Next week we expect to release an update to Fallen Enchantress. That update will be available to existing users of Fallen Enchantress and it will also be the first version available for sale on Steam (Beta 4-A).
The plan is to put out Beta 4A and then collect as much feedback as we can. Seriously, NOW is the time to ask for stuff (within reason) because when Beta 5 comes out (next month) we’ll be in feature lock-down. No new features until after release.
Now, we have a few questions for you guys:
(1) How do you think we should refer to this game? Elemental: Fallen Enchantress or just Fallen Enchantress?
(2) You can already go to www.fallenenchantress.com btw to go right to the page.
(3) What sorts of additional magical spells would you like to see us add before release that aren’t already in the game?
(4) What sorts of additional quests would you like to see?
(5) Random events – yes, we have them but we don’t have a lot. Now is the time to suggest them. Ideally, ones that don’t require crazy amounts of work.
(6) I will be needing your help on strategy for the AI. When you play Fallen Enchantress on Challenging (anything below challenging has the AI gimped to various degrees) you’re basically playing me. As some of you know, Fallen Enchantress (like GalCiv but unlike WOM) will make use of your multi-core processor. Every AI player gets their own thread. Long story short, I can do some terrible, evil things with the AI. But I know there are players who are just far better at this game than I am. Please feel free to make posts discussing your strategies. I am not ashamed to steal from you.
(7) If you have not already voted, please please vote in the journal poll: https://www.elementalgame.com/journals We use this data.
(8) Modding time is almost here. We have tried to make it hard to mod so far but the time to turn off the network data stuff is nearing. Here is what I’m thinking: http://screencast.com/t/5IyRz7XY. (9) Before anyone asks, no, you can’t transfer your FE serial to Steam. I can’t go into the details on why this is so don’t ask. Just assume it has something to do with gold plated rocket cars or something.
(10) The Fallen Enchantress budget is 2.2X the budget of War of Magic. We hope people like what we’ve been doing here. I know it’s been a long journey but it was important to us that our most loyal customers, you guys, knew that we were dedicated to making sure our fantasy strategy game was nothing short of awesome. Beta 4A has a lot of nice things but I think you guys will be surprised how much we were holding back for Beta 5 (for testing purposes mind you).
(11) I can’t tell you who the Fallen Enchantress is. But you can probably guess.
(12) The campaign, which isn’t in the beta (for spoiler reasons) was designed by Jon Shafer and written by fantasy author Dave Stern. It plays quite a bit differently from the sand box game. The idea was to give players an idea of what could be done via mods as well as give players a fun campaign experience that wasn’t just a bunch of sandbox scenarios. I do want to emphasize that the campaign is made with the same tools players will be given and they will be able to make their own and share them.
(13) While Fallen Enchantress will be available on Steam, it won’t require it.
(14) If you don’t have War of Magic, skip it. We’re going to discontinue it (we’ll still support it for existing customers for the long haul and may put out another update later this year). Fallen Enchantress is a lot closer to what we had in mind.
(15) If you have Windows XP 32-bit, you can get better performance if you enable large address awareness.
I take my vote back. This is an excellent point. Leave Elemental in there.
Yeah, I agree keep elemental in the name.
Reviewers will know for sure and mention it no matter what, leaving elemental out of title just gives them a point to use against you. "StarDock chose to leave out the name elemental for fear of association with the horrible mess that was E:WOM...."
Moreover realistically speaking this game is quite niche, almost everyone buying it will already know its link with WOM . For the few who doesn't , the name doesn't matter at all.
The only possible way I can see this could play out that might "help" when leaving out the name is for some guy who played WOM or had heard of it and had bad memories of it, stumble upon FE, buy it without realising the link..... Someone who wouldnt have bought it if he knew the link.....
Do we want to be that dishonest? Arguably lie by omission to get people into buying stuff?
Hey there! Been a while since I posted, I was going to soon though to tell you how awesome the progress has been since last time I was playing. Very happy with the direction of the game.
