Warhammer Dawn of War 3 - DAMNATIO MEMORIAE

[Aothan]

after about three months of monkeigh footage it could be timely to begin showing more details about the Ork and Eldar units

 

[Maculo]

Space Marine Elite Spotlight of Jonah Orion.

https://www.dawnofwar.com/article/unit-spotlight-jonah

Spoiler

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By Kat on Sep 15 2016
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Spotlight: Jonah Orion
Jonah Orion is the Blood Raven's Chief Librarian and a man of fearsome psychic power. Focused on supporting his brethren, he is a flexible Elite who amplifies the effectiveness of his allies.

Background

Chief Librarian of the Blood Ravens, Jonah Orion is a psyker of tremendous renown. Librarians are able to bend the Warp to their will (sometimes with the aid of a familiar) although carefully walking this line requires incredible mental fortitude. In the Chapter’s darkest hours, Jonah endured the predations of the Tyranid Hive Mind that wiped out his fellow Librarians. During the Aurelian Crusade, Jonah safeguarded his Battle-Brothers from the corruption of Chaos spreading from within the Chapter.

Trapping enemies with Stonewall and using Fury of the Ancients deals massive damage
Although he sustained what many thought was a mortal wound on Aurelia, he miraculously survived. Understanding the gravity of Jonah’s sacrifices for the Chapter and his undeniable role in their victory against Arch-Traitor Azariah Kyras, the newly-appointed Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos promoted him to Chief Librarian.

Now, it is Jonah’s desire to redefine psyker culture within the Blood Ravens Chapter so that heresy can’t breed within. Due to their gene seed, the Blood Ravens will always have a higher distribution of psykers. It is Jonah’s duty as Chief Librarian to ensure that they don’t stray.



Jonah by Dawn of War on Sketchfab

Attributes
Fury of the Ancients
High crowd control

Most effective at supporting allies

Abilities
Zeal (Passive)

A charge is granted every time Jonah uses an ability. Each charge decreases his time between attacks by 0.5 seconds. Charges decay every 10 seconds.

Fury of the Ancients

Emperor's Light
Jonah channels his psychic power through his cherub-familiar, dealing damage to enemies and temporarily boosting the speed of allies.

Emperor's Light

Jonah calls forth an expanding field of light that increases the damage of allies while disabling enemy attacks and vision.

Stonewall

Stonewall
Jonah reshapes the earth and erects a ring of impassable barriers around himself that absorb all incoming and outgoing fire.

Playstyle
The Chief Librarian’s abilities interact in a couple of different ways. Casting Fury of the Ancients inside of Stonewall will cause it to fill the area instead of casting in a line. Using this combo, Jonah is great at trapping enemies and dealing considerable damage. Casting Emperor’s Light inside of Stonewall will make Emperor’s Light last longer.

"Stonewall can block off escape routes, lay traps, and set up other abilities."
Stonewall can block off escape routes, lay traps, and set up other abilities. It also makes for a great escape tool, as Jonah can use it to block incoming damage and use Fury of the Ancients to speed his allies out of harm’s way.

Jonah can be countered by skimmer units such as Land Speeders since they can chase him down quite easily. Units that can jump or teleport are able to infiltrate Stonewall, so you’ll need to be careful about when you use it. Similarly, artillery barrages aren’t blocked by Stonewall, so make sure you don’t accidentally lock your allies in the midst of enemy fire!

With these tools at his disposal, Jonah is an interesting Elite to play. Choosing how to combine your abilities can drastically change the outcome of a battle.

How do you envision Jonah’s role in your Space Marine army? Pop into the forums and let us know your plan for the Chief Librarian of the Blood Ravens!

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2016. Dawn of War III, the Dawn of War logo, GW, Games Workshop, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likeness thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world, and used under license. This release is developed by Relic Entertainment and published by SEGA. SEGA, the SEGA logo, Relic Entertainment and the Relic Entertainment logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Holdings Co., Ltd or its affiliates. All rights reserved. SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

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Although I copied the text in the spoiler, it may be worth to click the link, since it has a 3d image viewer for his in-game model.

