All the FREE characters, reworks & overhauls coming to Total War: THREE KINGDOMS

00:15 - Let’s get into it because there’s plenty to cover.

00:17 - _ White Tiger Yan Baihu is the fearsome bandit leader that prowls the hills of Jiangdong in south-east China.

00:24 - He is known for his coalition-building prowess, capable of bringing the Shanyue tribes, and even local Han officials, under his banner.

00:32 - He comes equipped with his own unique swords, the Tiger’s Claws and has brother, Yan Yu, at his side.

00:38 - And of course, no fearsome bandit kingpin is complete without new units, which Zerkovich has handily detailed in his video, link in the YouTube cards.

00:46 - _ The bandits have received a massive revamp that sees them receive a unique tech tree and faction mechanics, offering a completely different kind of playstyle.

00:56 - Unlike conventional factions, bandits do not develop via scholarly research.

01:00 - Instead, they spread their influence across China via a network of contacts and alliances with various marginalised groups and their sympathisers.

01:09 - The tech tree is represented by a map of China.

01:12 - Owning the province a tech is located in gives a bonus to researching that technology, giving a choice between researching what you want, and what your conquests are giving you a bonus to.

01:22 - Every Bandit faction’s starting techs reflect where they are on the campaign map.

01:26 - Many technologies either unlock units, or increase the number of a unit type that can be recruited by Bandits Bandit factions can even gain access to units previously unique to some factions like Yi Archers, as well as some Yellow Turban units.

01:39 - _ We’ve made changes to the way that Bandits build settlements to be more in keeping with the role of a Bandit, where building enough armies for raids in small settlements is more important than building a major city with a school.

01:50 - Bandits have a new source of income and food, Banditry, which mainly comes from their buildings.

01:55 - Bandits now get second ary slots in all minor settlements within which they can build new unique buildings such as the Black Market or Mustering Grounds.

02:03 - Loot is the Bandit replacement for Supplies and they have also gained the Raiding and Share the Spoils Stances to help manage Loot.

02:11 - A canny bandit chief will try to keep his forces starved enough of loot to incentivise them, but not so starved that they waste away.

02:18 - Bandits also have new progression ranks, as well as Court name changes that provide authenticity to the bandit theme.

02:24 - _ I’m not done yet…there are new templates for characters that will only spawn for Bandit factions with new skill trees that give more relevant bonuses to bandits, a new active battle skill (one for each class), and have new career traits.

02:36 - These characters will only generate for the Bandit factions but can freely move to Han factions once they’ve spawned.

02:43 - Tax levels for bandits now give choices between either giving a focus on armies or characters.

02:48 - AND Bandits now have their own unique set of effects from public order.

02:52 - _ The final component of the bandit overhaul, is an all-new type of treaty that allows bandits to become mercenaries for other factions.

03:00 - When playing as Bandit factions, the player has the option of offering their services to the AI in exchange for payment.

03:06 - AI may also suggest mercenary treaties to the bandit player.

03:09 - The player will be granted shared vision with their employer, military access to their territory and the ability to replenish on their lands for the duration of the agreement.

03:18 - Lu Bu’s faction is also eligible for mercenary treaties, but you’ll need to have ‘A World Betrayed’ to take advantage of that yourself.

03:25 - _ We’ve overhauled the character title system for Han and Bandit factions.

03:30 - This sees players choosing a character rank in order to promote that character and increase their satisfaction.

03:35 - Some of these titles are available from the start whilst others are unlocked when fulfilling certain conditions.

03:40 - _ In addition, patch 1. 5 adds 16 new characters for all the available start dates: Warriors of Wu - Cheng Pu and Zhou Tai • Cheng Pu was one of Wu’s longest-serving warriors.

03:50 - To represent his steadying hand, Cheng Pu gets a unique battle ability, Exemplar, which improves the performance of all other allied characters on the field.

03:57 - • Zhou Tai is a former bandit who became a trusted warrior of several generations of Wu leaders.

04:03 - His most famous deed was when he saved Sun Quan from bandits, receiving many deep scars in the process.

04:09 - To represent this, he gets a unique ability - if he is in battle with a character with which he is Oathsworn, he will gain increased melee evasion and will heal over time.

04:18 - The Qiao Sisters - Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao • The Qiao sisters were renowned for their beauty and elegance.

04:21 - They were married to Sun Ce and his best friend, Zhou Yu.

04:25 - It is said that it was Cao Cao’s desire to claim the Qiao sisters as his own concubines that led him to engage in the disastrous battle of Red Cliffs.

04:34 - • When both Qiao sisters are in the same force, they will grant all units increased morale and resistance to fear.

04:39 - Lü Bu’s Rebels - Chen Gong and Gao Shun • Chen Gong and Gao Shun both served Lü Bu during his brief time as an independent warlord.

04:45 - Though they did not always get along, they refused to betray their master even after he was defeated.

04:50 - Both were executed by Cao Cao as a result. • Chen Gong has seen the good and bad sides of both Cao Cao and Lü Bu, giving him a detailed understanding of the flaws of great men.

