So ideas to do.
Upgrade for some reasons:
- waging costs for heroes. They must cost more and may be progressive from levels (than they could become more real than a group of soldiers) and from map level.
- wages from units (progressive from number units in one unit, perks chosen and maybe hp). As i see the time when there would be nothing to build in cities will come fast and there no problem with it to AI. Pay and build fast - maintain big... AIs upgrades in money could solve the situation of poor beggars - there would be many armies, but may be its better somehow speed up the unit building, not buildings? Well even with 1 turn/group they doesn't assume armies to much.
- some mechanic how AI gain surplus of resources... horses, wargs, metal, fame from nowhere - it must be minimized... 1 stable give 0.2 per season... and they at 40th turn with 0 of them and none other contacts - has 50+ of horses. No way how. The AI must cheat... but not from air, and from surplus of what it has. If there no resource - he must buy or live without it. Here could be used the Transmute mod, so AI could use it too and to buy what he need.
- Champions perks must differentisized. I doesn't see any use of defender or assasin or even mage. Really no usefull things, just some sort of pumpkin in the field. All make the attacker. When the fight counts for 3-5 turns, there no need of withstanding long or use special abilities or cast specific spells so and there no mana for them too. Rush, Impale, Rain of arrows, cleave absolete the usability of defender and as i see the others too. They must stay, but Champions must be not an addon to them.
Mages are poor beggars with their staffs and perks that give much on spell damage and spell mastery (to penetrate spell resist and special spell resist that mainly are zero) but none to accuracy. Every 3/4 of their attacks are dodged even with 96 accuracy when monster dodge is about 30. It must be reorganized. Mage is not the archer, he doesn't look at the distance and need to hit the eye - he cast on something that moving and all. Spells are self-directing in their idea (or by mind direction control, so dodging from them is strange. Either there nothing with spell resistance value to work for: just have a super dodge and never count on it). And the problem that spells besides of arrows must have pool of mana... and there no mana - mages are less effective even than pumpkin. Archers rule. There must be magic spell-perks for units too.
Mage champions so doesn't have personal pool too (besides of like fevza the wild with its perk of coal stones that need no mana and act as upgraded to all field rain of arrows) and even perks that make mana usage less are not so usefull – because they doesn't solve the problem of zero mana pool. Even mana per turn +74 (gigantic values with 15 cities and many cheating upgrades) - its just 3-4 normal magic spells. Diamond defense of earth archmage costs 90 mana for 3 turns... soo unbalanced.
As i see for now. For perks.
1. Defender must be a center of the party not in attack, but in defence "from all". He must have special ability to attract monsters to him as assasin has the perk that make him less attractive. And he must summon some defence buffs on that who are close to him in battle (like his sentitel perk), than army type defs and hp. make some rounded like shockwave attack that has stun/prone and else not killing effects, but lefting him "defending" and aiming monsters on it not only 1 tile near but may be 2 or more.
Aim of the defender - give the others time. Its all.
Pluses: defence, resistance, stopping monster movements and attracting enemies, defence growth when some one attacks him
minus: attack, accuracy, none shield (twohanded and/or light as knifes) weapon usability
2. Attacker must have less defensive and hp. his aim is to make powerfull attacks - yes? no... his aim is to charge and make disorientation through enemy ranks. Or than he would become a medium between assasin and defender, not a specific. Attacker gives initiative bonuses, not hp or defence. So sword appeal to that idea rightfully in 100%.
Aim of the attacker - make the enemy difuse (not only rush-killing, but rush-proning, disorientation and so), and make main hp-rushing with his initiative, counter attacks and
pluses: initiative, attack, raging abilities, revenge attack growth (two sub-paths - twohanded weapons and weapon and shield - so one is on damage and its growth the other is on initiative and counterattack - elsewhy that weapon types are only the "names" not the advantages and disadvantages).
minuses: dodge, crit chance, resistance, berserking(?)
3. Assasin
Aim of the assasin - make chitical backstabs, injure-type blledings, poison-longterm damage and hit the last line (it just doesn't affected by near enemy tiles stopping) when enemy is focused on other targets.
pluses: dodge, accuracy, crit chance, movement (to make backstabs)
minuses: defence, normal attack (only multiplication on backstubs rule - so its good to assasin to come to the targets back and it must give not only swarm bonus), spell resistance
4. Mage
Aim - to kill them all. Fires from above to all from distanse and use of spells any diferences (buy may be some sub-specialisations on buff/heal, or casting).
pluses: spell resist, spell damage, spell mastery, accuracy with spells from staffs (so it is really must be differentised range damage and attack plus difference from magic damage and non magic - so stuffs must have path specific "magic" ranged damage, no standart attack and standart range damange).
minuses: defence, normal attack, dodge, crit chance, initiative, hp (real disadvantage, so that it must be buffed to any spell with phisical protection like - there are like in Lady Umbers cuirass)
5. Commander
Aim of the commander is buffing. Inspiring... and command or to be unspecific field-meat.
pluses: buffing attack/defence/initiative/ets of all group and governor tree, no any special fighting traits that heals/buffs self/others (like command ability), ability to use many armors without disadvantages (?)
minus: no special resistance, dodge, magic ets, all medium in fight
As there new paths - Ranger and Summoner - than:
6. Ranger-Archer
Aim of the ranger - fire from distance
pluses: accuracy, armor piercing damage and critical hits from distance
minus: defence, movement, dodge, initiative, no normal attack and less damage from attacks at all, no spell resist, less hp
7. Summoner
Aim - is to summon ally, take control or deorganise the enemy monsters.
