Welcome to the last in our four-part series of Battle Realms clan profiles. Every month for the last four months we've been taking a detailed look at one clan from this upcoming real-time strategy game from Liquid Entertainment and publisher Crave Entertainment. We've already chronicled the righteous Dragon Clan, the wayward Serpent Clan, and the dark Lotus Clan. Today, we focus on the peaceful Wolf Clan. Like the Lotus Clan, the Wolf Clan will be available to you only in Battle Realms' multiplayer mode. However, even though the single-player campaign limits you to either the Dragon or Serpent Clan, you can certainly expect to have frequent run-ins with the Wolf people throughout the game.
A typical Wolf Clan village The Wolf Clan's arrival on the main island in Battle Realms is somewhat of an ironic occurrence. The Wolf people were forced to leave their homeland when severe changes in weather patterns ravaged their food supply. They set sail on the open seas with no clear direction or particular destination and remained afloat until strong currents washed them ashore at the island. These currents were caused by the massive chasm that appeared when Tarrant, the ancient Serpent Clan leader, ripped the land apart in hopes of saving his people from a mysterious invading horde. Ironically, the destructive weather that forced the Wolf Clan to flee its home was also caused by Tarrant's actions. Upon arriving on the island, the Wolf Clan quickly found itself embroiled with a war against the Lotus Clan. Despite the Wolf people's massive stature, the Lotus Clan managed to subjugate them by exploiting the Wolf Clan's ancient lore of a majestic white wolf. Lotus Clan warriors let their white hair grow long and began to act more feral. Lotus blade acolytes used shaped weapons and held them in a manner that resembled long fangs. Through superstition and manipulation, the Lotus Clan eventually managed to convince the Wolf people that they were actually white wolves in human form, and the Wolf Clan was soon enslaved and forced to work in shale mines. The Lotus people's frail bodies weren't built for physical labor, and yet shale was a necessary resource for construction, as one of its properties was the ability to contain the Lotus Clan's dark corruption.
Grayback, the Wolf Clan leader The Wolf Clan's slavery ended when Grayback, a young and headstrong slave, discovered that the Lotus Clan leader, Zymeth, was planning to wipe out the entire Serpent Clan. Grayback took this revelation to the current Serpent leader, Lord Oja (who is also the father of the game's main character, Kenji), who in turn declared war on the Lotus Clan and assisted Grayback and his people in successfully leading an uprising against their captors. Since Grayback led the revolt against the Lotus Clan, the Wolf Clan now recognize him as their leader. He carries a massive pickax to remind him of the hardships that his people were forced to endure under Lotus Clan rule.
The Wolf Clan are a rough-hewn barbaric people with druidic beliefs. They're physically the largest of the four clans, and they are the only group with the ability to regenerate 100 percent of their health--other clans will gain back only a fraction of their full health. Read on to find out more about this humble people.
As we've already detailed in our previous clan profiles, Battle Realms features a number of unique real-time strategy elements. The most notable of these elements is the manner in which you order new units. Unlike other games, Battle Realms won't give you the ability to simply queue new and different units from the same structure. Instead, you'll start out with a single, basic unit--the peasant--whom you'll have to send around to various structures where he'll train to become a more powerful unit. Training a peasant in different structures will produce different results. Additionally, you can try different structure combinations to train your peasants more than once so that they become more powerful second- and, in some cases, even third-tier warriors. Another of Battle Realms' unique RTS components is the techniques system. The world of Battle Realms is kept in balance by yin and yang. Good deeds will grant you yang points, while evil actions will give you yin points. These yin and yang points cancel each other out, so if you have two yang points, and then commit an evil deed like killing one of your peasants, you'll end up with only a single yang point. These points are used to buy techniques--which are basically special skills that enhance your units' combat abilities--from certain structures. Since the Wolf Clan are an inherently good people, you'll buy your techniques using yang points.
Click for full size image The peasant system is an integral part of Battle Realms, and it all starts with the peasant hut. This structure is the first building you get in your town, and it automatically generates peasants at an algorithmic rate that's determined by your current population and the overall number of peasant huts in your village. The larger your population, the slower the peasant hut generates peasants. Having more peasant huts in your village will slighlty increase this production rate. However, your huts will all but stop producing peasants when your unit population hits a certain cap. As this structure generates peasants, you can send them off to become advanced fighters and warriors at the different training structures available to the Wolf Clan.
Click for full size image The combat pit is one of five training structures available to the Wolf Clan, who have one more such building than the Dragon, Serpent, or Lotus Clans do. Sending a peasant into any of these training structures will produce a completely new and more powerful unit. In the case of the combat pit, if you send a peasant to train here, he'll emerge as a brawler. This structure also produces two second-tier units, including the sledger, as well as an extremely powerful third-tier unit that has yet to be revealed. Additionally, you can purchase the following techniques from this structure:
Wolfball league: This significantly reduces the amount of stamina that running drains from brawlers and hurlers.
Grooming: Grooming reduces the amount of time it takes to train brawlers and sledgers in the combat pit.
