AOE2 has become diversified in terms of design with the addition of ‘The Last Chieftans’ DLC. My idea is to explore this idea further with a DLC themed on the uniqueness of elephants and expanding them as part of gameplay as well as new campaigns.
My idea of DOI2: “Descendants of the Deccan” is based on a period of time when chola domination declined uniformly across south india and their matrimonial allies chalukyas both west and eastern lost their way. It gave rise to new dynasties split along linguistic lines. Pandyas (Tamils), Hoysalas(Kanndigas), Kakathiyas (Telugus) and calicut kingdom (Malayalis). Since Dravidians represent all these lingusitic and geographic groups, the split should give the civilizations their own campaigns and voicelines while sharing regional units, unit skins and archiecture. The region shared a blacksmith heritage with ‘woots steel’ being refered in a slightly different tone in different languages of the region. They had varying degrees of quality with Telugu territory making the best quality ones. Tamils were the best at vertical integration of the industry and exports. The unique techs and bonuses reflect this as well.
The first civ will be:
- Dravidians renamed to (Keralites)
- Tamils
- Kannadigas
- Telugus
Tamils and Malayalis are presented as sister civs who will share a unique unit the formerly Thirisadai because they shared a language and were under same rulers the cholas till they both went their separate ways.
**Dravidians Rework
MalayalisKeralites - Archer and Naval civilization**
MalayalisKeralites are based on Malayali speaking people of calicut kingdom which endured through neighbourhood Tamil, deccan kingdom and hindustani threats from north India. They fought against the Portuguese and other modern western powers as well to maintain their autonomy well after AOE4 timelines as well. Their ancestors were chera kingdom which had a bow and arrow as flag. This makes them a good candidate for receiving the faster attacking skirm and elephant archer bonus. Their natural forest resources make them the best candidate to make use of Dravidians template. The Urumi swordsmen is also a product of Kalaripayat martial arts which is mainly Keralite. Kerala hosted merchant fleets being brought to their coast by the monsoon winds. But Tamils actively engaged in outbound trade. So the +5 pop space is best given to this civ
• NEW -
Receive +10 wood for every villager created• Skirmishers and Elephant Archers attack +25% faster
• Blacksmith attack upgrades are 50% cheaper
• NEW -
Siege units cost 33% less woodTeam Bonus:
Docks provide +5 pop space
Unique Units:
- Urumi Swordsman (Infantry),
- New - Colandia
(சொழாந்தியம்)(Thirisadai renamed)(Warship) - Generates +10 gold per kill
Unique Techs:
CHANGE - Woots steel moved to castle age
• Wootz Steel (Infantry remove armour like Obuch)
• Medical Corps(Elephant Units regenerate 30 HP per minute)
Tech tree Change
- Both husbandry and bloodlines. But no cavalry armour upgrades in blacksmith.
Tamils - Infantry and Naval civilization
This is the design I want to propose for the Tamils after 12th century. The pandyas continued patronage of trade similar to imperial cholas who were extremely wealthy through trade and thus the civ design is mainly late game oriented. The Venetian traveler Marco Polo visited the Pandya kingdom and described it as the “richest and most splendid province in the world” specifically noting the abundance of pearls and precious stones. They were so rich they would import huge number of war horses every year which will be replaced again the next year due to improper vetinary care.
The design will incentivize the civ to go for gold heavy pop-efficient units which will end up being its strength as well as weakness. The civ’s main weakness is against archers, skirms and cav archers. They only get fully upgraded skirms for balance reasons. This weakness derives historically from their eventual fall to the delhi sutanate who were good with horse archery and used mobility tactics to overcome the heavy cavalry disadvantage against Tamils. Monks will get bonuses to function as counter to cavalry in early castle age along with valari thrower in late-game. The fish flag of pandyas goes rather well with their team bonus.
• Buildings and technologies which cost wood return 20% of total cost as gold on completion. (Excluding farms and fish traps)
• Barracks and market technolgies are 50% cheaper.
