Modding Union
[en] Edain Mod => [Edain] Suggestions => [Edain] Lothlorien Suggestions => Thema gestartet von: NoldorSithLordsShipwright am 6. Apr 2017, 14:09
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I've posted this under an existing topic under General Suggestions, but I believe that a) this is a more Lothorien-specific, and b) is unique enough that it merits its own topic.
As discussed on that thread, the trees are generally very sparse, and terrain abilities tend to remove these trees, even Elven Wood upon expiration. While I wouldn't say this puts Lothlorien at that huge a disadvantage, it results in the stealth mechanic, which all of Lothlorien's basic units make use of, being unfortunately underused outside of the fortress' mist upgrade which stealths any unit, not just the stealth-by-tree units.
Regarding the Spellbook, Lorien, as of 4.4, only has Light of the White Lady as a passive spell, and while Galadriel is without a doubt very important to the elves of the golden wood, I'm not sure if the spell has a good enough thematic fit in the spellbook to merit the position of faction spell.
Note, I wrote the above paragraph in ignorance of the Edain Team's plans for Lorien and its spellbook. I hope that my idea is worth considering, at the very least, even if they have already decided.
So here is my proposed solution to both problems. Note that I am ignorant of the coding involved and of its possibility in the game.
Elven Wood is rebranded as Reforestation, a passive spell with the following effect:
Each allied Mallorn Tree, Ent Moot, Lothlorien Outpost, and Mirkwood Outpost regularly spawns new trees in a radius around the structure.
If feasible, I would like there to be differentiation in spawn radius and spawn rate between the different buildings.
But if there's no differentiation, I'm thinking that this spell spawns a tree every three minutes and that the radius is similar to that of the Earthquake spell.
Now, what are the implications of using this new spell?
- The stealth-by-trees mechanic of all relevant units, but especially the units of Lorien, have increased strategic value.
- All tree-removing mechanics such as terrain changing spells such as Devastation or buildings such as Lumber Mills increase in strategic value.
- The strategic potential of the fire mechanic increases, allowing a player to burn the elves out of their forests.
- Lorien's role as a stealth/forest based faction is reinforced.
- While other factions have stealth-by-tree units (Gondor/Arnor, Imladris) Lorien retains an advantage over them due to a) larger diversity of stealth-based units in the case of Gondor/Arnor, and b) Galadriel's Power of the Seer ability, allowing Lorien access to permanent vision and stealth detection over a portion of the map.
I hope you find this concept worthy of discussion and look forward to your responses.
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My position bids me to maintain silence about things that are in the development/testing phase, and I therefore apologise if I can't provide clearer answers, but I hope my words will suffice anyway.
It's true that trees and forests constitute the kernel and conceptual motive of the faction, and I think the whole aspect is already enough represented throughout all the various features at disposal (alongside graphical matters). In order to address the reforestation theme, I would simply advise you wait a little bit more, as Elven Wood shall be reworked too in the next patch; in a manner that gives it more strategic value in battle. In regards of the proposal itself which you have forwarded, I am honestly not very much convinced: that is, I would rather keep concepts simple, when it comes to stealth. The current state of things doesn't displease me and I find it quite logical to have only camps/castles dispose of the total coverage of the mist; whereas outposts are supposed to face the uncertainty of the battlefield's wilderness (without different defensive mechanisms from the ones they may currently rely on). Although I appreciate the idea of the very structures being able to make trees grow (healing the ground, in a sense), I think that the purifying/protective properties of Lothlórien's soil (and Galadriel's magic) are already displayed via a diverse range of means.
Speaking about Light of the White Lady, I wouldn't see any defect in granting this spell a superior status, since Galadriel is the source of her realm's strength, life, essence and even existence, to the point that Lothlórien rapidly waned and vanished after her departure from Middle-earth. Magical beings as Galadriel and Sauron dominate the space surrounding them; not only in a figurative sense, but also physically. If you think about it, it's a quite evident difference from the kingdoms of Men.
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Thank you very much for your answer, DieWalkure. I eagerly look forward to what the Edain Team has planned.
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You're welcome. You might know more sooner than you would expect, should the article concerning Lothlórien be released in short time ;)