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[gameplay] Balance cavalry part 2
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Authored by borg- on Dec 25 2020, 11:47 PM.

Details

Reviewers
wraitii
Group Reviewers
Balancing
Commits
rP24647: Improve cavalry balance.
Summary

First part: D3231

It is known by the players the great power that the ranged cavalry (mainly javelin) has before the melee cavalry.

In a direct confrontation, javelin cavalry has a huge advantage against melee cavalry, and can even beat spear cavalry, which is their counter.

The main purpose of spear cavalry is to take down other cavalry, and that is not happening. Basically in a spear fight against sword, it's a technical draw. In large numbers like 20x20 then spear wins with a small advantage.

The purpose of the patch:

1- Spear cavalry more efficient against ranged cavalry.
2- The sword cavalry a light natural counter against infantry ranged, increasing your pierce armor and decreasing the hack to compensate, making more vulnerable against infantry and spear cavalry.
3- Spear cavalry more efficient against melee cavalry, mainly sword cavalry.
4- Apply the changes to champion cavalry too.

Test Plan

Check in the map editor if the changes are has a positive effect.

Diff Detail

Repository
rP 0 A.D. Public Repository
Lint
Automatic diff as part of commit; lint not applicable.
Unit
Automatic diff as part of commit; unit tests not applicable.

Event Timeline

borg- requested review of this revision.Dec 25 2020, 11:47 PM
borg- created this revision.
borg- edited the summary of this revision. (Show Details)
borg- updated this revision to Diff 14826.Dec 25 2020, 11:49 PM

(Did you keep in mind here that hit-and-run by javelineers is much less effective with the recently introduced turning?)

borg- added a comment.Dec 28 2020, 5:35 PM

(Did you keep in mind here that hit-and-run by javelineers is much less effective with the recently introduced turning?)

Yes I remembered, however for cavalry this is not very relevant because melee cavalry is currently faster than ranged, so hitting and running is rarely used, anyway, it is still possible to regroup in formation, hitting and running with certain efficiency (vs infantry), so I believe that this will not be a problem.

borg- added a comment.Dec 28 2020, 5:36 PM

@ValihrAnt I would like you to do some tests.

I did 20unx20un tests and the results were excellent.

borg- updated this revision to Diff 14870.Dec 28 2020, 11:33 PM

Add hero cavalry spearmen bonus from 1.5x to 1.75x

borg- updated this revision to Diff 14871.Dec 28 2020, 11:34 PM
wraitii added a subscriber: wraitii.EditedJan 11 2021, 12:14 PM

I'll point out that the formation-walk thing has made cavalry even better at hit and run, despitee turning, because formations make movement much smoother in those situations. This might not be sufficient anymore?

borg- added a comment.Jan 12 2021, 3:43 AM

I'll point out that the formation-walk thing has made cavalry even better at hit and run, despitee turning, because formations make movement much smoother in those situations. This might not be sufficient anymore?

Still seem like enough values. Anyway, it is better than the current values.

borg- updated this revision to Diff 15314.Jan 15 2021, 2:29 AM
borg- edited the summary of this revision. (Show Details)
borg- edited the test plan for this revision. (Show Details)

Rebase.
I will not be making changes to the ranged cavalry like the previous patch.
I don't know how the changes in formation, rotation, etc, will change gameplay, so I will make a totally safe patch, only with changes that I am sure will be better.

borg- added a comment.Jan 15 2021, 7:19 PM

some opnion?

I would trust you on the numbers, but I'm not entirely sure why they are as they are. Does the cavalry spearman not need a Pierce boost too?

The resistance changes effectively mean infantry swordsmen become a bit more effective and spearmen and pikemen slightly less.
I'm neither in favour nor against this patch.

borg- added a comment.EditedJan 15 2021, 8:56 PM

This patch is about cavalry.

Patch make spearman cavalry better vs cavalry and swordman better vs ranged units but a litle worse vs melee.

borg- added a comment.Jan 15 2021, 9:00 PM

I would trust you on the numbers, but I'm not entirely sure why they are as they are. Does the cavalry spearman not need a Pierce boost too?

Increasing the spearman cavalry pierce armor makes him better against all ranged units, that’s not the point, Sword cavalry do it.

Yes, I know this patch is about cavalry, that's why I wrote what I wrote:

  • if you lower cavalry hack resistance, then infantry swordsmen are a bitter better at killing them
  • if you raise cavalry pierce resistance, then infantry spearmen and pikemen are slightly worse at killing them
borg- added a comment.Jan 15 2021, 9:38 PM

Ah sorry, my bad.

wraitii accepted this revision.Jan 16 2021, 4:30 PM

OK for some reason I was reading the bonus multiplier as just a tooltip fix :P
This looks good to me.

This revision is now accepted and ready to land.Jan 16 2021, 4:30 PM
This revision was automatically updated to reflect the committed changes.
Owners added a subscriber: Restricted Owners Package.Jan 16 2021, 4:36 PM