28. Mär 2024, 09:48 Hallo Gast.
Willkommen Gast. Bitte einloggen oder registrieren. Haben Sie Ihre Aktivierungs E-Mail übersehen?

Einloggen mit Benutzername, Passwort und Sitzungslänge. Hierbei werden gemäß Datenschutzerklärung Benutzername und Passwort verschlüsselt für die gewählte Dauer in einem Cookie abgelegt.


Select Boards:
 
Language:
 


Autor Thema: Arnor: an independent faction  (Gelesen 1393 mal)

dgsgomes

  • Pförtner von Bree
  • *
  • Beiträge: 75
  • "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will"
Arnor: an independent faction
« am: 27. Nov 2019, 15:35 »
Here is my proposal for Arnor as an independent faction, a big request in the community which I tried the most to design the best that I could while considering many of other player's demands



General Concept

We know that Araphant, Arvedui and Aranarth were the last rulers of Arnor, the first 2 being kings before the fell of the kingdom, which it’s remains were then ruled by Aranarth. So, we see that creating a good concept for Arnor without a reference to the gradual fell of the Kingdom would not be great.
Said that, the differentiation of Arnor would be possible due to the essential Fortress Upgrade "Last Rulers of Arnor", which will mainly change 3 things in Arnor’s core gameplay: hero roles, buildings and allowing new features


How the faction would work BEFORE purchasing the Fortress Upgrade:
> Arnor would start as a faction without many capabilities, relying on a greater defensive capability and cheaper unit prices that would make possible for the faction to persist and make pressure until it gets the fortress upgrade

- Only Araphant of those 3 heroes can be purchased - But he would not be king (therefore he would not have his crown), so he would not have a leadership, and he would also look younger (brown haired)

- Carthean and Gandalf would be purchasable from the beginning; Carthean’s Barrow Guards would only be available in phase “(2)”, which will be explained later

- No elite units or elven units can be purchased

- The regular units of Arnor would cost less than they do now (swordsmen costing 15% less, archers and pikemen costing 10% less) – to represent the more disponibility of troops of a kingdom in relative peace

- The regular units of Arnor can’t use battle formations

- Arnor inside buildings (exception being economy buildings) would have more health (175% of the health of a Gondor level 1 analog inside building) compared to other factions and would look similar to Gondor's (but not as similar as now)

- Arnor inside buildings won’t level up as other factions’ buildings; the evolution of the buildings will happen through each of the steps that are available after purchasing “Last Rulers of Arnor” (exception being economy buildings, which will only suffer according changes in design)

- Unit upgrades are NOT allowed

- Elite units CAN’T be purchased


Once the Fortress Upgrade is acquired, as soon as the player buys each of the heroes from every of the 3 steps (the main hero of each time period can be recruited instantly) a 5 minutes timer starts; after the end of this timer it will be possible to progress between the phase 1 to 2 and, later, from 2 to 3 – but the according hero needs to be in the field so the phases can progress! With Araphant in the field, phase “(1)” starts:

(1) Now Araphant is crowned the King of Arnor, and the faction suffers acording changes

- Araphant becomes the King of Arnor (he gets the crown) - so he gains access to a powerful leadership

- Arvedui can be recruited (he would have his helmet, but not the shoulder pads he has now), but he will only have his tanking role – Arvedui was alive when Araphant became king

- The regular units of Arnor, like swordsmen, archers and pikemen, now have their normal price – to represent a Kingdom that is starting to suffer because of war

- Regular units of Arnor CAN now use their battle formations

- Arnor buildings remain the same stat/effectwise - they just gain some beautiful Arnor banners – to mark the crowning of a King

- Unit upgrades ARE allowed – to represent a faction that is even more prepared to inevitable war

- Elite units still CAN’T be purchased, with the exception being Dunedain rangers, that now CAN be purchased (rangers tents are now unlocked) – to show the increasingly necessity of protecting the borders from unexpected invasions