Edit: I am disappointed he does not shoot fireballs that instantly wipe out enemy infantry.

 

[spectre]

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only constipation.

 

[Aothan]

for those interested they are beginning to reveal some additional material with the Eldar on the website, not a great deal of information but there is some brief footage of an Eldritch Knight in action which happens to look like an authentic Eldar unit, the abilities are probably effective but additional customisation options would be preferable for some of these unit types

https://www.dawnofwar.com/article/unit-spotlight-wraithknight

 

[anus_pounder]

Usually they release info about the protagonists first, then the 'other' races and factions. Its interesting that relic is going the other way and keeping a lid on Ork news so far.

 

[Aothan]

yeah I did wonder about the apparently limited information of the Orks, but even the Eldar details are still limited at this time, which could indicate the game's progress is not that close to release

the Farseer art-directions could be telling (i.e. they have anthropomorphised her features, when the surest art would basically be HE with alien eyes), at the same time the preliminary footage of the Banshees suggests they can be effective in melee this time (after being substantially 'balanced' in Dow II). The Eldar super unit has a charge ability that disrupts and knocks units down, this can be useful but incorporating these types of skills on units also often serves to undo their efficiency - charging into and past front lines to be isolated and surrounded, much depends on how effective the final attack at the end of the animation will be. Although the many disruption and manoeuvre type skills and abilities show promise for a more action orientated development of the DoW series

games and particularly rts types are rarely balanced to begin with but after many many years of Ork shootas defining the game and the unstoppable Ork economy regardless if Eldar managed to keep pace I would really like to see a more finely balanced game for all the factions this time

 

[Aothan]

Banshees are on the official website, first impressions is they do not move that fast with Fleet for a game that has already displayed multiple units with teleporting abilities, at the same time their combined abilities to slow and knockdown are bound to be useful. They actually 'balanced' the latter out of DoW II (ten odd years of really awkward game balance)

 

[Aothan]

new units (Wraith Blades) on the website, seeing a trend with abilities being speed and unit disorientation but whilst it is good to begin with an early emphasis on Eldar melee capabilities I hope this means the innate attributes of the units are suitable for melee, not much point moving in only to be outclassed by much stronger counterparts

 

[Maculo]

Eldar mission and units.

 

[you know what time it is]

So shit interface, gameplay is slow and there's a hp bloat.

 

[Maculo]

I do not know if I misheard, but I think he said players passively gain elite points. I am starting to think it would be better if elite point generation came from nodes in some way. That way, aggressive map control is rewarded.

gameplay is slow and there's a hp bloat.

I actually disagree on this point. The streamer failed to use proper counters, such as Dark Reapers. It looked liked he primarily built cheap infantry and anti-tank squads (specters) against an infantry heavy force. He did not build Dark Reapers, Banshees, or tanks. Also, notice that a squad of lazcanon marines practically took 1/4 of the Wraithlord's health in a short period of time.

I feel like it runs into the same trap as SC2, where the damage becomes so high in certain match ups. Personally, I preferred WC3's system, where there was no bonus damage, but certain armor types did not take full damage (fortified, light, medium, heavy, etc). Granted, I have not heard a criticism of WC3's armor system, and so I do not know if there are any good points against it.

 

[ArchAngel]

WC3 system is not usable, or anything from WC3. It is a different kind of RTS with small number of units that don't die often. SC2 and DOWIII are going for massive casualties type of RTS.

 

[Maculo]

As far as I know, SC1 had a damage reduction system (although it was not clearly stated), and it still had massive casualties, and I would place Brood War above SC2 and DoW III's current system. At this point, there are so many spells and high damage abilities being thrown across the screen. At best, a damage reduction system would only slow down the casualties moderately.

