Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas! This is just a simple suggestion from me today, concerning an issue that has been prevalent in this mod regarding certain npcs, including:
- Corsairs of Umbar
- Rohirrim Warriors
- Moredain Warriors
- Rangers
- Elven Warriors
- Gondorian Soldiers
Lore-wise, these npcs are known to utilize light armor, including chainmail and a mix of leather and iron or furs, which are shown in the mod through their lower armor ratings and sometimes cheaper armor recipes. However, this causes them to be less able to cope with their heavily-armored counterparts. This is especially evident in the case of the rohirrim(unmounted version), as when they are pitted against their uruk foes, are weaker in every way, including weaker armor (supposedly for more mobility), weaker weapons (also lighter to allow for more mobility) and low health, although they have the same hiring stats and alignment yield when killed as uruks, in spite of the power difference. To make them more balanced and also a feasible unit choice, I suggest a revamping of the mechanics of such npcs to make them more competent lightly-armored warriors.
As such, I suggest that all npcs with a base armor rating of 15 or below, receive these changes to their behaviour:
1. Slightly faster movement speed
2. About 1.5-2x faster attack speed. An alternative would be to nerf the attack speed of heavily-armored npcs to half that of these npcs. This will even out the npc's dps, allowing them to hit faster when they are unable to hit hard, giving these npcs a fighting chance against their beter-protected enemies.
However, I do feel that there should be some exceptions to this, including:
1. Orc warriors Orc armor, while of poor quality, is supposed to be cheap and mass-produced, which compromises their quality. As such, though this armor provides minimal protection, is more an issue with its craftsmanship than with it's weight.
2. Npcs that use bronze armor Depending on realism, bronze is supposed to be very heavy, more so than iron, so unless it makes these units very weak, they should be excluded from the list of 'lightly-armored' npcs
If you are still reading this, thank you for bearing with me and I apologize if my phrasing is awkward or if there are any errors in spelling, as this was typed on a phone. Feedback and criticism is always welcome, and happy holidays to all!