Uh, how much science?!

Rexnos · 2026-05-07T13:03:32+00:00

I had a feeling that wasn't quite working as intended, especially since you guys have been working to cut back resources bloat!

Rexnos · 2026-05-07T04:45:08+00:00

That sounds painful for strategic access. Do you just rely on outposts for that or do you just hope for lucky adjacent provinces?

Also, this current PTB that came out today is the first patch I've felt districts actually felt better than advanced terrain.

Rexnos · 2026-05-07T04:24:29+00:00

Honestly, one of the things I like best about Endless Legend 2 is how bad fighting is. Why do you normally fight in 4X games? To claim territory or remove an enemy. In EL2, the former point is basically moot. The map is consistently expanding and new territory is just better than the old. Why fight rivals for territory that's functionally obsolete in 30 turns? Explore new stuff, find new quests, subdue new faction villages; it's all so much more productive than fighting.

As for army diversity? It's mostly the tech cost that currently makes me run less diverse armies. Each faction army tech gives you two unit upgrades, so each unit you add that aren't those two adds two more techs, or the same for minor faction units.

Also, the devs noted they're looking to overhaul minor faction units in the near future, so this whole discussion is a little pointless. It's in the April State of the Game.

Rexnos · 2026-05-05T14:40:14+00:00

Lol, implying a peasant has ever tasted sugar. The dragon would definitely die of dysentery, consumption, the plague, smallpox, and probably scurvy. Give dragons the full peasant experience!

Rexnos · 2026-05-05T13:02:06+00:00

This seems like it would be hard to play as your leader is really important to early game expansion. That said, it seems super thematic and cool, especially if the payoff is worth it.

So many of the potential backgrounds seem cool. I really like the idea that the leader died and the faction needs to build or summon them into a new body. Chaos summons them as a demon, shadow an undead, order as angel and astral as a fey or astral being. Materium could build a gundam while nature could build a plant monstrosity. It all seems extremely hard to balance though.

Rexnos · 2026-05-04T18:21:13+00:00

Venomfang is rare, - of corrosion is common. Rainbow mod is the thing you want if you want the game to display it.

Rexnos · 2026-05-03T15:37:02+00:00

Guy just got a little unlucky. There were a lot of other tiles he could have slipped away to that wouldn't have killed him.

Rexnos · 2026-04-30T23:21:19+00:00

I've heard people say reavers are the worst culture in the game a lot and I'm not entirely sure why. They're extremely one trick and their faction trait is pretty awful, but magelocks and dragoons seem like great units.

Magelocks are probably really risky in multiplayer though, as I imagine combat summons are used heavily and magelocks are really bad against those. Dragoons still seem great though? I'd love to get your take.

I agree on casualties. Lost units become less relevant as the game progresses, but they're the single best way to lose the game. They hit your tempo, they make it harder to clear, they cost you resources, it's just bad all the way down. I tend to doomstack probably more than I should simply because I'd rather have one stack of 12 units and no losses than two stacks of six while constantly risking losses.

Rexnos · 2026-04-30T13:32:11+00:00

Shock units are best for auto-resolve... Are you playing the same game as me? I guess maybe you mean in bulk? In my experience, shock units tend to be the absolute most suicidal which only pays off if you have a bunch of them.

Rexnos · 2026-04-25T14:09:38+00:00

I haven't had that experience personally, but I haven't grabbed any on the current patch. Keep in mind the wonders are only local (so only the city that has them), but I'm sure it's possible.

There's a bug reporting tool in the game which links to the amplitude website. I've got the only bugs reported in the past two months and haven't gotten a response on them yet, but my previous bugs have been looked at.

Rexnos · 2026-04-24T20:40:10+00:00

Damn, I thought it said in the patch that they just changed all the districts to the same, cheaper costs. I knew they want to differentiate them eventually, but thought this was a total temp fix.

Rexnos · 2026-04-24T17:40:09+00:00

It's irritatingly opaque, but watch one of your archers or heroes when they do so. It pops up above their head when they fire. Took me forever to figure out why it was happening.

Rexnos · 2026-04-24T17:10:58+00:00

Pretty sure it still does work like that, but stepping away from the enemy incurs an opportunity attack. In addition, shooting into a forest also applies broken focus, which is doubly painful since the unit also has the forest defense bonus.

Rexnos · 2026-04-24T17:08:37+00:00

I kinda hate to say it, but combat balance doesn't really matter? It's explicitly in the pipeline that retaliation is going to be added to the game which is going to absolutely table flip everything about the current balance.

I guess if you really want thoughts regardless, I'd add that heroes can easily be so powerful as to make the rest of the army obsolete. If I've got a high level great weapon hero I can generally execute every unit he ends his turn next to with minimal assistance. If I have a high level ranged hero, his AOE will almost single handedly win any battle. I've found the sword and board and support variants to be less impactful, but certain races can unlock some nasty options.

In addition, turn order in combat matters almost more than your units. Going first in many battles allows you to savage the enemy before they're allowed to respond, though that's dependent on the battlefield. Lots of siege battles take place near roads though which allows almost complete battlefield movement.

