We’re excited to finally be able to reveal the newest addition to the world of Battle Brothers: The Goblins. They come with unique characters, skills, weapons and armor, and lore of their own. All of those things we’ll talk about today, so let’s get going!
The actual update to the game will come together with an extensive changelog later this week!
Introduction
Goblins live in the lands beyond the reach of human civilization, in small states of their own, often encompassing only a single but heavily populated city. Although distant relatives to the Orcs, they don’t have much in common apart from their color of skin.
Goblins have a complex social structure of different castes, the two most important of which are the lower caste and the political caste. The lower caste is the most populated by far, and members are born into servitude to their state or city, with very little rights other than to work for the benefit of the great Goblin state. They can be drafted into service at any time or otherwise assigned tasks with no say of their own. Although they make up the backbone of any Goblin state, they’re considered somewhat expendable, and their individual lives don’t matter all that much in the pursuit of power for members of the political caste.
Unlike most humans, Goblins are not ruled by a single individual, but a council drawn from the political caste. The council decides on any action the Goblin state should or should not take and may mandate the drafting of Goblins from the lower caste led by a Goblin Overseer to perform any task, such as to attack rival Goblin states. Members of the council often change as individuals bribe, scheme or even assassinate to get rid of their rivals and attempt to secure more power for themselves. Although the council will proclaim that any action is for the betterment of the state, in reality, many decisions are the result political backstabbing, such as sending a rival council member to oversee an attack knowing full well that he’ll get killed along with all the other Goblins sent there. A political victory, sure, but also an example of Goblin states repeatedly weakening themselves.
Goblins do not share a language with Orcs and otherwise have little in common, but they are nevertheless able to communicate with them on some level. To avoid roaming Orc tribes raiding their city states they often pay tribute until they’ve passed, and sometimes fight them if they seem weak enough in numbers. Orcs have also been used in political machinations and sent against rival Goblin states – which backfired more than once. Goblins consider roaming tribes of Orcs almost a force of nature outside of their other rivalries. They’re considered primitive, stupid even. They can be avoided at times, used at other times. But there is no stopping nature in the long run.
From a game design perspective we wanted to introduce a faction that fighting against feels very different from our existing factions. Goblins have a heavy focus on ranged combat and lowering the effectiveness of Battle Brothers by applying various status effects. With their ranged weapons they often prefer a defensive tactic and let the player come to them to press the attack, challenging the very stationary approach that dominates many a player’s playstyle. Ultimately we want there to be no one superior tactic that is best against all enemies, but the need to always adjust your tactics based on the enemy you’re facing. This makes for a much more interesting and diverse combat experience in the long run, and Goblins are another step into this direction.
Goblin Physique
In Battle Brothers, Goblins are physically weaker than humans and about the size of a large child. Due to their small size they’re unable to wear heavy armor or wield heavy weaponry, and they can’t take a lot of physical punishment before going down. They don’t have the most stamina and they’re also not the bravest, though the latter may be in part due to being essentially forced into arms.
On the other hand, Goblins are dexterous little creatures. They use their small weapons with astounding accuracy to go for weak spots in their opponent’s armor, and because of their size and general skittishness are harder to hit reliably than many other opponents. Goblins are also quite cunning and intelligent, and to make up for their lack in physical strength rely on their wits, on ambushes and dirty tricks, on poison and superior numbers, to wear their opponents down. Because they’re at an inherent disadvantage in open battle, a lot of their tactics revolve around the use of ranged weapons, holding their opponents in place, and flanking them using their Wolfriders.
Goblin Weapons and Armor
Because Goblins are quite crafty and intelligent creatures, they have a whole arsenal of deadly tools available to them. Neither their armor nor weapons are particularly heavy, given the Goblins’ physical limitations, but they’re well made and balanced. Their equipment emphasizes their preference of mobility and ranged combat to wear down their opponents from afar. Their armor is made of leather as well as metal, and they wear mail and a variety of scale armor. All of their weapons and tools can be looted and used by the player, although they aren’t the most damaging ones. Their armor can’t be looted as it would fit only children.
A popular weapon with Goblin infantry is the ‘Spiked Bola’ – small iron balls with metal spikes bound together with rope, to be hurled at a target from a distance. Another specialized tool is the ‘Throwing Net’ – thrown at an opponent, it leaves them unable to move and lowers their ability to defend themselves, until they manage to cut it down. The ‘Jagged Pike’ can keep opponents at bay with its long range and tear terrible bleeding wounds.