By Asophix

Stronghold Warlords has seen numerous official patches during its active support time. For archival purposes, a collection of patch notes can be read below, detailing most applicable changes. 

Note: some of the original note entries have been reworded and/or added extra clarification info. A list of the official patch notes can be found here.

Patch 2021-03-12:

General

• Added Manual to the game installation folder and Steam interface (most supported languages)

Bugfixes

• Help file no longer applied UI scaling
• Qin Shi Huang end video no longer plays incorrect Chinese speech
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi start video no longer plays incorrect French speech

Patch 2021-03-16:

General

• Added Save Name generator button on its respective screen

Bugfixes

• AZERTY keyboards are now properly detected

Patch 1.1.19976 (released 2021-03-24):

Features

• Added Large Keeps - Mongol Yurt, Tribal
• Added Skirmish map - Riverbend (2)
• Added Extreme difficulty to campaign missions, and individual AI opponents in Skirmish
• Choosing a Skirmish lord model now also changes keep type
• Japanese barracks troops new voice lines updated
• Diplomacy points added to Skirmish game starting settings
• Motion blur can be toggled via configuration file
• Minimap can be toggled to face North by default via configuration file
• Added diplomacy map icon for ongoing Warlord attacks
• Warlord shipment notifications are only shown for the first and last batches, respectively
• Added AI lord taunts
• Added WASD and arrow keys support for camera movement

Balancing

• Troop limits increased.
• Warrior monk spin attack damage reduced: 1000 > 500
• Warrior monk spin attack cooldown increased: 30s > 60s
• Splash damage from siege projectiles spreads more uniform across an area
• Siege equipment is targetable by ranged units in the siege camp
• Warlord edicts 'Repair Castle' & 'Upgrade Castle' cannot be triggered, while enemies are close to the Warlord's keep

AI Behaviour

• Friendly player number weight increased by choosing enemy targets
• Closer warlords are now favoured over others
• Easy AI no longer attempts to influence warlords (take over by spending Diplomacy)
• Easy AI only builds a single layer of walls
• AI is given a grace period before attacking any target, depending on difficulty
• Harder AI pick and issue Warlord edicts more intelligently and frequently
• On higher gold levels the AI targets for triple popularity rates to facilitate faster peasant spawns
• General decision making improvements (granary placement, building layout planning)
• AI builds defenses and spreads defensive troops in the direction of the closest enemy player
• Defensive troops spend more time standing around
• AI buys equipment more in order to preserve its desired unit composition
• Armies sometimes guard a Warlord after their capture
• AI generally allocates more troops to attack, and less to reserve
• AI syncs their Warlord attack edicts better with their own siege attempts
• More expensive troops are favoured in the main attack, rather than guarding siege weapons
• Horse archers and cavalry now kite (i.e. keep distance from) other armies
• Rocket launchers try to avoid friendly unit troop concentrations

Bugfixes

• Saves no longer desync and crash due to refcounts
• Pathfinding obstacles are properly cleaned up after destroying walls
• 'Heart of an Empire' & 'Fortunes' missions no longer softlock due to incorrect ruin type
• Improved cleanup and breaking down for triangular walls
• Improved pathfinding for Ninjas
• Ballistae no longer target defensive stone buildings
• Horse archer groups no longer get stuck in limbo after moving
• Improvements to address actors and troops being stuck
• Improvements to rabble formation movement
• Lord portraits now appear correctly in lobbies

Patch 2021-04-07:

Features

• Added Skirmish map - Wide Open Plains (4)

Patch 1.2.20394, .20432 (released 2021-04-13):

Features

• Added AI opponent - Sun Tzu
• Added Freebuild map - Hillside Fortress
• Added Freebuild panel to its respective mode
• Generals and Lords use a pickaxe when attacking walls
• Keyboard language can be changed in-game
• Player estates show their respective names

