the last remaining: reaver culture rework ? (3 subculture ideas)

[ADRIEN_wololo]

ahoy !


INTRO
now that we had the biggest one fixed (feudal & dark) and that we have the most OP nerfed (mystic invoc. & long term architects), it is time to talk about the remaining most-needed-rework: REAVER CULTURE !

they are a unique steampunk culture i dearly love, their default gameplay is either "too offensive" for some players... or "underwhelming/not used at all" for some others...

i dont have "deep" solutions but i have some proposals/ideas to give them more useful uniqueness and variety:



SUBCULTURE 1
=> the current culture would stay the "militarist invasion version" subculture, named something like "conqueror"
- they globally keep their current gameplay (perhaps more use for their unique spoils of war ressources ? in dilemmas or more forced diplomacy with free cities ?)
- their T3 units (dragoon & canons) stay the same, very iconic and well made !



SUBCULTURE 2
=> what about a new "diplomatic but also militarist" subculture ? named something in the vein of "inventor" (aiming to invade the world too, but more vicious with diplomacy)
- they would trade their spoils of war for an influence/inventor ressource, using armies as sharp as their diplomacy influence, using it for "friendly" but "double sided" options ?
- their roster could stay in the domination/capture theme for T1 and T2 (iconic for any reavers)
- their T3 would be far more different:
> T3 racial: trade the dragoon for a new "engineer" unit, perhaps with a synergy or abilities for constructs, an infantry using pistol and shield (shield unit with low range attack, taunting from distance)
> T3 construct: a baloon ! a zeppelin ! flying and able to switch between ranged attack or giving support to allies, but vulnerable (needing the engineer to deny attacks against the flying machine)



SUBCULTURE 3
=> what also about a new "steampunk pirate/outcast" subculture ? named something "arrrrrr!" (aiming to put headquarters to launch their raids or organized attacks)
- they would be close to the default culture gameplay, more about raiding and moving back if successful, especially on water, using spoils of war too, they would be far different from barbarian build because of construct/water synergy/war spoils
- their roster would stay as default (more pirate looking ?) with same gameplay for T1 and T2 (perhaps something like a gold/spoil generation on any death in battles ?)
- their T3 would be very different too:
> T3 racial: trade the mounted dragoon skirmisher to a foot skirmisher "boarder/privateer/buccaneer", enjoying fights (like firing before charging) more than the "hit and run" dragoon, more stats (given by rum self-abilities ?) but less mobile, rewarding spoils if landing the killing blow
> T3 construct: what about a kind of "mobile support module" ? something like their scout: no damages but full support for other constructs and racial units, the module would go into different modes buffing the army until it dies in battle: a ranged buff mode allowing the army to fight with extra range (touching skirmisher / support / ranged) / a melee buff allowing the army to get more HP so they fight a bit longer (touching any melee class / skirmisher), it would be advised to bring at least 2 of them to cover most of the army with both buff (with a huge range to touch a big group of the army)



END
hope you at least loved reading the 3 ideas !
and really hope for a great reaver rework during season 3 !
loving AOW4 since launch ! and will love it forever !
keep the awesome work devs !

 

[Orphalesion]

The Reaver culture is really the one that would need sub-cultures the most right now.

It is much too restrictive in its current state.

 

[FerrokenFibrous]

I'd like to see one of the subcultures swap out the Mercenary for a Landsknecht/Doppelsoldner type Shock unit (a dude with a Zweihander), so we get a subculture that is able to take Scions of Evil since they have a compatible unit for the starting bonus.

Maybe also have a subculture that's more in line with the original Commonwealth in the previous game, which could be part-Order.

And a Shadow subculture with some Kislev or Ivan the Terrible influences, they could maybe replace the regular Magelock with a Hussar or Cossack Shock unit (thus letting them also take SoE) and the Dragoon with a Strelets unit that can morph at will between a default Ranged mode that's like a stronger Magelock, and a Fighter mode which uses a bardiche that has cav/large damage bonus, but not first strike or charge res. Also while in Ranged mode, the Strelets' shots would be at least a bit more accurate than that of the regular Magelocks' because they're using their bardiches to rest and stabilize the gun.

Tomes of Warfare mod already has a similar custom unit to one of the above, which can swap between a Ranged and a melee mode, so the idea is doable in the game's engine, though the mod's implementation is slightly janky since swapping to the other temporarily removes their medals and XP until they switch back to the mode that they started the battle in.

 

[Greyham]

I think an anti-magic subculture could work for the Reavers, with a focus on technology and ingenuity overcoming the supernatural. Might be hard to get the feel right, given how unlocking tomes and researching spells is core to the game, meaning the faction would still obviously have to use magic, though only as a tool.

I'm imagining that they could only have a Champion for a ruler because they don't want to be controlled by some outside force, and that they're also locked out from using transformations (or at least major transformations), because as a culture they don't want to become completely changed by magic. To compensate for this they could get a form trait like Adaptable or Tenacious as a freebie (similar to how Primal factions get an adaptation). Their variant of the Overseer, and maybe other units depending on their roster, should also be able to nullify the affects of enemy transformations/enchantments to level the playing field.