Season 8: Dynasty

Inspired by the real history of the Tang Dynasty—whose near 300-year rule brought a cultural and cosmopolitan golden age to China—Season VIII: Dynasty features an anthology of stories across a new Campaign, spotlighting crucial moments in time that gave rise to the mighty Qian Dynasty.

Table of Contents:

• Campaign Schedule
• New Region: Longting
• New Capital: Hao Jing
• New Weapon: Pike
• Units
• Maps
• Battle Pass
• Sacred Relics
• Quality of Life Improvements

Campaign Schedule

• July 7th: Opening Moves
  A new generation of noble warriors will be born on the field of battle. Available Regions: Longting & Liangyun
• July 26th: Eye of the Storm
  Chaos spreads as the ambitious expand their territories. Available Regions: Longting, Liangyun, Maoyang
• August 9th: All is Chaos
  A conqueror believes that any land beneath the hooves of their horse is their own. Available Regions: Longting, Liangyun, Maoyang, Borderlands
• August 23rd: Usurp the Thrones
  Through endless conflict, kings are born. Conquerable Capital: Daicheng. Available Regions: Longting, Liangyun, Maoyang, Borderlands
• September 6th: Imperial Dawn
  A true conqueror is never satisfied until there are no lands left to conquer. Conquerable Capital: Daicheng & Anliang. Available Regions: Longting, Liangyun, Maoyang, Borderlands
• September 20th: Post Season Festivities
  The war is over and it is time for celebration. Traditionally seasons are followed by 2 weeks of drill mode for rest, relaxation, and silver farming.

New Region: Longting

Longting. This expansive, golden land is inspired by China and East Asia, influences clear in its architecture, landscapes, cultures, and warriors.

Longting is surrounded by hills and mountains that form natural borders, defences that have long deterred enemies of the ruling Qian Dynasty from launching incursions here. The region borders the nomad-settled Steppes in the north, while its southern and eastern reaches consist of rich, fertile lands that are suitable for farming and herding horses. Its forestry and agricultural industries are of great importance, as many of its provinces rely on the grain grown, wood harvested, and horses bred here for both everyday life and war provisions. The rivers flowing here make it especially easy to transport goods throughout Longting.

The western regions of Longting feature harsh, arid terrain, unsuitable for farming. Resources are incredibly scarce here, making life hard for the small part of the population living here.

The central southeastern parts of Longting are prosperous areas, with the capital of Hao Jing serving as the beginning of the Golden Road, a recently-opened trade route that connects Longting to the wider world of Conqueror's Blade; a vital connection between the east and west. The area is, naturally, filled with merchants selling precious goods from across the known world.

View Region

New Capital: Hao Jing

Longting is the new starting region in Season VIII: Dynasty, and at the heart of this golden land lies Hao Jing, the capital city where all players will begin their latest Conqueror's Blade journey.

Hao Jing is the economic and cosmopolitan capital of Longting. The city marks the beginning of the Golden Road trade route that connects Longting to the lands of the west, and as such is a thriving metropolis bustling with trade and life. Many merchants can be found here, with a new influx of travellers and even warlords taking advantage of the hospitality of the Qian Dynasty.

Notably, Hao Jing is the first peaceable Capital in Conqueror's Blade. This is due to its status as a key centre of trade, an agreement signed by every region connected to and served by the Golden Road. The city is not contestable in Territory Wars, nor can it be attacked under any circumstances. Keep your blades sheathed!

Behold Hao Jing's stunning architecture as you explore its streets, climb its towers, and meet its denizens—there are lots of NPCs to interact with, so be sure to say hello!

New Weapon Class: Pike

With a new age of warfare dawning, we’re upgrading our arsenal. The roster of available Weapon Classes will soon expand to 12 with the introduction of the Pike! This thrusting spear can dish out long-reaching attacks to keep enemy units out of melee range, while its devastating combos hammer the point home.

The pike is one of the most important defensive weapons in the entire history of warfare. Evolved from the humble spear to better deter cavalry units with their heavier, shorter lances (which also evolved from the spear, of course), the pike and its many variants became as ubiquitous across the ancient battlefields of Greece and Rome as during the wars of the Renaissance almost 2,000 years later, when mass-produced firearms finally made the weapon untenable.

Armour Class: Medium

Skills

The Pike has 3 skills that can be used to make combos by switching the order in which you use them. You can chain together 3 skills, followed by an elite skill and a finishing main skill to make a 5 skill combo. 

