Potion of Speed Update

The Potion of Speed Update is an update for Total War: Warhammer II which released on December 12th 2019. It followed the Empire Undivided Update.

Patch notes can be found here: https://www.totalwar.com/blog/total-war-warhammer-ii-the-potion-of-speed-update/

The update released alongside the Shadow and the Blade DLC and the release of Repanse de Lyonesse as a Bretonnian FLC Lord.

= Patch notes = The patch notes were posted by Al Bickham. They have been copied here in raw form, in the event that they ever become inaccessible on the official total war website.

Introduction
This automatic update arrives alongside The Shadow & the Blade Lords pack, bringing with it a huge array of content revisions, balances, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements to the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns.

Even if you haven’t purchased The Shadow & The Blade, Deathmaster Snikch, Malus Darkblade, and their attendant factions of Hag Graef and Clan Eshin will add their distinctiveness to your campaigns,  becoming potential allies… or just to generally mess up your day.

The watchword of this patch is maintenance. We’ve done a host of tweaks and balance changes to all sorts of areas, as well as sorting out our faction naming consistency, reworking Black Arks in a manner befitting their dread reputation, and some much-needed optimisation passes to the end-turn process in order to speed it up.

We’ve also give some of our Legendary Lords a makeover – check out their before and after pictures below:

End-Turn Time Reduction
The headline improvement in this update, we’ve found some useful code optimisations to the campaign gameplay systems and AI’s decision-making during end-turn rounds. These improvements reduce the time it takes for each faction to take its turn when you hit the end-turn button. This time reduction benefits players on all system specifications but will vary according to individual specs.

Mortal Empires

 * Renamed the province "Desolation of Nagash" to "Southern World's Edge Mountains".


 * Added Dragon Isles (new province) to The Sea of Dread, south of The Dark Lands, with 3 regions: Dread Rock (province capital), Dragon Fang mount and Shattered Stone Isle.


 * Added The Wolf Lands (new province) to the Dark Lands with 3 regions: Crookback Mountain (province capital), Mount Greyhag and Mount Silverspear.


 * Added Gnoblar Country (new province) to The Dark Lands with 3 regions: Flayed Rock (province capital), Haunted Forest and Pigbarter.
 * Added Broken Teeth (new province) east of the "Southern World's Edge Mountains", with 2 regions: Nagashizzar (province capital) and Desolation of Nagash.

Faction Naming Changes
As many of you have noticed, there’s some divergence in naming conventions between certain factions from WARHAMMER I and WARHAMMER II – a hangover from the early days when Dwarfs, for example, were the only playable Dwarfen faction. We’ve now addressed these for consistency. Old World factions, and some New World factions, will no longer use the name of their race, but instead will have their own unique faction name:


 * The Empire → Reikland
 * Dwarfs → Karaz-a-Karak
 * Greenskins → Black Crag
 * Vampire Counts → Sylvania
 * Vampire Coast → The Awakened
 * Bretonnia → Couronne
 * Wood Elves → Talsyn
 * Norsca → World Walkers

Gotrek & Felix

 * Gotrek and Felix are now exempted from Supply Lines. If they are replaced by a generic Lord, supply lines will adjust accordingly
 * Added effect for Gotrek to distribute all his XP gains to the other generals
 * Increased their duration to 30 turns
 * New Icons and Unit Category Descriptions have been implemented for Gotrek and Felix
 * Fixed an issue where Gotrek and Felix would return to the player’s faction after their previous AI owner had died, even when the player did not own the Free-LC
 * Event messages stating that Gotrek and Felix have left their faction will no longer show when players do not own the Free-LC

