The Settlers: New Allies - First Gameplay Update

Hello everyone!

First of all, thank you very much for your support. We have deployed an extensive patch recently, and we'd like to talk about it.

We've been watching the games played, both in statistics and through content creators. It's great to see some of the incredible strategies that came up!

This is our first balancing patch, so we would like to give you some insight on our thoughts.

Rangers and Archers

The first topic we want to address today is that of Rangers, formerly known as Adventurers.

The name change comes from a close relationship to their raven companions, which we felt was more appropriate. Based on this relationship, too, we've changed the recruitment cost from Lumber to Wheat. This cost change serves multiple purposes, the most important of which, is changing the investment requirements.

Previously, Rangers would ask you to sacrifice your economy for the sake of having more units. Now, Rangers ask you to invest in the economy instead!

Wheat production will gain value out of this change, promoting early food investment as a viable strategy. Additionally, rushes of mass Ranger armies will now require a steady economic production instead of costing the starting materials. To top it off, the Guild Hall cost now includes tools, which means that the timing of a critical Ranger mass will take slightly longer to acquire.

The soldiers formerly known as Rangers will now be called Archers, as they are strictly always using a bow.

Sawmill productivity reduction

The second big topic for today is the change to the Sawmill production rate.

Due the change to the recruitment cost of Rangers, and the already existing high rate of production, sawmills have been reduced to now produce one Lumber per cycle. This will have a heavy impact on the early usage of Lumber, competition for the destination of early fish, and in general an increase of the amount of buildings dedicated to infrastructure.

The biggest impact however, is in the amount of Lumber resulting from each starting location. Players will now have to think much more intensely on where to spend the early Lumber or how quickly to expand to a new location.

Finally, we hope this change will see a lot less matches ending with hundreds of Lumber in stock.

Map Selection

The last topic we want to talk about is that of map selection.

We've seen a lot of players wanting to either play a specific map or avoid playing one. There is an option in the gameplay settings to enable or disable maps for matchmaking or private lobbies.

Please make sure to adjust your map preferences.

As always, we continue working towards a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

We have seen all the feedback in the forums and other social media, and we're happy to hear your thoughts on our changes!

Until the next time,

Your The Settlers DEV-Team