Unique Mechanics:

• Chain Combos: The different stages of each skill can be used with one another in a short period of time and will share the same cooldown.
• Combo Finisher: After using an Ultimate Skill, you can use another skill's final stage.
• Sure and Steady: Every time a normal attack hits an enemy, you can get the 'Strong As A Storm' effect, each stack of which increases all types of damage by 4%. Can stack up to 3 times.

New Seasonal Units

Unlock and command three new Seasonal Units and one new unit to unlock via the unit tree inspired by the heroes and legends of Longting’s history: 

Cudgel Monks (3-Star)

There are many records of holy men and women waging wars throughout history in spite of their faith. Bishop Heahmund took arms in defence of Wessex and was struck down by Halfdan Ragnarsson’s Danes at the Battle of Meretun in AD 871, monastic military orders like the Knights Templar and the Teutonic Order were initially founded to protect Christian pilgrims, and the concept of warrior monks is a common element across Asian cultures. In Sikhism, a Sant Sipahi (meaning Saint-Soldier) is a Sikh who follows the spiritual and martial teachings of Guru Hargobind. In Japan, the Buddhist sōhei were an order of warrior monks born out of and sustained by, periods of imperial rebellion.

Perhaps one of the best-known examples of warrior monks is that of the legendary Shaolin Monastery in Dengfeng, China. The Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma was its first abbot in the early sixth century and is credited with training the very first Shaolin monks in what would become one of the world’s most famous martial arts: Shaolin Kung Fu. Though the monks led a largely peaceful, meditative way of life, frequent incursions forced their hand and often saw them fighting invaders off from Shaolin. 

In the wake of an uprising and the assassination of the Sui Dynasty’s Emperor Yang in AD 618, the general and future Emperor Li Yuan attempted to retake the city of Luoyang, but soon found himself staring down defeat when his forces were wildly outnumbered by reinforcements. In the midst of the chaos and bloodshed, it was said that 13 Shaolin monks could be seen fighting off invaders in the heart of the city and helped turn the tide to an eventual victory for Li Yuan. The monks were honoured by the new Emperor of the ascendant Tang Dynasty, who granted them the rights to train their warrior monks and dubbed Shaolin a “supreme temple”.

Unit Overview:

In Conqueror’s Blade, doctrines of harmony have long prevailed in the lands west of Hao Jing, but even a land as harmonious as this cannot enjoy peace forever. The Cudgel Monks, like their historical counterparts, are a monastic order of spiritual warriors who detest war yet fight when they must. These benevolent monks are said to be favoured by the gods and use their blessed martial arts abilities to safeguard those in need. When they come down the mountain and return to the world, they do so to eradicate evil and preserve good. 

The Cudgel Monks dress in narrow-sleeved robes, are quick to act and are adept at using staves. Though not as sharp or daunting as a blade, their staves strike swiftly and deal considerable levels of continuous damage. Following a momentum-building charge towards enemies, the Monks can unleash a powerful flying kick to hit hard and break ranks.

Core Unit Statistics

Terrain Effects:

• Desert - Bad
• Plains - Fair
• Hills - Fair
• Steppe - Fair
• Urban - Good

Unit Traits:

• Six Way Staff - The unit performs a powerful attack. If it hits the enemy, the unit recovers 500 health.
• Swamp - Increases damage against cavalry by 16%, and reduces an attacked cavalry unit's movement speed by 45% for 2 seconds.
• Suppression of Evil - Each attack increases own movement speed by 6%, reduces enemy movement speed by 6%, and their defense by 10%. Can be stacked up to 5 times.
• Qian Dynasty - Leadership cost reduced by 15 during Season VIII.

Formations:

• Dispersed - The unit spreads out a little to lessen the damage from ranged attacks.
• Column - A narrow formation effective for charging.
• Schiltron - The unit arranges in the Arhat formation, concentrating attacks.

Unit Orders:

• Six Way Staff - The unit charges toward their enemies at a high speed. During the charge, they block enemy arrows. Afterward, they will jump up and use their staves to attack with an extra block breaking effect.
• Windmill Strike - A powerful attack is triggered, restoring 500 health as it strikes the enemy. Monks quickly swing their staves for 10 seconds, dealing continuous damage to the enemy.

Veterancy Bonuses:

Core Path:

• The Soldier's Life (2): Each level increases health by 3%.

