Multiplayer Is Hurt Immensely By a Lack of Medium Infantry. (With Charts)

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Yeah, I agree that Infantry is missing a middle ground option for the most part. In Warband, when choosing a loadout I would pick some form of medium armor and good offensive weapons. What I notice of most classes in Skirmish is that one handed weapons with the exception of Vlandian swords and Battanian swords tend to be smaller and swing speeds are generally slower. Currently the only reason to take light infantry is to sacrifice armor for cheaper units so you can have more lives and move around faster. However, if you are burning through lives quicker you mix that supposed benefit by spending more time to travel into the fight between lives as well. Whereas with heavier and tankier infantry, which some factions don't even have, you can stay in the fight and survive longer to potentially turn things around. Given the way things play out, unless in very specific and situational circumstances there really is no reason to use light infantry in Skirmish.

While Heavy infantry is currently typically the best option for an infantry player to choose both because they are well armored and get decent weaponry, their movement speed is a serious problem in that they are simply out maneuvered by both Cav and Infantry for the most part. Throwing weapons help with that, but if you eventually nerf those and don't fix the other issues with infantry they will be functionally useless for anything other than being a tanky hp pool to sit on a flag. They can't chase units down, their combat effectiveness is rather poor as well.

Giving faction a medium between those two extremes would do wonders to improve infantry play. Having effective weapons and while not having very heavy armor, a decent amount to remain a brawler. Some factions could use an entire infantry makeover, Khuzait and Aserai especially. The other factions would just need minor tweaks to their overall structure. I think the easiest way to accomplish that would be to give perks to the 2-hander classes so you can either go full on light armored 2 hander maximized for offense, and with perks have so if the player so chooses they could be the medium armored infantry with a little lighter but still decent shields and 1 handed weapons to cover more of the middle ground.
 
The issue here also lies with the underlying math. What people fail to see is thast opting for more spawns vs. more heavy units is a general calculations with spawns might be the winning one in the long term if the skill is on par you can expect the fight to go on for a bit, then more spawns is obv good to not get eliminated early. This thing is a general dynamic in skirmish, esp with so much loot lying accessible on the ground.

in the end in comes down to taste.
 
I was playing multiplayer warband the other day and it was a simple death match with respawns in a circular gladiator arena and it was so much fun ,fast passed and quick respawn. Bring it to bannerlord. Fast and simple. just a thought.
 
The issue here also lies with the underlying math. What people fail to see is thast opting for more spawns vs. more heavy units is a general calculations with spawns might be the winning one in the long term if the skill is on par you can expect the fight to go on for a bit, then more spawns is obv good to not get eliminated early. This thing is a general dynamic in skirmish, esp with so much loot lying accessible on the ground.

in the end in comes down to taste.

In part, that is true, though evenly skilled if the round goes down to one flag and the opposing team takes it, then the team that was pushed off it faces an uphill battle so to speak in turning the situation around. Especially in matches where there is no stacks and the team isn't super coordinated, will lead to a situation of those extra lives being wasted trickling in to feed the meat grinder. Whereas a heavier unit might have the staying power to stick around for other teammates to trickle in and help out. In general, it does come to taste, but I would say the extra lives don't particularly offer too many benefits with the exception of some factions. For instance I'd say the Aserai Skirmisher is superior to the Tribal Warrior. It gets a better shield, better weaponry, and Javs. There are also certainly drawbacks for Heavy infantry units as well.

Regardless, I don't see anything wrong with prioritizing extra lives over the better armor, I just think there could be as the OP suggest a medium option to add more to personal taste and perhaps make infantry a little bit more varied and interesting.
 
I wish every faction had a Wildling equivalent. Its such a fun class. I dont even use it as a skirmisher. Just take the large shield and spear perks. You still get 2 javs to pay around with but it isnt nearly as spammy as the other Skirmisher classes.
 
I wish every faction had a Wildling equivalent. Its such a fun class. I dont even use it as a skirmisher. Just take the large shield and spear perks. You still get 2 javs to pay around with but it isnt nearly as spammy as the other Skirmisher classes.
I agree; SP has a loreful version for every faction available as well. And as you say it means the heavy infantry can be more dedicated to its role as lynchpin.
 
Agree.
To design a medium infantry has a lot of benefits.
As a game, a fighting medium infantry group also creates a very stable and eye-catching target to let everyone has their own fun.
I am sick of search enemies then run to it. I need something to fight. That is the whole purpose if the game.
Imagine there is a group of people fighting 15 yards away. Then I can join, rush into it, disturb enemies, drive out archers, save my buddies...
If I am the one fighting in the group, it will also be awesome. Medium class means the economy balanced. It's a satisfying class to play (in this scenario).
 
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Not sure that's quite true actually, heavy inf now have damage and speed as well as the armour. Medium inf if introduced would end up being cheaper and therefore have more lives, which would likely return us to the skirmisher meta where there was just a best class that you spam 3 lives every round (or thereabouts).

I think ideally in a battle situation you would have heavy inf not being purchasable first round to compensate for this, and slightly better medium inf below them.
 
Not sure that's quite true actually, heavy inf now have damage and speed as well as the armour. Medium inf if introduced would end up being cheaper and therefore have more lives, which would likely return us to the skirmisher meta where there was just a best class that you spam 3 lives every round (or thereabouts).

I think ideally in a battle situation you would have heavy inf not being purchasable first round to compensate for this, and slightly better medium inf below them.
Heavy infantry still feel extremely bulky and their price tag ensures they are not a consistent option to be picked. The game still does not have a "consistent 1000 gold loadout" that can be relied upon over the course of a match. Once you have exhausted your single heavy inf life at the start there is not a reliable class to fall back on for most factions that can also be the consistent piece that a baseline 1000gold loadout allowed in warband. If this is by design then the "light" classes need to be buffed in ways that dont make them niche spamfests.
 
I think Heavy is consistently picked now, at least in matches, just not always picked, and although it is bulky in terms of movement speed it actually is very fast. By this I mean you're often going to see heavies thrown into a setup per set, even if it's just 1 player or 1 life per player. A lot of the comparison to 1k battle inf doesn't work due to the respawn system, which I think is bad and would prefer battle for sure, but like I say, the only way to get a medium inf in Skirmish is to decrease the gold and then you have a 3 life spam unit who is easily the best choice and I'm not convinced that's good either.
 
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