Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I did say it was fearsome. Bear in mind that this mega-smith would NOT be sacred, unlike most top-tier mages, and would be expensive to upkeep.

Even so, I have to agree that it would probably be overpowered, with all the mad forging opportunities.

Alternative Ulm magic ideas:

Apprentice Smiths: A new, low-tier caster for Ulm. One pick in Earth, as well as drain-immunity and the forging bonus. Should probably cost about 70 gold. The inclusion of this unit would enhance Ulm's magical abilities by providing a more efficient researcher and low-level forger, freeing up Master Smiths for more important duties. The apprentice wouldn't be particularly useful on the battlefield. You could get him up to Earth-3 with Earth boots and Earth Power, which might be worth it, although Master Smiths are probably a better choice to give items to.

Alchemists: Ulm has an alchemist pretender, so why not give them regular alchemists, with one earth, one fire and one astral? At a reasonable cost. No forge bonus or drain-immunity for them, of course. But even so, that single astral pick would give them a smattering of new strategies to pursue, most notably crystal matrixes. The 50% bonus to alchemy would be handy as well; possibly TOO handy.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I agree too that a 2nd weak mage would be nice for ulm imo .

An Earth 1 apprentice could though forge nothing useful expect boots of earth with a pair of boots of earth on him . So without forge of ancients up he would be only useful as researcher probably .
As you said making him able to cast blade wind on the battlefield is not worthy it as well because every normal ulm smith can do this without empowering and additionaly can do magma eruption as well .

The alchemist is not a bad idea imo . For the purpose of alchemizing you need only 1 alchemist though .
Earth + fire magic lvl 1 you don't need also because you have this on your mastersmiths .
So once you find sages or similiar the alchemist becomes obsolete unfortunately probably as well .
Finally i think it is not possible to give units alchemy bonus by modding commands .


Maybe ulm should get a 2nd mage like a sage with 1 random , could be fully random or a sorcery random or an elemental random .
Ulm as a good research nation is wrong though imo as well .


Ulms main problem is probably that it has nothing against Airnations . At least nothing half cost effective .

Giving ulms smiths though 1 random makes them too powerful because of their cheap forging .

Giving them only 1 higher earth or fire magic is problematic as well , especially the earth magic .
Giving them any other additional magic is unthematic as well .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

What about giving them a 2nd mage with 2 randoms , but no good research , no forgeboni , no good stats , no drainimmunity ?
Price 90-120 gold , not sacred .

They can be considered to be bought but are mainly only useful for some forging + some lowlvl summoning + some sitesearching .

On the other hand a spectre is exactly that anyways http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

So the only thing to improve them without changing the master smiths or adding a 2nd mage would be to make ulms troops really the best in the game .

One approach would be to give them non-capitol only blessable troops .
Another would be to make 1 or 2 elite warriors which are very expensive resourcewise , but equipped with e.g. rainbow armors or anything similiar to make them a bit tougher against the powerful airspells .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I think the 2E1F1R Smith is the only logical solution to make Ulm's theme as a forging nation valid.
As it has been pointed out before, Ulm is supposed to forge lots of items, but seriously, without at least one random there isn't much worth forging.
Or, if 2E1F1R is supposed to be too strong, why not 2E1R?

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

If you make the ulm master smiths stronger though you make Iron faith completely undesireable .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I could find myself warming to two different master smiths...one with 2E1F and one with 2E1R (and maybe making it a random elemental path). Especially if the ones with random were capital-only.

It is encouraging to see folks try to beef up ulm a bit for multiplayer. I see many situations in which defense ends up being more important that sheer protection which is Ulm's forte.

The amount of forging that can be done without the independent magi is quite limited. And empowerment is extremely expensive. (It would be nice if you could empower for forging purposes (and site searching purposes) only for a lesser cost and not be able to use the path for ritual spells or in combat...this would be more thematic for ulm. Powerful forged items but weak battle magic and limited summons.)

I am still amazed that folks have suggested 3E2F1R. That would arguably make ulm the most powerful nation in the game.