Change the name to: Elemental: Redemption
That way it has a double meaning, and the redemption may be related to a so called fallen enchantress no? Immediate: Balance the faction and hero creation system, there are numerous useless traits. Also, Juggernauts, Golems, and Slaves should be worked into faction traits not race traits. Fix the save game bug. I can't play through a game to completion until this is fixed. When the option to manually place buildings is selected, you have to double click a building and then place it, it does the sound effect first and its unclear if I am upgrading a building versus placing a new one so I make mistakes. Short Term: I want more random events too! More on that soon. I'd like outposts to protect my improvements. Basically, anything I station (or defenders who are in the outpost due to upgrades just like city walls) will automatically defend improvements in their zone of control. This would be fantastic and really help manage protecting our borders. Furthermore, outposts should cost gold, a little maintenance money, and their upgrades should cost gold and simply auto-build... I really don't like them as part of the home cities que. Fix Pioneers... there are a million ideas on this I'm sure you will pick something good. My short list suggestions: 1: Force cities and outposts to be built contiguously with your zone of control. Have outposts cost gold. 2: Have Pioneers be much more expensive, but able to build multiple outposts or roads or resource improvements (without using city que), but sacrifice when making a city. 3: Have Cities cost 100+ gold. Long Term: Have outposts be upgradeable to castles that even have their own build que. They become stone, produce army unit (allbeit slowly) and basically can have many options similar to Starbases from GalCiv. This would be a nice mid-late game way of manufacturing units while continuing to develop your cities, I think it is fair as long as it costs significant money to do. It will be a big loss if you lose a Castle! Tech that increases the number of enchantments allowed on cities by 1. Boats! I want island maps and simple ship battles. Spells: -Raise Land/Lower Land should have upgraded versions where you can create water and mountains. Can't case on cities. -A spell that forces a monster to move away three tiles or attack your enemies! -A spell that turns forest into some sort of monster that attacks nearby things. -A spell that locks the movement of an enemy during a tactical battle. -A spell that levels one of your units? Or increases HP permanently? I like the idea of using magic on my elite armies... to be more elite. Random Events: -Bandit Hordes: 2 Dozen Bandit armies are released on the map! This could happen early game and not be too big a deal, shouldn't bother with it mid-late game. -Winter of the Ages: land turns to snow for X turns, everything, including roads, is slowed significantly, making war difficult. Units not stationed in cities or outposts take minor damage over time. -Earth quake: Creates new mountains/etc. -Magic Wake: For X turns all spells have their mana cost reduced by 25% and do double damage.
1) use Fallen Enchantress
2) More reason to use Fallen Enchantress
3) More controlling magic - Pull, Push, Stasis, Confuse, etc.
I would also recommend you revisit how MOM handled spell levels. I do not like the current system where magic users have to level up their spells when the character levels up. At level up, the Path of the Mage should choose more powerful spells (+dmg), more mana efficiency, or be harder to resist. This will separate a mage from a warrior even if the warrior has access to the same spells. So force the player to choose max spell level at start up or through research. Anything but during champion level up.
4) Quests should be the only method to obtain new champions. This allows you to write a story for each. Allows for more in game quests without weapon proliferation. Finally, the mighty champions just look silly standing still waiting to be picked up or be killed.
5) Random events could be used to unleash mobs in the late game. I remember an early design thought from your team... What happens when a group of would-be heroes accidentally unleash a dangerous monster on your kingdom.
6-14) Looking forward to trying the campaign but I expect to be in the sandbox quickly.
15) I'll pay $1-$5 for 64bit DLC if it means bigger maps, more enemies, more units, art, etc.
In closing, Thank you! Seriously, Thank you for seeing this game through to the end. It would have been much easier to cut your losses and move on but I'm glad you didn't.
1) Fallen Enchatress
3) More summon spells like ( skeletons, ghouls, zombie etc some powerfull ones)
4) More chain quests (epic, with epic reward) maybe in some dungeons/labirynths. Escort/ find/ kill/ collect type quest.
5) FE need random events > invasion from other plane/world like in Warlock<deamons attack/ undead rise. Riot in city>. New neutral minor factions who will attack or join player<neutral unit>.
