Dawn of War II: Retribution Windows game

Dawn of War II Elite Mod
Patch 2.9.13 Release Notes
Join the conversation on our: Discord
Hotfix Google Doc: Elite Mod 2.9.13 Notes
Patch Notes Google Doc: Elite Mod 2.9.12 Notes
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Soundbug issues seen on the last patch should be fixed now:

In the end it turned out to be a very simple configuration issue with the new launcher setup; but it was failing while it was looking like it was working; which made it a real nightmare to diagnose. Appreciate your patience with the resurgence of this infamously awful bug over the last week.

We have used the necessity of a hotfix to put some more major refinement changes for OM, courtesy of Garrick.

A new voiceset has been developed for the Brother Captain, with the announcer making specific callouts for specific wargear purchases, as main race heroes have.

All of the attack, special and sync animations have also been fixed and refined for Brother Captain, Terminators and Paladins.

There is going to be plenty more to come in this space for the next patch too.

If you spot anything wrong with the document, or in terms of balance or bugs, or have any feedback in general; please let us know in the Discord.

Hotfix Bug Fixes:

Space Marines:

• Kraken Bolts was accidentally part-removed from Tactical Marines, this has been fixed.

Orks:

• Flash Gitz with Blastas had a progress bar filling up with every shot, this has been removed.

Eldar:

• Some Dark Reaper weapons were not reverted back to normal after the reworked version that were in Test Build, this has been corrected.

Imperial Guard:

Less of a bug and more of a correction, the below changes for Servo Skull Wargear from 2.9.12 Patch Notes never actually made it into the last patch, and I've only just caught this in the last minute of this hotfix's development. These will be pushed to the next patch, for the sake of time, and are being removed from the rest of the notes here.

Ordo Malleus:

• Broken specials with Brother Captain, Strike Squad, Terminators and Paladins have been fixed. See Animation section for more details.

• Correct melee decorator now displaying when Daemonhunter has purchased Force Rod

Hotfix Balance Changes:

Eldar:

Global:

• Eldritch Storm delay between cast and activation reduced from 4.7 seconds to 3.2 seconds.

It is currently considered the least impactful Global. The current delay allows far too much time for the opponent to react, so this has been reduced by 1.5 seconds.

Hotfix Models & Animations:

Brother Captain:

• Idle, moving and shooting animations improved
• All melee attack animations have been completely reworked and fine tuned and are a vast improvement on their state in last patch.
• Some special attacks by BC were broken in the last patch, these have all been fixed and now play properly.
• All Sync kills are now fixed, and have been reactivated on BC once again.
• Special attacks
• Default and Nemesis Swords have had their special attacks animations improved.
• Halberd & Staff have a new Psychic special animation, to replace the overhead strike special animation.
• Hammer special attack animations have been improved
• Halberd, Staff and Hammer all had 3 specials, the third special was a 3.3 second attack that didn't have great animation as it was, and all weapons already had 2 potential specials; so the third special was removed from all 3 weapons.

Terminators/Paladins:

• All melee, shooting, moving, special and idle animations reworked
• Like the BC weapons, both units had the third 3.3 second special that has now been removed.

Sound:

Ordo Malleus:

• Full rework of all of the Brother Captain's VA
• BC is now recognisable to the announcer, and to other units
• All BC Wargear now has tailored VA lines from the announcer, upon purchase
• HCertain wargear for DH and EA now have tailored VA lines from the announcer, upon purchase

Hotfix Map Changes:

• Strange bug appeared with giant vert ramps on Lugganath Glacier, this has been restored
• Preview maps for Tharsis Forge now show the correct spawn points for 1 + 2.

Launchers:

The DOWELITE.exe has been removed, and it has been replaced with Elite.exe, the old desktop shortcut can be removed now.
The Installer will create a new Shortcut on your desktop called ‘Dawn of War II - Elite', it is distinct from the old one because this one will have the Windows shield in the bottom right corner.

This shortcut can also be pinned to your taskbar, so there is no need to go to Desktop to run the game.

The combination of the new launcher and the new Injector has gotten rid of all of the bugs we had with our last major patch, and the launching of the game should now be a smooth and sublime experience once more.


Windows 7 Compatibility is an important function to be aware of, for some people the game is unplayable with it on, for others the game is unplayable with it off. If you are finding performance issues in the game when playing or observing, try switching the setting on/off and seeing if that has a positive impact on your FPS. Be aware that this setting is enabled on the Original DOW2.exe, not the new launcher.

Sorry for the long wait, this patch turned out to be almost as big as the last one, which meant lots to develop, build and test.

The most important changes have been infrastructure:

1. We now have a vastly improved Injector build which will fix all of the bugs we have had with the game launching, and the Army Painter not working properly.
   
   
2. Kharos of Codex Mod has created an incredible bit of kit in the form of a Modular Launcher process that we are now using for Elite. It bundles in a number of tweaks that you used to need to download, such as Smol Fix and Multi-Core fix, and has some other behind the scenes elements that will keep the whole process running smoothly, doing things like automatically reinstalling files lost when you verify integrity on Steam etc.

