I dont think population growth will ever be available but a neutral single-target unit return could be, like the goblin spider rider, return unit to deck, return gold/population.
Maybe a settlement could gain X population based on the race, one time
It would change how the score is calculated. You score is how many people left alive as a ratio of how many were in the map at the start of the game.
What we could do is have some super powerfull hero that converts bodies in graveyard back into civilians.
My main suggestion is a neutral deck, with upgrades for all factions. Gaining population was just an exemple of what might be done.
Maybe some kind of âMercenaryâ deck? Or we could call them Outcasts, Wanderers, something that explains why this faction is everywhere?
Iâm not sure if using non-units cards would work. The devs would have to add a whole new system for it. Itâs certainly possible, but the system would probably have to be introduced first.
We could, however, use a system of âgeneralâ units for all factions who use similar upgrades (So instead of âtown gains x benefitâ, you have a unit with either a passive buff or ability with âtown at this location gains x benefitâ)
We could also possibly use that deck for the super-heroes.
Some possible units for a neutral deck (or just for factions):
- A unit which stops Mana pools from being plundered. This would have to be balanced carefully: to prevent players from getting screwed by timers it would be something like âpool canât be blighted for 24-48 hoursâ with a short cooldown. Costs would be very high (40-80 mana maybe). This means itâs either a massive resource drain, or a good motivation to protect that pool conventionally.
Also, the pool would gain a âcorrupted buffâ, which means that A: It would stop producing mana, and B: if the âprotectionâ buff wears off while it has this buff, it gets blighted instantly regardless of any zombie presence. It can be removed if a living unit moves onto the pool. This prevents cheeky players from simply pulling the zombies off without having to âcleanâ it first. - Alternatively, the buff cripples the boss when it comes out: Think 24-48 hour stun, not allowed to use ability for 48 hours, or strength to 1 for duration of buff (so it relies on an escort). Again, heavy price, short range (1 or 0) with a long cooldown.
- A unit which can reset the recruitment/deployment timer. Kinda like the Gnostic Mage but for making units/heroes. Possibly AoE or repeatable for a super-hero.
- A unit which can transfer a set amount of population. Similar purpose to the Pirate or the Elder Shaman, but in small chunks and you keep the income. Of course, that makes the target settlement ever more juicy.
- One that has been discussed earlier: A unit which allows you to turn the civilian population into military strength. Be they militia units, inflicting losses while blighting, or another method.
Thatâs the abilites I could think of that other âfactionâ heroes donât already do.
Here some mercenaries ideas
-A diplomat which reduce cost of conscripting cities (maybe a good move). Maybe a spell to buy with a cost based on the city cost to conscript
-A trapmaker. Let you place traps on the map at 1 league. Trap do minimal damages, and pin enemies for some time (like 3h). Stay in place for one day or so
-A card that turn a number of citizen into a caravan, that can be return to citizen in a non blighted city of their race.
-A cleanser that unblight a city, letting you move caravan to that city. Might even be able to put any race in the cleaned spot (not only the same race as before).
-A taskmaster that increase the gold production of the city he is in.
-An arsonist that trap a city. If the city is attacked soon after the skill is used, inflict damage on both citizen and attacker.
1 Like
Could be a bit iffy to balance, but I like thie idea!
Not sure what the point of this one would be. The value in towns lies in their civ population, who provide recruits and money (and in fortifications, but they work either way). Unless you need to move the last town of its race in the area, iâm not sure when I would ever use it.
Wouldnât people just spam this guy everywhere Since there is almost no negative besides the initial cost? Unless there is a decent mana costs (in which case, we already have a number of units which can make gold).
+1 for this idea, if only so you can maniacally laugh every time you use it.
Neutral non-champion cards make sense, simple stuff like building a wall or digging a trench, assorted traps or spells.
Oh, I like the idea. My issue is more that you first need to make the system which actually allows those cards.
I think it would be easier to just allow us to pay a gold/mana fee to âupgradeâ existing cards with additional abilities, and some of the abilities would just be universal.
That too. And itâs a system the devs are already working at.
Refering both to the idea of neutral units and resurrecting units; how about instead of a unit that can be used by all races, for there to be two. For the humans, elves and dwarves an angelic hero called the Valkury that resurrects dead warriors and for the orcs, trolls and goblins a demonic hero called the Ifrit that opens a portal forcing cursed souls to reinhabit the dead.
Lorewise, this would work real well in several fronts. The Valkury is a norse myth about angels taking the souls of fallen warriors to Walhalla where theyâll feast until Ragnarok begins. Then, the Valkury will take them back to fight the forces of the apocalypse. Sounds like itâll fit with whatâs happening now. And the orcs seem to worship fire, so Hell might be their heaven and demons their angels.
