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Elmindra
Forum Warrior
Joined: 10 Sep 2012
Status: Offline
Points: 464
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 15:32 |
I meant in comparison to general terrain items above, but forgot to type that. Not a bad bow, but completely not worth the crazy effort it appears it will take.
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Brandmeister
Postmaster General
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
Location: Laoshin
Status: Offline
Points: 2396
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 16:00 |
Brandmeister wrote:
Adding those up, I see a general purpose +18% defense at night, +24% defense in daytime, in all non-exotic biomes, for all terrains. |
@Ty: By non-exotic, I meant biomes that weren't jungle, arctic or desert.
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Brandmeister
Postmaster General
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
Location: Laoshin
Status: Offline
Points: 2396
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 16:10 |
Elmindra wrote:
I meant in comparison to general terrain items above, but forgot to type that. Not a bad bow, but completely not worth the crazy effort it appears it will take. |
I disagree. The most common city terrain is plains. Plains bows require scaled charger vertebrae. Scaled chargers are (relatively) tough for NPCs, and the vertebrae have a low drop rate, making them expensive in the market. Present Centrum prices are 7500, and there are only 519 for sale. That's barely enough for 5 elite bow divisions of 100 troops, and they would be limited to plains city defense. Larken wood is cheap and plentiful. A military player could feasibly equip several thousand bow units in a city with Elven Spirit Bows. That army could defend a city built on any terrain. In short: the material is cheap, the bonus is big, the restrictions are few, and the flexibility is good. Therefore I conclude that the Elven Spirit Bow would be worth building in large quantities.
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Elmindra
Forum Warrior
Joined: 10 Sep 2012
Status: Offline
Points: 464
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 16:33 |
Um don't mean to be disrespectful, but I would NEVER defend my city with bows on plains, even behind a wall. If it's a cavalry attack I would just dodge and let them by, if it's a direct siege attack I would simply stack the town with spears since they are better vs cavalry and a cheaper kill per upkeep/training time.
Elven bows are best used defending sieges in buildings or on mountains, or attacking sieges on the same terrain. I would use the elven spirit bow in elite groups in said buildings, but would probably use a cheaper mountain bow for the mountains.
Now if I had a magical 7 food mountain, your scenario would be spot on. But vs cavalry inc to my plains town, pikes and reinforced is the only equip I would even use.
As for the charger parts, I have the advantage of being surrounded by chargers all the time up here in Wolgast, so they are very easy to gather even with the bad drop rate, and while they are tough, when you target them on plains with your T2 cav it makes a very easy kill.
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Brandmeister
Postmaster General
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
Location: Laoshin
Status: Offline
Points: 2396
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 17:35 |
Cities also get attacked by infantry and bows, even plains cities.
Sentinels are cheap to build, and are flexible units that can be used for both city and siege defense. In specific situations (against spears, on mountains), they can be deliver a solid attack as well. Their terrain adjusted cavalry def/min on plains is 2.13. With the spirit bow, that's 2.64 (day) and 2.51 (night).
That def/hour compares favorably with a t2 phalanx at 2.77, and far exceeds the t1 protector at 1.78. A phalanx is a single-purpose anti-cavalry unit that costs 2 spear, 1 leather, 1 chain. The sentinel's 1 beer and 1 bow are obviously far cheaper; both have an upkeep of 2/hr.
You can argue the case for pikes boosting the phalanx to 3.21. I don't know many people who have large arsenals of pikes (3000+). I believe the spirit bow will be easier to produce in large quantities, since it depends on Larken Wood and not Wolf Fur. Both the sentinel and the phalanx can equip reinforced leather, so that's a wash.
I'd probably also dodge a cavalry attack against a plains city defended by sentinels (or spears for that matter). But if I were trying to deplete the enemy of cavalry, I'd certainly consider taking the hit using the sentinels and the spirit bow. It's a win for both build cost and build time.
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Tyrande Whisperwinds
Wordsmith
Joined: 02 Mar 2013
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 177
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 17:54 |
Its a special unlock..the doubt of wether another weapon is better or not shouldnt even exist!
And i stand my grd... the elven spirit bow is NOT a great weapon.. but..like i said.. GOTTA CATCH ´EM ALL!!! ;)
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Elmindra
Forum Warrior
Joined: 10 Sep 2012
Status: Offline
Points: 464
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 20:44 |
I have 1k pikes for almost every one of my towns. Coupled with 1k T2 spears per town (generally, my numbers are a bit off due to current hostilites) bleeding cavalry isn't a problem. Although I prefer to simply calculate return times and meet the attacking cavalry back at their place with my own cavalry but that's just me. My sents are cheap and easy, but I prefer to use them guarding my cats while I raze your towns. No need to waste them on a horrible defense from you taking my basics.
Simply put, for the insane effort involved the spirit bow is very dissapointing is all I am saying.
Edited by Elmindra - 13 Dec 2013 at 20:44
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Sir Bradly
Forum Warrior
Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 228
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 20:55 |
Lets face it, most of the crafted gear is a disappointment. Especially the race specific items. Look at the human "traditional sword". Its best bonus is derived when using infantry to defend on plains terrain. So the sword is essentially useless to build. Not to mention the opportunity cost of tying up your blacksmith while you build them.
Battlebred Horse is is same thing. 20% bonus on plains defence. Again, not the most effective use of a Knight army.
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[04:46]<HATHALDIR> okay,I'm a bully
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Brandmeister
Postmaster General
Joined: 12 Oct 2012
Location: Laoshin
Status: Offline
Points: 2396
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Posted: 13 Dec 2013 at 22:10 |
Sir Bradly wrote:
Battlebred Horse is is same thing. 20% bonus on plains defence. Again, not the most effective use of a Knight army. |
I assume you'd use Battlebreds on chariots for plains defense, given that chariots are cheaper to build for humans, and not much worse than knights for plains defense. But even with the bonus, the numbers per upkeep and build time just don't add up. Battlebreds seem to be a bust. Dwarven Battle Mules, however... you just can't go wrong!
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Arakamis
Greenhorn
Joined: 09 Jul 2012
Location: Waterdeep
Status: Offline
Points: 97
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Posted: 14 Dec 2013 at 08:55 |
I'm not against quests requiring the involvement of all races, not in a race specific discovery quest though. Meaningless.
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