Edain 4.7: Lake-town

[Elendils Cousin 3. Grades]

Greetings, companions of the Edain!

Besides the changes to the Witch-King of Angmar and the visual overhaul of many Gondor models (of which there are more to come!), we are also making some changes to the Dwarves. We have received more and more feedback that the two outposts of Dale and Lake-town leave something to be desired here and there, which is why they have received not only optical renewals but also an updated concept that expands upon the old. Naturally, we want to show that to you, so let's start with the new Lake-town.

The basic idea of Lake-town and Dale remains the same: You start with a central structure, which can then build additional extensions and thus unlock further advantages. However, we felt that we could get a lot more out of this system, which is why we expanded it: In 4.7, Lake-town will no longer have immediate access to all expansions, but instead will be able to reach higher and higher levels over time (up to a maximum of level 10) and add one more extension at each new level. So you start with a relatively small settlement, which can then develop into a powerful city as the game progresses; quickly at first, but reaching level ten takes a long time. One of the new features we implemented for Lake-town is the ability to camouflage nearby allies. This new aspect has its origin in a suggestion from the community: unlike Dale, Lake-town developed in the shadow of Smaug the Terrible and was not such a splendid and proud trading hub. Therefore, the inhabitants around Bard resort to stealth and smuggling.

With a total of ten levels, you can expand Lake-town with a total of eight additional attachments: The first upgrade becomes available at level two, while at level 10 you automatically get access to Smuggler's Paradise. These upgrade are divided into two categories, starting with the always available simple upgrades and the advanced upgrades, which have another upgrade as a prerequisite.

Basic:
Housing Area: Generates resources and spawns Fishmongers, who generate additional resources over time. Increases HP by 500. Unlocks Mayor's Lodge.
Militia House: Unlocks military units. Increases HP by 500. Unlocks Bell Tower.
Smuggler's Den: Unlocks Bard and stealthes nearby allies. Increases HP by 500. Unlocks Off-Shore Transport.
Black Market: Spawns Fishmongers who generate resources. Increases Fishmonger's resource gain by 10%. Increases HP by 500. Unlocks Weapon Stashes.

Advanced:
Mayor's Lodge: Unlocks A warm welcome!. Grants allies in the area +25% damage and +25% armor. Passive ability.
Bell Tower: Fires Arrows at enemies and unlocks Alarm!. Alarm allows Fishmongers to fight with increased courage for 30 seconds. Increases HP by 500 and improves armor against melee damage significantly.
Weapon Stashes: Unlocks Alarm!. Alarm! temporarily deactivates resource generation of all Fishmongers but greatly increases recruitment speed.
Offshore-Transport: Spawns a boat with barrels on it, granting access to the tunnel system.

At level ten, a final passive ability is automatically unlocked, signifying Bard's connection to his hometown.
Smuggler's Paradise: Bard knows the alleys of Lake-town like no other. He gains +100% experience and +33% armor within a wide radius, and heals rapidly within Lake-town.

As you can see, your have plenty of different routes to take. You want to start by establishing a military base to support your dwarven force with Bard and the revamped Lake-town units? Militia House and Bell Tower provide you with a safe fallback point that can be well defended. Smuggler's Lair and Offshore Transport allow you to give a nasty surprise to all who want to raid a seemingly abandoned Lake-town. Want to start by boosting your economy? A housing area and black market will flush money into your coffers. It is up to you to decide how you want to turn Lake-town into a prosperous partner city of the dwarves. If you can protect the emerging settlement long enough, you will then be rewarded with an outpost that is not to be underestimated, both economically and militarily! And speaking of Lake-town's military... its soldiers have also received a visual overhaul:

If you want to see some ingame footage of the new Lake-town, check it out on our YouTube channel by clicking on the image below:

We hope you liked those insights into our Lake-town overhaul and are, as always, looking forward to your feedback!

Your Edain team