[beta 4v2; leader combat comment] Can't they just stay dead.

use diplomacy and ask the AI to surrender.

I wonder if you could mod in a death limit (cats, famously, have nine) for champs and sovs.

I don't like losing a map quickly because of the random dice hating me.

While I understand the frustration, the enemy sovereign is punished by losing a lot of they're current mana reserves, and being stunned a serious amount of turns.
I really enjoy that you can actually venture out with your own sovereign in this game, instead of fearing death/losing, instant-loss tied to losing a specific unit always was sucked... IMO.

You might put a bigger mana consumption on resurrecting the sovereign, if there is no mana left, the sovereign have to stay in the hospital for twice as long, also giving the faction a temporary +10% unrest due to the sovereign being weak and injured.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

I do like both aspects. I've been playing of late with a hardcore set of rules. If a champ or sovereign falls in combat, I lose the champ and I resign the game if its the sovereign. But if they fall in combat, but the army still lives, the units survives wounded and I still play on as normal. I wouldn't mind seeing this option available, but it's something that is not high-priority on my list.

As to the AI, I don't know if this would weaken them too much as they tend to travel out and die a lot. You would play games and end up winning just by sitting in your first town waiting for the AI to die. I think that is why they haven't implemented this yet, or will.

In the real world, if a leader dies they are replaced by the next in line. "The king is dead, long live the king!" This would work in Elemental. Make the cost to escape high enough that getting killed several times in quick succession will exhaust it and prevent escape. But don't make death of the sovereign a game ender - promote a champion and keep going. You would, of course lose the skills and experience of the dead leader. On the other hand, the player can bypass the consequences of death by reloading an autosave - why deny that capability to the AI?

Good ideas!

I always find it tedious how the opponent sov and\or heroes wind up reviving in the next nearest city to the one I just conquered.  It would be better if they revived in a city far from enemy troops (if possible) so I am not flame darting their sorry 3-5 hp butts back to the next nearest city.

There are a lot of fun things to try with sov\hero deaths:  

If there was a golem master trait:  let my sov's spirit animate an obsidian golem with magic immunity, but the sov can't cast tactical spells, and only up to lvl 2 strategic spells. Or a beast master could be trapped in a cave bear's body etc with similar results until a special spell is quested for or researched.

Dead heroes could spawn specific quests to restore them.

Perhaps an item the character was wearing becomes imbued with the essence of the hero wielding it:  "The Shield of Oleric is a holy relic of the mighty warrior who fell defending the Village of Woods Edge from hordes of (i.e. 3 stacks) of enemy forces.  Use it to safeguard your people."

Give it the same stats as the fallen hero in regards to Dodge, Init, and one hero-specific combat ability (Crushing Blow, etc.)

A quest or spell as above could let you "convert" the item back to the hero or if you prefer the item created for them, well, you will polish Oleric to a bright sheen every night

The real problem with champions is not that they  stay alive. It is the problem of fighting with repeatedly turn after turn when you are on the offensive, with them being increasingly useless due to the wounds they gather..

Wounded heroes shouldn't fight. If the city they are recuperating is attacked they should be withdrawn without fight to the closest city.

If you allow them to regain their health so they would actually pose some threat or even better if defeating them would drop a random item from their equipped inventory (or usable item) as loot or a handful of gildars for their ransom you would actually welcome fighting them again.

This loot or ransom should be an option made by defeated party. ("you champion has been defeated, do you flee (loosing an item) or do you ask for pardon and pay (50*level) in gildar." - the latter option not avaiable if the losing side has no gildar). one last option could be escape (you need to be air 2 mage and have 50 mana to spend per champion)

Permanent disability instead of death for champions has been debated before. I agree with the developers that there should be lasting consequences for getting killed! I do like the idea of a champions' death spawning a quest where the reward is a relic of the champion that can be resurrected with a suitably expensive spell. Obviously, the quest will be open to all factions - your defeated champion may end up working for someone else! The best part is it gets rid of the need for permanent disability - which is something I have never liked even though I understand the reason for it.

I wish the champions would go to the their capital instead of the nearest city.  It is annoying killing them over and over.  Another idea could be to have the  sovereign  learn a resurrection spell to bring the champion back.  

or at the VERY least, have a  variety of excuses as to why the opponent sovereign (or champion) made it off the battlefield! The whole "magically escaped" thing gets old fast.

• Left for dead
• Snuck out during the confusion
• Held for ransom
• Bribed by giving up an item.
• Hid his tracks
• uprising of the surfs to protect their sovereign
• etc

He had a daring escape plan.
He set up lots of traps.
He got map.

(ok these comics mess up my mind :))

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

^ this

You idiots! These are not them! You've captured their stunt doubles!

My sovereign have tons of stunt doubles... or had

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Get out there and comb the desert for them (yes I know it's a different scene).