Hello everyone! My name is Luis and I am a designer at Triumph. I got the privilege of being the main designer for Dragon Dawn, our first content pack. In this dev diary I will go over the new Lizardfolk form and the new tomes of magic, as well as their units.

Lizardfolk

Lizardfolk are very thematic for the dragon themed dlc and we knew people have been wanting them since the game was announced, so we are very excited to give players access to this new form.

By default they have a new body trait that is going out with the free Wyvern Update, the Poisonous trait. This has a 30% chance to Poison melee attackers and also gives them a bit of Blight resistance. Lizardfolk also come with the Cold Blooded mind trait, which reduces the morale they lose in battle.

There are a lot of ways to customize your Lizardfolk with a variety of heads and decorations, from snakes to crocodiles to chameleons and others, so you can make what your heart desires.

Tomes

For the first time we will be doing mixed affinity tomes, and you can expect this trend to continue as new content and expansion packs come out. For Dragon Dawn I wanted the tomes to represent the power of destruction and creation that is often associated with dragons so both new tomes come with the Chaos and Nature affinity.

Tome of Evolution - Tier I

As the name suggests this tome is all about evolving units and comes with two units that benefit from this.

Slither Hatchling

The slither hatchling is a skirmisher that counts as an animal and a dragon unit, so they have the Low Maintenance most animals have as well as the damage increase granted by Draconic Rage (this triggers when a dragon unit drops below 60%hit points).

They can also apply Poisoned with their ranged attack and their melee attacks deal extra damage to Poisoned units! Of course, this is the Tome of Evolution, so when they reach the champion rank they turn into a Tier 3 unit, the Slither.

Slither

The Slither is a Tier 3 unit and has all the benefits of the Hatchling, just stronger. It also has the Slip Away ability that triggers once per battle when it takes fatal damage. This makes the unit quickly escape to a nearby hex and regain15 health.

Wyvern Fledgling

The Wyvern Fledgling is a fighter unit and a strategic summon from this tome. It is a very simple dragon unit that can evolve into a random Tier 3 Wyvern. That includes the Fire and Frost Wyvern but with this pack we also introduce the Golden and Obsidian wyvern which this unit can also evolve into!

Unit Enchantment - Rapid Evolution Enchantment

To make sure you can evolve your units, we added an enchantment that only affects units that can Evolve. It grants XP gained from combat as well as giving Tier 1 and 2 units Resurgence, meaning that if they die in battle but you are still victorious then the unit comes back with low hit points after battle

Minor Race Transformation - Draconic Vitality

So other units benefit from this tome, we have a minor race transformation that takes the concept of growth causing units to benefit more from their unit ranks more. Draconic Vitality grants +3 Hit Points per rank the unit has and makes them look more reptilian and spiky.

Tome of Dragons - Tier III

The second tome you can unlock is all about the power of  and acquiring Dragons and turning your units into Draconians.

Young Dragons

Young dragons are Tier 3 Fighter units. While they may look like their adult counterparts they don’t yet have their elemental breath weapon or the extra damage on their claws. Once you research this skill you will be able to draft the Young Frost and Fire Dragons in your cities. Gold and Obsidian Dragons are new in this content pack and you can also get their young versions as long as you meet certain alignment requirements. When these units reach champion rank, they evolve into their Tier 5 adult forms.

Unit Enchantment - Flamer Focus

The flamer focus is a reference to the Draconians from Age of Wonders 3, the Flamer unit had a Fire Bomb ability which this enchantment is recreating for Age of Wonder 4. It applies to Battle Mages and grants a full action ability that deals damage to a target and half to adjacent units while also applying Burning and Bleeding to those affected.

Major Race Transformation - Draconian Transformation

The draconian transformation turns your race into Dragon humanoid hybrids. The Dragon type grants all racial units Draconic Rage, increasing their damage when they are under 60% hit points. This transformation also gives Burning Immunity and Natural Regeneration which causes units to recover hit points up to the amount they started battle with.

This is a brief view of what you can find in the tomes. The Dragon Dawn content pack is coming out on the 20th of June and I hope to see your Lizardfolk and Dragon Lord creations and mighty dragon armies!