Finished first run with new DLC installed. There are two new endings; prerequisites given below:
1. 研究者: Get Sophie, Iris and Zoe lewd. Of all the endings to date, this is by far the one which builds on the goblin world more than any other. Iris and Zoe are required because they feature in Sophie's legacy; beyond that they don't really contribute much. I have to give the VA credit though, the performance range is extremely wide and it's not easy getting the recorded result.
2. 肉貨幣: Get Joanne, Zara and Patricia lewd. Anyone trying to unlock Joanne and Zara's galleries manually can simply get Patricia killed to leave the run open for gallery entries. Joanne is not that difficult to mindbreak, Zara easier than expected (but still tougher than humans). Run immediately ends if all three are lewd by the end of a turn. If the human ranch ending postulates what happens when goblins embark on their equivalent of the industrial revolution, this ending gives a glimpse of what might happen should they create their own civilization after trampling everyone else to the ground.
The gallery now allows playback of the hints shown when players successfully unlock an ending.
Balance changes:
1. Multi-attack spells have been nerfed. The multiplier is now 0.5 and 0.7 (used to be 1.0 and 1.3x). They're still the way to go once enough runs have been completed, but are not as overpowered as they used to be after 3-5 runs.
2. Physical attack is now feasible. Zara and Sophie's abilities make a buff strategy very viable when combined with back-row AOE spells.
3. The goblin slayer units pre-patch have been renamed as "Arch-Goblins" who can only attack in melee and have a slightly different colour palette. The true Goblin Slayer unit is a surprise for players on NG+ on 5-star difficulty. I can't imagine what he's going to be like in ironman mode when the turn count is on 100.
The new girls:
Sophie: Boosts magic. Stage appears before Chloe's. Her special ability increases army defence. Very useful counterpart to Chloe especially early on when goblins are weak and heavy casualties are expected. 1/4 elf blood heritage investigating the existence of female goblins in her spare time.
Joanne: Boosts attack. Think Joan of Arc, but unlike the historical Maid of Orleans this one really has a deity backing her up. She's one of the last targets to attack the nest. Her special ability increases wing attack strength by 2.0x for 3 turns, so players who don't want to lose will want to smash her bodyguard by turn 1 so that her next attack does minimal damage.
Zara: Boosts defence. The dark-elf queen has her own stage after Patricia is captured. Usual rules for triggering a new stage apply. Her army is MUCH stronger than Patricia's despite only featuring three wings; players will want to use cheese combinations if available to capture her as quickly as possible if gunning for her ending. Her special ability increases the defence of the army by 3x, so it's a straight upgrade from Sophie's but at the end of the game.
Despite being much older than Patricia, she looks more infantile than her subject Melanie and her sworn enemy Patricia.
New feature: Challenge mode.
This is an ironman mode, get as high a score as possible with a turn limit of 100. Mode is cleared when players conquer all areas before the time limit. No sex involved unlike the main game (so the girls probably breed as usual but the scene doesn't play). No saving and loading. Players bored with goblin generations in the 100s can try this out, it's much more challenging and players actually have to think things through when trying this out for the first time no matter how experienced they are with the main game.
This game has sold better than any of the developer's previous works (the previous record holder on DLsite was the adventurer inn simulation game). If this gets a second DLC like the usual pattern, I'm hoping for more of the same (three girls, possibly more game variants, goblin rape scenes which are arousing etc.)
