Age of Darkness: Final Stand news & patch notes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/d73d7c82f1b83c9dcf67850dec00d11df7f12aa2.png Protectors of the Light, We’re excited to announce our ‘Age of Darkness: Final Stand + KILL KNIGHT’ Bundle, which provides 10% off both titles. As the last bastion of defense against huge tidal waves of enemies, it's time to conquer a new Nightmare as you illuminate The Abyss. KILL KNIGHT is an ultra-responsive arcade-inspired isometric action shooter. Condemned to eternal sufferance, deep within the voids of an eldritch arena, you must wield an arsenal of devastating weaponry to obliterate swarms of otherworldly horrors - and MASTER THE DEMON WITHIN. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2694420

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/933efd67cb24541d12706331d50cc8dd93b1afcb.png Protectors of the Light, Today, we are releasing Patch v1.0.2.4, which focuses on Multiplayer stability. This new update:

Multiplayer Fixes

• Resolves a desynchronization issue that could occur at the start of a Multiplayer session.
• Resolves an issue where players could queue and lobby together on differing game versions, causing crashes or problems with loading.

As always, we appreciate your ongoing support as we continue working on our primary goal of refining and stabilising Age of Darkness. Future patches will focus on crashes and Multiplayer desynchronizations, ensuring we consistently improve the current gameplay experience. Thank you, The Age of Darkness team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/ed1309e5b08294092402c8ce36b58644a770a3fb.png Protectors of the Light, Today, we’re releasing Patch v1.0.2.3, which focuses on crash and bug fixes. Most notably, this update addresses critical crashes occurring when using Aurelia, Vizargo and Merek. It also contains fixes for specific achievements not firing when they should and how stat tracking is stored. The full list of fixes includes:

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a crash occurring when using Aurelia’s, Vizargo’s or Merek’s abilities in Multiplayer.
• Fix for a crash that could occur when transitioning from the main menu to the game level.
• Fix for a crash occurring when accepting player invite.

General Fixes

• Bug fix related to Rebellion gold upkeep being incorrectly calculated.
• Bug fix for ‘Beating Survival with Hero’ achievements not firing correctly.
• Bug fix related to how our 'Stat Tracking' achievements are stored.
• Bug fix for an issue where some world elements would linger after the game had closed.

As discussed previously, the team’s primary focus over the last few months has been on improving the overall stability of Age of Darkness, prioritising crash and desync fixes. These areas continue to be our focus. With this, we are planning on releasing another update soon, with a focus on Multiplayer desynchronization issues. We’d like to once again thank the community for the ongoing support and reports provided for Age of Darkness. Your detailed reports on all bugs and crashes are invaluable for us in identifying and resolving these issues. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/9a3a5f46642edb074c1b5852572426bb64dd1610.png Protectors of the Light, Patch v1.0.2.2 is a continuation of our work towards our current central goal; creating a consistent and stable gameplay experience for all players.

Crash Fixes

• Fix for a crash in the main menu
• Fix for a crash occurring because of the ‘network error’ pop-up
• Fix for a crash on the Hero selection screen
• Crash fixes related to unit rendering

General Fixes

• Fix for the Multiplayer lobby difficulty screen when processing a high volume of characters
• Fix for the score multiplier displaying extra digits when setting the game difficulty
• Fixed some UI flickering while playing in windowed mode
• Fixed some abilities not being localized correctly

We are dedicated to eliminating critical issues impacting players, which at this time is primarily in the form of crashes. We are investigating and working on a number of fixes, including solutions for ‘Hero crashes’, most specifically those associated with Aurelia and Vizargo. As always, your patience and support are greatly appreciated by the entire team. Along with your feedback and reports, which are incredibly valuable in helping us pinpoint and address these issues. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/daf05e1c624e1e2ed51950da0177a91c9d8bfe7c.png Protectors of the Light, As we continue to work on addressing key issues affecting players, we wanted to release a dedicated update for a specific issue:

• Crash fix related to how particle and visual effects were rendered.

These rendering issues relate to a number of crashes across Age of Darkness. However, this fix most noticeably occurred when using Abilities. While this fix will provide some greater stability when using Heroes such as Aurelia and Vizargo, we are aware it will not solve all known issues with these Heroes. We very much appreciate your ongoing support and feedback as we endeavour to create a fundamentally more stable gameplay experience and find solutions to the main issues affecting the community. Thank you, The Age of Darkness team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/89605765ff6021a572fc282c2a3283ed427b05ed.png Protectors of the Light, The primary focus of this v1.0.2.0 Patch is to make significant improvements regarding the two key issues raised by our players: Crashes and Multiplayer Desynchronisations. In addition, we aimed to address a number of other known issues that have been impacting the player experience for Age of Darkness.

Crashes

• Crash fix when pressing the Multiplayer button repeatedly.
• Crash fix when accepting Multiplayer invite.
• Crash fix when completing an objective.
• Crash fix when starting the game.
• Crash fix for Aurelia’s Midnight Bloom ability.
• Crash fix for unit rendering.
• Crash fix for rendering crashes.
• Crash fix for audio issue in Multiplayer.

Multiplayer Desynchronisations

• Fixed situations where the game would get stuck .
• Various fixes for desyncs occurring during data calculations for:
  • Resources generated by buildings.
  • Damage produced/received by Heroes/units.
  • Fear, burns, malice and horrify.
• Desync fix for all quick APM selections for players during MP.

Updates

• Research is now shared between players in Multiplayer.
• New Building Icons have been added to the mini map:
  • All production and workshop buildings.
  • Watch Towers.
  • Treasury.
• Added an FAQ button for situations where Multiplayer is blocked by Steam being down.
• Fix for Steam Achievements when using Veil Bond; achievements now unlock for both Heroes.

General Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed hidden mini-map icons appearing post-saving and loading during Campaign.
• Fixed being able to get stuck saving after pressing the ‘save game’ button multiple times.
• Fixes for the game pausing while out of focus.
• Fix for abilities sometimes being canceled or firing in the wrong direction.
• Fix for the ‘disable survival cutscenes’ option also disabling Malices.
• Fix for the Hero select screen getting stuck when players switch between Heroes.
• Fix for when players hold MMB while off the game window.
• Fix for cutscenes resetting player’s adjusted FOW to default settings.
• Fixed control settings to support thumb mouse buttons.

Multiplayer Specific Fixes and Improvements.

• Fixed Volatist ranged units being able to be emboldened via the skill tree.
• Fixed situations where players weren't properly able to join Multiplayer lobbies or start games.
• Fixed Lightbearers owned by the client in Multiplayer games not healing units.
• Fixed situations where the game would get stuck.
• Changed Multiplayer games to autosave when they disconnect.
• Fix for loading Multiplayer saves not pausing correctly.
• Fix for being able to trigger research to happen on the wrong building by quickly changing buildings after starting research in multiplayer.
• Fixed an issue where Nightmares could get stuck in Multiplayer.
• Fix for Multiplayer games disconnecting on game start on some minimum spec PCs.
• Fix for being able to transfer buildings that shouldn't be transferable by quickly switching buildings during transfer.
• Fixed situations where the game would get stuck after loading a Multiplayer save file.
• Fix for enemies in the Final Stand not being distributed evenly between Crystals.
• Fix for the pause UI not displaying correctly in Multiplayer.
• Fix to prevent players from being able to train units before researching them.
• Fixes for the Steam Cloud file saving syndication to the player's local and Steam accounts.
• Fix for Flamers not healing inside the Triage AOE zone.
• Fixed ‘team colour error’ prompt when selecting a save file in the lobby.
• Fix that prevents players on low-latency sessions from placing more builds down than intended.

