Balancing the blesses

[Taqwus]

It's usually the synergies that cause the balancing issues, anyway -- like MOO2's Stargate + Warp Dissipator.

You can't really just balance bits by bit -- because the units and nations they're applied to aren't mirror images. Mictlan and the Ashen Empire respond very differently to blesses, to take extreme examples.

[Sombre]

There's a certain amount you can do just balancing bit by bit. For instance some units are clearly underpowered, to the extent that they are never built by anyone looking to win. These units can be improved and all it will increase is variety - it won't make a certain nation overpowered.

Not sure that theory can be applied to blesses though.

[TirAsleen]

Playing around with fire, i do not see many weaknesses, very good bless, an enchantment that can turn archery fire into fire arrows, one that makes you immortal in combat, very powerful evocation magic(Falling Fire). Is all kinda useful. Water....well cleansing water was good vs undead. I do not know many impressive spells for water yet... I rather go with fire. Maybe a weakness of fire is, you can't forge any good armor with it.

[Xietor]

Fire is clearly the best bless. E9 is not one of the best. 4 prot? That means zip really. Especially when you are being hit by f9 blessed troops with 2 attacks.

N9 is also very good, mostly because regen plus berserk is very powerful.

Water is good on some units that need the quickness.

Air needs help, earth needs help, Astral 9 needs help. never play blood , so no input there.

D9 is "ok" but d9<f9 imho.

[Foodstamp]

I don't think fire 9 is clearly the best bless.

[SelfishGene]

I'm rather torn on blesses.

OTOH, i hated Dom2s "build your SC" uberlevel gameplay. But i'm fearful Dom3 will be just a matter of spamming masses of the best 9/9 sacred troop by contrast.

I really do like how good sacreds, national troops, can beat all but the buffest SCs. It's just that they're really good against most everything else.

Maybe sleeping Pretenders need to sleep for two years instead of just one?

[Jazzepi]

I really don't understand why people are so bothered by sacred troops. On a properly sized map, because they can almost always only be produced in the capital, as the game wears on the blesses becomes less and less potent.

Sure starting out next to a guy with W9/F9 bless sucks when he blitzes you, but that's part of the game! He's giving up good scales, and early access to his pretender for some awesome early game units.

Jazzepi

[MaxWilson]

Don't blesses become obsolete as the game progresses? What's the difference between a W9 bless on a sacred unit and a Quickening spell on a regular army, except that the Quickening spell costs gems? B9 bless is similar to Strength of Giants (+4 Strength) except for the death curse, and S9 is somewhat similar to Will of the Fates (Twist Fate vs. Luck). There's no bless that's as good as Fog Warriors or Marble Warriors. Blesses are very easy to use and are great in the early game, but later on in the game the ability to cast battlefield enchantments on arbitrary units (either cheap chaff or powerful summons) should be just as good as a high bless[1] and costs zero design points.

-Max

[1] At least in set-piece battles. Blesses are less logistically cumbersome--casters and gems--and are probably better-suited to raiding parties than most battlefield enchantments are.

Edit: corrected misstatement about S9 bless/Sword of Aurgelmer.

[Morkilus]

Xietor said:
Fire is clearly the best bless. E9 is not one of the best. 4 prot? That means zip really. Especially when you are being hit by f9 blessed troops with 2 attacks.

N9 is also very good, mostly because regen plus berserk is very powerful.

Water is good on some units that need the quickness.

Air needs help, earth needs help, Astral 9 needs help. never play blood , so no input there.

D9 is "ok" but d9<f9 imho.

Why don't you play the game the way it is first, discuss what may or may not work with some experienced players and maybe win some MP games? You can't be taken seriously when you haven't even played with every path and come in here spouting suggestions for "improving" the game.

[Xietor]

I do not play blood for rp reasons, it has nothing to do with experience. And I have played a ton of mp games.

I also view that reply as a personal attack, rather than one addressing the merits of the argument.