(.77)Creatures Too Hard to Get

from Elemental Forums

I have played through the game a few times and one thing that bugs me is how hard it is to recruit monsters, it is actually ridiculous. To get darklings you need a level 4th tech! I rushed tech and went straight for it in one game and it still took like 200 turns, and that's not all! Since they cost diplomatic capital you really need a 5th level tech!There aren't many darkling lairs left after 250 or so turns...

I feel this really kills early game diversity. Fights would be much cooler if you could recruit monsters. It would oopen up a lot more strategies and game diversity.

First of all there needs to be a reliable early game diplomatic capital building, Almhouses and Scenic views require to much luck. Secondly the recruitable monster techs need to be pushed up earlier in the tech tree by at least one tech, with the possible exception of stuff like dragons. If the current monsters are too tough then more weaker monsters should be added, like normal darklings.

 

1,274 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I agree. Some of the creatures we currently get are so weak they belong in tier one. I would actually prefer the tree have a special branch for this type of research. Drakes make sense at a high tier. Darklings are mostly good for base defense and fodder. That screams tier one. 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Agreed, the time it takes to acquire the techs for these units typically puts them well into the midgame. This is a double whammy because it means they aren't on the field earning experience and gaining levels earlier, rendering them even weaker against leveled stacks of heroes/armies.

In general, the ramp to unit production feels too slow, since its so much easier to just roam around with your hero stack that can 'grow' on the move. Meanwhile producing units requires both research and time from cities instead of producing buildings, which is a bit out of whack.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

The focus should be, while balancing, to increase the effectiveness of regular troops in the early game. I read your reply and immediately started calculating ways to nerf the abilities of heroes. Heroes are fine though. It's regulars that need to be better.

I say nerf the loot from goodie huts to be less awesome. You can get a whole bunch of endgame loot just from scouting. That power should be replaced with regulars supplementing heroes earlier in the game. No high end loot is needed then. Just give out basic gear and let the regulars join the early game battles. 

This is most easily done by making units build faster from the capital. That way we can get units out there helping the Sov and the first heroes. This will also slow down armies, making scouts necessary in the early game. Right now I don't need to build any due to the speed of my Sov's army. Then some players could even choose to speed up their regulars with traits, letting the main army scout, instead of using them all for defense bonuses.