Top Path:

• Bloodbath (2): Each level increases slashing defence by 3%
• Toughen Up (2): Each Level Increases piercing defence by 3%
• The Soldiers Life (2): Each level increases Health by 3%
• Opportune Block (2): Each level increases damage reduction obtained when Six Way Staff triggers a powerful attack by 5%.
• Unswerving (2): Each level increases blunt defense by 3%.
• Reflexes (2): Each level reduces ranged damage taken by 5%.
• Braves (1): Increases Six Way Staff's health recovery effect by 500 points.

Bottom Path:

• Second Wind (2): Each level reduces Six Way Staff cooldown by 2 seconds.
• Butcher's Bill (2): Each Level Increases blunt damage by 2%.
• Recklessness (2): Each level reduces Windmill Strike cooldown by 2 seconds.
• Facehardened (2): Each level increases blunt armour penetration by 5%.
• Reflexes (2): Each level increases ranged resistance by 5%.
• Move as One (2): Each level increases movement speed by 5%.
• Heavies (1): Increases the number of enemies each monk can attack with a single normal strike by 1.

Greyhair Garrison (4-Star)

The Golden Road, beginning in Longting’s capital Hao Jing and crossing through the Borderlands, conveys much wealth in both directions. In order to ensure the security of the trade route, the Qian Dynasty’s Emperor built a fort in the desert to deter bandits called Linwu Fortress. As professional soldiers, the men garrisoning it are compensated for their service by the state and dedicate their lives to standing watch over the desert.

As the Qian Empire gradually declined over decades, the people of the Zang Kingdom to the west saw a chance to invade, but they were defeated by Linwu’s warriors on the frontiers. The Zang general attacking the desert fort changed his siege strategy, and instead cut off all supply channels between Linwu and the interior in order to starve the garrison to death. As experienced as these soldiers were, they were helpless in the face of these ruthless tactics. While some died in battle and others of illness, a few weathered the siege… for 40 years. This self-titled Greyhair Garrison guarded the frontier for decades in spite of old age and the ravages of time, and to this day, it’s said that they remain capable warriors who will never back down from a fight.

A great man once said that all good stories deserve embellishment. The legend of the Greyhair Garrison is loosely based on the real siege of Ansi, a fortress-city in the Liaodong Peninsula defended by Goguryeo against Tang forces in AD 645. The Tang Dynasty, attempting to press into Goguryeo, sought to claim Ansi Fortress as a strategic foothold. An early clash between the forces resulted in heavy losses, including horses and cattle, for Gorguryeo’s forces, and succeeded in isolating the Fortress from other territories. The Tang forces then commenced a heavy siege and launched the full force of their engines against Ansi, but their efforts were repelled repeatedly. After three months of unsuccessful attempts to breach the stronghold, and with the weather turning colder and food supplies growing thin, the Tang forces eventually retreated, leaving Goguryeo’s defenders victorious.

Unit Overview:

The Greyhair Garrison may be long in the tooth, but these soldiers will fight to the last while they still draw breath. They employ spears, swords, and shields to slash, bash, and stun or knock down enemies. When they get into the swing of things, they can increase their attack at the expense of slowly draining their health. However, when their health reaches a critical point, they’ll further increase their attack and receive more health with the more hits they successfully land.

Core Unit Statistics

Terrain Effects:

• Desert - Poor
• Plains - Good
• Hills - Good
• Steppe - Fair
• Urban - Good

Unit Traits:

• Grizzled Veterans - An experienced veteran can use a variety of weapons in battle. Each weapon inflicts a different effect on enemies. 
  
  Swordsword & Shield: Excels at defensive counterattacks. Can blook while attacking and get around enemy blocks to daze enemy units.
  
  Longsword: Uses powerful attacks while in formation and is capable of attacking multiple targets at once.
  
  Polearm: Waits for opportunities to attack the enemy's weak points, increasing the amount of damage they take.
• By The Book - When Health falls below 40% (appears red), damage is increased by 25% and each attack restores 10% Max Health.
• Duty Until Death - This unit is not affected by Headcount restrictions.
• Qian Dynasty - Leadership cost reduced by 15 during Season VIII.

Formations:

• Three Rank Formation - Soldiers form a dense three-stage formation to resist enemies ahead. The unit gains the Last Stand skill while in this formation.
• Wedge - Soldiers form a wedge formation used for charging enemies. The unit gains the Shield Rush skill while in this formation.

Unit Orders:

• Charge - The Greyhairs charge as directed. This charge has a strengthened effect, and is even better if the unit is in the wedge formation.
  
  Swordsword: Protects the front while charging.
  
  Longsword: Charging will attack all targets within range.
  