Campaign Balance Changes

 * The Cult of Sotek will now gain Sacrificial Offerings after battles, scaling with the enemy army’s strength. You may still gain 50 additional Sacrificial Offerings using the Mark for Sacrifice post-battle option
 * Swapped Scavenging Runs and Strength in Numbers on the Skaven tech tree, making it optional to grab the Expendable trait for your Clan Rats
 * Added new late game dilemma for Reikland to spend excess Prestige
 * Elector Counts with non-aggression pacts with the player are now much less likely to secede from the Empire
 * Added Slave income bonus to Dark Elf starting technology Choose or Die!. The tech is no longer automatically gifted at the start of a campaign
 * Helman Ghorst’s research rate bonus has been decreased from 30% to 20%
 * Azhag the Slaughterers’ research rate bonus has been decreased from 25% to 20%
 * Increased Lizardmen research rate granted by the alignment of crafting from 1% per rank to 2% per rank
 * The pirate cove building Smuggler’s Cove now grants 3% research instead of 2%
 * The Skaven engineering chain now grants 4-8% research rate instead of 3-6%
 * Tomb King settlements now grant their research rate incrementally as they rank up, instead of all at the first tier
 * The Norscan Marauder Chieftain’s personal tree has been updated for parity with other lords. All skills now require 2 points to max instead of 3 and provide benefits on par (or exceeding!) the generic personal line
 * Added effect bundle that increases region vision based on local public order
 * Bretonnian Heroes now gain immortality when achieving a Grail Vow
 * The Questing Vow now provides 10% weapon strength instead of 5 flat armour-piercing damage for Lords
 * Skaven economy adjustments: Increased scaling and base income of all buildings, removed Tier 1 and Tier 2 Energy building and reduced effect to 30,40,50% from 80,90,100%
 * Fixed an issue where the Sacred Kroxigors RoR unit was getting poor results during autoresolve
 * Updated the following characters skill trees to include Greater Arcane Conduit Instead of Arcane Conduit:
 * Teclis
 * Slann Lords
 * Mazdamundi
 * Kroak
 * Morathi
 * Updated several WARHAMMER I Lord and Hero starting traits with slightly improved effects across the board.
 * Added new skill Manifold Sorcery to Teclis.
 * Teclis no longer loses access to bound Fireball when taking the Flames of the Phoenix skill.
 * Vampire Counts AI now absorbs the Rival Vampires at the start of a campaign.
 * Embedded heroes now gain twice as much XP from participating in battles.

Recruitment and Unit Unlock Changes

 * Dark Elves: Dreadspears moved to settlement chain, Bleakswords to Tier 1 Barracks, Dark Riders (Repeater Crossbow) to Tier 1 Stables, Black Ark Corsairs to Tier 1 port.
 * Dwarfs: Miners to settlement chain.
 * Greenskins: Goblin Spearmen and Goblin Archers to settlement, removed Tier 1 Barracks for Skarsnik.
 * Lizardmen: Skink Cohort & Skink Cohort (Javelins) to settlement, removed Tier 1 Skink Barracks.
 * Norsca: Marauders to settlement.
 * Vampire Counts: Zombies & Skeleton Warrior to settlement, removed Tier 1 Cemetery.

Clan Pestilens Tweaks
Clan Pestilens has received a few nuggets of plaguey goodness to spice up their campaign…


 * Clan Pestilens now unlocks the Rite of Pestilence when constructing a Pox Cauldron instead of a Pestilent Nave.
 * -15 turn cooldown on the Rite of Pestilence.
 * Clan Pestilens now enjoys uniquely large benefits for spreading plagues to their own forces and cities, granting growth and economic benefits for cities and powerful combat bonuses for forces.
 * Clan Pestilens now has access to a special Under Empire building that continuously spawns a plague in the settlement above.
 * New faction effect: Chance of a plague spreading +50%.

Black Ark Rework
To complement The Shadow & The Blade, Black Arks have received a mechanical overhaul to diversify their gameplay.


 * Black Arks are now full characters with access to items, skills and traits.
 * Black Arks are now able to blockade ports and attack coastal settlements.
 * Black Arks now have access to unique skills that further improve their army, making them the true terrors of the seas!
 * IMPORTANT: Black Arks present in old saves will convert to the new type, but when that old save is loaded after the update, newly converted Arks will begin at level 1 and have no starting traits. Any Arks recruited after that point will correctly have their starting trait.

Battle AI Changes

 * Improved AI’s use of healing abilities, meaning it won’t activate healing abilities immediately when taking damage.

Hidden Items
We’ve heard you loud and clear regarding the various hidden unique items and we’ve enacted the following changes:


 * All previously hidden unique items are now visible in the skill tree of the relevant character.
 * Hidden unique items now always trigger at a specified level instead of randomly generating.
 * Hidden unique items now trigger in both the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns.
 * The items now made available are:
 * The Shadow Crown (Alith Anar)
 * Amulet Of Dark Fire (Crone Hellebron)
 * Shieldstone of Isha (Alarielle the Radiant)
 * Red Blades (Lokhir)
 * Morgiana’s Mirror (The Fay Enchantress)
 * Armour of Brilliance (Louen Leoncour)
 * Braid of Bordeleaux (Alberic De Bordelaux)
 * Moon Staff of Lileath (Teclis)
 * Scroll of Hoeth (Teclis)
 * Wand of the Kharaidon (Morathi)
 * Armour of Midnight (Malekith)
 * Heart of Avelorn (Tyrion)
 * Amber Amulet (Morathi)`
 * The Mace of Ulumak (Gor-Rok)

Campaign-Exclusive Units
You can now use campaign-exclusive units in custom battles (not in ranked matches, though!). You can find these units in their own category near the bottom of the roster. These units are a mixture of special feature units (Elector Counts, Mortuary Cult, Skryre Workshop) and a few special one-off units, such as Gate Guard and Spider Hatchlings. It is not possible to save an army build containing campaign-exclusive units.

