Passive perks are not visible to the opponent and that's an issue.
Take for example the Menavlion Infantry:
As you can see, the equipment doesn't change for the menavlion infantry depending on the perk.
This makes the game more random.
There are a couple more things that are less important but I'd like to mention anyway:
Afaik one of the key reasons for the class system was to make units more distinguishable. You see what you get. A peasant won't be running around with a twohander and a knight doesn't come with a pitchfork. The units were streamlined but it was also obvious what you're facing. These passive perks just bring chaos on confusion.
Some perks are really boring. Mostly the cavalry suffers from that: The small shield perk just gives you a shield without other perks while heavy archers get the same shield plus passive boni.
I understand that this was done nerf light cavalry but it's boring and won't necessarily work for competetive play were equipment dropping is part of the gameplay. Why not just just add a small shield to the base equipment but try nerf the cavalry in other ways.
For example the Cathapract now always comes with a shield but he can't use it with his Kontos while still gaining other boni. Now the Kontos is a perk that people might actually try out on the cathaprakt.
Some perks like the shield one the light cav are simply too good not to use them ( if you don't have a work around) other examples might be the Masked Nightmare for the Khuzait Lancer which has two laughable alternatives or the heavy lance on the Mamluke since couching is a lot easier and reliable than using a spear.
All in all I like the idea of the passive perks. But they need to be distinctive and visible to avoid confusion and frustration. Some perks seem to be too good not to have them and others seem very boring or bad. (Nobody needs you Sturgian Short Sword wtf...) I just feel that the ideas for the perks were not fully thought through and while I like the intended nerf on Skirmishers and Cavalry it feels rather rushed and was implemented with full disregard to players picking up items ( and so ruining the one distinguishable thing about passive perks)
Also the improved armor perk is hardly distinguishable from the normal version on some models. In case of the Cathapract there isn't any difference at all.
I will fix the spelling tomorrow it's pretty late here
Take for example the Menavlion Infantry:
As you can see, the equipment doesn't change for the menavlion infantry depending on the perk.
This makes the game more random.
- With the new perk system as a cavalry player it is very important to know if a unit has the cavalry breaker / hunter / big game hunter perk.
For most units that is indicated by their euipment. Heavy units like the Legionary get a spear which is unique to the corresponding passive. The issue is that the units still deal bonus damage to horses WITHOUT the spear. If your horse gets massive damage by a player and there is no indication for why he does it's random and feels weird.
Best example would be the Big Game Hunter wheere you get a throwing spear but you still do increased damage to horses without it. - perks should influence decisionmaking but they can't.
In the case of the Menavlion Infantry there are two perks that have no visual distinction that have an effect on infantry fights.
The "Shield Breaker-Perk" increases the Menavlions damage against shields and recudes damage taken from melee attacks while "Armor Padding-Perk" decreases damage taken from blunt weapons and recudes damage taken from melee attacks.
That's two information I'd like to know before I get to engage in melee. If I know the enemy is using Shield Breaker I might decide to use a Bastard Sword - If he has a the padded armor perk I might want to use a sword or axe instead of a mace.
Obviously you can't account for all situations in a quick battle. But you should be able to evaluate your decision making at least AFTER the engament. (For example on a death screen) - Some perks are distinctive but not nearly distinctive enough. Have a look at some of the quivers in the game.
I doubt that a player can really make out what kind of passive these archers use from a distance - even though depending on your unit it might be very important. And while it's probably hardest to notice on quivers a lot of the of the perks just add one equipable item. In battle that is might be really hard to notice for a player even though perks have a huge impact. For example the only difference between a Legionary with Shield Wall or Veteran is an axe.
There are a couple more things that are less important but I'd like to mention anyway:
Afaik one of the key reasons for the class system was to make units more distinguishable. You see what you get. A peasant won't be running around with a twohander and a knight doesn't come with a pitchfork. The units were streamlined but it was also obvious what you're facing. These passive perks just bring chaos on confusion.
Some perks are really boring. Mostly the cavalry suffers from that: The small shield perk just gives you a shield without other perks while heavy archers get the same shield plus passive boni.
I understand that this was done nerf light cavalry but it's boring and won't necessarily work for competetive play were equipment dropping is part of the gameplay. Why not just just add a small shield to the base equipment but try nerf the cavalry in other ways.
For example the Cathapract now always comes with a shield but he can't use it with his Kontos while still gaining other boni. Now the Kontos is a perk that people might actually try out on the cathaprakt.
Some perks like the shield one the light cav are simply too good not to use them ( if you don't have a work around) other examples might be the Masked Nightmare for the Khuzait Lancer which has two laughable alternatives or the heavy lance on the Mamluke since couching is a lot easier and reliable than using a spear.
All in all I like the idea of the passive perks. But they need to be distinctive and visible to avoid confusion and frustration. Some perks seem to be too good not to have them and others seem very boring or bad. (Nobody needs you Sturgian Short Sword wtf...) I just feel that the ideas for the perks were not fully thought through and while I like the intended nerf on Skirmishers and Cavalry it feels rather rushed and was implemented with full disregard to players picking up items ( and so ruining the one distinguishable thing about passive perks)
Also the improved armor perk is hardly distinguishable from the normal version on some models. In case of the Cathapract there isn't any difference at all.
I will fix the spelling tomorrow it's pretty late here