I've obviously been rather absentee from this thread, but I've been really mulling this heavily. Based on what has been said here and my own thinking, I have a model that I think everyone will like, and which will come out today. You can read about it here:
http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Skyward_Collapse_-_Post_Release_Notes#Official_1.008There are a few other changes that will be coming there (souls will be seeing a very limited sort of addition, as I think the idea is cool in general as a new resource; it won't be to try to balance out humans versus mythologicals per se anymore, but it's just another interesting avenue for expansion).
The main points of the changes are:
- Completely new bandit human units with their own traits that are balanced around overcoming some of these cheese tactics without removing those tactics. In other words, making the cheese tactics into actual viable balance tactics, which is more fun than just nerfing away the activities entirely.
- Bridged Lakes and Mountain Tunnels that get created by some of those new bandit-specific units, as the chief way of dealing with the above.
- Mythological units no longer auto-upgrading for you in the later two ages:
www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=11813- A revised scoring system that doesn't let you just coast through the later two ages on the strength of an early strong start in the first age.
- A limited form of stacking for siege units, making the non-ranged ones of those a lot more dangerous in the hands of everyone.
- Making manual upgrades free and a lot easier to use, so that they come into regular gameplay more.
