The Stormgate Community Update has arrived, bringing a broad set of changes to the game’s competitive Versus mode. Built in collaboration with community contributors over several months and tested on the Public Test Realm before going live, the patch adds new units, reworks core systems, and opens the full suite of creation tools to every player. The balance changes are explicitly targeted at 1v1 and 2v2 play; campaign and co-op were not part of this pass and remained on their previous values.
What changed
The headline additions are four new units split across the Celestial and Infernal factions. Celestial gains the Navi, a Tier 3 spellcaster, and the Carnivex, a Tier 2 front-line tank with stealth. Infernal gains the Dominari, a Tier 3 spellcaster, and the Incarnate, a large Tier 3 melee fighter. Each unit ships with its own abilities and upgrade paths that widen the options each factionfaction. An in-game group or nation players can align with or fight against, with its own goals and reputation system. can draft.
Beyond the roster, the patch reworks several systems. Therium gathering was reworked for sustainability: the Therium Generator now starts with more nodes, unenriched and enriched gather rates were lengthened, and worker cargo capacities for Imps and Servos increased while the Prism’s cargo dropped. On the Celestial side, the Collection Array’s maximum gathering rate rose and its power cost increased. Unit size was standardized into seven categories (Tiny through Gigantic), which the developers say improves pathfinding efficiency and reduces unit overlap and visual clutter in big engagements. Audio concurrency was overhauled so battles sound fuller and critical alerts are not drowned out, and an announcer-line priority system now ensures messages such as “Our base is under attack” interrupt lower-priority lines rather than blocking them.
Balance adjustments reach almost every existing unit. The Vanguard Servo lost health but gained movement speed and a faster charge cooldown, nudging it toward quicker, riskier aggression. The Lancer, by contrast, received a defensive rework via Reactive Plates that softens high-damage hits. The Exo’s bonus damage versus heavy targets rose slightly. The MedTech’s offensive Nanoswarm was reined in: it no longer aggros affected units, and its heal and damage per second were both reduced. On the Infernal side, Fiends saw their off-shroud damage lowered while their on-shroud damage rose, sharpening their reliance on Shroud. The Hexen’s Skull of Shedda ability was reworked to apply a curse and a slow rather than its older burst. The Magmadon gained a baseline periodic stun on Trample and had its attack and trample damage retuned. The Hellborne received a new Inferno ability that lights a target and units in a cone behind it on fire.
Celestial units were tuned as well. The Prism’s charge cooldown increased, its health rose, and its speed dropped. The Collection Array’s power cost went up alongside its higher max gathering rate. Top-bar abilities were reshuffled: Purify was added to the flying Arcstation and moved to a new hotkey, and several Celestial structures and nodes had their costs, armor, and energy regeneration rebalanced. The Arcship saw reduced health, a higher cost and build time, and a new visual cue showing when a Collection Array is available to produce.
How it works
Players access the new content through the standard game client. Each new unit appears in its faction’s production structure once the required tech is in place. The Navi is produced at the Starforge, with its Adept and Master Training upgrades researched at the Ascension Matrix and gated behind an Arcfortress. The Carnivex is built at the Creation Chamber, while its Research Prowl upgrade sits at the Guardian Nexus and also requires an Arcfortress. The Dominari is produced at the Conclave, and its upgrades are researched at the Ritual Chamber once an Elder Shrine is online. The Incarnate is summoned at the Elder Shrine and shares production charges with the Flayed Dragon.
The updated balance values apply automatically to all matches. When a unit is recruited, its health, damage, ability costs, and upgrade effects reflect the patch-note numbers. The Therium rework changes how the resource depletes and replenishes, so players will notice a different income rhythm when committing workers to enriched versus unenriched nodes. The size-category changes affect collision and pathing, letting units fit through light forest more reliably and reducing unintended clumping.
Audio and visual improvements run behind the scenes. Sound concurrency now prioritizes critical alerts, so announcements cut through overlapping effects. Particle effects for several new abilities, including the Incarnate’s Spore Blast and the Dominari’s Pandemonium wave, were revisited for clarity so their area of effect is easier to read during fast fights. A team-color pass and new weather presets (Light Snow, Heavy Snow, Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Infernal ash) round out the visual polish.
The creation tools—Map Editor, Data Editor, and Trigger Editor—are now enabled by default for all players, with no cheat-code or easter-egg unlock required. Players can open these editors from the main menu, load existing maps, or start from a blank canvas. Work saves locally, and community-built maps and arcade-style experiences have already been folded into the game’s custom map list.
Build path
To get oriented, players should first launch the game and confirm the Community Update build is active. Next, explore the new units in a skirmish against the AI or a friend, trying each faction’s additions in isolation before mixing them into existing armies. The Celestial Navi and Carnivex, and the Infernal Dominari and Incarnate, each fill a distinct role worth learning separately.
After getting a feel for the units, observe how familiar units behave under the new values. Watch Servo health and speed, note the Exo’s revised heavy-target damage, and look for the Arcship’s new Collection Array indicator. Experiment with altered upgrade costs and tech requirements to see how timing and power spikes shift.
For aspiring creators, the Map Editor is the easiest entry point. Lay out a simple arena with terrain, then switch to the Data Editor to tweak unit stats or ability values and test the results in a custom game. The Trigger Editor can script basic events, such as spawning a wave when a control point is captured. Because the editors are now fully in-game, iteration no longer requires external tools or hand-edited JSON.
What it means
The Community Update reflects Frost Giant’s effort to share design work with its player base. Community implementers helped prototype and land many of the balance changes using the editor tools, while Frost Giant handled engineering, UI, audio-visual polish, and backend support. The result is a larger Versus update than the studio could have shipped on its own.
From a competitive standpoint, the patch pushes toward more varied army compositions. Units with distinct roles—the tank-like Carnivex, the spell-supporting Navi, the brawling Incarnate—give players new tools to weigh against existing build orders. Standardized size categories reduce the edge from unit-size quirks, so engagements lean more on positioning and ability timing than on raw bulk.
The economy rework aims to make early income more predictable. With Therium depleting and replenishing on clearer rules, aggressive rushes and tech-focused builds should both find more stable footing. The Celestial Collection Array changes, meanwhile, raise its ceiling while costing more power, so players must budget energy more deliberately.
Opening the creation tools to everyone lowers the barrier for modders and map makers. Designers can build full campaigns, custom modes, or experimental mechanics in-game, and some community projects are already appearing in the custom map list. Whether that output feeds back into official updates will depend on how the studio and its community develop the game from here.
One caveat worth stating plainly: after this update went live, Frost Giant later transitioned Stormgate away from its live-service servers, disabling online Versus and Co-op matchmaking for a period while it worked on peer-to-peer replacements. The new units, balance tuning, and editors remain available in skirmish, custom, and offline modes, but ranked online play may be limited depending on when you read this.