Foolish Godir,

You thought our return was merely jest, yet here we stand before you. Behold the might of Myrrida, our grand ruins and beautiful creations. Our work has only begun as we start our improvements of the Realms within the Astral Sea.

The Ogre 1.1 Update brings a few adjustments to the Crystal Dwelling and adjacent systems while fixing a bunch of bugs. The Ogre Update was immensely helpful in tracking and addressing issues for the official release of Giant Kings on April 1st. The fixes we deliver today are things that could no longer be included in our Day 1 Version or that were reported in the days following our Launch.

As Spring begins to take root, we hope you continue to enjoy Giant Kings and the Ogre Update.

May your Pantheons Thrive

Game Version: 1.010.001.106191

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• The Shatterblades Hero loadout item and Item Forge version now disables the Mount slot.
  
• Added Lava Lakes on the surface, bringing more consistency to annexable Lava in surface Desolate.

• Increased the Crystal Dwelling rewards when defeating it.
  
• Increased the strength for the Guard Armies of the Crystal Dwelling.
  
• Added more units to the Crystal Dwelling’s possible unit picks.
  
• Adjusted the Damage on the T2 weapons you can buy from the Crystal Dwelling.
  
• Adjusted the Damage on the T4 weapons you can buy from the Crystal Dwelling.
  
• Increased the strength for Guard Armies of the Umbral Dwelling.

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General

• Fixed a hang that could occur due to the Bounty System updating.
  
• Fixed a hang that could occur due to the territorial behavior of the AI when it comes to independents vs independents.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to the Reinforcement Range being activated on a Stack when a City finishes recruitment and adds a new Unit to it.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur at the end of Terraforming Cosmic Happenings when Terraforming effects were removed or made permanent.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to a Combat Property Resource being deleted.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to a missing or incorrect Free City Upgrade Set in a Story Realm.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to a unit being killed while the target is still relevant for some calculations.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when the game wasn’t able to replace a ruler that was currently on the water.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur due to quest units spawning on Lava when they are not allowed to spawn on water.

AI

• Fixed the AI to allow it to pick Story options that give allegiance towards a Free City and Crystal Dwelling.

Art

• Fixed an issue where Units would be walking on Lava and not in it.
  
• Fixed an issue where Feudal Longbow units were floating in the Faction Creation background.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bannerman’s mount was clipping through the ruler’s mount in the Faction Creation.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bannerman were floating on their mount after activating Geomantic Crystallization.
  
• Fixed an issue where Dragon Lords were floating in their 2nd pose.
  
• Fixed an issue where Crocodile units did not have the correct attack animation during water combat.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Bolt Repeater model was still present after destruction.
  
• Fixed an issue where the tail of the hero’s horse from the “Trinity Island” Fated REgions was not made of crystals.
  
• Fixed an issue where the mane/tail verlet physics were broken on horses.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Giant Kings would vertex explode when hit by retaliations.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Giant Kings did not have the appropriate PFX when under the effect of Awakened.
  
• Fixed an issue where Transparency from the Wightborn Transformation was missing on Syron and Ogrekin Forms.
  
• Fixed an issue where tails were disconnected from the body in Naga transformed skeletons of short races.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Astral floating crown “Helmet” customization choice specific to “Mystic” culture was not visible on its shader.
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Volatile Charge" infusion from the "Shatterblades" blueprint had a placeholder icon.

Custom Regions

• Fixed an issue where the Custom Region for the Lava Prison Ancient Wonder behaved as if it was on Water and not on Lava.
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Behemoth's Dreadful Presence" combat enchantment from the "Icebound Behemoth" landmark not being present during manual combat on adjacent provinces.

Crystal Dwelling

• Fixed an issue where the Artifact Collection achievement would not trigger for the Crystal Dwelling Artifacts.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when selecting items in the Crystal Dwelling shop.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Combat Spell Crystallize Essence did not work on enemy corpses.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Artifact Lithorite Prism provided its bonuses to Outposts.
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Crystal Dwelling" was not automatically destroyed after the "Umbral Dwelling" or a "Free City" sieges it and wins the siege battle.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Crystal Dwelling didn’t share vision inside its domain while having an “Eternal Pact” with it.
  
• Fixed the Council Prolocutor not having the “Floating” passive ability.
  
• Fixed the Council Prolocutor not being on the center hex of the Crystal Dwelling.

Economy

• Fixed an issue where City Stability did not properly ignore the Negative City Stability from “Chasm” and “Lava” provinces.

Events

• Fixed an issue where the button for the 'Eldritch Rite of Delirium' did not validate for DLC Cultures in their First Meet Events.
  
• Fixed an issue where the “Anvil of Doom” event did not reference the correct units and could be skipped when entered only by the Hero.
  
• Fixed an issue where Giant interactions could show duplicate options.

Fated Regions

• Fixed an issue where a Fated Region event button was selectable while not meeting the Imperium Cost requirement.
  
• Fixed an issue where the “Gilded Wastes” Fated Region did not have a usable unit tier composition on Brutal difficulty.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when the Giant army spawned by the “Thagnokar’s Heir” Collection Happening razes a city.
  
