WH40K: Dawn Of War II | Ultimate Exterminatus | Drop Pod Squads and Reworked Skilltrees Showcase

[@yakamao91]

So far, really liking what I see

[@T1Slam]

Things I want to NOTE: Drop pods: - I DID notice and already fixed an incorrect name and description for Tactical Squad Missile Launcher specialization. - The reason dropped squads arrive not full and immediately reinforced - this is because of how squad's default wargear mechanism works - each existing UNIT (not squad) in the game has a collection of default wargear that is tied to level tiers. In vanilla game (and my mod) non-sergeants get improved weapons and armor each 8 levels (unless you get Veteran Squadmates upgrade, which will rewrite that progression). So, I WANTED to use that system, but found out an issue - unlike normal squads, when squads are spawned through ability (drop pod) they arrive in their level 1 default equipment. Yes, they get levels equal to the unit that spawns them (Force Commander), but that on itself doesn't reequip the summoned squad! So, reason that only the leader arrives and squadmates spawn later is that when they are respawned (essentially, a moment AFTER squad levels up) they arrive with updated equipment! - Still, that doesn't work on the leader, because he can't actually die - a workaround for that is in the specialization choices - those are technically abilities, and in those abilities in addition to just changing the weapon I set different armor, the one according to his current level. So, when you call down a squad, do not waste time to choose a specialization - otherwise the squad leader will be underequipped. - Force Commander's 4th Will skilltree trait's description is OUTDATED - it DOESN'T give addition drop pod uses (that was for vanilla drop pod). Skilltrees - general: - Scale - I have overhauled skilltrees for 5 "main" characters of DoWII - everyone except Jonah and Thule. The overhauls themselves are heavy - every skilltree was reworked and rebalanced, BUT there aren't any special, new or over-the-top changes, the overall approach follows original in terms of scale and balance. - Philosophy - my main approach to reworking skilltrees is to make each character have viable builds for every skilltree, as well as each individual skill being a self-sufficient bonus in on itself. Original game (and Exterminatus partially) had plently of lazy or intermediate traits, ones that weren't really desirable and only padded the road towards actually interesting traits. The other core problem, in my opinion, was that a lot of universally good skills were put into specific skilltrees, forcing player to invest points somewhere they don't really want to if they are trying to make a different build. In order to target both weaknesses, I have removed/reworked most of the low-value traits, while moving universal traits into more universal skilltrees, like Will or Stamina. For example, Thaddeus now learns Merciless Strike and Chapter's Fury by investing in Will instead of Strength, so now you can make a Ranged build that would still be able to benefit from those powerful abilities. A lot of skills were also moved between skilltrees, where I felt they would be more appropriate. - If you haven't noticed, there are no upgrades for Veteran Squadmates - this is because I moved that feature outside of skilltrees - in UE squads get veterans when they reach level 10. I made it like that because I felt that upgrading squadmates as skill specific traits was limiting, as it heavily nudged the player to focus on that skilltree, since veteran squadmates is too universally good of an upgrade. Now you can focus on any build type and not worry about having to spend attribute points on something you don't want to. - Terminator Honors - similar to my approach to veteran squadmates, I aimed to put Terminator Honor traits somewhere more universally accessible. But later I realized that since both of them wield that skilltree-specific equipment in terminator armor (assault cannon for Avitus and Thunder Hammer for Thaddeus) - it would make MORE sense to put those into later traits of Avitus' and Thaddeus' main skilltrees (Ranged for Avitus and Strength for Thaddeus). - Accessory Slots - initially I wanted to make more additional accessory slots accessible through traits or levels, but later found that 3 is a hardcoded limit, so this is unfortunately a feature I cannon realize.

[@VulgarTrader]

This is just for DOWII, not Chaos Rising right? Plans to extend into that? I usually like to play one then the other.

[@T1Slam]

Yes, those changes are for both campaigns! I don't plan to rework CR maps, since you play through each only once, but I do want to nerf some bosses (Martellus predator tank and that one special attack from Chaos Sorcerer, when he shoots psychic bolts) and add special squad calling to first stage of very last mission, when you start with two tanks - tanks will be able to call 4-5 infantry squads, that should make clearing out chaos forces more fun!