Click for full size image The second Wolf Clan training structure is the ballistics ground. When you send a peasant through here, he'll emerge as a Wolf hurler. Like the combat pit, the ballistics ground can also be used to train two as-yet-unrevealed second-tier units as well as a third-tier unit. Techniques available at the ballistics ground include:
Eagle's eye: This increases the maximum range of the hurler's primary attack.
Warlock-tossing: This technique increases the amount of damage that hurlers can inflict on any Lotus Clan unit.
Click for full size image The Wolf Clan's third training structure is the quarry. A peasant will emerge from this building as a mighty mauler. Like the previous two training structures, the quarry can also produce a couple of Wolf Clan second-tier warriors as well as a coveted third-tier fighter. Techniques available at the quarry are:
Rock hammers: Rock hammers increases the damage inflicted by the sledger's primary attack.
Miner's union: This technique simply raises the hit point of all Wolf Clan peasants.
Click for full size image The wolves' den, while technically a training structure, is a little different from other similar buildings available to the Wolf Clan. This structure is the equivalent of the Dragon, Serpent, and Lotus stables, but it's home to a pack of hungry wolf cubs. Wolf peasants who go out into the wild to find and tame a horse can then bring it back to the wolves' den for it to be fed to the cubs. Two cubs will then emerge from the den as full-grown wolves, and the peasant will emerge as a pack master. Unlike other units, however, the pack master can't undergo additional training. If his two wolves die in combat, two more will emerge from the den to join his side. From the wolves' den, you can purchase these techniques:
Wolves among sheep: This increases the running and walking speeds of the pack master.
Freedom's howl: This technique increases the amount of damage that pack masters can inflict on any Dragon Clan unit.
Click for full size image The last of the Wolf Clan training buildings, the vitality garden is the equivalent of the Dragon and Serpent Clan bathhouse and the Lotus Clan aviary. By sending a peasant into the vitality garden, you'll get a druidess, the Wolf version of the geisha, fan geisha, and channeler. Additionally, the following techniques can be purchased from the vitality garden:
Forest blessing: This grants the Wolf druidess complete immunity to all magic- and fire-based damage.
Herbalists: This technique significantly increases the natural healing rate of all Wolf Clan units.
Click for full size image Whereas the Dragon and Serpent Clans had two distinct "shop buildings" that gave their respective units special upgrades, the Lotus Clan units received their upgrades from the Brothers Three: Tausil, Lythis, and Sehk. The Wolf Clan uses a combination of the structure-specific upgrade system of the Dragon and Serpent Clans and the unit-specific upgrades of the Lotus Clan. Specifically, the Wolf Clan units will receive one upgrade from the shalery and the other from the Wolf druidess. Unlike the techniques that you can purchase using yang points, these upgrades cost rice and water. The Wolf shop building is unique in that it gives out the same upgrade to all the clan members: shale armor, which gives defense bonuses against piercing, fire, and magic attacks to any unit that has the upgrade equipped. And unlike upgrades received by other clans, shale armor doesn't drain stamina.
As we mentioned earlier, Battle Realms won't let you order new units by simply clicking a button. Your peasants are generated automatically from the peasant hut, and you can train these units at various training buildings to produce more powerful first-, second-, and even third-tier warriors. Like the other clan members, Wolf Clan units regenerate their health and stamina levels, although they do possess the unique innate ability to gain back their entire health over time, whereas other clans can regenerate only a fraction of their original life meter. Each can also receive one of two upgrades to increase their overall combat ability. Read on for a comprehensive rundown of all the units that will be available to you in the Wolf Clan. Keep in mind that we're purposely keeping a tight lid on some of the more advanced units--we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise just yet.
The Dragon Clan has Kenji, the Serpent Clan has Shinja, and the Lotus Clan has Zymeth. The most physically intimidating of all the clan leaders, however, is easily Grayback, the hulking Wolf Clan headman. Grayback carries a massive pickax over his shoulder as a constant reminder of his people's enslavement by the Lotus Clan, and when trouble starts brewing, he uses the giant tool as his primary attack. He possess the innate ability of inspiration, which causes all Wolf Clan units around him to walk, run, and attack faster than normal. Additionally, he has a special ability called wolf howl. While this uses some of Grayback's stamina, it inspires other Wolf warriors within earshot, giving them the ability to do more damage with each attack.
Like other clan leaders, Grayback is classified as a hero unit and thus cannot die. Instead, when he sustains enough damage, he drops to one knee and disappears for the remainder of that round. As soon as the next skirmish starts, he will become available to you once again.
While each clan's peasants may look different from one another, they are functionally identical. Peasants are produced algorithmically from the peasant hut, and their primary duties include building structures, harvesting rice, fetching water, repairing buildings, putting out fires, and taming horses. Their real function, however, is to train. Sending your peasants to the many training facilities in your village will produce first-tier warriors. You can train peasants twice for a second-tier unit, and three times for a powerful third-tier unit. Of course, if the need arises, the peasant can defend himself by using his fists, and in fact, a group of these guys can present a formidable defense against a couple of enemy first-tier units.