• Fixed missing hyperlink references in the “Thagnokar’s Heir” Fated Region quest description.
  
• Fixed broken notification being shown in the “Colonnade Garden” Fated Region.
  
• Fixed an issue where the defenders on the Dragon Nest of the “Colonnade Garden” Fated Region had an incorrect Difficulty
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Sunken Library" that spawns in the middle of the "Trinity Island" Fated Region did not spawn explored.

Hero

• Fixed an issue where the Magekiller Hero Rifle did not display its damage output.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Storm Giant’s Mass Chain Lightning had incorrect damage.

Interface

• Fixed an issue where clicking ‘Declare War’ in the pop-up did not declare war.
  
• Fixed an issue where City Improvement’s income breakdown was duplicating income from Nodes/Province Structures.
  
• Fixed an issue where Miscellaneous Items would select the first slot rather than the selected one (again)
  
• Fixed an issue where the tooltip for “Expansion” under the Victory Conditions in Advanced Settings was not being displayed.
  
• Fixed an issue where Wizard King Rulers were not facing correctly in the diplomacy screen.

Text

• Fixed the “Volcanologists’ Guild” having missing reference present in its tooltip.
  
• Fixed Summon spells not showing their Wizard Tower requirement in the Research and Encyclopedia screen.
  
• Fixed the wrong shield being mentioned inside the tooltip of the “Goldseeker’s Pickaxe and Shield” starting weapon.
  
• Fixed a missing hyperlink reference present inside the "Resistance" tooltip of units affected by the "Arcane Accumulation" Combat Enchantment.

Modding

• Fixed an issue where the Particle Emitter and Group Naming were wiped in the Modding Tools.

Pantheon

• Fixed an issue where the Hostile Seas Realm Trait was not mutually exclusive with Void Pocket and Void Divide.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Militia Upkeep was not modified correctly with High Maintenance Realm Trait.

Sieges

• Fixed an issue where you could not Sally Out on water.
  
  • It is now always possible to initiate a Fight when moving from Land to Water without embarking first.
• Fixed an issue where being besieged by Armies on the Water would cause the sieger’s units to be on boats.
  
• Fixed an issue where the “Crucible Battlements” granted recruited units +4 Fire Damage instead of +1 Fire Damage.
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Wizard's Bombardement" siege project from the "Fallen Tower" Tier 3 Ancient Wonder was not functional.
  
• Fixed an issue where an incorrect amount of souls was received when breaking a city’s walls while using the “Soul Siphon Ritual” siege project.

World Map

• Fixed an issue where Generated Items were allowed to Generate Items with up to 10 Infusion Points.
  
• Fixed an issue where moving a Ranger Hero out of a Stack with another Ranger Hero would duplicate the Hero’s Visualisation.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/3181500/Age_of_Wonders_4_Giant_Kings/

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Restore the Elder Giants to their rightful place as masters of the Astral Sea as they return to the myriad realms in Age of Wonders 4: Giant Kings. Rise descendants of the Elder Giants and rule over the mortal empires with unmatched power, as mighty Giant Kings. Explore the ruins of Myrrida - the giants’ fallen empire, seek out forgotten crystal magic and delve into the depths for lost treasures.

Accompanying these Giants is the Ogre Update, the Free Update available to all owners of Age of Wonders 4. Despite its name, it is by no means lesser than its bigger cousin. The Ogre Update brings with it the Feudal Authority, a Subculture rework for the Feudal Culture. The Siege System has seen a significant update to improve your conquesting experience and for those that dwell below we’re bringing a Underground Generation Rework & Lava Gameplay.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/3181500/Age_of_Wonders_4_Giant_Kings/

Check below for all the details on the Giant Kings Expansion and the Ogre Update.

Game Version: 1.010.001.105705

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New Godir Origin: Giant Kings
Descendants of the Elder Giants, Giant Kings are formidable shapers. Crafting extraordinary items in their forges and refashioning realms with the elemental force of their Runestele. Choose from one of four mighty clans and transform the world around you!

• Gain a unique Giant King Governor Trait, Origin Skill Tree and special Giant Weaponery with the Giant Axe, Warhammer and Obelisk.
  
• Gain access to the Item Forge, alongside a unique Skill Tree focused on crafting equipment and powerful runes.
  
• Gain access to unique Runestele Spells that allow you to finetune the landscape to your favored terrain.

Check out the Dev Diary[forum.paradoxplaza.com] & Overview video

New Tomes
The Earth is your oyster with these two new Tomes. The Tome of the Dungeon Depths lets you build a grand underground empire and protect it at all costs. Transform your provinces into a new dungeon theme with economic bonuses and four special province improvements. Craft eternal Clay Soldiers and deadly traps to defend your territories. Become attuned to the Ley line energies beneath you with the Tome of Geomancy and channel them to supercharge your army’s damage and resistances. Recruit Geomancer units to harness the powers of the earth, and encase your forces in razor-sharp crystalline armor.

