Tiberius has already answered Oak's points, but I would like to offer my insight on things, too, in hopes that my comment could clear present or future doubts.
The following reply is therefore just to Oak's in-depth review of the concept.
Thank you for the detailed and thorough response, Oak. You gave me the precious opportunity to clarify a few things about the whole debate backing our choice, its peculiar traits and why we have come to such conclusion. I will even seize the chance to address other points that may have been perceived as a bit obscure or unclear in the main.
If you wish to withdraw, either momentarily or indefinitely, your positive vote, just let me know
Well, where to begin? I'll try to reply to every one of your remarks, in the briefest, most comprehensible way possible.
First of all, I can assure you that the team has spent unspeakable energy to make comebacks less of a dream for players; this is going to have a huge impact on the economy and command points. Secondarily, I'm of the sincere opinion that an invincible castle/camp would play out well. Imladris is a strong late-game faction, but it also cherishes quality above everything else. Even if Elven troops may be recruited already-upgraded via the spellbook, building up your army requires considerable efforts. Waiting inside the safety and bliss of your base for a while can be decisive, allowing you to weigh the moment carefully and judge whether it's worth sallying out or not.
Lore-wise, a defensive, fortress-centred feature suits the own history of Rivendell. More than other renditions would do, especially if another solution might lean towards offensive tactics.
Arwen is the supportive hero
par excellence. A unit-supporter and hero-supporter character by definition. This is manifestly represented through both her abilities and the bonus conferred by her eponymous spell. If it weren't so, I have no idea which role could be appointed to her. And, if her holistic performance seems quite 'moderate', it's simply because of the fact that she's not a major hero of the faction. She was never meant to be a force to be reckoned with anyway.
Angmar and Arnor have (would have) similar features? Yes, they do, but I don't let that type of argument alter my view. The former is an evil faction and the own power will shroud the base in a nasty snowstorm, wherefore relating to a substantially different conceptualisation and connotation (fell winds and storm). As for the latter, I've never really paid attention to the glorious Northern Kingdom so far; not out of disinterest, but the faction is objectively a
sui generis case. That is, a special typology of faction, which is not even available on every map. Not an ordinary faction, so to say. Nevertheless, in your words, if there are two similar abilities already, I think it would be unwise of us to aim for an additional third, wouldn't it?
Apart from all aforesaid considerations, I've never categorically excluded an option just because there was another that worked pretty much in the same way. My whole uniqueness argument revolved around deeper analogies (I will illustrate this in the next passage).
Now, we've come to Vilya and restoration. I will respond with three preponderant explanations, which I consider the most compelling points. I would also like to remind that our final concept arose from many difficulties and previous scrapped iterations; we have never been so fixated on invincibility by default. It was rather the most reasonable destination whereto all roads seemed to head.
1. Aulë has come up with a couple of interesting ideas. However, we have since ruled out passive effects or that sort of influence. The ability, which should fulfil its ultimate nature at the same time, would either be boring or totally underwhelming, not to mention that someone has even proposed to move the Ring of Air to lower levels. In short, we had to find a proper level-10, mighty display that would also comply with what we sought to create (a tool slowing decay and granting universal preservation). We have examined options after options, until we agreed that invincibility would serve our purpose better, making for an enough appealing ability.
2. You're right, he's a sensational healer, worthy of the praise of annals and myths. Only, if I were to accept your statement, then we should probably aim at healing in its purest sense: healing units or heroes, and not replenishing their abilities. That's the most immediate way to portray such 'individual' kind of healing: mending physical wounds. Replenishment appears to be more in tune with what Galadriel is expected do in the game; I mean, the power to renew others' strength or, better, magical capabilities (hence the reference to the reborn Gandalf; she gave him no additional powers, but clothed him in white and appointed the wizard as the Wise's head). Her saint-like apparition in ROTK, from which her new ability feeds, fits much better the very idea of restoring another's vigour (without necessarily curing them completely).
If we are to keep Galadriel's design unique, Elrond could not get his current restoration back, but merely another, redundant, healing skill (out of place, unimaginative, and overcrowding the faction with too much means bearing the same function).
According to his personal eventful story, Elrond could be a wide variety of things: a healer, a commander, a seer/prophet, a sorcerer or an incredibly wise ruler. How many roles would he be supposed to occupy, then? We have to choose a clear direction and proceed forward. From our part, we chose a formidable, 3000-resource mass-slayer, instead of the current multitasking hero (whose price doesn't even do him justice), who will sport unit-supporter and building-supporter traits nonetheless.
3. The following is one of the most meaningful arguments I could think about. The exact essence of our proposal:
From my very first 2015 suggestion regarding Nenya (very precocious, yet ahead of the time as well), to my other grand proposal in respect with Narya, and further onward unto our latest concept gravitating around Vilya, you can notice a single thread uniting all these three discussions: the
Three Rings.
Our imperative goal is, in fact, to endow each of the Three with an appropriate characterisation, while correcting what has (unfortunately) been a recurrent issue in the Mod for long time, staying always true to the precise reason why these Rings had been forged in the first place. Therefore, long-time beneficial effects for both the bearer and his whole realm (faction).
The Ring of Air will (hopefully) safeguard the Valley via the most powerful kind of protection (though base-bound), the Ring of Water will cleanse dirt, stains and sorrows away, and it does that globally (mirroring the vast shield defending the Golden Wood and Galadriel purifying the entire forest of Mirkwood after the War of the Ring), whereas the Ring of Fire is to work on an individual basis, relieving Gandalf from the heavy burdens entailed by his perilous mission. Invincibility towers over any other rendition whatsoever, since Vilya is the highest in hierarchy. This is THE goal. Going back to past, surpassed logic of healing/restoring features or mobile tornadoes would unequivocally negate so fundamental an objective, disrupting one major tale of the books.
Finally, what kind of 'analogy' was I hinting at above? The answer is simple: Elrond and Galadriel. Two mighty High Elves who happen to be keepers of two of the Three, two extremely mighty heroes of the game's Elven factions, the two leaders of said factions, and they're also, respectively, son-in-law and mother-in-law to each other. Making a comparison between them is more than legitimate, I guess
In this perspective, replenishing heroic abilities would not be unique, should it refer to both heroes, and likewise would healing (currently, how Nenya's magic affects allied buildings and units).