As he is mage - that path would have the same minus and bonus, but bonuses will be less because of summoning abilities that use mana or not from the path is used. May be it could have basic totem without mana and other - mana focused. Standard magic attack with staff...
8. Unit_design perks
- add the perk that gives magic spell (standard spell not from magic path – like magic missile and its upgrade to rain of magic missile (as in D&W: gained or in some levelup or as a double perk for +1 cost. And if it counts – whats about the idea so when mages use spells that give damage, its damage is added to mages staffs standart damage? – or mages would all time cast spells not using staffs so thet items could become useless, only as for poor beggars without mana or the accuracy and other buffing items). Plus it would be maybe good to implement my perks too (for unit path attacker, defender, ranger, mage), with some downshifting of their costs (plus the idea to add wages from perks works fine with them).
- may be its good to use the mod that add some summoners-units (those who summon elementals).
- add specification to ranged or closed attack or magic attack to weapons and armor/items, so the magic weapons give only magic attack and give ++ to accuracy (so to solve dodge-first problem), archers has only ranged, melee has standard as now. So spell resistance gives overall resistance and specific resistance gives boost to specific and than all works as needed (as i see). In items and Armor must be implement so the same idea – to give specific magic path resistance or overall spell resistance (if we use it with patch of demons and wizards – than we need to count new weapons and armor to new spell resistance too.. if it is needed – if there are any attack/control spells)
And some more about Champions
All that paths give their own type of buffs to group(1)/city-defenders(2) and city functionality(3)/faction (4). Because they are true heroes and must inspire.
Defender - defense, group defs, mining, % on minable resources (metal, crystal), defensive structures and city defenders buffs.
Attacker - initiative, group attack, % horses/warg supply, fame surplus, training times and army initiative upgrades
Mage - spell mastery, city research buildings, %faction research and essence boost
Assassin - crits and city +unrest, but gildar++, cheaping item costs, quest spawning ability (as there are globalenchantment spells in D and Wizards that could be casted one time for some turns, so its technicaly availiable))
Ranger - accuracy, grain, food, % on harvestable res that give food
Commander - buffs, city material production, pop growth, gildar, global unrest as is for now, experience, city defenders exp, trainable units exp
Summoner - magic resistance/summons/summoning values, mana and %mana from buildings and resourses, summoning pool usage (as it is in D&W)
So in overall - That like all global faction themes are served by heroes, so their path would have two or three lines - personal, group/city and faction
For that case All attributes and Combat stats are covered too. Even than it must be implemented some item reorganisation so there wouldn't be mage-tanks as i have now att 41, def 29, hp 123.
For that main ideas may be and these type:
- rework speed of hp rising, def and att rising (them or items, because many monsters are vanilla like and has too poor abilities from perk+items+abilities champions), generated from “blood” and from path mainly (path corrects blood). So i saw mod that gives monsters an rnd pool of weakneses - its good to make the same rnd pool of ++perks good abilities
- ranged and only magic path attacks (so fire staff give only fire magic damage) so it could be use of spell mastery at all, that must multiply and that damage, not only spell attacks as normal attacks that doesn’t right
- poison damage must work - so poison when hitt must slowly kill the enemy turn after turn. Now it no use of it for assassins, that must have ++ to poison making weapons abilities too, not only backstub
- armor professions difference - so warrior prefer plate armor, and has 25% def reduction if he use other types. Mage can’t wear any just robes. Archers can’t use plate. So there are 4 types of armor: robes, leather, chain and plate and all must be formed to them (mage, summoner - robes, assasin and ranger - leather, commander - chain, attacker and defender - plate). So no perks for attacker to wear plate must be, so commander could have plate perk, ranger – could have chain, mages - leather. But for attacker and defender that could wear plate as is and other too as is (if they are idiots), must be perk specialization, that gives +bonus for plate, and minus for other ones so for assassins for leather.
- number of perks must be researchable value (guile is good, but it works only for player, who just define not the AI). but I know it is hard work to make gigantic number of blank units for AI then... or there could be as i saw and rnd addons - i saw mod that gives to monsters an rnd pool of weakness perks, so it could be a good idea to make and rnd pool of good perks for tham and if primal could make an addon - as like with assesories (from event) - to make some world events on upping perk numbers and giving rnd good pool of perks not only for monsters, but for AI units too (it would solve the problem of many blank-units making),
I can take a little time for think and make overal comparison to make all that ideas more usefull... so for now champions look like much the the same (as was mentiones for magic soovereigs that choosed the defender path). Specialization must really differ champions from level 10 minimum. And Question - how many levels are the maximum?
The other thought - the monsters spawn of ravaging units. It must be less!!! (AI towns are rezed in 30th turn by 500hp monster groupsm but in 100th - Escaped darklings move it 2 unit groups of 80 hp - are pumpkins) in the beginning and must grow no late game. It just may be done somewhere - but the monsters must have not only hp upgrade, but as there are a mod that gives them rnd weakneses, so it could be helpful to give them other perks when they spawn (as i told earlier), to make them unique and all time dangerous. Even the wolfs... must became real trouble when they eat mistycal mushrooms
In the other theme – when AI come to 5 towns it is unreachable in savage#3 AI level boosting in no case in the fields of: fame (it’ll take the most of heroes from the pool), research (not even boost from x100 surplus – its real that they have some other surplus from somewhere else). Metal, crystal, gold, horses, wargs – its ok, push them, poor cheaters. May be its better to delete research and the fame buffs? Its unreal to make an achievement builded even.
Monuments base – is a good thing too. Its would be great to implement it (just needed to add gold and res costs), and make the prioritization of achievement some less to AI or pleyer can't compete even.
