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Age of Wonders III >  Workshop > Dr_K [Rosencrantz]'s Workshop > Shadow Realm Expansion - Content > Discussions
Shadow Realm Expansion - Content
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Nordos/atord Jan 8, 2020 @ 2:46am
Inflict Marked by Shadow and Exploit Shadow
I quite enjoy this mod, and I admire the amount of work put into it, yet I do have some points I want to make.
First of all, the Inflict Marked by Shadow seems.... underwhelming. Hear me out:

Most that have Exploit Shadows have that pretty late (both the Archer and the Nightguard needs to be Elite(!)).
Then, to use it, you need to have a unit with Inflict Marked by Shadows in the army (which some units have at least) - but the Inflict can be resisted.
So, even then you are not guaranteed, and after you have all that ... the attacks of a few units deal +3 damage. Don't misunderstand me, but this is a very low bonus for all the work you need to fulfill. Especially since that damage won't work if the enemy is either Cold or Lightning immune....
But that isn't, in my opinion, the worst of it: The amount of units that don't have either exploit or inflict is just so great. Granted, the only native unit is the Storm Priest, but if you look at class units, barely any have anything to do with this ability. The only class units are:
Assassin, Manticore Rider, Phalanx and Scoundrel from what I see. So, basically only Rogue and Warlord.
If I compare it with the Despair one (which seems quite obvious from the names), then you notice several differences:
- Exploit Despair works on any and all Moral mali. It just works the best with Despair since it also reduces resistance.
- Inflict and Exploit Despair are abundant if you are a Necromancer: Your Hero can skill this ability, your units all have these natively. Yes, it is only class units, but it just feels so much easier to get it. It also 'increases', though again there are a lot of units immune to despair. At the same time, you are not exactly forced to inflict despair to use exploit despair, there are a lot more options to reduce moral.

All in all, the ability itself seems interesting and yet so sparely used. Maybe I simply don't comprehend the power of it, but that is mainly because I have currently no unit with Exploit Shadow (since they need to be Elite to get it). I may try to play a Warlord next and see how well it works ....

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
hiliadan  [developer] Jan 11, 2020 @ 4:47am 
Yes, you're right that it requires some work to make it work and that the gains are limited. But why is that an issue? You should see it as a nice little bonus.
Making it more easily accessible or stronger would make the Shadow Elves too strong compared to other races. So far, the Marked by Shadows mechanism has seemed quite balanced and for good players, it's actually quite easy to get troops to Elite to unlock it.
#1
Nordos/atord Jan 11, 2020 @ 12:34pm 
You may have a point, but I would still like to have some small buff to it personally. As in, that the Exploit gets unlocked on Veteran instead of Elite, so that you can have it unlocked on production with a fully upgraded city.... Still, why is it limited to the Rogue and Warlord class? Is there any specific reasoning behind it I fail to see?

On a somewhat unrelated note, I really hate the evolve options of the infused. So, I painstakedly got him to elite (he was in my starting army) and one evolved into Arcane Archers (I suppose it is .... okay) and another into - Nightguards. Especially the last one felt extremly punishing, since I basically traded 5 gold (which is not a lot) for Elite Experience.
The idea to have something evolving into the same tier could be interesting if the evolved unit would be far more powerful than the regular version (for example, giving bonus stats and or a good skill like sprint). As such you could actually debate if you spend your time to level up the Touched in order to have a higher return after they evolve. In that case, though, the evolve options would have to be restricted to Archer, Guard and, with a low(er) chance, Infused.
#2
hiliadan  [developer] Jan 12, 2020 @ 10:28am 
The choice of which units get Exploit Shadow and which Inflict Marked by Shadows was mainly lore-related, and the relative access of different classes was not the main consideration. Several racial units have access so all classes do have access to it, so it's not really limited to Rogue or Warlord. Maybe it could be made accessible at lower medals (Infused do get it at Veteran) but I'm not convinced it's a good idea balance wise.

Regarding Infused Evolve, it's exactly the same as the Draconian Hatchling.
https://age-of-wonders-3.fandom.com/wiki/Template:Hiliadan/Shadow_Elf_Touched
You have 3/8 chances of getting a T3 and 2/8 of getting a T2. I find that pretty powerful, given that the Infused in itself is a good unit. So you should see its evolution as a bonus. Yes, you do lose the experience if it evolves into a T1. But at the same time, that seems fair given that you can get a T3 without paying its cost.
Also, you can keep bonuses like Mercenary (from the Trading Post's MCU) in the evolved unit.

I can understand what you say but you need to take into account that we need to keep it reasonably balanced and adapted for good players, who can easily get units to Elite and thus access to both Inflict Marked by Shadows and Evolve.
#3
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