[i]We do not determine the guilty; we do not decide the punishment; we are merely the cold instruments of the Emperor's vengeance. There is no form of death unknown to us; there is no form of terror beyond our means; there is no enemy outside our reach. We are the blade that hovers over the throat of the traitor; we are the bullet that awaits the heretic's skull; we are the poison in the throat of the alien.[/i] [previewyoutube=CZ71um-Xjrs;full][/previewyoutube] The Officio Assassinorum have arrived. Our second major DLC, Execution Force is now available to all players via Steam and the Epic Games Store. This DLC brings the might of four unique Assassin units to your disposal. Use them wisely in combination with your Grey Knights to decimate Nurgle’s despicable plague. Alongside Execution Force comes Update XIII, which brings a swathe of its own new content and changes. Notably a new squad of enemies, the Tainted Sons have entered the fray, posing a new fearsome challenge. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40661601/2b839ce0aa608f3d85587590d1c2abecfab592cc.jpg[/img] [h1]Execution Force DLC Content[/h1] Four new Assassin units are now available to be recruited to help in the fight against the Bloom. Shortly into a new or existing campaign, Vakir will contact the Officio Assassinorum which will provide you with your first Assassin. Further Assassins can then be recruited with Requisition: [list] [*] [b]Vindicare[/b]: A long-range sniper specialist, this unit is fast and focused on critical ranged attacks. [*] [b]Eversor[/b]: Applies high stacks of Bleed and finishes enemies with a devastating Eviscerate attack. This unstable unit sacrifices his own health for high damage and extra actions. [*] [b]Callidus[/b]: Moves among enemies without detection to perform assassinations or scout maps and targets. [*] [b]Culexus[/b]: Nullifies enemy Boons and silences enemy psyker abilities. Her owns skills are empowered when allies use their Willpower. Additionally, she can reduce the Warp Surge meter and close Warp Portals. [/list] [h2]New Mission Types[/h2] The Tentarus strain has grown stronger. New Hive Missions will now appear starting in Act 2. When they do, they will slowly corrupt the planet they are on until it reaches 5 Corruption. Without intervention, the planet will be pulled into the warp and the Morbus will increase. Hive missions require you to destroy the Tentarus Hive found at the centre of the map. To do so, you must first destroy the five Hive Germs protecting it. When you encounter a Deathguard Vessel on the star map many will now offer you the chance to send a strike force to board the ship and disable it from within. Five new maps have been added so that players can board the vessel and destroy the ship’s generators before time runs out. Along with this several of our Deathguard Ship Events have been updated with new options. [h2]Supplies from Titan[/h2] Grandmaster Kai has sent Supplies from Titan. The following Tier 1* items will be added to your inventory on new or existing campaigns with Execution Force enabled: [list] [*] Condemnation: Falchions specializing in critical strikes. [*] Daemonspite: A Psilencer specializing in Daemon killing. [*] Catharsis: A Storm Bolter that can Purge enemy Mutations. [*] Aelwyn’s Light: A Flamer that Exposes enemies so they can be critically struck by your allies. [*] Mantle of Purity: Terminator armour that provides immunity to Plague. [*] Mace of the Abjurer: A Crozius that Nullifies enemy Boons. *This item is Tier 2. [/list] Several new Achievements have been added for you and your Assassins to accrue. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40661601/2ec626fe0ef5ebda6a47288a5d075760c2175073.jpg[/img] [h1]New Free Content: Update XIII[/h1] [h2]The Tainted Sons[/h2] Three new enemies have joined Nurgle’s forces: [list] [*] [b]Plague Surgeon[/b]: A new support unit. Doubles the effects of other enemy units' mutations, increases their max HP, and regenerates damaged body parts. [*] [b]Nurgling Swarm[/b]: A new leader unit. Resurrects and mutates Poxwalkers with their tainted chant and gives all other daemons extra HP. [*] [b]Beast of Nurgle[/b]: A strong melee bruiser. The Beast hobbles and immobilizing units, marking them for a killing blow. [/list] The new enemies and some older enemies can arrive as part of the Nurgle’s Tainted Sons group. Enemies that are a part of this faction mutate more frequently. You can now find an enemy’s group type in the Unit Info View panel. [h2]Weapons[/h2] Added a new Psycannon, “Sinflayer”, and Storm Bolter, “Salvation”, to the reward pool at Tier 1 and 3 respectively. Both weapons specialize in afflicting Bleed to your enemies. [h2]Wargear[/h2] Three new Wargear have been added: [list] [*] The Purgation Skull Purges and applies Burning to enemies. [*] The Autoloader Skull can be used to reload a unit for no Action Points. [*] The Rad Grenade applies Bleed to enemies in the blast radius. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40661601/0c7c28a0e9f64e27ddcb98b2599316f3f39e9cb9.jpg[/img] [h1]Major Balance Changes[/h1] [h2]Bleed[/h2] Bleed now stacks each time it is applied. At the end of a unit’s turn, they take Bleed damage equal to their Bleed stacks and then the Bleed stack is reduced by 1. Several changes have been made to Bleed abilities, equipment, enemy abilities and precision target points to support this change: [list] [*] Hammerhand Warp Charge now Afflicts +3 Bleed stacks [*] Apothecary Psybolt Upgrade now Afflicts +2 Bleed stacks [*] Apothecary Force Strike Upgrade now Afflicts +3 Bleed stacks [*] Scourging now Afflicts +3 Bleed stacks, [*] Grim Surgeon now adds +1 stack to all Bleed Afflictions applied by the Apothecary. [*] The Falchions Prosecutor now has Afflict Bleed +2 stacks (25%) and can be upgraded to Afflict +1 Bleed stack. [*] The Falchions Imperator now has Afflict Bleed +2 stacks (35%) and can be upgraded to Afflict +1 Bleed stack. [*] The Storm Bolter Liberator now has Afflict Bleed +2 stacks (25%) and Psybolt +1 damage. It can be upgraded to Afflict Bleed +2 stacks (35%) [*] The Psilencer Doom’s End now has Afflict Bleed +2 stacks (100%) and can be upgraded to Afflict +1 Bleed stack [*] Apostate and Bloomspawn Preachers head target point now applies +4 Bleed stacks [*] Nurgle Wardog Reaper Chaintalon now Afflicts Bleed +2 stacks. [*] Bloated Poxwalker Torso target point now applies +3 Bleed stacks. [*] Plague Marine (all) Leg target point now applies +3 Bleed stacks. [*] Chaos Spawn Right Shoulder target point now applies +4 Bleed stacks. [/list] The following units are now immune to bleed: [list] [*] All Bosses [*] Myphitic Blight-Haulers [*] Helbrutes [*] Foetid Bloat-Drones [*] Nurgle Wardogs [*] Venerable Dreadnought [*] Lunete [/list] [h1]Minor Balance Changes[/h1] [list] [*] We have updated the Seeker Skull to be more useful. It now flies to the designated location without clearing fog but outlining enemies so they can be identified. Enemies are not activated when it arrives and it will apply Vulnerable to all enemies within a designated range before returning to the unit which deployed it. [*] Servitors are now Immune to Hazards. [*] Bloomspawn Preachers will no longer automatically advance their ritual to the final stage if they are dropped to half their HP or less. They are now required to advance it three times before it will be complete. [*] The Fields of Agony Warp Surge will no longer explode interactable objects when placed. [*] Bloom Assault missions for Frigate Deployments have had their challenge rating adjusted to be more in line with their difficulty in comparison to Seeding missions. [*] Changed the requirement to trigger the Deep Damage ship event so that Hull Damage and Ship Facility damage are both required. [*] Hailer Servo-Skulls can now only be used once per turn per skull. [*] Vakir, Servitors, and Guardsman can no longer be targeted by Teleport Swap. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40661601/9723a35d486d42d3eab415c2ed2150210bf19f85.jpg[/img] [h1]General Improvements[/h1] [list] [*] All enemies now include a cinematic action event for their abilities. [*] All Assault missions now have cinematic intro flythroughs and voiceover. [*] Added a new destroy icon that will appear over units that may be subjected to a destroy effect that will kill them. E.g. the Chaos Spawn’s Death Grip and the Beast of Nurgle’s Attention Seeker. [*] The Timeline Calendar on the Baleful Edict will no longer sort by type, instead showing events in order based on duration. [*] If Grandmaster Kai takes away a piece of equipment, he will no longer return it if you load a save made after the event. [*] Grandmaster Kai will no longer try to take away any of the Special Launch Equipment and will never take Supplies from Titan during events. [*] Improved the lighting on maps to reduce overly dark areas. [*] Visual quality improved in several areas on various maps. [*] Updated some tooltips and text for clarity. [*] Updated credits in Spanish, Russian and Polish so that job titles display correctly. [*] Updated credits to include new team members. [/list] [h1]Bugfixes[/h1] [h2]General Fixes[/h2] [list] [*] Tiles which unintentionally provided cover no longer do so. [*] The “Complete all Glorious Deeds” quest now functions as intended. [*] Fixed a bug that caused the Delaying Tactics Death Guard Ship event to never occur. [*] Encountering a Deathguard Vessel without being damaged will no longer cause the Deep Damage Event to trigger. [*] Fixed an issue affecting the difficulty rating of Growing missions when sending the Gladius Frigate. [*] Fixed an issue