Add from beta 1 item system> Legendary (gold), epic (purple), rare (blue), uncommon (green), common (grey) items ! Add new monsters, beasts. Add more unique items ( i dont wana collect 4 frost spear in a row). Add armor sets for each faction and champion class<mage/warrior/archer etc>.
We got steam key or we must buy another copy(FE) from steam ?
I like seanw3 ideas: https://forums.elementalgame.com/429993
Ugh, I didn't think Gamestop still had their thumb on Fallen Enchantress due to the timing. Sucks.
Some of the other indie devs I support have been distributing limited amounts of discount Steam coupons for their previous supporters that request them. Would that still be feasible under the mysterious limitation?
I realize there's a lot of 'baggage' associated with Elemental WoM
However I feel that you should keep the Elemental name for a few reason
1) Continuity. They're in the same universe, so I don't see any issues with keeping the name
2) Branding. While few people refer to Skyrim as "The Elder Scrolls V" I think it's still important to have that universe have a coherent branding.
3) Long term dedication. To me it shows that your team is dedicated to future installments of the game. Yes the first one was... underwhelming. But any series is going to have good and bad things. What I hope is that the "Elemental" series will be a long term franchise that I will look forward to for decades. To me keeping the Elemental name is at least a 'feel good' that this will be the case
I think the "Official" name should be Elemental: Fallen Enchantress
The "Unofficial" title will be Fallen Enchantress/FE. Not really that different to how people tlak about the Elder Scroll Series.
As I said, I'm looking forward to this game, as to more future Elemental games as well!
Spells are still bland compared to MOM
1) Summon spells - These are obvious I leave you to come up with.
On average 2 for each level path of magic eg Fire apprentice gets 2 summon , Fire Mage 2... Plus a few mixed types
2) Meta-magic
Essence shield - Strategic - sacrifice one essence of the city - Dispel all existing enemy city enchantments, city is now immune to all enemy city enchantments. All allied units fighting in the city gain 50% resistance to magic
Essence barrier- strategic - castable only in city, sacrifice one essence in the city, dispels all negative enchantments on target unit in city , target unit is now immune to all spells (super high resistance to magic, plus immunity to damage by targetted spells).
Essence shield - tactical - castable only for battles in city, all spells by enemy units are automatically dispelled unless resisted up to number of essence in the city. VARIANT - CITY ENCHANTMENT
Essence shield superior - strategic castable only for battles in city, all spells by enemy units are automatically dispelled (no resistance) up to number of essence in the city. VARIANT - CITY ENCHANTMENT
Essence blast - tactical - castable only for battles in the city, sacrifice one essence, all enemy units resist or die.
Essence resurrection - tactical - castable only for battles in the city, sacrifice one essence, resurrectin all allied units to full health, all allied units gain full health.
Variant of these spells could be normal non-essence versions but would be stronger if there are essence available to be used in city.
Some standard non-essence spells
Mana wall - Tactical, all spells cast by enemy units will be disrupted unless resisted, lose x2 mana cost of spell from mana pool whether spell is disrupted or not
Mana barrier - Tactical, all spells cast by enemy units will be disrupted not resistable, lose X4 mana cost of spell from mana pool whether spell is disrupted or not
Fire (water, life etc) Screen - Tactical, all fire spells cast by all units will be disrupted unless resisted, lose x2 mana cost of spell from mana pool whether spell is disrupted or not
Magic resistance - strategic , Target unit gains 30% resistance to magic
Magic protection - strategic, Target unit gains 100% resistance to magic
Magic immunity - Strategic, target unti gains 200% resistance to magic, cannot be damaged by spells.
Mass dispel enchanment - strategic, dispel all enchantments (allied and enemy) on target city
Disenchant area- Tactical, dispel all existing spell effects (positive & negative) on all (allied and enemy) units
Disenchant area superior - Tactical , dispel all existing spell effects (positive & negative) on all (allied and enemy) units
Disenchant area supreme - Tactical dispel all existing spell effects (negative or those cast by enemy units) on allied units and all exiting spell effects (positive or those cast by enemy units) on enemy units
Ok first off Distance yourself as far away from WOM as you possibly can. I would completely take out the word Elemental. Just call it Fallen Enchantress.
