Ability Points for an L3 Ruin Reward

[KGB]

Pretty much this. If the ranger's only UL advantage over the Horselord was reduced to 2 points at the start, then I'd likely take a HL as my primary ruin searcher.

If that's true then to me that means the change definitely needs to be done just to get the Horselord into play more often as some people would take Rangers still so we'd get more variety in the game.

Slightly back to the topic. What if sages were persistent? Right now they reward the first hero that finds them, and then wander away. But, what if they just set up shop at the ruin, and once found, would offer the benefits of their wisdom to any hero that stopped by (a bit like an old-timer on a park bench).

I love that idea. But so it doesn't get out of control with endless heroes visiting discovered sages for free points one (or more) of the following things would need to happen:

1) Fewer Sages in ruins
2) The Sage would have to gradually award fewer points to each successive hero
3) A Sage could only help heroes of certain levels (ie Sage in a L1 ruin could no longer award points to a L4+ hero, Sage in L2 could no longer award points to a L6+ hero)
4) Heroes would get benefits from a Sage of a particular level so many times (ie 1 visit to a L1 Sage, 2 visits to 2 L2 Sages, 3 visits to 3 L3 Sages etc).

KGB

[SnotlinG]

How is the tree development process going mods? I can't wait for that change, I think it'll make for such more dynamic games!

Unfortunately we are currently busy on other topics.
I am fixing bugs + implementing a better tutorialsystem (to lower the treshold for new players) and piranha is working on the mobile application. So Im afraid it is still some time away, but it is definitely in the pipeline. It just takes us a bit longer to get there than we would like

[KGB]

SnotlinG,

Thanks for the update on the new hero system. Since it's far away it might be a good idea to slightly tinker with the existing heroes in the mean time so that the new hero system has a better chance of being balanced initially.

KGB

[SnotlinG]

Yes, as long as it is within the current systems functional scope
We did some small adjustment (nerf) to the Barbarian during last release, and if there is a demand I think its possible we could adjust other heroes also slightly for next version...
So keep the ideas coming
I dont see the need for any dramatic changes though

[KGB]

I dont see the need for any dramatic changes though

Me either.

Would just like to see Paladins max Leadership increase to 13 and Rangers UL drop to +2 per point, max remains at 16 to see if that encourages more Paladin use and a little less initial Ranger use.

KGB

[FatsXL]

Chazar, you find the ranger too powerful? She is (to my mind) a utility hero. Very useful, but hardly OP. I suppose it all depends on the map though. If you play on huge forest/swamp maps she will be mighty indeed.

Even if rangers didn't have Swamp & Forest bonus they'd still be very strong. As they are now I definitely agree Rangers are too strong because all the best units are flyers and Ranger anti-air can't be negated, plus it maxes out much cheaper than leader bonuses. A green dragon or demon Ranger stack is pound for pound the strongest single stack in the game because of this and one of the best at back line raiding if there is a lot of water or air only terrain to float between (most maps), which restricts defending to vs. inferior water units or always having +15 non-negatable anti-air strength. Even Assassins and Dks wont match up due to warding and the potential for negate Heroism from Archons.

All things being equal the only way to have a superior win% against this stack is to throw multiple Heroes or another Ranger at it. On top of that Rangers can hit max level earlier than other Heroes thanks to the early boost in UL, cheap group move & high base move, which allows for a really easy time ruin hunting at early levels leading to quicker level ups.

[magian]

Yeah, I rarely see those end game situations these days since I'm not playing much 1v1 anymore. But, yes you make some good points.

I was also reconsidering my claim that I would take a Hl as my first hero (if the ranger got nerfed). Mainly because the Hl has zero value vs neutral cities, while the ranger gives a bonus against those defended by flyers and protection from ambush.

[tabanli]

I think we have very excellent ideas to balance the heroes but both our developers are a lot in slate. Can't we just remove sages from L3 ruins? It's been ages since I open them up with an HL and it only gives some benefit to Assasin players. Since they frequently have ghosts in their stacks the often open L3. But the only benefit will be to boost their 48% group ambush to 64%. I doubt that it is a good substitute for a lot of gold or Red Dragon, Grand Archon, Green Dragon, Devil or some super items like Grandfather.

I really like sages at l1 or l2 ruins by the way.

[Moonknight]

I agree with tabanli on getting rid of Ability Points for an L3 ruin reward.

For hero tweaking, I think Paladin should have small warding available and higher leadership available. DK should start off with better pillaging as KGB has suggested before and maybe start at 4 Chaos.

I don't know if I like tweaking the Ranger's UL. I'd rather just make the adjustments to the Pali and DK to make them better.

[KGB]

As a quick fix, I agree too that Sages should be removed from L3 ruins. Or else the Sage in a L3 ruin should be awarding points to *all* your heroes (regardless of location). Then it would be a worthwhile reward for a L3 ruin.

Incidentally, once my Assassin reaches around 48% ambush, I find I get better value increasing his Chaos to +5 in cities. Really reduces your losses when assaulting/defending cities and if you manage to find a Chaos item and don't have a DK it's an even better idea to upgrade his Chaos.

KGB