Romance vs records: difficulty

[Ste]

How do they compare difficulty wise? From what I gather in romance your generals become gods and make the game easier? or is it balanced out due to them getting bodygaurds?

[way2co0l_2003]

It's probably debatable but I believe it's clear romance mode puts a larger emphasis on your heroes, making them stronger, tougher, and having all kinds of special abilities that aren't exactly realistic. A hero can easily take on an entire enemy unit in romance mode, but I'm unsure how they'd fare when simply given a bodyguard unit as there aren't a whole lot of records streams available atm. I've really only found 1 Kong Rong playthrough that's been decent so far. Really wish there were more records content right now.

[Wenatchee Willie]

It is balanced out by the enemy getting a like number of them.

[Wraith]

Record mode emphasize alot on fatigue as well if your tired your gonna lose

[way2co0l_2003]

Records definitely puts a bigger emphasis on the army around you and using them wisely. Champions allow you to be a bit lazy because if yours are better and you use them better than your enemy, the rest of the army doesn't matter as much.

As for the number of bodyguards. No, they're not balanced out to make them as strong as the romance versions. The individual hero unit within the bodyguard unit is much weaker. Stronger than the individual bodyguards that make up his unit and combined it makes his unit one of the strongest in the game compared to normal retinue units, but nowhere near as powerful as the individual champions in Romance mode.

[FullAutoAttack]

Romance reminds me of an RPG where Records is more like the previous historical TW games (IIRC).

[The Former]

I don't think it's so much a matter of difficulty as it is play style.

In Romance, your generals' superhuman abilities offer a layer of tactical decision-making akin to an RPG, with big effects in exchange for cooldown timers. You'll have to choose when to use them. The generals themselves can indeed fight a thousand men, but strategically, this is hardly different than just sending a unit to fight those thousand men. Either way, you're committing one strategic element to the fight.

In Records, your generals' abilities are more conceptual. Rallying cries, shouts of intimidation to dishearten the enemy, etc. They're more valuable for the passive boost they give to nearby troops than for their combat prowess, in most cases. Committing them to combat is still committing one strategic element; it's just that this time, it takes a unit of elite bodyguards to make them effective against a thousand men.

[way2co0l_2003]

I have serious doubts that a records bodyguard unit will be able to take a thousand men though. Like, Lu Bu being the strongest by the beginning of the game vs an army of 1k peasants. In romance mode he will single handedly destroy the entire army. In records mode? I'm not so sure. I doubt he'd be able to destroy them all on his own but I haven't seen it tested yet so can't be positive.

[Ste]

Thanks everyone!!

[The Former]

Originally posted by way2co0l_2003:

I have serious doubts that a records bodyguard unit will be able to take a thousand men though. Like, Lu Bu being the strongest by the beginning of the game vs an army of 1k peasants. In romance mode he will single handedly destroy the entire army. In records mode? I'm not so sure. I doubt he'd be able to destroy them all on his own but I haven't seen it tested yet so can't be positive.

Well, that was a bit of hyperbole. :) More like a few hundred, to be precise.

[way2co0l_2003]

Originally posted by Sheriff of Nothingham:

Originally posted by way2co0l_2003:

I have serious doubts that a records bodyguard unit will be able to take a thousand men though. Like, Lu Bu being the strongest by the beginning of the game vs an army of 1k peasants. In romance mode he will single handedly destroy the entire army. In records mode? I'm not so sure. I doubt he'd be able to destroy them all on his own but I haven't seen it tested yet so can't be positive.

Well, that was a bit of hyperbole. :) More like a few hundred, to be precise.

:P I know, but I was just using it to make the extra point. Like, I'm not trying to argue for the sake of arguing or anything. I get that some people will prefer romance mode and it's true that they will present new tactical options seeing as how they'll be the most important units on the entire field. But that's the thing. A romance Lu Bu can single handedly destroy at LEAST 1k peasants like it's nothing, but a records Lu Bu bodyguard likely wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to that. It diminishes the importance of champions and makes your actual battle plans more important. The champions remain the most powerful units on the field, but it's not a night and day difference like it is in records.

Edit: And ultimately I feel this will help the AI present more of a challenge. The human player will likely be better at committing their best heroes in just the right places to counter the enemies heroes. The AI likely won't be as good at sending their most powerful heroes to match yours appropriately so the human gets an advantage out of it. I feel like legendary difficulty on romance mode will be an easier gameplay experience than legendary on records.