CAMPAIGN

 * Slight overall improvements to both framerates and loading times.
 * Empire dilemma reinforcement battles no longer apply a trespassing penalty if no military access pact is present.
 * The Moot can now be returned to its respective Elector Count correctly.
 * Fixed missing lightbeam effect on Archaon.
 * Fixed issue causing mortar War Wagons to become unavailable for recruitment when the forge building is upgraded to Tier 5.
 * The Strider attribute now functions correctly (previously Strider only functioned when the unit innately had Strider. Strider now also functions if granted by an item, skill, trait or any other dynamic source).
 * The following units have been updated to correctly show the Strider attribute (this is only a visual change with the exception of units marked with *)
 * Cylostra Direfan
 * Damned Paladin
 * Damned Knights Errant
 * Damned Knights of the Realm
 * Damned Questing Knights
 * Syreens
 * Shadewraith Gunners
 * Clan Angrund Ancestor Heroes*
 * The Green Knight
 * Cairn Wraiths
 * Hexwraiths
 * Empire, Bretonnia, Norsca and Beastmen now correctly have a cooldown to their confederations when played by the AI (this goes a long way towards tackling good factions being too powerful in campaign).
 * Fixed an issue where a soft lock could occur when opening a full screen panel (i.e. diplomacy when a mission panel is open).
 * Fixed sea storm VFX spacing in Eastern Gulf of Lustria region to improve visibility of storms causing attrition.
 * Ptra’s Necrotect no longer gains experience.
 * Black Arks now gain experience.
 * Ikit Claw’s Warpstone Telescope chain now available to all Skaven. This allows Ikit Claw’s quest chain to be completed when confederating him.
 * Wild Riders are now displayed as Shock Cavalry.
 * Added mountain climate preference to Balthasar Gelt’s faction effects for clarity.
 * The Shrine of Manann no longer uses a placeholder icon.
 * Stirland now receive a fealty bonus when the Moot is returned to them by another Elector Count.
 * Tower of the Sun now correctly uses minor settlement buildings instead of major ones.
 * The Skaven Bell Polisher follower now spawns much less frequently but can be equipped to any Skaven character.
 * Corrected Queen Bee skill, so that enemy agent success chance is properly reduced.
 * Added Raise Dead pools to all provinces currently missing them.
 * Fixed an issue where a secession event triggered by low Fealty would not initiate a war correctly via the dilemma.
 * Fixed an issue introduced in the last hotfix where declaring war on an Elector Count wouldn’t apply the Imperial Authority negative after certain political events had happened.
 * Fixed an issue where Norsca could not occupy Wrecker’s Point.
 * Sootson’s Guns (Mortar) now counts towards Beast Slayer quest objective of recruiting one mortar.
 * Rite of Sotek now properly causes attrition again.
 * Lord Mazdamundi’s Sunburst Standard of Hexoatl quest can now be completed when he is confederated by Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Boris Todbringer can now use his mount skills without the Beastmen DLC installed.
 * Save games that require the Steps of Isha DLC will now correctly communicate this in their tooltip.
 * Skullsmasherz Tribe are now immune to mountain attrition.
 * Lord Mazdamundi’s Cobra Mace of Mazdamundi can now be completed when he is confederated by Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Elector counts tooltip will no longer cut off in various languages.
 * Fixed Brayherd armies previously not spawning for Blooded Axe, Manblight, Ripper-Horn, and Shadowgor Tribes.
 * Fixed an issue causing the Cohort of Huatl (Sacred Kroxigors) to get poor results during autoresolve.
 * Clicking the Electoral Machinations help page button will now take the player to the Imperial Authority help page instead of the Intrigue at Court help page.
 * Reinforcement events for the Empire will no longer incur a trespassing penalty.
 * Fixed game freeze when gifting more than 255 temples to a single old one when playing as Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Fixed Gor-Rok’s victory conditions in Mortal Empires so that they no longer mention The Empire.
 * Rebalanced vocalisations which occur as a result of UI interaction.
 * The Deviant trait for High Elves no longer uses green text for the corruption effect.
 * Missing UI-click sound effect was added for Shield of Chaqua special ability.
 * Occupied Elven Colonies now allow Spearmen and Archers to be recruited.
 * Brayheard Destroyed events will now display the correct characters.
 * Brayheard Battle Result events will now show the correct results.
 * Removed “also” from effect text in the Temples of the Old Ones panel, where the Defenders of the Great Plan faction are buffed by one of the temple effects.
 * Gor’Rok’s Shield of Aeons quest can now be completed when he is confederated by Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Fixed multiple end turn crashes.
 * Gor’Rok should now hold his mace correctly on the campaign map.
 * Fixed an issue where multiplayer save games could not be loaded.
 * The Red Duke can now use his mount skills without the Wood Elves DLC installed.
 * Income from vassal tribute should no longer be capped at 25000 for Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Kroq’Gar’s Hand of Gods quest can now be completed when he is confederated by Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Various localisation fixes in multiple languages.
 * Tehenhauin’s Plaque of Sotek quest can now be completed when he is confederated by Nakai the Wanderer.
 * Fixed an issue that was causing holes in the Mud Isle terrain.
 * Fixed a typo in Markus Wulfhart’s How They Play text.
 * Elector Counts title now localised.
 * Downloadable Content section is now correctly localised in all languages.
 * The campaign movies no longer show culture-specific videos for factions that have DLC specific videos associated with them.
 * Certain roads in the Southlands now no longer causes armies traveling on them to suffer attrition.
 * Correctly localised some advice referring to Elector Counts.
 * Correctly localised some advice referring to Defense of the Great Plan.

