Lords & Ladies, our march to greatness continues with Update 71. The road ahead is paved with many surprises, so gather your armies and prepare to be amazed! [b][NEW FEATURES][/b] 1. Seasons Pass – a brand new limited-time progression with great rewards! Complete Daily and Weekly Challenges to earn Battle Points and conquer the milestones. A great reward will be unlocked for each milestone. Purchase the Premium Pass to get even more exclusive rewards! 2. Champion Classes Extension – the maximum Champion Classes rank has been increased to rank 8. This extension comes with new Champion Class Talents in each tree. 3. Castle Level Extension – the maximum Castle level has been increased to 36. This extension comes with new Academy Researches in each Era (both Basic and Advanced). 4. Arctic Tiger - new March Trait Animal Companion. Has the ability to buff and de-buff Swordsmen units. It also has the ability to reduce all enemy combat healing in battle. [b][HOLIDAY CONTENT][/b] 1. Christmas Event Shop – opens 22 December 2023 – 2 January 2024. Participate in time-limited events to gain event shop currency and use it to acquire the items you desire! 2. Festive Village Event – join forces with all the rulers in your Realm to build the most magnificent Festive Village! Upgrade your Village to spawn more crates and collect them for festive rewards! [b][SEASONAL CONTENT][/b] 1. World Encounters Theme Rotation – this season the Vikings will invade the Realms. Smash their camps and pillage all their treasures! 2. A new Path to Glory progression awaits with new missions and prizes! [b][BALANCE CHANGES] [/b] 1. Animal Companions Damage Effectiveness We are introducing a change that will affect how much damage your March Trait Animal Companions deal, specifically with Traits that directly deal damage. Each affected Animal Companion Trait is marked with a new icon that provides information about the mechanic. Your Animal Companions will deal damage based on the number of troops in your march and the tier of those troops. Partially filled marches and lower tier troops will result in a reduction in the Animal Companion's damage. Note that this reduction is most significant after Stronghold level 30, especially for Tier 1-3 troops. Also note that if you are using a full march of high tier units (Tiers 5 & 6), you will not see any reduction in Animal Companion damage - the animal will deal 100% of its damage, as it was prior to this update. Using the highest available tier units will always result in maximum effectiveness. This mechanic will also affect rallies - in this case the average effectiveness of the different troop tiers in the rally will be taken into account. Note that when sending troops to a rally, the effectiveness displayed to you will not necessarily be the same when a battle actually occurs. The value shown is only an indication of your individual contribution to the rally. Also note that in Raids, effectiveness will be reduced as troops get wounded after each wave. Check the Info pages for more details. 2. Festive Village event Each upgrade of the Festive Village will now spawn more Festive Crates. For example, before we implemented this change, at Festive Village level 10 only 1800 Crates spawned on the map. Now at level 10, the Festive Village will spawn 3400 Crates. In addition, the Crates loot pool has been improved with more and better items. 3. Upgrading Mythic Equipment items now costs a bit more Mythic Bars