Military Tech Tree Balance

from Elemental Forums


Got a few things that I don't really like about the Warefare Tech Tree.

Currently it's as follows (note that I've placed additional prereqs in brackets behind in an attempt to keep things clean):

 

Leatherworking --> Weaponry (prereq Training) --> Blacksmithing --> Rest of Tech Tree

Training           --> Drills                                 --> Archery (prereq Weaponry) --> Longbows --> Rest of Tech Tree

                       --> Mounted Warefare            --> Warg Riding

 

Imo, I propose the following changes be made to this part of the tree:

 

Leatherworking --> Weaponry (prereq Training) --> Archery                                            --> Longbows    --> Rest of Tech Tree

                                                                   --> Mounted Warefare (prereq Weaponry) --> Warg Riding --> Fantastic Mounts

Training           --> Drills                                --> Blacksmithing --> Rest of Tech Tree

 

Imo, this setup makes WAY more sense. Also, SOMETHING has to be added to Drills. Just the +1 army size really makes this tech underwhelming at the best of times.

The Fantastic Mounts Tech that I've added is for a prequesite to merc camps that involve mounting a fantastic creature. (A Dragon Rider or a Unicorn Rider or something like that)

Also, the Siege Weapons Tech requires another tech after it that strengthens Catapults and other 'siege' units (like golems) in some fashion.

Lastly, imo, Refined Training tech should have it's +10% accuracy reduced to +5%. 

 

Thoughts? Comments?

4,808 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

everybody likes the warefare tech tree?? am I the only one that doesn't?

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Other than Drills being lackluster, I think the warfare tech tree is pretty well set up as it is.  Although, has anyone actually used catapults in this game?  They seem out of place for the way this game's combat works.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

catapults are awesome, especially if you try to take a heavily guarded city as one would imagine. With one catapult in your army you can easily crush the archers at the back of the map and don't have to worry about rushing to them with your mounted units.

They should get even more important if movement abuse with mounted units + charge trait and the general combat balance will be adressed in an upcoming patch.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top


C'mon Firefly... you just want bows sooner.  Forget it!  They're OP'ed ... remember all the stupid posts people put in here?  Maybe you can get Derek to add slings to Weaponry for you instead.

By the way, Drills is one of the hardest / best choices in this game.  How often do you need that one extra army slot?  And there it easy to get under Drills... but there are so many other good techs right? 

As far as catapults go, my games are always over before I get there so defer to the rest of y'all.

 

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Trojasmic, reply 4

C'mon Firefly... you just want bows sooner.  Forget it!  They're OP'ed ... remember all the stupid posts people put in here?  Maybe you can get Derek to add slings to Weaponry for you instead.

By the way, Drills is one of the hardest / best choices in this game.  How often do you need that one extra army slot?  And there it easy to get under Drills... but there are so many other good techs right? 

As far as catapults go, my games are always over before I get there so defer to the rest of y'all.

 
End of Trojasmic's quote

True, without the prereq of Drills, Archers would come out a little earlier. They're not as OP as they used to be though. I also have Horsemen coming out later; something which is still OP.

As for Drills, the only reason I take it is for the eventual Archery. It's a really ungratifying tech. Mounted Warefare and Warg Riding are always still first though. 

As for catapults; I'd love to see a weaker type of catapult made available earlier in the tech tree.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

It's a good discussion, but I'm not optimistic they will rewrite a tech tree at this point.

 

In my personal opinion, I'm not sure why bows are their own separate weapon unlock. throw the low level bows into low level weapons, etc.

 

I agree that making mounted warfare more difficult to unlock would be good for game balance.

 

+army size is more useful on the harder difficulties, so I think you have to clarify the CONTEXT of your debate about its value. If someone is playing on the default challenging setting, for example, they're probably already roflstomping all over the map with a very small army which has been leveling since the early game.

 

Just to reiterate though... I think this discussion is interesting and useful from a modding standpoint, but I don't see the core game tech trees being modified for the base game by Stardock at this late juncture in the game's development cycle. Good luck though!