Check out the Overview Video by Guthuk

New Dwelling: Crystal
A towering structure that houses souls of the ancient Giants encased in crystalline matrices. Meet the Lithorine Units, beings made of magically animated rock, powered by crystal cores. Earn the favor of the Council Prolocutor, by helping them expand their knowledge through the acquisition of Units, Items & Special Equipment and access a unique shop offering exclusive skills, magical equipment, and artifacts.

Check out the Overview Video by Guthuk

New Content: Fated Regions
A new realm trait, Legends of Myrrida, introduces three sets of Fated Regions containing three unique story-driven regions each, linked to the forgotten history of the Giants. Embark on a journey to uncover the mysteries of each region and complete their quests to claim legendary artifacts that grant powerful bonuses. Collect the artifacts hidden in each Region to trigger a special endgame event with a unique reward!

Check out the Dev Diary[forum.paradoxplaza.com] & Overview video

New Content: Landmarks and Natural Regions
New massive regions will appear in your realm that you can annex to your empire for economic benefits — magnificent waterfalls, the remains of ancient dragons, majestic underground monuments, and more are waiting for you to explore! Furthermore, the worlds of the Astral Sea have been enriched with the addition of 38 meticulously crafted decorative regions that have been seamlessly integrated into the existing environments.

Check out the Dev Diary[forum.paradoxplaza.com] & Overview video

New World Map Content: Ancient Wonders, Infestations & Shops
Explore the new Giant Throne and Lava Prison Ancient Wonders, created by the Giants of Myrrida, and gain access to powerful Giants and Primordial Creatures. Defend your empires against hostile Lithorine Units originating from the Lithorine Infestation. Meet Merchants, Ogres that roam the land and offer powerful services and rare goods.

Check out the Overview video by Guthuk

Even More Content
While we’re sure the above has given you gold fever, there’s even more that you can enjoy. Further included in the Giant Kings Expansion are:

• 8 Achievements
  
• 4 New Music Tracks
  
• 3 New Premade Rulers
  
• New Realm Template & Realm Traits
  
• New Giant Kings Interface Skin & Banner Emblems

Feudal Authority
The Feudal Culture has been updated and now supports two different forms of Authority. Feudal Monarchy is the default Feudal Subculture and provides the most direct system of control, the Ruler is undisputed and grants powerful benefits to their accompanying force. Feudal Aristocracy must maintain a balance of power disseminated between the player’s cities, in doing so each house can field their own army effectively and exceptionally cheaply as long as the units in that army belong to that house.

Check out the Dev Diary about Feudal Rework[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Siege Update
The Siege System exists to ensure players cannot rush the conquest of cities and grants defending players time to assemble armies to defend. It was also designed to grant an epic conclusive battle to conquest in the form of a siege battle. Throughout the game’s life, the system has achieved its goal of stopping rushing, but has not achieved its goal of creating epic conclusions of conquest, and has been met with plenty of frustrations.

We’ve given Sieges a pass with the main aim to increase the amount of battles being fought on the city siege map with siege projects and defense effects active, reduce the max amounts of Fortification Health and Fortification Damage players can accumulate and lower the average time sieges take.

Lava Gameplay
We hinted at it when discussing the post-release Road Map back in 2023 but with this Update we’re introducing Lava Gameplay. Lava in Age of Wonders 4 used to be identical to the Void hexes: completely unpassable and unusable for empires and units, having the role of being a dead space. However, there are plenty of fire related fantasies a player can create with their race and empire, therefore we wanted to make lava into something that could be explored and exploited, just like a forest or a mountain!

Check out the Dev Diary about Lava Gameplay[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Underground Generation
We’ve taken another look at the way the Underground is generated and determined that it wasn’t providing the desired gameplay experience. Originally we tried to achieve an Underground generation that would work both for players that started on the surface and wanted to explore the underground for treasure and for players who wanted to build an empire in the network of caverns in the Underground. By trying to go for 2 target experiences at once. We instead landed on a generation that couldn’t comfortably achieve either, so we’ve changed course.

Check out Dev Diary about Undeground[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Quality of Life and more
With each Major Update there’s always more to share then we have space to dedicate to. Everything we’ve covered above is only the tip of the Lithorite Peaks. Giants are natural world shapers and terraformers, so we found it only appropriate to send some love to the World Map with a ton of Visual Improvements, brand new Combat Maps and brand new Ancient Wonder Events. In the realm of Quality of Live improvements we offer features such as Outpost Renaming, Combat Banner Resizing and To-Do Event Improvements.

Beyond the physical Realm you’ll find improvements to the way Realms & Game Settings are saved, a variety of filter options for your Realm Content and more Faction Customization Options. And one should not miss the Item Forge Update and a slew of new unlocks for the Pantheon, including new Mounts, Hero Loadouts and a Society Trait.

Like a true Dwarf, you can always dig deeper and uncover more about the Ogre Update.For the full list of change notes, please visit Our Forum

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/3181500/Age_of_Wonders_4_Giant_Kings/

Moreover, do not miss your chance to get the Watcher Plushie on Makeship! [www.makeship.com]

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• Share your thoughts on the Forum[forum.paradoxplaza.com]!
  
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