04:58 - This is represented by his battle ability, which debuffs enemy heroes in an area around him - place him well and he can turn an otherwise-unfavourable duel in another character’s favour.

05:08 - • Gao Shun is a mighty warrior. Though his stern and disciplined demeanor often clashed with his erratic master Lü Bu, he remained loyal until the end.

05:16 - His battle ability increases the splash radius of his attacks, allowing him to scatter weaker foes with ease.

05:21 - The Two Zhangs - Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong • The ‘Two Zhangs’ were close friends of the Sun family and two of Wu’s most important officials.

05:27 - • Zhang Zhao is an excellent administrator, known for his stern and uncompromising attitude.

05:32 - He frequently lectured the young Sun Quan on the importance of patience and the need to avoid rash risks.

05:38 - • Zhang Hong is an adept diplomat who can smooth over diplomatic relations as a minister or operate abroad as a spy.

05:45 - • When both are in the same force, they improve the missile damage of all units in the army.

05:49 - _ We’ve also added a new style of character for Three Kingdoms, Tertiary Characters.

05:53 - These are characters that might not have the historical prominence of others, but that we still want to give some uniqueness to.

05:59 - These characters have unique art but aren’t available in custom battles.

06:03 - _ We heard your feedback and we’ve taken a second look at the Spies system, adding some much-requested functionality that will greatly improve the depth and interactivity of the system.

06:12 - Firstly, we added actions to extract a spy and to help maintain their loyalty.

06:16 - Also, Characters may now be sent on one of three assignments to known foreign settlements  As a Scout which provides line of sight  To Build an Undercover Network which allows a faction to increase the rate that undercover network points are gained  To Incite Unrest which lowers public order Next, we Added the ability for spies to be extracted from an enemy army before engaging them in battle.

06:37 - Finally, we added Turncoats. Players can now recruit spies from within a target faction itself.

06:43 - These turncoat characters are either dissatisfied with their lord or have traits relating to questionable loyalty or reliability.

06:50 - _ There’s also a New Unit Type. These elite infantry carry the much feared ‘Zhanmajian’ a double sided sword so large it is said to be able to remove a horse’s head with a single sweep.

07:04 - Units that wield the Zhanmajian are able to negate damage from cavalry charges, as well as dismount enemy heroes.

07:10 - They’re excellent assault troops, dealing high charge damage and dealing strong splash attacks that can sweep away both lightly armoured and heavily armoured troops alike.

07:19 - They also cause fear, scaring any nearby enemy troops.

07:23 - _ We’re adding several new factions to the south of the map in the 190 campaign including Shi Huang and Zhu Fu, who are involved with some of Liu Biao’s events chains.

07:32 - To better represent the realities of the population in Han China, all provinces have had their starting populations reworked and the effect of populations has been rebalanced, please dive into to the linked patch notes for the details.

07:43 - _ Now on to some of the Balance efforts the team have made to continue to evolve game with the aim of making it as fun and as fair as possible.

07:51 - A major issue that came up in the feedback from the balance development blog released in February was the strength of fire (shock) cavalry, which was causing earth (melee) cavalry to become second choice for players.

08:01 - To fix this, cavalry speed across the board has been increased, as well as missile units now doing 50% more damage against fire cavalry.

08:09 - This should see fire cavalry taking far more casualties under fire.

08:13 - Due to missile units now being more potent against cavalry, their power against other units has now been reduced slightly.

08:18 - There’s also changes to friendly fire protection and crossbows have had their maximum elevation angle reduced, reinforcing their need to either do most of their damage before battle lines meet, or find a flanking opportunity.

08:31 - With many players enjoying the new axe unit balancing, the Axe Band unit has been made more accessible, while also slightly less versatile.

08:38 - Following on from the changes made for Mandate of Heaven, unit upkeep and recruitment costs have been overhauled.

08:42 - This should help solidify the militia units as less value for money than higher tiers when used in campaign.

08:49 - In general, you will see a massive reduction in recruitment costs, especially for high tier or faction specific units, while upkeep has increased slightly across the board.

08:58 - There’s also been a massive Unit Costing Rebalance to even the odds and create more meaningful choices in a huge variety of scenarios.

09:06 - As morale is now more important to the balance of battles, the bonuses from Authority, skills, armours, traits, and trophies have been reduced.

09:14 - Units have also been made more likely to shatter after each time that they rout, reducing the amount of times units should be routing and returning to the battlefield.

09:21 - These changes should help to make strategies that target morale more consistent, as well as making routing a unit more permanent.

09:27 - _ Last but definitely not least, we have the bug fixes, there’s way more than we have time to mention here but here are a few of the top fixed issues: 1.

09:36 - Diplomatic fixes, including a fix for situations where players could not make peace in an alliance war.

09:41 - 2. A fix to an issue where the AI could not resolve sieges in a co-op campaign.

09:44 - 3. A number of fixes to campaign event chains – such as those where factions emerged multiple times.

09:50 - 4. Fixed an issue where heroes were damaging themselves in duels, which was more notable with powerhouses like Lu Bu.

09:56 - If you have any questions drop ‘em in the comments and we’ll do our best to respond and remember it’s 10% off ‘A World Betrayed’ if you pre-order. .