v7.1:  Fixes Tien Chi mages lacking holy paths.  I forgot "Holy" was considered magical... I mean, in Mahou Shojo anime, Magical Girls are never really very religious...  er, anyways :)  Sorry!
Tien Chi SA Celestial Master changed to F A 2W S 2$ # (linked 2$) to support acid spells.
(These bugs were noted by Arralen.  Thanks!)



Recruitable Rebalance Mod Version 7: Changes from version 6.
Many of these are due to feedback in the forum thread.  Thanks for the feedback and suggestions!



Base changes:

Added #foodmult 150. This gives 50% more supplies. It makes the AI less likely to starve, makes units that eat less disadvantageous over non-eating summons, makes light units and militias more useful, and reduces the need for winebags, summer swords, cauldrons of broth, and nature picks on pretenders specifically for those items. If / when I make Chuckwagon units, this might be taken back out. The constant need for magical winebags when using mundane troops is annoying.


Equipment:

Added a bunch of new weapons and armors (maybe 10 of each).  These are often for aesthetics (like gilded armors, silver armors, etc) and do not change balance, though some have slight effects.
Throwing axe precision went from -4 to -2.
Game's 4 worst weapons improved slightly:
Glaive went from (10, -1, -1, 4) to (10, 0, -1, 4)
Halberd went from (10, -1, -1, 4) to (10, 0, -1, 4)
Axe went from (7, -1, -1, 1) to (7, -1, 0, 1)
Sling becomes -1 prec instead of... whatever it was (-3?).


Indies:

Slingers get 9 prec (-1).  They're still terrible, except against flagellants or with flaming missiles.
(remember, sling was also made more accurate, offsetting this change)
Hoburgs got lower resource costs.  Just as big units have higher rcost for armor, tiny units deserve lower rcosts for armor.  I doubt anyone built Hoburg HI, especially since (I think) hoburgs are grassland-only.
Indy Archers made slightly worse:
Light Archer: +1g (7g)
Archer: +1g +1def (8g, 9 def)
Heavy Archer: -1prec (10 prec)
Heavy Crossbowman: -1prec (10 prec)


C'tis:

Ctissian Slave Lizards dropped price by 1g each.
Ctissian Taskmaster given 3 moves, so now they not only have a reason to exist (before, they didn't), but also, Ctis Runners have a reason to exist (cheaper, and finally there is a commander that can lead them with 3 strat moves).
Falchioneer dropped to 11g.


Ryleh:

Lobo Guard dropped -1 hp, -1 att, -1 def, since they were abused to the point of mindlessness.
Crab Hybrid gets ambidextrous 4 (since I gave pincers length 2 rather than default 0)


Tien Chi:

Tien Chi immortal swordsman got way better.  He was terrible before (in combat) partly because he had 2 weapons and no ambidextrity.  However, some of the bonus is integrated into his sword and "imaginary" shield, so giving him a new weapon and shield will make them go away again (somewhat).
Tien Chi Eunichs get kung-fu training, and learn Punch and Kick (instead of Fist).  They are now able to beat blood slaves in combat.
Tien Chi healing immortal gets a magical pruning knife.
All TC immortals get super weak armor (Immortal's Robes (2, 0, 0), or Flea-Infested Cape (1, 0, 0) for the old man).
Celestial Master (Standard and BK) gets +1 air, -1 water, +1 elemental, +15g.  Result: F 2A W S ? #, 265g (sacred)
Celestial Master (SA) gets +1 sorcery, +15g.  Result: F 2A W S 2$ # (linked), 265g (sacred)
(I still need to rewrite CM description to chage water reference to air reference)
Master of the Five Elements (SA) gets +1 elemental, +60g.  Result: F A W E N 2# (linked), 250g (sacred)
In other words, Master of the Five Elements is assured level 3 in an elemental path.


Man:

Green Knight gets custom armor, reinvigoration 1, and regen 15% (instead of 10%).
Avalon Knights get silver armor - just like regular full chain, but -1 encumbrance.  This has no effect since they are mounted.
Foresters got better stats and supplybonus 2 (feed themselves and 1 other person, probably with rabbits and truffles).
Daoine Sidhe back to 35g (+3)
Man Spearman (Short Spear) dropped 1g to 8g.


