Hello everyone. Today I’d like to talk about one of the least used heroes in the mod: Imrahil. At the moment, he’s only ever useful when using beacons but, as beacons are so underused currently, Imrahil is hardly ever seen. I know that Fiefdoms will be seeing some changes in 4.5 which will hopefully make them more useful. However, while Imrahil’s abilities are interesting, they in general just aren’t as effective as they should be. To add to that his Atheling Guard are quite possibly the weakest heroic units in the game.
Overall, the Imrahil in the mod doesn’t fit the figure described to us in the books of a heroic, inspiring leader who led Minas Tirith’s forces during the siege and was praised by so many. This is why I have come up with a proposal on how Imrahil could be:
Level 1: Mount/Dismount – switch between mounted and on foot
Level 1: Prince of Dol Amroth - changes to a support palantir where Imrahil can adjust the strategy to adapt any situation and ensure his troops at prepared for battle:
- Standard tactics - Soldiers of the fiefdoms near Imrahil will be granted +15% attack power as well as armor by this leadership.
- Aggressive tactics - This leadership grants +30% attack power to soldiers of the fiefdoms near Imrahil.
- Defensive tactics - this leadership grants +30% defence to soldiers of the fiefdoms near Imrahil.
- To Gondor's Aid (needs level 3)- Imrahil brings support to Minas Tirith in its time of need. Select a target Border Stronghold to give it a permanent bonus. Repeatedly selecting a Stronghold will improve it further:
First Upgrade – Dol Amroth troops are recruited 20% faster
Second Upgrade – Dol Amroth troops can be recruited for 75% of their original price
Third Upgrade – Dol Amroth troops are recruited with heavy armour
Originally I was going to have the ability improve the beacons, but I was told that it would be redundant with the 4.5 changes to the beacons. Therefore, it now affects the Dol Amroth troops. This fits with the idea of Imrahil as the person who brought aid to Minas Tirith before the siege and probably prepared his troops well before doing so. By having it be multiple upgrades, it would prevent the ability from becoming too overpowered at once, requiring extra time before you can use it to it's full potential.
Level 5: For Honour - Imrahil and his troops dash through enemy lines, treading their foes under the hooves of their mighty horses. Imrahil and nearby cavalry will have -25% crush reduction for 30 seconds
While the idea of this ability is good in 4.4.1, in practice it isn't very effective. My change is to have it also affect nearby cavalry which shouldn't be too OP as it isn't a massive buff like Theoden's Glorious Charge. It is a reference to the charge of Dol Amroth when rescuing Faramir and his men before the Siege of Gondor.
Level 8: Atheling Guard – Imrahil summons his atheling guard from Dol Amroth to his side. The Atheling Guard allow Imrahil to recharge his abilities 33% faster and grant him +15% armour as long as they remain close together. If the Guard is summoned while Imrahil is mounted, the Guard will be mounted. If the Guard is summoned while Imrahil is on foot, the Guard will be on foot. Only 1 battalion can be summoned at the same time. They are summoned at level 1 and can gain experience.
As said before, the Atheling Guard are the worst heroic unit in game. Their smaller batallion size makes them more vulnerable, and Imrahil's abilities aren't useful enough to justify their passive or their status as a level 10 power for an outpost hero. I've buffed them by having them improve Imrahil's armour and also by making them a level 8 power.
Level 10: Discipline - in Gondor's darkest hour, Imrahil temporarily takes command of its armies. For 30 seconds, his leadership will affect all allied troops as well as fiefdoms troops. Dol Amroth troops will heal themselves after every attack. All nearby non-Dol Amroth troops gain +50% experience.
The current Discipline is a good idea in theory, but not effective in execution. With the changes I've made to it, the ability will show off the strong and inspiring leader that Imrahil was during the Siege, granting a temporary buff to all nearby troops.
I hope that you will like these changes and that they would turn a rarely seen hero into one that is worth it! Any feedback is welcome. Thanks to Necro, Julio229, and Samsara for helping with a couple of abilities and stopping the proposal from being redundant with the 4.5 fiefdoms changes.
In Favour
Julio299
AulëTheSmith
Smeargollum
Necro
NoldorSithLordsShipwrigh t
Isildurs Fluch
Seleukos I.
Tiberius Ogden
Edit: moved the leadership palantir back to how it orignally was after Gnomi's feedback. Added To Gondor's Aid to this palantir, since the ability doesn't need to be used in combat situations. Thanks to Necro for this idea.
Edit 2: changed the buffs for To Gondor's Aid to make it a bit more balanced and changed the formatting a little bit.