BATTLE

 * Slight overall improvements to both framerates and loading times.
 * Malagor no longer ignores shallow water penalties.
 * Old vigour loss reduction effects have been updated to show numbers instead of medium, large, small, etc.
 * Fixed an issue with war machine, war beast and chariot riders being scaled incorrectly in cases where there is more than one rider.
 * The Sunmaker now properly deals fire damage with its explosions.
 * Rock-dropping abilities no longer deal fire damage. Only fire rocks deal fire damage.
 * Arrows of Aqshy ability now correctly deals fire damage.
 * War Hydra fire breath now correctly deals fire damage.
 * Warp Lightning now correctly deals magical damage.
 * Unique RoR unit colours now display correctly when playing as The Blessed Dread.
 * Fixed an issue where the Death Runners class definition was set to missile infantry instead of melee infantry.
 * Fixed an issue where Ushabti (Great Bows) and the RoR version were part of the Missile Chariot cap grouping in Custom Battle.
 * Fixed several issues where unit banners were mounted too low on all Harpy units, Dark Elf Black Dragon and Dark Pegasus mounts.
 * For players who own the Blood for the Blood God II effects pack, dismemberment has been enabled on the following units Dreadlord (All), Supreme Sorceress (All), Sorceress (All), Death Hag, Khainite Assassin.
 * Chariot articulation has been adjusted and fixed across all chariots, improving their reliability when turning and reducing the amount of visual issues where a chariot could clip into itself.
 * Hawk Riders can no longer secure capture points (flying units should not be able to secure capture points).
 * The skill Strike the Runes now correctly reduces rune cooldown for the Runelord’s master version of each rune.
 * Veil of Shadows will no longer cover units in blood.
 * Runelords using Anvil of Doom no longer look like they have been possessed by the most chaotic of demons when loaded into campaign battles.
 * Players can no longer generate armies that exceed unit caps in quick battles.
 * Moved reinforcement lines on one of the island maps to a more standard position to prevent strange reinforcement behaviour outside of the playable area.
 * Norscan Wolf Chariots splash-attack area size has been increased.
 * Empire Infantry line “Die Traitor!” will no longer trigger as frequently.
 * Warplock Jezzail trails will no longer fade too quickly and are now visible from a distance.
 * War Wagons will no longer say “Outriders!” when selected.
 * Carroburg should not be using the Sigmar Statue map anymore.
 * Felix’s dagger will no longer clip through his chainmail during animations.
 * The Corpse Lifespan will now revert to recommended settings correctly.
 * Fixed a crash that could occur when changing graphics settings during battle.
 * Fixed scaling issues which could occur on heroes and lords mounting vehicles and chariots.
 * Fixed an issue causing Crossbowmen fielded by the Pilgrims of Myrmidia Rogue Army to T-pose in battle.
 * Increased the size of the Razordon projectile VFX.
 * Marauader Chieftain no longer loses passive Rage when removing other abilities.
 * Wulfrik now uses the Lord version of Rage instead of the unit version.
 * VFX will no longer be culled on some maps when graphics settings are on medium.
 * Removed unnecessary hard collision areas on High Elf minor settlement map and smoothed out some terrain.
 * Setting a formation while in the deployment phase of the battle will no longer cause some units to inch further and further away from the rest of the army.

Achievements

 * 16 new achievements have been added. The races that did not have achievements for completing a campaign and completing a campaign on hard and legendary have now been added.