> This would last FIVE MINUTES, and automatically after that timer the player will be able to recruit Arvedui instantly and phase "(2)" will start (if Arvedui is already in the field, it works the same way)


(2): Now Arvedui is crowned the King of Arnor, and the faction suffers acording changes

- Arvedui becomes King of Arnor (he gets the crown instead of the helmet and gains his shoulder pads) - so he gains access to a very powerful leadership – the same as the one Araphant had

- Araphant would remain in game (he would look old as he looks now in the game, but without his crown) – he would have a much weaker leadership – a leadership of a former king

- Aranarth would now be recruitable (he would have the same look as he has now), but he would only fight as a ranger – he would have some hero killing aspects, but would also be supporter for rangers – a very important feature of this faction

- Arnor buildings start to get some visual changes, gradually looking more similar to ruins or older buildings and they get a change in recruitment speed and health (now they have 150% of the health of a Gondor level 1 analog inside building, but with a +25% recruitment speed) – this represents a kingdom that is closer to destruction and that demands to prepare it’s army for war faster

- Elite units now CAN be purchased (Palace Guards, Palantir Guards) – to represent an army that is even more experienced with war, with skilled fighters

- Elven buildings can be built, and the elves can be recruited – this is a clear reference to the allegiance of the Elves with Arnor in the Battle of Fornost

- The rangers may now get the upgrades of Carthean (Barrow Guards)

> This would last other FIVE MINUTES, and automatically after that timer the player will be able to recruit Aranarth instantly and phase "(3)", the last one, will start (if Aranarth is already in the field, it works the same way)


(3): The core of the Kingdom fades, but it’s remains maintain, and the survivors of Arnor will resist and fight against every lasting enemy – and Aranarth will choose his Fate

- Aranarth has now access to choosing the Fate of Aranarth, where he can be the Chieftain of the Dunedain, working as a strong ranger supporter, or Heir of the Throne of Arnor, being a strong unit/hero supporter (but all the other following changes for the faction would still be applied independently of Aranarth’s choice); the choice is permanent – this is very similar to how Aranarth functions now, but once he changes to Heir of the Throne of Arnor, it can’t be undone; also, his leadership as Heir is strong, but not strong as the other previous King’s leaderships

- Araphant would remain in game, unchanged from “(2)”

- Arvedui would look older (grey hair), would lose his crown, and he would have a much weaker leadership – a leadership of a former king

- Arnor buildings would look much more like RUINS now, with even more variation in recruitment speed and health (now they have 125% of the health of a Gondor level 1 analog inside building, but with a +50% recruitment speed)

- The rangers may get the upgrade of Aranarth (Faithful of Aranarth) if he chooses to be Chieftain of Dunedain (working similar to now, but the upgrade will have stronger effects)



Hero Abilities

If an ability does not have it’s effect described, it means that it remains unchanged. Also, Araphant and Arvedui kingly leaderships are only available after Last Rulers of Arnor is purchased and if in the according phases

Araphant:
1-   Level 1: King of Arnor – Allied units have +15% damage, +25% armor and are fearless (passive ability) – requires “Last Rulers of Arnor” to be unlocked; once Arvedui is crowned king, the ability will change to “Araphant, former King of Arnor" – Allied units receive +10% armor (passive ability)
2-   Level 3: Mount/dismount
3-   Level 5: Blessing of the Royal Family
4-   Level 7: Armory
5-   Level 10: Defensive Strategy – now would work on ANY allied building, but would take longer to recharge

