Undead Mages Update news

This article covers the 2nd half of the Undead Army update, focusing on the special/caster units; The Lich King, and the Undead Necromancer.

Greater Resurrect needed some changes to make it unique and distinct from the Necromancer's Resurrect ability. By adding a longer cooldown, a cast time, and allowing it to resurrect up to three units, we accomplished that goal. Additionally, the buff that Greater Resurrect provides now uses the new 'Damage Taken' stats to reduce the damage taken by units for some time.

Lich Aura received a visual overhaul, as well as changing the pulse frequency from 0.2 seconds to every 1 second.

Soul Step was already a solid ability from a mechanical standpoint, so it only received some visual improvement.

Soul Harvest remained unchanged, as we were already happy with how this ability performed as well as its visual look.

Soul Blade was fine from a mechanical viewpoint, however the visual appearance left much to be desired. We're happy to announce that the soul blade has a much cleaner and more elegant look.

The Necrogate is an ability that received a lot of changes. Firstly, it became an ultimate ability. Secondly, the Necrogate you summon has a health bar which slowly fades over time as well as being damageable from enemy units. The Necrogate has two primary abilities, both of which you can find below. It primarily provides healing to your own units, while also damaging enemy units.

The Lich Stone is another ability designed to give Agamon another way to survive in battle. It was fine mechanically, but we thought the shield could use some visual clean-up.

Just like the Lich Stone, Borrowed Life needed some visual improvement. We're really happy with the smooth casting visual effects for this ability.

Bonestorm received a minor change that will have a major impact on gameplay. Rather than being a channeled ability, Bonestorm is now a buff applied to the Lich King. This means he can move and continue to cast while the Bonestorm decimates enemies around him.

Unholy Implosion is one of our favorite abilities for Agamon. The mechanic was fine, but the visual effect was very lacking. Check out the progress on our update!

Resurrect was changed in a major way. While the ability is still passive, it now has a cast time, meaning that it has an action cost. If you are moving or casting other abilities, you cannot continue to resurrect your army. This may feel like a nerf, but it forces the player to consider their actions more carefully.

Soul Shield only received a small visual update, as well as no-longer stacking. The ability is less frequent than before, but more powerful when it occurs.

Necrogenesis remains unchanged and still provides a very reliable, and fast way to mass-resurrect your army.

Mortal Curse was previously an ability designed to reduce healing, but its effect as well as its visual effect were lackluster. Now, the ability triggers less often but is much more impactful, as well as gaining a strong visual element.

Pestilent Corruption replaced a previous ability for the Necromancer (Lingering Corruption). Now, the Necromancer has a long-duration channeled ability that applies a damage over time effect to enemies. Pestilent Corruption is an interesting choice for the Necromancer because during its long channel, the Necromancer is unable to resurrect nearby units.

Death Coil remains unchanged. However, a new ability later on utilizes its effects.

Unholy Invocation received a minor change that has a major impact on its usage. Unholy Invocation was previously on the GCD (meaning that only one unit could cast it at a time). This is no-longer true. It now provides less necro-power per tick than before, but multiple Necromancer's can cast it. Again, while channeling, the Necromancer is unable to resurrect nearby units.

Death's Embrace is an ability that combines the Lich King's Unholy Implosion with the Necromancer's Death Coil ability. It is both visually, and mechanically interesting.