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The Early Rush: Balance or AI?

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The Early Rush: Balance or AI?

from Elemental Forums

Early attacks on the AI are really strong. This is not unusual for a strategy game by any means, as anyone who 6 pools can attest.

However, the following stratagems are too effective and have too little risk.

1) Create a combat-monster sovereign (15 str, pre-equipped, warlord or assassin). Walk over to the nearest enemy. Kill him. Repeat.

2) Create a charisma-monster sovereign. 15 Cha, Royalty or Bard. Pick Green Thumb.

-Build a Hut immediately. In the meantime, search for heroes.

-Hire every hero you meet. With high CHA, this should be easy.

-Upon leveling your first city, pick random guardian

-Proceed to annihilate the nearest civs with your hero/wolf/spider pack.

These strategies are doubly effective if you picked a faction with Tools of War, or add the trait that generates 1 Tech Research for your Sov. Arming your combat monster sov or hero pack with oak spears is really, really deadly.

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Honestly, I'm not sure whether this is a balance issue, an AI issue, or both. I think a human player would be hard pressed to stop this strategy without creating a monster sov or hero army of his own. It demonstrates the severe weakness of dex-based or int-based sovs. Those attributes need to do more.

Here's what I think:

- Attacking cities should require SIEGE tech. Walls should physically block units from attacking other units. They should have high-hp that is only reasonably broken by siege weapons or super-buffed units in the lategame

-Outposts don't get walls. Your first city, starts as a level 2 city (15 pop)

-Dexterity should increase combat and move speed for a slight amount (Maybe +1 for 3, or something like that)

-Intelligence should do SOMETHING. Here are some suggestions

  Increase Tax Rate in Stationed Cities

  Provide a bonus to Non-Hero units during combat

  Decrease the cost of spells

  Increase the effectiveness of EVERY spell, somehow.

-Finally, all sovereigns should start with a level 1 spell at the beginning of the game. This makes it so intelligent sovereigns aren't completely destroyed by bandits or something.

 

 

elemental
42,618 views 28 replies
Reply #26 from Elemental Forums Top

How about make the number of adventures you can hire linked to your prestige number? It would also stop the 15 CHR Sovereign from hiring every hero that they find.  Makes the player actually think about which ones he wants to hire.

 

-Zanz

Reply #27 from Elemental Forums Top

Walls meaning something is a nice idea (bottlenecking and protection from ranged attacks), but honestly? I think the idea of a population defending itself makes the most sense.

Have a town produce militia, in the form of a % of the total population. More militant factions have a higher percentage, flaw of peaceful having a lower percentage. Something as low as 10% for a baseline... so your level 5 city of ~800 people might have about 80 able-bodied folk that are willing to pick up a pitchfork (or overstock weapons) and defend his home from invaders.

The training buildings would increase the base statistics of these militia, and equipment might start off with makeshift weapons (weak, but at least something) and increasing as your general weapon tech goes up (possibly a tier or two behind your max). *This, of course, is assuming something is fixed with the current armor/weapon disparity.

 

As a side thing, when you overcome a city and take control, the population doesn't immediately go "okay! we're with you now!". You have to maintain a military force that has at least an equal combat rating or higher than the militia the town produces to keep it from rioting (going into combat again, this time inside the city).

Over time, the town gets converted into slaves, or just plain old decides to join your cause instead (depending on the type of sovereign or faction you are). As this happens, the production in gildar, materials, etc, start flowing from this newly acquired city as the percentage of population converts.

 

And the nice thing? Spells could be made to accommodate these things:

- death magic that raises your dead for instant boost to militia

- mind control magic to more quickly convert a conquered town, or cause a town to riot against it's own sovereign, ready for you to step in and "liberate" it like it belonged to you all along

 

This would solve two problems: first the issue of defending your city from early rush attacks. Between have walls and a force of people who aren't willing to cower at the first sign of a wolf or bandit, you'll have a decent chance to survive rushes from AI, human players, or those roaming bands of spiders.

Second, it would make the process of a war more complex, and actually fully taking control of a city a longer process. Something a surprised or unprepared sovereign could recover from. Instead of this othello style "flip.. it's red now! flip... is blue now!" style of city capture that we have.

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Reply #28 from Elemental Forums Top

You should also be allowed to put your captured victims to the sword, lowering the city level by 2 (minimum pop of 1) and losing all non-housing,non-bonus improvements.