UI Fixes and Improvements

• Changed key bindings overrides not to mention a key when they're not overridden.
• Changed minimap ping sizes.
• Fix for research UI flickering.
• Fix for ally’s Keep under attack UI displaying over the defeat screen.
• Added a new confirmation prompt when removing save in lobby.

Audio Fixes

• Fix for audio sounding distorted/broken in some situations.
• Fix for Multiplayer Lobby Music and audio issues.
• Multiple fixes for UI button’s SFX.

LOC Fixes

• Fix for some error popups not localizing correctly.
• Fixed missing strings for error prompts.

This update is a solid step towards ensuring the gameplay experience of Age of Darkness is at the level we desire. With this, we are aware that it does not fix all issues with crashes and desyncs. Rest assured, we are continuing to work on solutions to these problems, as well as fixes and improvements to numerous other known issues. Special thank you to the community for the continued support. Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the game, and we are truly grateful. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/1b85e63e00728b706f8e5e47e6a13d77a128cc7b.png Protectors of the Light, Today, we want to provide a look at how the team has been working hard to address key issues raised by players, including crashes and multiplayer desynchronizations.

Patches & Updates

Following the launch of 1.0, we released a series of targeted patches informed by your feedback and player data, which helped stabilize core areas of the game and fix a range of issues. However, these updates also led to the emergence of additional issues that were not visible during development or pre-release player testing. At this stage, as a development team, we needed to make a strategic choice in how we addressed these concerns. Rather than continuing our cadence of frequent patches, we decided to fully dedicate ourselves to find the root causes of these issues by dissecting and rebuilding the affected systems, in order to put us in a stronger position to deliver on solutions over the long-term.

Where We’re At Now

After thorough investigation, we’ve gained clarity on the root causes behind many of the problems that players have faced. Our priority is now to create system-level improvements to address high-impact areas, namely: simulation stability, multiplayer synchronization, and engine-related crashes. Accordingly, we have a new update scheduled for April, which includes the following:

• Crash fixes in relation to Particle Rendering and some instances of crashing in Multiplayer.
• Fixes for Multiplayer Desynchronizations caused by some character animation instances and resource/damage calculations.

This update will also include a range of other bug fixes and some quality-of-life improvements. Keep an eye out for the patch notes of this upcoming v1.0.2.0 release, which will go into more detail on these updates, including the aforementioned crashing and desynchronization fixes.

What Is Next

Importantly, we want to confirm that this next update is simply the first step in creating a more stable gameplay experience in Age of Darkness. From here, our focus will remain on developing and releasing further improvements, guided by live game data and feedback from you, our incredible community. With this, we want to thank you all for your help and patience. Your shared player reports, forum discussions and reviews have been invaluable to us in resolving issues and improving the game. We are truly grateful for your continued passion for the world we’ve built together. Until the next update, – The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/10f0770feee5edc03409c3e07b19628af7a8dde4.png Protectors of the light, One of the most underrated Research’s you can unlock is ‘Fire Wood’, which let’s you set your own walls ablaze and deal damage to attacking Nightmares. Well the Age of Darkness team is keen to see just how innovative players can be with this ability! This might be an inventive wall set-up that makes the Burning Fire Walls your primary method of offence. Maybe you go artistic and instead of using them defensively, you use them to make a pretty picture. Or perhaps you do something entirely different, the more imaginative, the better! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/7653d2e2fea76821dc0f1248c62cfa1ad0f40000.png

Prizes

The winner will receive a custom Nightmare Miniature, a $50AUD Steam Gift Card, and an AoD Steam code.

How to Participate

Simply post a screenshot of your Innovative Burning Walls set-up in the Screenshots Section on Steam. Or post it in the dedicated Challenges Thread over on the Age of Darkness Discord (linked). 🏅

Submission Rules

The winner will be chosen by the team using an entirely subjective set of reasoning. There’s also no limits on how many submissions you can make. So the more wild and wacky ideas you have, the more chance you have of claiming that coveted prize. This challenge will be running until Friday, March 14th, 2025 10:00AM AEST

Previous Winner

Also, congratulations to the previous winner of the Clearing Points of Interests Challenge - Richter | Lilly_neko ————— This competition is open only to individuals who are: Not legally restricted from playing the ‘Age of Darkness: Final Stand’ game Not in a country or territory at that currently has important restrictions in place or is affected by war Not employees of PlaySide or their respective immediate family members

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/7f506e1189810b63ed547fa0073609a81682aa2b.png Protectors of the light, We are back with another challenge! While building up your base and surviving the swarms of Nightmares is the priority of any game. There’s also the incredibly important task of exploring the map with your Hero and army to find valuable resources, identify key defensible chokes, and of course, clear Points of Interest. This challenge is all about tapping into that exploratory nature of the game and requires you to get a victory with at least 15 Points of Interest Cleared. Prizes The winner will receive a custom Nightmare Miniature, a $50AUD Steam Gift Card, and an AoD Steam code. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/f5b7257223b821d189b571a3d7c59d9b123d7664.jpg How to Participate Simply post a screenshot of your Victory Score Screen following a successful run in the Screenshots Section on Steam. Or post it in the dedicated Challenges Thread over on the Age of Darkness Discord (linked). 🏅 Submission Rules Solo runs using either character will count as one submission, while co-op runs using both characters will count as two submissions. 👥 The winner will be chosen at random. There’s also no limits on how many submissions you can make. So the more successful runs you have, the greater your chance of winning. Best of luck! This challenge will be running until Friday, 28 February 2025 10:00 AM AEST Previous Winner Also, congratulations to the previous winner of the Edwin and Aurelia Victory challenge NOVAxDRAGON! ————— This competition is open only to individuals who are: Not legally restricted from playing the ‘Age of Darkness: Final Stand’ game Not in a country or territory at that currently has important restrictions in place or is affected by war Not employees of PlaySide or their respective immediate family members

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/f66132406c540eee0d0bef37101bb8e770cac96d.png Protectors of the Light! Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Community Creative Challenge! The team was blown away by all the fantastic artwork. It always warms our hearts to see the characters we love and care about be re-imagined by the community in such an exceptional way. Dev Team's Favourite Winner Congrats to the winner of the ‘Dev Team's Favourite’, Celyne with this incredible and funny work, which expertly depicts the ominous emitting energy of the Blood Crystal, as well as the fun interplay between Aurelia and Vizargo. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/ac758ec6aaf84cf604a8eb94e9c6c7014ead847d.png Community Favourite Winner Congrats to the winner of the ‘Community Favourite’, Trapezohedron with this amazing piece that truly captures the daunting presence a Crusher instils once it breaks through your walls. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/c4fa51c4027d45f9c372159e38e72453646c105e.png 10 Participant Winners Also, congrats to our 10 random participants for their wonderful work! EasyplayOAO, DEADREAM, Cream Cuddle, Treehumper, Mera, Angry Cat Emote, Smenkare, Afrosus, Nika, Gnobreeb. To see all the other awesome entries, check out our Community Hub! To all our Winners AlexPlaySide has sent you a friend request and will be in contact to get your details so that they can send you your prizes! Future Challenges The fun isn’t over though, Age of Darkness Challenges are very much continuing! Stay tuned as there’ll be more opportunities to win more Nightmares Miniatures, Steam Gift Cards and Age of Darkness Steam codes!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/af08fc4b85c7b1d0bec568d98b0aaafea291496c.png Protectors of the Light, With this update, we’re bringing a wave of balance changes aimed at refining unit roles, improving underperforming heroes, and ensuring more strategic variety across the roster. Whether you’re a frontline warrior, a ranged tactician, or a master of deception, these adjustments should give you new ways to dominate the fight. From Vizargo’s much-needed buffs to Soldiers gaining more survivability, and a shake-up for the Pikemen, this patch focuses on enhancing gameplay depth while ensuring every unit has a place in your army. Let’s dive into the details!

