Good evening.

As the title suggest, I have a list of things I would like to see added or changed in the future that I would say seem like sensible and (hopefully) easy to make additions.
Before I get to that, however, thanks for the free unit additions of late. Keep them coming. It would be nice if other variants for existing units could be added as well that may not have been on the tabletop but would make sense, like Grave Guard with spears or Skeletons with halberds or great / dual weapons to name a few examples.
More choice = more good. This is also one of the things on my list. Probably not necessary, but would still be a nice thing to have rather than not have.

In addition to that, I would like to say what a fantastic addition Unusual Locations have been to the game and I'd like to see that system expanded in the future, though perhaps with some fine-tuning regarding affected factions and the effects of said locations. Instead of only being able to sell the port settlement to Tilea that the location appeared in, give us more dilemma options like offering another port settlement or the option to declare an enemy's settlement as a potential port that you need to capture in X turns where you maybe spawn an Empire army to assist you as a stand-in for said Tileans. There are so many amazing narrative-driven things that could be done with this new system.

Now, what else?

With the advance in new tech, I think it's about time to let Ariel fly. Like with most things on this list, there's a mod for it. Adding things to the base game officially is always preferable and leaves room for more impactful mods, like overhauls and such.

Also relating to new tech, I would like to see some old factions and characters get some changes. Like my Greenskin of choice, Azhag. I have made a post about this previously, but the way his magic skills work doesn't really make sense for the character. Much like Eltharion and Luthor Harkon, his magic should be locked off until the Crown of Sorcery is equipped, but then have the entirety of his magic line automatically granted to him instead of having to spend points in it, just like it currently works for Harkon. It makes even more sense for Azhag than Harkon this way, as Azhag is not a spellcaster in his own right.

Also regarding skills: It would be nice if more characters than only Kairos could have skill points applied to things that are already available from the get-go, like the starting spells most caster characters have that you then still need to put points into for...some reason. Could make those initial spells three instead of two points for heroes, but start off with points in the ones you begin the game with already which should lead to a net increase of one more available skill point unless I'm completely stupid and bungled my calculations. Alternatively, let us choose starting spells OR randomize them.

To continue on the topic, I would like to see the books of Nagash changed and either made available via diplomacy like Thorek's mechanic currently works OR make the books of Nagash available to most if not all factions and keep the special rogue armies for the books on the map for all factions. This could work similarly to the sword of Khaine or the Nemesis Crown, but only on a faction level instead of a character one with less harsh drawbacks, for instance spreading increased vampiric corruption the longer you hold on to them or something.

Alternatively, you could make them equippable items with drawbacks, but one of the former two would be preferable.

It would be great to have the Wallbreaker passive added to more units, particularly Rogue Idols for the Greenskins. This could even be implemented similar to the way you've recently changed missile damage against buildings, giving Ogres and Trolls a low increase in damage against walls and a higher amount for things like Rogue Idols, Dread Saurians and others.

Another thing I would really like changed or rather added is landmark recruitment. There are plenty of landmarks out there like the Nuln Gunnery School or Drazhoath's Infernal Barracks that don't provide recruitment of affected units when there's no real reason not to. It'd make sense that you could draw troops from the barracks they're stationed in, wouldn't it? On top of that, the Nuln Gunnery School had recruitment options previously, lost them, got them back and lost them again if I remember correctly. Why can you not recruit gunpowder units and artillery from there? Where are the engineers?

Two things related to this last point: For one, I would really like to see more "plug and play" mechanics, like how Imperial Authority now works for Gelt. This applies particularly to the Great Bastion for Cathay and the Gunnery School mechanic for Elspeth. For the former, this way you could preserve this mechanic if you were to play Yuan Bo or any future Cathay characters like the Monkey King as it's inherently tied to the three gate settlements of the bastion. For Elspeth's mechanic, you could tie it to ownership of Nuln by any Empire faction, but lock off the Amethyst upgrades exclusively to Elspeth. It always feels kinda bad when you have to completely miss out on certain mechanics because you prefer playing one character over another. The same could also be applied to Skavenblight and Hell Pit for the Skaven, but yet again locking off parts of it for those Skaven that aren't the respective characters.

