Posts from BallLM. A mod that changes and improves the original game balance.
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With your mod, you are ruining the game because the individuality of creatures is lost, the importance of luck and morale is diminished, and the importance of initiative is reduced. Of all the changes, I only agree with increasing the number of shots from the tent, and even then, I think 5 shots would be enough.
И пусть Эльрат осветит твой путь
You're changing the concept. This isn't balance, it's more like imbalance, yes. But the point is to improve the game mechanics themselves, right?
All units have been given "infinite retaliation" (now it will be more difficult to destroy a strong unit with a large number of attacking units)
Ideally, this problem should be solved by dividing them into two classes based on defense – regular and protected; the first doesn't give any retaliation at all, the second retaliates against all attacks.
Unfortunately, only the second is technically feasible.
All ranged units, except for the ranged units of Colossus and Cyclops, have received "retaliatory shot" (enemy ranged units cannot freely shoot down your ranged units)
In short, yes, it might help solve the problem. But, in my opinion, not very much. Ideally, the range of combat spells and shots should be limited; then, in order to carry out attacks, you would have to at least slightly expose yourself to the possibility of a counterattack... But, unfortunately, this cannot be done. So, you're doing what you can.
"Killing Blade" has been added to all units from tier 1 to tier 4 (equalizing the chances against large armies)
4. All tier 7 units now have "deadly strike" (fighting large armies and speeding up the game)
The bonus for the difference between attack and defense has been reduced to 0.01 instead of 0.05
Nomadic Centaurs have 11 initiative instead of 10
Well, as for the changes with machines and knowledge, they look logical. The change with the Elf Roost was a pleasant surprise.
The focus tactic and the single-unit tactic are truly detrimental to the game.
Ideally, this problem should be solved by dividing units into two classes based on defense: regular and protected. The first class wouldn't retaliate at all, while the second would retaliate against all attacks.
Unfortunately, only the second option is technically feasible.
1. All units have been given "infinite retaliation" (now it will be more difficult to destroy a strong unit with a large number of attacking units)
Possible solution: give them the "battle griffon" ability, and add "retaliation" to the griffons themselves.
All units with double attack (and its variations, cleave and strike) have become less valuable, as they receive a response twice, but there is no compensation.
I can't figure out what could fix this... perhaps give them "swift attack" or simply add stats...
2. All archers, except for the tier 5 colossus and cyclops, have received "retaliation" (enemy archers cannot shoot at your archers without consequences)
Should we give them "retaliation"?
Wizards of some factions can still attack enemy archers by shooting at other units (although this can be considered a feature)
The ballista breaks when trying to shoot at an enemy archer.
3. "Killing blow" has been added to all units from tier 1 to tier 4 (leveling the playing field against large armies)
4. All tier 7 units now have "killing blow" (to combat large armies and speed up the game)
5. All units have the "shield wall" ability (the chance of surviving an attack from fast creatures at the beginning of the game increases)
Increase it from 5% to, say, 25%.
6. The bonus for the difference between attack and defense has been reduced to 0.01 instead of 0.05
16. Bonuses and penalties from morale (+ and -) have been reduced to 0.25 (0.5) movement on the turn order scale
26. The ballista has 125 hit points (it used to have 250)
If the lethal blade is added to all units from tier 1 to 4, it's enough to gather an army of shooters, split them into ones, and simply take out the enemy with those ones. Similarly with melee squads: get 7 Furies, split them, and beat the enemy.
So far, I haven't found an alternative to it.
Your mod kills the game, because the individuality of creatures is lost, the significance of luck and morale vanishes, and the importance of initiative is reduced.
Added after 54 minutes
But the point is to improve the game mechanics themselves, right?
Focusing tactics and "ones" tactics are truly a cancer on the game.
Ideally, this problem could be solved by dividing into two classes based on defense — normal and protected; the first gives no retaliation at all, the second retaliates to all attacks.
Alas, technically only the latter is implementable.
Or this ability remains for all units.
