Traits need a new Pass/Review

from Elemental Forums

Honestly, many of the Traits used when designing a Faction are either redundant or undesirable even if only being used for "flavor"

I'll detail my thoughts on each and would like to know if I'm spot on, or whether others have a different PoV

Also disappointing in a new expansion that while some Traits have been tweaked, not a single new Trait has been introduced

Devs, it could also be fun to have a button for creating a random new Faction adding a different kind of challenge for players.
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Adepts/Civics/Warriors; I find all of these "free techs" to be flavor only as they're really just a targeted free handout of research points.  Wasted selections IMO.

Archers; Desirable Pick, too bad you also don't get an inherent cheap ranged attack (throwing stones/sling for flavor) while waiting for bows to become available

Assassin's Tools; Decent rewards, though you'd think there'd be a poisoned Dagger in here somewhere

Betrayers; Does anyone else find it odd that a "Spell" uses 1000 Gildar to execute, and not Mana?

Binding; Fun and Flavorful
Cult of 100 eyes; Fun and Flavorful
Death Worship; Powerful in the right hands

Defensive; Not sure why Shields are tied to Spears. Bronze Shield is "ok". Why isn't there a new Spear as well?  Still seems an odd mix.

Enchanters;  Strong choice for the Scrying Pool Improvement. The staffs?  Meh

Flesh Bound Tome; Only has one good spell "Candlecloak".  The others may as well not exist IMO being too limited in use.  Shouldn't this pseudo Book of the Dead unlock Production/Summon Undead similar in scope to the Cult of 100 eyes? 

Axe Mastery; The recent changes to this make it a desirable pick.  Dual Axes woot!

Great Hammers;  It's okay.  Why not include a new Hammer in the Magic Tree (Magical Forging)?   

Heroic; Only really shines when paired with Wanderlust, or maps with "Plenty" of quests

Legacy of Serrane; Seemed to transition okay into LH, Warhorse might need tweaking.  I'd prefer keeping the current Horse mods (+2/+2 Atk/Init first move) with a static +1/+1 always in effect.  Bazaar seems so-so, nice if you have the cash to invest in rushing production

Light Plate/Master Chain;  Not sure how I feel about these now that Heroes need to pick armor proficiency.  Might need to be cut from LH

Lucky; Strong

Master Scouts; My only problem with this is that IMO Rivers should be removed from this and placed into a different/new Trait

Master Smiths; Strong Pick

Quick; Decent

Scholars; Unlike Adepts/Civics/Warriors, the included +10% bonus to Research brings longevity to the Trait making this a good choice.

Slave Lord; It was good before.  Now it's Super appealing with how poorly Unrest is functioning on Large/Huge Maps

Stealth; No complaints excepting Monster AI rarely attacks adjacent Enemy AI units even without this ability

The Decalon; Really good, especially if you can hire Henchmen

Tough; Decent

Wanderlust; Quest Maps are great, Armor & Blades are great.  Not sure how this conceptually came together.  Strong pick, the pairings seem weird.

Warrior Caste; Vanilla. Have never picked it.  Would add flavor to some builds.

11,022 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top


 Betrayers; Does anyone else find it odd that a "Spell" uses 1000 Gildar to execute, and not Mana?

I suppose it's intended to simulate a bribe. However, I think that it also should use Fame. Nobody is going to side with you if you are not famous enough.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top


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Defensive; Not sure why Shields are tied to Spears. Bronze Shield is "ok". Why isn't there a new Spear as well?  Still seems an odd mix.

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i think you don't understand that trait - the shield is tied to the spears since all of them are one handed spears which can be combined with shields. in my opinion, this is currently the best weapon trait in the game. spears are really powerful with the inherent armor penetration. their only weakness is that they are two handed normally. defensive removes that weakness. 

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Azunai_, reply 2


quoting post
 ...

Defensive; Not sure why Shields are tied to Spears. Bronze Shield is "ok". Why isn't there a new Spear as well?  Still seems an odd mix.

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i think you don't understand that trait - the shield is tied to the spears since all of them are one handed spears which can be combined with shields. in my opinion, this is currently the best weapon trait in the game. spears are really powerful with the inherent armor penetration. their only weakness is that they are two handed normally. defensive removes that weakness. 


I get the benefits of being able to use Spears one-handed.  Love it.  Still don't get why Spears and Shields don't have their own seperate Trait line.  Axes & Hammers have their own line.  Swords abound in other areas.  My guess would be they conceptualized something like Roman/Greek soldiers, where I'm thinking more like Amazons in the Jungle.