Ulm would really benefit from a random elemental magic, especially air, for eyes of aiming on the smiths without having to put air magic on the pretender or get extremely lucky with magic sites.

Interesting discussion. I agree that ulm needs better capital-only troops...perhaps something nice with a strat move of 2 whether or not it is blessable.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Fix Iron faith after you fix Ulm. Iron faith is pathetically weak anyway.

2E1F1R ( elemental ) seems to be a fine fix. However their cost should be bumped slighty.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

The problem is that forging wise even with base ulm already a lot can be done , especially in lategame .

Ulm can sell dwarfen hammers for blood or hunt itself .
Then empower smiths in blood which is "quite" cheap .

Then you can forge bloodstones at greater discount than anyone and soul contracts and hellswords/blood thorns/armor of souls .

Other empowering is of course too expensive . But a random elemental leads to a big number of W smiths and smiths clamhoarding is athematic . Ulm would become probably the best clamhoarder then .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Another Idea that would make Ulm something special...
What about giving the smiths higher paths, but take their abilitiy to cast spells. They would be "Forge only" mages, unrivaled in producing things (with maybe 2 in each kind of magic), but useless on the battlefield.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Would be a great idea for dom 3 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif .

In dom 2 it is not possible though afaik http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif . Maybe it is implemented in a new patch though http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif .



What about the following new mastersmiths ?

E2F1N1 . This way they can forge endless bags of vine .
And in combat they can cast eagle eye for higher precision magma eruption / blade wind .

I am still against giving them E3 or any random .
If they can get E3 their combat abilities would be really greatly enchanced :
With earthboots + summon ep they can cast weapons of sharpness + petrify without needing gems .
Forgingwise they can forge dwarfen hammers asap and need no earthboots .

So what would you think about earthsmiths with E2F1N1 for 150 gold ?

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I still wonder how much of this is from the perspective of having tried really hard to figure out how to make Ulm work in practice, or is from the perspective of having played other nations but not really tried to make Ulm work. Most of the magic improvements mentioned seem to be things which can be done already (via 5-gem Earth Boots, Hammer o the Forge Lord, empowerment, pretender magic, independent mages, etc), but are just harder than being given the ability from the start.

I'm still thinking adding MR, +1 Strength and maybe a little morale to the standard troops would go a long way without needing to add something counter-thematic like more magic.

Other brainstorm ideas:

* Units just get +1 Strength, but Ulm gets a national holy spell which adds MR.

* Ulm gets an optional dominion which actually reduces the magic power of enemy casters... I guess that would mess up spell scripts in too annoying a fashion, though.

PvK

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Maybe leave master smiths as they are, but add a new capital only unit - Crippled Grand Master Smith - with strategic movement 0 and right kind of afflictions (chest would, probably blindness etc) and with 2E2F1R (or maybe with 3E1F1R). They will be good for forging and decent for research, but not for the battles.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Possibility could be to change Iron Will to a Nation Specific Spell for Ulm, Change the cost from 1E to 1H (or 2H) and then it would bridge the gap somewhat, however, the AoE on Iron Will is pretty unspectacular (and no way to mod it) however, this would make me sad since I wouldn't be able to use Earth to cover the MR gap for other nations.

To each their own.

I've gone both ways on my feelings of Ulm. I've played it to death and I really enjoy certain aspects, however, it's crippling aspects, requirement to cover your nation's weaknesses with pretender/non-national mages and the speed at which their units become less viable (Abysia/Jotun/Pangaea on the other hand have more long term viability of their troops, as well as blessables, which base Ulm lacks) makes me shie away from base Ulm in lieu of other similar nations (Vanheim for Earth love, Abysia for armored unit love).

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Hey thats a good idea .
No need to give them wounds , no need to give them strategic move 0 . Just giving them the immobile ability makes them unable to move like the sphinx .
Then they could be only used for capitol defence + forging + summoning .

