Ancient Towers

[Onionsoilder]

Even if the Ancient Towers ar not extremely useful they are flavourful and look good on the map. I really like them as they stand out of the landscape and help the role-playing going in your head.
As for ideas to add additional use for them, I like the idea of them being excavated for commerce or hammers. I don't like the ideas of giving promotions - that'd only add unnceceaasry micromanagement.

How so? For the spell extension thing, a duplicate promotion could easily be added(Call it Ancient Wisdom or something) that is given to units on the tile and taken away when they stop off.

 

[Angel-Julia]

that's an awsome idea, giving additional temporary spell extension to arcane units on a watch tower within your boarders or in nutural teritory(it shouldent be abused when attacking the AI in from within their boarders to gain extra range). this gives reasons to keep the tower when its within your boarders, not just for the early-game recon. your mages can see furthur when at the top of the tower so can cast fireballs furthur at impeeding threats.

this folows nicely with the lore of mages in towers. and the additional sight gained giving more range for firing fireballs/controlling spells.

 

[Azhral]

Perhaps also increase their xp gain rate?

 

[Marksman77]

How so? For the spell extension thing, a duplicate promotion could easily be added(Call it Ancient Wisdom or something) that is given to units on the tile and taken away when they stop off.

OK, when I was moaning about unnecassary micromanagement I was thinking about permament promotions - it would force the player to visit the place with every new produced unit. This is what I call unnecessary micromanagement.

I'm okay with promotions that work only on Tower tile, like the ones you described.

As for this proposition:

Perhaps also increase their xp gain rate?

I guess it's ok, as it adds a strategic choise - either you station a mage in a given Tile gaining small but stable bonus, or you actually use him.

 

[Angel-Julia]

OK, when I was moaning about unnecassary micromanagement I was thinking about permament promotions - it would force the player to visit the place with every new produced unit. This is what I call unnecessary micromanagement.

I'm okay with promotions that work only on Tower tile, like the ones you described.

As for this proposition:

I guess it's ok, as it adds a strategic choise - either you station a mage in a given Tile gaining small but stable bonus, or you actually use him.

people would leave their mage on the tower permanently until the final battle. most of the game my mages are waiting around, one of the first units built, and then sit around doing nothing waiting for their powers before they are finally sent off for one devistating blow to conquer the world.

 

[DaveGold]

If you want casters to have a bonus from ancient towers I would suggest giving them the option to pillage/explore the towers and get a one off bonus of xp plus a small chance of a random event. This seems to be much more consistent with the existing game mechanics.

 

[Corlis]

I just rather wish that the towers were set so that they only ever appeared on hill tiles, as they end up a little useless if they're surrounded by forests. Perhaps they could also add a random event that can only trigger when you have a unit on a tower, where they get Perfect Sight or maybe Sentry from looking around so dang much!

 

[Emptiness]

If you want casters to have a bonus from ancient towers I would suggest giving them the option to pillage/explore the towers and get a one off bonus of xp plus a small chance of a random event. This seems to be much more consistent with the existing game mechanics.

I like the sound of this idea. Limit the exploration to Arcane units, have xp be the most common reward with a chance for an Arcane-related spawn (like hostile elementals or planar creatures, for example) or a free Spell promotion, and very rarely a chance to free a trapped caster or Great Sage. Having towers in your area would be an incentive to get KotE earlier, and having KotE would be incentive to seek out towers to explore.

 

[Jarrema]

DaveGold & Emptines: Awesome ideas!

In addition to what have been said, I would like to add that in my opinion it would be cool, if the results were closely tied to unit tier (adept/mage/archmage). Adepts playing with potent magical energies could unleash horrible monsters from other dimensions or some kind of magical explosion, and archmages are a lot better in understanding content of old tomes, so should often gain free Spell promotion or Xp gain

 

[Nor'easter]

DaveGold & Emptines: Awesome ideas!

In addition to what have been said, I would like to add that in my opinion it would be cool, if the results were closely tied to unit tier (adept/mage/archmage). Adepts playing with potent magical energies could unleash horrible monsters from other dimensions or some kind of magical explosion, and archmages are a lot better in understanding content of old tomes, so should often gain free Spell promotion or Xp gain

I think a mechanic based on this combination of ideas would be really nice.

 

[Tasunke]

I think that any arcane units currently sitting on an Ancient Tower would temporarily acquire Perfect Sight, Sentry I, Sentry II, Channeling I, Channeling II ... this would be representative of having "activated" the Tower's defenses for your own purposes.

Maybe you have to explore the Tower at least once to activate it for your own purposes? Maybe you have to explore with a mage, and once you get a positive result, the tower changes to your Civ-color and gives an advantage to your units only. Then later another nation can explore it to do something similar. Melee units (or maybe only seige??) would be able to raze it down without trying to explore it, of course. Also, they are buildable, and if you build it, it starts with Your Civ Color. Can explore starting at KOTE, however can only Build it starting with Arcane Lore??

 

[Angel-Julia]

so people have lines of towers around their boarders with channeling2 adepts hammering anything near the boarders. that sounds slightly overpowered if they are buildable.

 

[Emptiness]

Making them buildable would be a bit much. The suggestions in this thread would make the towers more interesting and powerful, but they would be controlled by their limited supply. Being able to make more on demand would open the door to a variety of abuses, like Angel-Julia's example.

 

[Morkonan]

The ideas concerning "explorable" towers in this thread, especially when the ability is limited to Arcane units, are outstanding!

I'd love to see explorable towers make it into FFH2. It would really spice things up for new Arcane units and give high-level Arcane units some tense moments! Imagine finding an old wizard's staff in an abandoned tower or a portal to an elemental plane that unleashes havoc! An ancient tome, an unleashed magical "disease", a familiar! (Arcane_unitX obtains a familiar! (Promotion - Cat - +1 Sneezing..)

It'd be a very nice addition for arcane units to get that type of flavor added to them and would be really nice if results scaled with the unit's level.

Great ideas!