Anyone else hate the insta-heal promotion?

[GrayingGamer]

Can't stand that thing... the AI uses it with irritating effectiveness.

Is there anything remotely realistic about it?

 

[puyo]

Is there anything realistic in the game?

AI uses it badly actually. One tip would be to heal your unit AFTER it has attacked, not before.
But promotions are far better than insta heal...

 

[Lord Chambers]

It is a strange tactical consideration to make, mousing over the enemy unit, looking at it's number of promotions, recalling how many times you've bombarded it, and deciding how many more shots you can hit it with before it reaches 100% health again. I definitely have ended turns with shots left on my ranged units because the weakened unit was less a threat than a possibly full strength unit the next turn.

 

[Uberfrog]

It's in no way realistic, but it's saved my soldiers at least as often as it's saved an AIs. I'm not crazy about it, but it's not a bad feature, in my view, to trade a promotion a unit could never use for a new lease of life.

 

[headcase]

It's kind of nice to have available but it's pretty hard to make sense of.

 

[JWAT44]

think of it as reinforcing those troops with fresh ones. it happens in real life (not in that way exactly but still)

 

[nnja]

I only use it occasionally and it sure is nice to save a unit. However when i lose a chinese crossbowman who had drill 3 and city attack bonuses because a swordsman with 1 health pulled a hulk hogan......

 

[insaneweasel]

I hate that it turns most units into garbage after using it a few times. A 30 xp unit that needed 2 heals is only good for cannon fodder or for weakening cities. It has no future, is worse than a unit fresh out of the city, and costs gold.

 

[GrayingGamer]

I think Lord Chambers has the best point - to really combat an AI that uses this ability virtually every chance it gets, you have to micro-manage your combat (or else lose units to less-than-predictable circumstances). Meh. I wish they would just get rid of it.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I like it, it's a good choice between short term gain or long term advantage.

I don't bother micromanaging it. It's not possible to know if the unit had previously killed a barb, so you can't really know anyway.

 

[Scaramanga]

Conceptually it could be similar to Populism in that the unit has been able to rally soldiers to their side. And yes, it is a pain.

 

[michaeltrnka]

It is a strange tactical consideration to make, mousing over the enemy unit, looking at it's number of promotions, recalling how many times you've bombarded it, and deciding how many more shots you can hit it with before it reaches 100% health again. I definitely have ended turns with shots left on my ranged units because the weakened unit was less a threat than a possibly full strength unit the next turn.

You make good point but I still like the heal. Maybe if promotions were done on a probability (ie. % chance to promotion) rather than straight exp. That way you you would never know for sure if a unit would be promoted next turn.

 

[Rinnero]

http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?109406-Full-heal-promotion-is-overpowered

Shortly:
- not realistic
- better than the usual promotion
- too strong
- can be used pretty often
- unpredictable by opponent
- encourages use of melees



The only argument that can justify existance of instant heal is that everyone can use this... But I dont think many of us want warfare to turn into careful calculating of exp.

 

[Lord Chambers]

I dont think many of us want warfare to turn into careful calculating of exp.

It's not quite that bad. I have a rule of thumb that any attack likely to do less than three damage will probably heal the enemy unit. Here's why:

Spoiler :

level	exp	next level	difference	[b]<3 hits till promotion	with honor[/b]
1	0	10		10		[b]5			3.33[/b]
2	10	20		20		[b]10			6.66[/b]
3	20	40		30		[b]15			10[/b]
4	40	70		40		[b]20			13.33[/b]
5	70	110		50		[b]25			16.6[/b]

Since a fresh unit can only absorb 3-5 hits before reaching the next level/healing completely, you want to be doing at least 3 damage per hit to actually kill the unit. Later, when enemy units are being built with promotions, you can hit them 6-15 shots before they promote, which means about any attack will kill the unit. And of course, if you're going to defeat the unit completely this turn, then attack freely. For most other situations, <3 heals.

 

[mythmonster2]

Seems like just making it use up your turn would make it perfectly balanced. But even then, I don't have a problem with it right now.

 

[NotSure]

What compelled them to create the option in the first place? I used to believe it was to help the AI. But, if insta-heal were turfed, I'm not sure it hurts the AI (more units & more production) or the human (better unit management). I'd prefer other changes before axing insta-heal, but it wouldn't break my heart if it was gone.

 

[The_Quasar]

Sure it can be annoying, even game breaking under extreme circumstances, but both us and the AI have it, so it's fair. If you don't use it, then you're not using a valid game mechanic. You can't blame the AI for using it, it's there to be used.

I disagree that it's stronger than a real promotion, I believe it's much weaker... imho, by using it, you lose a promotion for a short-term gain... real promotions are much stronger later... I hate using it, and do so only rarely. That the AI uses it often, should encourage you to use that last artillery on the unit well into the red, that way you know it'll be dead, and if you fail to do so, and use it on a fresh unit, you only have yourself to blame if it then insta-heals!

Patience, in this game, is vital, especially on the higher levels, where you will inevitably be outnumbered by the AI. In the majority of cases, being sure of a kill is more productive, longterm, than gambling on a few possibilities.

 

[Baleur]

If anyone has a minimod that removes it completely (and is compatible with Thals balance mod) i will be so happy words cant explain..

 

[Becomedeath]

I've seen several remarks on the boards regarding this and I remain confused as to what the problem is.

I've instant healed units in situations where it's completely saved my game. In fact, on occasion, I've sent in a rookie unit to take some fire knowing that it will bounce back on the level up rather than send in more valuable promoted units which I'd rather not risk on an initial positioning turn.

Is it annoying when the AI suddenly heals when you thought you had them beat? Yes.

However, I assure you that there are computers all over the world posting.

Don't you hate it when human players insta-heal their units and then take your cities?

Yeah totally, and don't you hate it when they make you play the same turn over and over to cheat you out of a wonder? Friaxis should totally patch humans.

 

[Baleur]

I dont want insta-heal at all, not for myself or for the computers.
I get more frustrated when the computer uses it, than i get happy when i use it myself.

With it completely removed from the game a big source of frustration, and only a tiny miniscule part of fun, would be removed. The end result would be a big plus in my experience.