CAMPAIGN

 * Various audio bug fixes and performance optimisations.
 * Campaign map audio rebalance to ensure overall consistency between WARHAMMER I, WARHAMMER II and WARHAMMER II DLC assets.
 * Campaign reverb balance pass.
 * Added audio ducking systems to Campaign map to add clarity and focus to the mix.
 * Assets for settlement loops in Campaign have been updated for some factions.
 * Updated Campaign Vortex audio assets.
 * Skaven and dwarf campaign ships now have engine sounds on them.
 * Campaign ships now have faction specific audio.
 * Reduced frequency of vocalisations triggered in certain stances.
 * Fixed a bug where Beastmen music would swap between two tracks when first starting a campaign.

BATTLE

 * Updated some ability/spell sounds to better match visuals.
 * Various updates to battle environments, including asset reworks and performance improvements.
 * Updated Skaven Deathrunners to use new Eshin Triad voice actors.
 * Fixed some issues with Abilities UI sounds.
 * Refactored crossbow sounds.
 * Reworked Luminark charge up sounds to stop retriggering behaviour.
 * Some tweaks to Alith Anar’s decoy death sound.

GENERAL

 * Optimised which content is loaded to help with overall loading/performance improvements.
 * Adjusted UI sounds to increase loading/streaming performance.
 * Added new UI sounds to Custom Battle menu.
 * Told the Daemon to shut up.
 * Corrected some translation errors for The Hunter & The Beast cinematics in Russian.
 * Fixed a line of Gor Rok’s Mortal Empires flyby playing in Russian rather than Polish (when playing the game in Polish).

KNOCKDOWN CHANGES
We’ve made a significant change to the knockdown system, which unfairly punished heavily armoured units.


 * The knockdown system works like this: when a unit is knocked down, it enters a knockdown idle state where it stays on the ground for a while. This time is determined by a random roll between 0.7 and 2 seconds. The unit’s armour is then multiplied by 0.02 and added to the knockdown time. Practically this means that units would add 0.5 seconds to their knockdown time for every 25 armour they had
 * We’ve now removed armour from the calculation and knockdown time is only determined by the roll now. As a rule, this means that heavily armoured units will be getting up substantially faster after being knocked down

IMPROVED SPLASH DAMAGE
The following on-foot units have had animation metadata tweaks, making several of their splash attacks bigger to bring them more in line with the splash attacks used by WARHAMMER I characters.


 * High Elf Princess
 * High Elf Prince
 * Alith Anar
 * Tyrion
 * High Elf Noble
 * High Elf Loremaster of Hoeth
 * Teclis
 * High Elf Mage
 * Dark Elf Sorceress
 * Dark Elf Supreme Sorceress
 * Red Crested Skink Chief
 * Saurus Old Blood
 * Tehenauin
 * Skink Chief
 * Skink Priest
 * Lokhir Fellheart
 * Morathi
 * Skaven Warlord
 * Tretch Craventail
 * Queek Headtaker
 * Skaven Grey Seer
 * Skaven Warlock Master
 * Lord Skrolk
 * Skaven Assassin
 * Skaven Plague Priest
 * Skaven Warlock Engineer
 * Vampire Coast Fleet Admiral (Halberd)
 * Vampire Coast Gunnery Wight
 * Vampire Coast Fleet Captain (Cutlass)
 * Liche Priest
 * Arkhan the Black

UNIT BALANCE CHANGES
High Elves


 * Mage – Ithilmar Chariot: +50 armour, +50 cost.
 * Alarielle (all versions): +50 cost.
 * Tiranoc Chariots: +30 armour, +50 cost.
 * Phoenix Guard: +4 health per entity.
 * Keepers of the Flame (Phoenix Guard): +4 health per entity.
 * Swordmaster of Hoeth: +4 health per entity.
 * Dragon Princes: +1 AP melee damage, -1 base melee damage.
 * Fireborn (Dragon Princes): +1 AP melee damage, -1 base melee damage.
 * Frostheart Phoenix: Blizzard Aura passive ability now also reduces base melee damage by -12%.
 * Hand of the Shadow Crown is now a playable hero unit in Custom Battle as part of the Campaign Exclusive Units.
 * Ranged Assassin Hero with Encourage, Stalk, Vanguard Deployment, and Fire Whilst Moving.
 * Has the abilities Loose and Slippery.

Dark Elves


 * Malekith – Cold One Chariot: -10 armour, +35 missile block chance.
 * Dark Riders: +3 leadership.
 * Dark Riders (Shields): +3 leadership.
 * Blades of the Blood Queen (Har Ganeth Executioners): +4 health per entity.
 * Har Ganeth Executioners: +4 health per entity.
 * Black Guard: +4 health per entity.
 * Witch Elves mounted on the Cauldron of Blood now throw knives at enemies when in melee combat.

