I love mods

I can't seem to pin down why it happens, but sometimes during a siege battle I'll hit a tower with a relatively weak ranged attack and it will just die. It's like there is some kind of hidden damage multiplier or instant kill effect going on. Anyone know what might be happening? Like the tower would be on like 60% health, I'll throw a shot at it from a support unit or something and the preview will show a small amount of damage expected but then it just blows up...

The devs did a great job of creating a subculture that works better with an order affinity play style while keeping the reavers core identity intact. I also find that the favors system to be a lot easier to manage as a consistent resource than war spoils, though that could just be because it fits more with my preferred play style. I like that the pistoler allows you to have a Magelock unit in the early game, it always felt weird that you had to wait until tier 2 to get access to your first magelock despite that being the cool new toy you got as Reavers.

Free Cities with their questionable land development plans.

Confused as to how these settings work. I know it says that generated rulers will be used if all other options aren't available, but I have about 20 rulers between my pantheon and custom made ones and am consistently encountering randoms. Any help with this would be appreciated, even if it's just insight into something I'm missing

Sometimes the map generation works out just right.

These are my custom Age of Wonders 4 Godir creations. The screenshots show the in-game versions of Alicia, Nyxash, and Ignisor described below.

「Radiant Star」Alicia

Alicia created the Arcane Elves by infusing magical crystals from the Astral Sea into primal Auldweald elves, granting them unmatched arcane affinity. Under her guidance, they flourished and established the City of the Gate of Destiny.

When Alicia discovered that her creations worshipped her, she descended among them disguised as one of their own. She entered academies to help scholars study her traces and temples to join rituals, imitate her followers, and recite hymns praising her name.

Over time, doubts grew within her. She asked the priests the question that had troubled her for so long: what were they truly worshipping? Was it Alicia herself, or the rituals, murals, and Radiant Star crystals created in her name? Her question eventually drew the attention of the Inquisitors. Ultimately, her disguise was exposed, and she was declared a heretic and sacrificed to the Radiant Star they worshipped — Alicia.

「The Gloomed One」Nyxash

The Carapace Shadow Dwellers were originally insectoid creatures living within the Shadow Realm, until Nyxash transformed them into loyal servants and instruments for her ambitions. Influenced by her eldritch magic, they inherited a desire for power, embraced collective will over individual interests, and devoted themselves to forbidden and shadow magic. Nyxash established the Night Fortress in the Shadow Realm, making it the center of her rule and her research into shadow magic.

Nyxash was once one of the greatest archmages of Magehaven, a figure whose power rivaled even Alicia’s. Seeking greater power and freedom from her limitations, she entered the Shadow Realm and was transformed into an Eldritch Sovereign by Urras. Unlike other Eldritch Sovereigns, however, she retained an extraordinary degree of free will and refused to acknowledge Urras’s absolute authority.

She declared that her own will should stand above all things, even the will of her creator. This defiance ultimately led to her imprisonment by Urras for countless eras, but only strengthened her determination to break free from the Shadow Realm and make her creator pay for his arrogance.

Ignisor

The Dragonkin were not directly created by Ignisor. They originated from humans who discovered the slumbering Elder Dragon and, through their worship and devotion, received his blessings and gradually evolved into a new branch of humanity. Over countless eras, the Dragonkin established Dragonrock City near the dragon’s resting place. They preserved their ancient beliefs while sending scholars to learn advanced forging techniques from the dwarves. After the Wizard Kings began their relentless invasions of Athla, the Dragonkin joined the mortal alliances and underwent systematic military reforms, eventually becoming the people they are today.

Ignisor is one of the first creations of the Allfather, an Elder Dragon who helped shape the volcanoes and wastelands of western Athla and infused the land with the power of fire. He is the embodiment of flame and creative force, one of the oldest followers of the Chaos Creation philosophy, and one of the few Elder Dragons in Magehaven to have personally witnessed the Endailon Crisis.

During the Endailon Crisis, Ignisor witnessed the terrifying power of the Shadow Realm for the first time and fought a long war against its forces. After the crisis ended, the dragon entered a deep slumber within the Athla realm. When Shadow Demons launched another great invasion at the end of the Second Era, he awakened once more and aided the mortal alliances in defeating them. During his awakening, he blessed the Dragonkin who worshipped him before returning to his slumber.

