Fantasy Friday XVIII - Battalion Formations

[blackfang]

Originally Posted by Justin

If they read this they will know what it means and despise you

hey don't worry you will fall for it too I however will be laughing as i hack my way through your army

[otomotopia]

I just did some of the really basic math here...

Orcs can have 30 men archer battalions that do 50 damage per man, not counting upgrades. A single battalion of Goblin Prowlers can put out 1500 damage in a volly, not counting archery upgrades.

That's alot...

Not to mention that with Group Charge and in battle formation, Raiders run at 70.56, do 91 damage, AND can evade all projectiles. Archers are screwed.

Sentry's do a whopping 420 DAMAGE a hit in upgraded Wind formation.

That's a two hit, nearly anything's dead combonation.

Just some fun facts i've seen based on raw data from the unit features and the percentages we've seen here.

[sneaky_squirrel]

Very interesting, it is a shame lvl 10 armies will hopefully be rare to see in the MMO ;p.

[Josh Warner]

Originally Posted by otomotopia

I just did some of the really basic math here...

Orcs can have 30 men archer battalions that do 50 damage per man, not counting upgrades. A single battalion of Goblin Prowlers can put out 1500 damage in a volly, not counting archery upgrades.

That's alot...

Not to mention that with Group Charge and in battle formation, Raiders run at 70.56, do 91 damage, AND can evade all projectiles. Archers are screwed.

Sentry's do a whopping 420 DAMAGE a hit in upgraded Wind formation.

That's a two hit, nearly anything's dead combonation.

Just some fun facts i've seen based on raw data from the unit features and the percentages we've seen here.

The percentages aren't finalized by any means, right now they're designed to give people a good idea of the formations role, they'll be tweaked to fit it. Also - you're forgetting armor. I don't remember the exact numbers for all the abilities/units, but that 1500 volley in practice is going to be a very small fraction in the neighborhood of a few hundred. And you have to remember - archers do not have perfect aim, you'll rarely if ever hit the unit you actually target and they've also got the chance to miss completely and damage nothing, so all of this damage is going to be very spread out.

I applaud the way you thought about the numbers though, I think like that too.

[otomotopia]

Originally Posted by Josh Warner

The percentages aren't finalized by any means, right now they're designed to give people a good idea of the formations role, they'll be tweaked to fit it. Also - you're forgetting armor. I don't remember the exact numbers for all the abilities/units, but that 1500 volley in practice is going to be a very small fraction in the neighborhood of a few hundred. And you have to remember - archers do not have perfect aim, you'll rarely if ever hit the unit you actually target and they've also got the chance to miss completely and damage nothing, so all of this damage is going to be very spread out.

I applaud the way you thought about the numbers though, I think like that too.

Thanks

I'd think balance would be in the back of Reverie's mind until beta actually hits, and then it will become second most important issue. It sounds like you guys have some issues with network coding and the server side of things. Balance tweaks are easy to ballpark, so I think that Rev will probably assign only a few guys to fine tune that come third beta-working on crashes is more important to a community then working on balance.

[Alex Walz]

We have a couple guys who will be doing some QA work for the upcoming build, but yes, most of the QA will be conducted during the beta.

[wills370]

Sounds great and the unit formations sound like they have diffrent aspects of stratergy in them. The elves seem to as descrbed before have the best mellee/formations in the game. I think they however with there fatigue will need careful planning to keep them from being out manouvered possibly switching units during combat to suit diffrent situations by a means of rotation. (could be intresting if this micro management could be implemented during a large siege).

With regards to the humans they have the most range and look to be the most diverse fighting unit so they will be the choice for the most flexible player.

Hmm which to choose......

[GPS51]

I like how formations give the players a chance to do something in battle rather then simply click attack and sit back and watch. It keeps people working for the win rather then simply pumping out troops and using mass attrition.

[Justin]

one more reason for the elves, be lazy, don't bother changing formations during battle.

[nickson104]

Originally Posted by Andy Joslin

Elves are completely helpless while transitioning, yes. Elven combat styles are not to be used as on-the-spot battle decisions, but instead before the battle as part of your plan.

So theoretically... The elves have the least adaptability to a situation unless they already know the enemies forces and are able to prepare for them...

Mid-battle they may be surprised by reinforcements to the enemy and are trapped in the wind formation whereas really they would be best in the rock formation...

The elves it seems will require far more planning than other races, their units are fewer and more expensive, its possible they could get overrun... Their battle plans must be made in good time before a battle, they will have a lower adaptability in the battle.


Also i have a question... How does the sneak ability work? Is it button click then unlimited invisibility (probably with speed reduction) until they strike a unit?
I think that it should be very short time, probably 10 seconds, and if they are close to the front of enemies they should be partially visible...
Oh and if the arrow trajectory system is as highly advanced as i suspect, is it possible that even sneaking enemies could be hit by stray arrows shot at other battallions?