The second point I unfortunately forgot in my rambling, but if I should remember I'll edit it in.

On top of my suggestion regarding landmark recruitment, I would like to see more landmarks added in general, which I'm sure they will be. Barak Varr in particular comes to mind, as the only major Dwarf port in the game I think it deserves to be special. On the topic of ports: Please return the anchor symbol to port settlements to be consistent with the remaining icon for elven colonies...and add back elven colonies for more races than only the High Elves! I'm still refusing to play that Lokhir campaign I've been waiting to play since the launch of Immortal Empires when I attacked the eastern High Elf colonies and found the settlements in question to have no elven colony chains. On top of that, it'd be nice to have MORE elven colonies added to the old world where applicable, like that minor settlement next to Couronne the name of which escapes me right now. L'Angille, was it? ...Or one in Nordland! I've taken this information from what I believe to be an old army book map and lore blurbs from the fantastic Legendary Lore mod.

Another thing in the same vein of "more options = more good": Now that mounts are an automatic unlock. please return previous mount options like horses with no barding and such that were lost when this change was made. I also think that making the "Mentor" skill an automatic unlock in the future would be a good change, as it currently only serves as filler for most old hero characters. Some consistency in this regard would also be appreciated regarding "types" of heroes referred to in the tooltip. Maybe in brackets at the end.

Partially relating to that: I would like to see mount options and certain heroes benefit from certain tech and effects. One particular example: Vlad von Carstein. Vlad is a vampire, Vlad is a hero when playing as Isabella, but Isabella's faction and lord effects do not apply to Vlad. I would like to see this changed for the sake of consistency. The give another example: If you've got tech that affects Steam Tanks for instance, I would like to see the same tech applied to Steam Tank mount options. Unique mounts could be exempt from this, of course.

Something else we're bound to see down the line but I would like to emphasize nonetheless: Please also add missing lores of magic from the tabletop, like the Lore of Death and Lore of Heavens for the Ogre Kingdoms, Lore of Death for Necromancers, all missing spell lores for the Dark Elves and so on. Another thing I would suggest that I'm not sure would fit canonically: Change the Metalshifting lore attribute of the Lore of Metal to also affect ranged damage.

What else did I have...? Oh, yeah.

With the upcoming Ogre DLC, I hope we'll be given the ability to eat Gnoblar units for meat if that iteration of the system is to be retained.

I would also really like to see the "Eye of the Gods" mechanic added to Norsca and awakening of Vampire Lords through Blood Kisses be made a re-usable mechanic instead of leaving you with a maximum of 15 potential lords and that's it. I hope we'll get a more rigid split between the bloodlines in the future in the wake of a "Champions of Chaos"-esque DLC for the Vampire Counts that hopefully brings themed heroes in as well. Themed armies are great fun.

Related to the previous point: Please give us more male and female variants where applicable. For instance, you've got the Glade Lord for the Wood Elves as male and female with no difference between the two whatsoever. An easy first step would be to add variants like male Dreadlords with sword and shield or male Vampire Fleet Captains with pistols and female ones with polearms to the recruitment pool, as the voice-acting is already there. Consistent with lore, of course, so I'm not asking for male Dark Elf Sorcerers or female Paladins and the like. Making the recruitment pool faster to refresh by default would also be nice, or to give us an option to spend currency of any kind to refresh it.

I would like the Dwarf ability granted by the Skaven Grudge - "The Miners Below" added as a default ability to regions with mines built up and grant more charges while the unlocked ability itself makes it possible for you to use it everywhere like it currently works.

I would very much like to see Teleport Stance like that of Tzeentch be given to Slann lords, as there is precedent for it in lore.

I would like to see the Mortuary Cult / Forge mechanic expanded to encompass the new resource(s) added with Warhammer III and also given to the Chaos Dwarfs, as it makes little sense to me that the faction that's basically the arms dealers of Chaos can't make use of their own supply.

Clan Pestilens needs a dedicated plague mechanic, preferably one re-using the old Nurgle artwork with a Plague Priest instead. I'm sure that'll come eventually.

