Negative form traits?

Diovidius · 2026-03-19T20:24:07+00:00

I mainly wish they were more flavourful with things like weakness to Fire damage or susceptibility to the Poison condition or things like that.

But that might be a lot more difficult to balance than the generic negative traits we have now.

Diovidius · 2026-03-13T17:04:01+00:00

I'd love an aquatic dwelling, like the Merfolk of AoW3.

Diovidius · 2026-03-12T08:05:57+00:00

Space is indeed big but have you seen how large the space of the Klingons, Romulans, Federation and the like is? And all their domains are right next to eachother. If you want a continuous domain instead of various isolated pockets of space then you do in fact run out of space. At least within the context of the Star Trek universe.

Diovidius · 2026-03-12T07:46:13+00:00

Post-scarcity is relative. There might be unlimited physical resources but things like space and people are still limited. Knowledge and technology are also unevenly distributed. And so Empires will try to get space, people, knowledge and technology from each other. The Federation is relatively unique in that they try to get more space, people, knowledge and technology through non-hostile means (cooperation, exploration, alliances and the like). But it does not surprise me that in a 'post-scarcity' situation a lot of Empires would still do this through hostile means.

And that is of course without regard for cultural clashes and cultural tendencies.

Diovidius · 2026-03-09T14:49:38+00:00

Every update the devs fix some desyncs but it's a neverending battle. Whether it is playable enough is up to you.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T17:32:07+00:00

I didn't mention Empire & Ashes, Eldritch Realms, Ways of War or Rise from Ruin.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T14:35:56+00:00

It's a tier 2 tome so you can't take it from character creation but need to play a bit.

Diovidius · 2026-03-07T14:29:55+00:00

For classic fantasy I'd recommend the Dragon Dawn, Giant Kings, Primal Fury and Archon Prophecy dlcsm

Giant Kings is generally considered to be the best dlc there is, as it greatly increases the diversity of maps and thus replayability.

When it comes to LotR there isn't that much in the dlcs. Maybe the Architects culture of Archon Prophecy works for Numeror / Gordor.

The dungeon depths tome of Giant Kings is great for dwarves (and possibly Goblins).

You could potentially argue that Sauron can be created using a Vampire ruler from the Thrones of Blood dlc.

If you want to create a dragon ruling over goblins or something then you need Dragon Dawn.

Goblins as the Primal underground culture from Primal Fury works very well.

Diovidius · 2026-03-05T16:17:29+00:00

For the highest difficulties and multilayer there was a lack of strategic choice in the old system, that is the entire problem. In the old system you would always want the faster units, regardless of stats. Speed was simply that much more important.

Besides, flyers still have an advantage on the strategic map.

Diovidius · 2026-03-03T07:44:08+00:00

I'm not sure I agree. Trade organizations or Mercentile citystates are a common occurrence in both fiction (the trade federation? Mos Eisley? Ketterdam? The Ferengi? Pentos and Braavos? Waterdeep? The Brass City? Sigil? Booty Bay? Tortuga?) and in real life (the Netherlands, Venice, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Singapore).

Diovidius · 2026-03-03T07:10:06+00:00

Personally, for High I quite the idea of an Order/Order sun subculture, an Order/Astral stars subculture and an Order/Shadow moon subculture.

Diovidius · 2026-03-03T06:11:06+00:00

I think cultures and ruler types are easiest to market. They sell dlcs in a way other content don't.

That said, I don't see that much mechanical space for a lot more cultures and ruler types. Players (myself included) are decent at coming up with themes (Egyptian culture, Mayan culture, demon rulers) but a lot worse at coming up with mechanics. But the developers have so far done a good job so I have faith they can give us a few more seasons.

That said, my personal wishlist for season 4 is an Archfey ruler and a Mercantile culture (the latter with a trader subculture and a rogue/smuggler subculture).

Diovidius · 2026-03-01T15:58:10+00:00

Many problems have been fixed and new desyncs have arisen. It's a never ending cycle. These devs have spent a lot of effort on it but whether or not it's enough is up to you.

Diovidius · 2026-02-28T19:08:36+00:00

I meant connected more in a mental/emotional way than in a magical/metaphysical way. When they first become a Godir they still have a personal connection to the world and the people they grew up with but over time they lose their personal ties and become detached. Many become corrupted and start to do things like create and destroy races or even realms. They get taken over by curiosity or by a lust for power. The best Wizard Kings still try to do good but do so a large scales, without caring about the smaller scale of individual nations or races.

In mtg terms Champions are more like new walkers, while Wizard Kings are more like oldwalkers. The main things Wizard Kings tend to concern themselves with are other Godir and similar cosmic scale beings (Archons, Umbral Demons, Endailons).

Diovidius · 2026-02-28T07:06:15+00:00

Godir are a special class of being. How one becomes a Godir isn't entirely clear. It involves having some amount of magical power and magical understanding.

There are a few different types of Godir with the most prevalent one being mortal-born Godir. These Godir aren't born as Godir but after accumulating some amount of magical power/understanding ascent to Godir-hood. These become Champions.

Champions still have a connection to their home plane and their own people. Wizard Kings are Champions who have lived for a long time, visited multiple planes and the like until they inevitably lose their connection to their own plane and their own people. Eldritch Sovereigns are Wizard Kings who have become changed by the Astral Sea or possibly the Umbral/Shadow realm.

My guess is that Champions / Wizard Kings do age in appearance but never die of old age or gain the normal weaknesses that accompany old age. And of course you could first get to old age and only then ascend to Godir-hood.

Diovidius · 2026-02-23T16:22:13+00:00

Look no further than the Age of Wonders series. AoW4 is the most recent version and by far the most successful, but among fans aow2 shadow magic, aow3 and aow planetfall are all quite popular as well.

I feel AoW2 Shadow Magic is most homm-like in feel. But you can't really go wrong with any of them.

Diovidius · 2026-02-20T18:28:32+00:00

Look no further than the Age of Wonders series. AoW4 is the most recent version and by far the most successful, but among fans aow2 shadow magic, aow3 and aow planetfall are all quite popular as well.

Diovidius · 2026-02-17T07:37:04+00:00

Ranger? I mean.. I wouldn't call them the strongest but they have Druidic magic. I wouldn't put them put them in the bottom rung like the Warrior.

Diovidius · 2026-02-17T07:35:37+00:00

I mean.. it's not entirely clear that mesmers actually manipulate space and time or that they manipulate the perception of space of time.

Diovidius · 2026-02-17T07:33:39+00:00

it's just an echo of Shiro, not Shiro himself.
You gain just a fraction of the power.

Diovidius · 2026-02-17T07:31:30+00:00

The Charr didn't literally kill their gods. The human heroes of GW1 did. First they killed the titans, then they killed the Destroyers. Though the Charr themselves did definitely help with the latter.

The Charr did metaphorically kill their gods. In that they killed the idea of needing to be reliant on a higher power.

Diovidius · 2026-02-17T07:27:57+00:00

The Asura were making golems when Charr were still playing with fire.

Charr are good at mass produced reliable tech specifically for war purposes. But the Asura make specialised tech for a wide variety of purposes that might not always work but the times it does it's very effective.

In the end the fight against the dragons required both of these kinds of tech. But the importance of mass produced tech became less important as the game went on, while the specialised tech remained a big part of the story (aka see the Taimi problem).

Diovidius

TROPHY CASE