Edit: I also do not agree that nothing is usable from WC3. WC3 made the leap to hero units.

Edit 2: I found a simple breakdown of Brood War's damage system: "In StarCraft, there are three damage types: concussive, normal, and explosive. The actual damage done depends on the type and the size of the target unit, as indicated in the following table:

Unit Size Concussive Normal Explosive
Small 100% 100% 50%
Medium 50% 100% 75%
Large 25% 100% 100%

This makes more sense to me than the bonus damage system currently in SC2 and DoW III. SC1 had mass causalities without battles turning into a complete 1-sided match depending on who stacked what.

 

[ArchAngel]

It is easier for people to understand bonus to damage then reduction to damage. These companies are trying to sell more copies of their games and that needs simplifications. SC2 system would work well if they still had 3 types of armor, but they only left light and armored. Also you can reduce damage numbers instead of having armor that reduces it.

 

[Maculo]

I see what you mean by simplicity, but I do not think it is a major obstacle. In fact, I do not think SC1 ever explained the system, and casual players were likely better off for it. Also, at the end of the day, I believe a reduction system provides better gamplay in a mass casualty RTS setting. From the current video, the Wrathlord lost nearly 1/4 of its health to a squad of lazcanon marines. Damage already is high enough, why inflate it further with a damage bonus?

 

[hello friend]

I also do not agree that nothing is usable from WC3. WC3 made the leap to hero units.

A leap backwards imo

Edit: rock-paper-scissors armour type shenanigans are just that. A truly RTS would have deformable terrain and weather effects, and differentiate units more by mobility - both in speed and ability to traverse various terrain types. Would be great to have to account for position of the sun, elevation, rocky terrain/muddy/sand, fog, all of that. All of this. Don't send your knights/tanks into that marsh bro! Light infantry can. Depending on setting, fleshed-out naval combat, z-axis space combat, submarine combat (doable with the right UI), tunneling (with different types of rock). Not the frenetic pace of SC2.

 

[Maculo]

In a perfect world? Yes, that would be a neat experiment to try with terrain. The problem is that DoW III is going in a completely different direction. One that could turn the gameplay into an explosion fest of awesome buttons. In contrast, I believe WC3 and SC1's armor system reined that in, if only a little, especially compared to SC2, which also used a bonus damage system. In my opinion, part of the reason SC2's pace is so frantic is because of the bonus damage system.

Also, whether you think WC3 was a step forward or backwards, I still think it did several things well. Specifically, heroes competed with other units for gold, whereas in DoW III we have a passive build up of awesome points. In WC3, it did not always make sense to pump out as many heroes as possible. Here, as soon as you have the elite points, you spend them. The current elite system does not promote the same degree of risk vs. reward.

 

[thesheeep]

I also do not agree that nothing is usable from WC3. WC3 made the leap to hero units.

A leap backwards imo

I really don't know what "leaps" you are talking about. It's just a different style of gameplay.

Though I'd far prefer a permanent hero to be sure. One that levels as you progress.
Gives you some kind of identification with your nation/race/whatever. That was at least one thing DoW2 got right (well... at least in the campaign).

 

[ArchAngel]

In a perfect world? Yes, that would be a neat experiment to try with terrain. The problem is that DoW III is going in a completely different direction. One that could turn the gameplay into an explosion fest of awesome buttons. In contrast, I believe WC3 and SC1's armor system reined that in, if only a little, especially compared to SC2, which also used a bonus damage system. In my opinion, part of the reason SC2's pace is so frantic is because of the bonus damage system.

Also, whether you think WC3 was a step forward or backwards, I still think it did several things well. Specifically, heroes competed with other units for gold, whereas in DoW III we have a passive build up of awesome points. In WC3, it did not always make sense to pump out as many heroes as possible. Here, as soon as you have the elite points, you spend them. There is less risk vs. reward involved with elite units, outside of a timer.