I would like to see the new tech from Woodland Encounters from the Wood Elves re-used for "land treasure battles" against Greenskins, Beastmen, the Undead and so on, perhaps offering a dilemma if you encounter the same faction you play. Maybe as Kemmler, you encounter a Reikland patrol and either have the option to fight a battle to kill them to the last or let some of them live for a morale debuff across all armies in Reikland or something along those lines. Would also be nice if scouting ruins did more than just reveal Skaven again.

...And one last point that you're already working on considering your postponed update for magic items and the like: I would like to see tech and effects with odd and unwieldy numbers changed...Like that one Tomb Kings skill that gives 7 percent Physical Resistance instead of either 5 or 10...Or veteran Hexwraiths getting 8 percent Ward Save instead of 10, a tech for Stegadons granting 8 percent missile resistance and so on and so forth...Or the Talisman of Protection giving 16 instead of 15 percent Ward Save! My hated nemesis. It's just very odd all around and I'm hoping for a gradual once-over down the line. Adding more items affecting ranged capabilities is a fantastic addition that I hope will be expanded on as well.

No, not yet the last point: I would really, really, REALLY like the ability to re-shuffle building placement in my provinces at will to keep it all nice and neat and organized. Purely aesthetic, with no gameplay effect whatsoever. Please, pretty please.

Right, this'll do for now. I'm sure there's plenty more things, so anyone reading this feel free to add to the list!

Thank you for your time browsing through my ramblings of a wish list.

Hello!  I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but not all of it, so let me go over it point by point.

Unit variants: to an extent I agree with you, but saying that more choice = more good is taking it to an extent beyond what I think is justified.  I don't think weapon setups which are rare and special (e.g. shields on ranged or halberds) should be made available to factions which don't already have them, and in some cases a missing weapon variant helps a faction feel more unique by maintaining a weakness in their roster.  I'm also against variants which are strict upgrade/downgrades (e.g. creating a shielded variant of an unshielded variant without other weapon changes).

Unusual Locations: I haven't run into them as much as I would have liked, but they seem cool, and I'd be open to more dilemmas involving them.

Giving Ariel flight: sure...?  Not a priority for me, though.

Azhag's magic being restricted until getting Crown of Sorcery: full support, it just makes sense.

You do get benefits from putting points into spells you already start with (cooldown reduction and possibly the ability to overcast, IIRC).  Randomly selecting a T1 spell as starting spell rather than having it be predetermined would be interesting - I like that it would probably lead to more variety of spells used by the AI.

Books of Nagash: it'd be nice to have them shared between co-op partners, or, as you say, transferrable between factions.  Rogue armies only being attackable for specific factions is an issue that should be addressed for more than just Books of Nagash - I believe several factions (including Malakai's) have mechanics which spawn armies which can't be fought by others.  It's problematic when they can raid/spread corruption/be a general nuisance.

Wallbreaker: yeah, there are a number of units which probably should be able to break walls if there was any consistency with that attribute.  It doesn't make much sense to me that an ogre can break down a city wall but a dragon ogre shaggoth can't.

Landmark Recruitment: I'm with you on that one.

Racial mechanics being tied to region rather than faction: that would be an interesting one.  Definitely makes sense for things like the Great Bastion and Lustrian hostility, but it's more arguable for things like the Gunnery School and Ikit's workshop.  I'd still like it, but I think you'll get pushback from a bunch of people on this one.

Port Settlements: would be nice to be able to tell at a glance, given embark/disembark mechanics are what they are.  Barak Varr would be cool to have in the game.  Not sure what Elven Colonies would do for Wood Elves (HE and DE I can both see it).

I'm neutral on unbarded horses - mount option bloat is definitely a thing, though I suppose most characters who were offered low-grade options like that didn't have many others anyway.  The filler provided by Mentor is something which is needed, and which I feel Mentor doesn't adequately provide by itself - many heroes just need more skill nodes.  As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't need to exist to begin with, and nor does it need to be automatic, but I'm not actively opposed to it.

I'd actually argue that it's less consistent to have tech apply to mounts (but not unique mounts of that type) than it is to simply differentiate between units and mounts.  RoRs are unique units and affected by tech/skills, so it seems inconsistent to have unique mounts not affected by the same.  I'd be cool with all mounts benefitting from their unit type's improvements, though, as long as things like Ikit's workshop get a pass to avoid double-dipping on unit/mount effects.