Balancing

• Turrets and engine platforms can no longer be added to unpathable walls
• Roads can now be added as connected to both ends of a gatehouse
• Walls, roads and gunpowder trails can no longer be placed in water

AI Behaviour

• Improvements to choosing edicts for Normal AI
• Higher cost edicts are favoured for higher diplomacy point generations
• Warlord upgrade scaling balanced to correspond to own development rates
• Weapons workshops are built slightly earlier
• Improvements to workshop placements, supplying iron for workshops and allocating rice field workers
• Armies no longer get stuck on invalid siege camp positions and armoury rooftops
• Extreme AI can now be given variable gold per minute

Bugfixes

• Scribe speech is correctly played when workers were missing for a selected building
• Destroying weapon workshops with fire no longer causes a crash
• Several map graphics and pathfinding issues fixed
• Ninjas no longer get stuck on walls located on the edge of a cliff
• Rabble formation troops no longer move backwards
• Knocked back troops no longer buffer commands from shortly before the knockback happening
• Hideyoshi icon appears in Skirmish lobbies properly
• Small gatehouse is showing road tiles correctly upon placement

Patch 1.3.20928 (released 2021-05-18):

Features

• Added Skirmish maps - Thunder Strikes, Flows Like Time, Lost Kingdoms
• Added icon for castle upgrade orders for Warlords on the Diplomacy map and their keep
• Roads appear through the gatehouse when connected on both ends
• Added batch troop recruitment feature (holding Shift - 5 troops, holding Ctrl - max available troops)
• Added AZERTY keyboard input handling

Balancing

• Laddermen and Siege Towers no longer dock on unpathable level walls

AI Behaviour

• Invasions path around obstacles more effectively
• Checking enemies for armies improved
• Troops attacking walls can consider re-acquiring other targets
• Melee troops attack buildings and position around hazards better more intelligently
• Attacking troops move up to the location of docking laddermen and siege towers
• Invasion troops move in faster after a trebuchet has deployed and attacked for a prolonged period

Bugfixes

• Warlord kneeling no longer causes a crash
• Tiger's perk applies correctly
• Warlord castle buildings no longer build below ground level on plateaus
• Invasions no longer get stuck on unpathable areas
• Troops no longer push ladders off walls, when they have not yet reached their targets
• Fixed bastion, river and sea rendering
• Improved display for Japanese texts
• Save games with long names can be properly saved
• Siege equipment sounds no longer loop indefinitely

Patch 1.3.20992 (released 2021-05-21):

Balancing

• Removed time limit from Sun Tzu DLC missions 1 & 5

Bugfixes

• Buffs properly apply from pre-placed units and loaded save games units.

Patch 1.4.21570 (released 2021-06-21):

Features

• Added Skirmish Trail
• Added Skirmish maps - Guarded Crossings, Ascendance
• Updated maps - Flows Like Time, Unfavourable Odds, Princes and Paupers
• Added AI difficulty to Skirmish loading screens
• Roads appear through the gatehouse when connected on both ends
• Added batch troop recruitment feature (holding Shift - 5 troops, holding Ctrl - max available troops)
• Added AZERTY keyboard input handling

Balancing

• Added Samurai Lancer
• Added Beetle and Bear Warlords
• Added Field Hospital (Beetle-exclusive)
• Ranged troops can attack barricades upon issuing an attack command
• Troops in siege towers cannot capture gates
• Army warlord edicts can no longer be triggered during peace time
• Laddermen can no longer set up ladders under hoardings or turrets
• Troops on towers instantly fall to the ground when the tower is destroyed
•  

AI Behaviour

• Extreme AI gets 30% more extra gold
• Added waiting time before upgrading captured warlords
• AI scans enemy units based and buildings more efficiently, based on its unit composition
• AI "sniffs out" opportunities to capture nearby warlords more efficiently
• Archers, Blowpipe Tribesmen and Fire Lancers now kite
• AI no longer gets stuck when running out of town space or placing silk chain buildings

