If anyone has any thoughts on the current troop upgrade changes, complaints, or further suggestions, I am open to any feedback.
Had a discussion over at the steam forum on this just now, here are my rationales for the current changes:
- Anglo Saxon cavalry is moved to upgrade from the Tier 2 archer rather than the Tier 3 melee units. Light cavalry is an auxilery role as well, and Unmodded VC making that cavalry unit Tier 4 guranteed that almost no player would ever upgrade to it--it was terrible compared to the Tier 4 swordsmen/spearmen and the other cavalry options available. Since it had to be made Tier 3, the archer units were the only option (warband only allows 2 upgrade paths per unit, tier 2 freeholders already have the swordsmen/spearmen split), and that matches what unmodded VC does for light cavalry anyway, unmodded VC places light cavalry in the same upgrade chain as archers for Britons, Picts, and Irish.
- The new Norse dane axe warriors are upgraded from Norse Warrior Archer for 2 reasons. First, they are a Tier 4, but a powerful Tier 4, so they need to be upgraded from a level 26 unit (warrior archers) instead of a level 23 unit (normal tier 3) to require the proper amount of XP for their strength (Warband upgrade XP is based on lvl of the unit upgrading from, not the unit upgrading to). Second, this reflects the historical reality that the Norse did not view archers as an entirely seperate role, so the upgrade reflects these warriors aquiring the equipment from looting or purchasing better armor to have their combat role evolve (note the Dane Axe warriors WP are modest, and in line with an upgrade from the melee skilled warrior archers).
- Most unit lines are no longer dead-ends--so Irish and Pict lighter cavalry can upgrade to the heavier variety, and auxilery units are often given the chance to upgrade to a standard bearer if they earn enough xp (essentially, earning the right to carry the standard through their veteran status). Basically, as long as the WP change in a given upgrade was a reasonable jump for a single tier, there didn't seem to be a reason why a unit accumulating XP (and presumably equipment along with it from its loot share) shouldn't be able to upgrade given enough time. After all, despite using names like "freeholder" and "noble", VC upgrades aren't based on any social status distinction.
But of course reasonable minds can differ on these issues. For example, Piedalf proposed instead making the Anglo Saxon cavalry stronger, to make them competitive at their unmodded VC Tier 4 slot, which would have been another solution, https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,373658.msg8945236.html#msg8945236 though I ultimately decided it was better to preserve the Anglo Saxon weakness in cavalry.
Any of this is open to reconsideration, so let me know if you have any thoughts!