Missing lores definitely should get added at some point.  Metalshifting affecting ranged sounds interesting, though I probably haven't thought through all the implications of that.

Gnoblars and meat: the real fix we need is for Gnoblars not to consume meat.  It's silly that they do, and it makes them not worth running (just get some allied-recruitment infantry instead - those actually don't).  Eating gnoblars would be cute but I don't think it's necessary.  No opinion on EotG for Norsca or infinite awakenings for VC - I just don't play enough of either faction to be able to judge.

Gender variants: would be neat, but very low on the priority list for me.  Refreshing recruitment pools: not sure.  I feel like this disproportionately benefits High Elves more than everyone else (because of Influence recruitment mechanics).

Global Miners Below sounds okay on a fluff level but dwarfs really don't need buffs right now.  Tentatively against this one until they see the nerf bat where they deserve it.

Teleporting Slann: please no, the ability to automatically ambush-attack with Teleport stance was a horrible design choice, and I don't want it poisoning more of my game.  I'm fine with Slann getting a teleport underways stance, and I'd be fine with them sharing the Tzeentch mechanic if it wasn't a terrible mechanic with insufficient counterplay.

Chorf Forge sounds like a solid DLC content option for them.

Pestilens is one of many early WH2 factions completely lacking in unique mechanics which really deserve a glow-up.  Nurgle plagues do sound like an appropriate choice for them.

Land encounter battles against non-faction forces would really help bring the world to life - I'm all for it.   Rebellions could even be reworked to make them less of a joke by having them function more like Rituals of Rebirth (multiple spawnpoints, not attacking until fully mustered).

I'm fine with odd numbers for % resistances - nothing needs to change there, IMO.  Iffy about seeing more ranged items, too - many factions don't have ranged lords/heroes at all and some of those that do don't have ones with actually *good* ranged attacks, and as a result, the existing ranged weapons often end up being very disappointing drops to see.  I'd probably appreciate it if other ranged lords/heroes (particularly non-gun ones) were brought up to the standard of more recent ones.

Rearranging buildings would be a nice UI touch if it's not too hard to do.  It'd improve legibility if I could always keep my walls in the same slot so a glance would tell me whether a settlement had them.

​

Steelclaw#6359 wrote:

Hello!  I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but not all of it, so let me go over it point by point.

Unit variants: to an extent I agree with you, but saying that more choice = more good is taking it to an extent beyond what I think is justified.  I don't think weapon setups which are rare and special (e.g. shields on ranged or halberds) should be made available to factions which don't already have them, and in some cases a missing weapon variant helps a faction feel more unique by maintaining a weakness in their roster.  I'm also against variants which are strict upgrade/downgrades (e.g. creating a shielded variant of an unshielded variant without other weapon changes).

Unusual Locations: I haven't run into them as much as I would have liked, but they seem cool, and I'd be open to more dilemmas involving them.

Giving Ariel flight: sure...?  Not a priority for me, though.

Azhag's magic being restricted until getting Crown of Sorcery: full support, it just makes sense.

You do get benefits from putting points into spells you already start with (cooldown reduction and possibly the ability to overcast, IIRC).  Randomly selecting a T1 spell as starting spell rather than having it be predetermined would be interesting - I like that it would probably lead to more variety of spells used by the AI.

Books of Nagash: it'd be nice to have them shared between co-op partners, or, as you say, transferrable between factions.  Rogue armies only being attackable for specific factions is an issue that should be addressed for more than just Books of Nagash - I believe several factions (including Malakai's) have mechanics which spawn armies which can't be fought by others.  It's problematic when they can raid/spread corruption/be a general nuisance.

Wallbreaker: yeah, there are a number of units which probably should be able to break walls if there was any consistency with that attribute.  It doesn't make much sense to me that an ogre can break down a city wall but a dragon ogre shaggoth can't.

Landmark Recruitment: I'm with you on that one.

Racial mechanics being tied to region rather than faction: that would be an interesting one.  Definitely makes sense for things like the Great Bastion and Lustrian hostility, but it's more arguable for things like the Gunnery School and Ikit's workshop.  I'd still like it, but I think you'll get pushback from a bunch of people on this one.

