Reply To: "Some Necrosavants"

[Sekata]

@hruza

Let me clarify. They aren’t units I can’t handle. I’ve gotten to the point in-game where they aren’t a concern across different campaigns. I have started and restarted so many games that I’m perfectly happy with my merc band being generically named “Battle Brothers”. My issue again is risk vs reward. For the damage that they stand to cause to your group they are seldom involved in quests that give comparable rewards. They are the BB equivilent of stepping on a lego piece when you wake up at night to use the restroom. I don’t hate them because they’re difficult. I hate them because they make the game unpleasant with the frequency that they spawn. You’re not doing anything that I’m not doing. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. “Just because I disagree with you on their balance does not mean that I’m bad at the game or can’t handle them.”

Let me put this in perspective for you.

I’d rather fight the 5 necrosavants on day 39 of a bad playthrough.

I’d rather fight the mercs.

I’d rather fight the 22 strong noble house unit.

I’d rather 5 geists scream at me and send my front line running.

I’d rather a goblin skirmisher 2-shot my heavy with a dagger.

I’d rather a necromancer buff a fallen hero and smash my front line apart.

I’d rather an orc warrior plow through my front line and 1-shot my pikeman.

I’d rather get up at night and step on a lego.

Because these things are not every other encounter, and their unit designations actually tells you clearly what equipment they have. Bandit marksmen are not impossible to handle, but they make early/mid game an unpleasant slogfest. More frustrating is the suggestion that the only way to deal with them is to use a single perk on every brother and play my game EXACTLY the way another player does.

The spawning rate of bandit marksmen takes the game from play and manage well to “pray and manage irritation” when the beginning of every fight starts with 5 of them killing one of your units even when the unit is just some level 1 farmer.

There are dangerous things I love in this game for their style and the dimension that they add. The fact that necromancers now have bodyguards is amazing. Between that and the fact that they can now buff zombies, they are actually dangerous in game. I love the ghoul rework, they can actually kill your units if you aren’t careful where before the enemy type was just boring as hell. I love orc berzerkers. If they get close enough to you and obliterate your brothers plate and all, it’s entirely your fault. 4-5 units killing me on spawn from bad map generation is something I love one hell of a lot less. Especially when I see them. Every. Other. Fight.

And no, you haven’t only been going off of what I’ve said. Several times I have said that handling them itself not the problem. Several times I have said that taking loses and managing risk are part of the game, and you’ve repeated them back to me as though the thought never crossed my mind. My issue is the frequency with they spawn and the risk vs the reward. The AI is not on an even playing field with the player and the field is not in the player’s favor in my mind. This game is not a history sim. It is a game, something designed and coded for entertainment. If I was entertained by gambling, I’d download poker. If I wanted a romp through history, I’d pick up a book. I’m sure a detailed search would show plenty of anachronisms, least of all being the designation of “knights” without lands or horses. We won’t even get into the giant green men running around cutting horses that you never see in half and the little ones riding wolves.

The game could stand for reasonable tweaks. I’ve seen worlds spawn where the most common or valuable trade good is peat. I’ve seen worlds spawn where the most expensive trade good is amber but every other village sells the same thing and it’s hard to get rid of. If villages spawn in one biome more than others, you’ll get a very one sided list of contracts and potentially enemy types. Games do not release in a perfect state. Not in the age of indies, early access, 3 man teams, and and titles that live on after the initial development phase through patches.

The entire reason i joined this forum was because I was under the impression that devs wanted feedback on features and balance. That’s exactly what I’m doing, and exactly what I’ll continue to do. If they decide that marksmen are exactly where they want them, then fine. Their authorial intent on tone and challenge trump every preference I or any other player has. Otherwise I’ll agree to disagree with you. The game needs a balance patch. I stand by that.