This approach could be used for pangenea also , immobile old treemen ultramages for forging + summoning + researching and this way improving them a bit as well .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Vanheim's Dwarves are E3?1, and nobody seems to complain about those too much. Really, Ulm needs a lot of help. I'd probably also give Black Lords 50% resist all elements as well, so that you can slap an elemental armour on them and go to town against SCs. That way people wouldn't be able to ignore the heavy armour so easily.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

That's the point. It gives them petrify.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

My first gut instinct was to give the Black Lords +50% Resists, but only because the nerf to EA really impacted me playing Ulm effectively (no more thugs). I have wavered as of now between giving them 25% resists or perhaps enough of a MR bonus that you have to equip yourself to your resistances and not get paralyze/enslaved easily.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

The alchemist is already in the game, he's a rare indy mage. Costs about 300 gold, though.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Okay, I took a break from forum at the wrong time. Back up there, I had written E2D2 when I had meant to write E2F2... :ashamed:

Lots of people here seem to want a random for Master Smiths. However, that would give Ulm very different feel. That one random in eg. Water or Air does not allow them to forge the more powerful items, "only" things like Boots of Flying, Water Bracelet, resistance items and weapons... but it allows them to search for sites! Ulm can empower and then cheaply make booster items. 75 gems for access to 10 gem, at maximum!, Air boosters is not as bad as it sounds. 4 boosters are 115 for Ulm, 80 for Air nations without Dwarven Hammers, and if those nations have Dwarven Hammers they had to trade for it. Which gives Ulm Air gems...

Also, Ulm's mages have only E2. However, each one of them can forge Earth Boots and cast Earth Power. With Dwarven Hammer, Ulmish smiths can make Earth Boots for 5 gems. 5 Gems and 20-something fatique for E4? If they had a chance for E4, as with all E3FxR suggestions, they would have a chance for E6, or E5 for rituals like Forge of the Ancients.

I am not very good at balancing and can't say if that is too much or too little, I am just stating that even an elemental random will make Ulm very different and give them many, many more options.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Yeah but the vanheim smiths have no forgebonus and they are capitol only !

I share your idea with black lords .
I suggested earlier to give the black knights 50% SR as well to make them endure 2-4 hits by lightning rather then 1-2 .

If you give the black lords 50% elemental resistence from start but don't change their bad MR that would be probably a nice idea . They would be like mechanical men then , killable with mr-negates spells but otherwise really hard to kill .

So new changes :
-black knights have 50% SR
-black lords have 50% elemental resistence
-master smiths cost 150 gold but have E2F1N1 magic

What do you think ?

Giving them E3 would be unfair because the only 2 nations that have that are vanheim and pangenea .
Vanheim i made my reasons above and pangeneas pans are so expensive that you can't field many .

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I still think elemental resistance is very unthematic, but I can't understand why you are adding nature. I thought you were thinking of Rod of Iron/ Elemental Armor, not Resist Elements...

And having both Fire and Nature gives Ulm access to Fever Fetishes, with Forge bonus, with non-restricted, cheap mages. Maybe not the best possible idea, even if they don't start with any income in either.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Oh i really forgot the fever fetishes .
The reasons for nature i listed in a former post already though :
- supply items
- Better aiming with eagle eye
- Some other smaller buffs , or some swarmers with swarm

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I think black steel armor should have some small resistance (maybe 25 percent) by default, not only for Ulm, but in general.
Has anyone ever forged the black steel armor for 10 earth gems? It is very bad compared to the armors of other kinds of magic, and it is even worse for ulm as it's only advantage is +1 protection compared to a black knights normal armor. 10 gems for +1 protection? No thanks, but then again, there is no other armor Ulm could forge with its current picks.

Elemental protection is nothing unfitting for earth.
Earth can't burn, and it can't conduct electricity. Maybe one could argue about water...

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I have updated my Ulm Upgrade mod. Fixed some bugs, added Warlord graphics (Zweihander+cloak) and added Reinvigoration for Warlord. Also changed some descriptions, but those were slight.