Balance Changes

VIZARGO

Vizargo has needed some love! Even before Armour, he was tricky to use, and post-1.0, it was clear he needed attention. We hope you enjoy his buffs to Serenity, Veiled Coil, and Claw Dash.

• Veiled Coil range now scales more dramatically over levels to account for larger melee armies nearby.
• Adjusted Veiled Coil maximum heal percentage per unit slain from 3/5% to 30%.
• Serenity damage has been significantly increased to match other heroes' damage output.
• Reduced Serenity base cooldown by almost 50%.
• Claw Dash now has scaling charges from 2 up to 4, allowing Vizargo to move in and out of combat or aggressively clear enemies.

SOLDIER

The Soldier has been underperforming as newer units and systems have been introduced. Meanwhile, Pikemen have taken the crown as the best all-around melee unit. To make Soldiers a more viable choice, we’ve improved their survivability.

• Reduced Soldier upkeep from 2g to 1g.
• Added 25 armour.
• Increased base Health from 150 to 200.
• Increased base damage from 7 to 9.
• Increased knockback from 0 to 0.3.

PIKEMEN

As mentioned, Pikemen have become the strongest value melee unit. To help diversify unit choices, we’ve made slight adjustments but will monitor these values closely.

• Adjusted base damage from 13 to 12.
• Added 1 food cost.
• Adjusted knockback from 0.35 to 0.2.
• Adjusted shred from 5 to 4.

ARCHER

Archers were once a powerhouse, but as other units have gained benefits, their effectiveness has declined. To address this, we’ve improved their shred effectiveness and increased their tower attack speed.

• Tower attack speed improved from 2.5s to 1.8 cooldown.
• Increased Tower Shred increased from 2 to 5.
• Increased base Shred from 0 to 1.

ORDER KNIGHT

The Order Knight desperately needed additional shred, and we’ve delivered!

• Order Knight Shred increased from 2 to 7.

HARBINGER

The Harbinger was falling behind in the ranged department, making them feel awkward to play. We’ve given them a small boost to their tower and general range effectiveness, and reduced the frustration of needing to recast Dark Prophecy by increasing its range and duration.

• Tower attack range improved from 5 to 6.5.
• Normal attack range improved from 2 to 3.5.
• Dark Prophecy range doubled.
• Increased Dark Prophecy duration from 25s to 80s,
• Increased Dark Prophecy cooldown from 60s to 140s.

ROGUE

Rogues had a slightly higher damage per hit than intended, making them a DPS powerhouse when paired with attack speed and charge melee perks. We’ve adjusted their base damage while keeping their gold-steal and stealth utility intact.

• Base damage adjusted from 7 to 3.

AELIS LOYAL GUARD

The Loyal Guard plays a crucial role in Aelis’ clear speed and survival, but she has fallen behind recently. We’ve increased their HP, damage, and shred to keep them competitive.

• Base HP increased from 65 to 120.
• Damage increased from 10 to 13.
• Shred increased from 0 to 3.

CO-OP DEATHNIGHT DURATION

While we’d love to provide more customization options, for now, we’ve slightly increased Deathnight 3's duration and made significant increases to easier difficulties. This should allow players to create custom games with Forgiving Duration as a temporary workaround. OLD VALUES DIFFICULTYDN1DN2DN3 Forgiving3 Nights3 Nights4 Nights Easy3 Nights3 Nights4 Nights Normal2 Nights3 Nights4 Nights Veteran2 Nights2 Nights4 Nights Horrific1 Night2 Nights4 Nights Nightmare1 Night2 Nights3 Nights NEW VALUES DIFFICULTYDN1DN2DN3 Forgiving4 Nights4 Nights7 Nights Easy3 Nights4 Nights6 Nights Normal2 Nights3 Nights5 Nights Veteran2 Nights2 Nights5 Nights Horrific2 Nights2 Nights4 Nights Nightmare1 Night2 Nights4 Nights Overall we’re aiming to improve weak points in the roster and give players more options. Ensure to let us know what you think of the changes as we continue to monitor.We’ll be closely monitoring how these changes impact the meta and will make further tweaks as needed. Your feedback is invaluable, so keep sharing your thoughts and strategies with us! Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/1c051f17983b3bd4343ec58fda90839570e31894.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you for your continued support and for all the feedback you’ve shared with us. Your insights have been incredibly helpful in identifying and resolving the issues players have been experiencing. This latest hotfix focuses on stabilizing edge cases within Multiplayer and improving game performance; emphasizing on eliminating various crashes and bugs.

General Fixes & Improvements

• Removed the ability to transfer Watch Towers to the other player in Multiplayer.
• Fixed being able to transfer non-transferrable buildings to the other player in Multiplayer by shift-selecting multiple building types.
• Fix for issues that prevented saving from working with some Windows settings in Survival and Campaign.
• Fixed an issue where players could get negative Map Seeds that weren't properly re-loadable.
• Added more player-facing messaging to some Multiplayer disconnect pop-ups and error pop-ups for lobby issues.
• Fixed some situations where Multiplayer saves aren't available to load.

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a rare crash that could be triggered by some campaign scripting.
• Fixed a crash that could occur in situations where units are removed from a Triage Tent.
• Fixed a crash when entering a Multiplayer match with high latency.
• Fixed a rare crash related to the hover info UI.
• Fixed a camera-related crash.
• Fixed a crash when utilizing the cinematic system in-game.

While we’re currently hard at work to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand a smoother, more enjoyable experience for everyone. Right now, our top priorities are:

• Fixing Multiplayer Desyncs – We know how frustrating these can be, and we're working hard to improve stability.
• Continued investigation into Hero Abilities – Looking specifically into abilities going on cooldown but not triggering, and Projectile/Displacement Abilities causing crashes.
• Tweaking Balance & Game Duration – Adjusting pacing and balance to keep multiplayer matches fun, fair, and engaging.
• Gathering Community Feedback on QoL Improvements – Your input helps shape future updates, so keep it coming!

Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us pinpoint and address these issues swiftly. Please keep sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/501b017f3ad6be7a3c2a1244d882bc76f707fc16.png Protectors of the Light, Thanks to everyone for the continual support and feedback we’ve been receiving. The information provided by the community is incredibly helpful to us in identifying and resolving problems that players are encountering. The latest hotfix aims to continue improving the player experience, with its primary focus being on addressing a number of issues players are having with game crashes. The update includes:

Improvements made to reduce crashes occurring in relation to cutscenes and abilities usage

Improvements made to reduce crashes occurring in relation to analytics and network issues

Tweaks made to particle and lighting effects in order to reduce crashes

Fix for the Hero Completion Achievements not unlocking properly in Multiplayer

Tweaks made to improve formation spacing Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support; they inspire us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/dd973b7d85c2c7cfd6db36e3dd52d85aa1ebe0d2.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you for the continued support we’ve received during our 1.0 launch. The feedback and insight you’ve provided has been instrumental in helping us to identify and resolve issues facing our players. Following our earlier 1.0.1 patch, we are rolling out a small update to address an issue affecting a small number of players:

• Fixed a crash when launching the game and failing to access steam cloud save.