Port Settlements: would be nice to be able to tell at a glance, given embark/disembark mechanics are what they are.  Barak Varr would be cool to have in the game.  Not sure what Elven Colonies would do for Wood Elves (HE and DE I can both see it).

I'm neutral on unbarded horses - mount option bloat is definitely a thing, though I suppose most characters who were offered low-grade options like that didn't have many others anyway.  The filler provided by Mentor is something which is needed, and which I feel Mentor doesn't adequately provide by itself - many heroes just need more skill nodes.  As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't need to exist to begin with, and nor does it need to be automatic, but I'm not actively opposed to it.

I'd actually argue that it's less consistent to have tech apply to mounts (but not unique mounts of that type) than it is to simply differentiate between units and mounts.  RoRs are unique units and affected by tech/skills, so it seems inconsistent to have unique mounts not affected by the same.  I'd be cool with all mounts benefitting from their unit type's improvements, though, as long as things like Ikit's workshop get a pass to avoid double-dipping on unit/mount effects.

Missing lores definitely should get added at some point.  Metalshifting affecting ranged sounds interesting, though I probably haven't thought through all the implications of that.

Gnoblars and meat: the real fix we need is for Gnoblars not to consume meat.  It's silly that they do, and it makes them not worth running (just get some allied-recruitment infantry instead - those actually don't).  Eating gnoblars would be cute but I don't think it's necessary.  No opinion on EotG for Norsca or infinite awakenings for VC - I just don't play enough of either faction to be able to judge.

Gender variants: would be neat, but very low on the priority list for me.  Refreshing recruitment pools: not sure.  I feel like this disproportionately benefits High Elves more than everyone else (because of Influence recruitment mechanics).

Global Miners Below sounds okay on a fluff level but dwarfs really don't need buffs right now.  Tentatively against this one until they see the nerf bat where they deserve it.

Teleporting Slann: please no, the ability to automatically ambush-attack with Teleport stance was a horrible design choice, and I don't want it poisoning more of my game.  I'm fine with Slann getting a teleport underways stance, and I'd be fine with them sharing the Tzeentch mechanic if it wasn't a terrible mechanic with insufficient counterplay.

Chorf Forge sounds like a solid DLC content option for them.

Pestilens is one of many early WH2 factions completely lacking in unique mechanics which really deserve a glow-up.  Nurgle plagues do sound like an appropriate choice for them.

Land encounter battles against non-faction forces would really help bring the world to life - I'm all for it.   Rebellions could even be reworked to make them less of a joke by having them function more like Rituals of Rebirth (multiple spawnpoints, not attacking until fully mustered).

I'm fine with odd numbers for % resistances - nothing needs to change there, IMO.  Iffy about seeing more ranged items, too - many factions don't have ranged lords/heroes at all and some of those that do don't have ones with actually *good* ranged attacks, and as a result, the existing ranged weapons often end up being very disappointing drops to see.  I'd probably appreciate it if other ranged lords/heroes (particularly non-gun ones) were brought up to the standard of more recent ones.

Rearranging buildings would be a nice UI touch if it's not too hard to do.  It'd improve legibility if I could always keep my walls in the same slot so a glance would tell me whether a settlement had them.

I pretty much agree with most of this except the lizard men thing. It should be a thing for mazdamundi's faction and function like Alith Anar's shadow realm pathways  but usable on the attack to ambush. Also while we are at it nerf teleport stance, it is kinda broken that it is a garanteed ambush. Even if it is just given a passive fail chance or an ignores 25-50% of ambush defence or something, so it has a really high chance but is not garanteed. 

Hey CA, can you add the High Elves' trade vision and the tower effects for Chaos Dwarfs?

My feedback is I hope they polish the GS mechanics for this DLC. Just because they work well doesn't mean they can't be even better.

Scrap should be more dynamic - my solution is a tier system so the upgrades scale in price and quality making them useful into the late game.

Waagh mechanic could also do with a bit of polish. Maybe you get a waagh points budget so you have more autonomy over what you get or the trophies can be used as some sort of currency or something like that

This is a good thread, I agree with most of your points!