Dawn of War v1.4 patch coming this Thursday

THQ have announced that the latest patch (version 1.4) for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War will be released this Thursday. The patch includes a large number of updates, tweaks, fixes and gameplay balance changes and can be accessed from the online section of the game (from the main menu, select Multiplayer, then Online). As before, Ladder Stats will be reset to allow players to build up their rank and take their places in the top 10 under these new balance conditions.

"In Patch 1.4 we are addressing a few notable balance items, and we've also added Persistent Bodies and Decals! These options (accessible from the Graphics Options) allow you to control how long the bodies of the fallen warriors remain on the battlefield. We think you're going to enjoy it! Here is a full list of changes that will be in Patch 1.4:

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -- Patch 1.4 Changes

Balance Changes:

- Increased Defiler cost to 190 requisition 400 power.

- Increased Defiler build time to 60 seconds.

- Increased the cost of the Chaos Sorcerer to 200 requisition 100 power.

- Chaos Sorcerer build time is now 60 seconds (up from 20).

- Cost and build time of Chaos Marine Tactical Bolters reduced by 5%.

- Reduced the cost of the Chaos Temple by 10%.

- Reinforce time of Chaos Marine Tactical Bolters reduced by 10%.

- Warp Spider damage against infantry has been reduced by 15%.

- Guardian damage reduced by 5%.

- Ork Stormboyz armor changed from Infantry High to Heavy Medium.

- Ork Stormboyz should now be a much better counter to Warp Spiders.

- Reduced the cost of the Space Marine Dreadnought to 170 requisition 350 power.

- Reduced the train time of the Space Marine Dreadnought to 50 seconds.

- Cost and build time of Space Marine Tactical Bolters reduced by 5%.

- Reinforce time of Space Marine Tactical Bolters reduced by 10%.

- Reduced the cost of the Chapel Barracks by 10%.

- Scouts were inadvertently given an accuracy penalty while moving in the 1.3 patch. This penalty has been removed. Scouts should now be more effective at dealing damage.

- The recharge for Battle Cry was reduced to 96 seconds (down from 120).

- The recharge for Orbital Bombardment was reduced to 195 seconds (down from 240).

- The recharge for Smite was reduced to 100 seconds (down from 120).

- The recharge for Weaken Resolve was reduced to 45 seconds (down from 60).

- The build time for the Predator Lascannon upgrade was reduced to 20 seconds (down from 25).

Code & Performance Changes:

- Many small optimizations for low-end systems.

- Full front-end now reloaded after switching mods (games).

- 2 new graphics options: Persistent Bodies, Persistent Decals.

- Improved system performance detection capabilities of GraphicsOptions utility, resulting in more accurate settings. As a result, the GraphicsOptions utility will automatically run next time you start the game, post-patch/update."