Recommended turn order based on play times:

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
Reminder: the payment system is operational! Please go to the tournament page https://www.the-battlefield.c... and then click on "Donation for the tournament" (direct link https://www.the-battlefield.c... The minimum if you give through Paypal is 3€ because of fees from Paypal which make it not worthwhile to give less. You can give less (1€ or 2€) by bank transfer.
Tournament delayed at least until 30 January 2017.


== Balance ==
Updated list of proposed changes that still need feedback:

GC24
Dungeon's battle enchantment is Suffocating Sadism. Every turn, one enemy unit is hit by 15 physical damage, Undead, Machine, Elemental and Incorporeal are immune. Every time an enemy dies, all defenders of the Dungeon get +100 Morale and +1 melee strength.

GC25
Earth Elemental cannot be obtained as a reward any more in the Forbidden Sanctum

GC33
Healing is once per battle (was cooldown 3).
Shamans and Evangelists get Combat Healing in addition to their Healing ability. Combat Healing starts fights with an initial 4 turns cooldown, it heal 20 HP and it can be used once per battle. Combat Healing has no effect on the strategic map (but Healing still works on the strategic map). Order of Healing gives Healing and Combat Healing to Theocrat's Supports

Ro16b
Lesser Charm and Charm have strength 6 (was 7) and 8 (was 9) respectively

Th08b
Lesser Convert and Convert have strength 8 (was 9) and 10 (was 11) respectively

Pa02
Hide Out costs 40 CP to cast and has an upkeep of 15 mana/turn. Disjunction cost is 55 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn ; disjunction cost was 80 CP)

Pa02a
Hide Out gives Invisibility to all your units in enemy’s domain (was All friendly units in enchanted city's domain are invisible). It costs 700 RP, 150 CP, is tier V,  has an upkeep of 40 mana/turn and its disjunction cost is 170 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn, 120 RP, tier II; disjunction cost was 80 CP).

Ai07
Air Master gets Dark Storm instead of Wind Ward. Dark Storm is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all enemy units. It costs 2500 RP and 600 CP, is tier VII, its disjunction cost is 500 CP and its upkeep 80 mana/turn.

Ai07a
Air Master gets Heavy Winds instead of Wind Ward. Heavy Winds is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all Flying enemy units and prevent them from Flying in tactical combat. It costs 800 RP and 150 CP, is tier V, its disjunction cost is 170 CP and its upkeep 60 mana/turn.

Cr02a
Domain of Life gives Fast Healing (stackable) and +20% Spirit protection  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Cr02b
Domain of Life gives +5 HP  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Wt01
Water Master gets Hail Storm instead of Drench the Land. Hail Storm is a strategic spell and causes 5 physical damage and 5 frost damage to all units and gives Weaken for 1 strategic turn to all Machines or Undead up to 2 hexes away from its center. It costs 350 RP, is tier IV, costs 90 CP.

De02
Domain of Corruption gives +1 Blight damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Wi01
Unstable Transformation attempts (blight strength 15) to transform target enemy unit into a unit of equal or lower tier and that unit dies after 3 rounds (was Target unit is saturated with powerful magic and transforms into a new random unit of equal or great power. The new unit is inherently unstable and will die at the end of combat). If it fails, the units receives two random debuffs and will die at the end of the combat.
Debuffs include Cursed, Weakened, Bleeding, Blinded, Broken Spirit, Choking, Crippled, Dazzled, Disgusted, Enfeebling Fever.

Wi02
Pandemonium gives two 60% weakness to two random damage types to hostile units (was one 100% weakness)
(other effects of Pandemonium are unchanged)

Pa02b
Hide Out is renamed Cloaked in Shadows and gives: all units in target friendly army gain Invisibility until end of turn (was All friendly units in enchanted city’s domain are invisible). Cloaked in Shadow costs 60 CP, 120 RP and is tier II.

TwistING roots? It's ok - it's affecting ALL units, so to utilize it best the player has to have researched a tier 3 spell, and have flying shooter/s. Stiffen Limbs is something you cast on turn1 4 times in one battle.

Were you serious Tasslehoff or did i manage to offend you somehow and sarcasm was the only option left for you - i can't make my mind ):

Bishmanrock quitted!

What about Twisted Roots ? They are sooooo powerful, don't you agree ?
More than Stiffen Limbs was, IMHO

Hi all,

i approve all suggested balance tweaks except: GC24 
the reason why i don't like it is that undead/necro are already too strong (yes - still) and the Dungeon is anyway best taken on turn1 with weak army by Necro (no lose of units and all that). Just add some dispell efect and all will be fine (; or better yet - no spells can be cast inside or at least make something that punishes Necro too.