Arvedui
1-   Level 1: Last King of Arnor – Allied units have +20% damage, +20% armor and are fearless, does not affect rangers (passive ability); once the timer ends and Aranarth is recruited, the ability will change to “Arvedui, former King of Arnor" – Allied units receive +10% damage (passive ability)
2-   Level 3: Bulwark
3-   Level 5: Diplomatic Relations – Elven heroic units and heroes would be recruited 50% faster, elven heroic units would be 30% cheaper (passive ability) – represents the allegiance with the elves better, so only them are affected now
4-   Level 7: Keep Standing – Would give 25% armor instead of 50%; everything else remains the same
5-   Level 10: Defensor of Fornost – Arvedui fights till the end; Arvedui gets +50% armor when below 50% health and gets +100% armor when below 25% health (passive ability) – it aims to remove another generic summon and to keep the core of the previous level 1 ability while mantaining his role as tank

Aranarth (Ranger)
1-   Level 1: Dunedain Ranger – Aranarth and nearby rangers move 10% faster, nearby rangers get +10% faster experience, suffer -10% trample damage, slow trample 10% more. (passive ability); once he chooses to resign his faith as Heir of the Throne of Arnor, this ability changes to "Chieftain of the Dunedain" – Aranarth is permanently stealthed. Aranarth and nearby rangers move 20% faster, nearby rangers get +20% faster experience, suffer -20% trample damage, slow trample 20% more and are fearless. Unlocks Faithful of Aranarth (passive ability)
2-   Level 1: Toggle weapon
3-   Level 3: Powerful shot – instead of making units flee, it would knock enemies back, including heroes – to differentiate from Faramir’s attack
4-   Level 6: Deadly Sniper
5-   Fate of Aranarth – Aranarth decides between being Heir of the Throne of Arnor or Chieftain of the Dunedain (once made, the choice can’t be undone) – if he chooses the latter, his level 10 ability will be unlocked – it is only unlocked when phase “(3)” starts
6-   Level 10: Arrow Barrage – now it also gives +25% damage to rangers near Aranarth while the ability is in effect, lasting for 10 seconds after it ends (requires Chieftain of the Dunedain to be unlocked)

Aranarth (Heir of the Throne of Arnor)
1-   Level 1: Ruler of the Fallen Kingdom - Allied units receive +25% attack, +5% defence and are fearless, does not affect rangers (passive ability)
2-   Level 1: Mount/dismount
3-   Level 3: Charge of the Prince
4-   Level 6: Hope of the Kingdom – the powers were switched because of their effects and one was moved up a bit
5-   Level 10: Aid of the Prince – keeps the same; the architect power was removed, mainly to keep Aranarth as a strong unit/hero supporter and to leave the building supporter role to Cirdan



Summary

You saw that with these suggestions, Arnor would feature many cool gameplay variations while being in keep with the lore; here is a sum of what was said above

Without the Citadel Upgrade: Arnor is a faction with a good defense that can keep great pressure in the early game, specially because of it’s good regular units with price discount; on the other hand, it has serious limitations concerning units, heroes and upgrades, which won’t allow a player to reach mid-late game

With the Citadel Upgrade:
(1)   – Arnor is now a faction with 2 more heroes (1 of them with a strong leadership), access to upgrades and to rangers; even though now the faction can already reach mid game and possibly late game, it still lacks elite units, improved ranger upgrades, heroes and elven support
(2)   – Arnor is now a faction with all heroes (1 of them with a strong leadership), access to all elite units, one of the improved ranger upgrades, elven support and a small recruitment speed boost; even though now the faction can probably reach late game, it is not still in it’s finest: a very aggressive playstile (with the fast recruitment speed), with a possibility of having 3 heroes with leaderships or 2 with the leaderships with another one being a strong supporter for rangers
(3)   – Arnor is now at it’s finest representation; it has access to all it’s features, and the core of it’s lore and gameplay is at it’s best



Notes

1-   Many chronological aspects of the lore as well as other features I tried to implement the best I could, but I know gameplay has to be respected too; that is why you can still make Arvedui and Araphant even at phase “(3)” for a balance matter, as they were dead in that timeline (for the same reason you can recruit Boromir when you have a King Elessar; there are multiple examples of this happening in this mod)