Bugfixes

• Warlord armies no longer get stuck on targeting defeated players
• Troops in formation no longer run back to the main group
• Siege camps for a warlord are cleaned up after the warlord switches ownership
• Turrets are placed properly for warlords, when ordered to repair
• Siege tower passengers no longer knock back when the tower docks
• Siege equipment emerging from a siege camp no longer attempts to move when they would path through a gate
• Various warlord castles fixes related to repairing & upgrading

Patch 1.4.21650 (released 2021-06-24):

Features

• Added Casual difficulty to Skirmish Trail

Bugfixes

• Old saves containing a General no longer causes a crash
• Pre-placed siege equipment plays correct idle animations
• Bear Warlord voicelines fixed

Patch 1.4.21694 (released 2021-06-25):

Bugfixes

• Siege of Odawara map no longer causes a crash

Patch 1.5.22007 (released 2021-07-27):

Features

• Walls attached to towers can be deleted normally
• Laddermen in formation spread out more evenly on walls

Balancing

• Wall attachments refund their full cost when adjacent walls would be deleted

Bugfixes

• Troops behave more consistently after stone structures are destroyed or repaired
• Damaged walls no longer result in unpathable terrain
• Housing no longer rotates fast when rotated during placement
• Various user interface fixes related to traded goods and warlord edicts
• ESC key no longer works on the mission briefing screen
• Ninjas now have a burn animation and no longer slide after throwing shurikens
• Disbanded troops no longer leave permanent selection circles behind
• Greatest Lord panels no longer stay open and display the correct lord
• Warlord selection wheel no longer empty after loading  save
• Siege tower passengers no longer knock back when the tower docks
• Siege equipment emerging from a siege camp no longer attempts to move when they would path through a gate
• Various warlord castles fixes related to repairing & upgrading
• Mission narration no longer plays after restarting a mission
• Progress circles disappear after cancelling an edict
• Lightning event no longer loops thunder audio
• Units can be properly selected & deselected on the HUD

Patch 1.6.22350 (released 2021-09-01):

Features

• Added Kublai Khan AI opponent
• Added Skirmish maps - Kings and Mountains, Distributary, Entrenched
• Horse Archers speak Mongolian with game language set to EN

Balancing

• Wall attachments refund their full cost when adjacent walls would be deleted

Bugfixes

• Tunnel pathing no longer causes a crash
• Tigers are no longer displaced when adjacent cages are placed
• Traps and castle defenses no longer placeable on walls
• Starting goods are set properly in custom missions
• Damaged walls no longer result in unpathable terrain after reloading a map
• Optimizations to pathfinding and path regeneration
• Peasants no longer linger after the owning player dies

Patch 1.7.22922 (released 2021-10-12):

Features

• Added Skirmish Trail - The Trail of the Tactician
• Added Skirmish maps - The River, Tyre, Border Patrol
• Health bars appear above damaged hoardings and turrets
• Added secondary thread for pathfinding calculations and troop displacement logic

Balancing

• Added Wolf Warlord
• Added Thunderbomb Thrower
• Gunpowder worker output increased: 1 > 4 units
• Gunpowder trade rates reduced: 8(40) / 16(80) > 6(30) / 12(60)
• Saltpetre trade rates increased: 4(20) / 8(40) > 6(30) / 24(120)
• Crossbowmen bolt speed decreased: 85 > 80
• Fire lancers can no longer fire from the keep stairs onto the roof
• Knocked down state duration reduced: 2s > 0.8s
• Imperial troops, General & Samurai take 50% damage (from 200%) from fire
• Fire oxen gunpowder cost increased: 1 > 2
• Warrior monk gold cost increased: 30 > 40
• Hoarding health increased by 50%
• Rice starting food increased
• Ninjas decloak in close proximity of enemy tigers
• Melee units can no longer attack arrow turrets
• Fire lancers stop when their target goes out of range