There have been some great balance additions and another slew of bugfixes for some pretty big issues (Yes, this includes Aiming? Wotz Dat?).
A few highlights:

• Significant nerfs across Tyranids and OM, two races which continue to overperform in the current meta
  
  
• A major standardisation of atypical Upkeep values across most units who had them. There were a number of units that simply didn't have the upkeep values they should have done; but this change was particularly important for units that can be purchased before the 30 pop limit where upkeep starts to count. Units such as Hormagaunts and Stormboyz had lower upkeep values than normal, as a balancing mechanism, but this was having unintended and permanent consequences on a player's income. For a very detailed explanation of this bug, please see the Hormagaunt section.
  
  
• Some pretty sizeable changes across the IG heroes
  
  
• Squad total pop size reduced by 2 for both Tankbustas and Trukk, which will hopefully alleviate the eternal pop limit issues with Orkz.
  
  
• A number of walker specials could actually hit the same model twice, depending on how it was moving in relation to the special; leading to massive unintended damage output, especially against retreating squads. These have been fixed.
  
  
• A gorgeous new Chaos Skin from Noot - Cogs of Vashtorr

If you spot anything wrong with the document, or in terms of balance or bugs, or have any feedback in general. please let us know in the Discord.

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Balance Lead: Inekura

Tech Lead: Arthurcloud

Design Lead: Enlargingcloud

Coding Shoutout: Mickey, Flynn Stone (new learners who contributed a lot)

Programming (Units, Abilities): Flynn Stone, Mickey, Arthurcloud, Inekura, Noot, Olev, Atlas, Enlargingcloud, Snowkip, Black Relic

Animations: Garrick, Grantovich

Models/3d Art: Garrick, Noot, Enlargingcloud

Visual Effects: Enlargingcloud, Noot

Speech and Voicelines: Garrick

New Game Modes: Noot

New Race Infrastructure/Code Injector: BruiserBanned, Kharos, Garrick, Arthurcloud

Original Music Score: Josh aka Voxcaster

Website / Forums / Moderation: Arthurcloud, Adeptus, Impregnable, Dark Riku, Meta

Portraits, Icons & Art: Knall

Internal testing: Mickey, Arthurcloud, Flynn Stone, Olev, Inekura, Enlargingcloud, Garrick, Noot

Tooltip Review / Codex: Olev, Arthur

Map Editing and Creation: Flynn Stone

Patchlogs / Progress Tracking: Arthurcloud, Impregnable, Inekura, Mickey, Enlargingcloud

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General Changes / QOL:

Injector:

• Upgraded from 1.7.1 to 1.8.2. This should fix the last remaining issues folks had with:
• The mod not starting properly
• The launcher remaining open in task manager as a background process
• The army painter crashing when selecting OM or below units

Kharos' Modular Launcher:

Kharos has kindly shared with us the modular launcher he has developed for Codex Mod, which is the new way both Elite and Codex will be launching our games.
As well as being a much-improved way of launching the game, it will also prevent any more of the compatibility issues the two mods have suffered from being installed in the same directory historically.

Packaged in the launcher are the following:

• Included SMOL Fix in build. (Soundbug fix) Included GOG.dll sound delay in build. Users now have the option to activate Win7 Compatibility when they are launching the new Launcher for the first time. Included Multi-Core fix in build with CPUs with high thread counts.

Performance Test Fixed:

• Performance Test in Graphics options no longer worked as unit IDs it was using to assign the races for it to work have now all changed. We fixed this by updating unit IDs in Tuning > UI > pert_test_races.

Global Bar Themes:

• Race Themed Global bars were removed as part of the move to the initial Injector build in 2.9.9.2, these have now been restored

Simplified Ability Inputs:

• The changes to ASM's Merciless Strike are being rolled out to other similar abilities:

1. Chaos Lord - Destructive Strike
2. Paladins - Shockwave
3. SM Librarian - Force Barrier

Walker/Carnifex Specials:

• Certain Walkers and Monsters had (sweep) actions assigned to their special attacks, mostly (left to right) or (in and out) which dictated a pattern of movement for how the special impacted. An unintended consequence of these sweeps would occasionally be that a unit could be hit more than once in a single special, causing enormous extra damage, especially to squads in retreat.
  As a result, Special attack sweeps have been removed from all Walker/Monster units that had them, and now damage will be applied instantly, instead of being applied in a left to right, or in and out ‘wave.' This affects the following:
• Wraithlord Wraithblade
• Avatar Sword
• Tyrant Guard Scything Talons
• Carnifex Scything Talon and Claws (Default & Thornback)
• Carnifex Scything Talons (Barbed Strangler & Venom Cannon)
• Swarmlord Bone Sabres

Alternate Game Modes:

• Changed Massive Battles VP from 500 to 750 VPs
• Changed Sandbox Mode from 500 to 1000 VPs
  
  

Damage Type changes:

• Increase heavy melee modifier dmg vs building armour from 0.05 to 0.3.
• Super_secret_pvp Damage Type and weapon family has been renamed to champions_bane_pvp

Bugfixes:

Space Marines:

• Fixed a bug where a second Sternguard Veteran Squad could be purchased if the Sternguard Sergeant squad leader is the only surviving member of the squad. Formerly the global requirement only checked if the squad is alive but this apparently does not include Sternguard Sergeant squad leader. Changed requirement
• Techmarine High Powered Shot ability would often fail to actually fire, with the ability still going on cooldown. First attempted fix is changing Fire Cone Size from 10 > 15

Dev Note needed for proposed solution

• All Sources of SM Inspiration have had the Courage Resistance modifier amended from using application type of ‘apply_to_squad' to ‘apply_to_entity'

Courage resistance could apply more than once, in a strange manner, using the apply_to_squad approach, similar to the SS Regen issue with Tomes that was patched out with 2.9.9.2. This fix is the same mechanical approach.