Now when marketing it make sure you say "From the makers of GalCiv2 and Sins of the Solar Empire" DO NOT in any way shape or form even mention WOM. I know a few people that won't even try this game because WOM was so bad and put a bad taste in thier mouths. Even though I tried to tell them that Gal2 was a great game (and I hear the Sins is too.)
I would like to see a user friendly tool way of creating Champions. Monster, Abilities, Spells and Magic items without having to go into the programing and messing with a bunch of files. Maybe this could be added to a mapping tool (ala: AOW:SM) Hell a whole set of user friendly modding tools would be nice.
Tactical Battles - Yes to me this is very important. I would like to see the terrain in the TC map to mean something. Also if fighting in a Outpost or city then have the map reflect this to include walls and gates which affect the combat. (a.l.a. several games: AOW (all AOW games, MOM, and many more. Bigger TC map would be nice and for those who don't like TC you still have Auto-resolve.
SHIPS AND SEA UNITS - I know you guy are afraid of water for some reason. but you are dismissing a large chunk for the map that is useless. Not to mention that sea battles can be fun. Not sure why you can't have units with a Water Walk ability. Water should be no different than any other terrain.
Basically you can have a different movement ability for different typ of terrain. Fire Walk for walking across Lava, Flying for moving over mountains (and in Tactical combat city walls if they are ever implemented in the game) Water Walk for moving across water. And Walking for most other land terrain. Most 4x games ave this type of set up. And based on technology learned you could have access to these abilities in the Custom unit section. And you could give multiple walk abilities to a unit (if you had the gold to buy it
Random Events: Put as many as you can in. Some great idea are in this thread. Hell it would even be cool if you had a Alien invasion event (Tech vers Magic.)Maybe have a race from GAL2 invade the world.
Spells: If you play D&D (any version the best being 3.5 of coarse:) pick up a Players handbook or any of a hundered book of spells for the game to see the possibalities of spells you can put into the game.
Like others have already said, I don't really think that is going to fool anyone who is already aware of the game, and the new audience that Steam brings with it probably won't be aware of it either way.
There won't be a single review that doesn't mention War of Magic, and the whole backstory to the game, if for no other reason than it's a good way to fill a paragraph towards a word minimum. So anyone looking for a review will be clued in. Anyone not looking for a review won't care, they're buying it because it looks good to them.
It just comes down to whether you want to sell a turn based strategy game to strategy fans and war gamers calling it E:FE, or FE.
In my opinion, Elemental:Fallen Enchantress (I prefer Elemental 2: Fallen Enchantress) sounds like a fantasy turn based strategy game.
Fallen Enchantress sounds like something my little sister would play, possibly with ponies.
Since you asked to see things into the game here is a request. Don't know if it will be simple or not.
Request for feature:
I know many probably won't play this mode, but since you have such a lively monster environment could you make a sandbox mode. That is no opposing nation to play against, just you vs. environment. Beef up the monsters rage against you and with the victory condition to clear all wildlands. An event after a certain number of turns is to have the wildland creatures go on the rampage and try to destroy your cities with stacks of monsters.
1) Fallen Enchantress
3) Need more summoning spells
4) Quests that reward a new building. We have quests that reward items, troops, resources, spells, etc., but none that reward new buildings that I know of. I've suggested this example before of a peddler with a seed that can grow into a money tree when planted in the city. The money tree is basically a building that produces 1 gildar per level of the city.
I would also like to see some of the heroes come with animal/monster/army sidekicks. Each hero should have a unique trait, item, spell, or sidekick.
I don't know if anyone is doing this or not, I haven't seen it.
It would be nice if, in the various suggestion threads, one of the devs would signal whether an idea was being considered or not.
We would understand that it would not be a guarantee it would make the game, but just an acknowledgment the devs saw and liked an idea would be nice.
