Adjustment request for Archon

[Chazar]

I don't get it that no one buys an archon. I just did in a ladder game. Maybe I am a bad player, but the enemy approached with an unstoppable paladin/dreadknight combo, and there was no money nor time build a grand archon, so the blue archon seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course, it did not work out, since just cancelling 6 points of each here was not enough. That is why I suggested 8.

How about this idea then:
Make all negate heroism work similar to warding. Instead of cancelling a fixed 6 points, make the archon cancel a percentage of leadership and chaos. Therefore it would affect HorseLords and Rangers more than it would affect Paladins and DreadKnights.

I am not sure what percentages to choose, but something along 50%-60% and 75%-80% for the currently priced archons might be an idea?

[tabanli]

Rarely neutrals has Great Archon and when they do, it is usually at a center city that is very hard to protect unless your hero sits there for 5 turn. So I always plunder Great Archon.

However I always buy one in 1 on 1 games with large maps. Great Archon is "Great" and it has no substitute. In small maps or 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4, the game is usually decided around turn 12-16, so there is no time to build any of the 5 turn unit. I don't train Red Dragon or Devils in 4 vs 4 games or small map games either.

I also buy Archon under the same conditions as pointed by Chazar. Or when an important item is protected by a hero at a neutral site, ruin or a city. 1350 may have a good return as an item or allies. Little archon can make big difference in your post cities as well. Making it harder for your enemy to pass through to low-def cities.

However the idea of having a percentage change is too much of a change. It is hard for people to get adjusted.

So just like Dwarfs works at mountains and you wouldn't buy them at High Seas map, or you don't buy elfs at a desert map, Great Archon or Little archon are useful in some maps and some conditions. And I think we are just trying to improve the quality of the game by making small adjustments.

[magian]

I have and will buy grand archons. But, only when my opponent has a superhero stack I need to counter. The grand archon is actually really good at what it does, completely overshadowing the archon.

Not sure I have ever had the chance to pillage a grand archon city.

[KGB]

However I always buy one in 1 on 1 games with large maps. Great Archon is "Great" and it has no substitute. In small maps or 3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4, the game is usually decided around turn 12-16, so there is no time to build any of the 5 turn unit. I don't train Red Dragon or Devils in 4 vs 4 games or small map games either.

That perfectly sums it up. Especially since the Grand Archon never comes with a hero offer so if you want one you have to build one (or get extremely lucky in a L3 ruin). Devils and Dragons can be obtained from hero offers if you are patient and keep 2000 or so gold on hand so I rarely build them.

Not sure I have ever had the chance to pillage a grand archon city.

One guaranteed place to pillage one is on Bullrun assuming you don't want to keep it (which I do about 50% of the time). A few other maps I know like East/West Illuria and Hibbletops feature multiple 'powerful' cities that can randomly have Great Archon production.

KGB