Orks:

• Mekboy Supa Tuff Beam ability + Nob Squad Frenzy ability combo make the squad get healed from ranged damage taken. This has been fixed.
• Kommando Nob Trippa Shot ability would often fail to actually fire, with the ability still going on cooldown. First attempted fix is changing Fire Cone Size from 0 > 15
• Shoota Boyz AWD(Aiming? Wotz Dat?) ability costing 9 per model instead of 3 per model, maxing out at 45 cost for full squad (Showing as costing 54 when Nob Leader squad leader is present, but actually only costing 45).

Eldar:

• Wraithguard configured to release model when killed via CPM Plague Knives or PC Plague Sword Warlock's Providence was not providing immunity to Weapon or Light Weapon KB, this has been fixed

Imperial Guard:

• Bullgryns should have innate 25% Ranged Damage Resistance, but the modifier has been applied to the In Combat ability, so it is only being applied in battle. Needs to be separated out into a new, simple modifier ability.
  
  

Ordo Malleus:

• Crusaders - Battle Frenzy ability VFX is not tied to the ability on/off, and it is in its own separate repeat action tree, proccing for a static 5 seconds. All Sources of OM Inspiration have had the Courage Resistance modifier amended from using application type of ‘apply_to_squad' to ‘apply_to_entity'

Courage resistance could apply more than once, in a strange manner, using the apply_to_squad approach, similar to the SS Regen issue with Tomes that was patched out with 2.9.9.2. This fix is the same mechanical approach.
Terminators - Liber Daemonica upgrade (That grants the Incinerate ability) was granting 1.25x extra melee damage stacks for 5 seconds, due to a legacy bit of code hidden behind some on-hit actions. This has been removed.

This was obviously an enormously powerful hidden buff that no one was aware of, and finally explains why Terminators have always felt so cracked on the field compared to what they look like on paper. They should now be a lot more sensible in melee combat.

Space Marines

Force Commander:

• Chainsword and Storm Shield Wargear no longer provides 100 HP increase. Sacred Standard Wargear damage buff reduced from 25% to 20%.
• Sacred Standard Wargear on-death damage buff reduced from 40% to 35%.

Terminator Commander:

• The armour type changed from heavy_infantry to commander. Health decreased from 2500 to 1800.
• Terminator Commander revive cost and cost decrease rate now increased to match the cost of a level 7 hero (600 req down to 250 req).

Apothecary:

• Full Auto energy cost reduced from 50 > 40
• The test build version of this patch had a number of changes enhancing Apo's melee capabilities when the Bolter was purchased, but feedback was pretty unanimously negative and it didn't really fit; so instead the Bolter's ability has been changed to help with the Apo's energy eco.

• Armor of the Apothecarion Wargear out of combat speed buff standardised. Now, it checks whether enemies are within 40 range of the squad or not to check whether out of combat effect can trigger or not.

The way Relic coded out of combat mechanics is horrendous. It only checked whether you were dealing damage or not while exempting fire on the move for some reason. Meant as long as you are moving Apothecary back and forth in combat, he can retain out of combat speed bonus while dealing damage. This also meant the enemy damaging you did not cancel out of combat state.We will be applying this homogenisation for all out of combat effects in the long term.

Techmarine:

• Orbs of Omnissiah ability icon now occupies the 5th slot on the ability bar, and no longer swaps positions with the Drop Pod ability in the 6th slot.
• Tarantula Turret build cost increased from 200/30/0 to 200/30/35.
• Teleporter Relay Beacon build cost reduced from 200/25/75 to 200/25/50.
• RNG accuracy debuff removed from Refractor Field ability. The shield now absorbs 6.25 damage per 1 energy instead of 5 damage per 1 energy.

We wanted to remove this janky RNG mechanic without directly nerfing the overall Wargear. Shield now blocks 25% more damage which matches the previous iteration's efficacy in reducing damage taken.Assault Squad:

• Merciless Strike ability damage reduced from 20 per wave to 15 per wave.

This somehow did not go in on the last patch. Terribly sorry!

Devastator Plasma Cannon Squad:

• Knockback type changed from ability knockback to weapon knockback.

Librarian:

• Inspiration removed from default Bolt Pistol (Should have been removed in 2.9.9.2!)
• Veil of Time ability effect duration decreased from 30 seconds to 25 seconds. Force Barrier now uses the simplified ‘one click' input method a la ASM's Merciless Strike from the 2.9.9.2 Patch.

Razorback:

• Razorback range weapon(sm_heavy_bolter_razorback) range reduced from from 44 to 38.

Land Raider Redeemer:

• Cost increased from 700/180 to 800/180.
• Pop Raised from 20 > 21, in line with other Super Units, Upkeep unchanged

Terminator Squad:

• Cyclone Missile Barrage ability cooldown increased from 40 seconds to 60 seconds. SM Terminator upkeep was set to 171% of normal (equivalent of 12 pop), while all other Terminator squads were set to 114% (equivalent of 8 pop). In lieu of a sensible reason for this to remain, their upkeep has been reduced from 171% > 114%.

We will be keeping a close eye on this change

Vanguard Veteran Squad:

• Purchase cost removed from Power Fist upgrade.
• Fixed in combat health regeneration bug.