When the Wolf Clan was enslaved by the Lotus Clan, there was a certain group of people that were called upon to dig when a mine vein got too thin to accommodate any machinery--these brutes would use giant metal scoops attached to their hands to pick at the walls. They were called brawlers. They carry two stone fists that are deadly at close range, though they have no ranged combat ability. The first upgrade available to them, shale armor, is received from the shalery. The druidess's blessing gives them their second upgrade, which is called rock hands. This upgrade turns the brawler's hands to stone, and while this dramatically slows him down and reduces the amount of damage he inflicts against other enemies, he can do a devastating amount of damage to buildings and structures. Like all Wolf Clan units, he has the innate ability of full health regeneration.
The second first-tier unit available to you in the Wolf Clan is the hurler. Hurlers were a group of Wolf slaves who used to shovel and pitchfork large pieces of debris outside the mines. A hurler uses his giant spear to pierce any nearby enemies, and he can also pick up pieces of rock from the ground and hurl it at enemy units as his ranged attack. From the shalery, he can receive shale armor, and the druidess imbues him with the lava rock upgrade. This ability gives his ranged projectiles splash damage, although each individual projectile does less damage. His innate ability is to regenerate 100 percent of his health.
The mauler is a small unit, and though smaller than the rest of his Wolf brethren, he is actually the most powerful first-tier unit available to you. While he doesn't have any ranged abilities, he can be devastating at close range. The mauler carries a gigantic boulder over his shoulder, and he swings it outward at any enemies that dare to venture within his range. In addition to being effective against units, this boulder is also powerful against structures as well. Like the other Wolf Clan members, he receives the shale armor upgrade from the shalery. From the druidess, he receives the wrecking ball upgrade. When this upgrade is activated, the mauler swings his boulder in a circle above his head, doing continuous area-of-effect damage to all nearby enemies. His innate ability, like the rest of the Wolf Clan, is full health regeneration.
The pack master is a unique unit. With the exception of the druidess, he's the only unit that can be trained only once: every other unit in Battle Realms can be trained up to three times. By sending a peasant into the woods to find and tame a horse, and then bringing the peasant and horse into the wolves' den, you'll produce a pack master. He carries a small ax for melee combat, but his primary attack is the pair of wolves that constantly travel by his side. He uses these wolves as ranged weapons--they'll run up to any onscreen enemies, fight them, and return to the pack master. From the shalery, he receives the bonus of shale armor, and from the druidess, he receives an upgrade called howl, wherein he can call upon wolves from the wild or from the den to come to his side if his original wolves die in combat. And in addition to his normal innate ability of full health regeneration, he has a second ability called pack mind that keeps wolves in the wild from attacking him.
When they were still slaves, sledgers were responsible for breaking up giant boulders into smaller pieces. The sledger carries a massive hammer that, like the mauler's weapon, is effective against both units and buildings alike. Unfortunately, the sledger has no ranged attack. If he receives the druidess's blessing, the sledger gains an upgrade called stun slam, which is an area-of-effect attack that temporarily stuns all nearby enemy units. Like all other Wolf Clan units, he can receive shale armor from the shalery, and can regenerate all his health innately.
The Wolf druidess is the most robust of all "geisha" units. Like the Dragon, Serpent, and Lotus geishas, she can seduce peasants and remove the fog of war from their surrounding area, even after they're trained to become another unit. However, that's where the similarities end. Before being able to bless other members of the Wolf Clan to upgrade them, she has to perform a set of tasks in order to receive that ability. She does so by going to the cairn, an as-of-yet-unrevealed Wolf Clan structure, to pray. She can bless up to three units before she has to return to the cairn to pray again. The druidess can also enter the shalery to receive the shale armor upgrade.
Additionally, she has the innate ability of crop blessing. When she stands in a field of rice, the crop will grow as if it's being constantly watered. She can regenerate her health to 100 percent, and she can cast a spell called bloodlust onto nearby allies that are below 35 percent of their original health. If a Wolf Clan unit with bloodlust dies, it will release an explosion of energy that causes area-of-effect damage. If a bloodlusted unit gets more than 50 percent of its health back, the spell is removed. Lastly, the druidess benefits from entangle, a ranged attack that temporarily renders enemy units immobile. All this makes the druidess a valuable support unit to have on the battlefield.
That sums up our detailed look at the Wolf Clan, and it also brings our Battle Realms clan profile to a close. However, in no way does this mean the end of our coverage of this unique and compelling real-time strategy game. In addition to giving you hands-on impressions of Battle Realms from E3, we'll be returning with a similar profile on the game's hero units, ninjas, and monks. There's still a lot about Battle Realms that we can reveal, and as the game starts to take shape in the coming months, you can count on us to bring you all the key development details. We've certainly had a good time visiting with the Dragon, Serpent, Lotus, and Wolf Clans, and we hope you enjoyed those stories too. If you haven't yet had the chance to, be sure to take a look at all our coverage of Battle Realms in our previews archive, as this will definitely be a strategy game to watch out for this year.
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