Wor has its own ruleset and logic that seperates it from other mods..Here we will explain some of the deeper elements...Keep in mind that every thing made here was designed in paper,from units,abilities,spells,many things,taken into account,exploits,balance,synergies,between units abilties,and most of all combat gameplay fun factor and strategical factor.

UNITS: Wor s philosophy is to obtain victory by recruting the appropriate units vs what sort of units you may face. One of the mods aspects is Pikemen > cavalry infantry > pikemen cavalry > infantry .Doesnt mean a tier 2 pike will solo easilly a tier 4 cavalry but it has some strong bonuses against them.There are no exaggerations here but in similar tier units they have advantage through certain abilities that grant bonuses def+dmg vs certain types of enemies.
Many tier 2 class units like crusaders, berserkers,have been buffed so we can use them in the long run also,not just at start.Berserkers have accumulate that builds rage every turn+1 phys dmg,4 turns duration,crusaders are very good tanks now,gain divine prot ability on gold(+40% all prots for 1 turn) and so on with many units.
Expirienced units are hard knuts to crack now not just because of stats they get in levelling ,but from the abilties they get now on the various ranks.
As said above WOR has a different approach to achieve balance.One thing that i didnt like was the stats distribution.Almost every tier 2 and 3 unit had 10-12 def and res and were getting diferent only via some passive abilities, martial arts etc .
Also we had units like shamans,apprentices,scholars evangelists,intellectual units, that had almost same res with def.No longer the case now.Shamans for example have 10 def 14 res and so on with several units.There are units that may have higher stats but less hitpoints etc.Every unit has been designed on paper stats and all, in order to be balanced but now the stats are more varied.A good example is the Nosferatu tier 3 necro he starts with very high stats, 15 def res but has 38 hitpoints which makes him vunrable.
Or the dvarven defender who starts with 15 def +shield which makes him practically 17 def on recruit status.He has though average dmg life and 8 res making him one of the most solid tanks in game phys dmg wise,but quite vunrable to magic.You ll notice units which u ll say omg what a catch.Later on though as game unfolds you may think otherwise ^^.

One thing i didnt liked much is that every class has exactly the same units..Ridiculities like having wartrolls (warbreeds) serving humans elfs halflings dwarfs are long gone.Each race has a unique unit with a unique unit body for warbreed research.Frostlings have the barbarian,halflings the half-knight ;p ,elfs noblevangaurd etc
Same goes for other class units like deathbringers,mounted archers etc.
The Biggest additions were made to sorcerer class that 4-5 new units were added per race,
and druid who got 3-4 new units per race.Differintation matters so did what i could.

Apart units though ,there are the....

ABILITIES :Some abilities that were in aowsm like hurl Lightning,pixie dust (magi breath that has chance to inflict various effects poisoned entangle,webbed ,immolation etc)were added too.
There are truly many many many abilties and the ones i mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg and you wont see many units that have the exact same abilties .Differintation matters so did what i could so every unit has a specific role and by levelling it builds on that and getting few
new staff.
Keep in mind that many of the new abilities,which are strong,are obtained by units in the levelling coarse.Many of them lie on gold and champ rank so units must prove themselfs in order to get them.Means requires wise usuage from players side.
One new element here is that there are different levels of abilities.A Lvl 1 spider for example has a weaker web ability than a tier 3 spider or thetier 4 goblin spider which its web is deadly (18ATT).
Same goes on with many other abilties like cause fear,entangle,taunts,hurn net,stun touch immolating etc .Also always the abilities picked for all units,fits as best possible with what this unit looks like and what role in a battle its suppose to have and ofc what sort of weapons
it carries.

