Hey Polytopians! This year is a time of change, a time to show some much-needed love to our maritime friends, the Aquarion! In this update, we have given them tons of new toys, art, and mechanics to play with! This is a beta, and you can expect to find bugs, glitches, and oddities. You can find instructions on how to join the beta at the bottom of this post. We're going to lay out this post in this order: - Design Philosophy - New Mechanics - New Units - New Buildings - How to Join the Beta - Changelog So, without further ado, let's talk about the plethora of changes to our fishy friends. [h2=design]20,000 Design Philosophies Under the Sea
The Path of the Ocean showed us that the game's naval mechanics needed improvement before we could work on the Aquarion - a naval-oriented tribe. But now that it's out of the way, we can do this rework! Aquarion has always been focused on the water, which makes sense - they're fish people. So, we wanted to align them to that idea much better, blending them with the water in some very unique ways. As you'll see, we've given them new naval units, new aquatic buildings, and a totally new look to match! We want the Aquarion to be superb on the water, which is their home biome, but less effective on land. They still have ways to contest land and coastal cities, but they might have to get resourceful and understand their limits. [h2=mechanics]Let's Spin You a Nautical "Tail"
So, the first thing you probably noticed when you saw some of the promo images is that theres now a big pink, fin-looking thing that seems to have replaced the average Aquarions lower torso. That, my friend, is a mermaid tail, and it represents the fact that all of the Aquarion's land units are now amphibious! Yes, you can now waltz into the open seas without issue at any time with any land unit! Of course, this flexibility comes at a cost, as their land movement is reduced, as it's really hard to walk on land or use a road when you have a fish tail where your feet would be. All Aquarion land units have been replaced with "mermaid" variants, which otherwise function identically to their land-based counterparts. And lastly, yes, we know that "mermaid" isn't a gender-neutral term (since the Square's inhabitants are genderless), but are you really going to tell the Aquarion they can't be mermaids?
To make it easier for the Aquarion, all of their land terrain has now been given a new tag - "Flooded". Flooded tiles count as both land and water, so your "land" units are unrestricted on their own home terrain and naval units can sail on them without issue. Units can also flood tiles outside of their borders, so that you can move your troops on land more effectively.
Nabbing those land cities is now a little tougher for the Aquarion, so we've given them an alternative. If you uncover a ruin on the water, instead of getting the normal bonuses, you'll get a city! Yes, a city on the water!!!!! It functions like any other city and can be captured by your opponents. Obviously, it's "on the coast" for the sake of units that can only be trained in coastal cities, like Raychi. This should give you some incentive to work your way out into the oceans as fast as possible. Note: you'll only get a city if the ruin is far enough from other cities, otherwise you will get normal ruin bonuses, and this only works for ruins on the water, but it doesn't matter if it's on the Water or Ocean. [h2=units]Hic Sunt Dracones
We figured it was time to make Aquarion a bit more fun to play by giving them new naval units instead of the Scouts, Rammers, and Bombers that everyone else uses. Contrary to the name of this section, Aquarion doesn't get any dragons. Tridentions, Amphibians, and Crabs are all effectively unchanged, so there's no point in mentioning them here.

Shark

In "Marine Life", the replacement tech for Sailing, Sharks are speedy, all-around melee units that excel at zooming around the waters and eating unsuspecting ships. Since they have Creep, theyre even able to swim through forests effortlessly (assuming theyre flooded or on the water). [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Dash, Float, Creep[/td] [/tr] [/table]

Yelly Belly

These giant jellyfish are unlocked in Navigation, which still retains the ability to harvest Starfish. They're defensive units that function similarly to Juggernauts, dealing damage in a radius around them as they move. Unlike Juggernauts, enemy units that move next to them will also be damaged, so they're good for holding down an area. That even includes dealing damage when you train them! [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]15[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Stiff, Tentacles[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h2=buildings]Any Port in a Storm
Being fish people, the Aquarion don't get Ports anymore, but they do get one and a half new aquatic buildings instead!

Atoll

Unlocked in the new "Waterways" tech, which replaces Roads, the Atoll is a lot like the Cymanti's Mycelium, it will not only produce 1 Population, but will connect nearby cities over Ocean, Coast, and Flooded areas within 3 tiles. One per city, costs 5*, it can only be built on aquatic tiles.

Aqua Farm

Here's the half. As you might know, we added Aqua Farms to all tribes in the Path of the Ocean update, but removed them for feeling redundant and cluttery. Well, they're the perfect fit for Aquarion, allowing them to get population on those coastal and aquatic cities! You'll still need to place them on Aqua Crops which will spawn in the ocean. Costs 5* and provides 2 Population, and is in the "Aquaculture" tech. [h2=join]How Do I Join the Beta?
Note: This beta is only available on Steam, and will not be coming to mobile devices until it is released. If you havent already joined the Steam beta, its really easy! Just follow these steps: 1. Right Click on Polytopia in the Steam sidebar, or click the gear icon on the Library page 2. Click Properties 3. Head to the Betas tab 4. Use the beta access code: polytopiabetatesters If youve done these steps properly, it should look like this.
We look forward to hearing what you think of the Aquarion rework! Youre always able to send feedback either in the comments or on our Discord! Don't have the game on Steam? Don't fret, both the game and the Aquarion are -70% off on Steam right now, and the deal will end on June 21st. https://store.steampowered.com/app/982200/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Aquarion_Tribe/ [h2=changelog]2.9.2.12491 Changelog
Adjustments to the Aquarion tribe: - Terrain is Flooded and allows movement for both water and land units, but it is not possible to build roads there - All units are now amphibious - Rammer replaced by Shark - Bomber replaced by Yelly Belly that damage all nearby units - Roads are replaced by Atolls that connect to all cities within 3 tiles - Ability to flood tiles to create trade networks and waterways - Access to Aqua Crop resource and Aqua Farm improvement - Water Ruins sometimes give you a Lost City, which begins at level 3 and has a Wall - Tridention no longer has the Fortify ability - Crab now has Creep ability - Aquarion start with water movement, an amphibious mermaid warrior and the ability to build any land improvement on water, but no specific tech - Crabs have gotten graphical improvements related to teamcolor Other Changes: - Aquaculture tech renamed to Ramming