I added #Version tag, and the Version is 0.85.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Hm, steel's metal. I was under the impression that metals tend not to be good electrical insulators.

However, it might not be unreasonable for black steel to be perhaps slightly fire resistant (perhaps only Ulm knows how to work with such a metal if so), or very strong for the weight and bulk (perhaps less encumberance, less reduction in AP and defense?) or harder to penetrate (perhaps AP effects reduced).

Perhaps the forgeable black steel items could also be forgeable by Ulm only. 2E mages aren't exactly confined to Ulm right now.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

But it's not plain steel!
It's the famous ulmish black steel(TM) that utilisez so much arcane knowledge in its forging you actually have to pay 10 earth gems to your local master smith to get your own copy of black steel armor

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I can't say that the idea of shock resistance on Ulmish soldiers really appeals. Lightning is effective against most national troops; it's hardly a distinctively Ulmish problem.

If lightning resistance is desperately required, why not make an earth spell that grants it to a small number of troops? Although... that would probably help Vanheim more, with their air mages and dwarves. So, make it a 1-earth spell that only affects one square at a time, which puts it firmly in Ulm's territory.

Combined with my suggestion for a 1-earth apprentice smith, that would really help Ulm at fighting air nations.

And another idea: what about giving Ulm assassins? It may not be thematic, but it would certainly tie in with their forging ability.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

> So, make it a 1-earth spell that only affects one square at a time,

One square at the time... This is so great! This way, all you need to protect
twenty black knights is a measily ten smiths... Well more like fifteen, and then
you would have to get really creative while positioning them.

Anyway, hurray, Ulm is saved!

> which puts it firmly in Ulm's territory.

I understand how one may think so: the spell seems to suck to the point of
beign useless, which would firmly put it into Ulm's territory. But one would
be mistaken. This would be quite an useful spell for a SC that lacks air magic.
Being a new spell, it may even stack with items like the Scutata Volturus. The
only problem is that takes it out of Ulm's territory - not only because it does
not suck, but also because Ulm can't get any SCs worth mentioning.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I do in the second turn for undead pretenders with Ulm. Other than that I don't tend to use it.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

>> Has anyone ever forged the black steel armor for 10 earth gems?

> I do in the second turn for undead pretenders with Ulm. Other than
> that I don't tend to use it.

I am not sure you are doing your pretenders a favor, unless they
have life drain. A Ghost King who casts five buffs is pretty much
a given with Ulm, and I think that he is much better off without
the armour, what with the -5 to defense and the 50 points of
additional fatigue it brings.

A Vampire queen may benefit from the armour, but after the nerf, she
is not worth fielding.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

This solution didn't seem to get much attention. It got me thinking: "Is it possible to cripple a mage in such a way that he/she would be useless in a battle - i.e. making him/her a forger-only mage".

My idea:
Lord of the Forge (or some other name)
(Capital only or not - dunno)
paths: 2E1F1? (elemental random)
stats as the regular Master Smith but with some/all of these changes:
Precision: say 5 or lower (zero perhaps ?!?)
MR: again low
Research "bonus": -3 (or some other fitting number)
Price: somewhat lower than his paths would suggest.

The effects and the fantasy-logic behind it could/would be:

Low precision: with these randoms the only 100 precision spells available would be frozen heart and incinerate(with phoenix power), all other spells would fly all over the place. The fantasy logic behind it could be that this smith is so focussed on forging the tiny nitty-gritty details of magical items that he is somewhat near-sighted, or have blood shot watering eyes due to the heat/flames that he's always around ?

Low MR: would make him susceptible to all sorts of spells. Perhaps his excellence at forging is caused by a natural susceptibility to magic ?

Research penalty: this could be used to justify a low gold price, and it would ensure that his role as a forger is fixed. The logic behind this could be that he's a specialized forger and not a scholar.

I'm not sure that it would make Ulm much stronger, but if he's cheap it would at least give Ulm some extra options and still be in line with the flavour of the nation - and extra options would be a strength ?