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
Tournament going fine, at least two matches on turn 17. Round 2 ends around 15 January.
One match has not started because embarh and Boze are unreachable. Lightform and Jundland Banshee should get a win by walk-over.

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
The payment system is operational! Please go to the tournament page https://www.the-battlefield.c... and then click on "Donation for the tournament" (direct link https://www.the-battlefield.c... The minimum if you give through Paypal is 3€ because of fees from Paypal which make it not worthwhile to give less. You can give less (1€ or 2€) by bank transfer. Reminder: this tournament has prizes, so a financial contribution of 3€ is recommended but optional. Players who give 3€ or more will be able to win prizes, for the top 3 and 1 random prize awarded among all these players. Details in the article launching the tournament: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />Zaskow is pretty busy and it seems we won't get v1.2 soon... Even more problematic, he is not able to release the new map size. So the start of the tournament may be delayed. If any of you is interested to help mod, please contact me! It would be really great and would help us move forward on the balance mod.

== Balance ==
Reminder: we need more feedback on the changes below.
I think for elemental specs, we are going to try to give more usefulness to Domain of xx and Empire of xx techs first and then we'll see later if we decrease their cost. As most Adept specs were already quite liked (e.g. Air and Water), we'll try to boost Earth Adept more. Elemental Master specs were not as liked. So maybe the current proposals are not sufficient to balance well specs, we'll see after the changes are implemented.
I also think more debate is needed about high level sites. I see that the current proposals do not get much support. But I think at the same time most people agree that Legendary or Mythical sites should be harder than Epic sites like Tomb, which is not the case now (like Tasslehoff illustrated with the Dread Reaper in Tombs).

GC24
Dungeon's battle enchantment is Suffocating Sadism. Every turn, one enemy unit is hit by 15 physical damage, Undead, Machine, Elemental and Incorporeal are immune. Every time an enemy dies, all defenders of the Dungeon get +100 Morale and +1 melee strength.

GC25
Earth Elemental cannot be obtained as a reward any more in the Forbidden Sanctum

GC26
Forbidden Sanctum's batte enchantment is Mass Bless / Mass Curse and Shock Missile cast every turn on a random enemy unit

GC27
Sunken City's battle enchantment is Frost Missile (cast every turn on an enemy unit)

GC28
Sphynx Temple's Greater Immolation affects 2 enemy units every round (was 1)

GC29
Hall of the Forefather's battle enchantment is Vengeful Totem: enemy units are affected by Glacial Totem and one enemy unit is hit by Vengeful Frost every turn

GC30
Ziggurath's battle enchantment is Filth Pith

GC31
Lost City's battle enchantment is Bell Tower

GC32
Castle of the Lich King's Batte Enchantment is Lich King's Undying Army: all defenders have Undying and enemy units get 20% Spirit Weakness.

GC33
Healing is once per battle (was cooldown 3).
Shamans and Evangelists get Combat Healing in addition to their Healing ability. Combat Healing starts fights with an initial 4 turns cooldown, it heal 20 HP and it can be used once per battle. Combat Healing has no effect on the strategic map (but Healing still works on the strategic map). Order of Healing gives Healing and Combat Healing to Theocrat's Supports

Ro16b
Lesser Charm and Charm have strength 6 (was 7) and 8 (was 9) respectively

Th08b
Lesser Convert and Convert have strength 8 (was 9) and 10 (was 11) respectively

Pa02
Hide Out costs 40 CP to cast and has an upkeep of 15 mana/turn. Disjunction cost is 55 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn ; disjunction cost was 80 CP)

Pa02a
Hide Out gives Invisibility to all your units in enemy’s domain (was All friendly units in enchanted city's domain are invisible). It costs 700 RP, 150 CP, is tier V,  has an upkeep of 40 mana/turn and its disjunction cost is 170 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn, 120 RP, tier II; disjunction cost was 80 CP).

Ea01
Domain of Earth costs 160 RP and 40 CP (was 180 RP, 60CP).

Ea02
Domain of Earth gives +1 defense to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Ai01
Domain of Winter costs 160 RP, 40 CP and 15 mana/turn (was 180 RP, 60CP, 20 mana/turn).

Ai02
Domain of Winter gives +1 ranged damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Ai05
Artic Empire gives Inflict Chilling and Inflict Frostbite to units in your domain.

Ai07
Air Master gets Dark Storm instead of Wind Ward. Dark Storm is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all enemy units. It costs 2500 RP and 600 CP, is tier VII, its disjunction cost is 500 CP and its upkeep 80 mana/turn.

