold position and prepare, the Ancient Palanquin can deliver devastating blows against a single target.
The Soulsapping Palanquin wreaks more indiscriminate destruction with its area of effect attacks.
Dust Lords serve as the cavalry of the Last Lords, and their flying mounts not only lend them excellent mobility but also strike terrify their foes.
Blood Tyrants are especially skilled at delivering powerful charges against the enemy.
Dread Dukes are more resilient in combat thanks to tougher armor and a life leech ability like the Stalwarts.
Will you defend your honor, or embrace the curse?