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While we are all hoping for things like AI improvements or additional content, what kinds of simple tweaks to the game balance would you like to see made in the next patch? Now that we all have a few games of Warlords under our belt, I'm sure we have some ideas.
Here are a few that I would suggest
-Buff the shopping mall: the mall comes oh-so-very late at refridgeration. It's main benefit is +10% commerce. Other UBs such as the Mint have been providing their host civ with +10% commerce for centuries by the time the mall comes into play. There is also a happiness bonus for hit singles, et al, but I typically don't find happiness to be much of a factor that late in the game. I would either leave the UB as is and have it replace the grocer, or give it a stronger effect to make up for it's late appearence.
- Buff the Gallic Swordsman: The Gallic Swordsman is undoubtedly the weakest of the new UUs in Warlords. A truly miniscule Guerilla 1 bonus would be weak on it's own, but it is made even less exciting by virtue of the fact that the UB conveys the exact same bonus. Granted, it doesn't do so to melee units such as the swordsman, but it is still extremely boring. Moreover, compared to similar UUs (Praetorian, Berserker, Samurai, Jaguar), it's benefit is minimal. Even the Jaguar has at least a certain strategy to utilize to great effect, but the Gallic Swordsman will never be more than a generic swordsman with cool artwork. So the combination of being overly weak and boring to boot makes this unit doubly damned in my opinion.
-Buff the Odeon: Another horrible UB. The thing about the odeon is that it replaces a building that isn't that great in the first place and is rarely worth it's cost in shields, the colosseum. Beyond that though, it's benefit is negligible compared to other UBs. It grants a bit of extra culture, the ability to turn one citizen to an artist, and +1 happiness from hit singles. None of these are benefits that can really impact the game in even a minor way. It is modestly useful if going for a cultural victory, I will grant that. But when playing Alexander a cultural victory is usually one of the paths least travelled. As for the +1 happiness, it comes too late to be even worth mentioning. I would probably ditch the hit single bonus and grant an extra +1 happiness the second the odeon was built, and perhaps increase the effect that the odeon has on the culture slider which is a potentially intriguing benefit, giving Alexander a strong weapon against war weariness. Another alternative would be to give great artist points without needing to commit an citizen to being an artist. Either of these would be interesting buffs.
-Buff the Mausoleum- The mausoleum is the one UB that is absolutely, undeniably inferior. It's bonus is +2 happiness...which is fine except for the fact that the hammam has the exact same benefit and is available many centuries earlier! The Turks get the +2 happiness benefit for literal ages before the Indians get theirs at Constitution. The manual mentioned the mausoleum giving great prophet points, while this was eventually removed, at least it would have given it something to differentiate it from other UBs. One option might be to have it give a free priest in addition to it's happiness bonus. This could give the Indians some strong synergy with Angkor Wat and at least make the mausoleum somewhat strategically interesting.
There are some other changes that I am on the fence about. I do understand some of the wishes to nerf the trebuchet, it does seem very strong for it's time period. I would also consider buffing the citadel, but I haven't played with it enough to give a definitive judgement. The ikhanda is the one UB i would consider nerfing. It is extremely powerful, and available at the beginning of the game. But again, I haven't used it enough to say for sure.
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Here are a few that I would suggest
-Buff the shopping mall: the mall comes oh-so-very late at refridgeration. It's main benefit is +10% commerce. Other UBs such as the Mint have been providing their host civ with +10% commerce for centuries by the time the mall comes into play. There is also a happiness bonus for hit singles, et al, but I typically don't find happiness to be much of a factor that late in the game. I would either leave the UB as is and have it replace the grocer, or give it a stronger effect to make up for it's late appearence.
- Buff the Gallic Swordsman: The Gallic Swordsman is undoubtedly the weakest of the new UUs in Warlords. A truly miniscule Guerilla 1 bonus would be weak on it's own, but it is made even less exciting by virtue of the fact that the UB conveys the exact same bonus. Granted, it doesn't do so to melee units such as the swordsman, but it is still extremely boring. Moreover, compared to similar UUs (Praetorian, Berserker, Samurai, Jaguar), it's benefit is minimal. Even the Jaguar has at least a certain strategy to utilize to great effect, but the Gallic Swordsman will never be more than a generic swordsman with cool artwork. So the combination of being overly weak and boring to boot makes this unit doubly damned in my opinion.
-Buff the Odeon: Another horrible UB. The thing about the odeon is that it replaces a building that isn't that great in the first place and is rarely worth it's cost in shields, the colosseum. Beyond that though, it's benefit is negligible compared to other UBs. It grants a bit of extra culture, the ability to turn one citizen to an artist, and +1 happiness from hit singles. None of these are benefits that can really impact the game in even a minor way. It is modestly useful if going for a cultural victory, I will grant that. But when playing Alexander a cultural victory is usually one of the paths least travelled. As for the +1 happiness, it comes too late to be even worth mentioning. I would probably ditch the hit single bonus and grant an extra +1 happiness the second the odeon was built, and perhaps increase the effect that the odeon has on the culture slider which is a potentially intriguing benefit, giving Alexander a strong weapon against war weariness. Another alternative would be to give great artist points without needing to commit an citizen to being an artist. Either of these would be interesting buffs.
-Buff the Mausoleum- The mausoleum is the one UB that is absolutely, undeniably inferior. It's bonus is +2 happiness...which is fine except for the fact that the hammam has the exact same benefit and is available many centuries earlier! The Turks get the +2 happiness benefit for literal ages before the Indians get theirs at Constitution. The manual mentioned the mausoleum giving great prophet points, while this was eventually removed, at least it would have given it something to differentiate it from other UBs. One option might be to have it give a free priest in addition to it's happiness bonus. This could give the Indians some strong synergy with Angkor Wat and at least make the mausoleum somewhat strategically interesting.
There are some other changes that I am on the fence about. I do understand some of the wishes to nerf the trebuchet, it does seem very strong for it's time period. I would also consider buffing the citadel, but I haven't played with it enough to give a definitive judgement. The ikhanda is the one UB i would consider nerfing. It is extremely powerful, and available at the beginning of the game. But again, I haven't used it enough to say for sure.
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Get TWO free guerilla improvements, so they can jam around on hills (and get guerilla 3 for hill city attacks with a barracks):
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to all above stuff about UBs.
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