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Given that metal also conducts heat and cold very well, I'm not sure that any elemental resistance on it would be appropriate (armies baked in their armor, and they froze in it too). On the other paw, reduced encumbrance and whatnot would be appropriate, for all Ulm's Black Plate troops.

Reducing the encumbrance on that stuff would go a long way towards making Ulm's troops more useful; given the superior metalworking Ulm is considered to have, and the extra strength of the soldiers, they perhaps shouldn't get exhausted so soon.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

On the 2nd turn, Ulm isn't going to have nearly enough research to allow that GK to cast five buffs. But slapping the black steel armor on can allow the GK, the PoD, and the VQ to start expanding on turn 2, or even one of the liches. After you have some alteration and enchantment researched, then you take the armor off, and hopefully the PoD hasn't gotten any bad afflictions before then. (Ditto the GK, but his etherealness makes it less likely.)

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

My vision of Ulm:

Apprentice Smith
2E

Only a few people of ulm are gifted with magic powers. Those few are sent on a journey to learn the ways of the smithy, traveling with the ulmish legions of steel and searching for places of arcane knowledge.
While they have a long way to go before they can forge items as skillfully as their teachers, they are already immune to drain and have mastered the basics of earth magic.

Master Smith
3E2A2F
Immobile
When the time has come for the apprentice to return to the forges of their origin, they are awarded the title of a Master Smith, those who are capable to bind the elements to their steel. This power comes to a price, however. The master smiths are not allowed to leave their forges, so that the magic will be kept away from the pure land of ulm. While some might not accept this fade, most Smiths embrace their destiny, forging the best equipment for their friends with which they once traveled together.

Hero:
the Legate
2E1F
100% Resistance against everything
no body and hand slots
Might be an assassin
Those smiths who refuse to return to the forges of Ulm are called the exiles, or the fallen. They are sworn enemies of Ulm, and must be eliminated at all cost. If one is found, the council of master smith sends one of their own to return the fallen apprentice, dead or alive. The chosen one is then transformed into a being of pure steel, a man golem who is immun to all magic. He won't rest until the enemies of Ulm are defeated.

Special:
The forges

The laboratories of Ulm are, unlike those of the other nations, no places of contemplation and studying, but rather busy places of apprentices being trained and lots of military equipment being produced.

A mage doing research in an ulmish forge will have his research skill lowered by one. In exchange, each ulmish forge produces one earth gem each turn.

new neutral placement:
Exile conclave

This is a place where those fleeing from the wrath of Ulm have gathered. The original master smith 2E1F (now called Fallen Smith) is recruitable here as well as the rogue apprentice 2E, The master smith still has his forging bonus, but both lost their drain immunity.


I know not everything here is moddable, but this is my vision of making Ulm a nation to be reckoned with, but without loosing it's distinct feeling.
What do you think?

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

With a complete set of earth based trinkets, a ghost king does not need to cast any buffs, as he will have a protection of 30. Of course, you should probably add quickness and mistform, but anything else is not needed for bashing independents. One could also stick to the lighter blacksteel if you wanted, or use a PoD and put trampling boots on him.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Oh weird, I thought Blade Wind was a national spell of Ulm, but it's not. Just Legions of Steel...

PvK

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

After some consideration, here's my Ulm. It doesn't change things that drastically, it just gives them some more magical breathing room, with more efficient research and higher MR elite units.

New unit:Apprentice Smith

A one-earth, drain-immune forger. Costs 65 gold. His intended role is primarily off the battlefield; researching and forging low-level earth items. On the battlefield, he's limited to casting light buffs and flying shards.

New starting spell:Iron Will

This is a nice spell for Ulm; accurate, useful and thematic. And of course, the apprentice smith is tailor-made for casting it.

Plus, it's from a magic school (Thaumaturgy) which isn't really high on Ulm's agenda, so giving them this will spare them some research.

New Item: Drain Stone

This low-level Earth item grants its wielder immunity to drain, like an Smith. The intended use for this item is to allow indy mages used by Ulm to research to the best of their abilities. It's essentially the same as an owl quill.

