Any chance of improving tactical engine?

[Sombre]

No improvements to the tactical engine are planned. You won't see any requests or suggestions for such things implemented either. It's at the core of the game and they just don't update stuff like that, sorry.

Then again that's true of 99% of games that are even patched. The core doesn't change, you just get a few tweaks. Dom3 after release support is already FAR better than with most games, but we aren't talking about a beta or work in progress here. The game is finished, it just gets patches.

[moderation]

Hmm... are you one of the developers? I would like to hear their opinion on this. If what you say is what they would say though, I'm a little disappointed.

It doesn't seem that difficult to add a command like "advance in formation" or "advance at the same speed", or "don't charge in ahead than your comrades and get killed pointlessly", but then again, maybe it is. Even a cheap workaround like zero cost spell that reduces a squad's movement to a specific number for the duration of the battle would help.

Actually, to expand on that idea, I think there could be quite a few other interesting zero cost "tactical spells" that commanders could cast in order to issue orders to the troops. This might solve some of the problems, and even add some more realism as your extra commanders would be ordering or directing your troops instead of just sitting in the back waiting for the end of the battle. Not a perfect solution of course, but it seems one way of approaching the problem without the extra work that redesigning the UI might.

While I love the game's depth, I don't love the micromanagement required to accomplish some basic tactical goals.

[AdmiralZhao]

1) I think that as you play more you will see that the micromanagement of mortal troops becomes progressively less important as a game goes on. Except for the indie expansion phase, the magical aspects of combat tend to dominate the battle. So by the time you have lots of troops and commanders, you won't have to worry about every last heavy infantry since you will be worrying about things like Shadow Blast, Darkness, and Army of Gold. Of course this introduces all sorts of the magical micromanagement problems, but that is at least a different can of worms.

2) A simple way to get this effect is to put your fast troops behind a wall of slow troops. In practice, I find that my armies have only one or two types of troops, which makes it fairly simple to have everyone arrive where they need to on time.

[Shovah32]

If you would prefer your troops not to advance at all, consider setting some on guard commander with the commander scripted to holdx5(or fire x, if he has a weapon with a good range) and then stay behind/fire. Make sure he has good armour/shield/air shield/appropriate resistances depending on what you're going to fight.

And the chances of the engine getting updated are low. There are alot of things you can't do in it, and that can get annoying at the start, but you really do get used to it.

[ArkhanTheBlack]

Hmm, isn't there a post of leaked patch 3.16 info that they want to replace the current combat system? If it isn't a joke then that's definitely a huge change.

[moderation]

Ehh, I'm not sure if real time combat would reduce the need to micromanage units on the battlefield, but it would be... different.

[capnq]

ArkhanTheBlack said:
Hmm, isn't there a post of leaked patch 3.16 info that they want to replace the current combat system? If it isn't a joke then that's definitely a huge change.

The replies to that thread expose the "leak" as a poorly written hoax.

[vfb]

Shovah32 said:
If you would prefer your troops not to advance at all, consider setting some on guard commander with the commander scripted to holdx5(or fire x, if he has a weapon with a good range) and then stay behind/fire. Make sure he has good armour/shield/air shield/appropriate resistances depending on what you're going to fight.

Guard Commander is great! It's perfect for your light infantry with javelins. They will throw them when they have the opportunity. You can have your commanders behind a line of heavy infantry and set on Hold/Attack/Hold/Attack/Hold/Attack or something similar.

You can also use Guard Commander to move your troops backwards and sideways, to pull enemy arrow fire where you want it (if the enemy is using Fire Closest), or even to get enemy flankers pulled into the middle of your army.

The one thing you need to be careful of is that commanders move first. So using this on flankers or frontline troops is dangerous because your commander will charge out ahead of the troops and will most likely get whacked first when the enemy moves.

[moderation]

"You can also use Guard Commander to move your troops backwards and sideways, to pull enemy arrow fire where you want it (if the enemy is using Fire Closest), or even to get enemy flankers pulled into the middle of your army."

Hey, thanks for the idea, this seems really useful. I can see how the Hold/Attack pattern would be good for keeping a rein on your overeager troops.

However can you explain how to get your commander to move backwards and sideways using this technique? I would think retreat might work for moving backwards, but I am guessing that this would pull the troops off the field with you.

[vfb]

The commander normally does not move backwards or sideways Well, he can move sideways and forwards together. He can also move backwards or sideways when chasing enemies, but it's difficult to base any real plan on that kind of movement.

You place your troops in one spot, and tell them to Guard Commander. They will march to whatever the location of the commander is.

So troops at the top of the formation will march down to the bottom if that's where the commander is.

Troops at the front will move to the back, if that's where the commander is.

If you place the commander at the very back and Hold x 1-5, attack rear, then your Guard Commander units will chase from wherever they are to the commander and join him in his charge forwards.

If you place the commander at the very back and Hold x 1-5, Stay Behind Troops, then your Guard Commander units will chase from wherever they are to the commander and join him as he moves forward to behind your main army group.

Here's an example:

RR are squads on attack rear, GG is smaller infantry on Guard Commander, C is a few commanders on Hold x 5, Attack Closest; or Hold x 5, Stay Behind.

Code:

---

........RR................

..........................

..........................

.........GG.......II..AA..

.........GG.......II..AA..

..........................

..........................

C.......RR................

---

Enemy infantry II will chase your GG, allowing RR to attack enemy archers AA. The archers AA locks fire on GG, possibly even advancing without firing as GG moves out of range. GG turns around and engages II at the same time RR reaches the Archers.

And this is not even theoretical, I really have used this in MP games, and it worked. Some of the time .

Admittedly, it's also early game tactics. As AdmiralZhao notes, pretty soon the right Battle magic is much more important.