Forge unit upgrades. Kicking strategy up a notch.

[Beatooze]

Mr. O

Lets start this proper, love the game and have been pleased for a long time. I have an idea for more options and I need to drop you a line in hopes that you agree or at least so others can rip it apart to make a better idea later.

The idea is simple. Unit upgrades. Let me walk you through this.

I research sentries. What do I get. Yep sentries. In a tier 1 world that is the end of it.
What if: I go back into the forge click on sentries and 3 options appear. I can only research 1 of the 3 in this city.
1) archers: adds archers to the sentry unit making them more effective vs mounted (not as good as lancers but better then they are now, and no were not adding actual archers just the fluff of the upgrade title.) increase cost by 20 trees

2) heavy armour: research into plate armour has made this unit harder to kill. (Bump effectiveness against all targets by a bit. Not as high as archers but half as good as they are now on top.) increase cost by 20 iron

3) battle tactics: superior planning has lead to an elite attack force. (Adding sentries to any attack force slows them down but gives the unit the benefit of combat medic OR causes the sentries to attack first before the rest of the unit OR it just increases their effectiveness on the offence side of war.) increase cost by 20 clay.

1 option that can take a unit to a more focuses lvl of game play. Numbers are not my game that is all you. The cost increase was just a way of showing options. With each unit having 3 options, each upping cost or population or creation time, you give players the ability to build strategies that flow. No one should ever attack with sentries. This makes it possible. Why would anyone keep zerks on defence? Maybe they have a counterattack turning the offence into defence at the increased cost of 1 time use.

I don't know how deep options can go but simply increasing cost to allow for more focused options sound easy and a good way to keep people excited.

The numbers are static. Lancer cost = x, defence mounted = y. Upgrade cost = (z+x), defence mounted = (w+y).

Players love options, I just think we want more out of our knights after we get guards. Or more out of our lancers and sentries after we get guards.

Hey thanks for reading, if this does not make it to anyone's ears at least I wrote it and spoke my peace.
Beatooze w14 - w211

[AriesLord]

I really like this idea. I especially like the idea of being able to research armor or weapons for particular units . Regardless of an opponents defense I find myself decimating my opponents with mostly zerks. Weapon and armor upgrades would make an attack potentially more effective and on a defensive end less predictable

[MyName999]

Go on a 3-level research world, it's quite equivalent

[Beatooze]

To make it clear, on an L3 world this would be with the L3 research, not instead of it.
In an L3, when you up a lvl it increases the base stats of the unit but ultimately it's the same unit.
At mid game everyone has L3 troops and nothing changes from an L1 world. No variety no options. What I propose is a new angle, a twist on normal combat. This upgrade makes this unit better then it was at ----. Keep people on their toes.

Thanks for reading;
Beatooze.

[Mosser]

I miss the lv3 worlds. It's so lame they got the boot. If they ever release another world with more than one research level I'm going to be the first one there

[Greyhigh]

I like how simple the game is now. Hopefully it doesn't get changed.

[Aethlstan]

3 level worlds still had variety. We all think we have the best strategy and we all think its just common sense but the truth is we find out that everyone else has strategies they think are the best. Not everyone researches lvl 3 units...lors of people i know only go to level 2 or research lvl1 for all their units... it depends on how they want to play. Do i think its stupid not to go to level 3? Yes. But others think im stupid for not having a larger variety of units in my cities.

Thats a little off topic but i just wanted to say that everyone approaches their city builds differently even though we all believe our way is the best way (or we wouldnt be building our cities like we do). So there is some variety in 3 level play.

I do like the idea of unit specializations. OP, your idea would allow me to further advance my strategies and id enjoy that. There are, for all intents and purposes, 5 units you can face in combat. Rams, ballistas, scholars and scouts do have an effect but either dont do damage or rely on the other 5 units for support to be effective. Either way, when attacking or defending there are only 5 units i really need to worry about and i know exactly what each unit can do. Not really knowing what the enemy specialized in can throw in a little guesswork into the equation.

The only issue i see is balance. It can be hard to effectively balance stuff like this, and could result in everyone building only 1-3 units, because everything else is too weak to be worth it. It could drastically change the game and might drive people away. Interesting idea though, it would be cool to see how it worked out.

[Beatooze]

The biggest issue would be balance, but even now it is hard to say that valor had balance. Mostly I just wan that little bit of awe that comes with planning an attack that will undermine someone else's "perfect build". My idea is simple to add and uses very little play testing to balance the kinks. I'm just looking for a way to get more use out of my units. Helping other gamers that love to build strats and crunch numbers find more love.

The idea that it could chase people away, well I never thought of that. Adding that into this idea mean that the upgrades need to be well laid out so that every person can find it easy and fun.

All I can do is lay the golden egg of inspiration, the many others will need to cook the idea into a happy omelette. Yep I'm hungry.

Thanks for reading,
Beatooze

[Zoom]

I am curious if your idea would only apply to main cities or also to barbarian cities.

[Zoom]

I am curious if your idea would only apply to main cities or to our barbarian cities as well.