The unpunished slaughter of everything and everyone by shooters is another problem with the game. Only casters are worse, who do the same but are even more powerful with small armies, and encourage the tactic of "marching with an army consisting of a bunch of druid squads" due to the idiotic damage calculation formula. Oh, and they ignore defense, for good measure.
In short, yes, it might help solve the problem. But, in my opinion, not really. Ideally, the range of combat spells and shots should be limited; then, to perform attacks, one would have to expose themselves at least a little to the possibility of a counterattack... But alas, that cannot be done. So you do what you can.
This is what I didn't understand... Can you explain the use case in more detail?
Same thing. And wouldn't the lethal strike contribute to dragging out the game by players using defensive races? Say, I'm playing as dwarves... Would I like it if both of my super-expensive and thick magma dragons were killed on the very first turn by lethal strikes? I'd want to drag the finale even longer and accumulate more of them until the time when lethal strikes no longer matter...
Upon obtaining last-tier creatures, the party should be coming to an end, and the "lethal strike" should equalize the chances between opponents. I haven't found any alternatives yet.
Isn't this a too defensive change? And in general, it looks a bit boring after the previous one.
These kinds of things cause slight bewilderment. Do you realize that after the previous changes, you literally need to re-balance the entire game from scratch? One point of initiative for nomadic centaurs is a drop in the ocean here; we need to see what actually happened and whether orcs suddenly became twice as strong (or weaker) than all other races.
Added after 30 minutes
All units that originally possess infinite retaliation lose their trait
possible solution: give them the combat griffins' battle frenzy ability, and add retribution to the griffins themselves.
All units with double strike (and its variations: cleaver and assault) have decreased in value, since they receive retaliation twice, with no compensation
I just can't think of WHAT could fix this... maybe give them a swift attack or simply bump up their stats...
Succubi lost their individuality and got nothing in return.
Give them retribution?
Wizards of some factions are still able to hit enemy shooters through shots at other units (though this could be considered a feature)
The ballista falls apart when trying to shoot an enemy shooter.
An absolutely unnecessary change! Not only do the "ones" return (now, however, with an emphasis on area attack), but also, for example, the demonesses' chain shot disables this ability. And the cave alt loses its uniqueness...
I just didn't catch the idea behind the change here
The cavalry charge of horses not under Axel loses its meaning — damage reduction above the charge
increase from 5% to, say, 25%
. 4-5 speed => 4 speed;
. 6-7 speed => 5 speed;
. more than 7 speed => 6 speed.
Too radical, it seems to me — morale has almost stopped playing any role. At least returning negative morale would be a good thing...
Maybe I'll bring it back.
The poor thing already gets retaliation for every shot, while it can't do the same itself, and now its hp are being cut :D
I might change creature speeds instead of this adjustment. What do you think about this option?
. 4-5 speed => 4 speed;
. 6-7 speed => 5 speed;
. more than 7 speed => 6 speed.
In combination with something else, it could be an interesting change.
Then I think it's better to leave the first tier with a one-time retaliatory strike. You could try applying it to units of tiers 1-4, which currently have a "killing blade."
In this regard, it would also be good to reduce speeds a la WGE – so that positioning makes the application of these tactics even more deliberate – even a unit without a retaliatory strike is dangerous to focus fire if it has good support.
Obviously, a one-time retaliatory strike, especially on units of tiers 1-4, which are mainly used as neutral guards, will again bring back the "single unit" tactic and thus will not solve the problem.
Improve the original balance, also by changing the mechanics that hinder the balance of power.
Although this statement is unsubstantiated, I really can't imagine how you can equalize everything with a global change and still leave interesting faction features.
I have an idea to give several units from each faction protection against archers (the "large shield" + "ally protection" abilities) and protection against mages ("magic resistance aura") or give all units 25% "magic immunity."
But this will require careful balancing not only in terms of the damage of spellcasters, but also in terms of the damage of heroes, as it will also affect them.
Now, the enemy risks taking heavy losses when attacking if they try to overwhelm the enemy with numbers. A small army will now be able to inflict significant damage and will have a small chance of winning the battle.
I think now, instead of this, I will increase the hit points of units by 2-3 times. Units will be slightly better protected from critical damage. Also, due to the "infinite retaliatory strike," you will have to withstand more damage than usual.
