Announcing Shadow Era: Lost Lands

[Shadow Era]

The Shadow War's toll on Balor becomes more apparent day after day. The Decay now runs rampant, as entire cities become uninhabitable. Some fall beneath the oceans, others into sink holes forming right beneath them. Cataclysmic earthquakes and volcanoes have laid waste to towns and villages, and some have fallen to plague-like miasmas. The only land seemingly unaffected by the destruction lies to the south, across a vast ocean and unexplored by even the bravest of Balor's citizens. In fact, only Rothem ever dared to cross to the Wilds, returning with the very weapon that seemingly began the process that is eating the world alive.

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We're happy to announce the first details of Shadow Era's 4th set, Lost Lands! The set is themed around three main concepts:

- Ruination: Continued use of shadow energy has now opened up huge tears in the fabric of the world, creating portals between previously far-away lands in Balor and huge chasms that have swallowed up entire populations.
- Resurgence: Invading Shadow forces entering through the Shadow Gates continue to terrorize and conquer the lands of Balor, but the Humans are fighting back;
- Rediscovery: Our heroes are on the move, seeking places and people long forgotten, driven by a prophecy of something that could end the war once and for all;

Gameplay Features

- a new type of card called Location, which will represent where the battle between our characters is currently taking place; this will change throughout the game to represent either a physical journey or a portal opening between places. Sides can win or lose control of locations, which adds a further meaning to the idea of "lost lands".
- a new mechanic called Seek, which allows you to search your deck for a card meeting some criteria.
- fully neutral allies, representing characters so far not involved in the conflict, with their own agendas and motivations.
- the proper debut of the Aldmor ally alignment and their artifacts, which have so far only been teased in Shadow Era;
- bolstering of each of the ally alignments that were established in Shattered Fates, as more allies from those alignments are brought into the conflict.

Set Breakdown

15 Human Allies
15 Shadow Allies
20 Neutral Allies
10 Warrior class cards
10 Mage class cards
10 Hunter class cards
10 Priest class cards
10 Rogue class cards
10 Wulven class cards
10 Elemental class cards
10 Human Ability/Items
10 Shadow Ability/Items
20 Neutral Ability/Items
20 Armor/Weapons
20 Locations


Release Schedule

Set 4 will be released in parts, each acting like a small expansion and being balanced accordingly. The first part will have roughly 65 cards and is focused on giving greater power and more options to "tribal" decks, as well as adding some useful splash allies for other decks, and debuting our new Location card type.

As of today, Part 1 is nearing the end of its closed beta testing. We'll be revealing more and more details about Lost Lands in the next few weeks!


UPDATE:

Subsequent articles about Lost Lands:
#2. Locations: Our New Card Type Explained
#3. Lost Lands: Design Goals of Part 1
#4. Lost Lands: Design Process Spotlight
#5. Lost Lands: All About Aldmor
#6. Lost Lands: Deck Archetypes in Shadow Era
#7. Lost Lands: The Homunculi Are Expanding
#8. Lost Lands: Theme Decks
#9. Lost Lands: Balor World Tour
#10. Lost Lands: The Story So Far