Ai07a
Air Master gets Heavy Winds instead of Wind Ward. Heavy Winds is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all Flying enemy units and prevent them from Flying in tactical combat. It costs 800 RP and 150 CP, is tier V, its disjunction cost is 170 CP and its upkeep 60 mana/turn.

Cr02a
Domain of Life gives Fast Healing (stackable) and +20% Spirit protection  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Cr02b
Domain of Life gives +5 HP  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Cr04
Temperate Empire gives +1 defense and +1 resistance to allied units in your domain.

De04
Blight Empire gives Inflict Curse to allied units in your domain.

Wt01
Water Master gets Hail Storm instead of Drench the Land. Hail Storm is a strategic spell and causes 5 physical damage and 5 frost damage to all units and gives Weaken for 1 strategic turn to all Machines or Undead up to 2 hexes away from its center. It costs 350 RP, is tier IV, costs 90 CP.

GC19
T4 all have Mind Control Immunity

GC23
Heroes and leaders now require more experience to level up, with 25% more time needed to reach level 5, +40% to reach level 9, +72% to reach level 13, +88% to reach level 15 and then +400 XP / level instead of +200 XP / level
(See full details in this XP table)

Fi01
Domain of the Sun costs 160 RP, 50 CP and 20 mana/turn (was 180 RP, 70CP, 30 mana/turn).

Fi02
Domain of the Sun gives +1 fire damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

Fi03
Tropical Empire costs 310 RP, 60 CP and 30 mana/turn (was 350 RP, 80CP, 40 mana/turn).

Fi04
Tropical Empire gives Inflict Immolation to units in your domain.

Cr01
Domain of Life costs 160 RP, 40 CP and 15 mana/turn (was 180 RP, 60CP, 20 mana/turn).

Cr03
Temperate Empire costs 310 RP, 60 CP and 30 mana/turn (was 350 RP, 80CP, 40 mana/turn).

De01
Domain of Corruption costs 160 RP, 40 CP and 15 mana/turn (was 180 RP, 60CP, 20 mana/turn).

De02
Domain of Corruption gives +1 Blight damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.

De03
Blight Empire costs 310 RP, 60 CP and 30 mana/turn (was 350 RP, 80CP, 40 mana/turn).

Ai03
Artic Empire costs 310 RP, 60 CP and 30 mana/turn (was 350 RP, 80CP, 40 mana/turn)

Epic Tomb.
This is the third time I found one in the last few game.

I can confirm Dread Reaper in Tomb at strong defenders. Usually together with 3 T1 + 2 T2 or 2 T1 and 3 T2. More common is 5 T2 and 1 T3 though. The Dread Reapr could also be replaced with a Titan, it happened for me 2 times in the Acadamy game. 
The Titan/Dread Reaper have nothing to do with battle enchantments though, its simply luck of the dice (different sets of defenders is possible, same as all other sites).

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
The issue which prevented from changing the status to "Ongoing" has been fixed. Please update the status of the games which started.
1 game has not yet sent its class/race but otherwise, all games are started or about to start I think.

== Balance ==
@Tasslehoff: are you sure you had Dread Reapers in Tombs? Weren't there rather Death Bringers? I've never seen a Dread Reaper in a Tomb.

@all: why make high-level sites harder? marcus provided some elements. You can find more here: http://aow.triumph.net/forums... And I'll make videos of how I do high level sites probably soon.
We are talking about Legendary and Mythical sites here, that is to say the top 2 hardest-level sites, namely Dungeon, Forbidden Sanctum, Sunken City, Sphynx Temple, Hall of the Forefathers for the Legendary ones and Ziggurat, Lost City,   Castle of the Lich King  for the Mythical ones (hardest).
Tass, you said you never do these sites now. So changing them would not change anything for you. But it would prevent players who know how to make them to crush you without giving you any chance even you play a better strategic game than them. These sites provide huge rewards (500 RP, secret spells, crazy items, 2 T3, etc.) which are game-changing. We could reduce the rewards but that is difficult to implement through modding. But in any case, it should not be easier to do a Legendary site (Dungeon) than an Epic one (Tomb or Forbidden Sanctum for instance).
At the minimum, we should add a battle enchantment for Dungeons which is one of the worst offender as it gives (usually) two free T3 units.
We should not determine the results of all the quarter final games of tournaments based on who clear better than the rest. AoW3 is not just about clearing, it's also about good strategies (movements on the map and choice of armies basically) and good management of resources. If we don't change anything, it will be like the quarter finals of the previous Duel tournament where - when Necro is not dominating -, the result depends on who gets the top items, spells and units (through mind control) faster and production or summoning is totally absent from the equation.
So sure, top clearing players should get an advantage, but, no "It is my fault that I can't clear high level dungeons on turn 10 (I can clear the Lost Library!). Other players are picking the right race / class combinations and are just flat out better than I am" it incorrect. Top players should be able to clear high-level sites on turn 20 or so and average players maybe on turn 30-40 or so,  so that top players still benefit from their skills but games are not just a competition on who exploit the AI best.
Making high-level sites impossible to clear with T1 and T2 will not make the game less fun. It will make it more fun because you will have more strategies in mid game and maybe reach late game more often so you will experience more of what AoW has to offer. And you will still be able to clear them but just not with T1 and T2.