Machaka:

Bane Spiders and Spider Warriors get 11 mr instead of 10.  Must either be their mysterious spider armor, or something that happens under the tutlage of the Black Sorcerers...
Spider Warrior dagger replaced by Poison Dagger.  Makes sense, right?
Machaka riderless spiders get upkeep (great spider: gcost 10 {.66g/turn}, hunter spider: gcost 30 + sacred {1g/turn}).  They are still an incredibly good deal, but someone needs to be paid to tend them (they don't get the money).


Vanheim:

Skin Shifters (werewolf precursors) bumped +2 hp (15 hp) to prevent pre-shift death.
Galderman gets +4 hp, +3 str, +1 att, +1 def, +25% since he is also a werewolf.
Einheres get +1 hp (to 13) so they don't die before they berserk, and full ambidextrity (3).


Marignon:

Royal Guard +3 rcost to 48 (it was too low compared to other mounted units with same equipment)
MAR Royal Xbows became 10g (+1).
Knights of the Chalice went back to 90g (+10)
Fire Lord (indy) and all Marignon's gold-colored units get Gilded Armor.  Stats do not change.


Jotunheim:

Jotun Woodsmen dropped -5g to 45g.  Why were they the same price as scouts that are better in every way?  Plus, they are capitol only, and just not that good, with no armor, shield, javelin, or stealthy priest to bless them...
Niefel Giant gets +1 str and a bonus "Kick" attack (1, 0, 0, 1).  They have really big feet, really near human-sized units' heads...


Abysia:

Anathemant Dragon dropped 40g to 320g.
Anathemant Salamander dropped 25g to 175g.
They are both still pretty expensive compared to other level 2 and 3 mages, even considering sacredness.
Pureblood Abysians get +1 attack (after all, they cost 20 gold, they're a warlike race, and only had 10-attack 9-defense?)
Pureblood Abysians also get -25% cold resist (from description: 'vulnerable to cold').
Humanbreds are unaffected by these changes.
Axe Thrower gets precision 9 (and throwing axe gets -2 prec modifier)


Ulm:

Ulm Rangers: I wanted to give them a patrol bonus but there is no way to do that yet :(  Instead they got #neednoteat (and a description change about wilderness survival) and traded axe (terrible weapon) for shortsword (good weapon).  Gold cost: +1 to 13g.  They should still avoid melee, but at least have a chance.
Ranger Captain: +5g (to 50g) and leadership went from 10 to 25.  Also, same changes as Ranger.
Black Forest Ulm Commander: 25 leadership went to 50 leadership, to be on par with other Commanders of Ulm.  BF units are weaker, anyway.
Black Knight: Returned to 60 gold (+10)
Illuminated One became Shrouded One.  Lost astral, gained blood, gained assassinate and assassin equipment.  Stealth dropped -5 to 15, stats increased to Ulm elite. Cost: 110 gold (+30).
Second Tier became BBDD$ (sorcery random), slightly higher stats, stealth 0 (instead of 30).  Cost: +60 to 220.
Fortune Teller gets true random instead of sorcery random (cost unchanged) and better att/def because she can predict the future.
Result: Ulm can now summon its own Vampire Counts with national mages, and harvest blood slaves, and it has 3 useful mages. Plus it can get all elemental magics (with lucky draws on random fortune tellers).  Note that 2 boost items (e.g. brazen skull + skull staff) are still needed for counts unless a lucky pick or empowerment occurs.
Ulm units with full helms (Black Plate units) get Full Helmet of Ulm.  This is 2 prot, 0 def, 0 enc.  In other words, a weaker version of the Black Steel Helmet.  Since this has no effect other than giving units +1 defense, and defense is virtually useless to the heaviest Ulm units, it probably has no measurable effect.


Pangaea:

All Pans for all themes dropped 30g.
CW Black Dryad dropped 10g (90 to 80) since that theme has little gold.


Pythium:

Serpent Priest +10g
Arch Theurg +30g
Theurg +30g



********************************************************




Recruitable Rebalance Mod Version 6
First Offical Release
Release Notes
by Saber Cherry.