Fixed by setting the application method to use Apply to Entity instead of Apply to Squad. This way it stops the health regeneration multiplier being applied once for every single model in the squad, leading to silly health regeneration amounts. Now, it just applies the buff once to every model in the squad normally.

Orks

Global:

• Kommandos Iz Da Sneakiest cost increased from 300/0/200 to 350/15/200.

Waaagh! Banner:

• It now has the ability to self-destruct in T2.

Warboss:

• Enhanced Kustom Shoota Range changed from 38 to 33. Bosspole Wargear passive aura no longer stacks with itself in cases where there are multiple Warbosses with the same Wargear in team games.

Kommando Nob:

• Assassinate on-hit Debuffs removed (they were not actually working) and upgrade now grants a 50hp boost to KN instead.
  Knife Assassinate ability claimed to lower the target's speed and damage by 50% for 8 seconds on hit, but it actually wasn't doing so, looks like that may have been broken since retail. It could have been fixed but it was decided that it didn't really fit, so a small hp boost was opted for instead.

• Speshul Shoota Weapon Changes
  • Weapon family changed from bolter to shotgun_pvp Shotgun_PVP, unlike Bolter, has no accuracy penalties depending on target size
    FOTM (Fire On The Move) changed from 0.5 -> 1
  • Domino knockback strength reduced from 50 -> 30
  • Knockback type from Light Weapon -> Weapon kb
• Speshul Shoota Ability
  • Change Damage Type form Rending->Inferno
  • AOE drop off lowered 2-4-6-8 -> 1.5-3.5-5.5-8
  • Damage reduced from 115 to 95

We are trying to make the default weapon a little bit more reliant while reigning in the arguably too strong ability and reducing the domino kb a fair bit to not make the auto attack a melee engagement winner

Mekboy:

• Default range weapon(ork_shoota_mekboy) fire on the move accuracy reduced from 1 to 0.5.
• Dakka Dakka Dakka Wargear(ork_big_shoota_mek) fire on the move accuracy reduced from 1 to 0.5.

Taking away a bit from mekboy's on the move dps so it is slightly harder to bleed soft retreating models. At the moment, he is the only ranged hero with full FOTM(Fire On The Move) that does not pay for it in some capacity. (Example: Kommando Nob has comparatively low range with his weapons)

Stormboyz:

• Upkeep standardised, increased from 2 > 2.55.
• Reinforce cost lowered from 35 > 32, to compensate a little

Gretchin:

• Cost reduced from 150/5/50 to 150/0/50.
• Gun grots upgrade removed.
• Squad moved from T2 to T1. Decap speed increased from 0.5 to 1.

Weirdboy:

• Foot of Gork stun speed debuff from 90% > 95%, to bring it in line with all other existing stuns.

Wartrukk:

• Pop reduced from 10 > 8
• Upkeep raised from 12.75 > 20.4

Upkeep needed to be changed in line with other atypical upkeep units. Upkeep has been standardised which has made it more expensive to run, so pop has been reduced by 2 to compensate for this somewhat; as it would have been too taxing at pop 10.

• Rotation Rate increased from 150 > 250
• Cost Decreased by 5 power

The test build had a buff to remove Rear Armour modifiers from the Trukk, but this was an odd change at best, and instead we have opted for a Power cost buff and a huge Rotation Rate buff.

Tankbustas:

• Squad size increased to 5 Model Pop reduced from 3 > 2 Upkeep normalised, from 1.7 to 2.55 per model
• HP per model remains at 213, so full squad hp from 852 > 1065
• Rokkit Launcha DPH reduced from 16 > 12.8 (same squad dps).
• Rokkit Barrage damage reduced from 30 > 24 per hit, and red cost reduced from 10 > 8 (exactly the same total damage and cost for a full squad)

The lower upkeep that the squad were balanced with was an issue, the best option we agreed on was to add another model and drop the pop down by one. The HP per model hasn't changed so the squad has a nice buff with a much higher HP pool. The total

squad pop has gone from 12 > 10, which will hopefully Ork's pop management.

Melee Kommandoes:

MM Nob had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep reduced from 12.75 > 10.8

• Squad health decreased by 9%. Individual squad member health decreased for each level like below.
  (275 / 316.25 / 363.69 / 418.24) -> (250 / 287.5 / 330.63 / 380.22)

Flash Gitz:

• Knockback probability changed from 10% chance per shot to triggering on every 10th ‘landed' shot.
• Knockback radius reduced from 3 to 0.

• Gitfindas upgrade removed. Instead, the squad now by default has +6 range to all of its range weapons.

Those changes combined should give gits some much needed love

Kommandoes:

Kommandoes Nob had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep reduced from 12.75 > 10.8

Nob Squad:

• Decreased Frenzy ability red cost from 60 to 40.

They feel weak for the cost compared to other T3 options across other races, not to mention their upgrades make them similarly costed to a superunit if all of them are bought.

• Nobz Nob Leader had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep reduced from 12.75 > 10.8

Battlewagon:

• Pop Raised from 20 > 21, in line with other Super Units, Upkeep unchanged

Eldar

General:

• Rearranged icon positions of T3 units in HQ.

Warlock:

• Channelling Runes Wargear cost changed from 125/20 to 100/25.
• Providence Wargear received below changes.

- Removed the need to take damage to charge the ability.

