Ok, I made an account for the very purpose of commenting on the following change:
"
What on earth is up with that?
- Body armours with arm, leg covers now provide more armour to those parts. Armour pieces have been rebalanced and recalibrated. Most troops now use different armour pieces that are balanced for their tier and troop type."
I've got a question for the game designers about their vision for the game... How exactly should battles play out? An arcade whack-a-mole one-shot simulator where armor is irrelevant? Or a somewhat decent combat game where tactics and formations matter?
My main gripe is this: armor is irrelevant. Unarmored looter? Goes down in 1 hit from horseback or 2-3 hits in melee. Fully armored legionaire? Goes down in 1 hit from horseback or 3-4 hits in melee... Omg, such armor, much impress. I mean really, the difference between wearing the hair on your chest and lamelar over chain mail with presumably a gambeson underneath while wearing a steel helmet is 1, at most 2 extra hits? Every peasant with a pitchfork having a chance at killing "heavily" armored knights? In what universe is this a thing?
Medieval armor, even the lowly (compared to Renaissance full plate) chain mail and lamellar armors could reliably stop a blow from bladed and pointed weapons to great effect and minimal injuries to the wearer. That's why people used armor... Because it worked. As it currently stands, there's not much difference between wearing top-of-the-line armor and going into battle naked. You'll at most endure 1-3 extra blows.
I would strongly advise the devs, and specifically whoever is in charge of balancing and overall gameplay to take a look at the downright awesome "Realistic Battles" Mod that's on the nexus. While it does take realism a bit too far (and over-buffs spears), leading to drawn-out fights and domination of heavily armored units, it is a step in the correct direction.
Balancing should probably start top to bottom. Decide that a legionaire should take an average of 8-10 hits to put down with an axe. Increase that to 10-13 with a sword or 5-7 with a mace or 3-5 high power bow arrows. Use that as a benchmark for everyone else, up to the point where on unarmored targets (looters and recruits) you need 1-2 hits from horseback and 2-3 hits on foot (sort of where we are now, but with the need to give armor some meaning) or 2-3 center of mass arrows from high power bows.
This is, of course, a generalization, and implies an "average" weapon. Looters and low level bandits should have little chance against elite troops, while keeping the amount of hits necessary to down an opponent on more or less equal tier opponents to what I wrote above.
The thing is, battles should last a bit longer. Most encounters are decided in the first 10-20 seconds of the infantry lines clashing, when the kill feed lights up. There's literally no time to set up, for example, a maneuver where you move your archers from the back line to the left flank to shoot into exposed enemy sides because by the time they're done running, the battle is over and the infantry is coming for them.
This change to the armor values was, in my opinion, a step in a wrong direction. Armor's effect in combat is poorly explained, pretty much negligible and leads to short and pretty unsatisfactory battles.
OK, end of rant. I just hope someone actually bothers to read this and maybe consider it. Oh, and if you check out the mod I mentioned, look at how they've balanced unit and army AI. Comparing elite soldiers on challenging difficulty with mid-tier soldiers on normal difficulty with the mod is a night-and-day difference. They indeed fight as if they're trying to survive, not to participate in the "let's see who gets killed the fastest because he forgot he has a shield" contest.
Did they acknowledge anywhere that they like the current armor mechanics such that it doesn't make that much difference?
For me, as long as the relativeness is preserved such that an unarmored looter receives "x" damage while a fully equipped unit receives "x/3", it is acceptable for me.
I still think killing fully armored units with heavy weapons should be possible with speed bonus of a mount or hitting from head even if the attacker is unmounted.
I also suspect currently there is some hidden calculations when fighting enemy lords. They just take a lot of hits to kill without speed bonus.
+1Ok, I made an account for the very purpose of commenting on the following change:
"
What on earth is up with that?
- Body armours with arm, leg covers now provide more armour to those parts. Armour pieces have been rebalanced and recalibrated. Most troops now use different armour pieces that are balanced for their tier and troop type."
I've got a question for the game designers about their vision for the game... How exactly should battles play out? An arcade whack-a-mole one-shot simulator where armor is irrelevant? Or a somewhat decent combat game where tactics and formations matter?
My main gripe is this: armor is irrelevant. Unarmored looter? Goes down in 1 hit from horseback or 2-3 hits in melee. Fully armored legionaire? Goes down in 1 hit from horseback or 3-4 hits in melee... Omg, such armor, much impress. I mean really, the difference between wearing the hair on your chest and lamelar over chain mail with presumably a gambeson underneath while wearing a steel helmet is 1, at most 2 extra hits? Every peasant with a pitchfork having a chance at killing "heavily" armored knights? In what universe is this a thing?