There are so many great ideas being floated and it would be nice to know for sure if the devs a. see them and/or b. are considering them.
Thanks again for your efforts!
it really won't make a difference if you change the name to just fallen enchantress or have elemental: fallen enchantress every reviewer is going to compare the two titles. So despite your best efforts there will be comparisons, it may be best in my opinion to keep the elemental in the name and be honest that this is a followup to the previous title.
Be honest.
Yipes! Only one month?
Here's my response:
(1) "Elemental: Fallen Enchantress" should be the title. 'Elemental' because it's all about the magic shards...and essence now, but magic! 'Fallen Enchantress' if there is actaully a plot or storyline about one. In addition, the plot or storyline shouldn't exist only in the campaign...it should also exist to some degree in the sandbox mode so that users can choose how they want to explore the game. So far, and while I haven't played end-game yet, but I'm assuming there is one...something in the storyline where this 'fallen enchantress' caused the great cataclysm or something...and plans to finish the job....and it end up being your job to stop her.
(3) - (5) Please see my thread at https://forums.elementalgame.com/429562. It has a few specific suggestions for spells and quests and stuff, but many of the suggestions are more conceptual in nature, hopefully directed towards really improving the game in several key areas. Don't know if you'll have the time to consider or fit them all into the next beta, but I hope you'll at least give them a read.
(10) Really looking forward to beta 4A...though I wont' be getting it through Steam. I assume it'll be available for direct download aswell. In addition, I hope a hardcopy of the game will be available for purchase (willing to even pay if additional funds are needed for a copy to be mailed out to customers). That said, I'm pleasantly surprised that you've only priced the beta at $40. As such, I hope your 2.2x costs are compensated and then some. You deserve it for all the work that's been put in.
(11) - (12) Again, it sounds like you plan a campaign mode with a 'fallen enchantress'. I'm really hoping that the sandbox mode also include a strong campaign aspect. Out of the first 200 seasons, I have yet to see one and am hoping that the final result has one strongly woven throughout the game in order to encourage the rpg side of the game. Without seeing the results of course, I currently have very little interest in playing this game as a campaign and hope the sandbox mode includes plot, storyline, rpg, questing, empire building, cutscenes throughout, and more.
(15) I run win XP 32-bit and have yet to see the game perform poorly, though my machine is far from sub-optimal.
Really looking forward to what's next in store for us in beta 4A. Keep up the good work!!
Just as an initial post (I don't have too much time right now, sorry! I promise to give some feedback on the AI strategies and more in-depth spell lists later):
More summoning spells, and "no-limit" summon spells (ie. the caster can have more than one summoned unit of this spell-type). I think that there are good mana "dump" spells, but there are few viable summon spells. Some thoughts:
- Lower tier summons should not be limited in number per caster. The reason: they are hard to maintain in the early game but lose usefulness later because of their paucity (the "one-per-caster" limit).
- There should be a greater set of "ultimate" tier of summoned units. Summons that are near the power of the best custom soldier group. These summons should be limited at a "one-per-caster" limit to balance their power.
- All magic spheres should have a low-tier and high tier summoned unit. Some other magic tiers can have more to add spice to them (ie. earth could have a sand golem summon, and a mud golem type of summon).
Random events are exactly what the game needs. I will try to post a list of a few events for you guys to use (with disclaimers that I do not want any credit for the events and that they are officially property of Stardock entertainment to avoid any legal issues) later. Random events are the perfect medium to introduce new monster lairs and champions to recruit as the game progresses. Currently, the late game ends up with too few of these special "goodie" huts after the initial expansions.
What would necessitate "not too much work" with the random events, just as a point of reference?
Once the game comes out (after the beta is over that is) you should be able to register the game on Steam without having to buy it again. I do this with most my games that I don't get on Steam
seconded - I like this idea.
Thanks for another great Update, Frogboy! I am very much be looking forward to Beta 4a, next week!