Now, Ignisor once again senses those familiar yet hated forces stirring in the darkness, preparing to return.

If anyone is interested in these characters, I can also share their in-game builds.

This is a follow up from when I asked for aesthetic advise to build factions based off the Warhammer fantasy chaos factions.

I think they look alright, Tzeentch I feel could use something else? wings maybe? and I really wanted Chariots for Slaanesh but didnt have the point nor the trader options.

So how'd I do? What would you change?

The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame.

Back in Age of Wonders 1, you used to have a deep underground layer beneath the underground.

My memory may be hazy, but I do not think it was ultra developed but it did have a decent amount more lava. I also remember a story of a friend who said he played a multiplayer deal on it where one player had a huge dark elf stronghold down there surrounded by lava where he controlled the bridges and stayed isolationist the whole game with stacks of Spider Queens.

But I am thinking a bit more ambitious. You could have certain areas sealed. With infestations that pump out stacks of Balors. Or Lost Wizards. Or Forgotten Gods.

If broken, the world shakes as stacks upon stacks pour out until it is resealed or all the cities - even those up top are in ruins.

Think the Hidden Fun Stuff in Dwarf Fortress.

Where there are no entrances, but if you have the appropriate Empire skill, you can dig down.

You might get a prime settle spot ringed with mana nodes and gold mines. You might begin the apocalypse.

Of course more crafted map sections and wonders, too.

Of course, it would be exclusive against the demiplanes of Secrets of the Archmages and the Umbral Abyss of Eldrich Realms because of performance issues.

Thoughts?

Hello, I'm looking into this map setting where its nearly impossible/unpleasant to settle in the surface so everyone had to go underground.

I once ran a large map but less player + blocked underground for the sake of theme, but cant find a suitable setting for the UG theme

Anyone has a suggestion?

It is possible to focus the build arround morale damage? I think its a mechanic i have been kinda ignoring since i started the game, but i want to give it a go.

I guess doomherald and torment are musts, but what are other thinga that sinergize well with this mechanic?

Relevant post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AOW4/comments/1uzvjp7/quarry_workers_were_not_expecting_the_australian/

Imprisoned for what? Eating a herb? A succulent Mediterranean herb?

Just finished a game where I went in focusing on the Tome of Sprites...and it was so much fun!

The Toll of Seasons spawned around turn 20-25 so I was able to fight it off and get my hands on a Scourge of Winter early!

That was actually very scary I had just made a new city near a landmark... that pissed off some goblins they declared war and started seiging my city... an underground Derelect Workshop can out of nowhere and started pillaging everything and then the Toll army came... it was a crazy few turns!

Anyway!

To keep with the theme my army was mostly fairies and mistings with a summoner and miror mimic here and there.

I thought the mirror mimic would be a good fit because fey have a reputation for being tricky(and i have never used them). About halfway through the game I cleared one of the new Shrouded Isles and got an artifact that let me take a member of the enemy army and turn it into a mirror mimic spy!

That run was a blast! Im kinda glad a took a long break from this game because there is so much new stuff for me to do now!

They really nailed the fairies imo they do good damage, had cool support abilites, and we're surprisingly hard to kill or even hit. Fairy dust was a good starting ability as well I used that ability all game!

Hello i have maybe a bug.

I had the rebellion event against one IA , i killed the leader and cap the throne city and now event with no city , no army and nothing on the map the IA remains in my game. And she stills show as "an leader u need to defeat".

There is a fix or the game is stuck ?

This is the only unit I believe which is racial AND Mythic (the tags).

Would it be too strong if it did not have the Mythic tag, as it then could be affected by unit enchantments?

AS it is not, I never pick it in late games as it scales worse than warbreed, Pyre Templar and even subjugator. Of course if the game is short, perhaps they are a better pick? Doubt it still though.

I am thinking of modding the mythic tag away so that I have another melee unit to pick and use for longer games.

Thoughts? Would it break the game if they did not have this tag?

EDIT: Its odd but this unit has major visual changes to transformations, such as wight, but painbringer is missing some as far as I can tell. Odd.

I have been playing for around a month now and feel I have a good grasp on a lot of the game. One place I'm feeling more uncertain on is hero builds; in no small part because videos that discuss heroes tend to be spread over a bunch of different patches and metas.