Lizardmen


 * Bastiladon (Ark of Sotek): +1 base damage on Ark of Sotek ability (+33% damage increase).
 * Cold One Spear-riders: -1 melee attack.
 * Pok-Hopak Cohort (Cold One Spear-riders): -1 melee attack.
 * Temple Guard: -5 leadership.
 * Nakai the Wanderer: -100 cost.
 * Slann Mage Priest (Life): -150 mp cost.
 * Razordon Hunting Pack: changed trajectory to dual_low_fixed, allowing the unit to choose a higher trajectory if obstructed.
 * Amaxon Barbs (Razordon Hunting Pack): changed trajectory to dual_low_fixed, allowing the unit to choose a higher trajectory if obstructed.

Skaven


 * Death Runners: +19 health per entity, -28 entities (-28% unit size), -4 melee attack, +10 bonus vs infantry.
 * Poison Wind Globadiers: +2 health per entity, +3 leadership, +4 ammo, +12 ap projectile damage, +2 base projectile damage, -32 bonus vs large on projectile, added direct damage contact effect.
 * Death Globe Bombardiers: +4 ammo, +50 cost.
 * Weapon Team text alterations. The following units are now part of the new Weapon Team unit category:
 * Ratling Guns
 * Warplock Jezzails
 * Warpfire Throwers
 * Poisoned Wind Mortars
 * Warp-Grinders

Unit names changed now that their weapon team status is reflected in the unit category:


 * Ratling Gun Weapon Team → Ratling Guns.
 * Warpfire Thrower Weapon Team → Warpfire Throwers.
 * The text on special effects in Ikit’s Workshop has also been updated with the new names.

Tomb Kings


 * Sepulchral Stalkers: added stalk attribute, -25 missile resistance, -3 melee attack, -2 bonus vs large, +0.1 melee attack interval, +4 ammo, no longer marked as high threat, + -5 AP melee damage, +2 base melee damage, reduced number of projectiles per volley to 1, +91 AP projectile damage, +26 base projectile damage, +68 projectile velocity, are now four times as accurate, removed projectile spread, reduced projectile penetration, removed poison contact effect from projectile.
 * Eyes of the Desert (Sepulchral Stalkers): +23 accuracy, -3 melee attack, -2 bonus vs large, -3 melee defence, +0.1 melee attack interval, +4 ammo, no longer marked as high threat, -5 ap melee damage, +2 base melee damage, reduced number of projectiles per volley to 1, +91 AP projectile damage, +26 base projectile damage, +68 projectile velocity, are now four times as accurate, removed projectile spread, reduced projectile penetration.
 * Necropolis Knights: +20 armour, +12 health, +200 multiplayer cost, +0.7 melee attack interval, removed problematic side and rear attack animation that made the entities sometimes fight with their flank or rear facing the enemy.
 * Necropolis Knights (Halberds): +20 armour, +12 health, +200 multiplayer cost, +0.4 melee attack interval, removed problematic side and rear attack animation that made the entities sometimes fight with their flank or rear facing the enemy.
 * Tomb Scorpion: -400 health.
 * Casket of Souls: + 1m explosion radius, -1 sec reload time, projectiles are now 2.5 times as accurate.
 * Khatep – Casket of Souls: + 1m explosion radius, -1 sec reload time, projectiles are now 2.5 times as accurate.
 * Arkhan – Chariot: +15 armour.
 * Khalida – Chariot: -15 armour, -50 cost
 * Khatep – Chariot: -15 armour, -50 cost.
 * Tomb King – Chariot: -30 armour, +35 missile block chance, -50 cost.
 * Tomb Prince – Chariot: -20 armour, -50 cost.
 * Necrotect – foot: +50 cost.
 * Skeleton Archer Chariots: +30 armour, +100 multiplayer cost.
 * Skeleton Chariots: +30 armour, +100 multiplayer cost.
 * Ushabti: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Ushabti (Great Bows): no longer marked as high threat.
 * Bone Giant: +10 base missile damage, +40 AP projectile damage, +50 bonus vs large, reduced accuracy by roughly 30%.