This is the first non-beta Recruitable Rebalance Mod (version 6, with 1-5 being betas).  I've spent over 100 hours (or 400, if you count combat-sim development time) attempting to adjust the costs, abilities, stats, names, equipment, and descriptions of all the recruitable units according to the following criteria.

Goal:  

As many units as possible, if not all, should be made potentially useful.  If one unit is inferior to another unit in virtually every situation, the weak unit should cost less or be improved, or the better unit should cost more or be debuffed.  Most importantly, Dominions should become more fun, offer more choices, and have more interesting units.

Rules used to reach the goal:

1) All changes must be inline with Illwinter's thematic design for Dominions.
2) All equipment must reflect the unit portrait.
3) All unit abilities and stats must be thematic.
4) All descriptions must accurately reflect the unit, its abilities, and equipment... and vice versa.
5) The costs of units must follow their power and abilities, in accordance with loose guidelines, without violating thematicism.  In other words, the "Flight", "Cold Immunity", and "Magical Weapon" abilities of Caelian units must to be paid for, but they are greatly discounted compared to the theoretical cost of giving such abilities to a unit of another nation's unit.
6) Changes should generally move the game closer to the historic balance and roles of classic military units such as archers, heavy infantry, conscripted peasants, and cavalry.
7) Before any change is made, the overall power of the nation should be considered.  For example, light infantry from a very weak nation might be dropped in price more than light infantry from a very strong nation, or the weak nation's elite units might recieve higher morale than the guidelines recommend.
8) Lastly...  Because the game is huge, and this mod is limited in scope, all affected units should be recruitable or summonable without magic.  Pretenders are only affected if they share weapons ("hoof") or shapes ("werewolf") with recruitable creatures.  Commanders are usually only affected if a non-commander version is changed.  For example, if Ulm Rangers got Swamp Survival (hypothetically), I would have to give Ranger Captains Swamp Survival too.  But sometimes they are changed independantly; for example, Paladins get a Holy Sword, which is too powerful to give to all the Knights of the Chalice, since they are already very strong.


Partial List of Changes:

Before I start this list, please realize that (as of version 6) I added 16 weapons, 20 armors, adjusted 20 extant weapons and armors, and altered every (AFAIK) recruitable archer, militia, infantry, and cavalry in the game, in addition to many commanders.  There are at least 1000 changes, and I will not be able to list even a quarter of them... so if you use this mod, you will have to place some trust in me.  My goal is to make the game as fun, fair, and strategic as possible (without changing Illwinter's fundamental design) simply because I enjoy playing fun and fair games that lack "obvious" or "no-brainer" choices. I'm providing it to the community out of altruism, because I believe that anyone who feels the same way will find this modification much deeper, more enjoyable, and more interesting than the base game. The changes are not haphazard or based on gut instinct, but based on (decent to extremely good, depending on the area) my understanding of statistics, economics, nature, history, mythology, metallurgy, warfare, physics, and the results of my fairly (but not perfectly) accurate melee combat simulator.  If heavy infantry became 40% more expensive than light infantry, it's not simply because "heavy infantry perform better, and thus they should cost more".  Rather, it takes more skilled man-hours to equip them, more effort to supply them, and more money to keep their equipment in good repair.  A very small (more desireable) percentage of the population is capable of fighting effectively in 35kg armor, and they need more training to be able to do so; whereas anyone can fight with no armor.  I tried very hard to avoid making any arbitrary (or even arbitrary-seeming) changes PURELY for balance reasons.

That said, these are the most interesting and relevant changes.





