new mod: nation balance mod

[Turin]

I have created a new mod that aims to improve all the weak themes.
This mod tries to improve the balance between the different themes of a nation. The aim was to have each theme as powerful as the base theme. I have only improved weak units and made no nerfs, so all your favourite strategies are still viable. Hopefully the really weak themes(e.g. barbarian kings, blood of humans, iron faith, return of the raptors) will now be a viable choice if you play to win.

In addition I reduced the gold/gem cost on some obviously overpriced units/national spells.

It´s intended to be played with all of zen´s mods and my hero mod. It probably won´t work well with Sabercherry´s mod.

edit: uploaded version 1_1, added cheaper militia/light cavalry, raised wailing lady to 7 gems and golden era arco units now cost less resources.

edit2: version 1_2, added resource and supplymultiplier, priest lvls on windlord and minor nerfs to caelums mages.

edit3: version 1_3, removed a few of the mage buffs and buffed a few troops, fixed moose riders, reduced researchbonus on sages to 3.

edit4: version 1_4, now with horses!

edit 5: version 1_5, tweaked jotun infantry by making jotun axe armorpiercing, removed a lot of unpopular mage changes, reduced goldcost on some more worthless troops.

edit 6: version 1_6, reworked weaponchanges, lots of changes to underused troops, added resourcemultiplier 200%, made cavalry 50% faster, increased mapmove on all light infantry to 2.

[Nerfix]

Care to list some changes?

[Turin]

just open the .dm file with a texteditor.

probably the only thing that isn´t selfexplanatory are the magicpaths which go as follows:

magicskill 0: fire
magicskill 1: air
magicskill 2: water
magicskill 3: earth
magicskill 4: astral
magicskill 5: death
magicskill 6: nature
magicskill 7: blood
magicskill 8: holy
magicskill 9: unholy
magicskill 50: random
magicskill 51: elemental random
magicskill 52: sorcery random

so #magicskill 5 2 means that the monster is a lvl 2 deathmage.

[Turin]

uploaded version 1_1

thanks to Boron and qantum_mechani for their constructive criticism .

[Endoperez]

I'm not sure why Knight of Avalon gets Standard. They are so fast that other units are left behind, Bards already have standard and as Man doesn't have any other mages that could be recruited anywhere there is little risk in putting them to the front and having them cast Song of Bravery.

The Tuatha now have, if I understand the commands correctly, A3N2H3 and LINKED trued random 2. Did you intend them to have King of the Deep-like magic?

Base Ulm got a big boost. Improved Black Knights for 50 gp? Smiths with F1E3# can get F2E3 and Magma Eruption or whatever that powerful AoE spell was, E4 guaranteed and common E5 with boots, ability to get +1 Earth to battles with Earth Power (also gives reinvigoration), and they seem to become quite powerful battle mages. Those with Air can do Eyes of Aiming for others, ones with Quickness use Earth Boots and Earth Power to cast more spells while still not getting too much fatique. Most if not all earlier versions helping Ulm just gave smiths one elemental random, making them F1E2#, but as you have helped other nations as well I'm not sure if that would be enough.

Black Forest got more magic. Illuminated Ones got pick of blood, and Members of the Second Tier became assasins with high stealth (+25) and better magic (S2D1B2). Sanguine Heritage can be casted by the new MotST, as it only needs B2D2. This theme became much more powerful in many ways, and those who dislike Ulm's lack of magic already play it more than the base... Atleast, that was the case long ago when there was a poll about unused themes. Maybe you should up the cost of Rangers a little?

As for C'tis and Poison Slingers, I would have increased range of the weapon. Cheaper Slingers are just as hard to use as the expensive ones.

Raven Guard's description could be slightly changed:
"The Raven Guards are the sacred elites of the Raptor Clan Caelians. The members of the Raptor Clan aren´t cold resistant and dislike the icy armor used by other Caelians. Raven Guards don plate cuirasses in battle. They fight with dagger and sword, a deadly combination."
They should also get a helmet of some kind! They should also get increased defence, because their weapon choice isn't very good. That, or them Bane Dagger (I think Machakan mages have it, but it can be modded if it doesn't already exist). Or maybe make the weapons cause Disease, as per the Destroyer pretender (Shephers of Creation, will appear in DomIII; Nataraja with plague bow and thunderbolt, air and death).
Illwinter has mentioned that the theme has been heavily changed for DomIII, and that the changes have made Return of Raptors not only thematic, but also fun to play. I don't know what these changes are, but I suspect the addition of the Destroyer pretender has something to do with it...

[Turin]

thanks for the feedback.
the knights of avalon get the feedback, because it´s right there in their description: "the knights of avalon radiate confidence and resolve" , so it´s mostly a cosmetic change.

I just changed the fire to elemental random on ulm´s smith, so now they have e2 1 elemental. I doubt the buff to black knights is unbalancing, they are still extremely weak to magic.

I thought the tuathas were a bit lacking for a 390gp mage and found the tuatha theme to be worse than base. But in version 1_2, which is coming soon they get 1elemental, 1 sorcery.

I might have overbuffed black forest, it´s my favorite theme, but the mages were pretty useless before. I`m against weakening national troops even more, maybe I will up the cost of sanguine heritage.

good suggestions about the raven guard. I have upped their defense and lowered their encumbrance. I think the current description is ok though.
It´s quite clear that they don´t wear the ice armor, because they aren´t cold resistant.
bane daggers would be too powerful though. They are flying and with a f9 bless they would mean instant death to any thug/low def SC.

[Endoperez]

Oops, it seems I missed the fact that Smiths lost fire. A good compromise, I'd say.
Black Forest got improved a lot, but I'm mainly worried about Sanguine Heritage. It is very easily accessible now. I wonder how fast Fountain of Blood pretender would allow vampire thugs to appear...

Raven Guard: the description is quite clear, but it strikes to my eye as too short for an elite soldier, especially for sacred elite warrior of a renegade race of Caelumians. Not very smart reason, but it wouldn't hurt...

[PDF]

Has stg been done for those poor TC mage guys (base and BK) ?
And had the Seraphs been nerfed, or their cost increased ? After all, "balancing" should be done both ways ...
(Note ; right now I can't D/L the file on my work computer ...)

[Turin]

the celestial masters got base astral 2 base in all themes and the master of the dead now costs 100gp and has d1 1random.

The seraph nerf was very minor: higher encumbrance, one less hp, one less prec, less leadership. I wanted to give them a lower mapmove, but that doesn´t seem possible for flying commanders.
I´m not sure what the correct price for them should be.
I feel it would be the job of a spell mod to balance air magic/frozen heart.

[Nerfix]

Turin said:frozen heart.

Damage 10. An ordinary human unit has more.