How to help Matchaka?

[Huzurdaddi]

So I'm playing around with a mod that buffs some of the nations which seem to be considered "weak" from the power rankings.

But I have never played Matchaka. I have seen that in multiplayer that their scared can be a decent, if really expensive, troop with the correct bless. But their nation seems a little, I don't know, off.

Can anyone who has played matchaka a lot tell me what you saw as weaknesses of the nation?

[quantum_mechani]

I have played mackaka a lot, the PD is the only obvious weakness. They are not high powered or low powered, IMO, just one of the most balanced nations.

[Cainehill]

Yeah - they have some good troops ( hoplites & spiders ), decent mages, okay priests, etc. Maybe part of the problem with them is that they don't have any obvious killer strategies : super bless won't get the job done because the sacreds are so expensive, there's no research path that guarantees easy expansion (unlike, say, Abysia : conjuration 3 + evocation 5 and you can pretty much mow through any normal independents without fail, solely with national mages & troops).

Dunno - shave 5 gold off the cost of the mages, give an extra gem / turn from the capitol, something minor like that might give a little boost, but it's hard to think of something really lacking with the nation.

[quantum_mechani]

Cainehill said:

Dunno - shave 5 gold off the cost of the mages, give an extra gem / turn from the capitol, something minor like that might give a little boost, but it's hard to think of something really lacking with the nation.

The mages are fine, why mess with them? And adding extra gem sites would be strange, why should they get more gems than any other living nation?

If they are going to get boosts, it should just be some price cuts on some overpriced troops, and a bit cheaper/better bane spiders (they are still once in a while useful, but only about as much as a 60 gold assassin).

[Huzurdaddi]

quantum_mechani said:
I have played mackaka a lot, the PD is the only obvious weakness. They are not high powered or low powered, IMO, just one of the most balanced nations.

I totally agree. That was the 1st thing I upgraded. But still they seemed a little off.

Cainehill said:
Maybe part of the problem with them is that they don't have any obvious killer strategies

You know that could be it. It does seem like with most nations that I consider good there is something that takes a hold and grabs me and makes me think that I really want to shoot for that. But nothing really grabs me with Matchaka.

[Edi]

Well, Machaka is the nation that can most easily get Anthrax and Black Sorcerers with a water random and just quickness and fire shield and equipped with a ring of regen and luck amulet make for some pretty impressive thugs. They also eventually heal afflictions when they change back and forth between their forms.

Edi

[NTJedi]

With a few good improvements such as better units for province defense... Machaka would definitely be a fun nation to play.

[Zooko]

Whenever I see a thread about how to mod a nation, theme, or strategy to be more competitive, I think to myself that I would rather see a thread about how to PLAY a nation, theme, or strategy to be more competitive.

As far as I can tell, the "balance problems" that people perceive in Dominions 2 are mostly due to playing the "all vs. all" format, and in fact I think that it is impossible to have a well-balanced set of units, spells, etc. for the all vs. all format. All vs. all inherently causes imbalance, no matter what mods you apply.

I think I'll go issue an open challenge on this topic in the "competitors wanted" forum. :-)