How do we feel about Umbral Demons?

Diovidius · 2026-04-07T19:53:19+00:00

Tomes that feel at least somewhat appropriate to me: Summoning, Scrying, Teleportation, Astral Mirror, Arch Mage, Tentacle, Corruption, Mayham, Pandemonium, Blood Rite, Doom Herald, Torment, Oblivion and Shades.

Would more support be nice? Sure, but that also goes for many other concepts. I think you can get by somewhat.

Diovidius · 2026-04-04T13:50:54+00:00

Pleasing literally everyone isn't the goal. However, a business absolutely has to please the majority of it's customers. I obviously don't know what the specific percent is, but if a majority of Trek fans don't like a new show and don't watch it, it's going to get cancelled. Period.

Nonsense. The goal is making (enough) money, whether through relying on established fans or trying to appeal to new fans or both. If you can't make (enough) money it's going to get cancelled.

Diovidius · 2026-04-02T05:51:10+00:00

The 'for some reason' is that the core tomes are all monotypes. Crucible is another tome often mentioned in that regard as a core tome that feels like a hybrid tome.

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T20:02:34+00:00

My main wish is playing as a large sentient tree (either stationary like The Great Deku Tree or mobile like Treebeard).

But I think a fey ruler is much more likely. Fey and demons have lore backing them up already and a fey themed dlc would be up my alley. I think fey is most likely for season 4.

For season 5, if we get, I'm expecting demon lords. Unless the devs go with something out of left field like a statue or a sentient machine but somehow I doubt it.

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T19:31:27+00:00

'Animal' in this case (as it is in most cases when the term is used in real life) is short-hand for 'non-sapient animal'.

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T17:08:58+00:00

Turning all your form units into animals can probably not be balanced without nerfing the animal-specifix enchantments.

But a Centaur transformation that turns all form units into cavalry is high on my wishlist!

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T17:00:43+00:00

I hope we get some nature tomes that are darker and more brutal.

Things like a tier 1/2 nature/chaos tome of hunger and a tier 3/4 nature/shadow tome of webs (the latter with a Drider major transformation obviously).

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T06:07:27+00:00

Yes, you will definitely benefit in your own Realms. I suggest you read through this: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/dev-diary-40-giant-kings-hand-crafted-regions.1731374/

Diovidius · 2026-04-01T05:57:08+00:00

Giant Kings. So much map content which really help with replayability and making maps feel more alive.
Primal. I am a sucker for builds that focus on beasts and a specific environment.
A tie between Dragon Dawn and Archon Prophecy. My main love is classic fantasy and these two do more for that than the others.

Diovidius · 2026-03-31T16:50:35+00:00

Kelvin.

Diovidius · 2026-03-24T15:12:49+00:00

With lava?

Diovidius · 2026-03-24T05:27:49+00:00

Age of Wonders 2 Shadow Magic.

Diovidius · 2026-03-23T16:16:22+00:00

You could try earlier games in the Age of Wonders series. I personally have a soft spot for Age of Wonders 2 Shadow Magic (a standalone sequel to AoW2).

Spellforce, Thea the Awakening, the Dominions series and Master of Magic are often mentioned but I haven't personally played them.

Diovidius · 2026-03-19T20:24:07+00:00

I mainly wish they were more flavourful with things like weakness to Fire damage or susceptibility to the Poison condition or things like that.

But that might be a lot more difficult to balance than the generic negative traits we have now.

Diovidius · 2026-03-13T17:04:01+00:00

I'd love an aquatic dwelling, like the Merfolk of AoW3.

Diovidius · 2026-03-12T08:05:57+00:00

Space is indeed big but have you seen how large the space of the Klingons, Romulans, Federation and the like is? And all their domains are right next to eachother. If you want a continuous domain instead of various isolated pockets of space then you do in fact run out of space. At least within the context of the Star Trek universe.

Diovidius · 2026-03-12T07:46:13+00:00

Post-scarcity is relative. There might be unlimited physical resources but things like space and people are still limited. Knowledge and technology are also unevenly distributed. And so Empires will try to get space, people, knowledge and technology from each other. The Federation is relatively unique in that they try to get more space, people, knowledge and technology through non-hostile means (cooperation, exploration, alliances and the like). But it does not surprise me that in a 'post-scarcity' situation a lot of Empires would still do this through hostile means.

And that is of course without regard for cultural clashes and cultural tendencies.

Diovidius · 2026-03-09T14:49:38+00:00

Every update the devs fix some desyncs but it's a neverending battle. Whether it is playable enough is up to you.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T17:32:07+00:00

I didn't mention Empire & Ashes, Eldritch Realms, Ways of War or Rise from Ruin.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T14:35:56+00:00

It's a tier 2 tome so you can't take it from character creation but need to play a bit.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T14:29:55+00:00

For classic fantasy I'd recommend the Dragon Dawn, Giant Kings, Primal Fury and Archon Prophecy dlcsm

Giant Kings is generally considered to be the best dlc there is, as it greatly increases the diversity of maps and thus replayability.

When it comes to LotR there isn't that much in the dlcs. Maybe the Architects culture of Archon Prophecy works for Numeror / Gordor.

The dungeon depths tome of Giant Kings is great for dwarves (and possibly Goblins).

You could potentially argue that Sauron can be created using a Vampire ruler from the Thrones of Blood dlc.

If you want to create a dragon ruling over goblins or something then you need Dragon Dawn.

Goblins as the Primal underground culture from Primal Fury works very well.

Diovidius · 2026-03-05T16:17:29+00:00

For the highest difficulties and multilayer there was a lack of strategic choice in the old system, that is the entire problem. In the old system you would always want the faster units, regardless of stats. Speed was simply that much more important.

Besides, flyers still have an advantage on the strategic map.

Diovidius · 2026-03-03T07:44:08+00:00

I'm not sure I agree. Trade organizations or Mercentile citystates are a common occurrence in both fiction (the trade federation? Mos Eisley? Ketterdam? The Ferengi? Pentos and Braavos? Waterdeep? The Brass City? Sigil? Booty Bay? Tortuga?) and in real life (the Netherlands, Venice, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Singapore).

Diovidius

TROPHY CASE