The Estoc & the anti-armor two-handers
The patch's genuinely new weapon is the Estoc — our own addition to this guide's canon, so its numbers are estimates. Alongside it, two existing in-game anti-armor specialists are worth knowing if you've overlooked them: the Pollaxe and the Executioner's Sword, both with verified stats on the Weapons page.
Pollaxe (existing)
The name comes from old English "poll" (head), so it literally means head-axe. A hafted weapon with an axe side and a hammer side. Versatile, mainly for heavily armored foes. Range 1, not 2, because of its shorter haft. The hammer side (Smite) staggers; the axe side finishes the incapacitated.
Executioner's Sword (existing)
A heavy, broad, round-tipped blade built to behead in one strike. Heavier than other two-handed swords with a hefty Fatigue malus. Skills: Overhead Strike (slightly increased hit), Split Shield, and Decapitate, whose bonus damage scales with the target's missing HP. A finisher for high-HP enemies.
Estoc (Panzerstecher) — new
A two-handed sword with a dull blade designed solely as a powerful thrusting weapon. Its whole purpose is piercing through gaps and joints in heavy armor. A two-handed alternative to the hammer for cracking knights and armored elites.
New enemies
The update adds new enemies to the world alongside the weapons. The exact roster expands the threats you'll meet in mid-to-late game encounters. As always, treat any unfamiliar new foe with caution on first contact: scout its behavior before committing your veterans, and apply the same principles from the Enemy Tactics page (find the weakness, pick the ground, kill the priority target first).
This page summarizes the official update. For the complete, exact change list including every balance tweak, read the developer's full notes on the Steam news post for v1.5.2.2. If anything here conflicts with the in-game version you're running, the game and the official notes win.
What it changes for your company
- More anti-armor reach. The new Estoc joins the Pollaxe and two-handed hammers as ways to crack heavy targets without relying solely on hammers. Good news for the Noble War crisis.
- A dedicated finisher. The Executioner's Sword's missing-HP Decapitate makes a Reaper or a giant-hunter even better at closing out high-HP enemies like Lindwurms and Unholds once they're wounded.
- Build experiments. The Estoc might enable new armor-piercing two-hander builds. It's also worth pairing with the Pollaxe, which sits between polearm and two-hander at range 1 on a front-line stagger-and-finish brother.
Recent balance context (1.5.x line)
Across the 1.5 updates, several changes shaped the current meta that are worth knowing:
- Polearms had skill AP cost reduced from 6 to 5, lost the hit penalty for hitting adjacent targets, and cost 25% less Fatigue. This is why backline polearms are S-tier right now.
- Two-handed flails were buffed: the Wooden version to 30-60 damage, the regular to 45-90 with 115% armor effectiveness.
- Sword Mastery grants +5% to hit on the Split and Swing skills.
- Numerous bug fixes around head-hit damage on headless enemies, the Cook and Blacksmith retinue effects, and skill interactions with Fast Adaptation stacks.