Now they will no longer be able to one-shot an enemy stack, but, being surrounded, they will die even with increased health.
I would, in your place, first check if the introduction of a universal infinite retaliatory strike already reduces attacking tactics enough to change damage coefficients or increased health? That is, is there any point in these changes, or are they trying to fix something that has already been successfully fixed?
These are the points that remained untouched after applying global changes. It was assumed that global changes replace several smaller changes – the number of changes is significantly reduced and, therefore, it is easier to remember.
Perhaps I will change the speeds of creatures instead of this change. What do you think about this option?
. 4-5 speed => 4 speed;
. 6-7 speed => 5 speed;
. more than 7 speed => 6 speed.
• The speed of all creatures is reduced as I suggested:
- 5 speed => 4 speed
- 6 and 7 speed => 5 speed
- More than 7 speed => 6 speed
• The damage of all creatures is reduced by half. However, since some Tier 1 and 2 units have low damage, the growth rate for these tiers is reduced, and their health, cost, strength, and experience are increased.
• Tier 7 creatures retain "Deadly Strike".
• All melee units, along with Scouts and Cyclops, receive "Endless Retaliation". All ranged units, except for Succubi, Monks, Colossi, and Javelin Throwers, do not retaliate, but they retain a one-time retaliatory attack.
Griffons, Iron Golems, and Earth Elementals, which already have "Endless Retaliation," will receive "Furious Retaliation." This is also given to units that need a damage boost: Mountain Guards, Demonesses, High Vampires, Minotaur upgrades, Nomadic Centaurs, Rakshasa Rajahs, Cerberuses, Fire Demons, and Acid Hydras.
Due to the increased health of Goblins, the bonus to mana from their shamans' sacrifices is reduced to 1 mana per 1 hit point.
• The reduction in hero mana reserves per knowledge point remains.
• Regarding the weakening of Tier 1 mages. If the skill is lowered to the "no skill" level and the base number is removed from the formulas, theoretically, small groups of spellcasters will cast spells too weakly, but the larger the group, the stronger they will be compared to the original. The attack and resurrection spells are weakened according to the formulas. This is done so that the values in the new and old formulas coincide or are close when the growth is at its maximum. Here are the resulting formulas:
- "Ice Block" and "Ring of Cold": /0+24*K/ instead of /60+12*K/
- "Wall of Fire" and "Meteor Shower": /0+11*K/ instead of /9+9*K/
- "Lightning" and "Fireball": /0+13*K/ instead of /11+11*K/
- "Stone Skin": /0+13*K/ instead of /24+8*K/
- "Chain Lightning": /0+12*K/ instead of /10+10*K/
- "Magic Fist": /0+8*K/ instead of /20+4*K/
- "Summon Hornets": /0+4*K/ instead of /10+2*K/
- "Raise Dead": /0+39*K/ instead of /120+15*K/
- "Plague": /0+14*K/ instead of /32+8*K/. Remains at a developed level due to different durations at different levels.
The list of minor changes is now as follows:
• - "Mentorship" now gives 5% experience (was 25%);
• - "Fight to the Last" remains only for Barbarian, Demon, Ranger, and Knight;
• - The Knight's super ability gives an additional attack to units in addition to the enhanced "Vanguard" ability.
• - Mana Burst: 20 damage per hero level (+10)
• - Reduced parameter bonuses from minor artifacts when increasing the knowledge level.
• - Dragon Graveyard, Dragon Tomb require 10 mercury (instead of 20 and 15), Dragon Shrine: 5 mercury (instead of 10).
• - Winghael and Haggeesh specializations are weakened by 2 times: 0.5% starting initiative for units instead of 1%.
• - Ballista: 125 health (250)
• - The "Regeneration" spell has a coefficient of 1/1/2/2% (5%) in the formula.
• - The Elven Castle's moat now casts "Summon Hornets" instead of "Entangling Roots".