• Siege units and Colandia(Thirisadai) have 10/20% more HP in castle and imperial age.[Optional]
• Fervor and sancity effects are doubled. [To honour bakthi movement, Shaivism speard quickly, Killed Jain monks in political confrontations]
Team Bonus:
Fishermen and Fishing ships +5 carry capacity [Current patch Gather rate has been reduced by 15%. Fishing ships just sit there for too long. So bonus modified]
Unique Techs:
• Kodumanal Ingots (Infantry and cavalry +1 attack for all allies) Cost 300 food and 300 Gold
• Lankan Elephants (Elephants move 25% faster) Cost 600 Food and 500 Gold
Unique Units:
- Colandia
(சொழாந்தியம்)(Thirisadai renamed)(Warship) Generates +10 gold per kill (Large ships historically used for trade and war) - Valari thrower (ranged Infantry) (castle unit) - Long ranged Melee attack unit whose weapon returns to the unit which increases the attack speed the closer the target is. Attacks in straight line. Attack is 10(12) melee, Speed is 1.0, range is 6(7). Armour is 0/0.
Unit information -Valari Thrower
Type Infantry
Civilization Tamils AoE2
Castle Age Pronunciation Va’zha-ri Thrower
Training Trained at Castle
Training time 12 seconds
Statistics Hit points 40, 50 (Elite)
Melee attack 3, 5 (Elite)
Attack bonus +7 vs Cavalry
Reload time Variable - Unique ability
Attack delay 0.2
Range 6, 7 (Elite)
Minimum range 1
Accuracy 90%
Projectile speed 14 (Unique ability)
Armor class Infantry Unique Units
Speed 1.0
Line of Sight 8, 9 (Elite)
Upgrades to Elite Valari thrower
Upgrade cost 800 food, 500 gold
Upgrade time 45 seconds
Wonder - Meenakshi Temple - Probably a simplified version of the image below
Meenakshi Temple
Overall tech tree can be similar to Dravidians. But late game needs to be buffed a bit to show they were the successor version. The tech tree also incentivises gold heavy units rather than gold efficient units. Some minor tweaks to tech tree is needed like
Tech tree
- Remove last infantry armour, halberdier to incentivize use of Valari thrower and monks
- Add Elite battle elephan, elite elephant archer and siege elephant upgrade to incentivize gold heavy comp
- Add Full monk tech tree except heresy
- No husbandry or bloodlines. Add Last cavalry armour. Full blacksmith, no hussar
- Remove arbalest, no hand cannon, no siege onager and bombard cannon
- Add treadmill crane and Siege engineers
- Add Gold shaft mining and guilds; Remove 2-man saw and Crop rotation to prevent resource efficiency for trash units
Kannadigas- Cavalry and defense Civilization
Kannadigas based on the hoysalas dynasty which was an inland, hill based people. These people were predominatly hill people who valued cavalry far more than other branches of military and imported a lot of war horses from Arabia.
• Blacksmith cavalry armour upgrades are free
• Ranged soldiers and buildings inflict +1/+2/+3 bonus damage to respective armor classes in feudal, castle and imp respectively.
• Mounted units get +1/+2 attack in castle and imperial age respectively [Optional]
• Stabe technologies cost no food
Team Bonus:
Buildings have 10% more HP
Unique Units:
- Garuda guards (Skirmisher with 100% pass through damage effect, throw javelin in straight line)
- Bahri
(``Arabian cavalry )Trained in Stable. Cavalry which cost 120 gold due to only imports available. Stats are 100(120) HP, 11(12) attack, +0/0 melee/pierce armour and speed of light cavalry 1.5 tps. ROF=1.8. Elite upgrade costs 300 wood and 400 gold.
Unique Techs:
Castle age - Hosadurga - Stone cost of Towers and outposts removed and replaced with wood.