To add my voice, to accolades that many here have already given you: You guys have obviously worked hard, for a long time; and the game keeps getting better and better! Thanks for all your hard work on this! I think your good work will be rewarded with substantial sales, and a solid franchise income ... Brief answers to some of your questions:
(1) I would vote for retaining the full name: Elemental: Fallen Enchantress. It is set in the Elemental universe; and I can't see any value in trying to disguise, or dismiss, it's relationship to Elemental: War of Magic. As someone else said (Bingjack, in Reply #61), if you just call the game "Fallen Enchantress", it sounds like a game my little sister would play ... possibly with pastel-coloured ponies ...
(3) & (4) With regard to additional magical spells and quests, I leave that to others to suggest. Honestly, I already consider the game to be feature-rich in this regard! Beyond that, dozens of other interesting suggestions have already been made by the earlier respondents to this thread.
(5) Random Events - I do concur on the view that there are not presently enough; and more would be a valuable improvement. But again, I defer to others (more imaginative than I) to make those suggestions.
(6) Improved Strategy for the AI -- whatever you, and some of the brightest minds in these forums (seanw3, for one) come up with ... Please just remember to keep the easiest levels easy-enough for newbies, and more casual players, to enjoy. Obviously the more challenging levels are necessary too. (The hardcore players on these forums will keep reminding you of this.) Just don't forget the more casual players. If you can win them over, your eventual sales figures could sky-rocket ... and take you far beyond the niche market that most 4X games have inhabited in recent years.
(7) I voted Excellent for the Beta 4. Previously, I had voted Good, for the Beta 3. The improvements you have made have already raised this game to Excellent, in my opinion. There are still a lot of bugs that need to be fixed -- so many, that I seriously hesitated, and almost kept my vote at Good. Fixing the bugs -- as soon as possible -- really needs more attention, in my opinion!
(8) Unleash the modders ! ...
(9) Okay ... I am guessing that Steam sales will make or break you guys; and Steam likes their quasi-monopoly practices enough, that you pretty much had to agree to give them the opportunity for New Sales Only. So be it ...
(10) & (12) Love to hear that you have: more surprises, more features, and more "hold-backs" that will be appearing in Beta 4a. Smart Move too ! Exceeding expectations is always a smart move ... and if you can do this again, when the Campaign is released, so much the better! Great news, BTW, to hear (or get confirmation of the fact) that Jon Shafer and fantasy author Dave Stern have key roles in the creation of the Campaign game!
(13) "While Fallen Enchantress will be available on Steam, it won't require it." That is the RIGHT and RESPONSIBLE thing to do! Another Smart move ...
(14) I, for one, don't own WoM; but I've never entirely written it off either. Frankly, if you provide one or more future updates, I might actually purchase it!
Thanks for asking for feedback, and for keeping the Beta-testers so involved! You guys rock!
Frogboy.
Whatever you call it (E:FE, FE, E2:FE) this game is not ready to be relased to the wider public even as a beta.
You're calling for a final suggestions and then feature freeze to balance, but the game is simply not good enough. It is level 3 sovereign, that cleared local bandits, facing a forest drake. You need to buildup an army to face it. It is a dangerous world outside.
Quitting FE comparison. I understand you bet your money on WOM, and loose it. So you regrouped, hired more people, doubled the stake and gamble again. Take a long week off. Think it over. Why gamble? There is still time (unless there isn't, but if so, the famous 'when it is ready' is just a trash talk) to fix what's broken. Polish what's in already, until you get an universal opinion, that the game is great. Then you'll just have to win.
Try to relase a Beta 4H or Beta 4K or whatever, until you reach the point there will be less then 10 reports daily of broken UI, crash to desktop, freezing game, corrupt saves, missing or not working features, game breaking abusable AI.
Add a some final bits (like a good tutorial), and then start Beta 5 with a wider public. You'll still get plenty of feedback, and a positive reaction on top of that.
Judging by what you managed to do you need three months more to reach Beta 5 if you release updated build every Thursday.
