Recommended turn order based on play times:

If you search for Haywire in the Tome, you get These both abilities. This Problem has to to with our balancing mod, if I search for this in the original Version, there is only the correct one shown.
But another Problem for me:

What is the check for Machines to become Haywire?

Since when builder lost the capability of building bridges on researching sea faring?

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
Round 2 will start only when all ongoing matches are finished or on the 3rd of April, whatever comes first.
Many of you can already choose their class/race as their opponents are known. So please check the roster https://www.the-battlefield.c... and send your class/race to judges of the Duel Tournament: Fistandantilus, marcuspers and me (if you're not fighting one of us!).

== Misc ==
Please remember to vote in the poll if you participate to one tournament right now: Do you think the mod that removes rapids (blocked water) from the Random Map Generator should be used for tournament games to help classes/races that cannot cross these rapids?
Results will be used by the judges to decide whether or not to remove rapids from tournaments.

== Balance ==
Here are several changes considered for implementation on v1.22 of the balance mod. Please provide your opinions on them:
GC23
Heroes and leaders now require more experience to level up, with 25% more time needed to reach level 5, +40% to reach level 9, +72% to reach level 13, +88% to reach level 15 and then +400 XP / level instead of +200 XP / level

See full details in this XP table: https://docs.google.com/sprea...


GC25
Earth Elemental cannot be obtained as a reward any more in the Forbidden Sanctum

GC36
The Cosmic Event Planetary Alignment gives 300 RP (was complete the current research instantly)

GC37
Effigy of the Lich King gives Healing Undead and Undying (was Healing Undead and Necromantic Aura)

AD10a
Baby Spiders and Baby Serpents get the abilities of their evolved state (Spider Queens and Mature Serpent) on Elite, namely:
Dread Spider Baby: Inflict Severely Poisoned
Hunter Spider Baby: Inflict Enfeebling Fever
Vampire Spider Baby: Inflict Exhausting Fatigue
Baby Reed Serpent and Baby Shock Serpent get +4 MP

SeeR, these are proposed changes, not changes that are going to be implemented. So I supposed that you are against Ha03e, Ha09h, Ha12 and Ha20a?
Ha09f (Throw Cleaver) has been dropped following feedback from gladis by PM (it had a net total of 5 negative votes).

Regarding balances, for those interested, your opinions is welcome on the following topics:
Boosting Dreadnought heroes
Balancing sites
Improving Secret Spells
Increasing the interest of multi-races strategies


And - unrelated to balance - I posted videos of the 36 turns of my 2vs2 with rickyroo against marcus and Evgendil (round 2 of the Team tournament) on YouTube. You can find the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playl...

Same for me. And buffed like this (60 Gold or/and that amount of fire damage) is way to good. The Monster Hunter would be buffed as well.
The fire breath of the Brew Brother Sounds nice though, but it shouldbe a very small one. only affecting 1 or 2 hexes (similar to the Spinx Sun attack). Leave Throw Blade untouched.

I just discovered another discription error:
Domain of Winter: My Fey (Magical Origin) isn´t affected by the morale boost, but it is affected by the +1 range damage (all channels) So the discription is clearly wrong. Same whould work for Undeads and Machines and for all other Domain Spells!

More Halfling BUFFS ?

that lesser mighty meek better be removed then !!!

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
Only 4 games still ongoing (actually 5 but 1 is finished and not yet reported) so we might be able to start round 2 earlier than planned.
REMINDER: round 2 will use v1.21 of the balance mod (check the changelog).

== 2015 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
The mega final of the previous Duel Tournament has just begun! Skuns vs gabthegab! Good luck to both of them! Looking forward to the result and the report!
The interview of Fistandantilus, who is #3 of that tournament will be published soon. You can find the interview of Sjow, who ended up #4, on that article of the Battlefield.

== Misc ==
Please vote in the new poll Do you think the mod that removes rapids (blocked water) from the Random Map Generator should be used for tournament games to help classes/races that cannot cross these rapids? The results of this poll will determine if rapids are removed from round 3 of the 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament and maybe of round 3 or 4 of the 2vs2 Team Tournament (to be confirmed).