HEROES: It was observed in many games that while u play thocrat for example vs a rogue player ,u have a rogue hero that after ashort time he got sadism which is quite strong and beated the rogue player with his owns spells practically. So all those 3-4 very strong spells have a higher lvl requirement .example rogue spells smoke screen 15 lvl mass panic (which actually can work now since spirit protection is absent) 19 lvl,sadism 23 lvl..sorcerer mass stasis 15 lvl ,static electricity 19 lvl,chaos rift 23 lvl,etc etc for each classes 3 stronger spells.
- Another important aspect is that while most ppl love the levelling units part,things like having heroes that buffed the armies with ressurgence or undying was practically a cheat, since you could easily get your units up to champ 3-4 ranks without having the chance to loose any
battle so it was moved in 27 lvl to gain for both necros and theocrat heroes .Also very few units mostly weak t1 s ,have resurgence or undying ability,Exalted gain resurgence on champ 1 rank now and same for some undead,to avoid lvl exploting .
- Heroes also buff their parties with 2 different protections 20% each instead of 40%

Dreadnought : 20% fire 20% shock
Archdruid : 20% blight 20% frost
Necro : 20% spirit 20 % spirit
Sorcerer : 20% frost 20% fire
Rogue : 20% blight 20% shock%

WEAPONS...The abilities a unit has on passive, or learns on levelling course, usually matches the weapon it carries so..
2 HANDED AXES : Overwhelm,cleave,greater armor piercing,guard breaker,heavy bleeding dots
2 HANDED SWORDS: Whirlwind,Greatsword waving,bleeding dots,cleave,armor piercing
2 HANDED CRUSHING WEAPONS : Hammers, flails,Maces, morning stars, do
cripling effects,greater armor piercing, immobilizing,stun effects,Heavy blows etc
1HANDED:Swords,axes morningstars flails whips,have similar abilities depending the type ,to 2handers but in smaller scale,instead of greater armor pierce they get armor pierce etc, and other abilities like sunder armor,harmstring, taunt etc.
POLEARMS: Apart some armor piercing bleed etc most of them get on champion I rank Halberd spin ability similar to whirlwind
STAFFS:apart cripling ,daze they get on champion I rank the Staff strike ability which has chance to stun target and his friend if hes 1 radius hex
DUAL WIELD: When you see a unit with 2 weapons in game its not anymore for aesthetics. Duel wield units each time they attackhave a chance for extra attack.

PROTECTIONS: I had my doubts at start removing strong will and mind control immunity from
almost every unit,and giving it to tier 4+5 s on champion rank and not passive,but since i had as a guide how it impacted aowsm in asimilar mod i had made there, i had a good fewling.Guys it really sets gameplay to another level.Units that have taunts,cause fear,dread reaper s touch of death,entangles,evrything can be used now..Only units that have strong will and mc immunity are the deity tier 5s which make some sense since they r ..well godlike entities..While playing and testing i witness things that i never did so far in combats.You get a fear fewling that something may go wrong,you have doubts .how the combat will end up..Along side with spirit prot removal that impacts more than half abilties success chance it really brings tactical level during combat to another level.
- Spirit protection has been removed as stated ,from almost every unit .
- One other thing changed was the incorporeal 60% physical prot (poor warlords cough*).Went down to 50% ,but also via some abilities like age,physical aura weakness,body shot ability,things that units may obtain via levelling, phys resistance can go down.
- All big metallic robots like goblinators,smashbreakers,golems,have now +20% phys prot but also around -2,-3 def depending the unit other stats.
The damage they substain is more or less the same.They are robots not skilled samurais in the art of war so makes more sense this way.
- Charriots get +10 % phys prot with their defence bit down 1-2 depending the chariot.Only exception is ice queen.
- Machines generally have 40% blight prot ,Undead 100% blight & 20% frost prot.

SYNERGIES: Playing frost necro having wailer screaming will benefit you more now since it gives 10% spirit+10%frost weakness..not to mention wailer s scream affects everything now..
Void aura adds 20%frost +blight ,phys weakness auras,sunder armor that on impact does-2 def,armor breaker which on every hit -1def on targets,weapon breaker cuts -1 att, are just a small reference of things,and situations u may run into .Keep in mind that all those things are not passively on units, but on really expirienced units.which race class unit gets what was designed carefully not randomly given to x unit and usally it serves some synergy.

