I feel like I am forced to acknowledge that if this spy project had a Native American name, it would be "Premise Running Thin."
I might (read: will) end up gutting the lizardman spy code entirely and re-working it under a new dwarven caste called a "saboteur." Saboteurs will develop a deep grudge against their own civilization at a young age, and will eventually start to sow chaos in your fortress by poisoning citizens and starting riots (yes, I can do this xD). Watchers will be able to point them out - that part will remain the same. How you deal with these guys is totally up to you, but they're going to be fairly uncommon - maybe even a little or a lot more so than vampires, depending on your worldgen settings. Which reminds me...
Since LFR is getting more reliant on displacing generated interactions and creatures, I will be packaging some custom world generation parameters for use with this mod. You are free to use these or ignore them completely - LFR will work just fine with the default ones, but these will make the new features a bit easier to find for those who want that. I've barely cracked the shell on secrets and curses so far, and I'm planning a few new weather effects as well.
I don't want to give too much away, but in the next release, you might want to try a fortress in an evil biome... or a good one.
Also, I'm thinking of names for the new elemental units... it hit me today.... "stonekin" is pretty good for the earth units, and it's a nice little Guild Wars reference as well. Just don't expect them to get any overpowered shouts.
Planned abilities for stonekin and zephyrs...
Stonekin (units of Kerox):
"Rock blast" - hurl a stone at the enemy. Medium cooldown.
"Stone skin" - increase the toughness of nearby allies for a short time. Medium cooldown.
"Earth bind" - slow a large number of enemies by a moderate amount. Short cooldown.
"Entomb" - slow a single enemy by a very large amount. Long cooldown.
"Steadfast" - sharply decrease the effectiveness of metal weapons used against the stonekin for a short time. Long cooldown.
Natural skills - 6 concentration
Can be healedZephyrs (units of Lemox):
"Tailwind" - boost the speed of a nearby ally by a small amount for a medium duration. Very short cooldown.
"Headwind" - reduce the speed of a nearby enemy by a small amount for a moderate duration. Short cooldown.
"Sonic boom" - send a blast of air at the target to deal light damage and cause dizziness for a short duration. Very long range. Medium cooldown.
"Jet stream" - slightly increase the agility of nearby allies for a medium duration and grant dizziness immunity for a short duration. Medium cooldown.
Natural skills - 6 dodge, 8 archery, 8 throwing, 5 crossbow, 5 bow, 5 blowgun.
Can be healed*---
Elemental units will also be getting "upgrade abilities" in tier four. I've been planning that for some time, but I've neglected to mention it. Here are some planned upgrades (these will be VERY expensive and a ways down the road)...
Emberlight warrior:
"Zalkor's inferno" - a massive, consuming blast of dragon fire. Long cooldown.
"Immolate" - causes a target (restricted to common enemies) to
literally explode in a burst of intense flames. Short cooldown. Must be standing in magma to use.
This one requires some testing.Wavebreaker:
"Temanat's haze" - blinds enemies in a large area with a massive cloud of dense water vapor. Medium cooldown.
"Invoke blizzard" - a multiple-round salvo of "invoke hailstorm," firing a burst of ice blasts in rapid succession before a long cooldown.
Yes, this actually works.Stonekin:
"Ground dasher" - deals severe bleeding and impaired movement to any STANCE body parts of enemies in a small area for a moderate duration. Medium cooldown.
"Petrify" - turn an enemy (restricted to common enemies) into a stone for a medium duration. Long cooldown.
Zephyr:
"Invoke hurricane" - a multiple-target version of "sonic boom." Medium cooldown.
"Second wind" - sharply increase own agility and speed for a short duration. Medium cooldown.