Coal Stones ability, really?!

Do NOT fix. We need some action in this game...

I also love the fact that wildling shamans now give some challenge. Please keep it as it is...

EDIT: for everyone that was complaining about the fact that heroes can single-handedly clear the map, here is a good balance: for wildlings, you need to build up some units with magic resistance, initiative and/or tactical movement...

Nothing you build will save you from this. At least not at this stage of the game. Until late game this group is unkillable unless you got high level high damage spells. 

Last beta I got destroyed early by random super dragon that decided to stomp my only city and although I fought him with 6-7 troops I did 0 damage to him.

This beta my first game I run into this bullshit. I am sorry, but this shit is still not funny or FUN. I ain't recommending this game to anyone while this kind of stuff is still in the game. Better to go play MoM or AoW or even Civ5

That's strange, because I just took out one of these shamans with a couple of archer units that I designed and my hasted and protected hero (lvl 5)...

Perhaps you need to play at an easier difficulty???

I've had random behaviour in 0.952 - reloaded many times to see the differences. The same city was left alone by monsters or became a lightning rod for the wildlands fauna.

Back to custom races and shielding the city wth units having the master scouts ability - that actually worked.

You are taking away the fun of the game. Protecting yourself, clearing out an area, feeling the achievement of surviving.

Weakling, you sound like a mite    (anyone who recommends CIV V before this game deserves a touch of mocking)

I guess that can be done with a custom sovereign that's soloing the game as well, no need for other units or heroes, or even for another city.

@AMDG - I was talking about taking Tarth to avoid problems, not so much about soloing. I am all for anything that makes the game tougher and soloing harder.

Nerf the heroes versus trained units that take now ages to train ?

Look. Go mock someone your own age.

I may have a hard time finding a 42year old, but I was honestly not mocking you... I did take on several wildling groups (including shamans) at Normal difficulty with my army (2 archer groups with high initiative, 1 mounted hero with haste and a good sword, and some magic protection buffs), and beat them 4 out of 5 times...

I was trying to help, but if you feel mocked then I have nothing more to contribute. Good luck with the game...

I don't think the strength of the monsters is a problem. The real problem is that if a powerful monster happens to be located nearby your lands, you have no way to avoid getting killed by it. It is pure luck if it decides to attack you or not.

In my opinion, the monsters could be even more powerful than they are now. They should give better rewards if killed. But if you don't attack them, then they will leave you alone. If you want to conquer the chaotic world, then you will need to fight at least some monsters to conquer good city spots etc.

Currently, if you see a dragon there is little reason to actually attack it except for experience. If for one reason or another it decides to attack you, you are totally screwed. This game mechanic isn't exactly fun...

The monsters should protect themselves (attack) if you go too close.

What he said and every now and then they should also roam in search of prey (if not the boss monsters, at least their smaller children...)

Once again: this game should be HARD and UNPREDICTABLE - if you want predictable, static worlds, there's always HoMM...

I agree with others please keep this in. Game is weak when it comes to challange especially at the early game. This is like a breath of fresh air.

Please don't cave into those who want the game handed to them with no challanges. If this is the type of game they want then they can go play Hello Kitty.

You could not handled my Moded AOW:SM if you think these wildlings are to tough.

Actully I do recommend CIV  V before this game at least so far. Besides I love CIV 5. The mere fact that the whole world is turned into a tactical combat map is fantastic. Same reason I love Warlock

It's still a beta- if this is silly/stupid, they can always nerf things- the balancing is far from finished.

Coal Stones was a nasty surprise though.   Feels a little strong for that degree of monster.

Why would a dragon care about empires/kingdoms that didn't get in their way?

Different monsters should act differently, and monsters from wildlands should be more anti-civilization.

The game should be challenging on the harder levels, no question about that. However, having a dice-roll end your game is just stupid. And, too powerful to do anything monsters wandering randomly in the world are exactly like that. If the monsters are static, then there is no challenge at all in conquering the world.

There needs to be challenges the player can choose to accept. The player needs to accept some challenges to succeed in the game long term. Resources and excellent city locations come to mind as rewards from those challenges.

The quests already work like this. You can choose to accept a challenge, and if you do and succeed to overcome the challenge you are rewarded. That is fun.

The monsters do not work like this. Often there is no choice. You get attacked randomly. If you do attack a strong monsters, the reward is often not worth it.

Of course, there needs to be some (balanced!) challenges the player needs to overcome without a choice to avoid the challenge.

Hmmm my first two games on the new Beta (only till ~ turn 100 for both though) I did not have any conscious issue with the wildlings, might not have met the shamans yet. Even if it is indeed a challenge do please keep it in the game. Any tactical challenge is a welcome refreshing breath of fresh air.

Also I like that the mobs now start to move away from their lairs once its inside a controlled area. Although it still seems a bit random how they walk and not attack the cities/outposts directly. Their behaviour is seemingly quite random, meaning any city founded can stay apparently unmolested for quite some time, if the player is willing to take the chance (not even considering posible reloading of last save game). This should be made more clear in AI programming.

I ran into a lone hermit my first game of beta 5. My sovereign spent the next 5 rounds at home mending. The ability probably is too strong for that level of monster. It took him 3 rounds to kill my sovereign. It's a mistake I will only make once, but his rating does not correlate with how tough he actually is. I went back once I gained a few levels and beat him with about 10 HP left. 

I don't mind that the guy is tough to beat, but when I hover the mouse over him, it should say something other than "weak".

I haven't ran into one traveling with a group yet. I imagine they can cause quite a bit of destruction with some meat shields. 

i think the problem with the wildlings are not the ability, but the lack of information when you look at the unit info, most all special abilities and spells lack this special information...

For example, what does a death demons fear do? I have played the beta for several beta's and I STILL DO NOT KNOW what that ability does...

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

I agree with you, the information being presented to the player does not match the encounter. I think if some of the people in this thread ridiculing the original poster would have ran into the coal stone guy a little sooner into their games, they would agree with you as well.

Or even Civ 5? ouch. The gloves are off.