Poor combat mechanics, needs a complete overhaul

[Thuggery]

This is going to be harsh, and as much as I like most aspects of the game, the design look and feel I have to say the combat is frustrating me no end.


Attacking the bandit leader in sector 3 also know as Chuck

So your units will attack Chuck first, before all the other units in play.

I didn't realise this and lost 85 Militia in my first round thinking that should take the dogs out leaving me open for a bit of strategy.

So a quick calculation shows for his 9000 hp I will probably have to send 200 Crossbow men to their deaths just to kill him. Crossbowmen level 36. I'm at level 23 and can attack that camp with careful planning and placement, but of course it is utterly pointless.

Even if I could get to level 36, wasting 200 crossbowmen just to kill one mob in one camp. Come on?

I understand the need to generate a revenue stream but this is already becoming monotonous building 100's of recruits (because all other units are worthless without them as a meat shield) meaning you will need to invest either a mountain of real cash or spend years on the hope of levelling up later in game.

I've played quiet a few micro transaction games with similar revenue streams and happily paid small sums to buy boosters (and have even already bought some gems in beta just for a little boost) but I've always kept to a limited amount to stay around the rate of a subscription game (15 to 25 euros per month) As it stands, I doubt I would continue to play it, knowing that I will just get frustrated by the slow pace and eventually just not log on.

Suggestion :

Smaller camps and lots more of them. (so I can do more attacks per day) at level 23 its about one attack per day maybe two depending on camps.

Target order so I have a strategy. If there are two possible targets then I would like to choose which units my men try to take out first.

I can understand the meat wall approach, I like the first strike, but putting first strike units behind a meat wall does not work. Archers being hit by dogs is infuriating. It should stand that the first strike units cannot hit units that have cautious whilst there is a suitable unit to protect them.

Anything other than build recruits, send them to their death, rinse repeat.

Settlers for me originally was a real time strategy game. As it stands this is more like long term monotony.

[sparkz]

So a quick calculation shows for his 9000 hp I will probably have to send 200 Crossbow men to their deaths just to kill him.

or you could sacrifice 120 cavalry to clear units hiding behind his back, then use a small group of footmen and alot of longbows to kill him without significant loses.

I understand the need to generate a revenue stream but this is already becoming monotonous building 100's of recruits (because all other units are worthless without them as a meat shield) meaning you will need to invest either a mountain of real cash or spend years on the hope of levelling up later in game.

Leveling is pretty fast if you have your buildings upgraded and you dont waste time and space producing worthless crap like bows (and invest in bread/beer/ sword production instead)

Suggestion :

Smaller camps and lots more of them. (so I can do more attacks per day) at level 23 its about one attack per day maybe two depending on camps.

smaller regular camps => you can clear most of the camps just by using 200x of cavalry, no losses.

Target order so I have a strategy. If there are two possible targets then I would like to choose which units my men try to take out first.

would lead to exploiting recruits even more, by sending small packs to eliminate archers/ dogs and then going in for the boss with almost no losses (since no extra firepower on his side).

[marlock]

i think it would be nice to choose the position of your units... and also to choose who attacks who...

but you've also got to remember that the settlers is meant to be a simple game in this sense and adding tons of features would over complicate it, although is see your point

[Thuggery]

or you could sacrifice 120 cavalry to clear units hiding behind his back, then use a small group of footmen and alot of longbows to kill him without significant loses.

Yeah because sacrificing over 4000 horses per boss makes more sense.... seriously?

I see how it makes more sense than losing 200 crossbow men and I'll have to do it, but my point still stands, there is a grand total of two tactics for every single camp.

Send 200 meatshields

or

Sacrifice a bunch of cavalry and then send some bows behind a meat shield.

Its not very taxing, its just monotony. Perhaps I got it all wrong, but I loved all the Settlers games and played through every single one with much enjoyment. This doesn't instill the same fun factor.

[sparkz]

Yeah because sacrificing over 4000 horses per boss makes more sense.... seriously?

Yes, it makes more sense considering the fact that in some fights you can send a wave of 200 elite soldiers and still dont kill a single unit.

And its not 100C per boss, its 120 for this particular boss, 200 for another and then you can keep your 200C until 2014 if you wish to because you can avoid losing a single cavalry unit.

I see how it makes more sense than losing 200 crossbow men and I'll have to do it, but my point still stands, there is a grand total of two tactics for every single camp.

Send 200 meatshields

or

Sacrifice a bunch of cavalry and then send some bows behind a meat shield.

Technically for any camp that doesnt have a boss, theres one tactic and thats combination of the two above: sacrifice recruits until you can finish the camp off with meatshields + LB/cavalry (depending on whether or not there are archers left).

[Funny_Grandpa]

i was hoping i'd see a suggestion regarding the general,which does nothing but keep 200 soldiers. Why not make your general a hero,enabling him to level,and having a skill tree? That would make for different tactics,some going on defense,others on attack/ misc. Open for debate,of course.

[CoSpi]

I think one should take advantage of higher number of soldiers when one attacks smaller group of bandits. So each soldier will have for example 80% of health after combat and then they will have to rest for a while to be 100% healthy again

[Winterset]

Much as I love the non-combat aspects of this game, the artwork and the overall ambience, I completely agree with all the criticisms above. I find the combat in the game to be boring, repetitive and monotonous. Waiting hours for the population to regenerate between battles, and sending dozens of recruits off to slaughter and be slaughtered by people living in tents, over and over again, is terribly dull, and reduces the motivation to keep playing. Recruiting cannon fodder just isn't my idea of fun. The worst thing is that there is no alternative route to technological progress - you're forced to go out and slaughter hundreds of bandits, who are just sitting there harmlessly doing nothing. I wish there was some other way to play this game.

[billynice]

i was hoping i'd see a suggestion regarding the general,which does nothing but keep 200 soldiers. Why not make your general a hero,enabling him to level,and having a skill tree? That would make for different tactics,some going on defense,others on attack/ misc. Open for debate,of course.

Good idea!

[billynice]

Much as I love the non-combat aspects of this game, the artwork and the overall ambience, I completely agree with all the criticisms above. I find the combat in the game to be boring, repetitive and monotonous. Waiting hours for the population to regenerate between battles, and sending dozens of recruits off to slaughter and be slaughtered by people living in tents, over and over again, is terribly dull, and reduces the motivation to keep playing. Recruiting cannon fodder just isn't my idea of fun. The worst thing is that there is no alternative route to technological progress - you're forced to go out and slaughter hundreds of bandits, who are just sitting there harmlessly doing nothing. I wish there was some other way to play this game.

I agree - spending days and tonnes and tonnes of resources just for the sake of the tedious repetition forced upon you by having hundreds of units killed and then waiting for population to grow again! testing me to the limit and thinking about giving it up at Level 27. Just nothing to do but refill mines and replace fish and fields!?!