that could cause the Efficient Killer Achievement to trigger despite ammo being used. [*] Fixed an issue with enemy spawning on Assault maps that could cause an extra elite/leader enemy to spawn than intended. [*] The correct number of Seeds rewarded to the player will now display after completing a Bloom Assault mission. [*] Enemy turns can no longer be skipped if the map restart feature is used an excessive number of times. [*] Enemies will now correctly die if they are knocked into pits on the Spreading map Highway Desert. [*] Bloomspawn Vents in the Spreading map Cathedral Sinkhole Jungle will now all properly disappear when used. [*] Fences in the Cathedral Town map have been repaired to ensure Knights cannot jump out of the map. [*] Reinforcements in Flowering Missions no longer spawn in incorrect locations. [*] Combat Servitors no longer get stuck in The Nexus Part 2. [*] Litany boons are no longer removed if you enabled the Litany before the in-combat Stratagems tutorial triggered. [*] Vulnerable enemies no longer take an extra stun damage from abilities and equipment. [*] Abilities no longer play their SFX or bark too early. [*] The Librarian ability “Gate of Infinity” now works as intended. [*] Defend Position will no longer cause units who are immune to knockback to fall and not get up. [*] Surplus Wargear can no longer be equipped or Servitors to Techmarines. [*] Seeker Skull pathing has been reworked to improve performance when selecting it for use. [*] Tentarus Warp Surges no longer happen without the Tentarus strain present. [*] The Bloomspawn Eruption and Greater Bloomspawn Eruption Warp Surges should appear again normally. [*] The Fields of Agony Warp Surge will now properly preview a Knight will take damage if they walk through it. [*] Teleporting out of Suppressive Fire with Gate of Infinity should now Disrupt the Suppressive Fire. [*] Large Health bars will no longer overlay the Warp Surge Meter. [*] Fixed an issue affecting the location of Protect the Bloomspawn reinforcement warp rifts. They are now more randomly selected. [*] Fixed an issue where Firebowls couldn’t be targeted if the Knight was standing directly next to them. [*] Firebowl fire SFXs will now properly clear when the fire ends. [*] Creating fire hazards on top of objects should work more reliably now. [*] Fixed an issue that allowed you to step-out into an ally’s space and could prevent you from performing a step-out in that same space after it had been occupied. [*] Fixed a bug where enemy reinforcements could spawn in locations where they could not be reached in some cases. [*] Fixed an issue with Teleport Strike which would incorrectly reduce the abilities range based on the number of targets that were selected. [*] Killing enemies by Destabilizing a Foetid Bloat Drone will now properly give XP for the kill to the unit that triggered the Destabilize. [*] Fixed a bug that was causing the VFXs for Death Grip to appear at the Chaos Spawn’s feet. [*] If a player loses the Gatekeeper battle, they will now be returned to the teleportarium before the battle rather than restart it with the same Knights so they can change their loadout if needed. This change was made to ensure players can’t get stuck facing Munificus with a squad that has no way to critically strike. [*] Fixed a bug that caused the Nurgle Wardog’s Sweeping Talon SFX to get stuck on when he dies. [*] Fixed a bug that prevented enemies from taking damage from a Helbrute’s Self Destruct. [*] Fixed a bug that caused some enemy abilities to detonate explosives when they shouldn’t have. [*] Fixed a bug that causeed the Nurgle Wardog’s Daemon Breath Spear to deal double damage. [/list] [h2]Soft Locks and Performance Improvements[/h2] [list] [*] Improved performance when Ancient’s Charge hits allied units. [*] Fixed an issue that would cause a crash if an enemy that reached the Portal in Final Battle was executed. [*] Fixed a lock that could occur when playing the game in Offline mode. [*] Fixed a lock that occurred if Grey Knights return from a mission critically wounded. [*] Fixed a lock caused by Medicae Skulls failing to find a valid point when being used. [*] Fixed a lock that occurred in Sacrista if a Grey Knight moved onto the ritual space instead of Vakir. [*] Fixed a lock that occurred if Garren Crowe was Critically Wounded in a mission. [*] Fixed a lock that occurred in the post-Mission Teleportarium if the Venerable Dreadnought was in your squad. [*] Fixed a lock that occurred if you had fewer than the maximum number of Grey Knights in your squad after accepting certain Glorious Deeds. [*] Fixed a lock on the Corrupted Vessel where the number of destroyed Miasmic Malignifiers could prevent the player from completing the mission. [*] Fixed a lock that occurredwhen hitting a Fire Bowl with Precision