Hey folks,

If today’s update was a meal it would be a brief but hearty three-course affair. Instead of telling you what we’re going to tell you why don’t you just tuck in.

Build-A-Room

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In our continued effort to help the brilliantly evil Cultist build his room we’ve had our minions working overtime to create the first interactive prop for the Archive. Upon these bookshelves your minions will find hundreds of arcane texts — and will pore over them to learn new spells for your vile hand to cast upon enemy and ally alike. Once the winner is chosen we will texture it to match the winning wall and reveal the final version for you. Now go vote!

Note: there will be additional props in the Archive which we will reveal as we progress forward in development.

Locked in the Foundry: Episode 2

Today we’ll discuss Area of Influence in detail since we touched upon it briefly in the our previous Locked in the Foundry episode.

What it is: Area of Influence (AoI) is an Underlord’s ability to interact with the world. This power normally stretches slightly beyond the boundaries of your claimed territory however it can be affected by certain magical items and Shrines. Within your AoI you have the power to:

• Pick up & drop units, gold, corpses, and other objects
• Cast any spell
• Build rooms (upon claimed ground)
• Slap units
• Interact with special items, props, and Shrines

If your AoI overlaps another player’s you will find that it is impossible to pick up or drop units — this will prevent players from doing “hot pickups” of units that are close to death and, more importantly, prevent wanton spell-casting on the front lines. This overlapping AoI is considered “no man’s land” — although it now strikes us that it would be more appropriately named “no Underlord’s hand.”

If you manage to have vision of an area that is not affected by your AoI you will only be able to cast incorporeal spells (such as Prophecy — a scouting spell that reveals the surrounding area). Additionally, when your AoI is suppressed by Sacred Ground or an enemy player you will find it impossible to cast offensive spells (incorporeal spells can still be cast).

Why It’s Great: From a design standpoint Area of Influence solves many exploitative strategies such as the aforementioned “hot pickups.” AoI also prevents “gibbing” of enemy heroes that pose the greatest risk to your forces when fighting on the front lines. We firmly believe that the majority of problems caused by unmitigated control over the entire map for an Underlord would cause many game-breaking strategies to ruin the experience (and challenge) of both single and multi-player. Players who enjoy micromanagement will still find themselves able to show off their superb agility and high APM in battle, but it is the strategists who will prove most fearsome.

Evil Laugh Contest — Finalists

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The earth shook with the tremulous and fearsome voice work that you all did for our laugh contest and we’ve chosen the four submissions that we believe best exemplified a lifelong commitment to evil. One of these lucky backers will receive a shirt based on your vote! Head on over to the poll and let us know who deserves to wear the sweet T-shirt of victory.