A new update from the people at Relic indicates that Dawn of War 3 will be receiving its first balance patch on 24 May. The very same update will also introduce a leaderboard system to the game.

Update 25 May: The patch is now delayed. It’s due on 31 May. The rest of the original story follows.

Specific unit balance changes aren’t detailed in the post, but it gives a broad sense of what Relic will be changing. Their overall philosophy is that victory in multiplayer should mean “you’ve consistently outplayed your opponent from start to finish, instead of just crippling them in the first five minutes”. A few defeats in early Dawn of War 3 skirmishes shouldn’t cost you the war, in other words.

With that in mind, they’ll be looking closely at “feedback where counterplay, unit effectiveness, or escalation mechanics could put you at a disadvantage against players of a roughly similar skill level.” Every unit in the game, they say, is getting a review.

The upcoming leaderboards and player profiles are intended to “give you an idea of where you stand in the community-wide race for domination.” There will be separate boards for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and a way of comparing your stats across all three factions. Plus, a compilation of the most popular Elites.

Relic say they’re already working on the next set of updates for Dawn of War 3 to follow this 24 May patch, and suggest they’ll be filling people in on those details “soon”.