Bombardment. [*] Fixed a potential softlock that could occur if Vakir was shot by a Turret while channeling. [/list] [h2]Graphical & Cinematic Fixes[/h2] [list] [*] Made graphical improvements to Vakir’s combat model to reduce clipping. [*] Fixed a bug causing some of Garren Crowe’s VFXs to appear at his feet. [*] Fixed a bug causing some of Garren Crowe’s VFXs to smear across the screen when he is teleported. [*] Removed some superfluous VFX distortions during Agravain’s Fury of the Ancients cinematic. [*] Grey Knight Portraits will now update properly when changing armours in the Barracks. [*] Fixed a bug with the UI that could occur when switching to Garren Crowe in the Barracks. [*] Improved visuals on Terminator armour so that gaps don’t appear during Precision Targeting attacks. [*] Fixed an issue where the Upgrade Panel on a piece of equipment could disappear. [*] Using a Hailer Servo-Skull will no longer make Overwatch templates disappear. [*] Fixed an issue that caused Servitors to appear as though constantly moving after teleporting down to Nexus. [*] Reduced cases of debris floating in the air and above pits. [*] Fixed an issue where planet backdrops in the ship could disappear. [*] The Baleful Edict will now properly become invisible while zooming into the Planet Info View on the Star Map. [*] Fixed an issue that could cause your fourth Stratagem slot to incorrectly appear unavailable. [*] Fixed several UI bugs while navigating the Barracks menus. [*] Fixed an issue that caused some objects to be out of focus in the Libris Malleus. [*] Lord of Virulence and Nurgle Wardog Stalker icons now correctly appear in the Chaos Detected screen. [*] Fixed an issue whereby returning to the ship from Sacrista or The Nexus would cause your Grey Knights’ weapons to disappear in the post-mission Teleportarium. [*] Fixed an issue where tutorial popups sometimes covered UI elements. [*] Fixed an issue that would cause forced camera pans to break and follow your cursor if it was at the edge of the screen. [*] Fixed an issue that caused sound effects during cinematics to continue to play after the cinematic was skipped. [*] Windows will now reliably break when shot through by a Cultist or other short unit. [*] Squad indicators no longer reappear on revealed squads after loading a save. [*] Ranged attacks that will step out from cover to be used will more consistently preview that step out. [*] Shadows of enemies should no longer be visible in the fog. [*] Lighting should no longer be affected during long-range attacks. [*] The armour display for units with more than 9 armour will no longer display over other UI elements. [*] Firebowl damage previews are no longer affected by cover damage penalties. [*] Munificus will no longer display he can parry attacks from the front or back when he won’t. [*] Fixed an issue that could cause Morgellus’ HP bar to disappear for a short time during the fight. [*] Rubble from Morgellus’ Rust and Ruin ability no longer pops in and out of existence. [/list] [h2]Grey Knights and Venerable Dreadnought Fixes[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed an issue where Grey Knights remained standing in the post-mission Teleportarium even if they were Critically Wounded. [*] Grey Knights will now properly take damage from reaction strikes while climbing. [*] The Precision Bombardment Stratagem will no longer kill Critically Wounded Knights. [*] Fixed an issue with the Tentacle Ship event where a Grey Knight could become Critically Wounded with 0 Resilience. [*] Improved Grey Knight pathing for movement especially when mantling objects or around cranes. [*] The Venerable Dreadnought’s pathing no longer hangs over the map bounds or display hazard indicators in the wrong spot on the move line. [*] The Venerable Dreadnought can once again be promoted after battle from the Teleportarium. [*] The Venerable Dreadnought will now use the proper icon for the Heavy Flamer Purge upgrade in all situations. [*] The Venerable Dreadnought and Multi-Melta Servitors will now correctly add the extra damage from Awaken the Machines to their support fire shots. [*] Fixed an issue that would add the Venerable Dreadnought to the second squad for the Final Battle without you choosing him. [*] Fixed an issue with assigning Grey Knights to the Final Battle that could cause the Venerable Dreadnought slot to become locked out. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40661601/abfd56f71fbf2756d3366918c558b0769af58c3b.jpg[/img] We trust that the deadly capacity of the Officio Assassinorum are well placed in your capable hands, Force Commander. Ave Imperator! To hear more about the above content, check out our recent showcase and interview with Complex Games’ own Game Director. Follow Warhammer 40,000®: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.