[@T1Slam]

Force Commander: - Reworked Battle Cry - now it is a default ability, but in a very limited form. From the start it only gives +25% damage dealt to all squads, without any other effect. Instead, additional effects were moved to individual traits of various skilltrees. For example: knockback immunity is gained if you level up 1st Stamina skilltree; special attacks with every melee strike are given by Strength 1 trait; improved rate of fire for various weaponry is given by various Ranged traits; etc. So, FC is now more customizable, as you don't need to spend 5 points into Strength just to get Battle Cry and can focus on whatever build you want. - A Stamina 5 trait "increase maximum hp for every enemy killed until the end of deployment" was placed into Stamina 3 slot. In my opinion, it is an interesting trait and it being in very last slot is kind of lame. - Additionally, I have reworked the trait that makes FC randomly autorevive into more reliable ability without the need to lose mission score to activate - now Stamina 5 trait makes Force Commander regain ALL his health instead of becoming incapacitated, once per deployment. Essentially, it's a second chance ability, and it being put into Stamina 5 slot means that Commander will already be very hard to kill, so it wouldn't be possible to waste that second chance to die immediately (meaning increased value of the skill). Tarkus: - Tarkus now can wield Missile Launchers. Personally, I was always bothered with how vanilla game set up ranged weaponry. Avitus being a heavy weapon specialist having access to missile launchers made little sense, since they don't even require setup, and are objectively better than any other available heavy equipment. Besides, in multiplayer tactical marines are the ones that wield missile launchers as main anti-vehicle option - so why not in campaign? Well, I finally realized that idea - Avitus now has options to rebalanced plasma cannons and lascannons from the very beginning of the game, while Tarkus can equip Missile Launchers if he invests into Ranged. - In addition to that, I have added an access to other heavy weapons for Tarkus - those are available only at Ranged 5, since it's quite an unusual and powerful option. I added this for the sake of build variety - if you want, you can go into experimental directions. More options - more fun! - In case you haven't noticed - Tactical Advance skill now gives 30% damage reduction from melee attacks! This was added because it makes sense from lore and balance perspective (tactical marines are "universal" combatants) and it's like that in the multiplayer. The trait in the Strength skilltree that gives 50% damage reduction in melee for TA still works the same - now it just increases the reduction from 30% to 50%. - The Taunt skill was "nerfed" - in my opinion, it being able to target all enemies was kind of too much, too simple. So, I reduced the effect to a single target, AND added a 25% damage received (for the taunted) on top of that, to balance that nerf. You can still access "full" Taunt, but now it's placed into Stamina 5 slot, meaning you'd have to put work into getting there. - Tarkus can also learn to equip Power Fists - Strength 5 trait allows him to be able to fight vehicles more effectively in close combat. (I am tired of writing, so I will be briefer) Avitus: - Aside from many small changes, I expanded Strength skilltree (where I also put the trait that gives ability to equip Missile Launchers) and added an interesting trait in the Will category - Greater Battle Lust gives permanent 1% damage dealt increase until the end of deployment for every enemy killed (like Force Commander's Stamina trait). - Also, Avitus got one ranged trait from Thaddeus - the one that gives increased damage to targets in cover (I felt it would be more appropriate for a Ranged-oriented squad to have). Thaddeus: - Merciless Strike and Chapter's Fury were moved from Strength skilltree to Will. That means you can pursue ranged builds and still be able to get access to those powerful skills. - Special effect of improved mobility with jump packs (passive jumping over obstacles instead of running around) was moved from Assault Supremacy to Jump Pack Mastery (Stamina 5). - In general, various effects that improved/related to jump ability were moved to Stamina skilltree, while Ranged and Strength got more specific about their specialities. - Stun on hit from Ranged skilltree was moved from Ranged 3 to Ranged 5 (due to it being quite unique), but the effect itself was improved (chance raised from 20% to 40%). Cyrus: - Cyrus was heavily reworked, so much so it would take too much time to describe all the changes. His rework is also the one I am least confident in - it rehauls many core elements, and since I am not that big of a fan of Cyrus, I can't really predict of all of those changes are as good, beneficial or fitting as the other characters. - Only thing I would note is rework of his access to ranged weapons - in my opinion, vanilla Cyrus was basically trapped into using Sniper Rifle, as it was objectively the best option, outshining every other weapons, despite how cool they were. I solved that by putting access to weapons in various skilltrees and traits. Basically, Ranged skilltree is the one about Sniper Rifles, unlocking their use and then High-Powered Shot ability (Ranged 3), while Strength skilltree gives access to Shotguns, then Flamers, and then Grenade Launchers (which were also nerfed into an anti-infantry weapon instead of universal one). This way if you want to commit to unusual playstyle (shotguns, for example), you will intentionally lock yourself out of sniper rifles, allowing to focus on the build you make, not worrying about missing out on effectiveness. - Grenade launchers were also added into basic campaign, so you will find them consistently from the very first stages of the game!

[@edwardscot4237]

Wow-wow, where is Veterans armor perk for tactical squad ??

[@T1Slam]

Veteran upgrades were moved out of skilltrees into mission rewards: Upon completing specific missions in mid-game storylines you will receive special items, upon equipping which the squad will get improved equipment and sergeant-specific bonuses (they won't take accessory slots)! This means that you will no longer have to be limited in the character build if you want to upgrade squadmates.

[@frankloos1241]

Looks very cool, can I ask for a link to this mod.

[@T1Slam]

Thanks! Currently it's still in development - most heavy work is done, I need to playtest the game first.

[@frankloos1241]

@@T1Slam Okay, I'll wait. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you)