This is something I don't see talked about at all, but we all seem to understand.
There are several perk combinations for Captain mode that are objectively wrong, and there many that are just inferior to other options in every way.
This makes it difficult for new players to play the game, as you have to figure out the "bad" loadouts for a while.
If we are splitting Captain/Skirmish perks, I'd beg devs to start with these:
Clan Warriors:
Spear: The spear is worse than the Pike in every way. There is no way to spawn with Targe + Spear, so there is no reason to use the spear. And no one does.
Please, please, please, put the beautiful Throwing Spear back in that slot for Captain!
Voulgier:
Shield + Sword, + Pike: Mostly unusable. AI will pull pikes when cav is close, and will sometimes refuse to switch to shields when being pelted with arrows. You'd pick this class loadout to defend others from arrows and cavalry, but the way the AI and formations work you effectively can't really do either.
Any Troop that has a Axe + Mace Option: AI will prefer to use the Axe against any troop that has a shield...even though many heavily armored troops have shields and I want them to use the mace, as there is 0 hope of actually breaking the shield before we are all killed.
Any Javelin Option for Light Cavalry: Currently, gets 3 or 4 javs and have an extremely hard time hitting targets. They could potentially do 120 damage if they hit a peasant with all 3, meaning they could kill one peasant. This would be a big deal in Skirmish mode, it does not matter in Captain as the AI will probably not hit any target with any of the 3 javelins.
Skirmishers that have Javelin + Throwing Spear: This is goofy. If I want to be able to counter cavalry, it means I can't use throwing weapons at all, because I can't tell them not to throw their spear.
Berserker:
Long Sword in Slot 2: This makes no sense in captain mode. The AI won't use it even if you give it to them, and it would be very very foolish to take it to begin with. The intent is for Skirmish players to use it with Hammers, but again you don't actually want the AI to switch out of hammers, since they are better with the crush through and massive damage anyway.
Throwing Axe vs Javelin: The javelin I think may slightly outrange the Throwing Axe? But it is inferior in every statistic that is listed, and the AI is more likely to try to use it as a melee weapon instead of switching back to the best axe in the game.
Brigands:
Extra Javelins vs. Improved Javelins: The math on these doesn't really check out for Captain mode.
304 max damage for Extra, 155 max damage for Improved, 152 for default.
This makes sense in Skirmish, where the ability to put out damage faster could be the deciding factor, but in Captain where around only 1/3 of throwing shots connect it makes no sense to take Improved.
Throwing Spear: Again, not quite the utility weapon that the Spear was before. If you want to protect your archers, it means you cannot throw any of your 4 harpoons at all.
Things that I might be misunderstanding, but appear to be bad choices for perks, possibly in any game mode:
Hunter:
Default Hunting Bow vs. Fast Hunting Bow: The faster bow is actually not faster and never has been, I don't know why it is called that. It does do less damage and is more inaccurate, though. You have 0 reason to not take the new Long Sword perk instead. Does it have faster projectile release speed/range? And does it actually compare to the Longbow in that regard????
Steppe Bow:
Faster Release vs. Faster Bow: The fast short bow is vastly inferior in damage and accuracy, and is only faster than the Faster Release bow by 1.
Varyag:
Slot 2: The Spear is the only correct choice in this slot really. I can only think of a tiny fraction of times I've seen the standard Varyag shield break, the only reason I can think to take Improved Shield is so that that the AI does not switch out of its primary weapon.
Bastard Axe: Its pretty cool, don't get me wrong, but since the AI shields never break, the AI only uses it one handed. One-handed, it is quite a bit slower and does 1 damage more than the default axe. It seems foolish not to take the improved armor.
The Long Sword: The only reason you could possibly take this is if you have a mace in slot 1, and I have literally never seen anyone do it in captain mode, sitting at ~1400 hours.
Putting the throwing axe back in this slot would be much more interesting.
There are several perk combinations for Captain mode that are objectively wrong, and there many that are just inferior to other options in every way.
This makes it difficult for new players to play the game, as you have to figure out the "bad" loadouts for a while.
If we are splitting Captain/Skirmish perks, I'd beg devs to start with these:
Clan Warriors:
Spear: The spear is worse than the Pike in every way. There is no way to spawn with Targe + Spear, so there is no reason to use the spear. And no one does.
Please, please, please, put the beautiful Throwing Spear back in that slot for Captain!
Voulgier:
Shield + Sword, + Pike: Mostly unusable. AI will pull pikes when cav is close, and will sometimes refuse to switch to shields when being pelted with arrows. You'd pick this class loadout to defend others from arrows and cavalry, but the way the AI and formations work you effectively can't really do either.
Any Troop that has a Axe + Mace Option: AI will prefer to use the Axe against any troop that has a shield...even though many heavily armored troops have shields and I want them to use the mace, as there is 0 hope of actually breaking the shield before we are all killed.
Any Javelin Option for Light Cavalry: Currently, gets 3 or 4 javs and have an extremely hard time hitting targets. They could potentially do 120 damage if they hit a peasant with all 3, meaning they could kill one peasant. This would be a big deal in Skirmish mode, it does not matter in Captain as the AI will probably not hit any target with any of the 3 javelins.
Skirmishers that have Javelin + Throwing Spear: This is goofy. If I want to be able to counter cavalry, it means I can't use throwing weapons at all, because I can't tell them not to throw their spear.
Berserker:
Long Sword in Slot 2: This makes no sense in captain mode. The AI won't use it even if you give it to them, and it would be very very foolish to take it to begin with. The intent is for Skirmish players to use it with Hammers, but again you don't actually want the AI to switch out of hammers, since they are better with the crush through and massive damage anyway.
Throwing Axe vs Javelin: The javelin I think may slightly outrange the Throwing Axe? But it is inferior in every statistic that is listed, and the AI is more likely to try to use it as a melee weapon instead of switching back to the best axe in the game.
Brigands:
Extra Javelins vs. Improved Javelins: The math on these doesn't really check out for Captain mode.
304 max damage for Extra, 155 max damage for Improved, 152 for default.
This makes sense in Skirmish, where the ability to put out damage faster could be the deciding factor, but in Captain where around only 1/3 of throwing shots connect it makes no sense to take Improved.
Throwing Spear: Again, not quite the utility weapon that the Spear was before. If you want to protect your archers, it means you cannot throw any of your 4 harpoons at all.
Things that I might be misunderstanding, but appear to be bad choices for perks, possibly in any game mode:
Hunter:
Default Hunting Bow vs. Fast Hunting Bow: The faster bow is actually not faster and never has been, I don't know why it is called that. It does do less damage and is more inaccurate, though. You have 0 reason to not take the new Long Sword perk instead. Does it have faster projectile release speed/range? And does it actually compare to the Longbow in that regard????
Steppe Bow:
Faster Release vs. Faster Bow: The fast short bow is vastly inferior in damage and accuracy, and is only faster than the Faster Release bow by 1.
Varyag:
Slot 2: The Spear is the only correct choice in this slot really. I can only think of a tiny fraction of times I've seen the standard Varyag shield break, the only reason I can think to take Improved Shield is so that that the AI does not switch out of its primary weapon.
Bastard Axe: Its pretty cool, don't get me wrong, but since the AI shields never break, the AI only uses it one handed. One-handed, it is quite a bit slower and does 1 damage more than the default axe. It seems foolish not to take the improved armor.
The Long Sword: The only reason you could possibly take this is if you have a mace in slot 1, and I have literally never seen anyone do it in captain mode, sitting at ~1400 hours.
Putting the throwing axe back in this slot would be much more interesting.
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