[Blitz]

This, IMO makes them more in line with the rest of the units (Knights Mostly). Would I buy them now? Probably not. But they are slightly more survivable.

I understand the concept of taking baby steps in a mod, and not completely changing the way the theme plays... but I wasn't really going for slightly more survivable. I'd really like to bring the wind riders up to their comparably costed peers (Neifel Giant, Black hunter). I like the kite shield idea, but it's a little like giving the myrmidions broad swords. Is it play balanced? Probably. But there weren't broad swords back in ancient greece, and things like that are important to the developers. We've seen lots of examples where play balance was sacrificed for cosmetic or accuracy reasons. I'd like to keep the weaponry and armor as is, and look at other ways to improve the units.

I just don't want it to turn into the 'Vanheim - Arco' which is what it feels like if you gave the Wind Lord 2A. I don't actually feel like the Wind Lord needs to be any more 'magical'.

Aside from the similarities to drotts, there's also a very important balancing concern. In the game I've been running all day, I've pretty well stopped making any units aside from Wind Lords. They are everywhere, with flying and cloud trapeeze. They don't seem to die when given even the simplest gear (I gave most of them luck pendant and barkskin amulet). Even at 400 gold, it's probably too powerful a unit to include in the mod, which is too bad as I've become quite fond of them. The issue of the synergy between a recruitable SC and the power of the priestess is also a little troubling.

What would you think of giving them both air and earth level 1? Obviously this allows both ironskin and mirror image, but not mistform and cloud trapeeze. It's similar, but different than Drotts and Tuathas.

I just don't want it to turn into the 'Vanheim - Arco' which is what it feels like if you gave the Wind Lord 2A. I don't actually feel like the Wind Lord needs to be any more 'magical'. Maybe the Icarian Commander should have 2 Earth?

Well you would have to raise his cost considerably, as he'd be a pretty solid little SC in his own right (summon earthpower/ironskin/attack rear). There is also the possibility of modding either the Skeptic or Engineer. Giving engineers EEE would really open up the construction summons, and you'd have a lot easier access to mechanical men and the like. Of course you could argue that this too is too Vanheimish I guess. It would also solve the very annoying problem of engineers always being active when you use the (N)ext commander hotkey.

There's definately a lot you can do with the skeptic and engineer within the bounds of the mod. Both look reasonably mage-like, and changing the name and stats is trivial. Unfortunately we're never going to get more than 2 people to agree on what such hypothetical mage should look like, but I'm open to suggestions.