Hi everyone,
I've released the next edition of Native Expansion, version .623. Sadly, this is not backwards compatible with previous revisions, but much of the new content will be most interesting if you start a new game. This release focused heavily on the Dark Knights, Brutality Mode, and quest XP balance, making the end-game a much more interesting place. To start off with, the Dark Knights as an "end-game" threat have been completely reworked, and though I'm only done with about 10% of the features I hope to implement, they are already starting to feel like a cunning and ruthless threat, rather than a brick wall. The changelog is below, feel free to look it over and give .623 a try!
You can find it in the downloads thread: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,314778.0.html
Major Changes:
Dark Knights, the ultimate in end-game terror:
Bug fixes:
Brutality mode changes:
Balance changes:
I've released the next edition of Native Expansion, version .623. Sadly, this is not backwards compatible with previous revisions, but much of the new content will be most interesting if you start a new game. This release focused heavily on the Dark Knights, Brutality Mode, and quest XP balance, making the end-game a much more interesting place. To start off with, the Dark Knights as an "end-game" threat have been completely reworked, and though I'm only done with about 10% of the features I hope to implement, they are already starting to feel like a cunning and ruthless threat, rather than a brick wall. The changelog is below, feel free to look it over and give .623 a try!
You can find it in the downloads thread: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,314778.0.html
Major Changes:
- Dark Knights overhaul: See below for details on how they are now a cunning and ruthless threat
- Brutality mode improvements: It doesn't play fair. See below for details.
- Quest XP rebalance: Most quests now are rebalanced to provide XP more appropriate for their difficulty, and nearly all quests will provide bonus XP upon completion, ranging from 25 to 100 XP per level. This includes tournaments, which makes questing and tournaments a viable way to add meaningful experience to you and NPC heroes without having to participate in endless slaughter. Though the climb is still steep at high levels, now you should feel much more inclined to take a village elder quest at level 30, since the XP reward will level-scaled.
Dark Knights, the ultimate in end-game terror:
- You will no longer face a brick wall of soldiers that simply roll over everything they find until they run out of steam. The Dark Knights are now a ruthless and cunning faction, no more or less human than any other faction, but one with subterfuge to back up their might. Some of the many things you will face off against with the new and improved Dark Knights are:
- Dark Knights are now beatable in combat. They are tough, and even with top-tier soldiers you will still take losses, but they CAN be beaten on the open field!
- The AI will also be able to take on the Dark Knights, especially when they greatly outnumber them. Expect to see the AI actually winning against them at times!
- ... but don't let that fool you. Just because they are no longer a brick wall, doesn't mean they aren't extremely dangerous. The Dark Knights have other tricks in store...
- The Dark Knights now come loaded for bear. You will face off against their Queen and at least 8 vassals, and as high as 12 if you are on Brutality mode!
- Prepared invasions! During the early stages of their invasion, or if they determine they are being beaten, the Dark Knights will rally around their Marshall, concentrating all of their force into one area, making them very difficult to pick apart. A crafty player may be able to intercept them before this massive war party can form, and defeating their Marshall will end their campaign.
- No longer are they content to wait for disloyal Calradian lords to join them. After their invasion, they will seek out a disloyal, city-owning lord, and convince him to defect! If you're a monarch or a vassal, try to prevent handing out cities to disloyal vassals - they might turn tail at the first sight of a Dark Knight invasion!
- They are also a cunning bunch, and if they spot a castle with no owner, they will make an attempt to bully the garrison into swearing fealty to them!
- An extra dose of ouch for those playing Brutality: The event in which all Kingdoms rally against the Dark Knights will happen much, much later.
- Their strategy extends beyond looking for disloyal lords. The Dark Knights will now actively hire mercenary armies to hunt down and destroy the faction Marshalls of any kingdom they are at war with. These very tough mercenaries are out for themselves only, and will relentlessly pursue the Marshall, sacking his army again and again, until their contract has expired. If the player is a vassal or otherwise allied to the Marshall, it may be in your best interest to help counter-attack these mercenaries! Nearby allied lords will join in on the fight, and a Marshall on campaign or supported by his liege is unlikely to be defeated, but a Marshall caught alone or unprepared will almost assuredly be crushed, throwing the faction into disarray. The Dark Knights will continue to hire mercenaries in this fashion until they are defeated.
- A DK lord who isn't imprisoned will replenish his or her army much faster than a normal kingdom lord, making it imperative to keep them imprisoned if you want to crush them! (Consider building an Oubliette)
Bug fixes:
- A CTD when fighting near Yaroglek or Larktin has been fixed
- Cosmetic issue where an empty DK faction can show up in the factions list is kind of fixed
- Division by zero bug when calculating hero/lord wages (probably a native bug) has been fixed
- Endless "provocation" dialog spam fixed
- A wide number of provocation and truce bugs were fixed by the same "provocation" bug fix
Brutality mode changes:
- If you are a vassal following the Marshall, and you leave his side, you will take a renown penalty, an honour penalty, and a steep relation penalty
- When the Dark Knights invade, you will face an additional 4 Dark Knight vassals (12 vs non-brutality
Balance changes:
- Nearly all quests now add bonus XP based on your level. Any typical quest will generally add about 50 XP per character level upon completion.
- The report to marshall quest has more realistic requirements and penalties. The Marshall expects you to command a much larger army, and if you own a City or Castle, his expectations will go up even higher. Don't be surprised if he turns you away for not having 50 or more soldiers at your command. You will have a little bit more time to fulfill the request, however.
- The "town tough" quest no longer spawns anyone with the "Broken Bottle" item. You'll instead receive a staff, more appropriate for attempting to beat someone into submission than shanking them with broken shards of glass.
- Farmers can now upgrade into either the Mercenary branch (much higher cost, better equipment, higher level cap) or the Militia branch (much lower cost, inferior equipment, manhunters and caravan guards). This will allow the player to easily raise their own militia through rescuing peasants if they wish.
