Review of Master's Affliction Mod

from Elemental Forums

Master's Affliction Mod has obviously gotten some good attention, and very well deserved. So well, I figured I'd add to the pile.

 

I just finished my first game of Master's Affliction from start to end. Ultimately, while I feel good about the game and how I played, I can't count victory, as there are 28 turns left and no way for me to wipe out the last enemy.

Played with: Fast Tech, Normal Monsters, Challenging AI, 4 Players, Medium Map, Moderate everything else.

 

1) the mobs are fun, the mod has made the beginning of the game tense, and monster mobs are a significant hurtle throughout the game. It forces you to build wardens, outposts, and NightWatch towers (keeps out monsters from cities).

This is great, only 1 critique: the sheer mass of mobs is repetitive. There are simply stacks of 12 armies that I have to blast through. Very annoying,  I'd like to see small irrelevant stacks combine or kill themselves once larger more advanced stacks have been produced in fair numbers.

 

2) Might no longer makes Right. This might be good it might not, but the defensive units of cities is now intense. I was not able to take cities as easily as I am used to, and I'm not certain what I will need to do differently, guess I may actually need catapults or more magic now.

 

3) Cities and upgrades and the leveling of heroes is very satisfying. Upgrading unit group sizes is also very welcome. My economy felt right all along.

 

4) Sovereign's can now solo just about anything. This is BAD in my opinion, and something default Fallen Enchantress had to take a long time to fix (it could probably still use work, but it is much better now than even 3-4 months ago).

 

5) Research, even though I had it on Fast, it was painfully slow. The tech tree redesign is okay, and I like how enchanted armors and such came up quicker, but the fact that each tech level is double the previous is just annoying and painful to me. This is the number one thing I would change, I would reduce the increase of scale by a quarter.

 

6) The combat balance seems good, I'll keep playing, but frankly don't use real units on mobs until you have plate and squads. I wasted allot of production trying to build an army around my sovereign to take out the monsters, but it only left me with a winning sovereign and dead units. The Sovereign wins just as much on his own, and doesn't need an army.

 

7) Tireless march seemed broken in my game, IE not working. Also, though I took Train Slaves, as Men, I still couldn't build Slaves. Train Henchmen works, and looking forward to making sure Train Golems works.

 

 

 

This is one of the best mods I've ever enjoyed, and it does a great job making elemental feel 'grand'. Stardock should implement the city upgrade policy/design mantra that is here immediately, and utilize a toned down version of the mob mechanics.

Sean3w has a great vision for Fallen Enchantress.

 

 

 

5,603 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

An apt analysis. One thing I would point out is that I am lucky enough to have a second modder join my ranks. We are producing at a much faster rate and with better design concepts. As always, anyone that has a penchant for balance is welcome to make suggestions. Skilled modders will be considered for inclusion into the project. There is a light hazing ritual, nothing untoward.

 

1) The mob spam was a reaction to the total lack of challenge in the vanilla game. Werewindle and I are constantly refining lairs to pace the player's expected ability during the game. The design goal is challenge and loss of units in every battle. Units don't generally take more than 4 turns to train. This is the cost of clearing your land. Within that basic concept, each faction has caveats. But from now on you will see less stacks of 12 units and more terrifyingly powerful bosses. These bosses will guard lairs, but have 0 strategic moves. As long as the lair is there, weaker armies will come out that you have to deal with. That is the design goal, which we are still trying to perfect.

 

2) As you might have read in the Mod Explanations, city sieges are meant to be a mid to late game possibility. You will need throw away armies to kill the garrison. Then attack with catapults, mages and warlocks to take down the city defenders. Fortresses are meant to be impenetrable. Towns are generally easy. Conclaves can be specialized in defense. Lower level cities are fairly easy to take. This adds incentive to have taller cities as opposed to many. City spam essentially can lull you into getting steamrolled.

 

4) There are 4 types of units in MA: Sovereign, Trained Soldiers, Heroes, Monsters. Each one can be a viable path to fighting battles. Some Sovs can be built to be a one man army. This is likely how yours was created. Other possibilities exist that add just as much power to your faction. A summoner Sov increases summons power. A beastmaster can focus on taming beasts. A diplomat can rely on winning by economy. The Sov is the heart of your faction. All power flows from him into the faction. That idea was lost in the vanilla game. I have resurrected it. Since each player gets a Sov and each Sov is balanced against each other, it is no different than the Queen of chess. I hear people enjoy the mechanics in that game. Still, post your Sov build and I will add it to my future analysis. I am likely to change the Sov trait costs if they are extremely good.

 

5) The tech tree is something we are working on totally redesigning. For now, it is a better version of the vanilla one. I humbly ask players to overlook it as we go through these changes. It's not something we can add incrementally. Still, taking Water I and starting with Knowledge tech will greatly increase your tech speed. Not every faction and Sov is designed to move through the whole tech tree in a given game. Some factions rely on natural power, some rely on superior technology. If you aren't Pariden or Resoln, techs may not be the best way for you to win. Factions that focus on Warfare need to gain an early expansion advantage to keep up with tall empires. Taking a Conclave or two on a 3/3/1 is sometimes a painful choice you have to make for the sake of research.

 

6) There is a human condition that I wish to thwart. For some odd reason, humans only want to build units when they feel they have the best possible unit to build. That is not the best strategy in MA. You need to choose at every moment between city development and unit training. This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your King. That is the pain of training units. You will also often lose units and be defeated in battle. If you are the type to wait 12 turns to get a barracks and training yard early on, you will quickly be overcome by the wilds. From turn one you need a battle specialized Sov and or some meat shields with staves to clear the immediate area. Waiting for improvements makes your strategy one of the turtle. Turtle strategies are punished in MA. They can work if you have thought out a master plan, but the world grows in danger each turn. Can you afford to wait?

7) Tireless March is cast on any unit for +1 Moves to that unit. It no longer is an army spell and it no longer stacks to ridiculous levels. If that is not happening, let me know. I'll take a look.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Regarding 1) I meant 12 stacks of 4 units apiece. The Auto Resolve got a lot of use.

 

I think you are correct in that my ultimate lack of victory was due to #6. Its hard to fight those instincts. Obviously, its first game, Second game, well we will see how I do.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. Again, great work, and a must-try mod for any Enchantress player imo.

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