DEBUFFS:
The att value of most debuffs have been changed.Debuffs (criple,enfeeble,bleeding etc) have 9 att ,so they will impact more units,and will play their role in battles.
Some debuffs have been changed not to empower them but to balance them beetwen them.example immolation had almost all effects and scorching heat just 1 ,so units that have scorching heat are important also and not just those with immo.
FROST: CHILLED -1 DEF EXPOSED -1 RES 20% FROST WEAK 5 FRST DMG DONE
FROSTBITEN -1 RES -2 DMG ALL CHANNELS
FIRE: SCORCH HEAT -1 RES -3 DMG ALL CHANNELS
IMMOLATE -1 DEF -400 MORALE 7 FIRE DMG DONE
DESPAIR -200 MORALE -10% SPIRIT FROST WEAKNESS
SHOCKED -8 MOVE POINTS -20 SHOCK WEAKNESS
THUNDERSTORM -20% FROST & SHOCK WEAKNESS

DOTS (damage over time abilities) :
BLEEDING / RAZOR PROJECTILES 7 dmg / turn
DEEP WOUNDS / RAZOR PROJECTILES II 13 fmg / turn

IMMOLATION 7 dmg / turn
GREATER IMMOLATION 13 dmg / turn
LETHAL IMMOLATION 19 dmg / turn

DEADLY POISON 7 dmg / turn
DEADLY VENOM 13 dmg / turn
LETHAL VENOM 19 dmg / turn

HEALING: Healing is more important than it was ,from start ,and especially mid and end games sessions .Having units and abilities that may do more dmg now , Priests that start the game with greater healing (35),from a decor unit as it was, is a quite usufull and viable addition for your armies even to big scale battles with tier 4 s and tier 5 s inside.
So there is the healing ability (15 healing)for various supports units,greater healing (35healing)which is held on the casual tier 2 racial priests, Fullcure (50healing), which usually exists on few spesific tier 3 theocrat units.Same goes for repair machine(engineers),heal undead(reanimators),mend magic being(apprentice).
Also there are spread various AOE(area of effect) healing abilities like the holy nova obtained in champ rank by evangelists,aura of cleancing waters by archdruid tier 3 units(regrowth effect) and so on.Everything has been taken into account and has been set accordingly.

RECRUTING SYSTEM :
All class units have been placed in the 8 buidlings.They have been categorized in certain research prequistes.
Example for the first elf druid units (sylvan ranger and hunter) that come out from the fist buildings on each class recruiting line you need the hunter research.
For the next units elf shaman and glade runner(2nd buildings), you need druid reasearch done.
And for the best tier 3 units in the 3rd buildings u need the summon gargantuan animal research done.
And so on with all classes with small variations.Only exceptions is on rogue theocrat warlord where martyr scoundrel scouts are tier 1 so u can research their own research in order to produce them cuase they are bit weaker than berserker or crusaders so u can produce them without need to wait crus or berserker ressearch to be done.Evangelsts and exalted need both evangelist research,and exalted unlocks the 2 strongest t3s for theos.similar way goes for rest classes.

THEOCRAT:---------Martyr / crusader-------------evangelist------------exalted
ARCHDRUID:------------hunter----------------------druid-------------------gargantuan
SORCERER:------------apprentice--------------fantastic creature------node serpent
WARLORD:---------Scout / berserker---------mounted archer--------warbreed
NECROMANCER:--reanimator-----------------bone collector----------deathbringer
ROGUE:-------------scoundrel / bard---------------assasin---------------succubus
DREADNOUGHT:-----Musketeer------------------cannon----------------tank

Thing is in some cities you ll build (a) line ,in some other cities (b) line ,some cities u r going to build t4s with (b) line or tier 5s with (a) line ,but resources are not infinite so ppl will have to do some serious resource management with mana and gold,and choose what to build and at which city.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: The class units that occupie the class buildings one can say that are strong,and possibly if expirienced challenge even tier 4s.Therefore class buildings especially 2nd and 3rd tier are abit more expensive both in gold and mana.So does the class tier 4 buildings that produce the tier 4 & 5 units.
Remember x game that u finished session with 3-5 k mana left untouched? Things have been changed now.Mana is an equal resource management much more necessary than it was. Prices on various things have been changed many require more mana now,buildings units,so the players must make some good resource management now to have their empire going without issues.Remember that x spot on the map we found 2 gold mines nearby and we fast made a pioneer to go fast build there for extra money"? Now when u see 2 nodes nearby its a catch!

RACES : Dwarfs were deemed overpowered so they get some more hitpoints than orcs (hence the legendary dwarven constitution we met in almost every rpg ).No def or res bonus +they get in meteoric armoc bonus +1 def +20% fire prot instead of 40% frost&fire.Keep in mind that every unit has been handcrafted individually so dont worry dwarfs have some of the best tanking units in game and they are really tough still but physical wise mostly.

