Hi, in my opinion these civs are either too strong or weak. Some changes could make them more balanced.
Bengalis
- New Bonus: Newly built Town Centers spawn 2 villagers
- Receives Thumb Ring and Hand Cannoneer
- Paiks no longer affects Elephant Archers
- Paiks costs 275W/275G rather than 375W/275G
- Elite Ratha upgrade costs 500F/650W rather than 800F/800W
Their mid game is very weak because they lack bonuses and proper units. You don’t always get to the Ratha which is not even that good (I mean Mangudai or War Wagon level). The new villager bonus would boost their economy and the addition of Thumb Ring would allow them to stick to the Archer-line in the whole game. Hand Cannoneer is needed because they are really weak vs Eagle/Halb. Paiks shouldn’t affect Elephant Archers after Thumb Ring. Dravidians should have the faster firing EA, not Bengalis. With the cost reduction of Paiks and the Elite Ratha Upgrade fully upgrading the Ratha wouldn’t cost more than now.
Burmese
- Receives Leather Archer Armor
Burmese need a counter against Crossbows. Gurjaras would have the identity of weakly armored Skirmishers/Corssbows, instead of them.
Dravidians
- Medical Corps’ effect is tripled to 60HP/m
- Receives Siege Engineers (Or BBC), Husbandry and Parthian Tactics
- Loses Hand Cannoneer
Having +20HP/m for an Elephant unit is a joke. It is like Berserks having 8HP regeneration. Their Elephant Archers feel useless but they are supposed to have the best Elephant Archers. Giving Them Parthian Tactics and Husbandry on top of the general buffs would make their EA useful. They don’t need Hand Cannons because they have EA, Arb and Infantry to counter other Infantry. There is should be one civ to lack Hand Cannons among the Indian civs. They would be fine without it, unlike the Bengalis. Also they just die vs Siege civs. You would have your own SO or Bombard Cannon to counter Siege.
Gurjaras
- Loses Leather Archer Armor
- Receives Parthian Tactics
Gurjaras have the tools to counter archers thanks to the Shrivamsha Riders so they don’t need the second archer armor. If Shrivamshas Riders were too bad at countering archers the devs could buff their stats a little bit after the skirmisher nerf. Also this nerf would nerf their Crossbow play and Gurjaras wouldn’t feel that oppressive. Parthian Tactics balances out the -1/1 armor that Elephant Archers would have.
Elephant Archers
- Receives 5 Cavalry Archer Armor and 50 HP (both Castle Age and Elite)
Elephant Archers are completely useless.