ENDLESS™ Legend - Guardians DLC

this is probably the hardest DLC to put a review on since it was the first one that Amplitude Studios released for endless legend and it was probaly the one that had the most balance problems with it. so what are the contents of this DLC: - First "the guardians" - Second "the legendary deeds/wonders" - Thirdly more "one of in empire" buildings - and lastly events that influence the campaign map and combat in general for everyone the guardians are a nice addition to the game although they are easy to abuse. in principle they are huge one unit armies that can destroy entire armies on there own and each of them has unique abilities both in combat as on the campaign map. the problem starts when someone starts moving them around in big groups of them which makes them very hard to deal with even if you use your own guardians. legendary deeds and wonders, honestly I like the wonders very much but some of them might be a bit overpowered, the legendary deeds are small challenges that will give you a few goals to work for during the game and if you are the first faction in the game to reach them you get some bonuses that will help you, how much depends very much on what your objective for the game is. the addition of more unique buildings for your empire was probaly the one of best additions in this campaign because it just increased the amount of options you have for your cities to specialize into certain kinds of rescourec generations. then the events most of these always happen in the same order early on in each game but start to diversify more into the late game althought certain events still show up more then others but they add nice challenges to the game. personally I really liked it but thats mostly because I don't mind losing some games and really enjoy the challange. all in all if you have second thoughts about it buy something else that you would be more certain about because this DLC is enjoyable most of the time but sometimes it just decides that you need more of a challange and throws a bunch of stuff at you when you can't handle it.

Non-essential expansion. [b]Guardians[/b] includes several good additions to Endless Legend but does not heavily impact how you play. Legendary buildings and deeds offer large boons to whichever faction completes them first. Additional researchable "unique" one per-empire buildings offer the ability to specialise cities. The Guardians themselves are extremely strong units, Neros and Atmos both having very high utility in terms of map control. Sadly both the global events and co-op/competitive quests leave something to be desired, especially when playing with AI as they will seemingly ignore both. Definitely worth buying on sale.

[b]Pros:[/b] -Guardian units are powerful and offer a huge tactical advantage -Legendary buildings and deeds make the game feel more competitive and interactive -Adds more substance to an already great game [b]Cons:[/b] -Global Events are not overly impactful -Expansion is not worth the full $10 [b]Overall:[/b] This expansion offers a lot of quality improvements to the game. The guardians are by far the coolest addition, and give each player the chance to expand their strategy to incorporate the massive powerhouses. But since they are a huge investment of time and resources, there is a bit of an all-in mentality in using them, making it a tricky risk and reward game. The legendary buildings and deeds are likewise a welcome addition. It sucks being close to finishing a legendary building, only to have another player finish two turns before you and nullify all the work you just did. And being the one to finish the legendary deed or building always carries a fantastic benefit for your empire. My only real gripe with this expansion is the price. There's not enough content to justify the full price. The expansion is balanced and adds a lot of quality content, but not enough for $10. Luckily, Endless Legend and all its DLC goes on sale fairly regularly, so wait for a 50% sale or higher and grab this expansion. [b]Bottom Line:[/b] Worth it on a sale

As others, I'd wish there was more of a "neutral" option- do not take this red thumb as a recommendation to avoid this DLC. Now I shall explain why, for each change brought by Guardians. - The Guardians themselves. They have a fancy look and can easily change the tide of a battle, with their combat abilities (mind control...), outstanding stats and worldmap abilities (like teleporting : hello, sudden reinforcement !). For these reasons, they can't join an army, as they are quite a little army of their own. You unlock 1 at era III, 2 at era IV and 2 at era V. The downer side is, lore-wise, they do not fit in very well. One could have thought there would have been a need for special actions ; like a quest to take control of them. Instead, every civ can "build" them once they have researched the proper tech- wich is also a bit weird. No special prerequisites, apart from some strategic ressources to awaken the Guardian. It might have been more interesting to obtain a specific Guardian per civ, through an unique, optional faction quest. Like if there were dormant entities who could be reshaped... - Legendary deeds. The title is partially misleading, unless you judge that, for example, having a really profitable trade route is the stuff of legends. Likewise, the boosts obtained are more or less significant. Being the first to pacify eight villages to obtain an unique tech giving +10% initiative to your units is noticeable. Being given a nice armor for having three high-level heroes probably won't make a difference, as it happens in the late game. It also adds some inequality : you will naturally have hard time to be the first to accumulate a set quantity of titanium and glassteel if you do not have both in your starting region... At the very least, it spices up the game by providing more optional goals, albeit not always neither very rewarding nor really legendary. - Global events : for a few turns, a boost or a malus (more influence, less dust...). A pity that you can't modify the outcome, like in... Endless Space. That way, it is difficult to "make the most of it". - Cooperative and competitive quest : in the two playthroughs I did with Guardians enabled, the AI didn't seem interested in those. The rewards seem nice, but I cannot truly judge that. - Legendary buildings : one per era, barring the sixth. They double as districts and are seriously powerful : for instance, the industrial megalopolis adds a whopping 25 to industry, wich can go further if the district goes up a level. Like wonders in Civilization games, they are an interesting feature- more than five wouldn't hurt. - Unique buildings : resembling national wonders from Civ IV, except no prerequisites with other buildings. Allows to specialize a city's production or to help a city crippled in one domain. Pretty neat ! CONCLUSION Guardians do not change the core way of playing EL. It is a decent DLC, for a just price- but let's not be engulfed by the tendancy of overpriced DLC, more than 10€ wouldn't be quite worth it. Some features could be better implemented (guardians...), some could have been in the base game (like global events), others work well : in my opinion, the result is a bit mixed. Still, it makes an already great 4X a bit better in the end !

