Greetings!
This is the rightest place to offer the Misty Mountains spellbook, i think. Actually i am not an expert about the faction but i would like to share my ideas.
Tier 1
• Dwelt in the Mountains: Target recruitment building recruits a battallion instantly for free.
• Cave Bats: Vanilla. Dynamic vision bonus and debuff enemies.
Tier 2
• Drums from the Deep: Enemies nearby the selected Moria passageway fear with the sound for a time.
• Onslaught from Below: Already explained by the team.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/edain-mod/news/the-road-to-edain-40-misty-mountains-part-two
Tier 3
• Pact of Hate: Passive. Enables Giant and Dragon Lair outposts to produce resources and doubles the settlements' income and guards.
• Scavenger: Passive. Vanilla. Grants gold for killing.
• Watcher in the Water: Vanilla. Summons the watcher for a time.
• Awakened Wyrm: Walküre had a remarkable work about it.
https://modding-union.com/index.php/topic,35850.0.html
Central Spell
• The Usurper: AulëTheSmith had crafted outstanding consept for Smaug.
https://modding-union.com/index.php/topic,34953.0.html
Tier 4
The Balrog has been a mystery due to Edain 4.x. Clearly he is not only too strong for one spell but also the player should not access him whenever he attacks. This does not sound canonicle for his nature. The demon settled in Moria at first and claimed there his habitat after awoke. So it is perfect for ultimate defensive spell as guarding his base from anything else.
But only defensive usage would be a waste for a power like it. If Sauron could dominate the earth, Durin’s Bane definitely would be an attack force on the battlefield. Also his presence is attached through the armies of mountains. The cooperation between them encourges the invasion whole map.
• Durin’s Bane: Out of controlled Balrog attacks ALL units within the target Moria base with his fury for a time. When he has awakened, the buildings stop working during that time.
• Natural Allegiance: Enables to control Balrog if he has been summoned for a time. He can use his wings to reach wherever the player wants. All ally units on the map gains damage bonus and can not knock back while the spell is activated.
When Balrog has shown at the beginning, all Moria goblins flee and give up the labour with fear. But when they became allies, leads the charge mapwide.
The Conclusion:
With this way Misty Mountains can not be more offensive than Mordor or Isengard, and invade whole Middle Earth alone without Balrog. Plus the disadvantage of defensive spell can be tolerated by the offensive’s mapwide efffect. To sum up, dividing it to two spells consummates the circle into the integrate.
Best regards.
Misty Mountains Spellbook Extended
Following the spellbook of Misty Mountains suggestion, there shown up some mechanic problems about implementation. A couple power needs to have additional aspects and more explaination clearly. I have some ideas how can it be at optimum. Let’s empower the spellbook to full potential at last.
Reworked Spells:
As known, Misty Mountains faction intended to spam with weak units for distraction enemy. The first spell Dwelt in the Mountains helps the player with instantly recruitment which is directly proportional to receiving outnumber goblins from their dwellings. Not only it can be cast on Moria buildings, but also Gundabad and Goblin Town might benefit from it. So this makes the spell useful in every phase of the game.
When the one look at tier two powers, Drums from the Deep looks like underwhelmed. The effect with the sound should be imply all Moria passageways without any selection. The enemies stun with fear simultaneously if in the vicinity of bases. Also Onslaught from Below has been explained before Two Trees of the spellbook. As long as it is placed on offensive side, it suppose to shake the ground and knock enemies down nearby like former mineshafts. Instead of constantly, the orc streaming should spawn lesser in time up to importance of its stand.
The main subject of the spellbook was not enigma to everyone. AuleTheSmith and Walküre crafted outstanding consept for Smaug, as mentioned. But the central spell needs a slight implementation for the faction. The fact is that Smaug is not a chained dragon for Misty Mountains, he acts for his own like Balrog. So the player can not control him all the time, also it might break the balance against other factions. Plus he did not work for the faction at the beginning, he came from somewhere and usurped a place with treasures. Thus the explaination of the power evolves to:
• The Central Spell: The Usurper: Passive. Enables to summon Smaug from dragon lair to attack target enemy building for a time and cost. During that time he can not be controlled and damage everything nearby. The building stops the activity and nearby units are demoralized until he is away.
It is not only usage of Smaug of course, he is more needed in the late game. Speaking of which the ultimate offensive spell was defined for controlling Balrog. Obviously if the player does not have the defensive one, this spell becomes completely useless. But it still can be filled by something similar.
Smaug and Balrog share to be potential ally of Misty Mountains armies, the player can use both of them against common enemies. Thus the final agressive spell has a small but efficient change;
• Natural Allegiance: Enables to control Balrog with his wing skill for a time. All ally units on the map gains damage bonus and can not knock back while the spell is activated. Passively enables to control Smaug when he is summoned.
With this way the dragon can be controlled without any constraint only for a time. He has following skills that fits of his nature, created by Aule:
https://modding-union.com/index.php/topic,34953.0.html
In flight
1. Landing
2. Roar of the Beast
3. Impenetrable Armor (passive)
4. Wings like an hurricane
5. Incinerate
On the ground
1. Flying
2. Dragon Breath
3. Roar of the Beast
4. Greediness (passive)
5. My Claws are Spears
His abilities are perfect for his role, the building destroyer and mass slayer. As known, the faction hero roster has been explained and these roles haven’t appointed on purpose. But still he has to be temporary even now up to balance.
The question is when the player can use him permanently? I think the anwer is only on his ring form.
The Golden One
1. Landing/Flying
2. The Golden Armor (passive)
3. Hypnotic Gaze
4. Immeasurable Greediness (passive)
5. I’m fire, I’m death
He lost his former speed with golden armor but receives more destructive skills instead. Only now the other players can compete against the faction with his full time form.
The Misty Mountains faction should be ready to implement with this, i think. The path of Smaug and Balrog have been finalized upto the spellbook.
See you after next phase ;)
Best regards.