if you want the best archer visit Battania. cool
if you want the best crossbow men go to Vlandia. roger
if you want the best horse archer stop by Khuzait. nice
if you want the best cavalry travel to Empire. got it
best infantry, best throwing??!?!? etc etc....
these types of rare distinctions make the game more interesting/ more satisfying and a heck 'of' alot more fun.
You have to look at the factions to see why the elite troops are mostly cavalry.
Aserai - like their predecessors, the sarranids, they are not well known for infantry
Battania - the 'forest rangers', their whole thing is ambushing from the trees, keeping out of melee when they can
Empire - specialization in armored cataphracts and skilled archers
Khuzait - horse archers is their entire thing
Sturgia - This is where there should be improved infantry units, i think most people were let down by how weak their infantry is
Vlandia - main tactics involve crossbows & heavy cavalry charge
So as you can see most factions tactics aren't really focused too much on infantry
These are both rather weird ways to see the game's factions. Apart from being a lot more multidimensional than you make them out to be, some of these descriptions are jank.
Battania shouldn't be just ****ing archers, especially when they're restricted to noble lines as they are. Do falxmen not exist to you? I want to see their infantry offerings buffed in some ways. More javelins to the Wildlings, get rid of that spear. A little more armour on Vet Falxmen. Just fixing spearmen for Oathsworn, those guys are pathetic. And give us common archers please.
Crossbowmen suck lol. But I guess Vlandia does it better than the Empire But Vlandia has shock cavalry too, no idea why you don't mention that. Right now though, they basically exist through Vlandian Sergeants, contrary to what they really should be.
Khuzaits are great at horse archery, but also cavalry in general. Its like you people have never thought to use heavy lancers, or charge your Khan's Guard. And its not just cavalry either their dismounted range is quite effective. Too effective almost. I want a troop tree nerf to their Darkhans, and a return of those badass face masks. Marksmen are perfectly good, if average.
Lmao, despite their lauded tankiness, Cataphracts tend to underperform. And palatine guard use weak bows and lack a quiver. I will say that the Empire is all about armour, trainability and well rounded defensive style. So in practice, legionaries. I think they can be toned down in terms of offensive power imo.
Sturgia literally has the best infantry. Have none of you seen how nasty Veteran Warriors and Shock Troops are? And the new Ulfhednar are quite good now. They're anything but weak in terms of infantry. And their cavalry are good, maybe better than Banner Knights are lol. Only their archers really suck. Makes me reckon they should just be best 'melee' instead.
The Aserai are the best at well rounded offense. Ranged weapons everywhere, great cavalry, lots of good hitting. Not amazing armour and terrible trainability though Kind of like a mirror of the Empire. And so much for 'bad infantry', considering Palace Guards are everything the old Ulfhednar wish they could be. Their vet infantry suck though, those helmets are awful. They are actually pretty alright otherwise, maybe some buffs could be warranted.
When you have a whole game to design ...yes, it just might be. Noble line is already something that was not in Warband at all and main tree was expanded from 2-3 to 5 top tier units. When you design something as complex as Bannerlord, you have to put some limits on what you try to acomplish.
I don't think there is too much of an issue of having an extra noble troop line. I actually had a plan for it. Something like...
Aserai: Some sort of battlefield hashashin line? Quick, flexible infantry units to match the Aserai's tendency towards versatility. That, or maybe some sort of Muzabarin infantry.
Battania: Take the Battanian Horseman line, buff them up and make them noble troops. Replace their old line with some naked longbow archers instead or something, make them into real archers.
Empire: Perhaps a Praetorian/Varangian guard style infantry unit? Despite having 1 less option than the others, the Empire is pretty loaded in terms of their troop range. They got something for just about everything. Line troops, shock troops, archers, crossbows, horse archers, shock cavalry.
Khuzait: Separate the Khan's Guard into two different troops. One noble glaive cavalry, and one dedicated noble horse archer.
Sturgia: Going to go against the grain and say that Ulfhednar should be made into noble troops instead. They alone get to be the premium shock trooper. Feels more niche that way.
Vlandia: Crossbow noble infantry with spears. The best crossbow man in the game, and can stop whatever horses think they can take them by surprise.
Hell, people are already going around making noble troops, its not that hard. Goodness knows I might, if I get back to modding.