This is not a bad DLC at all. I do still feel the need to give this a thumbs down. I don't mind the added objectives and buildings. These wonder-like structures are fine by me. They cost a lot and are slow to build but boosts you up well upon completion. Why I'm still being a ♥♥♥♥ about this is the guardians. They are too good. I hate "super-units" like this. The AI are bad at utilizing them as well so if you go for it you can, with an otherwise week nation, just crush everything with guardians. Don't get me wrong. They are heavily limited in number. But one is enough to do a LOT of dirty work and they aren't hard to get or take long to make. Again. This is NOT a bad DLC but the guardians are boring as all hell.

Looks like, due to Steam's little quirks, it says I've clocked zero hours on this thing. I can assure you, I've spent the last few weeks since its release poring over game after game of this expansion. I'm sure some people have played more and have a more technical-minded way of assessing it, but I thought, hell, I might throw my frustrations into the ring. Speaking as a fan of the Endless games, Guardians is a rather disappointing package, overall. The changes seem large and intriguing at first, but ultimately they're just distractions that detract from the main game experience. The Legendary Buildings are interesting at first, but they're costly and time-consuming, and innately inclined towards completion by factions that have had a leg-up on the competition since Day One. Their benefits are nice-sounding, but ultimately marginal, perhaps as much as the 'wonders' from Civ: Beyond Earth. On the flip-side, the other Legendary tasks available to complete are HILARIOUSLY beneficial. Happen to be the first to produce one of each strategic resource? Fantastic, have TONS of them! Happen to reach 2000 cumulative Influence? Good job for choosing Drakken, now here's your magic upgrade that prints Dust faster than a Broken Lord can swallow it. Happen to defeat ten armies first? Splendid, have this military tech, because, ♥♥♥♥ I don't know, just take it. And then there are the Guardians. Good Lord. Forget all that novelty and craftsmanship that went with each faction having unique units - here are five generic resource hogs for you to waste time constructing. They're intimidating enough and whenever the first one emerges in a game, there's a nice little pop-up with some goofy art, but their unique buffs and abilities are ultimately negligible at best and farcical at worst. You are, sincerely, better off devoting your time and resources to an equal-strength amount of regular units. They will be more versatile, faster, easier to get off the ground, and I guarantee more than powerful enough to take on whatever Guardian the buggers throw your way. Look, there are nifty little ideas rattling around in this 'expansion,' but their effects on your Endless Legend sessions will ultimately be marginal. You're still going to get plastered by Broken Lords. You're still going to be outbuilt by the Wild Walkers (only now they'll have fancy little towers to PROVE they did it). You're still going to have to colonize like a frantic, deranged madman as the Roving Clans or risk complete obscurity. You're still going to have little to no fun playing as the Vaulters. If you really, despite all that, enjoy Endless Legend as much as I do, then yes, grab this for $5 on a good sale day. The next expansion is almost assuredly going to build upon these ideas, and you'll need it as a foundation. But if you've got $10 and only $10, save your money, or buy a proper game. Hell, buy Endless Space and Disharmony. Those have to be down to $10 by now, right?