- TIGRANS:Since spirit protection was removed they get few movement points bonus,which alngside athletics make them the faster race in game.

- GOBLINS: get -3 hitpoints instead of -5

- HALFLINGS: -10% physical weakness instead of -20%

Overall the racial life pool diference gasp has been went down..in low tier units
gobs get around -2 hitpoints orcs+2 dwarfs +4..in higher tier units the life pool difference is bigger resaulting to orcs havin +4-5 dwarfs +6+7 more hitpoints etc.

CLASSES : Various changes took place in strategic,combat spells and empire upgrades for balance purposes ,and to match the many changes made in Wor ...

--------------------------------------THEOCRAT-----------------------------------------
---------------------STRATEGIC---------------------------------------------------------
HALLOWED DOMAIN enemies get -2 res
ARMAGEDDON enemies get + 40% spirit weakeness
---------------------TACTICAL------------------------------------------------------------
HOLY WAR Devout units get + 4 spirit dmg bonus
POWER WORD 9 att affects all types of enemies (undead ,machines included)
-----------------EMPIRE UPGRADES-------------------------------------------------
ORDER OF TEMPLAR KNIGHTS Infantry and cavalry units get devout req +1 spirit dmg

------------------------------------ARCHDRUID-----------------------------------------
--------------------STRATEGIC----------------------------------------------------------
POISON DOMAIN Affects all type of enemies except machines
WILD HUNT gives all allied units floating ,+1 ranged phys dmg,+1 res
--------------------TACTICAL-------------------------------------------------------------
TWISTING ROOTS Affects all enemies except flying
HORNET SWARM Does 10 phys +10 blight dmg to enemies
-----------------EMPIRE UPGRADES-------------------------------------------------
BEAST MASTERY animals and monsters recieve +2 res +1 phys dmg
HUNTER S FINESSE all archers recieve a minor critical chance bonus

------------------------------------SORCERER-----------------------------------------
-------------------TACTICAL-------------------------------------------------------------
MASS STASIS Has 10 att affects all types of enemies

------------------------------------WARLORD-------------------------------------------
--------------------STRATEGIC-----------------------------------------------------
GLOBAL ASSAULT Units get 3 xp medals instead of 5
--------------------TACTICAL--------------------------------------------------------
STEAD FAST Effect lasts 1 turn (was 2)
-----------------EMPIRE UPGRADES--------------------------------------------
MARTIAL ART Infntry cavalry pikemen archers get +1 def bonus

-----------------------------NECROMANCER-------------------------------------
--------------------STRATEGIC-----------------------------------------------------
POWER RITUAL undead units get +1 phys +1 blight dmg
AGE OF DEATH After casting the spell the effect has 10% to occur
--------------------TACTICAL--------------------------------------------------------
DESECRATION -2 res to all devout +2 res to all undead

--------------------------------------ROGUE-----------------------------------------
--------------------TACTICAL--------------------------------------------------------
PANIC has 9 att
SADISM As it was, but lasts for 4 turns

------------------------------DREADNOUGHT------------------------------------
--------------------STRATEGIC-----------------------------------------------------
THE GREAT IMMOBILAZATION Machines get +2 phys dmg +2 def
+2 res and engineers,musketeers get +8 movement points
--------------------TACTICAL-------------------------------------------------------
DESTABILIZED CORE Does 20 phys +20 fire dmg affects enemies
SIDEARMS Cavalry and musketeers get +1 ranged phys dmg


EXTERNAL BUILDINGS BONUS CHANGES
Enhanced Armory : + 1 def , + 1 res
Stables of vigor : +1 phys dmg +4 movement points
Flockwork cidatel : + 5 hitpoints to machine units
Altar of bound souls : + 1 res + 5 hitpoints to support units
Focus chamber : + 1 phys + 1 shock dmg to archer units

-------------------------------DWELLINGS-----------------------------------
Production boosted (+40) ,also many buildings are cheaper than they used to be so it would be worthy to invest your valuable resources on them .
Fey dwelling has 2 tier IV dryds to pick, less strong than dragons or giants,cheaper , but strong in their own way,possesing various strong magic abilities,making fey dwelling a good alternative choise.