We can reduce the strength of the proposed battlefield enchantment to make the sites not much more difficult than now. But we really need to prevent the current exploits of taking many turns to position and split the enemy and win a Dungeon with basically 2 heroes, 1 T2 and 3 T1.
I hope I can make some videos soon to illustrate that and convince some of you.
Happy to discuss that more on the chat!

What about to lower the reward that could unbalance the game and leave the fun of explore a site ? I'm not a great player, but I never explored a Mythical site if I remember.

Edit: in the last few games I found a Dread Ripper in every Epic Tomb. c'mon guys!!!

I cant clear a Dungeon by turn 10 either, not with weak starting units anyhow.
But I do believe that a site, witch is so rewarding (2 t3, or 1t3+t2) should at least offer a difficulty worthy of such a reward. I also think its worth to mention that the stalling technique used to clear such a site very early in the game, will not effect most players in a horrible way, if you approach it when you are more suitable to it, i.e with 3 t3 and 3 leaders, the spell wont hurt you as bad as if you approach with 2 heroes, 1 t2 and 3t1 units. Your units will have more hp and def so suffocate(the spel) wont damage you so much.

But to offer a compromise, maybe put together a few people that can trial it and offer feedback in beta before its officially moved to the main branch.
Rookie, Tass and Eskild who was first to offer input should be included in such a trial and can provide non-biased feedback.

I believe the PBEM mod should achieve balance between classes and races only, and it should do it with as few changes to the game as possible. 

It is my fault that I can't clear high level dungeons on turn 10 (I can clear the Lost Library!). Other players are picking the right race / class combinations and are just flat out better than I am. I will likely be against proposed changes to dungeons. 

I´ll back you up on that one Tass.

I really don't understand the need to make treasure sites harder and harder to clean. Strong defenders are already difficult to me and the game results less funny.

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
Classes/races received for everyone except:
- gabthegab
- Marcuspers
- Evgendil
- Hiliadan
- rickyroo222
- Lightform
- Jundland Banshee
- Boze
- embahr
So basically all but 3 matches are ready to start. Please check the settings posted by your opponents and start the match. Once it is started, please update its status to "Ongoing" through the drop-down menu.

Round 2 should end around 16 January (16 November + 2 months).
Round 3 will use v1.18 of the balance mod (same as now).

== 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament ==
23 players joined, only 9 slots left to join: https://www.the-battlefield.c... />I am trying to get Zaskow to release the "tournament size" map in the beta branch of the balance mod but he is facing some bugs... I hope v1.2 will not be delayed too much as a consequence.

== Balance ==
Please provide feedback on these new priority changes for v1.21 (probably for round 2 of the 2017 PBEM Duel Tournament):



GC24
Dungeon's battle enchantment is Suffocating Sadism. Every turn, one enemy unit is hit by 15 physical damage, Undead, Machine, Elemental and Incorporeal are immune. Every time an enemy dies, all defenders of the Dungeon get +100 Morale and +1 melee strength.
GC25
Earth Elemental cannot be obtained as a reward any more in the Forbidden Sanctum
GC26
Forbidden Sanctum's batte enchantment is Mass Bless / Mass Curse and Shock Missile cast every turn on a random enemy unit
GC27
Sunken City's battle enchantment is Frost Missile (cast every turn on an enemy unit)
GC28
Sphynx Temple's Greater Immolation affects 2 enemy units every round (was 1)
GC29
Hall of the Forefather's battle enchantment is Vengeful Totem: enemy units are affected by Glacial Totem and one enemy unit is hit by Vengeful Frost every turn
GC30
Ziggurath's battle enchantment is Filth Pith
GC31
Lost City's battle enchantment is Bell Tower
GC32
Castle of the Lich King's Batte Enchantment is Lich King's Undying Army: all defenders have Undying and enemy units get 20% Spirit Weakness.
GC33
Healing is once per battle (was cooldown 3).
Shamans and Evangelists get Combat Healing in addition to their Healing ability. Combat Healing starts fights with an initial 4 turns cooldown, it heal 20 HP and it can be used once per battle. Combat Healing has no effect on the strategic map (but Healing still works on the strategic map). Order of Healing gives Healing and Combat Healing to Theocrat's Supports
GC34
Transform Mana Node can target any Mana Node (was can target only basic - i.e. non elemental - Mana Node)