How I imagine it, but feel free to change anything: The Valkury can either 1. bring fallen warriors back to life from a battlefield for a high mana cost (so if a Thousand humans warriors fell and she uses her skill, a Thousand warriors will rise again. The immortals who were warriors before wonât be resurrected though.) or 2. summon a troop of warriors at a lower mana cost on regular intervals without requiring population.
The Ifrit opens a portal that would either allow 1. bring back the fallen of a graveyard all at once like the necromancer but fighting for the living, or 2. produce a constant stream of zombie-ish horde more numerous than the Valkuryâs but once the portal opens he can no longer move or the overall strenght/h is lower.
And in regard to the moving cities thing + the Goblins being weak (Is it really hard to be green thread), the Goblins already seem to be living in caravans, how about giving them the standard option to move all their cities if wanted? They canât produce troops during the move and itâll be slow, but all Goblin cities have it right away without needing hero cards.
To clarify: are we talking about moving population between cities, or moving the city as a whole? because the latter might cause some issues since you would be changing the map itsself.
Yes, moving the cities themselves. I know this would indeed prove a challenge for the programmers, but if you restrict it to only roads and meadows and only the Goblins (whose cities are already all caravans) it might be doable. Alternatively, the Goblin race might be altered instead, making their cities a kind of unit rather than a landmark, if that would be easier
Maybe instead of a city youâd have a âgathering pointâ or something, with 0 population but a unit of Goblin Civilians instead. And that unit has a passive ability (taxation, gives money every x hours) and a special ability (recruit). It would also function as a banner unit.
That way you wouldnât have to alter the mechanics, only create a new Civilian unit, and it would fit pretty well lore-wise and mechanically.
I also quite like the recruitment/ressurection ideas, though they would have to be balanced so as to be more expensive than just recruiting new units. Maybe give them a stacking debuff after each resurection?
[quote]I also quite like the recruitment/ressurection ideas, though they would have to be balanced so as to be more expensive than just recruiting new units. Maybe give them a stacking debuff after each resurection?
[/quote]
Yes, from what I can tell itâs more of an unit for when the civilians are getting sparse because you only have a few cities left or when youâre in endgame and want to bolster your score back up. So making it more expensive shouldnât be a problem. Alternatively, it should also nerf itself; the Valkury requires fallen warriors and it requires it fast(every 3 hours it doesnât resurrect the battlefield more warriors will rise as immortals and will be lost) and the Ifrit will be on one place: you need to weight the advantage of an immobile unit being near the frontlines against placing it somewhere where the soldiers will take some time to reach the battle.
[quote]Maybe instead of a city youâd have a âgathering pointâ or something, with 0 population but a unit of Goblin Civilians instead. And that unit has a passive ability (taxation, gives money every x hours) and a special ability (recruit). It would also function as a banner unit.
That way you wouldnât have to alter the mechanics, only create a new Civilian unit, and it would fit pretty well lore-wise and mechanically.[/quote]
That would work, maybe make the civilians neutral units gathered at the rallying point who join you when you gain it. It would allow you to send multiple Goblin troops to multiple places as civilians, but they would need to be at a rally point to be trained or taxed.
You mean the Valkury will boost zombie risings if it isnât actively resurrecting people? Because that would be an interesting mechanicâŚ
That would be my idea, yeah. It would be the same as the current fortresses and their âgarrisonâ units.
Also, wouldnt requiring the rally-point for taxation and training sort of defeat most of the point of being able to move your cities?
No, I didnât mean that. I meant that the longer the battlefield is left alone, the more zombies will rise from it and thus wonât be resurrected by the Valkury. But it does indeed sound interesting. That way, we could make the Valkury a lot more powerful as well to compensate.
[quote]Also, wouldnt requiring the rally-point for taxation and training sort of defeat most of the point of being able to move your cities?
[/quote]
Well no, because the population could be extracted allowing you to save some people from cities that are lost anyway. Right now you can only train units until the cities are empty or have them rise from the dead later. Rushing to cities near immortal hordes isnât a good plan right now unless you can send enough people in time to fend them off.
Ah, that does make more sense 
True, that alone would be a good use of it. I was thinking more about the fact youâre still stuck to specific locations on the map, which seemed to run counter to the whole mobile cities idea.
On the other hand, it would stop players from using this too much (it would also mean youâd sacrifice potential production when moving), and prevent clever buggers from just hiding their population in a corner of the map (or worse, right behind the zombies)
For that matter: Perhaps it would be a good idea to make the actual moving civilians a neutral unit, and only let the player give them a target city. That would mostly prevent people from doing cheesier things like moving their civvies just outside a gathering point until the zombies are gone/dead, then just walking back in.