Bluko88
Sergeant
So with 1.9 Vlandian Pikemen are a tad more useful since they can do fair amount of damage to cavalry on their initial charge when braced.
But that's about it. After that they just flounder around since cavalry typically scatters with some staying in melee, while others cycle charge. Even though Pikemen may pick up a few extra kills, they almost always get decimated by any decent cavalry. So that's a problem in itself, but spears/pikes are notoriously bad on foot. I am hoping we will see something done to make spears/pikes more viable on foot in the future.
That leaves Pikemen as a one trick pony - they are good at stopping initial cavalry charges and that's it. And while they may rack up some extra kills, the reality is any shield infantry in a relatively square shieldwall will do just as good a job stopping cavalry. And most shield infantry will do a much better killing the cavalry once stopped.
So really what are Pikemen good for? Besides their pike all they have is an underwhelming sword as a "sidearm". They are honestly such a bad T5 unit I think it's safe to say you should never recruit/upgrade to them. There's also the glaring issue in that they literally cannot defeat their predecessor Vlandian Billman in 1 vs 1. I mean what other unit in the game actually gets worse after an upgrade?
Here's what I propose to make Vlandian Pikeman a halfway decent shock troop
That's it! My initial testing so far shows in a few 1 vs 1 with other units they are pretty balanced. Against Voulgiers they are pretty even and they don't really overpower any other shock troops. They do pretty well against shield infantry in melee, winning most fights, except against those with throwing weapons defending. While they can reach archer lines in a straight charge, they will not win due to sustained damaged. Unfortunately not real great against cavalry since they only ever use their pikes against them.
But the most important thing: they can beat Vlandian Billman! Can you believe it? They can actually beat the unit they upgrade from! [/end sarcasm]
Make this real easy on ya TW, here's the code just gotta copy/paste and test. Also if anyone else feels intrepid enough:
But that's about it. After that they just flounder around since cavalry typically scatters with some staying in melee, while others cycle charge. Even though Pikemen may pick up a few extra kills, they almost always get decimated by any decent cavalry. So that's a problem in itself, but spears/pikes are notoriously bad on foot. I am hoping we will see something done to make spears/pikes more viable on foot in the future.
That leaves Pikemen as a one trick pony - they are good at stopping initial cavalry charges and that's it. And while they may rack up some extra kills, the reality is any shield infantry in a relatively square shieldwall will do just as good a job stopping cavalry. And most shield infantry will do a much better killing the cavalry once stopped.
So really what are Pikemen good for? Besides their pike all they have is an underwhelming sword as a "sidearm". They are honestly such a bad T5 unit I think it's safe to say you should never recruit/upgrade to them. There's also the glaring issue in that they literally cannot defeat their predecessor Vlandian Billman in 1 vs 1. I mean what other unit in the game actually gets worse after an upgrade?
Here's what I propose to make Vlandian Pikeman a halfway decent shock troop
- Give them some half way decent shoulder armor
- The extra armor will also help them survive against cavalry, which they should hard counter
- Give Pikemen a two handed sword
- This allows them to be a fairly decent Shock Troop in melee combat
- Gave two of the three sets Scale Shoulderguards, and the other set Reinforced Mail Shoulders
- Then I replaced their Arming Sword with a Tapered Two-Hander (They already have 130 Two-Handed versus 80 One-Handed so this works quite well)
That's it! My initial testing so far shows in a few 1 vs 1 with other units they are pretty balanced. Against Voulgiers they are pretty even and they don't really overpower any other shock troops. They do pretty well against shield infantry in melee, winning most fights, except against those with throwing weapons defending. While they can reach archer lines in a straight charge, they will not win due to sustained damaged. Unfortunately not real great against cavalry since they only ever use their pikes against them.
But the most important thing: they can beat Vlandian Billman! Can you believe it? They can actually beat the unit they upgrade from! [/end sarcasm]
Make this real easy on ya TW, here's the code just gotta copy/paste and test. Also if anyone else feels intrepid enough:
Code:
<NPCCharacter id="vlandian_pikeman"
default_group="Infantry"
level="26"
name="{=Si5ZCb1O}Vlandian Pikeman"
occupation="Soldier"
culture="Culture.vlandia">
<face>
<face_key_template value="BodyProperty.fighter_vlandia" />
</face>
<skills>
<skill id="Athletics"
value="130" />
<skill id="Riding"
value="60" />
<skill id="OneHanded"
value="80" />
<skill id="TwoHanded"
value="130" />
<skill id="Polearm"
value="130" />
<skill id="Bow"
value="20" />
<skill id="Crossbow"
value="60" />
<skill id="Throwing"
value="80" />
</skills>
<upgrade_targets></upgrade_targets>
<Equipments>
<EquipmentRoster>
<equipment slot="Item0"
id="Item.fine_pike_t4" />
<equipment slot="Item1"
id="Item.western_2hsword_t3" />
<equipment slot="Body"
id="Item.plated_leather_coat" />
<equipment slot="Leg"
id="Item.plated_strip_boots" />
<equipment slot="Head"
id="Item.peaked_helmet_over_mail" />
<equipment slot="Gloves"
id="Item.mail_mitten" />
<equipment slot="Cape"
id="Item.scale_shoulder_armor" />
</EquipmentRoster>
<EquipmentRoster>
<equipment slot="Item0"
id="Item.fine_pike_t4" />
<equipment slot="Item1"
id="Item.western_2hsword_t3" />
<equipment slot="Body"
id="Item.plated_leather_coat" />
<equipment slot="Leg"
id="Item.plated_strip_boots" />
<equipment slot="Head"
id="Item.peaked_helmet_over_mail" />
<equipment slot="Gloves"
id="Item.mail_mitten" />
<equipment slot="Cape"
id="Item.scale_shoulder_armor" />
</EquipmentRoster>
<EquipmentRoster>
<equipment slot="Item0"
id="Item.fine_pike_t4" />
<equipment slot="Item1"
id="Item.western_2hsword_t3" />
<equipment slot="Body"
id="Item.plated_leather_coat" />
<equipment slot="Leg"
id="Item.plated_strip_boots" />
<equipment slot="Head"
id="Item.peaked_helmet_over_mail" />
<equipment slot="Gloves"
id="Item.mail_mitten" />
<equipment slot="Cape"
id="Item.chainmail_shoulder_armor" />
</EquipmentRoster>
<EquipmentSet id="vlandia_troop_civilian_template_t3"
civilian="true" />
</Equipments>
</NPCCharacter>