GLARING balance issues for POCUS

[SuitedQueens]

I will format as a quick reference list in order of importance with some suggestions without elaborating much:

1) National Authority for Declaring Wars:
Attacking Factions of the Same Fate should be -50 penalty, Same Ethnicity -30, No claims -25. Aligned Religions and Ethnicities cut penalties in half. Declaring on top 20 Legacy nations is -10, on top 10 Piety Nations -10, on higher level nations is -5 for every level, -5 for big Land Power discrepancy, -5 for big naval power discrepancy, -5 for having 2 or more Vassals. Halved penalties for allies with same conditions

2) AI aggression, Manifest Destiny and Fortifications:
AI vs AI must have bonuses for bigger factions to avoid losing troops. One of the reasons Rebels are so powerful later on against AI is them spawning with unified big stacks. Smaller nations can survive for many turns since AI scared to assault anything above lvl 1 walls unless they have a huge Combat Power advantage. On turn 365 AI nations had miniscule amount of lvl 3 walls, mainly those regions who started with them. About only 30% of regions had lvl 2 walls. And in Kingdoms you can go up to lvl 6 easily. Thats obviously need to be fixed since right now its Empires situation all over again i.e. OP archers vs lvl 2 walls easy assaults.

3) Percentage based economy:
All impediments chances, random events, plagues, rebellions, herecy, famine deaths, buildings dismantling, etc. chances should be multiplied by x2.5 At the moment economy doesn't feel dynamic cuz these chances are far too low compared to the pace of combats and conquest. Transmission events for all of these should be quadrupled in chances. Please make RGD chances altering modifiers two times more pronounced.

4) Diplomacy and AI aggression:
Gifts should carry Authority penalties similar to exchanging 3 units by default. 2 units for vassals and allies. 4 units for factions with -15 or below relationships. Extra 1 units penalty for each 75 points of land power discrepancy, naval power discrepancy, 1 unit for 500 gold income discrepancy, 1 unit for bad relationships with non-vassal factions they like. AI must have to be more willing to attack player. Think Empires pre 1.02 patch. They should be way more likely to pounce if income and/or regions amount difference is huge, you are in war and you have bad relationships with nations they like. At least I saw one vassal backstabbing me in 400 turns when I purposely disbanded 90% of my forces.

5) Tokens active gain
First of all we need Quick tokens gain/lose mechanic from Empires. And now for the general dynamics:
Actively participating in Crusade and Jihads must land progress tokens. Reaching the highest tier of education in the region is another one. Absorbing nation from the top 20 of Legacy. Conquering or building the World Wonder for the first time. Gaining a new vassal past the first 3. Forming Kingdom or similar region based higher level regions based title for the first time. Killing top 20 Legacy opponent leader. Killing or visualizing current number 1 top piety Christian or Muslim faction.

[SuitedQueens]

Trade: gaining regions for their natural resources not as attractive as in Empires. Increase natural resources deposits to 3-6 decided by RNG to remedy the situation. Natural resources basically a free building slots in some sense

Issue number two is Governor AI for the opponents. Introduction of gatekeep buildings makes them overflow on tier 1 structures. That means there are top 10 resources you are aiming to produce in surplus to trade, altho maybe thats a good thing since it makes economy more predictable. I listed those resource in my expanding guide/tips collection.

Talking about Economy percentages increase. It goes without saying, but Special Structure events and Characters betrayal should be increased. Knowing the variables Authority rebalance can certainly help. Death rate for Characters in Combat made nonexistent. I remember percentage distribution from Empires. Now they only die on Big Lots combat.

Diplomacy extra: AI vassals unintentionaly use Diplomacy exploits. Two examples: they go out of their way to kill off rebels region in the heart of the other empire they not in war with and then don't return it after 10 turns temporariry ownership passes. That's especially noticeable with Knighty Orders. Second example migrating from Empires again is Vassals hiding troops on Liege territory can't die from starvation. The worst offenders are fleets tucked away in the ports far away. Landlocked fleet rarely applies in case of crushing vassals.

There is exploit allowing to end all wars at the same time. Disband 90% of your forces it is. Ceding regions to neutral factions ignores distance. You can safely tuck away your region or build the wall from the neutral faction that can't be penetrated by AI effectively. Works better than Allies and Vassals for deterring purposes.

I think that bug with Vassal retaining territories after the peace deal carried over from Empires. Happens under specific circumstances I can't quite figure out. Maybe it related to Rebels starting 10 temporary clock, so when peace deal goes through regions will be left for vassals. Under normal conditions doesn't happen. And there is no feedback even through detailed messages if your request on Make Peace With.. or Declare War On.. failed or not.

