So, I've been keeping tabs on this mod since I reviewed it for the first time, way back then. (Did I aleady mention that I really
dig this nation?
) I'm currently playing them in multiplayer, and I do agree with with your comment Sombre, they do feel like a finished nation. The issues raised in this thread all seem to have been adressed, and Arga Dis now feels and plays like a streamlined, balanced and unique nation.
Ages ago (it might very well be a full year by now - I must be getting old...) I saw a couple of modders (I can't remember if you were one of them, but I think it's not unlikely) discussing the possibility of writing guides on the different mod nations, to help spark interest in them. Since I felt motivated to write down my thoughts on Arga Dis, and would love to share my love for it, I decided to give it ago. I'll post the results of this exercise in the general forums in a minute. Though it's meant as a strategy guide, and not a mod review, I suppose you can get a lot of my opinions there. Keep in mind though that if I discuss balance or strength of units in that thread, I'm doing so from the point of view of developping your strategy, and not as suggesting something should be changed about the mod. (To illustrate my point: In that other thread I mention Gilgans having quite low MR for units of their calibre, in order to conclude that you should make sure that you equip them with enough MR items, before sending them out to face an astral nation. I do however feel that in the context of Arga Dis, and given their price, Gilgans are balanced, and the slightly low MR is just an intresting part of that balance, and thus, if I were to review the Arga Dis nation, I would not make an issue out of that MR. Does that make sense? )
So, having made that point clear (I hope) I have two minor points where I think some balancing adjustments could still be made, if you feel up to it.
I believe the Augurs to be very useful units, as you can also see in my strategy post. I see you added an upkeep cost to them to tweak them a bit. I feel this was a very good idea for this kind of units, who could otherwise start rivaling the misbreds as your general-purpose mages, which is something I suppose you want to avoid. At the revised cost of 25 slaves I do believe them to be slightly underpriced, given their various potential uses, though not by very much. I would price them closer to thirty (perhaps 29 to avoid the nice round number in accordance to general blood ritual pricing.
) With their old age, deformities, general ill health, and (I assume) reluctance to leave their chambers with the cosy scrying fires, I would also think they would be prime candidates to be given mapmove 1. This would, imo, be thematic, another minor drawback to add ontop those they allready have to help out the balancing, and encourage (a little bit at least) their 'historical' use on the homefront as opposed to on the battlefield. Three birds with one stone.
The second issue is a bit more tricky. It's about the sworn companion and the blackwing rider, who both suffer from the same problem. Both these units fill a potentially very powerful niche, so to avoid their over-use you put a high price on their heads(and rightly so)while at the same time keeping them somewhat fragile. However, being a blood nation, you'll generally have somewhat less money available and thus will try to avoid spending lots on money on... let's call it non-core units. And, to put the final nail into their coffin, blood has strong units already filling the niche these two units try to occupy. (demon knights and devils respectively) As things stand now I see no real reason to recruit either of these units. Which is a shame as they're such cool units. I'm not quite sure on how to solve this.
For the sworn companion, I do believe they are slightly overpriced, but even if you lower their price to a level that would make them an intresting buy for most nations, (100g maybe?) they'll still be competing with the demon knights, and demon knights are absolutely awesome. Maybe at a lower price you'd recruit some sworn companions and form a mixed unit if you can't mass the demon knights fast enough? Massing these does take a while, at least before reaching blood 9. I haven't even convinced myself that this is a good solution though, so feel free to disregard me.
On the other hand, I can't justify lowering the cost of the blackwing riders. They are after all a truly elite flying unit. At the same time I can't imagine spending even far lower amounts of money on them as long as they remain as fragile as they are now. I mean, they literally get killed by dagger-wielding archers now. The only solution I can think of (which doesn't mean it's the only one possible of course) is by increasing their armour and thus their survivability. As you state in their description they 'became influenced by foreign cultures' so they did have the opportunity to come into contact with heavier armour. I don't know however if you're willing to abandon the high-defence-low-armour concept of the unit. Unfortunately defence alone just doesn't cut it for size 4 units. The multitude of attacks aimed at your square will lower your defence stat too far too fast.
Those are the last issues I have found with the nation, so all in all big congratulations are in order. This is a fabulous nation, and I humbly bow my head before the master.