In the video InControl said there will be other ways to collect elite points so there will be choice. Also in WC3, the top players always chose hero units over normal ones lol. The real choice was if you want to have too many heroes too early because they share XP gain when fighting same enemies.

 

[Maculo]

[
In the video InControl said there will be other ways to collect elite points so there will be choice. Also in WC3, the top players always chose hero units over normal ones lol. The real choice was if you want to have too many heroes too early because they share XP gain when fighting same enemies.

I definitely missed that InControl said that. I assume that would be in the form of item pickups (I think I saw him pick up requisition/energy on the ground) or special nodes (which could work like Relic capture points).

As for WC3, the difference is that hero units and regular units still competed within the same resource pool. Also, I disagree that top players always chose hero units over general. Building an extra hero did not always win out over a general unit, such as a Druid of the Talon (cyclone for the win) or Dryad (poison with slow effect). As far as I remember, builds revolved around the timing of hero/unit combos, which would change over the course of the game. If a remember correctly, an example would be where undead players would start with Death Knights and invest in crypt fiends first. Only later would they add a Lich to combo Death Coil and Frost nova. Beyond that, I think it changed to Frost Wyrms and Devourers, but my memory is shaky. Another example would be Druids of the Talon and Dryads, which I referenced above. Ultimately, it was not a direct race to whoever could field the most heroes.

Here, investing in units and elites is made simple, because they do not compete with one another. You field an elite as soon as it is available.

Edit: Again, my memory sucks, but I think with Nigh Elf you would start with Demon Hunter for mana burn, and then go to either Dryad or Druid of the Talon. Later on you would add Warden or get a neutral hero, such as the Naga Witch for the lightning attack.

 

[ArchAngel]

Well this is not supposed to be a WC3 type of game, also heroes are less powerful. At least the starting ones. I think it is interesting that they added a kind of a timer into the game by making it work this way. Players can plan builds and tactics by knowing when they or their enemy will have access to those units. Also if summoning hero units will have battlefield impact (like summoning it to certain place on map and it can damage or disable units when arriving) it will make summoning them not that black and white.
Also the question is if summoning a mid game hero makes it slower to get access to strongest hero unit? Maybe you can choose to skip and risk it to get faster access to strongest unit of your faction.

 

[Maculo]

At this point, we will have to see how it plays out. I just hope they will have a long beta before release.

Though I'd far prefer a permanent hero to be sure. One that levels as you progress.
Gives you some kind of identification with your nation/race/whatever. That was at least one thing DoW2 got right (well... at least in the campaign).

I have been toying around with the idea of hero upgrades, and whether it would add anything good to the gameplay. By upgrades, I do not mean WC3-esque level ups, but rather akin to the upgrades found in the Ultimate Apocalypse mod for Soul Storm. In Ultimate Apocalypse, you could spend requisition to upgrade heroes just as you would a normal unit. Here, I would imagine you could use elite points to buy upgrades for an existing elite, rather than purchase a new elite unit.

Then again, that could run counter the the principle that normal units can compete with elite units, if not careful.

Edit: This reminds me to shill for the Ultimate Apocalypse mod. Last time I checked, the balance still is terrible, but it adds new units, new heroes, abilities, Titan units, and ultimates to Soulstorm. For example, Dark Eldar get Trueborn, Wracks, new/better soul powers, and an ultimate upgrade to build a Cabal Fortress, which basically shoots anything that moves throughout the map.

 

[Jaedar]

I refuse to watch that video cause the streamer is an idiot who has cluttered the entire screen with useless bullshit. Is there a better video somewhere?

 

[Cyberarmy]

Most of the streamers are like that regretfully...

 

[Maculo]

I refuse to watch that video cause the streamer is an idiot who has cluttered the entire screen with useless bullshit. Is there a better video somewhere?

Try these battle brother:

With no commentary.



With developer commentary.



Edit: Focusing on the voice acting, I wonder why the Eldar are looking for AngelASS.