== Balance ==
If you haven't, please remember to vote on the previous poll: What direction should the Balance Mod take in the coming months? (the poll closes on 15 March)

Also I encourage all of you to watch the video presenting v1.21 of the balance mod on YouTube and you're very welcome to comment it:


v1.22 is under preparation. Before proposing new changes, we need to slim down the current list of proposed changes (which you can find here https://docs.google.com/docum... What's your opinion on the following changes:
GC16
Pounce requires 3 action point and has Medium range (was no action point and Short range)

AD08a
Orc Hunters cost 75 gold (was 80) and have Sprint

Dr10a
 -40 Research cost for Musketeer and +40 for Cannons

Dr15
Dreadnought heroes and leaders can now choose Mechanised Field Medic at level X for Y points

Ne05f
Greater Reanimate Undead can be chosen at level 9 (was level 7)

Ne11
Necromancer heroes and leaders can choose Heal Undead at level 1 for 3 points (was a starting skill)

Ne13a
Raise Corpse reanimate cadavers with 50% HP (was 100%)

Ha03e
Jesters cost 55-60 gold (was 80) and Fireworks does 5 physical damage and 9 fire damage (was 9 / 5)

Ha09f
Brew Brothers can use Throw Cleavers when engaged

Ha09h
Brew Brothers has 45 HP (was 35) and a new ability “Chief’s Special”, weaker version of fire breath – with base of 10 or 11 fire damage, usable once per battle. Reduce the strength of Throw Cleaver.

Ha12
Halfling Hunters have Sprint

Ha20a
Halfling military RG1 gives an additional +10 HP to Jester (was 0 and boosts to Nightwatch).

Ai06
Air Master gets Wind Path instead of Heavy Winds. Wind Path is a strategic spell which gives target stack +36 MP on the strategic map for one strategic turn. It costs 700 RP, 60 CP and is tier V. Wind Path causes units getting extra movement to become Exhausted for 3 turns (including the turn when it is cast). Wind Path causes units getting extra movement to become Tired until the end of the (strategic) turn.
Exhausted units cannot receive extra movement from Wind Path or Death March any more. Tired units get -50% movement in tactical combat.

== PBEM 2017 Duel Tournament ==
All games started, 3 finished!
Round ends on 3 April.

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
All but one game started. I discussed briefly with Lightform today, he said to me he would try to solve his issue (likely to be overheating of the computer), so the missing match may be able to start...
I just realized I made a mistake for the duration of the round, obviously it's 8+3 = 11 weeks, not 7 weeks, I just updated it. So the round ends on

== Misc ==
A new article has been published, with a lot of nice pictures, good info about mods, and the results of all recent polls, it's here: Best mods for AoW3 and other poll results (best class, worst starting class)
Also, please vote for the poll What direction should the Balance Mod take in the coming months?   It will really shape the future work on the balance mod so your votes are really important.

Ranger has still not played a single turn since he finally joined the game 3 days ago...

it has been launched but i doubt this game will go anywhere

if it ever gets to my turn i will try put a turn timer on but suspect he will miss many turns even if its a 3 day timer

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
All matches of round 3 but one have started.
v1.21 should be used on round 4.

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
All matches of round 1 but three have started. Kelda was replaced by El Lobo and PandoraFay was replaced by JundlandBanshee. Both need to send their class/race to the judges then they can start their matches. THE RANGER also needs to join the game hosted by SeeR to start.
v1.21 should be used on round 2.

== Balance ==
Technically, Ghoul units acquired through Ghouling Strike and those built by a Necromancer are currently undistinguishable. You're right though, we should ask Triumph to help us distinguish them. But adding "Converted unit" or "Mind-controlled unit" to them would maybe feel weird to many players. Any other idea?

Regarding the economic bonus of Necromancy, you have to keep in mind that most players find Necro difficult to play and struggle with it. The economic bonus was added to compensate for the lack of good morale of Necro cities which mean lower income and production, especially in end game.
When you master Necro's tactical combats, you don't really need this economic bonus but many players complained that we were starting to nerf Necro too much and that they had difficulties with it, so I don't think people would want to remove it.

For the 3rd point, no it also depends on the distance of the closest controlled city. I also felt the figure was lower but I think it's just that I usually do not Migrate cities (whereas I always do as Necro) so I had not paid attention to it. I argued for increasing the migration time by 1 turn here: http://aow.triumph.net/forums... />
I will launch the poll about the directions of the balance mod very soon.

marcuspers | Balance Discussion
So, today I noticed that Ghouled unit doesnt get the "extra upkeep cost", that must be wrong?
This should be fixed then!
I also would like to ask, with Necro so strong already, is it really needed to give them extra mana, gold, production etc for "Necromancy  I-VII"?
This could be chaged as well
And the third and last question, is Necromancer able to ghoul a city in 1 turn, no matter the distance to closest city? If so, this must be fixed as well?
I don´t know how this works. I soon should test Necro another time, then I could give more feedback

El_Lobo joined !!

