Hi everyone! Glenn and I have just released the first Major Update for Adeptus Titanicus: Dominus!
Close Combat
We have added the 4th Edition's Close Combat mechanics, along with the first close combat weapon system—the Reaver Power Fist!
Close combat is a MASSIVE game-changer for Dominus. All princeps will have the option of going in for "hand to hand" combat when they find themselves in close-quarters battles, whether armed with close combat weaponry or not, but those crews that have selected close combat weapons for their Titans will RELISH IT and actively seek it out upon field of battle!
Close Combat is DECISIVE—meaning it's frequently deadly. Close combat occurs inside of the Titans' void shields, which means any damage done completely bypasses the combatant's shields, hitting the armour directly.
In an assault, Titans armed with close combat weaponry will have a massive advantage over those without. For example, the Reaver's new Power Fist weapon system is adding THREE EXTRA HITS in any close combat (over and above the Reaver's standard six hits—standard hits are equal to the Titan's starting Damage Capacity) and the Power Fist's extra hits are all TITAN KILLER hits, each of which can do up to THREE DAMAGE with NO ARMOUR SAVES! As you can probably appreciate, even just one Power Fist turns your average Reaver into a close-quarters killing engine—and you can have TWO OF THEM if you're happy to forego most of your ranged shooting capability!
That's the trade-off, of course: carrying more punchy weapons means taking less shooty weaponry—it's up to you to decide what these new close combat weapons are worth to you, and whether or not you want to bring them for your battles.
It's also important to understand that close combat occurs both ways—the engaging Titan will hit its enemy and the enemy will hit it back! This differentiates close combat from normal shooting attacks, where the enemy does not shoot back within the activation (unless it was on Overwatch).
Total Overhaul of the Damage Model
After a lot of community consultation, Glenn and I decided to make a radical change to how damage works in Dominus, taking it further away from the tabletop's abstraction in favour of a more direct action approach that calculates damage as it happens, in real-time.
Combat is now more direct. Each individual shot, if it connects, will have an impact. Every bullet. Every laser. Every missile.
To counter this and ensure shooting stayed true to the effectiveness apparent in the tabletop rules, we have introduced accuracy modifiers. Depending on what Order you have given and intervening terrain, some shots may now go astray. In this way, the tabletop game's inherent balance is retained.
Each shot now has a penetration test against armour. This is founded in the original tabletop rules, so again that inherent balance is retained. Shots that bounce off armour are indicated with an icon that briefly appears on screen. Penetrating hits will, of course, cause damage and a reduction in your damage bar.
Another big change we have made is the effectiveness of weapons against Void Shields. Previously, all weapons had to penetrate the shields in order to reduce them, which meant that anti-personnel (AP)-centric weapons like Vulcan Megabolters were almost always less appealing than anti-tank (AT)-centric weapons like Turbo Laser Destructors. From this first Major Update, however, this has changed. All weapons now reduce shields equally well—not necessarily by the same amount, but penetration tests will not longer be needed for shields.
This will have HUGE implications for weapon selection, as you may now elect to take variants with cheaper, high rate-of-fire weapons purely for use as "shield strippers". We'll be keeping an eye on this aspect to see if it's working as intended and what, if any, points changes are needed, but our internal testing indicates this is a fun and exciting change to army list building and the overall game dynamic.
The new damage model also changes our approach to "friendly fire". If you have placed your Titans so they cannot shoot past each other, they will quite likely hit each other and cause damage.
Cinematic Mode
We have added a new Cinematic Mode (which will be turned on by default, but can be turned off if you don't like it) that selects pseudo-random camera positions around the Titans as they execute their orders.
Stress
The first Major Update brings in the new Stress mechanic, which fans of the 6mm tabletop game will recognise as stemming from the "blast markers" rules. Stress adds a new strategic layer to the game, as you will need to manage how much stress individual Titans are suffering. Here's how it works.
As a battle progresses, your war engines will suffer Stress from the strain that enemy attacks put on the god-machines and their crews. Your Titans can each suffer Stress equal to their starting Damage Capacity, and a new Stress meter/status bar will appear above your other bars (Void Shields and Damage) so you can see at a glance how much Stress your engines are coping with—or not coping with!
Each enemy attack will add to your Stress meter, regardless of whether or not damage was done—as Stress captures everything from the physical to the mental—and any actual damage done further adds to the Stress meter. When the Stress meter hits 100%, the war engine will temporarily shut down, becoming completely ineffectual—in game terms, this means that if it has not already been activated that turn, it will be set activated.
At the end of each turn, in the End Phase, each Titan will shed just over half the Stress it is carrying and return to a fighting stance, so Titans that were forced to shut down in the previous turn will return to active duty in the new turn.
Total Overhaul of the Battlefields
We have completely redone the first three battlefields for this update. In response to feedback received about the look and feel of the battlefields, Glenn has painstakingly recreated each of the three existing maps to improve and extend Dominus' aesthetics—in doing so, he has also set a new, much higher bar, from which all the battlefields yet to come will likewise benefit. This has taken Glenn a LOT of time, but we think you will agree the new maps were worth the wait when you play on them.
Three New Battlefields
The first Major Update has also shipped with the next three battlefields.
VOLCANIC WALK
A combination of shielded gullies, uncovered walk-ways and open areas calls for flexible tactics.
RESEARCH FACILITIES
Dual facilities sit at either end of this battlefield, with plenty of obstructions to cover your approach.
TWISTING CANYONS
A plethora of shielded gullies means cat-and-mouse tactics are the order of the day.
We intend to release new battlefields (and environment art assets) over time via minor updates.
Optimisations and Performance Improvements
We have done a lot of work to improve the game's overall performance, which will particularly benefit those of you playing on older hardware.
The Future
We hope you agree there is plenty to enjoy in this first Major Update, but of course that's not where the story of Adeptus Titanicus: Dominus' development ends. There's more to look forward to as Dominus comes together, most notably new battlefields and environments, new weapon systems, new variants, and of course the single-player campaign!
On behalf of Glenn and myself, THANK YOU for your continued support for us and Adeptus Titanicus: Dominus through our Early Access journey. Your feedback, your Steam reviews and your enthusiasm has been fantastic and is very much appreciated. We hope you will continue to add your voices on our Steam Discussions forum, in Discord, on Facebook and on Twitter, sharing your thoughts and opinions with us, and your suggestions as to how we can further improve. It all helps us a great deal.
Happy holidays!
— Mark & Glenn