Medieval armor, even the lowly (compared to Renaissance full plate) chain mail and lamellar armors could reliably stop a blow from bladed and pointed weapons to great effect and minimal injuries to the wearer. That's why people used armor... Because it worked. As it currently stands, there's not much difference between wearing top-of-the-line armor and going into battle naked. You'll at most endure 1-3 extra blows.
I would strongly advise the devs, and specifically whoever is in charge of balancing and overall gameplay to take a look at the downright awesome "Realistic Battles" Mod that's on the nexus. While it does take realism a bit too far (and over-buffs spears), leading to drawn-out fights and domination of heavily armored units, it is a step in the correct direction.
Balancing should probably start top to bottom. Decide that a legionaire should take an average of 8-10 hits to put down with an axe. Increase that to 10-13 with a sword or 5-7 with a mace or 3-5 high power bow arrows. Use that as a benchmark for everyone else, up to the point where on unarmored targets (looters and recruits) you need 1-2 hits from horseback and 2-3 hits on foot (sort of where we are now, but with the need to give armor some meaning) or 2-3 center of mass arrows from high power bows.
This is, of course, a generalization, and implies an "average" weapon. Looters and low level bandits should have little chance against elite troops, while keeping the amount of hits necessary to down an opponent on more or less equal tier opponents to what I wrote above.
The thing is, battles should last a bit longer. Most encounters are decided in the first 10-20 seconds of the infantry lines clashing, when the kill feed lights up. There's literally no time to set up, for example, a maneuver where you move your archers from the back line to the left flank to shoot into exposed enemy sides because by the time they're done running, the battle is over and the infantry is coming for them.
This change to the armor values was, in my opinion, a step in a wrong direction. Armor's effect in combat is poorly explained, pretty much negligible and leads to short and pretty unsatisfactory battles.
OK, end of rant. I just hope someone actually bothers to read this and maybe consider it. Oh, and if you check out the mod I mentioned, look at how they've balanced unit and army AI. Comparing elite soldiers on challenging difficulty with mid-tier soldiers on normal difficulty with the mod is a night-and-day difference. They indeed fight as if they're trying to survive, not to participate in the "let's see who gets killed the fastest because he forgot he has a shield" contest.
In this thread we have talked about the duration of the battle, how short it is at Bannerlord and how it could be lengthened. Well, in this new video test, i have defined a battle environment of 200vs200 with the AI at the maximum possible for both Warband and Bannerlord native.
Warband (0:10-3:13) - Bannerlord (3:13-5:21)
It is curious how once again "the slab" of the slogan "bannerlord has a fast pace combat game" falls on us again with this comparison. We see that with those premises mentioned above, Warband manages to make the battle last an average of 3 minutes (after a charge command given). On the other hand, in Bannerlord, around the first minute we see the first flees and the end of the battle around minute 1.5. It can be assured that the "battle pace" in Bannerlord has been reduced by half, much less than the numbers of its forerunner.
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Did they acknowledge anywhere that they like the current armor mechanics such that it doesn't make that much difference?
(...)
I still think killing fully armored units with heavy weapons should be possible with speed bonus of a mount or hitting from head even if the attacker is unmounted.
I also suspect currently there is some hidden calculations when fighting enemy lords.
(...)
Modified starts 01:25
Therefore, a middle ground between the arcade-ish "It's a fast paced game" and a realistic approach should be the goal. Very easy, easy and realistic game environments should be able to be differentiated substantially in that way.
Wow, 1 min battle. ? Also the modified version is not so longer.
About armor; the mechanics are working as intended, the thing is default armor "amounts" are low. But this doesn't change the fact these amounts are flexible, meaning it is very easy to change via simple XML edits. Thus, I believe devs want fast-paced / action-packed battles and they leave the door open for anyone thinks otherwise.
This game is mod friendly, don't expect everything to be done by devs, use whatever mods you like to evolve the game to your desire.
E.g. I created a mod called "Less Damage" to reduce the amount of damage weapons generate, which brings way longer battle possibility on the table. (in return, it allows you to make tactical changes mid-battle) And this is without touching the armor, that means you can also change armor amounts to make difference between a peasant and a knight more distinguishable.
Note: This comment is valid for singleplayer. I have no multiplayer experience.
Yes, you are right, I also mentioned same thing and already said armor amounts are low. I did many many tests with different armor amounts, and "low" was my conclusion in simple words.Precisely the damage that most weapons and projectiles produce would be within a plausible range already. The problem, or so I see it, is that the protection value of the armour is below the plausible. First there must be a reorganisation of the armour by material (what protects more than what) and second, I would say that an increase of +35% in the overall armour values of each item would not hurt.