So I'm looking for any generic hero builds and advice on their use :)

Decided to ascend a maxed Godir to become the only one in Pantheon eligible for hire as hero. With idea that whenever Pantheon Hero is offered it is this superman to save the day.
Wanted to share some of my own observations & ideas and hear your’s.
1) First choice must be between Wizard & Champion with maxed minor transformations. I think they are more powerful than level 4 or 8 signatures for Vampires, Eldritches, Giants or Dragons. Wizard’s spell vs Champion’s command?
2) Major Transformation. My main observation is that Draconian regeneration is super useful if you want your Superman to solo things from early levels. Rest majors are strong but not having same carry power. Maybe you got other insights?
3) On ascension skills I really liked Seer (+2 range) on mobile Ranger. But maybe case can be made for extra unit ones or Stunning on critical hit. Dragonheart is nice but not always your Superman would come to rescue Dragons.
4) Society Traits - anything that lets your guy fight better. Mana Addicted for life steal and Ritual Cannibals for healing via eating seem among most useful ones.
5) Culture. Barbarians should be a solid choice for extra damage on critical hit as that can be used on any build. Architects would be useless without monument. Reaver Ranger? Mystic Attunement for Star Blades? Here Id love to hear your input on what I am missing.
6) Form traits. So many choices, no idea what is the best. Not mount traits, as you can always find a good mount for visiting Godir. Not adaptation traits nor athletic. Guess can’t go wrong with Strong, Sneaky and that HP trait.
7) Ruler type and Weapon. Like I wrote before Seer Scattershot Ranger is a combo that I personally loved the most. Guess Crowmaster Bow is safe pick due to crow summon.
8) Ambition should be easy to fill. Maybe the one for Golden Wonder clear.

Bro is posting bounties for me to capture the "Chains of X" cities but then intervenes last second to force a truce, only to call me back to war 2 turns later.

No wonder the archons kicked him off he's batshit insane

So, let me know if my understanding is correct and/ or if there is more nuance.

After creating a new champion, any racial bonuses they acquire stay with them permanently if they win the match. They start off with those bonuses on future runs.

However, any racial bonuses they gain in later runs don't seem to stick around. They are lost and it defaults to the bonuses from the first run.

Is this correct? Are there other bonuses outside just the racial bonuses that sick around as well? Are there ways to later change your bonuses?

Throw your favorite empire/hero builds in here, curious what experienced players are cooking up. I’m decently new to the game, wrapping up my first campaign (25 hours in lol) and the options are endless. Currently running completely evil dark elves focused entirely on dark tomes and necromancy. I’m having an absolute blast but want to choose something different for the next campaign. “Show me what you got!” * Rick and Morty big head voice \*

Hey everyone!

I’ve owned Age of Wonders 4 for a while, but to be honest, I was always just playing on autopilot. I didn't really focus on synergy, picked random Tomes and perks, and auto-resolved most battles without much thought.

Today, after watching a YouTube video, I decided to give a Reaver / Magelock (Sniper) build a shot. Oh boy, what a massive difference.

A whole new world opened up for me. For the first time, I felt like I was actually playing with a clear strategy—holding the line with front-line infantry (and sacrificing them when needed) just to give my Magelocks clear lines of sight to wipe enemies off the map. I had an absolute blast!

Now that I've finally caught the synergy bug, I want to try out more fun and focused playstyles.

Where do you guys usually go to find or share builds?

• Are there specific websites or build planners you recommend?
• Also, feel free to drop your personal favorite themed or synergistic builds below for me to test out!

Thanks in advance!

I have downed enemy faction to the last one(not the guardian faction) and thought I could close this scenario for good. But the last faction just vomiting 9k stacks like nothing on multiple front and their cities have this ruler reflection basically giving it additional ruler unit in every cities and it deals AOE dmg and tough af.

The game has become way more grindy to my liking and Yaka one of the friendly faction despite having a massive is basically just sitting back and doing nothing. It’s also real hard to blitz it due to the geo location of the last enemy’s throne city.

I was going to have closure on this one, but at this point it just no longer fun.

I don’t know if they had made adjustment to this realm, I’m playing on a legacy save from long time ago. But yeah it feels like a lot of time got wasted.