The Forges Are Open - Keela Comes To Chaosbane!

The firm grip of Chaos holds sway over the Old World, as the battle rages on, a new hero emerges, Keela, the dwarf engineer joins the roster of heroes with this update. She's a feisty brawler who excels in close to mid-range combat, using her hammer and pistol to decimate through the Chaos hordes. As a talented mechanic, she uses her contraptions to turn the tides, and her archetype ability will have you managing a heat gauge to make sure she's delivering out maximum punishment. Some might say, it's hammer time!

Speaking of hammers, the Forges are open! Heinrich Falke, the Gunnery Master of the Imperial Gunnery school requests the aid of any able-bodied adventurers. The headmaster and senior members of the School have been trapped inside; rumors have it that new monsters are roaming these hallowed halls.

There's a lot going on this patch, so read on below for the full notes:

Highlights:

• New Character Added
  • Keela Gunnarsdottir – The Dwarf Engineer

• New Act Added
  • The Forges Of Nuln

• New Enemies Added
  • Chaman Gor: Elite Chaos Undivided monster using magic, creating healing zones and raging upon encroaching death
  • Minotaur: Elite Chaos Undivided monster that charges heroes, smashing the ground and buffing allies
  • Nurgle’s Champion: Nurgle Elite that charges heroes, dealing powerful charged attacks that leaves acid streaks on the ground and which create a poison aura for those who touch them

• Quests have been added to expeditions
• 2 New Difficulty Levels (Chaos 9 + 10)
• Elessa’s combat voiceover has been updated

Gameplay:

• The Legendary Rank is now shared by all characters across the same save file
• New Stat: ‘Life Drain’ has been added, healing while dealing damage
• A button has been added to the crafting menu to replicate your previous craft
• Some destructible elements are now traps
• New loading screens and tips have been added

Graphics

• New Graphics Options for graphics cards and target refresh rates

Balance

• Passive God Skills point cost reduced
• XP required for levelling up your Legendary Ranks has been reduced
• Bloodlust spheres duration and frequency increased
• Bloodlust regen reduced
• Passive skills while drinking potions last 6 seconds instead of 4
• Legendary Passive Skill Rebalancing
  • Maximum trigger frequency: 2 per sec (up from 1)
  • Legendary Rage: Damage x2
  • Legendary Reinforcement: Maximum Damage Reduction bonus goes from 50% to 20%
  • Legendary Endurance: Maximum Damage Reduction bonus goes from 50% to 30%
  • Legendary Crushing: Maximum Damage Reduction bonus goes from 50% to 30%
  • Legendary Healing: Maximum Healing bonus goes from 25% to 10%, can now be triggered by channelling the skill
  • Legendary Punishment: Maximum Extra Damage bonus goes from 100% to 50%

• Enemies in general have been rebalanced
• Slaanesh daemonettes no longer slow hero characters
• Tzeentch enemies no longer push back and have less chance to stun
• Aggro distance and EXP for enemy kills have been rebalanced
• Adjustments to the general difficulty of the game

Vollen Balance

• ‘Imperial Justice’: skill speed increased
• ‘Pistolier – Level 2’: has had a stun effect added, shooting radius increased. ‘Level 3’ distance has been increased, shooting radius reduced
• ‘Provocation’ animation speed has been increased, explosion radius increased, blocked damage increase. ‘Level 2 and 3’ have had a ‘Counter-Attack’ added.
• ‘Sigmar’s Wrath’: damage bonus for all allies has been increased to 20% (from 10)
• ‘Blade of Vengeance’: damage reduced for each block success
• ‘Magnus Gift’: damage over time has been added
• ‘Shield of Revenge’: ‘Counter-Attack’ damage bonus has been increased
• ‘Meteoric Iron Shield’: aura damage increased, resource cost reduced for each nearby enemy
• ‘Solland’s Ghost’: cooldown reduction chance is increased to 100% (up from 50) upon taking damage
• ‘Indestructible’ Passive Skill: Parade bonus increased to 20% (up from 10)
• ‘Bastion Against Corruption’ Passive Skill: Damage and defence bonus increased to +20% (up from 10)
• ‘Herald of the Empire’ Passive Skill: Damage or Defence bonus increased to +20% (up from 10) depending on the banner equipped
• ‘Scourge of Pestillence’ Level 3 Passive Skill: Gives back 2 times less energy when counter-attacking, but the proc possibility has been doubled
• ‘Majestic Aura’ Passive Skill: Gives a damage bonus of +10%/+15%/+20% (from 5/5/10) and defence has been increased to +10% (from 5/10/10)