Thank you for your continued support and feedback as we work to improve Age of Darkness: Final Stand! Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/020a80d2b92f3b14f1591f628b7a694a7c8bf1f0.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you for your ongoing support following our 1.0 release. Your input has been crucial in helping us identify and address the feedback shared by our players. Our latest patch addresses a variety of community suggestions, including several fixes and improvements across Campaign, Survival, and Co-Op game modes. You can read all the improvements and community feedback we have incorporated in v1.0.1 below:

Balance Adjustments

• Increased melee range for the Order Knight auto-attack by 0.4.
• Lightbearer attack range increased, now attack from a short distance.
• Increased the Lightbearer’s base Health from 90 to 125.
• Added Armour to the Lightbearer from 0 to 25.
• Added Armour Regeneration to the Lightbearer from 0 to 0.02.
• Changed the Rogue’s basic attack to now be a multi-hit cone attack.
• Increased the Rogue’s Attack Rate from 0.25 to 0.15.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Gold Steal on kill from 3 to 2.
• Reduced the Rogue’s base Damage from 15 to 7.
• Increased the Rogue’s production Gold cost from 160 to 175.
• Increased the Rogue’s production Stone cost from 2 to 5.
• In Multiplayer T2 and T3 POI Camps reward slightly more Units/Siege Units.

General Fixes & Improvements

• General improvements to load times and performance across the game.
• Fixed a situation where unlocked Survival Difficulties wouldn’t save correctly.
• Fixed a situation where Cloud Saves wouldn’t sync.
• Fix for buildings that aren't impacted by the treasury getting icons as if they are impacted after paying off a debt.
• Fixed Aelis's royal guards displaying a visual flicker under certain conditions.
• Fixed a selection bug caused by holding shift and selecting buildings.
• Fixed the objectives UI not updating correctly when you change the language.
• Fixed UI not displaying correctly on the action grid when canceling research.
• Fix for some situations in which some units wouldn't animate correctly.
• Improved Audio balancing across all three game modes.
• Fixed Audio timing issues present with Crushers.
• Added audio to various buttons that were missing audio feedback.

Campaign Specific

• Fixed a situation where Campaign progression wouldn’t save correctly.
• Improved overall Cutscene audio within the Campaign.
• Fixed an issue where Nightmares could get stuck during Mission 3.
• Fixed audio timing related to Ritual Crystals in Campaign.
• Fixed Vizargo's shield in Mission 10 not displaying during combat.
• Fix for the wrong audio playing during cutscenes in Campaign Mission 10.

Multiplayer Specific

• Fixed a crash that can occur when pressing the Multiplayer Button.
• Added a pop-up when you’re not logged into Steam and try to access Multiplayer.
• Fix for the host sometimes not properly loading into matches.
• Fix for being able to select the other player's team color button in the multiplayer lobby.
• Greyed out the "send" button in the trading window if no resources are going to be sent to the other player.
• Fixed an issue where Units gained from captured POI camps spawned in a single point.
• Removed the ability to transfer ownership of the Fishing Port in Multiplayer.
• Fixed an issue where for Death Nights that break two Crystals only one would drop Dark Essence.
• Disabled “+ buttons” in the trade menu when there are no more resources to send.

Balance Adjustments Deep Dive

As noted above, we've made a number of changes to balance Heroes, Units, and Buildings. The goal here is to improve early-game survivability, smooth out some frustrating aspects, and give a few underperforming characters a much-needed boost. Here’s a closer look at the v1.0.1 as well as 1.0 balance adjustments, and how your gameplay experience will change.

Heroes

Merek Merek has always had great potential but struggled with low survivability and clear speed, especially early in the game. We've made a few tweaks to ensure he can shine as a tank-healer hybrid, excelling alongside an army that benefits from his presence.

• Improved base HP from 170 to 320 (this change reflects across all levels)
• Improved base damage to 17 from 14
• Increased damage of Crushing Weight across all levels

Vizargo Vizargo was a bit too frustrating early on, especially for new players, though his potential was clear. We've given him a boost to his survivability and skills, especially during those early stages, to make him more approachable and effective.

• Improved HP across all levels, ie:
  • Level 1: 165 from 145
  • Level 10: 905 from 880
• Added small amount of armour per level after level 3
• Claw Dash cooldown reduced by approximately 7 seconds across each level
• Small boost to Claw Dash damage DASH and VORTEX (swipe at the end)
• Moderate boost to Impaling Wrath damage across all levels
• Small boost to move speed from 1.6 to 1.65

Aelis We’re planning to revisit Aelis soon for some further improvements, particularly for the late game, but for now, she’ll receive a small armoUr boost at early levels to help new players get more out of her.

• Added small amount of armour per level after level 2

Units

Rogue Rogues have gotten a rework! They now perform more like an aggressive soldier-pikemen hybrid. While they’re still squishy and gold-hungry, Rogues now clear more effectively but remain risky to use!

• Added splash to attack instead of single target
• Reduced gold gain to 2 again (to account for faster clearing)
• Adjusted purchase price to reflect effectiveness
  • 175G, 5 stone, 5 wood
• Lowered base damage to 7 from 15
• Increased attack count to 2

Lightbearer Lightbearers still need time to figure out their place but for now, they’ve received a range boost, allowing them to support from behind melee units instead of dying up front. They also get some bonuses to their survival.

• HP increased to 125 from 90
• Added Armour 25 from 0
• Starting Engage range pushed forward from 0 to 0.65

Order Knight The Order Knight is still solid, but we’ve increased their attack spread so they can now hit more enemies at once, making them more effective in large fights.

• Increased attack range to 0.4

Harbinger Harbingers still need further attention, but we’ve made a few changes to help their survivability and give them a slight edge in mobility.

• Starting HP increased from 120 to 250
• Move speed increased from 1.2 to 1.35

Flamer Flamers now have better survivability and a slight improvement to their knockback ability.

• Added Armour to 16 from 0
• Added Knockback 0.1 from ~0

Hunter The Hunter has been performing well, but we’ve given the Hunter Trap a small upgrade to improve its effectiveness.

• Trap duration increased to 5s from 3.5s
• Trap size increased to 2.5 from 1.5

Buildings and Research

Triage Tent We’ve reduced the cost of researching the Triage Tent, making it more accessible for players in the early game.

• Research cost reduced to 300 from 750

Trade Bazaar The Trade Bazaar has had its purchase cost reduced, making it more affordable for players looking to expand their economy.

• Purchase cost reduced to 650 from 850

Grand Bellow Tower We've given the Grand Bellow Tower a bit of a buff, especially in its range, attack rate, and damage, making it a stronger defensive option- We’ll be keeping an eye on this and other attack towers in the future.

• Attack range increased to 15 from 12
• Attack rate increased to 5 from 8
• Base damage increased to 10 from 8

Advanced Farm The Advanced Farm was a little too pricey, so we’ve reduced its cost. We’ll keep an eye out for other later game research in the future.

• Research cost reduced to 1200g from 1500g

Your insights and thorough reports have been invaluable helping us to better refine the gameplay experience for you, our players. We’re truly thankful for your engagement and encouragement, driving us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be. We encourage our community to continue to communicate with us regarding any feedback, as we’re always here to help. To give back to you all, we’ve also launched a community challenge with prizes which you can check out here. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/94228bb755f865d66bd9280ae95f8a4491c525b0.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you for the continued support we’ve received during our 1.0 launch. The feedback and insight you’ve provided has been instrumental in helping us to identify and resolve issues facing our players. Today, we’ll be releasing another hotfix, centered around a variety of save issues some players have been experiencing. This update addresses several reported issues, including:

• Fixed a crash related to incorrect Light Radius calculation.
• Fixed a crash related to audio that could occur in all game modes.
• Fixed a crash related to Aurelia’s Crimson Lightning when it hit buildings.
• Fixed a crash related to trying to load incompatible saves.
• Fixed an issue where the player's resolution would change repeatedly after swapping monitors.
• Fixed an issue where the player’s mouse could be offset from what’s in-game.
• Fixed an issue where resolution could be set to something lower than the max resolution when Display settings was set to Borderless Windowed.
• Fixed an issue where the game could start on the wrong monitor.
• Disabled resolution drop down when playing in Borderless Windowed.
• Pre-V1.0 Saves that are incompatible with the current game will now be marked as such.
• Fixed a situation where the game failed to save. Backup saves will now be created in App Data > Local & App Data > LocalLow Folders.
• Fix not being able to rebind controls to mouse thumb buttons.

Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support, it inspires us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/1288c0fdd8f6acaf61a67eb193c2d7a38c3f0fbd.png Protectors of the Light! We’re excited to be taking part in the Real-Time Strategy Festival, and to celebrate, we’re inviting you to showcase your talents in an epic Community Creative Challenge! The theme? Bring the dark, epic world of Erodar to life through your unique perspective. Whether it’s a breathtaking piece of art, a cinematic video, or an intense in-game screenshot, we want to see the Age of Darkness through your eyes. This is your chance to channel your creativity and make your mark on the community, all while competing for some incredible prizes. So, how do you get started? Let’s break it down:

The Challenge

We’re looking for stunning works that capture the spirit of Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Your submission could focus on:

• Epic battles with swarms of Nightmares.
• Beautiful landscapes of Erodar’s shattered world.
• Iconic heroes, buildings, or scenes reimagined in your unique style.
• Whatever you decide to create, your submission should reflect the core themes of the game—darkness, survival, and triumph against the odds.

How to Participate

Create Content: Share your creativity through artwork, videos, or in-game screenshots.

Share Your Work: Upload your submission to the Steam Community Hub under the Artwork or Videos section.

Title Your Entry: Use the format: "AOD Contest Entry - ”

There is no limit to how many submissions you can enter!

Submission Rules

Here are the guidelines for submissions:

• Your submission must feature Age of Darkness: Final Stand content.
• All artwork, videos, or screenshots must be original and created by you.
• Images should be no larger than 2000x2000 pixels and under 15 MB in size.
• Videos should be no longer than 120 seconds.
• Keep your submissions appropriate—blood and battle are fine, but avoid nudity or explicit content.

Make sure your submission is your original work! AI assistance, tracing, or work not created by you is not allowed. We want to see your vision and creativity come to life. Submissions will be accepted until February 3rd - 10:00 AM PT.

Prizes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/f5b7257223b821d189b571a3d7c59d9b123d7664.jpg Communnity Favourite (Most Likes):

• Nightmare Mini
• $100 Steam Gift Card

Dev Team’s Favorite:

• Nightmare Mini
• $100 Steam Gift Card

10 Random Participants:

• Free copies of Age of Darkness: Final Stand to share with friends

Please note that physical prizes require the ability to receive shipped items. If shipping isn’t possible, we won’t be able to deliver physical prizes.

Share Your Work on Social Media!

For those entering the competition, we’d love to see your submissions on social media. Don’t forget to tag us—we’re excited to signal boost your creativity and celebrate your incredible work!

Winners Announcement

Winners will be announced and contacted on February 11th via Steam. Be sure to keep an eye on your notifications! Good luck, and may the light guide you through the darkness. We can’t wait to see your creations! ————— This competition is open only to individuals who are:

Not legally restricted from playing the ‘Age of Darkness: Final Stand’ game

Not in a country or territory at that currently has important restrictions in place or is affected by war

Not employees of PlaySide or their respective immediate family members

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/60e532829144d216ff7cd06147ccc6ee88194154.png Protectors of the Light, Once again, thank you for your ongoing support for Age of Darkness: Final Stand through our full release. We appreciate the time taken by all of our players to share your feedback with us. Our latest hotfix addresses several issues affecting players following our 1.0 release, including stuttering, audio, and unit selection. You can find the full list of fixes for today’s Hotfix below:

• Camera Stuttering improvements
• Fixed a crash related to in-game particle FX
• Fixed a crash related to audio loading.
• Fixed a situation where Nightmares would get stuck on their way to a Death Night.
• Added Shift Click improvements to Unit Selection.
  • Shift Clicking selected units in the world will add or remove them to or from the selection.
  • Shift Double-Clicking a unit adds or removes all units of that type to or from the selection.
  • Shift Clicking selected unit portraits in the Action Grid will remove them from the selection.

We remain committed to delivering ongoing improvements, quality-of-life updates, and bug fixes. Our next major focus will be addressing issues related to save files. Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We are truly grateful for your active engagement and support, it inspires us to make Age of Darkness: Final Stand the best it can be. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/c5c20cd790fc912480fda308dd689bc7ab434c8f.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you for your continued support of Age of Darkness: Final Stand! Since the 1.0 release, we’ve been listening to your feedback and working hard to improve the game. We’re excited to share our latest hotfix, which addresses several key issues:

• Fixed Multiplayer region handling, players will now be able to invite one another without changing their Steam Download regions.
• Fixed the Multiplayer End of Round Screen to correctly allow toggling of players.
• Fix for auto-saving frequency setting string not fitting in the UI for German and Polish.
• Fixed Researched UI not appearing greyed out if the Research Queue is full.
• General save file improvements and checks to assist in debugging future save file issues.

We’re aware that some players are still encountering stuttering and performance issues. These are complex challenges, but we’re committed to addressing them as quickly and safely as possible. Your feedback remains invaluable to us and it helps guide our improvements to ensure Age of Darkness continues to grow into the best experience it can be. Please keep your reports and suggestions coming; we’re listening every step of the way. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

Cross-Region Play and Performance

We’d also like to highlight that cross-region play is not recommended due to latency inherent in peer-to-peer connections. While cross-region play is supported, players may experience suboptimal performance in this setup. For the best experience, we recommend playing with others in your region.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/575dff9c196fa1242d8c3902741696858286b493.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you all for your incredible support of Age of Darkness: Final Stand following its 1.0 release! We deeply appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your experiences and feedback with us. In response to the issues raised, we’ve released our next batch of fixes addressing the following:

• Resolved an issue where the VFX on the Main Menu doubled up causing extra bloom and vibrance.
• Improved the UI displayed when the game is waiting to receive network data from the other player.
• Moved the UI for Auto-Saving in Multiplayer from the top left to the center screen to communicate with the player when saving is occurring during gameplay.
• Fixed a situation where a client could no longer re-join an existing Multiplayer Lobby after leaving.
• Fixed the trade panel UI displaying some text in the background behind the "send" button.
• Adjusted “Default” windowed resolutions to be a more player-friendly resolution rather than the largest possible fullscreen resolution.
• Fix for selected resolution resetting when you change monitors or between windowed / fullscreen modes.
• Fix for displaying an invalid resolution when swapping monitors on uneven displays.
• Fix for the game restarting on the incorrect monitor.