- Cooldown decreased from 150 seconds to 90 seconds. - Duration decreased from 15 seconds to 8 seconds. As a T3 Wargear, Providence does not have much for show. It is difficult to meet requirements to use it and once you do, the cooldown is massive. We are changing it to be more user friendly and actually be usable more than once per game.

Warp Spider Exarch:

• Heavy Gauge Death Spinner(eld_dual_deathspinner_heavy) dph decreased from 56(34.09 dps) to 46(28 dps).

Well needed change to tune the wargear/accessory combo a bit.

Farseer:

• Spirit Stones Wargear cost decreased from 120/30 to 120/25.

Guardians:

• Exarch Pop raised from 3 > 4
• Exarch had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep with new pop of 4 would have been 10.2, but with the lower upkeep ratio, the total upkeep has gone from 7.65 > 8.64

Rangers:

• Pathfinder Gear upgrade cost reduced from 50/20 to 50/15.
• Upon reaching T3, Long Rifles(eld_long_rifle) can now also apply the same Hunter's Mark debuff that the default Ranger pistol(eld_shuriken_pistol_ranger) applies to units being hit by it.

Hunter's Mark: Applies a debuff on hit, which makes enemies take 15% extra damage for 4 seconds, does not stack. Passive ability.

• Psychic Beacon upgrade received below changes.

- It has a detection range of 30.

Guardian Weapon Team:

• Side model range weapon(eld_shuriken_catapult) dph decreased from 15(8.75 dps) to 7.5(4.38 dps).

Warp Spiders:

• WS Exarch had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep reduced from 10.2 > 8.64

Fire Dragons:

• FD Exarch Pop raised from 3 > 4
• FD Exarch had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep with new pop of 4 would have been 10.2, but with the lower upkeep ratio, the total upkeep has gone from 7.65 > 8.64

Wraithguard:

• Wraithbone upgrade removed. Instead, the ability is now tied to Spritseer upgrade.
• Wraithbone ability heal reduced from 40 health over 7 seconds to 20 health over 7 seconds.
• Spiritseer upgrade cost increased from 65/15 to 75/20. Spiritseer Pop raised from 2 > 3
• Spiritseer had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep with new pop of 3 would have been from 7.65, but with the lower upkeep ratio, the total upkeep has gone from 5.1 > 6.48 Stun FX was for 5 seconds, reduced to 1.5 seconds to match actual stun effect duration
• Squad formation changed from eldar_grav_platform to space_marine_default like below so that Spiritseer squad leader is not always running ahead of the squad.
  - The red dot is Spiritseer and black dots are Wraithguard models.

- The red dot is Spiritseer and black dots are Wraithguard models.

We are giving the spiritseer some much needed love so purchasing him is no more an actually detrimental act to the squad.

Autarch:

• Ranged damage resistance while using Leap ability changed from 50% to 90%.

Just making it consistent with other jumpers. For more explanation, check dev notes on Lictor Alpha.

D-Cannon Weapon Team:

• Side model range weapon(eld_shuriken_catapult) dph decreased from 15(8.75 dps) to 7.5(4.38 dps).

Tyranids

Hive Tyrant:

• Bioplasma ability received following changes.

- Windup/Winddown changed from 2/2 to 1.3/1.3 - Casting animation sped up by x1.5.

- Scatter removed.

• Invulnerability ability duration reduced from 9 seconds to 8 seconds. Psychic Scream Wargear cost increased from 100/20 to 100/25.

Ravener Alpha:

• The hero no longer causes knockback when coming out of the ground to retreat while using Burrow ability.

Causing knockback when coming out of the ground after burrowing under using Burrow ability is normal but doing so when coming out of the ground to retreat makes Burrow ability an extreme low risk high reward Wargear. We do not want it to work that way balance wise.

Lictor Alpha:

• When using Jump ability, the hero now receives 90% ranged damage resistance,100% courage damage resistance and 100 courage restore. With no ranged damage resistance on Jump ability, the Lictor Alpha is very susceptible to just dying whenever he tries to use the Jump ability as an escape tool, which definitely should not happen to expensive models or heroes. With these changes, Lictor Alpha Jump ability will be in line with how all other jump abilities in the game operate.

Hormagaunt Brood:

• Upkeep per model reduced from 3.825 to 2.55.
• Reinforcement cost increased from 16 to 18.

Higher upkeep per model of Hormaguant Brood and Termagant Brood is causing economy cheats when their models are lost after the 30 population threshold is crossed and is replaced with standard upkeep(2.55) models.

Upkeep rules are simple. Beginning from the model that crossed the 30 population threshold, it becomes a simple addition and deduction based on purchase and loss of models. When you buy a single standard upkeep model, you minus 2.55 from your Requisition income. When you lose a single standard upkeep model, you add 2.55 to your Requisition income. As such, buying and losing a single standard model results in a net 0(-2.55 + 2.55) to your Requisition Income. Works the same vice versa when you first lose and then purchase a single standard upkeep model. It results in net 0. This is all working as intended but when higher than standard upkeep models come into play and if those models were bought before crossing the 30 population threshold, this mechanic becomes abusable.