Imperial age - Pakhar or Paakhar - Stable units +2 Pierce armour
Wonder - Halebidu temple
Tech tree needs to be strong buildings and ranged units. Weak to infantry and cav archers. Because historically they were overrun by Tamil infantry which was more numberous and hoyslas lost. The final blow came from the north. Hoysala empire ultimately became a vassal of Delhi sultanate which had a more proficient cav archer based battle strategy.
Tech Tree
- Remove E Skirms which is kinda made up by Bonus
- Remove blast furnace(due to cavalry attack bonus), halberdier, Squires and Arson
- Cavalry is strong. But reliant on gold units. All elephant upgrades excluding Elite elephant archer and parthian tactics.
- Poor monk tech tree similar to current Dravidians
- No husbandry. But gets bloodlines. No light cav upgrade.
- Remove arbalest, hand cannon, bombard cannon and Thumb ring
- Remove heated shot and Arrow-slits. Remove architecture.
- Add Gold shaft mining, no guilds; Remove Crop rotation to prevent resource efficiency for hussar
Telugus - Archer and defense Civilization
Telugus are based on Kakathiya kingdom. The kingdom held out for a long time against threats from southern Tamil Kingdoms and northern Sultanates. When the dynasty finally fell, Harihara and Bukka were treasury officers or military commanders in the service of King Prataparudra of the Kakatiya Dynasty in Warangal, they rallied together with people of Kannada and Telugu origins to create what eventually became the Vijayanagara empire. Their secret was their ability to identify merit and make use of them. They built up a new class of military + administrative personnel called nayaks who were similar to Roman governors. But had their own regional armies.
• Receive one nayak when a new TC is built including starting TC.
• Destroyed buildings, Ships and Siege return 15 % of cost
• Archery range units move 5/10/15 faster
• Masonry and architecture effects are doubled. [ No hoardings] [Optional]
Team Bonus:
All Buildings +2 LOS
Unique Techs:
Castle age - Nayankara system - Nayaks available in Towncenter. Cost 300 Food, 150 Gold
Imperial age - Deccani cofusion steel - “Infantry and cavalry attacks ignore armour” Cost 650 food and 550 gold
Unique Units:
- Nayakas (Special villager unit trained in town center which does not need to drop off resources to add to stockpile) Cost 50 food and 20 gold. Nayaks benefit from infantry upgrades including blacksmith and conscription.
- Elephant lancer Trained in Castle. Ability is delivering a 100% pass though damage to the unit immediately behind the one being attacked. Stats are 250(300) HP, 12(14) attack, +1/+2 melee/pierce armour and speed of 1.0 tps. ROF=1.8. No trample damage. Elite upgrade costs 1000 food and 400 Gold.
Wonder - Warangal Gate
The civ should exhibit Telugu resilience to rise up after adverse failures. The military should be archer based based on their lure of using archers like walls. The archery range should be full and Elephant archers should get a bonus. The secondary should be infantry when its fully upgraded which can make use of ‘woots steel’ whose quality from golconda was the best in the sub-continent. There is the ability to add mercenaries as a unit for Telugus in place of ‘Elephant lancer’ which is a more generic unit from AOE3. However I leave that option open since Elephants lancer special ability could be modified to make the unit a command post which can carry soldiers like archers & infantry.
Tech Tree
- Full barracks and archery range except parthian tactics
- All elephant upgrades except Elite battle elephant made up by unique unit
- Poor monk tech tree similar to current Dravidians and good siege including siege engineers
- No husbandry. But gets bloodlines, only light cav
- No blast furnace, All blacksmith techs
- Remove Gold shaft mining, Add guilds, Crop rotation, two-man saw and stone shaft mining
All civs lack husbandry because that practice was absent in south India. Bloodlines gets a pass because of elephants and the ability to import pure bred horses.
**Edit [Optional] Removed the debatable bonuses. However they are still available as optional in case they are needed for gameplay addition later. This will also bring the civs in line with classic civs with 3 main bonuses and one team bonus.