  Polearm: Strikes enemy's weak points, increasing the enemies' damage taken from infantry charges.
• Last Stand - The Greyhairs ignite their last bit of life force and strengthen their morale. This can only be activated in Three Ranks formation; changing to a different formation will weaken the effect.
  
  Shortsword: Uses shield to defend the formation, enhancing the ability to resist damage.
  
  Longsword: Cuts down enemies ahead.
  
  Polearm: Stabs enemies, reducing the damage they deal.

Veterancy Bonuses:

Core Path:

• The Soldier's Life (2): Each level increases health by 3%.

Top Path:

• Recklessness (2): Each level increases movement speed by 5%.
• Razor-Sharp (3): Each level increases slashing damage by 2%
• Cold Blood (3): Each level Increases Piercing Damage by 3%
• Breakthrough (2): Each level increases blocking break by 30%.
• Toughen Up (3): Each Level Increases piercing defence by 3%
• Butcher's Bill (2): Each Level Increases blunt damage by 2%.
• Second Wind (3): Each level reduces Last Stand cooldown by 5 seconds.
• Harbingers (1): Damage dealt during Last Stand is increased by 15%.

Bottom Path:

• Bloodbath (3): Each level increases slashing defence by 3%
• Razor-Sharp (2): Each level increases slashing damage by 2%
• Hone (3): Each level Increases slashing armour penetration by 5%
• Unswerving (3): Each level increases blunt defense by 3%.
• Fear Nothing (3): Each level Increases charge damage by 5%.
• The Soldiers Life (2): Each level increases Health by 3%
• Recklessness (2): Each level increases movement speed by 5%.

Modao Battalion (5-Star)

A disciplined and elite force deployed often as first-wave attackers.

Core Unit Statistics

Terrain Effects:

• Desert - Bad
• Plains - Good
• Hills - Fair
• Steppe - Fair
• Urban - Good

Unit Traits:

• Wall of Blades - Unit attacks can stop enemy cavalry for 1 second and also inflict 60% Slow against them.
• Immovable - The Madao Battalions have strict military discipline and will not fall into disarray. When normally sent flying by enemies, this unit will simply be knocked back instead. While in under the Immovable effect, 50% damage taken from cavalry and lancers is converted to stable bleed damage.
• Fire-Resistant - This unit's armour is less vulnerable to thermal weapons than other units of the same era.
• Qian Dynasty - Leadership cost reduced by 15 during Season VIII.

Formations:

• Three Rank - The unit lines up in three rows, greatly improving ability to deal with charging attacks.
• Trapezoid Formation - The unit spreads out a little to lessen the damage from concentrated attacks.

Unit Orders:

• Modao Advance - The unit immediately enters battle formation and focuses on defending against the enemy.
• Modao March - Madao March - Upon hearing the order, the unit immediately launches a forward attack, dazing nearby enemies and knocking them back, while stabbing enemies that are farther away. If unable to attack enemies, the unit's movement speed will increase for a short period as they move towards the enemy.
• Carnage - The unit holds their blades in front of them and sprints in the designated direction. Upon encountering an enemy, they slash as hard as they can.

Veterancy Bonuses:

Core Path:

• The Soldier's Life (1): Each level increases health by 3%.

Top Path:

• Razor-Sharp (3): Each level Increases piercing defence by 3%
• Hone (3): Each level Increases slashing armour penetration by 5%
• Anti-Cavalry (2): Each level increases damage dealt to cavalry by 5%.
• Hone (3): Each level increases Modao Order damage by 5%.
• Cold Blood (3): Each level Increases Piercing Damage by 3%
• Force (3): Each level increases piercing armour penetration by 5%.
• Reflexes (2): Each level increases ranged resistance by 5%.
• Hone (3): Each level increases damage dealt to cavalry by 5%.
• Anti-Cavalry (2): Reduces Carnage cooldown by 10 seconds.
• Overthrow (1): TBA

Bottom Path:

• Bloodbath (3): Each level increases slashing defence by 3%
• Toughen Up (3): Each Level Increases piercing defence by 3%
• Rearguard (2): Each level reduces damage taken from rear attacks by 5%
• The Soldiers Life (2): Each level increases Health by 3%
• Reflexes (2): Each level reduces ranged damage taken by 5%.
• Unswerving (3): Each level increases blunt defense by 3%.
• Toughen Up (3): Each level reduces damage taken when attacked from the rear by 5%.
• The Soldiers Life (2): Each level increases Health by 3%
• Toughen Up (3): Each level increases all defenses by 10%.
• Traps (1): TBA

New Siege Map: Linwu Fortress

Deploy your new warriors to defend or attack Linwu Fortress, a legendary stronghold whose defenders once held out for 40 years in the face of insurmountable odds. This new Siege map invites two teams of 10 players to battle for supremacy over it, and is certain to be the theatre for countless epic battles throughout the season and beyond.