Unit Change: Better Guardians

Reduce the Guardian's cost to 18 gold, and give him a better halberd (at an increased resource cost). And MR 12. I don't see a problem thematically with giving Ulm's ultra-elite units a bit of a magical protection - they're from the heart of a land of drain, men of iron will, after all.

The regular Ulmish troops can keep their weakish MR; it creates a clearer distinction between the regular grunts and the special troops.

I'm toying with the idea of making the Guardian's weapon able to hit ethereal and/or triple damage versus magical creatures. Now that would be cool. But possibly a bit much, as well?

Unit Change: Better Black Knights

Same as the Guardians: boost their MR to 12. A society which fears magic is going to surely going to want to protect their ultra-elite units against it.

Unit Change: Better Arbalests

Just an HP increase of one, to bring them into line with other Ulmish regulars.

Site Change: Fire Gem Income

Make the Forges of Ulm give one or two fire gems as well as the earth gem income. Sure, it breaks the 'only 5 gems' rule, but so do Pythium and Mictlan.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

To Cainehill and Graeme Dice:

I can see your point, and I guess your way works just as well. But I do research
Alteration 2 before I sent my GK out by himself. With every other nation, I have
Alteration 2 researched at the end of turn 2, with Ulm, it happens at the end of
turn 3. I consider a GK with Air shield, Quickness, Mirror image, Luck and Twist
far safer to use than one in full armour. I also like to let him research a
bit longer, as Ulm can certainly use it.

Sending the GK with escort is not something I like doing. The chance the escort
routes is there, mostly because the GK kills slowly, and I would much rather
gather a stronger army, and have it take provinces by itself.

... Hmm... I think I will take the ten turn challenge with Ulm.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Perhaps it's just me, but why does everyone seem to think that Iron Faith's only advantage over base Ulm is the random pick on the Priest.

Did base Ulm get a Holy-3 Inquisitor in 2.15 and I just didn't notice?

As far as the various magic ideas are concerned, they seem a little, well, overdone. If you're going to go the 'apprentice' route, you might as well do all of it.

Apprentice Smith -- 1E
Journeyman Smith -- 2E1F
Master Smith -- 3E1F1R Capital Only

Sounds like a good place to start a 'Guild' theme for Ulm.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

I am not sure of all your chances, see comments below.

Why would one ever buy this? It is a bad researcher (3 points), cannot cast any useful battle spells (65 gp for 4-5 Iron Wills/battle is not useful IMO), cannot forge any useful items... Master Smiths are what Ulm has. They are cheap, and moderate researchers when one remembers that you get 120 free points from their drain immunity.

Maybe. I haven't used it much, though. Maybe both Legions of Steel and Iron Will?

No! With "low Earth" this would take away Ulm's specialty, drain-immune mages - and Ulm would get nothing out of it! Ulm's Master Smiths already are immune, and Ulm would have to find independents to make this useful. Other nations, OTOH, would be able to make Drain-protected Vanir, Mystics, Sea Kings...

I agree that some kind of a bonus would be appopriate. Just making it magic weapon able to harm ethereal opponents could do, I think, but extra damage against magical creatures would be very powerfull. I don't know if it would be too much. Is it possible to mod Moon Blade-like extra damage for magical units?

They already are quite good. Magic resistance increase would do, also, but much beyond that would be bad IMO.

This is good also. It's not much, but atleast thematic.


But then, both are known for their high power in ways of magic. Ulm, the nation with as little magic as possible, with higher-than-normal magical resources? Thanks, but no thanks.



You can mod most of these things into Ulm. Apprentice Smiths just needs graphics unless you replace one of Ulm's existing units (maybe one of the Commanders) and drain-immunity is not moddable, but you can give him small research bonus. Magic resistance (or other stats) of existing units are easy to change, and while you might not be able to mod extra damage you can create a new Halberd that will hit magical units. Or use the existing Enchanted Pike, although that wouldn't fit Ulm's magic.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

It's a more efficient researcher than the Master Smith; 1 RP for 22 gold, versus 1 RP for 28 gold on the Master Smith. Note that the Sage is 1 RP for 20 gold for Ulm (unless you try putting them where your dominion is weak).