Equipment Changes:

Weapons are listed as (dmg, att, def, len)
Ranged Weapons are listed as (dmg, range, prec, ammo)
Armors are listed as (prot, def, enc)

All Ulmians get armor "Of Ulm" (+1 prot, sometimes +1 resource).
Ulm Guardians and Ghoul Guardians get Black Steel Halberd (10, 0, 0, 4, magic)
All Tuatha, Sidhe, Golden Age Arco, and Pangaea get bronze armor, helms, and weapons (sometimes increased enc or decreased prot).
Sidhe Champions given Ancient Bronze Sword (4, 0, 1, 1, 2 attacks).
All Mictlan daggers are obsidian.
Paladins get Holy Swords.
Valkyries given Soul Spears (5, 2, 0, 4, magic) and made 70g.  Soul spears will get "Soul Slay" when it becomes possible.
Battle Vestals given Holy Spears (4, 0, 0 , 4, magic) and Sacred Shields (4, 2, 1).
Shadow Vestals given Shadow Spears (3, 0, 0, 4, causes weakness) and 1 enc.
Mictlan priests and mages get Obsidian Daggers (1, 1, 0, 0).
Neifel Giants and Jarls get Mammoth Leather Armor (8, -1, 1) and increased attack and defense.
Neifel Giants get Neifel Axe (10, 0, 0, 4).
Neifel Jarls get Neifel Longsword (10, 2, 0, 4, area 1) and Ice Helmet.
Atlantian Lobster Riders get Sharkskin Cuirass (4, 0, 0).
Longbow becoms 9 damage, armor piercing.
Crossbow and shortbow become range 32.
Maul becomes (5, 0, -1, 3) armor piercing.
Full Scale Mail becomes (11, -2, 3).
Tien Chi Imperial units with Falchions given Imperial Dao (7, 1, 0, 2).
Tien Chi Princes given Imperial Scale Mail (12, -2, 2) which is custom made.
Spider Armor became (16, -4, 4) due to spider silk making it lighter and more flexible.
New animal attacks, "Shred" (3, 1, 0, 0, 2 attacks) and "Crushing Bite" (1, 1, 0, 0, armor piercing) given to jaguars and were-jaguars.
Shred also given to Cu Sidhe.
Throwing Knife (1, 8, 0, 2) given to Assassins and Stalkers.
Armguards (2, 0, 0) given to Assassins, Stalkers, and Villains.
All Soulless get "Missile Resistance" (a shield, 0, 1, 0) and -1 def.
Ghouls get "Armor Scraps" (2, 0, 1) and 2x Venomous Claw.
Soulless get 2x Fist.
Soulless of Caelum get Ice Studded Armor and Ice Lance.
All "Strength Not Added" mount attacks (hoof, claw, bite, etc) made a minimum of length 1, so that the rider will not be poisoned if they strike a spiny target.
Rusty Armor capitalization corrected.
Alicorn made (12, 0, 0, 2, magic, armor piercing).
Pincer (for lobsters, etc.) made length 2, since it is a long armored appendage.
Fire Flare (Salamander) made (20, 6, 0, 5, fire, magic, armor piercing, AOE 1).  The additional length makes it possible to repel spear units, and the additional attack makes it very hard to avoid, since it is area-effect.




Holy units:

All holy units get minimum 11 morale and 11 magic resistance.
Many of them (especially capitol-only or elite holy units) were given stats at least as good as the nation's top elite unit in the category.




Archers:

Cost averaged to 7g for shortbows and crossbows.
Heavily armored archers made 10g and given higher attack, defense, precision, and morale.
Light and medium archers given 2 strategic moves and new descriptions.
Slingers given increased precision and made 4g.
Villians made 9g 8r, given more armor, pillage bonus, and average stats of 10.
Sappers given higher stats.
Tien Chi Imperial archers made 11g and given better stats.
Ulm Rangers given much better stats and patrol bonus, as Rangers deserve.
Poison Slingers, Machaka Archers, and Abysian Axe Throwers given more precision.  Note that it is currently impossible to adjust weapon precision, so modding the unit is the only choice to chainge their effectiveness.
Man Longbow renamed "Elite Longbowman" and given new description.
Tien Chi Archer renamed "Composite Bowman" and given new descr.




Militia:

Cost averaged to 5g for trained or armored militia.
Bottom-level militia (spear and negligible armor, Machaka, Hoburg, Lobo Guard) made 3g.
Jotun militia given higher morale and lower cost (11mor and 16g).
Flagellants and Harpies made 6g.
Machaka Militia given 2 map moves.
Insane militia (madman, thrall, mad deep one, ...) made 0 upkeep.
Many militia get new descriptions.