Remember that you do not pay any upkeep for models purchased below 30 population threshold. In other words, you do not minus model upkeep from Requisition income below 30 population threshold when buying one. Based on this mechanic, can reach the conclusion that if you purchased a Hormagaunt Brood/Termagant Brood model(3.825) before reaching 30 population threshold, whenever it dies after going over 30 population, it gives you +3.825 Requisition income. When this model gets replaced by a standard upkeep model(2.55), you gain net (+3.825 - 2.55 = +1.275) to your Requisition income. Abusing this fully could lead to situations where a player pays no upkeep cost at, in extreme cases, 45 population which effectively gives said player a permanent +30 requisition income compared to how it is meant to be.

In summary, losing a full squad of Hormagaunt Brood or Termagant Brood gives you + 30.6(3.8.25 x 8) Requisition income assuming you bought it before going above 30 population. A standard upkeep(2.55) squad of the same population value as Hormagaunt Brood or Termagant Brood has total upkeep of 20.4(2.55 x 8). The latter replacing the former gives you a net (30.6 - 20.4 = 10.2) free Requisition income. This gives Tyranid players an incentive to lose almost all Hormagaunt Broods and Termagant Broods after going above 30 population to gain economic bonus. As long as the player makes sure one is keeping above 30 population while losing those squads and one is replacing them with standard upkeep squads, the economic gain will stay.

Termagant Brood:

• Upkeep per model reduced from 3.825 to 2.55.
• Reinforcement cost increased from 16 to 18. See notes on Hormagaunts above.
  
  
• Crippling Poison ability currently cannot be refreshed and is wasted if applied to a unit that already has that debuff. This is because the effect is very weirdly coded to be achieved by applying a wargear to the target squad.
  This has been changed, so that instead of applying the effect via wargear, it's applying via a simply on hit interaction; which means the effect timer can be ‘reset' by using the ability on a unit that is already being affected by it

Ravener Brood:

• Purchase cost increased from 375/45 to 400/45.

Warrior Brood:

• Squad loses -0.5 speed when upgraded to the Barbed Strangler upgrade.
• Upgrading to Thorax Swarm upgrade now grants the squad +1 speed when also equipped with Barbed Strangler, if the squad don't have Barbed Strangler equipped it will apply the normal +0.5

At speed 5.5, Barbed Strangler Warrior Broods are able to out pace, or at least keep up with, many ranged units in T1. With minus 0.5 speed, it will make them a little easier to deal with. Purchasing Thorax Swarm upgrade in T2 will still give you speed 6 squad as was the case in the previous patch.

Tyrant Guard:

• Removed ranged damage resistance in melee.

When in melee combat some units take decreased ranged damage. The standard value of that ranged damage resistance is 50%(0.5 multiplier), which effectively doubles the health of a unit against ranged sources as long as it stays in melee. No vehicle has that effect, as it would be very strong when considering how little dps most anti vehicle sources have in this game in return for having a high dph. This change aims to give the same treatment to Tyranids vehicle equivalent units as they are way too hard to kill due to this factor.

Carnifex:

• Removed ranged damage resistance in melee.

No reason for Tryanids melee vehicles to have 0.5 ranged damage received modifier in melee when not a single other vehicle armour unit in the game has the same privilege. For more explanation, check Tyrant Guard.

• Carnifex was paying 125% upkeep instead of 100% upkeep as it should be for this unit, this has been standardised. Total Upkeep reduced from 57.36 > 45.9

Lictor:

• When using Jump ability, the unit now receives 90% ranged damage resistance,100% courage damage resistance and 100 courage restore.

Making sure it is consistent with other jumpers. For more explanation, check Lictor Alpha.

• Lictor was paying 300% upkeep, instead of the normal 200% upkeep that Sub Commanders pay, this has been normalised. Total upkeep reduced from 38.25 > 25.5

Swarmlord:

• Removed ranged damage resistance in melee.

No reason for Tryanids melee vehicles to have 0.5 ranged damage received modifier in melee when not a single other vehicle armour unit in the game has the same privilege. For more explanation, check Tyrant Guard.

• Melee charge attributes nerfed as follows :

- 3.5 speed increase for 4 seconds -> 3 speed increase for 4 seconds.

- Cooldown 5 seconds -> Cooldown 8 seconds.

• Reflective Chitin passive ability removed. Codex entry of the passive.

Any unit that attacks the Swarmlord in melee has a 10% chance of being knocked back (weapon knockback). Passive ability.

• Purchase cost increased from 750/200 to 800/200.

Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Lord:

• Destructive Strike now uses the simplified ‘one click' input method a la ASM's Merciless Strike from the 2.9.9.2 Patch.

• Combi-Flamer range reduced from 38 to 33.
• The victim of the Drain Life ability receives 15% melee damage resistance while under the effect of it.

Impact of the ability is deemed a bit too big at the moment. Players should not fear Chaos Lord just because the opponent might be T2 and may have gotten a wipe commander/subcommander Wargear.

Plague Champion:

• The trail of goo the hero leaves behind when walking around no longer detects infiltrated units passing over it. The hero has a hidden beneficial trait that the trail of goo he leaves behind when he walks around detects infiltrated units that pass over it. This trail is invisible in the lowest graphic setting and is the only case of a trail being left behind while walking that detects infiltrated units. This puts players with lower end PCs on a disadvantage and are inconsistent with quite a few other entities that leave behind trails of similar type.
  