The apprentice can forge one item which I consider useful; the Girdle of Might (+3 strength, +3 reinvigoration) for only 3 earth gems. There are a few other semi-useful items at earth-1, Boots of the Behemoth being one example.

And yes, the apprentice is pretty limited on the battlefield. So are lots of other low-level national mages. Their main role is supporting the Master Smiths via research and simple forges. The Master Smiths are then free to perform more important stuff; complex forges, summons, site-searching and combat.

Fair enough. I can't really see any other nation being very competitive if they were employing a drain scale and drain stones strategy, though. I mean, is it worth taking max drain as Vanheim or Arco now, and making up the difference with Owl Quills?

But I'm happy to drop this one. It can't be modded anyway.

I don't think that it is... I'll just go with the ability to hit ethereal stuff.

Hmm, that's true. But then again, the Forges of Ulm are, well, forges. And Ulm is known for forging stuff.

I may try enacting some of these changes via a mod. I'll probably use the Black Acolyte (useless unit) as the graphical base for the Apprentice Smith.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

It's Heavy Inf and Knights is (nearly) all that Ulm has, troops-wise, that is. Now, if I compare those troops to other nations (esp. those which came into the game later) heavy troops, it's clear that Ulms troops quite suck compared to other nations heavy infantry !:

- They don't have +2HP (as it may have been intended), but only +1HP compared with other HI. And 11 or 12 does not make that much of a difference.

- They are 10 gold - ATT/DEF 10 troops. Arco Hoplite costs 10, has ATT/DEF 11 (gold shouldn't be a prob with Ulm, though)

- Add to this the fact that all of their weapons have negative DEF modifiers ..

- They are supposed to be bigger .. but maybe they should train their strength, too (10 vs 11 of the Hoplite)..

- Moral is only 10 vs 11-12 on the others. Add the fact that Ulm does not get Holy-3 priests and therefore cannot cast "sermon of courage" ..

##############################################
Ulm Infantry
HP 12 STR 10
ATT 10 DEF 10
MOR 10 MR 9
ENC 3 MOV 1/7

Hammer 7/0/-1/1 / Morning Star 6/1/-2/2
Full Chain Mail 14/-3/3
Tower Shield 3/4/2

10 gold 23 ress
---------------------------

Ulm Black Plate Inf
HP 12 STR 10
ATT 10 DEF 10
MOR 10 MR 9
ENC 3 MOV 1/5

Hammer 7/0/-1/1
Full Plate o'Ulm 18/-5/5
Tower Shield 3/4/2

10 gold 36 ress
==============================

Pyhtium Principe
HP 11 STR 10
ATT 11 DEF 11
MOR 12 MR 10
ENC 3 MOV 2/8

Short Sword 5/0/1/1
Lorica 10/-1/2
Tower Shield 3/4/2

15 gold 19 ress
---------------------------

Machaka Hoplite
HP 11 STR 10
ATT 11 DEF 11
MOR 11 MR 10
ENC 2 MOV 1/12

Machaka Spear 5/-1/-1/5
Plate Hauberk 14/-2/4
Great Hide Shield 2/4/1

12 gold 24 ress
----------------------------

Arco Hoplite

HP 11 STR 11
ATT 11 DEF 11
MOR 12 MR 10
ENC 3 Mov 1/7

Long Spear 3/0/-1/5
Plate Hauberk 14/-2/4
Round Shield 3/2/1

10 gold 28 ress
-----------------------------

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Hmm and here I thought I was playing with tough little soldiers... Well since I only play SP so far, I suppose it doesn't matter. So is this thread only about the Iron Faith and default Ulm nations? I seem to be enjoying the Black Forest option, since I can diversify quite nicely with all the astral magic available. Trouble is, with the low luck scale my pretender keeps getting more and more cripples; to the point where he was completely blinded. Ooo scary, a blind Manticore.

