Recently, I had the privilege of exploring Lavapotion's latest addition to the acclaimed Songs of Conquest game: The Vanir DLC. As a fellow Swede, I may be biased, but the Vanir faction resonates deeply with me, and I absolutely love it. We get a perfect mix of Viking and Scandinavian folklore, along with a new snowy biome known as the Bleak East.
The DLC gives us five new Conquest maps and two challenge maps. It also brings with it nine new wielders with a mix of old and new special abilities. The new faction includes eight new troops, many of which undergo dramatic mechanical and playstyle changes as they’re upgraded. We also get a brand new town and exclusive artifact sets which introduce creative tactics for the new Vanir faction as well as those already in the game.
The Vanir lineup features lots of interesting characters with some very neat designs. The Berserkir and Skinshifter (4th column) make me feel like I am controlling axe-wielding maniacs; I'm glad they're on my side in battle.
The Crone/Nornor (7th column) may not look like much, but you'd better beware when you see them transform into a flock of ravens. They will turn up right next to you and inflict some wicked damage before retreating, leaving you with many fewer units than you had just moments before.
The Lykt (far left, top row) may at first seem like a small and insignificant unit, but its ability "Dance of the Vanir" will provide both ranged and melee units with a +5 offensive boost. Now, of course, that doesn't sound like much when a unit like the Chieftain (far right, top row) will grant your units +20 of the same statistics on top of inspiring friendly units within 1 tile, the Lykt are larger in number and cheaper to recruit.
However, my absolute favorite is the Troll/Grym (meaning 'Cruel' in Swedish). Not only do they look intimidating and mythical, when they pick up and toss a large rock (giving me some Heroes of Might and Magic 3 cyclops vibes) you just know right there and then that these are a great asset to your army.
For us Swedish folks, just taking a look at the Wielders' names will produce a smile and a chuckle of pride. Wielders are just as varied as the creature lineup, featuring characters like 'Girighet' (Swedish for greed), who grants a +10% gold bonus after battles, the fierce-looking Bjorn Oakbreaker (+1 Chaos Essence) and Haemnd (hämnd is Swedish for vengeance), a classic witch-looking type complete with a black cat which is granted +40% spell damage power. Another notable Wielder is the charming, sad-looking troll named "Sorg" (Swedish for grief), which has his own Challenge Map, delving into a tale of when Sorg is captured by Baryan slavers. Oh and yes, by the way, that is a fish he holds in his hand (I first noticed this after I got a Steam Achievement named "So long and thank you for the fish", which I assume we all know the origin of).
During the still quite limited time I've had with the game, I decided to start a map called Go East, which pits players against four adversaries. I promised myself not to stay up late, but encountering one of the four enemies just as I was about to end my session (a promise I'd been making for over two hours at this point) made me say "just one more turn". Just like when firing up Songs of Conquest for the first time, it has me hooked. Not a lot of games have that effect on me anymore, but the ability to just fire up the game with minimal effort and preparations, knowing that I will probably get stomped by the formidable and quite intelligent AI (at least I tell myself it's very intelligent) but that I will learn some new tricks for each gaming session is what many modern games lack.
Overall, I'd say that this is a great DLC for anyone who has fallen in love with the original game, or someone looking for an entry point into this absolute beauty and enjoys Scandinavian influences not related to a certain furniture company. LavaPotion delivers a victory with this DLC which I hope didn't cost them what my victory pictured above did. The team behind Songs of Conquest has done a great job of creating a unique gaming experience that strikes a perfect balance of casual gameplay, storytelling and immersive combat that will scratch that turn-based strategy itch.
The developers over at LavaPotion kindly provided us with 2 copies of the DLC to be used on Steam, so tell us why you want to play it in a comment or over at our Discord server at #campfire-chitchat and if you're quick enough, we will share one of those copies with you!
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Read more about the Vanir DLC on Steam
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