You don't need reports of broken game at the final stages of beta. Even if you triple the size of the caveat on the loading page, that this is a beta and may contain bugs. Nobody will bother buying on release a game that was broken/unplayable or whatever inflated opinions flood the forums and reviews just before going gold. Remember you got a reputation now of delivering broken games on release. Scratching Elemental out of the name won't change it.
1)
I initially would've voted for removing "Elemental" from the name. However, after reading some good counter points above I now believe you should keep the "Elemental" in the name.
5)
How about a travelling merchant/caravan (I suppose caravan might make more sense since given the setting, the average merchant's not going to travel alone) for a random event? What does he/she sell? I'm thinking some of the more irregular items (in limited quantities) you normally have to find but can't produce on your own. For weapons and armor I guess the offering needs to scale depending on what turn # it is? Or maybe track the players' tech progress?
I'm not sure what you classify as easy to do but I can think of multiple ways of implementing it. I'll list it from what I think requires the least work to the most work.
a) When the event triggers, your sovereign immediately enters the shop screen and gets only that one chance to make his/her purchases.
b ) Actually have a travelling merchant/caravan travelling around that make that you can talk to in order to pull up the shop screen.
c) Same as b) but you also have the option to attack the caravan and loot it (not sure if we would want to implement some sort of temporary consequence for the criminal activity). Rewards would be some gold and some of the items that were being sold.
Edit: Forgot to thank you all! The devs, the beta testers, and the rest of the community. FE is shaping up quite nicely. I also like that new building reward suggested further up. It could be finding architectural plans or reverse engineering some ruins (which reminds me of the Settler's II campaign where you can start building fortresses once you discover the ruins of one!
That reminds me. The new tactical AI movement behavior is fatally Kite-able.
I was going to make a thread about it, but I'll address it here.
At first, I was really impressed with the new Tactical AI movement, the way it wouldn't just run headlong into your waiting swords, but instead would creep up a square at a time until it could cover the distance to you in a single move and strike first.
Unfortunately, a side effect of this is it is now even more kite-able than before. I've been able to do some really cheesy stuff, like killing Obsidian Golems solo with level 2-3 characters and basic weapons, by simply casting regen, and chipping away using hit, run, and heal tactics while it creeps along at one square. Or Kiting Wildland Unique Mega-Bosses solo by staying out of their reach and just hammering them with Storm, while they creep along. Or wait until some idiot casts Berserk on himself, then laugh as I dance around him and he slowly dies.
This is to say nothing of someone with an actual ranged weapon.
The cautious approach is probably good for the first few turns or so, but afterwards they should be trying to actively close the distance at all times, unless you can make it smart enough to calculate how many moves you have, and make it smart enough to determine on a turn by turn basis if you can reach it, if it goes full move. But I know that's asking a lot.
I'm also of the opinion that all tactical spells effects should have a duration in tac battles, and not be indefinite. Cheap perma debuff spells like Blind can let you take out much higher level monsters than you should be taking out solo, by just chipping away at them for days, while they miss. Likewise Blind cast on one of your low level champions whose accuracy is still in the 60's, is effectively a death sentence without reprieve, because there's no way you're hitting anything else that battle. It's these kind of perma effects that let you get away with cheesier tactics against encounters that should be over your head.
I even wonder if the buffs you come into the battle with, like regen, should only work for ten turns or so, so that if you can't win a battle in that amount of time, you probably shouldn't be able to win it by exploiting those effects for another 30 turns.
1. I like Elemental: Fallen Enchantress as it is.
3. Tactical summons and spells affecting the entire battle area, like prayer and counterspell from MoM. Overland enchantments are also really cool, like 'Eternal night' or 'Holy Crusade'.
5. For random events I like events that give boni more than those that give penalties. -50% something just slows the game down. 2x mana from shards for a short period creates an interesting period.
(1) Elemental: Fallen Enchantress. As someone said, everyone will point out the link on the reviews.
And again, I would like that you put some tactic back on the tactical map. Zone of Control (it is needed on the strategy map too), flanking, surrounded penalty, terrain bonus or penalties, penalties for casting or using ranged weapon n close combat, all of this would bring a whole new life to the battles.
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