Vampire Coast


 * Scurvy Dogs: +4 charge bonus, +2 melee defence, +50 cost.
 * Depth Guard: +2 melee defence.
 * Depth Guard (Halberds): +2 melee defence.
 * Bloody Reaver Deck Guard (Depth Guard – Halberds): +2 melee defence.
 * Deck Droppers (Bombers): -2 ammo, +11 base explosion damage, +4 AP explosion damage.
 * Salt Lord’s Scuttlers (Deck Droppers – Bombers): -2 ammo, +4 base explosion damage, +11 AP explosion damage.
 * Deck Gunners: +2 AP projectile damage, +1 base projectile damage.
 * Shadewraith Gunners: +2 AP projectile damage, +1 base projectile damage.
 * Rotting Leviathan: +15 bonus vs infantry, +1 max splash attack targets.
 * Queen Bess: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Animated Hulks: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Aranessa – Foot: now marked as high threat.
 * Aranessa – Rotting Promethean: now marked as high threat.
 * Cylostra – Foot: now marked as high threat.
 * Cylostra – Rotting Leviathan: now marked as high threat, +15 bonus vs infantry, +1 max splash attack targets.
 * Luthor Harkon – Foot: -100 cost.
 * Luthor Harkon – Terrorgheist: +100 cost.
 * Sartosan free Company: Fire while moving.
 * Damned Paladin: +8 bonus Vs large.

Empire


 * Flagellants: +2 melee defence.
 * Tattersouls (Flagellants): +2 melee defence.
 * Halberdiers: -25 cost.
 * Spearmen: +25 cost.
 * Greatswords: +1 Bonus vs Infantry.
 * War Wagon: +40 ammo, -50 cost.
 * War Wagon (Mortar): -50 cost.
 * Free Company Militia: Fire while moving.
 * Warrior Priest: No longer has access to Scroll of Power. Replaced with Scroll of Shielding.
 * Luminark of Hysh: +20 projectile range, +2 ammo.
 * Templehof Luminark (Luminark of Hysh): +20 projectile range, +2 ammo.
 * Karl Franz: +7 melee defence (on foot/Warhorse/Barded Warhorse/Imperial Pegasus).

Dwarfs


 * Ghost Master Engineer: added magical projectile damage.
 * Dragonback Slayers: +50 cost.
 * Flame Cannon: -50 cost.
 * Longbeards: +50 cost.
 * Organ Gun: Made projectile 1.5 times as accurate.
 * Rangers (Great Weapons): +5 projectile range.
 * Ulthar’s Raiders (Rangers – Great Weapons): +5 projectile range.

Greenskins


 * Orc Boar Boyz Big Uns: +15 armour.
 * Orc Boar Boyz: +5 armour, +2 charge bonus.
 * Savage Orc Boar Boyz: +2 armour.
 * Orc Boar Chariot: -10 armour, -50 cost.
 * Forest Goblin Spider Riders: -2 charge bonus.
 * Orc Warboss: +50 cost, +110 AP melee damage, -160 base melee damage, added Get Back ‘Ere ability in custom battles.
 * Orc Warboss – Boar: +35 AP melee damage, -35 base melee damage.
 * Orc Warboss – Wyvern: -100 cost.
 * Skarsnik: added Get Back ‘Ere ability in custom battles.
 * Grimgor Ironhide: now marked as high threat.
 * Azhag the Slaughterer – Foot: +45 ap melee damage, -25 base melee damage

Vampire Counts


 * Black Coach: +1050 mass.
 * Hexwraiths: +2 melee defence, +3 AP melee damage, +1 base melee damage.
 * Chillgheists (Hexwraiths): +2 melee defence, +50 cost, +3 AP melee damage, +1 base melee damage.
 * Cairn Wraiths: +6 melee defence.
 * Black Knights: -2 melee attack, +50 cost, +2 AP melee damage, -4 base melee damage, +8 bonus vs infantry.
 * Grave Guard: +100 cost, +2 melee attack, +4 AP melee damage, -2 base melee damage.
 * Grave Guard (Great Weapons): +50 cost, +2 melee attack, +1 AP melee damage, +1 base melee damage, +3 bonus vs infantry, -1 charge bonus.
 * Sternsmen: +50 cost, +1 melee attack, +4 AP melee damage, -2 base melee damage.
 * Banshee: +8 melee attack.
 * Crypt Horrors: +3 melee attack, no longer marked as high threat.
 * Vargheists: no longer marked as high threat.

Warriors of Chaos


 * Forsaken: +10 armour.
 * Daemonspew (Forsaken): +10 armour.
 * Gorebeast Chariots: +10 armour.
 * Chaos Chariots: +20 armour.
 * Exalted Hero – foot: +5 melee defence.
 * Exalted Hero – Chaos Steed: +5 melee defence.
 * Exalted Hero – Barded Chaos Steed: +5 melee defence.
 * Exalted Hero – Manticore: -200 cost.
 * Chaos Lord – Manticore: -100 cost.
 * Chaos Spawn: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Wyrd Spawn: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Aspiring Champions: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Archaon the Everchosen – Foot: now marked as high threat.
 * Marauders (Great Weapons): +3 AP melee damage.

Beastmen


 * Khazrak – Razorgor Chariot: -10 armour, -50 cost.
 * Chaos Spawn: no longer marked as high threat.
 * Minotaurs: -100 cost.
 * Minotaurs (Shields): -100 cost.
 * Minotaurs (Great Weapons): -100 cost.

