Hi everyone,

Endless Legend Shifters is coming to Steam this week, on April 7th! We're very excited to continue the support for Endless Legend two years after the official release. In case you've missed our recent livestream that featured the new expansion, here's a focus on the Allayi units, the new faction that's coming this Thursday.


THE ALLAYI FACTION



(...) Fearful and beaten, the Allayi scattered themselves in the cold places of Auriga, hiding and dwindling, surviving the horrors of the Dust wars through their extreme toughness, their skills with native life forms, and their close bond to the planet.
Now, finally, the Guardians have awakened; taking this as a sign, the Allayi are coming together and daring to rebuild something of the life they once had. With the Guardians weak, and Auriga dying, they view it as their fate to do what is possible to preserve their once glorious homeworld.



AFFINITY

Shifting
The Allayi faction is deeply bound to the life and death of Auriga, which the player mostly experiences through the prism of the changing seasons. Their gameplay is centred around exploration and the collection of a new resource, Auriga Pearls, with which they have a particular affinity. All their units change form based on the season, becoming more active in winter and more settled in summer. Also, they will gradually manage to control these form-shifting abilities.

Overview
  • All faction units have the "Shifting" capacity which alters their attributes and capacities depending on their current "shifter form":
    In summer units assume their "Light Form":
    • +20% Defence.
    • +10% Regeneration
    • -50% Unit upkeep

    In winter units assume their "Dark Form":
    • +20% Attack.
    • Immunity to Winter movement and vision reduction
    • +1 Vision Range
    • +1 Map Movement
    • +1 Battle Movement
  • This form can later be modified artificially (out of season) using an exclusive Blessing available in the Altar of Auriga:
    The effect last for 1 turn and cost 1 orb per unit level.



TRAITS


Garth of the Allayi
The faction has access, as a starting trait, to a very specific city borough, in place of the usual one. It costs Pearls and Industry to build, but has also much improved attributes:
  • 1 per city Pop
  • -5 Approval / +15 per extra level on district
  • +2 Food
  • +2 Industry
  • +2 Dust / +4 per extra level on district
  • +2 Science / +4 per extra level on district
  • +2 Influence / +4 per extra level on district
  • +20 City Fortification per extra level on district

Pearl Sensitive
The Allayi have a particular relationship with the Auriga Pearls, and much of their gameplay centers around collecting and using them. We wanted the faction to lead the "arms race" as far as voting for winter effects is concerned: other factions should be pushed to join them as a result.

  • The empire can see the locations of pearls through the fog of war, so in all the areas they have explored
  • This ability is shared with friendly empires when a map exchange treaty is ratified
  • In addition the Allayi receive pearls whenever they successfully search a ruin, in addition to the loot

Breath of Auriga
The Allayi have a special relationship with the seasons, so it is important that they have access to superior powers of prediction. This will help them to collect pearls (as they will be ready) and to vote more effectively (because they know when the voting will end).
  • -100% winter prediction margin of error.

We Chosen Few
The Allayi are explorers, ecologists and pioneers, not empire-builders, so will tend to have small empires of only a few cities. Their production needs to be intensive not extensive. Until now we've not had a faction midway between the Cultists' single-city empires and the Necrophages sprawling hive clusters. They should play very differently from other factions and provide experienced players with a new challenge, with each unit of population feeling precious and special. This penalty will also oblige the Allayi player to focus on pearl collection in order to prop up their economy and to defend themselves: their special borough in particular will come in handy.

  • +50% Growth required for each new population opulation: on cities.
  • +150% Expansion Disapproval on cities.

Mercurial Diplomats
The Allayi have a lunatic nature, subject to mood swings as the seasons change. This trait will mostly serve the lore, but it does contribute to the faction's season-based planning gameplay. We wanted the shifting to affect every part of the game, including diplomacy.

  • -25% influence cost in summer for all diplomatic treaties.
  • -25% influence cost in winter for all diplomatic declarations.

Battlefield Symbiosis
The symbiotic and shifting nature of the faction is further emphasized by the interdependence of their units. This trait reinforces the importance of morale and should make the Allayi faction interesting to play with on the battlefield.

  • +15% initiative per point of positive morale on units (up to +90%)
  • -15% initiative per point of negative morale on units (up to -90%)


UNITS

Hero
The only Ranged unit of the Faction, with a bonus when collecting Pearls. In summer, they can indirectly also support units by using Shifting Nova ability.

"Shifting Nova" ability:
  • If in "Light Form": Automatically heals surrounding friendly units (15% of Damage)
  • If in "Dark Form": Circle area of effect on targeted enemy unit (15% of Damage)

Summer / Winter



Starting unit: "Seeker"
A faction based on exploration needs a fast starting unit to cover a lot of ground in the first turns.



Overview
  • A decent cavalry unit which can equip a spear or sword and shield.
  • "Shifting charge" ability:
    • If in "light form": -10% to enemy attack per movement point spent.
    • If in "dark form": -10% to enemy defence per movement point spent.


Era 1 unit: "Skyfin"
A very special support unit with an extremely high movement range, created primarily to collect pearls but also to support other armies. It can, in addition, deploy on a resource deposit, allowing the Allayi empire to compensate for the lack of regions it directly controls. If done, this also provides an approval bonus to the hosting region, creating an interesting symbiotic relationship between empires.


Overview
  • An especially fast, solitary, flying support unit, which can equip wands or claws.
  • "Shifting Awe" ability:
    • If in "light form": +1 morale on the target ally, jumps across friendly units like chain lightning.
    • If in "dark form": -1 morale on the target enemy, jumps across friendly units like chain lightning.
  • "One with Auriga" ability:
    • Can deploy on any unclaimed resource deposit to extract resources each turn.
    • The amount of resources extracted depends on the level of the unit.
    • The region owner shares the unit's vision and their city gains +10 approval
    • The unit cannot be attacked by Minor faction roaming armies

Era 2 unit: "Monk"
The faction line-up can't be entirely made up of scouts. There needs to be strong fighting unit. It should, however, still be highly mobile.


Overview
  • A powerful flying combat unit which can equip a spear or 2-handed sword.
  • "Shifting combo" ability:
    • If in "light form": increasing hit ability, up to 3 consecutive attacks
    • If in "dark form": increasing hit ability, up to 3 consecutive counters

Stay tuned for more reveals on the Shifters expansions!