devdiary 7 ancient dead faction expansion - Battle-Modders/mod-reforged GitHub Wiki
Dev Diary #7 - 09-Sep-2024
LordMidas
Mysterious and fearsome, the Ancient Dead legions are formation fighters that utilize their unnatural physiology to outlast and overpower their enemies. Ancient leaders risen from the dead organize the legions anew and lead them to conquer the world. Strong Honor Guard defend Ancient Priests who harry their opponents with plague-like miasma. The fearsome nature of the skeletons as well as the Horrifying spells of the Ancient Priests put the Resolve of their opponents to test. Necrosavants fly across the battlefield to target exposed flanks and steal the lifeforce of their unsuspecting victims.
We have introduced higher tiers of existing Ancient Dead units to allow them to scale further into the lategame. Meanwhile, we have also added new Leader units which provide special bonuses to skeletons under their command.
- One of the deadlist factions in the game.
- Unaffected by morale, fatigue or injuries.
- Strong formation fighters.
Unaffected by Fatigue, Morale, Bleeding or Injuries. All Skeletons have the Fearsome perk.
We envision the Ancient Sword as the Ancient Roman Gladius. It now has the "Sword/Dagger" weapon type and has the Stab and Slash skills. Just like daggers, having the weapon mastery reduces the Action Point cost of Stab allowing additional attacks per turn.
This is in combination with our greater rework of other cleavers. The Crypt Cleaver now has increased armor penetration while retaining an attack of 4 Action Points. The Rusty Blade on the other hand now has a 6 AP attack (along with other changes), making the Crypt Cleaver an attractive prospect with its achilles' heel being its low durability.
Standard troops. They all come equipped with a shield and their job is to form an impenetrable Shieldwall while their other troops deal damage. Their names are inspired from Ancient Roman terminology. The plural of Miles is Milites and that of Palatinus is Palatini.
Standard troops that are present in most Ancient Dead armies. Their job is to stay safe behind and support the frontline. They are geared for dealing damage. Their names are inspired from Ancient Roman terminology. The plural of Miles is Milites and that of Palatinus is Palatini.
Elite troops that are equipped with heavy armor and specialize in dealing a large amount of damage while protecting important leaders and support troops.
These are specialists whose presence greatly enhances the cohesion and performance of nearby skeletons. Taking out these leaders will make ploughing through the other skeletons a little less steep of an uphill battle. Their names are inspired from Ancient Roman terminology. The Decanus (pl. Decani) grants nearby skeletons the Decanus Command effect, allowing them to use Shieldwall for free. The Centurion grants the Centurion Command effect which increases the skeletons' Initiative. The Legatus (pl. Legati) grants the Legatus Command effect increasing the skeletons' Resolve, damage, and damage resistance. The additional Resolve makes their Fearsome perk more effective.
Ancient priests whose magic spreads like a plague. They are often accompanied by Praetorians or Honor Guards.
Otherworldly creatures of darkness that can transform into a swarm of bats and fly around the battlefield to get into favorable positions. They attack and feed on the life force of their targets. The Necrosavant Lord can cast Sanguine Curse to reduce the vigor of a victim and steal their Hitpoints and comes equipped with a Great Khopesh that can cleave multiple targets in a single swing. We have also added additional head sprites for Necrosavants to give them more visual variety. Additionally, blood sprites have been added which appear on the Necrosavants after they have successfully attacked and fed on a victim.
