Scripting Issue - Specifically Retreat Command

[WraithLord]

While I fully sympathize with your situation I'm not sure I would like to see this fixed by way of completely ignoring retreat on assassination attempt.
It may happen that for equipped mages I'll prefer to sea them die while retreating rather than risk the assassin get their items. I think the retreat command should be more specific, always retreat and retreat except when defending life (vs. an assassination attempt )

[Endoperez]

Assassins that stay after battle are quite weak ATM. I thought scripted retreating was already disabled from assassination battles, and IMHO it should be so.

I wouldn't mind assassins stealing items from mages, because recruitable assassins are currently very weak. Summons, like Earth Attack or such, will die after battle and they won't return the items to the caster, while the few assassination-causing globals would be pretty nifty if the Furies or the members of the Wild Hunt stole items from those they killed. Being killed should remove the items from them, of course.

[NTJedi]

I don't like how retreating means instant death during an assassination attempt... it just doesn't make sense. I'm sure there's been plenty of times in history when assassination plots did not succeed because the target ran away.

Suggested Improvement:
What would be a nice change is if your commander/mage ends up retreating during the assassination battle then it would have to run past the assassin and escape the battlefield. If successfully getting past the assassin then the commander/mage retreats into a neighboring friendly province.
My suggestion is not perfect, yet it's definitely an improvement. Perhaps we'll see a change in DOM_4.

[Tuidjy]

I dislike many things about assassination, and instant death on retreat is
probably the main one. I can see it for the assassin, but I certainly cannot
understand why it would be the case for the victim. I think that it comes from
the fact that many, significantly different events are lumped as 'assassinations'.

There should be no retreating from a nightmare, or a horror/elemental attack.
But retreating from a mundane assassination should just mean that the target
flees the province. I would also allow the assassin to flee, if there is a
friendly province nearby. Of course, he would have to fight the enemy army
during the magic phase before he does that. Yes, it would mean three battles
per turn for some assassins. The more, the merrier.

Oh, by the way, the one thing that really pisses me losing really powerful
mages because their five bodyguards were killed. Although I have to
admit that the assassin had huge fear, and maybe it spread just the right way,
and the mage flew because of that.

[Saulot]

NTJedi said:
What would be a nice change is if your commander/mage ends up retreating during the assassination battle then it would have to run past the assassin and escape the battlefield.

This would make Caelum unassassinatable (is that even a word? heh, probably not), and so would be way too unbalancing, not just for them, but air nations in general. Not to mention the various other flying SC's and thugs that are in need of a good trip to a wetworks facility.

[Tuidjy]

Hmm? You think that SCs are prone to being assassinated, right now? And who
scripts SCs to retreat, anyway?

[Saulot]

You have a good point Tuidjy, it's not likely a situation that comes up often, but I imagine it's possible, as Assassins can be equipped specifically to deal with a known specific SC or thug-type.

Anyway, Jazzepi does.

[Jazzepi]

Tuidjy said:
Hmm? You think that SCs are prone to being assassinated, right now? And who
scripts SCs to retreat, anyway?

The AQ in question wasn't really an SC. She was just carrying some gear to keep her alive, a staff of storms, and a bunch of gems.

The one that teleported in by herself without the shimmering fields backup to do damage. She was an SC.

Jazzepi

[NTJedi]

Saulot said:
This would make Caelum unassassinatable (is that even a word? heh, probably not), and so would be way too unbalancing, not just for them, but air nations in general. Not to mention the various other flying SC's and thugs that are in need of a good trip to a wetworks facility.

It wouldn't make Caelum immune to assassinations, only the commanders/mages setup to instantly flee. If you have all your commanders/mages in Caelum setup to instantly flee you're probably not doing very well in MP games or SP games.
I approach game design by logic... and logically a flying mage scripted to instantly flee should escape an earth elemental assassination. If the assassin is another flyer then the game should be designed where one flyer has to run on the ground past the other flyer. Thus both flyers walk once a retreat occurs for game balance. I doubt we'll be seeing a change anyways, but instant death while fleeing doesn't make sense.