Season 8 Battle Pass

The Season VIII Battle Pass will be available to pre-order from June 24, alongside instant rewards when purchased before July 8. Over 100 levels of Premium rewards await warlords who complete Seasonal Challenges, amass Glory, and level up during Season VIII. Battle to claim the treasures of the Qian Dynasty, from spectacular Hero and Unit Attire to Emotes, weapon skins, and so much more. Conqueror’s Blade is of course a free-to-play game, so if you don’t want to pay, there are plenty of rewards to be found on the Free Pass.

Sacred Relics

The Rune system introduced in Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok returns! You can further augment your loadout with all-new sacred relics inspired by Wuxing philosophy and its Five Phases.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Skill Pages:
  All weapon skill pages have become 1 single type of universal skill page.

• Reduced the number of Hero Materials:
  In the current iteration of crafting, there are too many types of materials, and how to obtain these are too unclear and confusing. This has led to an artificial increase in difficulty for crafting equipment. With the new season, we have made the entire system easier to understand by merging multiple materials into singular items.

  Steel Plates & Steel Bars become Steel Ingots. Paint & Lacquer, Wire & Thread and Metal Rings become Roll of Leather.

• Equipment Crafting Attribute Changes:
  To improve the overall gameplay experience, we're changing attributes for crafted armours (helmets, breastplates, gloves, and boots) by increasing the chance of gaining multiple attributes when crafting. It will now be easier to craft equipment with crit rate, anti-crit rate, and leadership.

• Changes to Earning Doctrines:
  Drop rates for some doctrines have been updated. The Epic Mobility Doctrine can now be gained from Treatises (drop chance is equal to other doctrines of the same quality).

• Strategic World Map Warpaths:
  Added a feature to create Strategic Warpaths which should serve to reduce the amount of communication needed during Territory Wars within Alliances.

• Cross-region Migration Tokens:
  Regions that are available to move via cross-region migration tokens will gradually become available as the season progresses. For example, in Season VIII’s initial stages, Cross-region Migration Token may be used to migrate to Liangyun and Longting. Once border posts to Maoyang open up, players will also be able to migrate to Maoyang.

• Improvements for Interaction With Stacked Models in the Open-world:
  While interacting with units or models that are stacked in a tight bunch in the open-world, it will now open a menu where you will be able to choose which character / model you want to interact with.

Auxiliary Unit Changes:

During previous versions, auxiliary units were a weekly bonus that provided some manner of strength in battle. Naturally, as you gained more and more power, their relative value and use decreased. That is why we will be upgrading this feature in the new season. Our goal is to make them relevant for Warlords of all levels.

• Auxiliary units will have fixed levels depending on the unit's star level. Tier 3 units will be of level 8, Tier 4 of level 12, and Tier 5 of level 15. Once recruited, auxiliary units cannot be levelled up, and all experience they gained will be added to your Shared XP Pool.
• Auxiliary units will have pre-set doctrines and these cannot be socketed, removed, or upgraded.
• Auxiliary units will also have pre-set veterancy points and these cannot be altered.
• All Warlords will have 600 initial auxiliary points (this is increased by 100 for premium accounts). Tier 3 units cost 200 points, Tier 4 units cost 300, and Tier 5 units cost 400.
• 7 auxiliary units will be refreshed every week, including 3 Tier 3 units, 4  Tier 2 units, and 2 Tier 5 units. You will be able to recruit any auxiliary unit whether you have unlocked them or not.
• Seasonal units from previous seasons will also be part of the auxiliary unit rotation.
• Auxiliary units you recruit will disappear when the following week's rotation becomes available. They will no longer be sealed like previously.
• Auxiliary units will not consume kits, nor will you lose units should they die.
• We have also greatly reduced the hero level required to recruit auxiliary units.

Sealed Auxiliary Units:

Once we roll out the new changes, Warlords with sealed auxiliary units will have these dismissed. We will be issuing compensation in the form of unit XP for this with the new season, this is issued automatically on the installation of the update.

Learn More

For more information on Conqueror's Blade Season 8 take a look at the Patch Notes or visit https://conqblade.com/en/seasons 

As always you can learn more by subscribing to the official newsletter, or by following Conqueror’s Blade on Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Discord.