• - Some changes to units:
1. Archers: armor-piercing shot radius = 4 cells (was 3)
2. Human Archers: damage 2-6 (was 2-8)
3. Dancing with Death: 100% morale (was 50%)
4. Master Archers: initiative 11 (was 10)
5. Forest Archers: damage 6-6 (was 8-9)
6. Arcata Dragons: Liquid Fire deals 20 damage (was 10) and burns allies.
7. Hell Hounds: aura damage 7 (was 10)
8. Vampire Princes: chance of stunning reduced to 1 (was 3)
9. Banshees: Scream formula /(15 (instead of 10) - morale)x2/
10. Swift Riders: 100% damage from flanking attack (25%)
11. Red Dragons: 200% damage from "Burning" (150%)
12. Daughters of the Sky have 16 mana (12)
13. The reduction in the effectiveness of neutral faction spells is removed (coefficient 1 instead of 0.3)
Additional changes may be included in the general list of changes. What do you think about them?
1. Summoning: The "Wall of Swords" spell has a fixed duration of 5 turns.
2. Faiza's specialization: formula - /10+10*hero level/ damage (was "hero level/3").
3. Inferno: The "Sacrifice Pit" and "Gate of Chaos" buildings are swapped.
4. White Bears: weaken the chance of scaring small creatures (by 1.5 times) (coefficient 1.3 instead of 2).
5. Wyverns: poison deals 10 damage (was 5).
6. Goblins have 2 repairs.
7. Yellow Golems have 100% healing from chaos damage (was 50%).
8. Thunderers: the penalty to ranged unit damage from storms is equal to 5% (1%) per giant.
9. Reduction of the additional growth of creatures from a full set of Dragon artifacts from 1 per day to 1 per week (if possible).
Added 9 minutes ago
The question may not be entirely relevant: how do you rate the balance of Bone Crushers, Berserkers, and Arcata Warriors (Tier 4 Gnomes) compared to other Tier 4 units?
All ranged units except Succubi, Monks, Colossi, and Javelin Throwers do not retaliate against attacks, but they retain a one-time retaliatory attack.
• The damage of all creatures is reduced by half. But since some Tier 1 and Tier 2 units have low damage, the growth of these units is reduced, and their hit points, cost, strength, and experience are increased.
• All melee units, along with Lurkers and Cyclops, receive "infinite retaliation." All ranged units except Succubi, Monks, Colossi, and Javelin Throwers do not retaliate against attacks, but they retain a one-time retaliatory attack.
Griffins, Iron Golems, and Earth Elementals, which already have "infinite retaliation," will receive "ferocious retaliation." This is also given to those units that need a damage boost: Mountain Guards, Demonesses, Higher Vampires, Minotaur upgrades, Nomadic Centaurs, Rajah Rakshasa, Cerberuses, Fire Demons, Acid Hydras.
• The reduction of a hero's mana pool per point of knowledge remains.
...excuse me, what could that mean?? o_0
and how are you supposed to kill higher vampires?
without changing spell costs... am I imagining things, or has summoning become practically unplayable?
It seems like we're talking about a counterattack in melee combat. It's a one-time use ability.
...so, excuse me, what could that mean?? o_0
• Creatures with retaliatory attacks no longer deal retaliatory damage themselves (Sprites, Vampires along with Vampire Lords, Rakshasa along with Kshatriyas, Hydras, Beasts without a basic unit, Hell Hounds without a basic unit, and Air Elementals).
• Some weak upgrades in unit tiers have been strengthened compared to other upgrades using "infinite retaliation" (Demonesses, Higher Vampires, Rajah Rakshasa, Fire Demons (Elder Demons no longer retaliate). These units have had "Fierce Retaliation" removed. Cerberuses and Nomadic Centaurs have also lost this ability due to rounding the reduced damage of all creatures down.
• The Scout, Beast, Archer, Blade Dancers, and Centaur tiers have had their original hit points, experience, costs, growth rates, strength, and damage reduced by half restored.
• Speeds are now reduced using a different scheme:
3 and 4 => 3
5 and 6 => 4
7 and 8 => 5
9 and higher => 6
Link to the new version:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bsjAbGDlt6xsR_JeGv3ikTgrdIQs7Ynb