Fountain of Youth extremely OP?

[ashendashin]

Seems to me that it's easily the best Natural Wonder in the game.
It allows all land melee units to heal every turn, regardless of origin or when they were built.
Seeing as how the Ottomans get their March promotion on only one type of unit, and the fact that the only other NW that gives a free promotion is for workers, this is a bit much, no?

If, for example, one were to be warring on a civ that took it first, all units will receive this promotion when the city is taken. This would make any further attacks a certain victory.
Or worse, you got it early on. In the early game, claiming territory is a must on large games. Having just a few more cities than the majority gives you a huge edge and not having to stop your units allows secure borders with little to stop you.

My thoughts on potential balancing:

1. Limit NW promotions to either the origin city or the capital, with a limit to one type of melee unit, thus preventing certain civs from taking further advantage of their already large military bonuses(Such as the Ottomans or Zulus).
   
2. Make all NWs more unique. Currently there seems to be only 2 that grant promotions. With how few NWs there are though, I think the above limits would still be required for large games, unless more are added through other mods.

 

[Enginseer]

And also the rarest.

 

[ashendashin]

I see where you're coming from. As of right now it's not really important I suppose and you can always just...not exploit it.
But with the upcoming multiplayer fixes, anyone that's lucky enough to get it has a massive military boost hat no one can match until later in the game.
The whole reason I raised this is because there's only the one way to get such a boost.

 

[Moi Magnus]

FoY is not the only NW like that : there is also the bonus on hills (i think it is Mt Kilimandjaro)
But you're right on the fact that FoY promotion may be too strong.

 

[vyyt]

Yeah, I am not a fan of the special promotions of FoY and Kilimanjaro either. I mod them out. They are OP and too much RNG dependent.

 

[Ixenzo]

Is it though? I've gotten FoY exactly once in years. Haven't seen Kilimanjaro at all. If anything, it is a major contest point and a powder keg. Does AI war for NWs?

 

[Gothic_Empire]

I love the natural wonder promotions. I like the game having some random elements. Sacred step from Sri Pada is *fun.* Eternal youth is *fun.*

I've got decent faith in the randonmess of their appearance. I saw FoY for the first time a few years ago, didn't see it for a long, long time, and then had it three games in a row with my friends, and now it's calmed back down.

Seeing those special promotions on the map and being able to plan around them is a blast.

 

[Freaky Freddy]

Yeah it's very op. Especially if you're playing a military civ like zulus or japan. In my opinion it should just heal 5HP and not trigger promotions like medic and survivalism.

Also having other NW giving promotions could also help balance things out.

 

[Gothic_Empire]

My friend started on the fountain of youth as Gandhi and decided to come at me (the Celts) with an early rush of spears and horses. His buff was noticeable, certainly, but he wasn't able to take anything but one of my puppets.

 

[ashendashin]

Well Gandhi vs the Celts certainly isn't the best example, but for the sake of the argument that the FoY is rare, I'll say the he still could've gone for a more military focus. A combo of Goddess of Protection and Zealotry would make for -at the very least- a tough nut to crack.

But yeah a civ that doesn't have any military bonuses and is unlucky enough to start with little production or facing off against a civ that is entirely focused on strong aggressive starts wouldn't be all that bad I suppose.

 

[ElliotS]

I'd like to see more promotions from Natural Wonders, and the AI being more willing to war for them. (And maybe priorities those cities in war.)

Even if a NW is really powerful, you might not want to be the center of attention and mutual foe of the whole world for having 3 of them even if they all gave bonuses.

 

[grmagne]

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the Fountain of Youth and I’ve forgotten how ridiculously powerful it is. I’m currently steamrolling the Shoshone with the Aztecs on Emperor, and it’s too easy to keep my army strong with the +10 healing bonus. Honestly, FoY could be reduced to just +5 and it would still the best Natural Wonder. Right now it just feels completely OP.

 

[LukaSlovenia29]

I always change it to +1 healing when I download a new version. It's good as it is without the healing bonus.

 

[CrazyG]

But its so much fun with Persia.....

I'd support changing it to 5 HP

 

[ElliotS]

I had a scout with Fountain of Youth, Survivalism 3 and Medic 2 (among other promotions) a few games ago.

 

[vyyt]

I always remove these NW promotions from the fame, not just healing from FoY, but the sacred steps and the Kilimanjaro one as well. Never liked the idea of NWs giving promotions.

 

[ElliotS]

Kilimanjaro doesn't promote anymore, which makes me sad. Does anyone know why that is?

 

[Funak]

Kilimanjaro doesn't promote anymore, which makes me sad. Does anyone know why that is?

I thought that got fixed.

 

[ElliotS]

I thought that got fixed.

If I see it I'll post here, everyone else please keep an eye out.

 

[Sub6]

Kilimanjaro doesn't promote anymore, which makes me sad. Does anyone know why that is?

You need to own the Kilimanjaro tile, if I remember correctly.