Light Infantry:

Describes infantry with 0-8 protection from armor.
Baseline cost (indy infantry with a round shield, spear, and leather cuirass) set at 7g.
Gladiators made 6g (trident Gladiators given a net and made 7g).
Barbarians made berserk 1, att 11, def 11, and 12g.
Atlantians split into Spearmen (7g) and Infantry (8g, shield).
C'tis predator lizards reduced in cost, and Elite Warriors made 14g, 12 att, 10 def.
Shamblers made 21g and 12 mor, War Shamblers 35g, 13 mor, 11 att, 10 def.
Satyrs split into Satyr (spear, 7g, lower stats) and Satyr Infantry (spear + buckler or javelin, 8g).
Maenads given forest survival.
Vaetti (and hags, wolfriders, etc) given 25% cold resist and lower rcost due to small size.
Unarmored Mictlan warrior changed to "Unproven Warrior" and made 5g.
Werejaguar given regeneration, more strength, new attacks (crushing bite and shred).
Pirates get Pillage Bonus.
Wolves given neednoteat because they forage, 12 attack, and coldresist 25.
Skinshifters (both themes) made cheaper.
Werewolves given coldresist 25, +3 ap, and +2 def (includes Bitch Queen).
Jaguar gets better stats, attacks, and stealth +10 (includes Smoking Mirror Jaguar form).




Medium Infantry:

Describes infantry with 9-12 protection from armor.
Baseline cost (Spear, Javelin, Shield, Ringmail Cuirass) made 9g.
Salamander made 55g and gets a better attack.




Heavy Infantry:

Describes infantry with 13-15 protection from armor.
Baseline cost (Broadword, Round Shield, 16 protection) set at 10g.
Tower Guard rcost corrected to 17r.
Pythium / Ermorian HI debuffed or made more expensive.
Abysian Humanbred Heavy Infantries got unique names.
Illithid Soldiers got combat skills (mor 11, att 11, def 7).




Superheavy and Elite Infantry:

Describes infantry with 16+ protection from armor.
Baseline cost (no baseline unit) set at 11g.
Ermorian Praetorian Guard made cheaper (since they start with afflictions).
Arco heavy units made more expensive.
Ulm Guardian / Ghoul Guardian given better stats.
Ulm Infantry (generally) get unique names, like "Ulm Hammer Infantry".
Spider Warriors get Falchion and Poison Dagger.
Abysian Lava Warriors get -2 enc (down to 8 base).




Undead:

Soulless and Soulless Warriors given slightly higher mr, hp, and att.
Some Soulless (ctis, atlantis) given appropriate natural protection.
Ghoul and (plain human) Soulless each get 2x attacks.




Leaders:

Pan Black Harpies given 10 leadership, so they can lead harpy raids.
Assassins given armguards (+2 prot) and throwing knives.
Caelian scouts made 25g.
Communicants given bad att, def, prec, and no leadership.
All Abysia mages given 9 to 10 precision, so they can be used in combat.
Warlock Apprentice given douse bonus 1 and lesser fear (as per description), to make it a good blood hunter.
Mictlan Scouts get forest survival.
High Priest of the Sun becomes 370 gold (slight discount).
Tien Chi level 2 and 3 priests become 40 and 85 gold, since they have only 1 strat move and bad stats.
Tien Chi Prince Generals get Holy 2.  Previously, Tien Chi had sacred troops with 2 strat moves, but no priests with 2 strat moves.
Wolfherd made cheaper, and gets animal awe.
Ranger Captain given more leadership.
Abysia Beast Trainer made cheaper (65g).
Ctis Taskmaster made cheaper (30g).
Slayer improved, so that his stat bonuses (above Abysian infantry) are similar to normal Assassin stat bonuses.
Indy Knight Commander gets 50 leadership.




National / General.