Bishmanrock joined !!

So, today I noticed that Ghouled unit doesnt get the "extra upkeep cost", that must be wrong?
I also would like to ask, with Necro so strong already, is it really needed to give them extra mana, gold, production etc for "Necromancy  I-VII"?
And the third and last question, is Necromancer able to ghoul a city in 1 turn, no matter the distance to closest city? If so, this must be fixed as well?

== PBEM Duel Tounament ==
When your game starts, please update its status on the Battlefield to "Ongoing", that will help the judges to follow what's going on.

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
Results of the 2 remaining games are confirmed: SIN and The green elephants won. Team "Reapers" is eliminated as mauvebutterfly left. We are confirming among judges that it is replaced by team BF+MM, I'll confirm soon.
After they report, round 3 will be officially generated.
@teams who have not yet sent their class/race, please remember to do so quickly so that your match can start.

== Balance mod ==
Please note that there is an issue on the beta branch that cannot be solved before v1.21, sorry about that. The change "Lesser Mighty Meek" for Halflings has not been implemented: their T1 do not get +1 damage per tier difference.
It's good on the main branch, so it's good for the tournament.

Wow, well seen Hellbrick, it is of course a mistake and the map size is indeed the "Tournament size" map, which is slightly bigger than the Small map. I corrected that in the rules.

Hosts are those displayed on top in the roster https://www.the-battlefield.c... and on the left in their game's blog.
As explained in the rules, hosts must play #2 in the turn order: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
I uploaded v1.2 for non-Steam users in the usual folder: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qv... />
Round 1 ends on 31 March 23:59:59 GMT+1.

Hi Hiliadan,

Could you make the V1.2 of the Balance mod available somewhere for the non-steam user(s) ? Thanks !

I suppose the game host must be one of the players ?

2017 duel tournament rules say the medium map should be used. I was under impression that the tournament map size was added specifically for the duel tournament purposes - shouldn't it be used instead?

The main branch of the balance mod http://steamcommunity.com/sha... was updated with v1.2 a few minutes ago. You can find the changelog of v1.2 here: https://docs.google.com/docum... />
== 2vs2 Duel Tournament ==
The 2 remaining matches will end very soon, then round 3 will start.

== 2017 Duel Tournament ==
We have 9 class/race and need 23 more. The following matches can start: Skuns453Lirik902 vs Mr. Hawk,
Imperium vs Hellbrick after the host posts the screenshots of the setting on the game blog. For other matches, at least 1 player hasn't sent class/race to judges. Good luck all and have fun in this ne Duel tournament!

Only 13 votes so far in the poll about What classes of hero do you generally refuse if they are proposed on turn 1? (because they are the worst heroes to start with)  Please follow the link to vote!

== 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
Round 2 finishes in about 4 days.
Please note:
- team "Reapers" is out as mauvebutterfly left and judges decided no replacement of one member of the team is possible. It's sad but this tournament is really a team tournament so the team needs to stay the same (except on round 1 where a NEW team can replace the old one)
- team BF+MM which is the only team eliminated on round 2 still active replaces team Reapers to avoid having a WO on round 3 (we did the same in previous tournaments: when a team leaves, we try to replace it with teams with the closest victory-loss ratio)

Please check the roster https://www.the-battlefield.c... and send your class/race to judges (Hiliadan, Fistandantilus, Markymark) if you don't play against them.

== 2017 Duel Tournament ==
natnat and gabthegab replaced players who left. We will probably have about 3 more "no show" so we still need players in the reserve list (currently empty).
Judges for this tournament are different than from the Team Tournament, please note that marcuspers is judge on this tournament instead of Markymark. So judges are Hiliadan, Fistandantilus, marcuspers.

The roster has just been generated, you can check it here: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />
PLEASE NOT HOST YOUR MATCHES! You need v1.2 to host and it will be updated on the main branch of the balance mod only after 31st January. You CANNOT use the beta branch for the tournament.
The roster is generated only to help everyone choose his class/race to save time as the round lasts only 2 months.
So please check your opponent and send your class/race to one or all of the 3 judges by PM. Please note that you CANNOT replay that class and race until your 8th match (so if you play Halfling Sorcerer for instance, you cannot replay Halfing nor Sorcerer on your next 6 matches).