[Pocus]

I find the second message more useful than the first, as the first is mainly about major reworks of current systems (except for restoring the quick tokens, which could be done relatively rapidly). Major reworks imply that the current ones have been deemed widely unbalanced, that your proposal has been tested and agreed upon by several people, and that somehow I grow more arms and heads so I can work faster , all while improving the new user experience, which is the priority right now!

You indeed list a few possible exploits or issues in the second message, and I'll want to take a look at them once it's a bit less hectic in the various forums. Thanks for your input in any case. All things we do are imperfect, no ambiguity in that!

[SuitedQueens]

I find the second message more useful than the first, as the first is mainly about major reworks of current systems (except for restoring the quick tokens, which could be done relatively rapidly). Major reworks imply that the current ones have been deemed widely unbalanced, that your proposal has been tested and agreed upon by several people, and that somehow I grow more arms and heads so I can work faster , all while improving the new user experience, which is the priority right now!

You indeed list a few possible exploits or issues in the second message, and I'll want to take a look at them once it's a bit less hectic in the various forums. Thanks for your input in any case. All things we do are imperfect, no ambiguity in that!

We actively discuss this stuff on Discord. I saw a few comments complaining about AI being passive under YT videos as well. Authority is very forgiving at the moment. Vast majority of players didn't complain about AI not being challenging in Empires after 1.02 as well. Proposed changes don't require a new systems, so maybe I will try to make a simple mod once I figure out how those systems work in code. Some just value changes. I have more than 3000 hours in Empires, so I represent rather niche audience, but believe me you gonna see these topics popping up.

So far the biggest rework gotta happen to AI stack compositions and their relative Combat Power they view as decent for the assault purposes therefore leading to more Declaration of War and backstabbing. Factions starting scenario with bad relationships or raiders are almost always in war similar to Empires. So relationship degrade rate for Player vs AI should be on steroids since there is no loss for AI vs AI. Also, I edited the last message in Vassals retaining territories after testing more.

[Surt]

Add more resources does not really make the game that more interesting, now you have a struggle to get the resources you absolutely need and have to pay for the rest! This is the best thing that changed from empires, no more unlimited wool from a sheared sheep!!!

[SuitedQueens]

I meant more of a range of called in resources which can be achieved by AI building more tier 2 lvl 2 structures. For regions you really want 3 to 6 ores or furs or ambers let's say to make fighting for it worth it.

You indeed list a few possible exploits or issues in the second message, and I'll want to take a look at them once it's a bit less hectic in the various forums. Thanks for your input in any case. All things we do are imperfect, no ambiguity in that!

On exploits: I was strategizing on how to win faster without going into wars at all and use every character in the pool for smaller nations. The best way is Gifting for Relationships Increase into Passage Rights into Pillage. You can always find plenty of low Loyalty regions even on Suicidal difficulty or create them artificially via wars and decisions. The idea that actually works and grants insane gold amounts without Relationships hits is to lower regions value by constant pillaging (rotate via 2 regions to Pillage every turn) to buy them for cheap, then play Form Vassals and when you ready to advance to the next level Absorb Vassals RGD.

You can pillage defeated enemies with no Relationship hits during Peace treaty while feeding of their land as well similar to Empires. Also you can get Authority for successful raids. I happily report there is no bus related to teleporting from the territory. But you can Sneak attack opponent you have Peace with AND nothing happens.

[SuitedQueens]

You indeed list a few possible exploits or issues in the second message, and I'll want to take a look at them once it's a bit less hectic in the various forums. Thanks for your input in any case. All things we do are imperfect, no ambiguity in that!

Familiar exploits from Empires:
If you become Vassal of neutral county while in war with another side similar to Empires both remain in possession of currently occupied lands. As you know Breaking off doesn't always cause War (Depends on relationships, relative strength) esp. if you both in Crusade or Jihad. Selling Vassal status for huge Bargain Points and breaking off later still abusable.

[Pocus]

You should not be able to become a vassal if you are involved in a recent war, this is a novelty from Kingdoms. If you have the case, post the bug somewhere please.

[SuitedQueens]

You should not be able to become a vassal if you are involved in a recent war, this is a novelty from Kingdoms. If you have the case, post the bug somewhere please.

I guess it true. Possibly there are 10 turns timer which I didnt notice since I rypically declare wars preemptively to dumpen Duration penalty. Didnt code dive yet. It's super effective in any case. AIs Legacy passive gain instantly becomes yours. You will have to wait out temporary ownership 10 turns timer tho. The downside is losing your vassals ofc. Sometimes progress tokens fill up so slow that my vassals due to Dynamic Difficulty can outgrow & outpace me on civilization level since I donate extra territories to them while sitting at lower levels.