  
• Fetid Armor Wargear cost reduced from 100/25 to 100/20.
• Blight Grenade ability cooldown increased from 40 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Default range weapon(csm_bolter_plaguemarine_hero) dph increased from 32 (18.67 dps) to 34 (21 dps). The damage increase was to 36dph in the Test Build, this was a little too impactful in games, so instead we have gone for the halfway mark of 34dph instead
  Heavy Bolter Turret build cost increased from 200/30/0 to 200/30/35

Chaos Sorcerer:

• The central mass spawned by Chains of Torment ability no longer provides experience when destroyed.
• Subjugated unit speed debuff increased from -1 to -1.5.

Chaos Predator:

• Mark of Khorne upgrade cost increased from 100/30 to 100/35.
• Mark of Nurgle upgrade cost decreased from 100/40 to 100/35.

Land Raider Phobos:

• Pop Raised from 20 > 21, in line with other Super Units, Upkeep unchanged

Imperial Guard

Global:

• Off-map Basilisk Flare effects radius lowered from 30 to 25.
• Off-map Basilisk Flare effects no longer stick to units moving out of its radius.

Inquisitor:

• Hammer of the Witches ability had a 5% damage buff on herself after successfully casting this ability, this has been removed.

Lord Commissar:

Lead by Example ability received the following changes.

Codex entry of the ability. Increases speed by 1 and grants special attacks on every strike for 15 seconds. Allied infantry in radius 35 have their damage output increased by 15%, and then an additional 15% for 15 seconds for every strike the Lord Commissar makes. 60 second cooldown

• Aoe damage increase buff upon activating the ability reduced from 15% to 10%.
• Per hit aoe damage increase buff reduced from 15% to 5%. The effect of the ability does not last on the hero upon switching to a different weapon Wargear. Units affected by the ability still retain buffs until the effect duration runs out.
  
  
• Flak Jacket Wargear Inspire Terror ability is now granted as a separate ability and no longer replaces the default Inspire Courage ability. Two abilities do not share their cooldown. Flak Jacket Wargear changed from granting 150 health to the hero to giving 50 energy and 0.5 energy regeneration per second. Inspire Terror ability cooldown decreased from 50 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Inspire Terror damage lowered from 300 to 120. Inspire Terror targeting parameters changed to enemy only.
  
  
• Bionic Eye Wargear now grants 150 health instead of 50 energy.

Lord General:

• Stabilisers Wargear swapped slots with Flak Jacket Stabilisers Wargear moved to T1. Stabilisers Wargear now grants +0.5 e/s regen among its other effects Flak Jacket Wargear received the following changes.
• Move to T2.
• Grants 0.5 e/s energy regeneration.
• Incoming! ability no longer grants immunity to ability knockback. Carapace Armor Wargear now grants 0.5 e/s energy regeneration among its other effects.
• Refractor Field ability cooldown increased from 90 seconds to 120 seconds.
• Refractor Field ability energy cost reduced from 40 to 30.

• Distribute Medi-kit ability cooldown increased from 20 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Distribute Medi-kit energy cost reduced from 60 to 45.
• Vox Operator Retinue now increases energy by 25 among its other effects.
• Call Reinforcements ability changed as below.
• Cooldown increased from 90 seconds to 120 seconds.
• Resource cost reduced from 50/150 to 45/0.
• The ability now drops a small entity that acts as a forward reinforce point. It lives for 25 seconds, has 350 health, has heavy infantry armour, and can be destroyed.

Catachan Devils:

• Sarge squad leader Meltagun(ig_devils_melta_gun) dph reduced from 55(22.65 dps) to 48(19.76 dps).

This change is aimed at nerfing Imperial Guard anti vehicle capability a bit. As of now, two Sarges Meltagun dps almost equal dps on the move of four Meltagun Storm Trooper Squad models.

• Sarge Upkeep standardised, raised from 5.1 > 7.65

Chimera:

• Chimera now has a Cease Fire ability like other vehicles.

There is no reason for Chimera to be the only transport that can't disable its weapons. It is niche enough as is.

Ogryns:Bone ‘ead had full upkeep and non-die last leaders should have 85%, so upkeep has been reduced to 2.16 per pop instead of 2.55 per pop. Total upkeep reduced from 12.75 > 10.8

Stormlord:

• Speed increased from 3.5 to 4.
• Vulcan Mega Bolter(ig_stormlord_vulcan_mega_bolter) range decreased from 55 to 48.
• Sponson mounted Lascannons(ig_stormlord_lascannon_left / ig_stormlord_lascannon_right) dph decreased from 35(8.75 dps) to 30(7.5 dps).
• Rotation rate decreased from 75 to 60.

Stormlord is meant to be a short ranged anti infantry Baneblade variant. We are decreasing his ranges and anti tank capabilities, but increasing his speed a little bit so he can be better at weaving in and out from the fights. Rotation rate has been decreased as it was high enough for Stormlord to be able to always follow a unit he was shooting at, regardless of their speed.

Ordo Malleus

Brother-Captain:

• We Are the Hammer! ability damage resistance reduced from 15% to 10%.
• We Are the Hammer! (Improved) ability damage resistance reduced from 25% to 20%.
• Psychic Lash ability cooldown increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. The ability feels a tad bit too strong after the last patch changes.This aims to decrease its power by a little bit.

• Nemesis Sword(gk_sword_captain_nemesis) dph decreased from 80(53.33 dps) to 75(50 dps).

This will keep the Wargear consistent with other 50 dps power melee weapons in T1.

Eversor Assassin:

• Neurotoxin ability now does 30% less damage against retreating units. Retreating units suffer 84 piercing damage over 5 seconds when hit by the ability.
• Executioner Pistol range reduced from 38 to 33.

