Stardock has released new information and screenshots about the upcoming standalone expansion to Elemental: War of Magic, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress. The news update focuses mostly on races, factions, unique units and how customisation works.
According to the update, each race has different base stats. For example, Amarians have the highest intelligence while Trogs have the highest strength. These base stats form the starting point for that faction’s sovereign, champions and armies. Trogs, for example, have an easier time with heavy armor thanks to their strength bonus.
As with the original game, each faction has ten pre-designed unit types, and these units automatically upgrade as new weapons become available. One example given is that there will be one archer unit, but that archer unit will use the best bow that the faction has access to. This is for freshly recruited units only; units that were already recruited must pay to upgrade their weapons and armor.
In addition to regular troops, each faction has three unique pre-designed units. For example, the Tarth has the Clan of the Crow instead of archers. Unique units are much like those of Civilization - they’ll have improved equipment or traits. However, they also take a little longer to train. As with everything in the Elemental series, players can create their own unique units, or create facsimiles of another race’s unique units.
Each faction has two traits. The first trait grants them access to a tech tree, and the other trait affects the faction’s base stats as a whole. As with everything else in the game, factions can be created from scratch, and players also have the option of picking a faction weakness, which will allow them to select a third positive faction trait.
Finally, each faction has a sovereign whose traits and weaknesses are as important as the faction itself. Players can create warrior sovereigns who can fight monsters directly, or a sovereign whose specialty is training, which will level up units around him or her faster. Of course, you can have a magic using sovereign who can cast spells.
Elemental: Fallen Enchantress is due to be released on PC sometime in 2012. The original game, Elemental: War of Magic, was released on the 24th August, 2010, and suffered a rocky release as the game shipped plagued with bugs.