We remain committed to delivering ongoing improvements, quality-of-life updates, and bug fixes. Addressing game stuttering and resolving the Steam download region issue are top priorities. These fixes require careful implementation, and we’re working diligently to ensure they’re resolved safely and effectively. Your feedback and detailed reports are invaluable in helping us enhance the gameplay experience. Thank you for your continued support and active engagement—it drives us to make Age of Darkness the best it can be! Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/27f2504c7ff91495f25ca865d4f5a7b4a10ec02f.png Protectors of the Light, Thank you all for your incredible support of Age of Darkness: Final Stand following its 1.0 release! We deeply appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your experiences and feedback with us. We’ve been listening closely and working hard to address the issues raised. Today, we’ve released a hotfix focused on resolving the following:

• Resolved an issue with the Lock Cursor to Window Setting not behaving correctly.
• Improved Save error-handling within Multiplayer UI to indicate corrupted files.
• Introduced information pop up within the Multiplayer save UI that provides Steam Cloud Save trouble shooting.
• Fixed an issue where V-Sync was not enabled by default for all new players.
• Added an option to toggle the frequency of auto-saves in the Gameplay Settings.
  • 1. "Daily, Post Death Nights and Exit"
  • 2. "Post Death Nights and Exit" - Will be the default value.
  • 3. "Exit Only"
  {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/a420733cd422c517580edfc878cedd7c9889bd06.png

We remain committed to delivering timely fixes, quality-of-life improvements, bug fixes, and more. Multiplayer stability continues to be a top priority, including resolving the issue requiring players to change their Steam download region. A fix will be released as soon as possible. Your feedback and detailed issue reports are invaluable in helping us improve the gameplay experience. We’re grateful for your active engagement and support, it drives us to make Age of Darkness the best it can be. Thank you, The Age of Darkness Team

Protectors of the Light, It is time! Age of Darkness: Final Stand has officially launched, marking the end of over three years in Early Access and the introduction of one of your most requested features: Co-operative Multiplayer. We cannot wait for you to jump in and try it out. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/f7f7ca92defd367494c51f5bfa3f9cf5157afb86.png Importantly, we are celebrating the full release of Age of Darkness: Final Stand with our biggest discount yet - available now at 65% off for a limited time only! There really is no better time for you or your friends to jump into the game (and you have our permission to bug them until they do). If you are new to the AOD community - welcome! In addition to the new Multiplayer Mode, you also have Survival Mode and the gripping Campaign to experience, and they are a great place to start when learning the ropes. Take advantage of the game’s range of difficulty settings if need be - there is no shame in playing on Easy! But if you are a Veteran RTS player and want to grab a friend to defend humanity against the forces of the Veil, do not be afraid to jump into Multiplayer and challenge yourselves with its increased intensity and faster pacing. The game truly has something for everybody! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/6f39a22adc53350102550edf7e126f468b41857a.png And finally, we just want to say thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you for all your feedback. Thank you for all of your support throughout Early Access. This 1.0 launch simply would not have been possible without you, our Protectors of Light. Till next time, Protectors of the Light… **** We have a quick recap of updates and changes that have taken place throughout Early Access, building to the 1.0 you can play today:

• Five new Heroes with brand new abilities
• The Order, The Rebellion and The Volatist Factions introduced alongside our new Heroes
• Award winning single player campaign delivered across ten unique chapters, and one epic boss encounter
• New Units and Buildings across different factions
• Updated Visuals for the environment to enhance visual fidelity.
• QOL improvements, balancing and performance enhancements
• Achievements
• Map Seeding
• Accessibility options
• New Hardships, Blessings and Malices
• Ultra widescreen
• And multiplayer co-op is now here!

--- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Age of Darkness: Final Stand

It is almost time for the 1.0 & Multiplayer release for Age of Darkness: Final Stand! Set your calendars for January 15 to take on hordes of Nightmares, endure brutal Death Nights, scout for treasure and defend humanity from the forces of the Veil. Whether you are taking the stand alone in survival, experiencing the gripping Campaign Mode or fighting with a friend in Cooperative Multiplayer, Age of Darkness: Final Stand has something to offer for everyone. Ahead of launch day, check out this Release Times Map so you know exactly when the update unlocks in your region. If you are unsure about anything, please leave us a question in the comments and we will be around to help! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/12af057c9962b49dfdebdcb6b67c5bd184fcb42d.png Till next time, Protectors of the Light… --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/7b632fe5085cb9c9e1477fbd46ed54538e5c8aa9.png Protectors of the Light, Age of Darkness: Final Stand is coming out of early access on January 15, 2025 - including the long awaited arrival of co-op multiplayer. To celebrate, Age of Darkness: Final Stand is now 50% OFF as part of the Steam Winter Sale! Now is the perfect time for you or your friends to dive in, defend humanity, and experience Age of Darkness: Final Stand for yourself, before taking on hordes of Nightmares together in the New Year. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/ac6581e438ecd309f8fb349c14d8ffe162e4920b.jpg A special thank you to the Age of Darkness: Final Stand community who have taken the time to be a part of our multiplayer playtesting over the past few months, and for your support throughout our time in Early Access. Your time, and your feedback has been truly invaluable in helping us to bring our vision for multiplayer, and the full release of Age of Darkness: Final Stand to life. We can wait to see the game in players hands very soon! Till next time, Protectors of the Light… --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

Protectors of the Light, We are very excited to confirm that the upcoming release of 1.0 and co-op Multiplayer is coming this winter, announced via a new Launch Teaser Trailer featured today as part of the PC Gaming Show. It has been an incredible journey throughout Early Access, and we want to thank you, the AOD community, for all your support throughout development. The game has received an abundance of new content over the past several years, including the Campaign Mode with its gripping story and 10 fully voiced chapters; factions with The Order, Rebellion & Volatists; new Heroes in the form of Aelis, Aurelia, Cyrus, Merek & Vizargo; new Units, Hardships, Blessings and Malices; and a huge range of Quality of Life improvements and balance changes. Crucially, this has all been in lead up to what has always been a fundamental part of our vision for AOD - a cooperative Multiplayer mode. We have recently focused on playtesting with our active Discord community members and appreciate all the feedback to date, which has helped ensure we can deliver an amazing experience at launch. And now, it is almost time. Whether it’s defending against Elite Nightmares, scouting for treasures across different points of interest, sharing Blessings, trading resources, or enduring brutal Death Nights with multiple crystals bursting at once, we cannot wait for everyone to enjoy what we have been cooking. Be sure to head over to the Steam page and official AOD channels to keep up to date with all announcements; and don’t forget to join our Discord to participate in any future Multiplayer playtests. We will have more to share in the very near future, so stay tuned for exciting updates. You do not want to miss out! Till next time, Protectors of the Light… --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/1158d7e3fe174171a9a2f28fb29f904bf2e7dea8.png Protectors of the Light, We’re happy to share the latest update to Age of Darkness: Final Stand - Malice Mayhem! The “Malice Mayhem” update introduces a range of new Blessings, Hardships and Malices to alter your next battle, providing new strategic pathways or create obstacles to overcome in your quest for survival. To help any new players entering the Veil for the first time - Blessings, Hardships and Malices can play a big part when coming up against a tidal wave of Nightmares. So how do they work, and what is new in v0.12.2?

Blessings

Blessing are an upgrade acquired after surviving a Death Night. Choose 1 of 3 random Blessings to support your run, feeding into your strategy and gaining a new advantage. They can range from improving construction and increasing XP gained by Heroes, to buffs for units holding the line against the hordes of Nightmares. Blessings are cumulative and can be stacked, so don’t worry about losing a blessing when selecting a new one. New Blessings:

• Blood of my Enemy - When an enemy is slain, gain a chance to spawn burst of Healing. Provides a great synergy with melee only, supporting replayability if players want to invest more in army instead of buildings.
• Change of Heart - Buildings destroyed by Nightmares have a chance to turn nearby Nightmares into allies for a short period of time. It is also an opportunity to use Crushers against themselves - we have taken advantage of the tech from controllable Nightmares during Mission 08 in the Campaign, and brought that into Survival Mode.
• Way of the Blade - Melee units gain Damage, Shred, Armour and HP, however their production cost is increased. An awesome way to provide player an opportunities to strength their melee strategy.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/a3fe9ba9afee806a167624f645aaafe3ea090e3d.png New Blessing available in v0.12.2

Hardships

Hardships are a difficulty modifier, providing custom options at the start of Survival to make a game more challenging and unique. These Hardships can range from never gaining a Blessing after surviving a Death Night, to losing the game the moment your Hero is killed. Additionally, each Hardship will increase your final score when completing a game of Survival. New Hardships:

• Grim Command - Based on the Death Night and your level of difficulty, you may encounter one or more Elite Nightmares during your defence.
• Veil Bond - Acquire a second Hero from the same faction and enjoy using the abilities of both Faction Heroes! This can cause your late game to become weaker and increase the level of difficulty when paired with the hardship of keeping your Hero alive. Also in Multiplayer once released, if both players have both of their Faction Heroes there could be 4 Heroes on the map at any given point.
• Permanent Empire - No longer having the ability to sell your building could add some friction when building out your base, causing a higher sense of agency and future planning when decision making on base expansion.

https://i.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY2xra29mb3hlbHU4dmNmZmppbHl6dmpva3V0dGtpZ2gzOWZpMmtxdCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/4HnujprK8P1OwAasZL/giphy.gif The Hardship “Grim Comman” can cause Elite Nightmares to join the fight

Malices

Malices add some unpredictability to the start of each death night, providing a negative effect forcing you to adapt and react to challenges. Their purpose is to improve the attacking Nightmare hordes and disadvantage the player during these events. Each affects the game in different ways, whether in granting Nightmares damage upgrades against buildings, crippling resource income, or gradually removing the XP progress for player units. Defeating a Death Night will normally remove a Malice. New Malices:

• Necro Nightmare - Slain units within your army have a chance to turn against you by coming back to life temporarily.
• Fear Burns - Horror is now more... horrifying! Units will lose health over time when they are Horrified, adding an interesting layer of complexity and difficulty when horrified.
• They are Many - Villager-occupied buildings have a chance to spawn nightmares when they’re destroyed, elevating the pressure of leaving Farms & Resource Gathering building alone as it may cause additional pester waves.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/faf0680c5feb192d96d746fe4150630f4e9aad31.jpg New Hardship “Veil Bond” - Players can acquire a second Hero from the same faction ---

Known Issues

• There is a known issue that could occur when alt-tabbing, the Alt key can lock causing unexpected behaviour which requires pressing the Alt key a second time to return to original state.
• There is a known issue where during a Death Night if Nightmares encounter a blockade over a period of time Nightmare stacking could occur.
• Observed an issue where during a Death Night where Nightmares are stacked, Target Priority may lose functionality.
• Observed an issue where Aurelia’s Crimson Lightning has performance issues when cast in a high-density enemy area.
• Observed issues with our pathfinding system on local unit avoidance and fog avoidance.
• There is a known issue that could occur when alt tabbing the alt can can simulate being held down. To remove this bug simply press alt when resuming gameplay.
• Observed an issue where the Final Fight in Mission 10 music loop stops playing.
• Observe issues with the Catapult and Spitter landing VFX not aligned to the Z axis.
• There is a known issue with the ability system where on a low occurrence triggered Hero abilities may go on cooldown without casting.
• There is a known issue that could occur when casting a spell ability it may not go where the desired location was cast.

Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance. --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool. Till next time Protectors of the Light… AoD Social Links: AoD Discord Official Website X/Twitter Facebook Instagram Reddit Community YouTube Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our official Discord server! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

Protectors of the Light, We've got some exciting updates. Firstly, we're thrilled to announce that "Malice Mayhem" - the next content update for Age of Darkness: Final Stand will be arriving in August! The update will focus on changes to the way players engage with Blessings, Malices, and Hardships. We’ll be sharing more details on this soon! We're also ready to share some exciting details on the substantial development progress we’ve made for multiplayer in Age of Darkness: Final Stand. The team have been hard at work since we last checked in, so thought it would be a good time to share how things are going! Multiplayer Lobby System We introduced a Steam-integrated lobby system, enabling players to invite friends, join lobbies, and start co-op matches. This includes Steam networking support, friend invites via the Steam Overlay, and a streamlined game start process. Players can now select their characters in the lobby before starting a match, setting the stage for a more engaging multiplayer experience. Additionally, we further refined the lockstep networking system, which ensures synchronized events and simulations for smoother gameplay. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZDRyZW9od2JvcDloejZnNjZ0aDhndWhydWFpMjZsaG9qb25pMzE2cSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/kTn1wqFMufMcWv7TJE/giphy.gif Stability and Map Generation Stabilizing the game’s core mechanics and map generation was a core focus. The new map generation system utilises pre generated map textures based on seeds that will allow for more efficient map generation when playing multiplayer matches, this further ensures a consistent and crash-free experience. We also integrated pre-generated maps into the multiplayer flow and added support for map seed transmission over the network, ensuring all players start with the same map. Significant refactoring of the game mode framework has brought us closer to our target architecture, with improved support for multiplayer flow, lockstep synchronization, and simulation initialization events. These changes provide a more robust foundation for future development and enhance the overall stability of the game. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNzZyaGc3aWo1NHh3NnZ0ZXRseDBycDdpdDF0YXg5NGdoeTh1MG43eCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/gGuv3Y8vJEuV1oNOOi/giphy.gif Features & Enhancements Our efforts also extended to gameplay feature stabilization and enhancements. We worked on shared vision functionality and tested various gameplay mechanics such as nights, triage tents, and keeps. These updates are pivotal in creating a cohesive and enjoyable multiplayer experience, laying the groundwork for future enhancements and more complex gameplay scenarios. While we’ve encountered a few bugs and issues along the way, these updates are a huge leap towards delivering a fully functional and enjoyable multiplayer experience in Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Age of Darkness: Final Stand is also now 33% off during the Steam Tower Defense Fest, running until August 5th. Stay tuned for more updates, and get ready to dive into "Malice Mayhem" in August! Till next time… --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/89a1db07284d79241de45c0d43e5b894cf6ab726.png Protectors of the Light, Cloak & Arms - the latest update to Age of Darkness: Final Stand has arrived! The "Cloak & Arms" Update introduces the Order Knight - a powerful new melee unit, and previously playable only in the campaign - to Survival, offering players a versatile, mid-to-late game siege support unit, and brand new ways to defend their keep from the forces of the Veil. Additionally, the update brings major balance changes to the Rogue unit to improve overall effectiveness and accessibility, significant buffs to fishing ports to improve food and gold generation, and better customisation options for both Survival and Campaign game modes. Cloak & Arms aims to to improve Survival gameplay and offer new and unique playstyles for both new and veteran Age of Darkness: Final Stand players. Key improvements and a list of full patch notes can be found below.

ORDER KNIGHT

Cloaks & Arms will introduce the Order Knight to Survival for The Order. Our intent with these guys was to create an offensive, late-game melee unit. Whilst not as tanky as the Sentinel, Order Knights have that sweet, sweet damage that their defensive cousins lack. We wanted to bring in a unit that could change up how players would approach dealing with nightmares and late-game waves, and create interesting choices between investing in high-tier static defences or a moderately mobile army of deadly knights, ready to cut their enemies down to size. Our hope is that players will use this unit to find new and exciting ways to tackle late-game Death Nights. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY3FiOWQ1a2l1b2Q3YXZnYnhpYXl2amEyZHNsdGhmM3Zma3ZjdnB1bCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/pZyE0x02E7bECRQmkl/giphy.gif

ROGUE UPDATE

We've been aware of the Rogue sitting in a strange spot in the Rebellion roster for a while. They had high damage but were very fragile, resulting in players generally avoiding them in favour of Hunters or Pikeman. We've looked to increase the Rogue's health, to allow them that greater staying power they sorely lacked. Changes to their recruitment costs and requirements have also meant that players are now able to access more rogues earlier and in greater numbers. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMG9jMzN2MnF1OXV3MG93czdsMjlxbWNhZGdrdmJ6NXQ2bzl5NmNlcyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/C9KP5QWIx825uXK8WH/giphy.gif As a result, their damage has been decreased, however we feel that this has been balanced out by the increase in health and the sheer amount of Rogues that can be brought to the fore now. These changes can lead players to create interesting mid-game builds and new synergies between Rebellion units and their heroes. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNDVrc2xmOWRsd2Y1aWhjNTRjMGJ6NHJiYjN1ODk0OHZ5Z3NxdThycCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/snJ8G7Wup4T1IrLsWJ/giphy.gif