The good part about Ulm (i'm probably wrong) is that their troops have a low gold cost for their relative staying power on the field, right? As long as they can avoid massed crossbows, fireballs, and squidheads, they do alright for their low paycheck. Their average strength and HP seems like an oversight, however given their "flavor text".

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

That's from getting damaged, not from the luck scale.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

This does not fix balance problems, but might still be quite a nice upgrade for Ulm... Check the screenshot, and look at the crescents. Haven't looked better since Dom:PPP! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

And yes, the horses' legs are strange. I'm not a wizard, just someone copypasting. If there's interest, I might elt you have this. I have had it for some time myself, and it does enchance the game, a little.

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Nice, Endro!

Re: Ulm beefed up ...
 

Ok folks, as no-one said anything about testing the mod and finding everything f*** up, I did a test game myself and handed Ulm over to the AI.
It squashed everything flat, my Tuatha incl. . But it had a very good start, and got lots of castles to conquer.
Yeah, if you give the AI castles to conquer (it still can't build them by itself), you'll get some decent army from the AI, not only a bunch of LI ... here's a screenshot from the biggest army Ulm send against me: 23 commanders, 448 troops, 19 undead. And it would have been even bigger, if the AI would not have supply problems on 90% of all maps because a) it doesn't know how to forge supply items and b)prov size haven't been nerfed since Dom:PPP by 75% ...

note the big number of Black Plate Infantry ...
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...-ulms_army.png

Possible Ulm beefing units
 

I don't know how true this is in the real game, but in the combat simulator, Ulm's biggest problem tends to be fatigue. The unit descriptions say they have "high endurance" but is seems to have no effect on their ability to fight in heavy armor:) Giving all ulmish units +1 strength and +2 reinvigoration would be thematic and effective.


As for countering Ulm's magic weakness, here's a thematic possibility, the "Arcane Cripple" :

"More susceptable to magic than their brethren, some poor Ulmians have been twisted and scarred by its harsh energies even while yet unborn. While their presence reaffirms Ulm's long-held fear of magic power, Master Smiths sometimes harness their weakness to acquire the rare gems necessary in advanced forging, using a Cripple's pain like a lodestone to find sites of magic power."

Arcane Cripples are sacred, have rather low stats, are feebleminded, and have another random disability, and MR=6. They are leaders, with 0 leadership and no special actions. However, every turn they have a random chance of discovering a magic site in their province - any magic site, regardless of path or level. They would be quite cheap (maybe 30 gold, depending on the chance of finding a site each turn).


The other possiblity:

Master Jeweler.

"Though best known for forging tools of war, Ulm's metallurgical talents also encompass the area of fine jewelry. The reknowned Ulmish Master Jewelers will search far and wide for prized gemstones to endow upon their latest masterpiece."

Master Jewelers would also have no magic paths, but could use the special command "Look For Pretty Jewels" to find any gem-producing site up to level 1 in any path. Like a level-1 rainbow mage, but including holy/unholy, and unable to find sites like "Damned Merchant" which do not produce any gems. Master Jewelers should cost about 250g and get a random gem in their inventory every season (not every month) regardless of their activities.

Re: Possible Ulm beefing units
 

Reinvigoration may be too much, but I'm thinking about lowering the base encumbrance off all Ulmish units by 1 or even 2 ... ok, another test game due ...

And the other things will have to wait until Dom3 at least, don't think the dev will make them available for modding in Dom2 with the final patch ?!

National Spell
 

Another possibility is an Ulm-only national spell, Earth Lore (or something like that) that is 2E and 8 Earth gems to cast, which reveals all level-1 sites in a (land) province, or a spell that reveals all elemental sites in a land province, like Tiamat's Something. Either would make sense for a race of earth-attuned miners. Although I like the special units better, because they seem fun=) But as you say none of this could be done through modding.