Hardy Slaves and the Arena

[KillerClowns]

Finally decided to see what all the fuss was about and try out Fall Futher. It's a great mod to a great mod to a great game. (phew, that's a mouthful!) Anyways, I've just made an interesting discovery. You can promote slaves to hardy, give them the abilities to defend themselves. I'll disregard the oddity of arming slaves for now. Well, throw a slave into the arena and you get 50-50 odds of getting a warrior. Throw a slave wih Hardy 1 into the arena, and the resulting warrior keeps that promo... basically becoming a warrior with Heroic Defense 1. Hardy 2 and 3... well, you get the drift. Long story short, the best way for the Balseraph Empire to defend itself... is by arming its slaves, sending them into the arena, and then giving them bows.

If you play your cards right and throw a slave with Hardy 3 into the arena, if it survives you get...
A warrior that defends cities on flat land better than an archer,
or an archer that defends as well as an iron-equipped longbowman,
or a longbowman which, without metal, is stronger than an ordinary, longbowman with iron,
or a crossbowman with 16 minimum strength.

Even hardy 1 and 2 can be quite impressive for defense; think of how useful mutants with Heroic Defense are.

 

[xienwolf]

Awesome


(now write us some Lore!)

 

[RogueThunder]

*twitch* Imaging getting heroic defence on those via mutate after upgrading... *shudders*

 

[MaxAstro]

Probably the Doviello can do the same thing with their new upgrading slaves mechanic.

 

[cypher132]

Interesting trick. Nice discovery.

 

[Vehem]

Interesting trick. Nice discovery.

Got to say I actually like it too. A hardened slave catches the eye of a task master or dares to defy his master; thrown to the arena so that his death is entertaining for the masses; survives despite it all and becomes a local legend and a feared warrior.

Not intended and there are definitely arguments that professional warriors should outclass some slave-made-good, but I think it's fun enough to keep in. I also like the idea of Balseraphs sending out Taskmasters to recruit their hardy-army.

 

[cypher132]

Here, I wrote a short story about the idea. It's about the Doviello, though.

Spoiler :

Artugra stood at the entrance to the great arena. He saw at the other entrance a small scared man he knew by the name of Modin, wearing nothing but dirty rags and the expression of an animal about to die. This is not to say Artugra himself felt fear. When you are forced into the arena by your master, there is a high chance you will die. Artugra got here by defying an order from his master to kill a sick child. Now he had to fight to the death to keep his life. He surveyed the crowd around him. The bloodthirsty crowd all crying for blood and death.
A large Doviello man broke the skull of an ogre with his club, signifying the beginning of the battle. Artugra was pushed out of the entrance and into the arena, the same for Modin. He knew he had to fight or both would be left for the sport of wolves. He glanced around frantically, looking for something he could use as a weapon and saw several stones lying on the ground near the side of arena. His opponent, equally as frantic, noticed them as well and opened up into a high speed sprint to reach what could be his salvation. Artugra ran to the pile of rocks himself, arriving at his destination at the same time as Modin. Realizing that Modin could not get his hands on these precious stones, Artugra tackled the man, forcing him to the ground and began to rain blows down upon Modin. He heard a sharp crack as his opponent's nose was broken from well-aimed punch, but the Doviello were raised to be hardy and Artugra soon found himself lying on the ground with Modin standing above him, holding one of the stones that Artugra had coveted mere minutes before.
Modin leapt onto Artugra and swung the rock down onto his shoulder, breaking it in the process. Artugra reached for his own weapon with his last good arm and swung it up to Modin's face. There was a loud crack as the bones in Modin's cheek snapped and cracked from the force of the blow. Modin fell off Artugra, holding his face and screaming in pain. Artugra, filled with adrenaline and his natural Doviello blood lust, repeatedly brought the stone down upon the back of Modin's head, breaking through the bone with ever strike. Pieces of blood and bone flew from the head of Modin and from the upswing of Artugra's stone. Soon, Modin became motionless and Artugra stood holding the stone high in a symbol of victory. The crowd roared, delighted in the carnage and bloodshed they had just witness. Artugra waited for the entrance gate to lift so he could exit, but another gate opened to the left of him. Three wolves strode out of it, fur raised and growling at the victorious man. A wounded Doviello is a useless Doviello and the wolves were hungry.

Tell me what you think.

 

[FireBlaze]

Thank god the AI will never be able to do this

 

[deadliver]

You know it doesn't have to be that the slaves are armed with weapons, could just be the promotion represents a small guard detachment that protects the workers, kinda like that sheriff, his shotgun and a chain gang.

 

[zup]

Imagine this with slave trade from undercouncil. Keep it. Gamewinner mechanics = good.

 

[Tarquelne]

could just be the promotion represents a small guard detachment that protects the workers, kinda like that sheriff, his shotgun and a chain gang.

That's what I'd think.

What we got here is... failure to communicate.

 

[Willgar]

Fantastic find - maybe a bug but it sure adds flavour - maybe when they upgrade they can become a new unit - Gladiator anyone?

 

[zup]

They were gladiators when they entered the arena, when they exit they are called warriors.