2-   The Arnor faction will be very different from others, having stages of evolution that will completely change gameplay, while unlocking many new features in the process. The faction will overall gradually change from a defensive to an offensive strategy, but even at it’s last stage the player may choose how he wants play, and this is through choosing the Fate of Aranarth

3-   The Fate of Aranarth must be choosed wisely, and may require some thinking; if a player rushes to go for his Heir form and suddenly loses Araphant and Arvedui for a micro mistake, the unit/hero supporting would be greatly affected. However, if a player rushes going for his Chieftain form and the enemy’s strategy is relied mostly on cavalry, this may have been a bad decision

4-   All leaderships of the heroes are supposed to stack

5-   “Last Rulers of Arnor” will be purchased on a citadel for 1000 coins and is ready after 1 minute; after being purchased, a beautiful Arnor banner will appear in the citadel. When Araphant is crowned King, similar banners will appear in every Arnor inside building.

6-   The Arnor camp should have walls with design similar to Gondor, but with the disposal more similar to a Rohan camp (with gaps between the wall segments); the Arnor castle on the other hand should be more similar to Gondor’s, with 9 inside plots, but with some retexturing (recolouring the grass, putting Arnor banners, other little details)

7-   Arnor farms should have a small central building with some plantations around it to differ from Gondor farms (a large building with very few farms inside)

8-   The Ranger Tents of Gondor should be switched for the Forbidden Pool (scaled down to 0.59 in World Builder), while Arnor would keep the tents skin for the rangers building to further differentiate both factions

9-   The banner carrier rangers and the rangers that scouts Ranger Tents should have the same design as Arnor’s regular rangers

10-   Faithful of Aranarth now gives +10% higher vision and attack range instead of +5%

11-   Composite bows are available in Ranger Tents when phase “(3)” starts. Now they lower the recharge time of Unexpected Salvo and Disruptive Fire by 20%, and double the damage of Unexpected Salvo

12-   The balance for the reduction price for Arnor units was made comparing with Gondor units; even though the Arnor units are cheaper, they don’t have battle formations in the very early game, so Dunedain soldiers can’t beat Gondor soldiers unless they come in greater numbers or with different strategies (like going for Dunedain Archers). The same balance idea came up when thinking about the health of buildings in Arnor; even though they have much more health in the early game, on the late game they are much more vulnerable than Gondor’s level 3 structures

13-   Dunedain Soldiers’s formation will now give +15% damage, +10% armor and -40% movement speed – unlocked only in phase “(1)”

14-   Dunedain Pikemen’s formation will have the same animation as the Gondor Tower Guards’s formation, giving +20% damage, +10% armor and -50% movement speed - unlocked only in phase “(1)”

15-   Dunedain Archer will have an ability called Intercepting Shots – reduces targeted units’ armor by 10% for 5 seconds (passive ability)

16-   Arnor cavalry could be equiparable in strength and price with Rohirrim to further differentiate Gondor and Arnor; Their ability would be a passive one called Breeds of the North – The Arnor knights are faster than regular cavalry (passive ability) – Arnor knights move 10% faster than Rohirrim

17-   Horsemen shields will be available in the stables when Araphant is crowned King

18-   Lindon Tower could receive a few small design changes as well as some blue colouring and elven banners to make them more different from Imladris’ Lindon towers

19-   The elves in this faction should have a different look; Cirdan, Glorfindel, The Lindons and Windriders could have blue capes/clothing to make them different from Imladris’ units

20-   The Lindon Guardians could have a different role; as Arnor will already have a strong archer force, the Guardians could function as a tanky and fast infantry, without bow switch

21-   Glorfindel could have the so wished different role here – he could be a very strong hero killer (after all, he killed a Balrog himself, and he is known for his strength); Aranarth don’t have a direct hero killer role, so that change is possible

22-   Gandalf: https://modding-union.com/index.php/topic,31029.msg464408.html#msg464408

23-   As there is already much good content concerning Spellbook, I decided not to make suggestions about it



In Favour



Against