FISHING PORTS

Fishing Ports are receiving some general buffs to their function, as we found that they were under-performing. They sat in a weird zone of back-up gold generation and mediocre food supplier. We've endeavoured to resolve this through several ways: increasing the radius of the port's food gathering range to encompass a larger area, increasing the amount of food gained per tile within that range (allowing them to rival farms in terms of gains), increasing the amount of gold received in each Crate, and upping the total building cap from 4 to 5. Combined, this takes some pressure off having to manage farm placement and allows for greater focus on defences, industry or expansion. https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeW8ydjAwcHJzazcwa2t0Y2tqYXlqbnNyZXJlajlwajlpYnRobmtmMiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/TFWSWcsRGTx7EsHvxE/giphy.gif

SPLIT STATS

Previously, unit stats were shared across game modes. We have now split stat customizability across game modes, making adjustments that impact Survival only without affecting the pacing of Campaign. This change also supports our ongoing multiplayer tuning and balancing efforts. Check out the full patch notes below:

Release Notes

Features & Changes

• Added split constants across game modes. Allowing differences in Stats across Units, Heroes, Buildings etc across Campaign and Survival with Multiplayer in the future.
• Added the Order Knight to The Order Faction in Survival with the Refined Workshop build requirement.
• Removed Emboldening from the Volatist Faction in Survival.
• Named Map Seeds are now displayed as the name entered in the in-game menu and end of round victory screen.

Balance Changes

Heroes

• Increased Cyrus’ Violent Volley Unlockable Level from 5 to 6.
• Increased Cyrus’ Base Veteran Experience Level Requirements from 476/1097/2308/3988/5563/7412/9795/12541/16573 to 476/1097/2308/3988/5563/8153/10775/13795/18230.
• Increased Merek’s Base Veteran Experience Level Requirements from 498/1272/2510/4765/7005/9605/12961/16911/22800 to 450/1145/2259/4287/7005/9605/12961/16911/22800.

With Hero experience, note that Veteran is our base metric and with each higher or lower difficulty adjusted by 20%.

• Forgiving is 40% less.
• Easy is 20% less.
• Horrific is 20% more.
• Nightmare is 40% more.

Rogue

• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Food Cost from 1 to 0.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Gold Cost from 325 to 230.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Stone Cost from 10 to 2.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Wood Cost from 15 to 13.
• Increased the Rogue’s Health from 70 to 120.
• Increased the Rogue’s Movement Speed from 1.4 to 1.5.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Shred Damage from 10 to 5.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Kill Gold Steal from 5 to 3.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Build Time from 30 seconds to 20.
• Reduced the Rogue’s Production Cost from 1 to 0.

Other Units

• Increased the Soldier’s Health from 125 to 150.
• Increased the Pikemen’s Production Gold Cost from 175 to 200.
• Reduced the Sentinel’s Research Cost from 850 Gold to 500.

Buildings

• Increased the Gate’s Health from 500/1500/3000 to 750/1500/4500.
• Increased the Grand Ballista Tower’s Shred Damage from 30 to 45.
• Increased the Grand Bellow Tower’s Damage Over Time from 4 to 6.
• Increased the Grand Ballista Tower’s Shred Damage from 30 to 45.
• Increased the Grand Ballista Tower’s Armour from 35 to 50.
• Increased the Fishing Port’s Fishing Net Gold Earned from 100 to 150.
• Increased the Fishing Port’s Food Yield from 0.25 per Tile to 0.35.
• Increased the Fishing Port’s Max Build Count from 4 to 5.

Fixes

• Fixed a crash that could occur when move or formation commanding off the map’s edge.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when attacking a Dark Crystal prior to Triggering.
• Fixed a crash that could occur after completing the Final Stand with Malice Mayhem enabled.
• Fixed an issue where the custom Map Seed entered did not match the in-game Menu Seed nor the end of round victory screen Map Seed.

Known Issues

• There is a known issue that could occur when alt-tabbing, the Alt key can lock causing unexpected behaviour which requires pressing the Alt key a second time to return to original state.
• There is a known issue where during a Death Night if Nightmares encounter a blockade over a period of time Nightmare stacking could occur.
• Observed an issue where during a Death Night where Nightmares are stacked, Target Priority may lose functionality.
• Observed an issue where Aurelia’s Crimson Lightning has performance issues when cast in a high-density enemy area.
• Observed issues with our pathfinding system on local unit avoidance and fog avoidance.
• There is a known issue that could occur when alt tabbing the alt can can simulate being held down. To remove this bug simply press alt when resuming gameplay.
• Observed an issue where the Final Fight in Mission 10 music loop stops playing.
• Observe issues with the Catapult and Spitter landing VFX not aligned to the Z axis.
• There is a known issue with the ability system where on a low occurrence triggered Hero abilities may go on cooldown without casting.
• There is a known issue that could occur when casting a spell ability it may not go where the desired location was cast.

Where possible please ensure all drivers are updated to ensure the best and smoothest performance. --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums, our Discord server in the ‘player-support’ channel or using the in-game bug reporting tool. Till next time Protectors of the Light… AoD Social Links: AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40922497/18db684e848590fe753a1ed1b45b8e37cbd00a68.png Protectors of the Light, Our team is hard at work on multiplayer, and we want to keep the AoD community in the loop as we make progress. Throughout the year, we'll be sharing regular updates to give you a peek behind the scenes as we head towards the big 1.0 release. But first, some exciting news! Our next update, v0.12.1 Cloak & Arms, is dropping on July 9th, 2024. This update will introduce the Order Knight and bring several balance changes. We'll share the full details and patch notes when it's live. Multiplayer Update The multiplayer team has made huge strides in improving the determinism of the Age of Darkness code base. This means that every code path returns the same result regardless of hardware or play through time. This is vital for the type of networking we have selected. Right now, about 85% of the code base is deterministic, and is tested and proved constantly with tests such as:

• Starting Multiplayer Sessions - Create/Destroy
• System/Table Checksums
• Map Generation Tests
• Ability Firing
• Pathfinding

And many more... These tests help us ensure everything runs smoothly, paving the way for an awesome multiplayer experience. Map Generation We've updated the Map Generation code to make sure map creation in multiplayer is consistent on both the client and host machines. This way, all resources, water, trees etc will be identical for both players for a consistent and synchronous co-op experience. Multiplayer UI and Lobby We're also working on the lobby and invite systems. Some key features include:

• Sending invites through the Steam Overlay (in-game invites)
• Receiving invites from the Steam Overlay
• Asynchronous character selection
• Match start once both players are ready

These enhancements are crucial for delivering a solid multiplayer experience in Age Of Darkness. Till next time, Protectors of the Light… --- We greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know about these bugs and crashes you’ve encountered. If you come across any bugs or crashes in the future, please report them to us either through the Steam forums or using the in-game bug reporting tool. AoD Discord - Join our official Discord server AoD Website - Official Website & Blog X/Twitter - Follow us at AOD_FinalStand Facebook - Like Our Facebook Page Reddit - Join the r/Age of Darkness: Final Stand community YouTube - Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel Have a question about the game? We have a handy FAQ we’ve posted on the Steam forums that you can view. If your question hasn’t been answered there, we’ll be doing our best to keep up with questions here, on the forums and our Discord server. Speaking of which, you can also chat with our team and ask them questions on our official Discord server here! Age of Darkness: Final Stand