[h1] Buying Legendaries™ [/h1] "Guardians" is I believe EL's first DLC which, instead of adding a faction, adds some extra options to expand your empire. I don't want to say that it adds new "mechanics", because I feel that will be misleading. Rather, it adds new "super units" and "deeds" you can now complete. The former, as the name implies, allows you to build expensive titan-like units that each have their own strength, power, and abilities. As with what some others say here, yes they can change the tide of battle and sometimes can feel a little overpowered. The counter this, they require their own research projects, take a significant amount of time to build, and cannot merge with other armies. Overall I feel that they're a nice addition. I always like the idea of "ultimate units" that you can build when you start reaching the end game, but one guardian does apply to each era, meaning you can build your first in the first era. I personally never do, and instead wait until late game to build all of them at once, but that's up to individual preference. The main part of this DLC I feel are the legendary deeds. These are a very welcome addition to the game, allowing you to have an actual "goal" for each era, ranging from leveling up commanders to building very beneficial unique buildings. It's kind of like the game's own version of "rushing wonders" as with Civ 5, as only one player can complete a certain legend each game. My personal preference is to be the first to build the legendary buildings because they act as their own districts. It's fun to compete for them and the bonuses they add are very nice. I am not completely sure what the "global events" are because I never played the game without this DLC. Judging from other comments they don't really seem like something "major" though. It may seem like I'm singing high praise for this, but I absolutely do not recommend it. It is insanely overpriced for what it adds, on par with a Paradox "minor" DLC. [h1] Pros: [/h1] [list] [*]The Guardians are a nice addition and act as unique "ultimate units" that can change the tide of battle [*]The legendary deeds feel like a near-essential part of the game, giving you something to strive for each era [*]The water looks nice in this game [/list] [h1] Cons: [/h1] [list] [*]Absolutely overpriced for what it is [*]Barely notice a difference with what the events do [*]The guardians can be overpowered and eventually produced too easily [*]Some of the legendary deeds are a bit useless depending on your playstyle [*]Really should have been a free update [*]AI does not utilize the new buildings and units properly [/list] [b] Verdict: 4/10 [/b]

Solid expansion pack, don't play it on easy though or the AI will be a pushover and you'll get all the wonders easily. Guardians could be a little harder to get but overall make decent one man armies. Legendary deeds are once again something you don't want to be on easy for (The AI sucks at prioritizing the wonders) but it still adds a new layer of achivement and reward to the game, overall, it was worth $10 and I feel more DLC should follow this pricepoint (Looking at you Civ V and 20 different DLCs(Never mind, the 80 dollar deal sorta puts you off the hook, but ONLY sorta). Also I do NOT have 0 hours on the expansion(Steam just hates DLC), I played about 30 hrs with it and have played 120ish hours of endless legend in general. Now, for a pros and cons! (For those who hate heavy reading) Pros: -Guardians are a cool new feature, and are good at mass murder. -Wonders look great and are massive boosts to your empire -Other deeds can give you unique items and tech, making them interesting. Cons: -Air guardian is too over powered, it murders everything by itself and can teleport. It's an abomination of a Guardian, and should be toned down.

Very nice DLC with new victory type, quests, units and buildings, adding even more way to tweak your empire. Guardians - cool looking "titan" units; a one man army, if you wish; strong on their own, excellent in supporting other army stacks. There is five kinds of guardians and each has one unique special ability (teleportation, for example) Legendary deeds - each research era, three deeds are available for completion; only one race can complete the deed, thus making you focus your research based on what deeds you want to compete for. Obviously, certain races are more capable to reach certain deed first, but it is a fair game for everyone. World wonder buildings - they are basically a district you can build in your city. They cost a lot of resources and again can be built by only one player, but the effects are worth it. Also, as a normal district, they can be leveled up, yielding even more bonuses and FIDS. "National" wonders - similar to Civ buildings of the same kind, these wonders can be built once per race, giving substantial bonus to the city you build them at. Extra trade routes, extra food, extra research... You name it. New victory type - the "Quest" victory. After finishing your faction quest, new quest line opens for you, granting you a Quest victory upon completion. It is basically a more indepth continuation of the Auriga lore, kind of a "single-player" campaign. Global events - a worldwide event giving random buffs and debuffs. Very nice idea carried over from Master of Orion 2 and Endless Space, though I would prefer some options - like how your faction reacts to the event, the "selfish", "hostile", "altruistic" kind of reaction like in ES. Co-op competitive quests - quest any faction can participate at and be rewarded upon completion based on the contribution. Interesting idea, but from my experience, computer AI is not very "cooperative". I would expect them to try and get highest contribution, but they mostly ignore those quests. Still waiting for a bit more competent AI military-wise, but hopefully that will come with additional (free) patches. Overall, a DLC worth the money, which is sadly something rare to see these days.

Good addon to a great game. It adds multiple new strong buildings who can be build only once worldwide, reminiscent of Civ's world wonders. Though many of the buildings are based on objectives, such as who builds 4 extractors first. My problem so far is that while the buildings offer great boosts, they can greatly slow down the development of your city because they cost a lot of resources. Especially in the beginning, being slow to develop can lose you the game. So the math wizards will have to find out whether the building boosts outweigh the slowdown of development of a city. The giants are also game changing, and add another layer to strategy and diplomacy, similar to nuclear weapons in Civ. There are also numerous other buildings that everyone can build added that boost things like food output. All in all a good addition to the base game that diversifies its core mechanics.