Elontir Balance

• ‘Aetheric Vortex’ Level 1: Invoke a dome that slows enemies and their projectiles. All players within the dome move faster and have reduced cooldowns
• ‘Aetheric Vortex’ Level 2: Invoke a dome that slows enemies and their projectiles. All players within the dome move faster, take reduced damage and have reduced cooldowns
• ‘Aetheric Vortex’ Level 3: Invoke a dome that slows enemies and their projectiles. All players within the dome move faster and have reduced cooldowns. Enemies within the dome take more damage
• Fire Sword damage bonus capped at 10 (down from 100)
• ‘Aether Intelligence’: Damage increased reduced to 20% (from 25)
• ‘Arcane Binding’: Damage increased to 20%/20%/30% (from 15/15/20)
• ‘Aqshy Mastery’ Rank 3: Crit change increased to 10% (from 5)
• ‘Fortress of Willpower’: Damage reduction from 10/15/15 (from 10/20/10), damage bonus increased to 15% (from 10)
• ‘Master of the Winds’ Rank 1 & 2: Energy increased to 30% (from 20)
• ‘Continuity’: Energy cost reduction increased to 20% (from 10)
• ‘Living Magic’: Invocation chance adjusted to 20%/25%/30% (from 25)

Bragi Balance

• ‘Fury’: attack speed increased and collision zone increased
• ‘Last Bastion’: gives more stamina
• ‘Call to Oath’: Cooldown increased, life cost reduced, deals less damage, no longer inflames, stun lasts less time. However, bonuses last longer and now increase damage for critical hits of all players within the zone, or movement speed depending on skill level
• ‘Rage’: lasts for 6s (up from 5), max damage bonus increased to 30% (from 20)
• ‘Mountain’s Wrath’: Cooldown increased to 70s (from 60)
• ‘Rock Hard’ Passive Skill: Effect increased to +25%, +25%, +30% (from 15, 15, 25)
• The unlock level for the ‘Fury’ and ‘Axe Throwing’ skills have been swapped
• ‘Axe Throwing’: Projectile speed has been increased
• ‘Laceration’: Skill effect has been widened
• ‘Death Blow’: Damage bonus on stunned enemies is +30% (from 20)
• ‘Blood of the DAWI’: Maximum damage reduced is increased to 50% (down from 40)
• ‘Unwavering’: Maximum energy bonus is increased to 30% (from 20)
• ‘Unstoppable’: The minimum health trigger has been adjusted to 20%/30%/40% (from 10/20/30)

Elessa Balance

• ‘Wild Incarnation’: Dryad attacks improved
• ‘Follow Tracks’: Damage boost increased to 5%
• ‘Follow Tracks’: Defence bonus is now 20% (from 15/15/20) after a move. Rank 3 bonus duration increased to 6s (from 4)
• ‘Tactical Retreat’ Rank 3: Defence bonus is reduced to 10% (from 20) after a dodge
• ‘Ambush Specialist’: Trap damage bonus increased to 30% (from 20)
• ‘Wild Brambles’: Trap damage bonus is reduced to +10%/15%/20% (down from 15/20/25)
• ‘Nature Herald’: Damage bonus increased to +20%/30%/40% (from 15/20/25)

Item Balance

• Heroic Ring
  • Damage bonus for critical hit > Damage bonus and cooldown reduction when picking up a bloodlust sphere
  • Defense bonus for critical hit > Defence bonus and life gain increased when picking up a bloodlust sphere

• The ring that gives more life and healing potency has been increased to 25% (from 20)
• ‘Counter-Attack’ stats have been increased on equipment

Bug Fixes

• The number of Scarabs invoked by ‘Cursed Charm of the Desert’ has been limited
• Inventory filters are no longer reset when changing presets
• Crafting interface has been improved
• Bloodlust orbs no longer appear outside the map
• Bleed effects have been removed from Swarms and Tomb Kings, but added to Scorpions and Scarabs
• Elontir’s ‘Quaysh Shield’ now heals allies correctly