Bugfixes

• AI can place arrow turrets properly
• Engine towers are now selectable
• Arrow carts no longer have an attack cursor over buildings
• Siege weapons can no longer spawn on walls

Patch 1.8.23206.D (released 2021-10-26):

Features

• Added Halloween mission - The Dark Mist
• Added Freebuild invasions - Terracotta Army, Ghosts
• Improved pathfinding in maze-like constellations
• AI troops use the pathfinding thread now for calculations

Bugfixes

• AI units no longer get stuck encountering barricades
• Players no longer get infinite food via stashes or events
• Farms destroyed no longer cause a crash

Patch 1.9.23494 (released 2021-11-24):

Features

• Added Yoritomo AI opponent
• Added Skirmish maps - Forest Clearing, Winding Path, Open Borders
• Added "No Warlord" option to skirmish settings
• Added custom troop limit to skirmish settings
• Roads appear through the gatehouse when connected on both ends
• Added batch troop recruitment feature (holding Shift - 5 troops, holding Ctrl - max available troops)
• Added AZERTY keyboard input handling

Balancing

• Ninjas no longer get displaced when climbing walls

AI Behaviour

• AI paths better around obstacles
• AI melee troops are more persistent at attacking walls
• AI melee troops have a smaller kite distance
• AI builds more gunpowder workshops and sells gunpowder
• AI ninjas and laddermen behave more rationally.
• Woodcutters are no longer deleted in a bunch once a woodcutters no longer finds trees to cut
• AI no longer gets stuck when placing quarries and mines and they run out of town space
• Siege weapons keep up with the main formation more effectively

Bugfixes

• Laddermen in groups can be effectively commanded to dock at walls
• Blocked tunnel pathing no longer causes a crash
• Warlord relief forces no longer cause a crash

Patch 1.9.23662 (released 2021-12-20):

Bugfixes

• Ninjas no longer cause desyncs in multiplayer games
• Walls built by the AI or a Warlord no longer float after loading a saved game

Patch 1.9.23740 (released 2022-01-05):

Bugfixes

• Ninjas no longer remain invisible after loading a saved game

Patch 1.10.23892 (released 2022-01-25):

Features

• Added Fu Hao AI opponent
• Added Skirmish maps - Windy Plains, Muddy Route, Island Tensions
• Added Skirmish Trail - The Trail of the Tyrant
• Added Suppress Scribe option

Balancing

• Added Lion Warlord
• Warlord Edict rebalancing
• Siege tower troops get displaced after docking the tower

AI Behaviour

• Army group movement granularity increased (move targets are more numerous and gradual)
• AI paths better through walls
• Weapon workshops are no longer built woodcutters next to them
• Several improvements to prevent blocked off buildings
• Siege weapons no longer get stuck after an army is killed

Bugfixes

• Laddermen in groups can be effectively commanded to dock at walls
• Blocked tunnel pathing no longer causes a crash
• Warlord relief forces no longer cause a crash

Patch 1.10.23909 (released 2022-01-27):

Bugfixes

• Mission 1 unlocks instead of Mission 3 when starting the new skirmish trail
• Muddy Route touch-ups
• Added missing balance and difficulty labels

Patch 1.10.23933 (released 2022-02-02):

Bugfixes

• Dead AI no longer sends taunt messages
• Added support to Canadian keyboards

Patch 1.10.23986 (released 2022-04-12):

Bugfixes

• Destroying Fear Factor buildings no longer causes a crash when their workers are knocked back

Patch 1.11.24176 (released 2022-09-22):

Features

• Added Skirmish maps - Mystic Valley, Mountain View
• Added Skirmish Trail - The Trail of the Tormentor
• Updated manuals and support link

Balancing

• Ranged units continue their original orders after stopping to attack targets

Patch 1.11.24193 (released 2023-01-19):

Bugfixes

• Warlords granting Spirit and Fear Factor work properly