Hi everyone,

We're continuing our exploration of the features coming to Endless Legend Tempest releasing to Steam on October 14th! In case you've missed our game design documents when we announced the new expansion, here's a closer look to the updated Sea Fortresses, Ocean Control, & Sea Monster, all of which will be available to Tempest owners starting Friday evening.

SEA FORTRESSES & OCEAN CONTROL

An ocean region can contain between 0 and 3 fortresses depending on its size and topological importance: how connected it is to islands, continents and other oceans. Simply put the more “strategically interesting” an ocean is the more fortresses it will tend to have. It is possible to take control of fortresses through diplomacy, combat or quests. Fortresses have a garrison but do not have fortification so they need units to protect them.

Fortress Composition

A fortress is composed of a central “citadel” tile and up to 4 “facility” tiles which grant different kinds of bonuses to the fortress’s owner:

A fortress’s owner can garrison units in the citadel: units in garrison cost less upkeep and regenerate faster. Fortresses can be traded between empires at peace, in an alliance or negotiating a truce.

Capturing a fortress provides exploration (but not vision) of the citadel tiles of all the region’s other fortresses.

Roaming Fleets

At the beginning of the game, fortresses are controlled by a neutral faction of enigmatic and rather hostile creatures called Fomorians. Masters of sea-craft, it is from them that the other factions gain access to their warships.

Neutral-controlled fortresses periodically spawn hostile warships which gradually fills out their garrison. When there is no room left they will leave and begin to patrol their regions in an increasing aggressive manner. They will take back fortresses that have been taken by a Major Faction in their own and in neighboring regions.

Interactions with Fortresses

Empires can gain control of neutral-controlled fortresses either by destroying their garrison or by completing a quest for them (assuming they have researched Language Square). These quests will sometimes provide seafaring technologies or resources as well. It is possible to parley with each fortress of a given region independently.

Fortresses in neutral regions can be attacked if they are Fomorian-controlled or if the empire is at least in cold war with the owner.

It is not possible to Bribe, Convert, Pillage or Besiege a fortress.

Facilities

The bonuses provided by sea fortresses are “made flesh” in the form of Facility tiles adjacent to the central citadel. These can provide either strategic or luxury resources or a significant and world-unique bonus which increases as more facilities are captured. These “unique” facilities may not appear in every game and even less in all fortresses. They are definitely less common than the (non-unique) strategic- and luxury-resource facilities.

Facilities can start opened or closed. Closed facilities will be revealed as empires advance through the eras, prompting them to reevaluate their priorities. This dynamic should further emphasize the fickle and flowing nature of the sea and create a tense guessing-game between empires for those high-level facilities which still remain in their “closed” state late-game.

Apart from Science, Dust and Influence bonuses coming from their tiles, Facilities have specific effects:

Strategic Resource Facility (non-unique)

Luxury Resource Facility (non-unique)

Vision Facility

Food Facility

 Industry Facility

Science Facility

Luxury Boost Facility

Strategic Boost Facility

Center of Influence

Cargo Nexus

Ship Efficiency Facility

Dust Accumulator

Vile tide Facility

Ship Optimization Facility

Sky Shaker Facility

Ocean Control

Once an empire controls all the fortresses in an ocean region they gain control of the region itself. Controlling a region provides bragging rights but also significant benefits:

• Team color: the region takes the color of the empire which controls it, much like a land region.

• Naming Rights : It becomes possible to rename the ocean.

• Trade Routes: The science and dust yield of ocean trade routes is doubled if they cross only self or friendly controlled oceanic regions.

• Facility Resource Production: The strategic and luxury resource production of deposits in a controlled oceanic region is increased by 50%.

• Fortress Vision Bonus: The vision range of all fortresses is increased by 3.

• Regeneration: As on land, units in an ally controlled ocean region regenerate at a higher rate.

• Retrofitting: As on land, units in a controlled ocean region can be retrofitted.

It is necessary to declare war on an empire in order to attack fortresses in an oceanic region that they control. However border policies do not apply on the sea: you can enter the oceanic region of an empire which has closed their borders!

SEA MONSTER

Behold...

The horror!

In mid-almost late game, a global competitive quest might start, mostly depending on the average number of technologies unlocked per empire. Empires can attempt to defeat the creature for a significant treasure... provided that they are powerful enough!

This boss-like creature has its particularities: powerful, strong regeneration abilities, 100% submersible (furtive), unit designs changing through the game.

It is composed of a massive maw and many appendages that must all be destroyed to completely annihilate the monster.

We hope you found this interesting! Back tomorrow with the content of the free update: Pacts of the Seas!