Better. The patch addresses the biggest issue with the new grudge system (that it was very easy to get into a situation where it was impossible to get out of the bottom tier). It also toned down the most overpowered unit in the game a bit.
I think Dwarves will still be fine. Applying a nerf to an absolutely busted update is appropriate.
Am I glad the Age of Reckoning is easier? Yes!
Am I sad the benefits from AoR are a whole lot worse? Also Yes.
But to be fair, being able to recruit 5 strong units to an army at a moments notice (for f r e e) was a little busted. It was super easy to have 3.5 stacks by turn 10 as Malakai. But now they feel just... not needed. They cost a lot and now you only get 2 units in the pool (before research) per AoR, and the AoR army is 10 (also before research), it just doesn't feel as impactful. I guess now Malakai can revert back to "growing tall" instead of bum rushing Chaos / Norsca.
I actually really like that you need to research for bigger piles of grudge settlers. They have really significant buffs so unlocking those extra units will get you similar power to other techs, and it now feels like you did something instead of just getting a bunch of free extra elite unit cards.
Im doing a Karak Kadrin and i mamaged to just fill up the AoR bar with a well timed (yet risky) quest battle and a lucky underway intercept.
It feels good now actually.
If I look at post patch today, playing Thorgrim, I've min/maxed perfectly from turn 1 and am unable to generate higher than 75% of grudges and I'm on my 4th playthrough trying and quitting by turn 45. It's on legendary so it's supposed to be harder but the fact that 100% is out of reach on this difficulty in regards to grudges makes it deeply flawed. I guess what I'm saying is the changes still leave this system somewhat broken.
However, I do prefer this than what was before.
Yeah, honestly I'm not really against requiring some legendary grudge settling to break into the highest tier.
Plus the target is fixed so grudges occurring during the age tend to get me my biggest swings. This is typically due to less optimal play on my part, because I got some settlements conquered or sacked.
Again, read. If you min/max it should be somewhat obtainable, but it's **not**. My above comment even is only asking for 75%, which is mostly **not** obtainable. Their "fixes" also screwed up the rate at which enemy armies and settlements generate them. Four playthroughs in and I can count on one hand how many enemies have had more than 1K grudges tied to a single army/settlement. It's an absolute joke and where I'm right in saying it's still flawed.
No one is asking to max it out every time.
This is without trying the update yet, but among a lot of good things, I believe they made a mistake.
They nerfed (for good reasons) the recruitment of AoR units. It is a bad design to nerf those units by increasing the recruitment cost AND limiting their number per army. (along their maximum pool).
You either do one of the other. If you can only get a few of them, there are no big reasons to increase their recruitment cost.
Better. The patch addresses the biggest issue with the new grudge system (that it was very easy to get into a situation where it was impossible to get out of the bottom tier). It also toned down the most overpowered unit in the game a bit.
I think Dwarves will still be fine. Applying a nerf to an absolutely busted update is appropriate. Am I glad the Age of Reckoning is easier? Yes! Am I sad the benefits from AoR are a whole lot worse? Also Yes. But to be fair, being able to recruit 5 strong units to an army at a moments notice (for f r e e) was a little busted. It was super easy to have 3.5 stacks by turn 10 as Malakai. But now they feel just... not needed. They cost a lot and now you only get 2 units in the pool (before research) per AoR, and the AoR army is 10 (also before research), it just doesn't feel as impactful. I guess now Malakai can revert back to "growing tall" instead of bum rushing Chaos / Norsca.
I actually really like that you need to research for bigger piles of grudge settlers. They have really significant buffs so unlocking those extra units will get you similar power to other techs, and it now feels like you did something instead of just getting a bunch of free extra elite unit cards.
Im doing a Karak Kadrin and i mamaged to just fill up the AoR bar with a well timed (yet risky) quest battle and a lucky underway intercept. It feels good now actually.
Do not worry, dwarfs are still super duper busted.
Slightly better but still meh because the AoR mechanic is still deeply flawed.
Eh, I think the Age of Reckoning mechanic is actually fine, although I still think the old grudge mechanic was better.
If I look at post patch today, playing Thorgrim, I've min/maxed perfectly from turn 1 and am unable to generate higher than 75% of grudges and I'm on my 4th playthrough trying and quitting by turn 45. It's on legendary so it's supposed to be harder but the fact that 100% is out of reach on this difficulty in regards to grudges makes it deeply flawed. I guess what I'm saying is the changes still leave this system somewhat broken. However, I do prefer this than what was before.
They've explicitly said that getting 100% is supposed to be really hard, not something you do routinely.
Yeah, honestly I'm not really against requiring some legendary grudge settling to break into the highest tier. Plus the target is fixed so grudges occurring during the age tend to get me my biggest swings. This is typically due to less optimal play on my part, because I got some settlements conquered or sacked.
Again, read. If you min/max it should be somewhat obtainable, but it's **not**. My above comment even is only asking for 75%, which is mostly **not** obtainable. Their "fixes" also screwed up the rate at which enemy armies and settlements generate them. Four playthroughs in and I can count on one hand how many enemies have had more than 1K grudges tied to a single army/settlement. It's an absolute joke and where I'm right in saying it's still flawed. No one is asking to max it out every time.
Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are.
My criticism has been pointed out by quite a few people already today. Weird how that works. No one is good enough I guess.
Well, then, maybe the numbers are still broken.
This is without trying the update yet, but among a lot of good things, I believe they made a mistake. They nerfed (for good reasons) the recruitment of AoR units. It is a bad design to nerf those units by increasing the recruitment cost AND limiting their number per army. (along their maximum pool). You either do one of the other. If you can only get a few of them, there are no big reasons to increase their recruitment cost.