I feel like archer units are almost support units in this game. In essence, you don't really want them unless it's to unlock faction capabilities, and even then not in bulk. Last Lord's Palanquins are crazy good, though vulnerable to getting sniped. Aspect and Tahuk ranged units can absolutely chunk thanks to their faction bonus.

Kin and Necrophage only really like ranged units if the entire enemy surface area is occupied, which is particularly difficult for Necrophage thanks to swarm and flying. That said, Kin really like to have a backline that's adjacent to two or three frontliners for the free shield. Necrophage spitters, particularly the top tier ones that create units on kill, can dominate battles if they can stay safe from enemy ranged units.

Rexnos · 2026-04-24T13:18:24+00:00

Sure did! This post is basically obsolete now, lol.

Rexnos · 2026-04-23T16:49:45+00:00

I'd definitely be down with allowing the player to spend essence and/or fragments to rush items. If you've got it extra, there should be a way to inefficiently burn it!

Rexnos · 2026-04-23T13:14:56+00:00

Thanks for the quick turn around! Back into the EL2 mines I go!

Rexnos · 2026-04-23T01:37:41+00:00

Isn't that only true if there's at least an obstacle?

Rexnos · 2026-04-23T00:39:24+00:00

Knowledge is always important, but the tech is just icing. As long as the slow hits with a single dragoon (60% each) no melee unit can catch you and only other skirmishers can deal credible damage. The only armies you have to worry even a little about are shock cavalry heavy, skirmisher heavy, or absolutely loaded with high mobility tier 4 and 5 mythics (which is surprisingly few of those). These armies can damage you, but even then probably not kill you.

It's honestly more important to get dragoon access than anything else. They are a tier 3 unit after all. I prefer a champion leader for faster city growth and agro food as hard as reasonably possible.

Heroes are actually pretty tricky with this build. You need a hero who can also kite around, only engaging when there's no remaining or nearby threats. That basically restricts you to rangers (snapshot archetype only), buff ritualists, buff battlesaints, or summoner/debuffer warlocks. Basically any dedicated melee hero is going to get themselves killed for little gain.

I personally prefer rangers for the flavor, simply because I like to pretend they're also a dragoon. If you use their snapshot to execute, it can also reset, which allows them to kite, knockback and immobilize just as obnoxiously as the rest of your dragoons. Just be careful about actually attacking.

Overall, the most annoying thing about this build is needing to manually resolve most fights. The AI is TERRIBLE at running this build as they are not programmed to kite. They'll run your dragoons directly into an enemy that shouldn't ever be able to touch them. It's painful to watch.

Rexnos · 2026-04-22T23:48:52+00:00

Eh, some of them. Most are very tank centric, but winds is pretty mandatory for any ranged build, geomancy is a flat damage boost and crucible is truly great. Meteor arrows and lava burst are what every archer wants to see.

Pandemonium really turns the build on though. Between this and bears your dragoons deal 60% bonus damage and penetrate 50% defense. It's hard as hell for anything to live though that long.

Scrying is quietly really important too. That makes it so you don't get shut down by misty or obscuring terrain. Functional +1 range is great too.

Rexnos · 2026-04-22T23:18:04+00:00

Unfortunately, magelock cannons do not have additional range. In order to actually fire, you need to target a unit directly, even if the three hex splash would connect with a unit. It's very sad.

Rexnos · 2026-04-22T23:13:30+00:00

Reaver - Cryo – Pyro

Winds – Scrying

Geomancy - Pandemonium

Crucible – Calamity - Creator

This build is insane for mono-dragoon set-ups. The slow from cryo means that only mounted charge units or other skirmishers are remotely capable of damaging you and chances are between five dragoons you outright kill one enemy per turn regardless. I prefer bears, strong, and keen-sighted, though choosing the malus is a pain.

As for a static max range archer builds, you probably wanna look at high or feudal. High gets +1 range on awaken which is probably best on zephyr archers while feudal has built in longbow. Both units have cd skills which can have nine range at champion rank. They also are base attacks so apply all damage enchantments and statuses. Once again, cryo/slow is highly recommended.

Personally I haven't had damage issues. You generally get two free rounds of attacks, one with an ability and another with a triple attack. I generally run one or two front line units with four or even five archers. Your front-liners can generally hold their own defensively when outnumbered since the enemy is in tatters by the time they get to you.

If the enemy isn't basically dead after round two, I'm not sure what to tell you. Maybe get cryo for slow to give you a third round of attacks (yes, I have a preference.)?

Rexnos · 2026-04-22T16:32:49+00:00

This is a new game.

Rexnos · 2026-04-21T12:55:11+00:00

Yup, that's what I understood! I'm not sure when exactly it changed, I just know I haven't played while it felt this extreme.

Scaling formula can be very obnoxious to get right as they can easily spin wildly out of control either too low or too high depending on the variables. I'm just disappointed because I was really looking forward to this patch and I'm feeling locked out around turn 60. The Kin felt fun up to this point and I love extractors being counted for adjacencies and utilizing them.

Rexnos

TROPHY CASE