Dark Lord (4X Update)
The Dark Lord comes to dominate the realms of men and gods alike, and from their ruin forge a new and mighty dominion. To that end, he seeks to control nations already bound by order, whose rigid institutions can be corrupted, and nations in turmoil, where his law can be enforced without mercy.
The Dark Lord was a rival to the previous Pantokrator and possesses an exceptionally powerful pretender chassis that functions as an out-of-the-box supercombatant. He offers a wide range of utility; exceptional combat prowess, mobile innate spell caster, and immortality. At the start of the game, the Dark Lord also has four unique construction level 9 artifacts. However, choosing him as your pretender comes with limitations: he begins the game imprisoned, is restricted to nations with an order/turmoil alignment, and suffers a significant loss of power after his first death. Upon reforming, the Dark Lord does not regain the four unique artifacts (loss of power), instead they become available for all nations to construct.
The Dark Lord’s four unique artifacts are: Dominator’s Helmet, Dominator’s Armor, Dominator’s Boots, and the Dominator’s Mace. Each artifact emphasises a different aspect of his character, enhancing stats accordingly. Alongside these artifacts is the Ring of the Dominator, an expensive, late-game, unique construction level 9 artifact whose immense power can single-handedly decide battles and alter the course of entire wars. Should the Dark Lord seize the ring, his conquest shall be unstoppable, and all lands will soon bend the knee.
Long before the Ascension Wars, the Dark Lord’s loyal servants and the nation under his thrall started building the Dark Fortress, a bastion to secure his dominion and prepare for his return. The Dark Fortress is a powerful site that strengthens the early game economy and gem production, whilst allowing the thrall nation to recruit unique commanders and troops. At the start of the game there is a scripted event that gives the thrall nation control of Malachar the Wraith Lord, the Dark Fortress commander. The recruitable units are as follows:
- Sorcerer of the Shadow. Mage with Death, Blood and potential Astral path access.
- High Orc. Taskmaster commander that can produce resources.
- Dread Lord. Gryphon riding mage with potential access to all magic paths except astral.
- Orc. Strong foot solider, capable of taking a nation’s cap circle. Limited recruitment.
- Battle Troll. Recruitable elite troll. Limited recruitment.
- Black Guard. Powerful sacred defender. Limited recruitment.
The unique mages allow a nation to access a wider array of magic paths whilst the Dark Fortress provides consistent death and blood gems. The blood mages and blood gems provided by the fortress can help break any nation into blood magic and build a strong blood economy. Furthermore, the unique troops can help a nation take their cap circle quickly without an awake/dormant pretender and the Black Guard’s will defend your capital in a losing war.
Note: I have included a second variant of the mod, Dark Lord v1.X – Pretender, if you only want the Dark Lord pretender and not the Dark Fortress.
All that lies within the Dark Lord’s shadow and dominion bends to his will. Lost things are rediscovered, forges burn more efficiently, beasts and men alike offer their loyalty, and the Dark Lord’s enemies are gripped by a sense of fear.
- Sorcerer of the Shadow: Can uncover Prison Tombs that contain the Dark Lord’s ancient generals. Dispatch them to site search in mountains, wastes, caves, and coastal provinces.
- High Orc: Can increase industrial output for the Dark Lord by constructing War Forges. Send them to a province you control that contains a fort.
- Dread Lord: Can rally additional allies to the Dark Lord’s cause by building unique sites. Send them to a province with a fort and forest (Beast Arena) or a fort and mountain (Nightmare Spire).
- Malachar the Wraith Lord: Can recreate his kingdom of terror by building the Shaded Capital. First, make Malachar your prophet, then send him to a province with a fort. He must return to this province multiple times as the Shaded Capital has three stages, turn 12 (fort), turn 36 (fort + temple), and turn 60 (fort + temple + lab).
Note: Only four Prison Tombs can be found, and then just one Beast Arena, Nightmare Spire, and Shaded Capital can be constructed. You may construct as many War Forges as you like, but only one per province with a fort. Keep in mind that all Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate features require your own dominion to be present.
This mod should be compatible with other mods, provided that they don’t alter the base game’s IDs or add elements that clash with the IDs used in this mod. The mod works in multiplayer and even lets multiple players choose the Dark Lord pretender at the same time. Just keep in mind that multiple Dark Lords will be competing for the same unique magic items and events.
Used IDs: MONSTERS: 5897-5910, WEAPONS: 1200, ARMORS: 400-401, SITES: 1780-1787, ITEMS: 700-704
Should you wish to use the Dark Lord with most nations instead of just order/turmoil nations, add the following code to the Dark Lord’s pretender newmonster definition:
Should you wish to use the Dark Lord with a specific/modded nation, select that nation by ID, add the Dark Lord to it as a god, and include that code at the bottom of the dm file:
Special thanks to Sturm for the sprite work and Usagi Doodles for the banner art.
- Sturm – Dark Lord sprites
- Sturm – High Orc sprites
- Sturm – Orc sprites
- Sturm – Battle Troll sprites
- Sturm – Black Guard sprites
- Usagi Doodles – Banner art
Mod made using the illwinter Dominions 6 modding manuals & larzm42 dom6inspector.
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
