Re: Conceptual Balance (Discussion)
I have mixed feelings about your Dom2 balance mod. We feel the same about many units, and differ sharply on others. However I think this is a good discussion to have.
Upon entering the game one is presented with Gods. So let's talk about them first:
Drakaina She's a Titan, and she costs 75 with just 2 picks. That's pretty standard territory - but she only has a Dominion of 1. That seems like a bug, because other creatures in that tax bracket (Lord of Fertility, Earth Mother, Son of Niefel) have a Dominon of 2 or 3.
Lord of War Where to start? He's worse than a Cyclops in every meaningful way and the cost savings isn't even there with an Earth Magic of 6+. He isn't even available to positions that don't get a Cyclops. He's just a crap god. He should have a Dominion of 4 or more magic or anything to make him less of a loser.
Titan (Female) She' just not... good. She doesn't do anything and has less magic than a Lady of Fortune who does. You seem to be paying real magic for an Owl, and we know that aint right. She should get better magic in one path or take on a third path. Something. Anything.
And while we're on the subject of those 2 picks 75 cost titans, what is up with them anyway? The cost savings for having a high initial pick in something are really big. Buying a 9 in a path for a god with a 50 pathcost is discounted by 114 points by having a 1 in the path to start with, discounted by 178 for having a 2 to start, and discounted by 234 for starting with a 3.
What does that mean? It means that having a 1 in two paths actually saves you less points than having a 3 in one path if you intend to purchase both up to 9. Getting bonus protection and berserking is cheaper on a Cyclops than it is on an Earth Mother. That means that the characters with 3 in one path (Solar Disc, Cyclops, Prince of Death, Lord of the Sky, etc.) are much better than the guys with 2 picks in one path and one pick in another (Titan, Mother of Serpents, Daughter of the Dawn).
A better split for pretenders like that would be to give them 2 picks in two categories. They'd be meaningfully encouraged to focus on the two categories of magic that they come with. A 2 Nature/2 Death Mother of Serpents would be worth considering to a degree that she really isn't now.
-Frank
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