Guardian Support Powers

[Ross Przybylski]

After hearing a lot of feedback from players in game and on the forums, I'm starting to see a bit of a dividing line regarding thoughts on Guardian support powers.

Players like Tor have vouched that Guardians should be able to use their powers on themselves as this gives them a fighting chance in the end game after their Mage has been defeated.

Others, like Fin, have argued that allowing Guardians to use their powers on themselves takes away from the strategic element of using them effectively as a team to protect the Mage in the first place.

Others, like Baker, feel that Guardians using support powers on themselves can needlessly drag out the end game (Baker's screenshot very vividly illustrates this point https://heromages.com/forums/index.php?topic=79.15).

Personally, I am inclined to agree with the later two points (given that I prefer a greater quantity of shorter exciting battles than longer drawn-out battles).  However, I don’t want to implement any major balance changes without getting the community’s opinion first.  So, please vote your opinion in this poll and voice your comments/concerns here.  The poll shall run for two weeks and you are allowed to change your vote should a particular player’s argument strike you to do so.

[diesbudt]

I agree that powers of guardians can be used on themselves and other guardians, but the warrior buff self dragged on a long fight (killing a 17 def war can be long as it is let alone 19).

Since the warrior can be buffed to be amazing on offense (since he attacks twice) letting him also get 19 def is just a bit too much offense for that defense and vice versa.

Which is why I voted for Depends on the power.

Because inspire only on the bard... would make the bard unused. He already gets +2 and is too squishy and only 3 STR to use just to get +4 attack to him self.

Paladin, once your hero is dead 1 hp a turn isnt as bad as 19 def, and he might have to bless himself out of an entanglement.

Basically I think its correct right where it is.

[Warmage]

I like them being able to use their power on themselves, Only issue I had with warrior was when you could get him up to 20 defense after a spell buff and only then cause game would drag on trying to get those hits.

Things like paladin and bard don't drag the game out nearly as much and you want your guardians to be good units so you actually have a chance if your mage goes down first. 

I would consider taking self buffs off them in general very much a weakening of guardians and puts even more focus on your mage when he is already worth more than both your other units.

I dont think it takes away from the strategy aspect at all because the most effective use for a power is generally on a different unit - Like warrior buffing soul reaver or fighter mage. The thing it allows if for your individual guardian to perhaps last a little longer or get in a killing blow after mage is gone or if its simply battling elsewhere.

[tors10]

Most games I play end up with all of the heros dead rather quickly. To weaken the guardians to try and force people to be more protective of their heros would just make the end game less interesting.

An easy solution would be to make protection bonuses (gains) not stack with enchantments.

[Turkish]

In my opinion things work very well. Yes, sometimes it can "delay" the end of the game, but the balance is good. The paladin can make his death more... labor intensive, but in turn he, unless previously buffed, is less likely to cause the damage needed to win in that situation. But then there is the Barb who has less, but if you use him correctly he does TONS of damage in little time. Psionist is another good example.

Its about choice. The self buffs make sense. Why would a Paladin not be able to heal himself realistically? Thats just me, i think the balance of the game is on target.

For what its worth, I say don't mess with the self buff.   

[maerrick]

I agree that for the most part it is pretty good the way it is.

I do think the warrior should be able to use protect at +4/-3 instead of +4/-4 and then be able to use protect on himself. In effect, he'd only increase his defense by one from 17 to 18.

Perhaps the paladin should have -1 defense when using the combat healing, as I would imagine healing yourself or healing someone else would leave you a little more vulnerable.

For the bard, I think her defense is low enough that even with a +6 dice modifier, the balance should be fine still.

I think that's all the guardians that can use abilities on allies which could also potentially use abilities on themselves.