TotE - Dwarves

[Bahototh]

Does anybody know....Are the dwarves getting a balance fix in TotE?
It seems that many players online play with "No Dwarfs" rules. Surely this points to the dwarves as slighty owerpowered.

[Jolly Joker]

The number of guard post defenders has been halved from
10*townlevel*month to 5*townlevel*month.
Moreover some unit stats have been changed. For example: under 2.1 the Rune priest has att 10 def 9 dam 14-18, Health 70, speed 3, init 9 and shots/mana 5/25.
In ToE that changes to att 9 def 9 dam 14-17, Health 60, speed 3, init 10, shots/mana 25, which is one less attack and max damage and minus 10 Health for +1 init.

[Dabrinko]

I always thought that the amount guard post defenders was REDICULOUSLY high. Not that I complained when they were the only ones left in the campaign (or a map, I don't remember) once.

[Omega_Destroyer]

That is discouraging about the guard post being weakened so much. And it's not the priests who are getting weaker, it's the patriarchs. I wonder how many more Fortress units are going to be weakened. Do you know if they are going to "balance" out any of the other factions JJ? And do you know if they've changed the Brawlers' stats at all? I can't imagine them getting any worse, but I'm curious none-the-less.

[Jolly Joker]

Brawler has not been changed.

[Omega_Destroyer]

That's a drag. Thanks by the way.

[aaelgr]

I always thought that the amount guard post defenders was REDICULOUSLY high.

It's the main thing about Fortress that irritates me (well, after the fact that Brawlers are awful. Can't believe that they aren't going to do anything to them!).

[Dabrinko]

Man, the Brawlers/Berserkers are only good for one thing.

Taking the hits. The AI seems to go for the Brawlers exclusively.

And they die really fast.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Agreed. They are very similar to Genies, Hell Hounds, Blood Maidens, Skeleton Archers, Archers, and Pixies when it comes to being targeted.

[Orfinn]

The exclusivisity should be more spread amongst the creatures. Not focused so much. Its not particulary challenging in a fun way, just frustrating IMO. I mean, what the fun to use them when they die so fast that you cant envy their uniqeness. Like..I have to do alot to enjoy the very cool berserk ability for the Berserkers. Seeing them fall by ranged freaks all the time or drugged magic users aint helping much.

[Omega_Destroyer]

I'll never understand why they made them a higher tier than the bear riders. It would have made a lot more sense to have it the other way around.

[Orfinn]

Yeah. But the excuse I guess, is because of the horde dwelling and somewhat..slightly higher stats, though they are as said dying much faster than black bear riders.

They have weakened the Rune partiarchs? Is it me or are Ubival trying to creep in a somewhat unfair stats for the old upg while making the new ones way better. Examples.. the alternate to the berserker, the alternate to the patriarch etc...

[Omega_Destroyer]

I've gotten that feeling too, especially after playing the demo. Take the griffins for example. The Battle Griffin has 52 hit points, better Attack, and I believe better damage. The Imperial Grifiin is at 35 hit points and has 5 more Initiative. It's very hard to pass up on an upgrade that has better attack, damage, and 17 more hit points, all for the same cost. Additionally, look at the Cerebi and Fire Hounds. The Fire hounds have a wider area of attack for just a small loss of damage. Why would I choose Cerebis over them now?

[Jolly Joker]

Not THAT hard. Initiative IS important.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Oh I know. I don't use Battle Griffins because of that and the lack of Battle Dive, but it's easy to see how a lot of people are going to find some upgrades worthless in most situations. Look at the Centaur Nomads and Marauders. If you look at the stats and abilities, there really isn't any exucse to use the Nomads.

[tumorbane]

Agreed. They are very similar to Genies, Hell Hounds, Blood Maidens, Skeleton Archers, Archers, and Pixies when it comes to being targeted.

War Dancers, not pixies, but your point is correct.

[Omega_Destroyer]

I've found Pixies to be targeted a lot more than War Dancers.

[PhoenixReborn]

If you look at the stats and abilities, there really isn't any exucse to use the Nomads.

Sure there is. They hit harder.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Having +1 damage and 2 extra shots up on the Marauders is not much of an advantage. Ammo carts eliminate the shot bonus, so all that really leaves Nomads is with +1 damage. That's not that great when compared to +1 hit points, +2 Defense, and +1 speed the Marauders have up on them. Plus No Melee Penalty is superior to Manuever. More often that not, your Centaurs will be engaged. If you have them protected, they won't have anywhere to run to if a fast creature attacks. At least with the Marauders you won't suffer half-damage when forced into that situation. Besides, when manuever does kick in, usually the Nomads do not move to a safer location.

[PhoenixReborn]

Then you also have those advantages when you fight against them as neutrals.

I absolutely agree that there are some choices that are clearly superior.

However there are also some interesting choices.

For example the vamp alternate loses no retaliation (powerful) but has a chance to paralyze an enemy for 3 turns. It is a greater benefit but it doesn't always work.

Another choice that I find interesting is crossbowmen/marksmen. Crossbowmen are all around better generally but the marksmen may be better for AI abuse, taking advantage of precise shot.

You can't always afford the time to retrain units.