• Bio-Meltdown changed as below.
• On death explosion DMG has been changed from 75 explosive_pvp to 56.25 plasma_cannon_pvp Damage over time has been changed from 10 piercing_pvp dps to 7.5 plasma_pvp dps. Dev note: These changes aim to make ability weaker vs Light Infantry races(eg: IG,Orks) and stronger vs Heavy Infantry races(eg:SM,OM)

Daemonhunter:

• Starting sword removed, new starting weapon is now a 2-handed Bolter:
• 50 dph(29.17 dps) Bolter, Techmarine firing pattern
• Health decreased by 100. Leveling values adjusted accordingly. All melee Wargears now grant 100 health.
• Melee skill decreased by 10. All melee Wargears now grant 10 melee skill.
• With default Bolter, the hero cannot do special attacks or melee charge.
  
  

• Retribution ability changed as below.
• Minimum cast range increased from 15 to 20.
• Effect radius reduced from 15 to 10.
• Ability should be non-cancelable

Inquisitorial Storm Troopers:

• Sergeant upgrade now provides 10% health increase to the squad instead of 15%.
• Sergeant upgrade cost increased from 75/15 to 80/15. Sergeant Upkeep standardised, raised from 5.1 > 7.65
• Acolyte Upkeep standardised, raised from 5.1 > 6.48

Strike Squad:

• Justicar upgrade no longer provides 0.5 health/s regeneration. Tomes of Titan upgrade no longer provides extra 10% melee damage.
• Strike Squad specials now animated correctly again

Inquisitorial Operatives:

• Melta Bomb ability effect now can be stacked with itself. Interceptors:
• The Jump mechanics have been reworked, the T1 jump ability and the T2 jump ability have been melded together into a hybrid approach
• After the initial 90e jump the interceptors now have 15 seconds to use a cheaper follow up jump for 60e instead of the 90e.
• If the follow up jump is used or if the 20 seconds runs out, the ability switches back to their default jump.
• Default jump CD increased from 2s -> 20 s
• Normal jump delay was 0 (should have been 0.25), this has been increased to 0.3
• Follow up jump (this used to be the T2 jump) delay has been increased from 0.25 > 0.3

This will make triple jumps as you know them impossible, while not making them terrible out of gate.

Purgation Squad:

• Purge Soul ability additional damage against heroes decreased from 25% of the hero maximum health to 20% of the hero maximum health.
• Versus retreating hero additional damage decreased from 12.5% of the hero maximum health to 10% of the hero maximum health.
• Minimum cast range and minimum ability range increased from 2 to 5.

Have a look at Inquisitor note for what it means by cast range and ability range of an ability. In short, the ability now cannot be used on enemies that are within radius 5 of the squad and it gets cancelled if enemies enter within radius 5 of the squad after the ability goes off.

Damage feels a bit to strong and because the ability range is from the middle of the squad 2 range ends up not meaning anything in reality. There were quite a few situations where the ability is still being cast while the squad is being meleed.

• Psilencer(gk_psilencer_purgation) dph decreased from 69.75 (47.63 dps) to 60 (40.97 dps).

Rhino:

• Hull mounted Heavy Bolter(sm_heavy_bolter_razorback) range reduced from 44 to 38.

Terminator Librarian

• Damage increase effect from Shrouding ability reduced from 25% to 15%.
• Codicum Aeternum Wargear energy regeneration increase decreased from 1 e/s to 0.5 e/s.

This one is on the strong side. Shrouding + Smite combo doing 90 plasma damage in aoe on demand is very strong, especially since Terminator Librarian can do the combo with just his basic abilities and has enough energy regeneration to spam said combo without repercussions. This aims to nerf combo itself and make it slightly harder for libby to spam it.

Paladins:

• Shockwave now uses the simplified ‘one click' input method a la ASM's Merciless Strike from the 2.9.9.2 Patch.

Land Raider Crusader:

• Pop Raised from 20 > 21, in line with other Super Units, Upkeep unchanged

Models & Animations

Space Marines:

• Assault Terminator right hand was bugged, has been fixed

• Librarian's Veil of Time FX was only showing when the affected squad was moving, this has been adjusted to always show an FX at all times
  

Ordo-Malleus:

• Paladin banners and spotlights re-added.

Skins:

• Introducing a brand new Chaos skin, courtesy of Noot - Cogs of Vashtorr

Portraits & Art

• New Icon for Farseer's Doom ability
• New Icon for Crusader's Acolyte Upgrade
• New Sternguard portrait for the SM Sternguard Call-in Global
• Ordo Malleus base turret has no portrait.
• DH Mines have no icon
• Race Themed Global bars were removed as part of the move to the initial Injector build in 2.9.9.2, these are to be restored

Sound:

SFX:

• Ordo Malleus Rhino Las weapon was a little too loud, has now been switched to use the Devastator Lascannon sound
  

Maps:

• Corrected a missing shot blocker from Calderis Jungle
• ‘Circle Fog' removed from Calderis Jungle, Fedrid Folly and Lugganath Glacier
• Mining Site Gamma has had a great redesign
  

Campaign Updates:

• Antioch model changed
• Some exploits with selling unlockable wargear are hopefully fixed.
• Hellscape mission fixed, tyranid wave no longer skipped.
• New wargear for Antioch (maybe?)