Bretonnia


 * Green Knight: +25 hit reaction ignore chance, +25 knock interrupt ignore chance.
 * Alberic – Foot: +10 AP melee damage.
 * Alberic – Pegasus: +10 AP melee damage.
 * Alberic – Tempete: +10 base melee damage.
 * Blessed Field Trebuchet: no longer marked as high threat, reduced radius of projectile to match regular Trebuchet projectiles.
 * Grail Relique: now marked as high threat.
 * Paladin: +8 bonus vs large.
 * Companions of Quenelles: +10 bonus vs large, +100 cost.

Norsca


 * Marauder Chieftain – foot: +2 run speed (he finally gave in to coming along for some cardio with the rest of the crew and now matches normal Norscan foot speed).
 * Marauder Chieftain – Marauder Chariot: -10 armour, -50 cost.
 * Shaman Sorcerer – Marauder Chariot: +5 armour.
 * Wulfrik – Marauder Chariot: -20 armour, -100 cost.
 * Marauder Chariot: +20 armour, -50 cost.
 * Ice Trolls: +4 melee defence.
 * Marauder Hunters (Throwing Axes): +4 ammo, +1 AP projectile damage, +10 projectile range.
 * Fimir Balefiend (Shadow): now marked as high threat.
 * Throgg: now marked as high threat.
 * Marauders (Great Weapons): +3 AP melee damage.

SPELLS AND ABILITIES

 * Rebalanced all abilities that modify melee attack or melee defence, reducing their effectiveness by roughly 10%.
 * Rebalanced all abilities that modify melee base damage or melee AP damage, increasing their effectiveness by 20%.
 * Visual re-work of Alith Anar’s Mislead ability:
 * When the decoy unit is clicked on by an enemy, some of the decoy’s unit information is now inherited from the real Alith Anar, making the decoy a lot harder to spot.
 * The decoy does not deal any damage, but is Unbreakable and has Perfect Vigour.
 * When the decoy dies, it no longer leaves a persistent body. Instead, is disappears in a shadowy cloud of smoke.
 * For the purpose of streamlining some unclear communication in the battle layer, we’ve updated all projectiles spawned by abilities to be unblockable. This applies to bombardments, magic missiles and more. It was clear after an internal discussion that our current implementation didn’t really communicate to the player when they could rely on a shield to block or not block a magic missile. Shields still block regular arrows as normal.
 * Bray Scream Upgraded: -16 base vortex damage (-100%), +4 AP vortex damage (+50%).
 * Arrow of Aqshy: explosion now deals fire damage.
 * Drop Rocks of Chotec: explosion now deals fire damage.
 * Fire Breath (War Hydra): explosion now deals fire damage.
 * Dreaded Thirteenth Spell: -4 power cost, now deals magic damage.
 * Rod of Corruption: added max three uses.
 * Warpbomb: now deals magic damage.
 * Warp Lightning: explosion now deals magic damage.
 * Lord of the Storm: explosion now deals magic damage.
 * Piercing Bolts of Burning: explosion now deals fire damage.
 * Piercing Bolts of Burning Upgraded: explosion now deals fire damage.
 * Master Rune of Wrath and Ruin: -8 secs duration.
 * Rune of Wrath and Ruin: -4 secs duration.
 * Scroll of Power: Cooldown reduction effect reduced from -90 to -60.
 * Altered the colouring of the Concealment Bombs ability VFX to better reflect the iconography.
 * Snare Net (Gutter Runners): changed implementation, now a passive ability with a 40m radius that reduces speed and charge speed by -12%.
 * Skitterleap & Skitterleap Upgraded: Now moved to the new Lore of Stealth, changed to a common spell, rebalanced accordingly.
 * In order to make accuracy modifiers a bit more universally impactful we’ve transitioned all accuracy modifiers from multiplicative to additive.
 * Prospector’s spyglass: +18% accuracy > +15 accuracy.
 * Ballistic Enchantment: +60% accuracy > +60 accuracy.
 * Holy Stela: -30% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Temple of Mists: -90% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Whip of Agony: -30% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Word of Pain: -60% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Word of Pain overcast: -60% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Chalice of Dark Rain: -30% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Curse of Anraheir: -60% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Blinded contact effect: -40% accuracy > -30 accuracy.
 * Ballistic Calibration: +30% accuracy > +60 accuracy.
 * We’ve unified the abilities Ballistics Calibration and Ballistic Enchantment to perform identically.
 * Ballistic Enchantment active time 25 > 32.
 * Ballistic Enchantment now continues to apply to units that leave the area of effect.