Ro16b
Lesser Charm and Charm have strength 6 (was 7) and 8 (was 9) respectively


Th08b
Lesser Convert and Convert have strength 8 (was 9) and 10 (was 11) respectively





Pa01
Guerilla Tactics apply to all units (was only Infantry and Irregular)
Pa02
Hide Out costs 40 CP to cast and has an upkeep of 15 mana/turn. Disjunction cost is 55 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn ; disjunction cost was 80 CP)
Pa02a
Hide Out gives Invisibility to all your units in enemy’s domain (was All friendly units in enchanted city's domain are invisible). It costs 700 RP, 150 CP, is tier V,  has an upkeep of 40 mana/turn and its disjunction cost is 170 CP (was 60 CP and 20 mana/turn, 120 RP, tier II; disjunction cost was 80 CP).
Pa03
War Anthem costs 20 CP to cast (was 30 CP). If it fails, the unit suffer -100 morale instead (was no effect if it failed).



Ea01
Domain of Earth costs 160 RP and 40 CP (was 180 RP, 60CP).
Ea02
Domain of Earth gives +1 defense to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Ea03
Slow costs 9 CP and 300 RP (was 10 CP and 350 RP).
Ea04
City Quake costs 90 CP (was 100 CP)



Ai01
Domain of Winter costs 160 RP, 40 CP and 15 mana/turn (was 180 RP, 60CP, 20 mana/turn).
Ai02
Domain of Winter gives +1 ranged damage to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.


Ai05
Artic Empire gives Inflict Chilling and Inflict Frostbite to units in your domain.


Ai07
Air Master gets Dark Storm instead of Wind Ward. Dark Storm is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all enemy units. It costs 2500 RP and 600 CP, is tier VII, its disjunction cost is 500 CP and its upkeep 80 mana/turn.
Ai07a
Air Master gets Heavy Winds instead of Wind Ward. Heavy Winds is a strategic spell which gives -2 vision range to all Flying enemy units and prevent them from Flying in tactical combat. It costs 800 RP and 150 CP, is tier V, its disjunction cost is 170 CP and its upkeep 60 mana/turn.



Cr02a
Domain of Life gives Fast Healing (stackable) and +20% Spirit protection  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.
Cr02b
Domain of Life gives +5 HP  to allied units in the enchanted city’s domain.


Cr04
Temperate Empire gives +1 defense and +1 resistance to allied units in your domain.


De04
Blight Empire gives Inflict Curse to allied units in your domain.


Wt01
Water Master gets Hail Storm instead of Drench the Land. Hail Storm is a strategic spell and causes 5 physical damage and 5 frost damage to all units and gives Weaken for 1 strategic turn to all Machines or Undead up to 2 hexes away from its center. It costs 350 RP, is tier IV, costs 90 CP.

Bishmanrock quitted!

Bishmanrock joined !!

== PBEM 2vs2 Team Tournament ==
Round 2 has started! Your match has been generated and the hosts are the teams on top on the roster here (or first in the game blog): https://www.the-battlefield.c... />For hosts, please host the game and post screenshots of the settings as in round 1.
For all, please send your class/race to judges (Fistandantilus, Markymark and me). Please don't send it to a judge if he is your opponent! I currently have class/race for rrrrookie & jonny thunder, West Coasters,  The Baballas, Reapers.<
Round 2 is played with the Main branch of the PBEM & Single Player balance mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sha... It has just been updated with v1.18 a few minutes ago by Zaskow.

Please note: teams Phoenyx Rising and Bastards of the North's positions may change, I reported the match before the result was known to speed up the launch of round 2.

Please start your match as soon as possible! Round 2 lasts only 2 months and it's short! Good luck and have fun all!

Reminder: you can check the rules here https://www.the-battlefield.c...

gladis quitted!

Good question! v1.18 will be used for round 2. That's the version that has been tested for 1.5 months on the Beta branch of the mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sha... So you can test it now if you want, through the Beta branch of the mod.
The Main branch of the mod is going to be updated with v1.18 as soon as the 2 remaining matches end (so probably tomorrow).

It's not planned to use v1.2 in the 2vs2 team tournament for now (though that may change in the future but we'll communicate at least 1 round in advance). So the 2vs2 team tournament should stick with v1.18.
(the next DUEL tournament will use v1.2 though)