All Satyrs given 2 natural protection.
Ulmians given base 12 HP, 11 strength.
Black Plate Ulm Infantry given +1 morale, since they feel safe in all that armor.
Ryleh hybrids get new stats, names, and descriptions.
Caelian infantry made 1-2g above baseline.
Heavy infantry with helmets given -1 precision.
Heavy infantry with full helmets given -2 precision.
Humanbreds made cheaper (12g for Abysia, 10g for BoH Abysia).
Some ranged units given more precision (Jotuns Javelineers, Light Cavalry, Poison Slingers, etc).
Tien Chi Cavalry made cheaper than normal.
Some Capitol-only units improved slightly.
All units riding Unicorns get +2 animal awe and forest survival.  For justification, read "The Last Unicorn".
Amazons made cheaper and given new names and descriptions. 
Desert Tombs Ranger and Tomb Guard given fire resist 25%.
Units with Morningstars have descriptions altered to mention that morningstars get a shield bonus.
All mercenaries renamed to be descriptive ("Mercenary Swordsman" and etc).
Some scary units (from description) given lesser fear (-4, generally), e.g. Blood Marshal, Knight of the Unholy Sepulchre.
Ryleh Void Gate summons made upkeep free.
All recruitable animals made upkeep free.
Animals you get from mounted units being killed (Hunter Spiders, etc) made upkeep free.
Mounted Indy Mages (Fire Lord, Warrior Mage) dropped from 200g to 150g.  High encumbrance makes them almost useless...
Some cavalries with incorrect rcost were corrected (e.g. Marigon cavs cost too many resources compared to others).
Moose Riders given higher protection (between Moose and Vaetti).
Jotuns generally got higher morale.  They rout too much, just because the algorithm favors many weak units rather than few strong units.




Cavalry:

New (rough) guidelines established.  This is directly from the .dm file.

-- Type	Protection		GCOST		RCOST		ENC	MOVE

-- Light:	0-9			14		+4		4	3
-- Medium:	10-14			22		x1.5+6	4	2
-- Heavy:	15+			30		x2+10		5	2
-- Elite:	17+ & stats+	40		x2+12		5	2

-- Other factors to consider:

-- Factor					GCOST

-- Bow: 					+2
-- Light Lance:				+2
-- Full Lance:				+6
-- Mount Attacks:				varies
-- Trample:					+.25*(size^3)
-- Mount Survives Rider:		+10 (varies)
-- Mount Joins Army:			varies
-- Slower Than a Horse:			-2 to -10
-- Protection Above Minimum:		+0 to 2 each
-- Bonus Stats:				varies


-- Other changes:  all cavs get +1 str to reflect mount's momentum,
-- and +2 hp to reflect hits taken by the mount (+3 on heavy cav)
-- heavy and medium cavs get minimum 11 morale
-- light cav precision penalties reduced, for 4 reasons:
-- 1) higher seat gives better vision and better angle
-- 2) they are trained to shoot / throw from horseback
-- 3) horses will often be still when firing
-- 4) the penalty made them worthless


Black and White Satyrs get Bronze Helmets and Light Lances.
Minotaurs get better attack and defense.
Mounted Commanders made cheaper (45g-55g based on protection and stats).
2-person chariots get more HP (16) and MR (11) and higher rcost since they have 2 people in them.
Elephants and Mammoths given higher defense, mr, and lesser fear (those things are scary and hard to hit).
Mammoths given fire resist -50% (wooly) and made 140 gold.
Vanheim Fay Boar made 100g, sacred, need not eat, and given 2 attacks (bite, gore).  Did anyone buy them before?
Some unarmed (mainly female) mounted heros, who were almost unarmored, were given light armor.





****************************************************************


Thanks for reading the readme!  If you have any questions or comments, please post them on the public forum: www.shrapnelgames.com, Forums, Illwinter Game Design, Dominions 2: The Ascension Wars.  Currently, you can link there directly through
http://shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB74

If you want to message me directly, please use the Shrapnel Forums PM system (I'm "Saber Cherry" there).  The latest version of this should generally be up at 
www.geocities.com/saber_marionette_cherry/
or at Arryn's much more comprehensive site,
http://www.dominions-2.org/index.htm
And it might even be at Illwinter's site,
www.Illwinter.com
...which is the developers' site for Dominions II.

Many thanks to various people, especially Illwinter for making such a great game, and for providing modding capabilities at fan request!