Don’t let the title trick you, this is not a hate post. Freyr is my second favorite god. However, after the latest patch I decided to take a break from him. In this post I want to share my opinion about Freyr’s current position in the meta, and my suggestions about how he could be buffed.
1) FIRST IMPRESSIONS
For those that didn’t know, an iteration of Freyr is playable on Extended Edition inside the Divine Edition mod (it was released much earlier than Retold). Archer myth unit, Draugr (as a slow melee myth unit), a slow but powerful myth unit, a destructive mythic god power, access to Freyja and Bragi…
We got all this in the Retold’s official version as well. It is amazing that the official version feels so familiar, but so fresh at the same time. Furthermore, Freyr’s gameplay feels like a combination of Thor and Loki in a quite funny way. Since I’m a Loki main, Freyr felt like a perfect secondary option to me. The build order is completely different, but since they both have access to Bragi, their heroic age can be played pretty similarly. I’m surprised that Freyr didn’t introduce elves in any shape or form, but other than that, he left a great first impression on release.
2) MAJOR GOD BONUSES
a) Freyr doesn’t give free dwarves, extra favor or free myth units – he gives cheaper upgrades instead, with 150% research time penalty. This is his strongest bonus (and should be), but in the late game it feels more like a punishment instead. Having to wait an extra 60-80 seconds to save around 400 resources on average per upgrade sounds good on paper, but in a real game it feels like an eternity.
In a tough game by the time you reach mythic age, you have a strong economy already, so the bonus rarely pays itself off.
Since Freyr is supposed to be a late game powerhouse, it makes sense to let him shine in the mythic age. His early game is the weakest among the Norse gods (his major god bonuses are not too helpful early on, apart from the cheaper technologies).
Freyr’s bonus feels similar to Loki’s Ox Cart bonus in the original game. Loki had cheaper and faster Ox Carts, but with less hitpoints. Ox Carts used to cost population, so spamming them was not an option. Because of that, this bonus felt more like a punishment later on in the game.
My suggestion for Freyr would be to reduce the research time punishment by 25% per age (150% in archaic, 125% in classical, 100% in heroic, 75% in mythic). This way the punishment is still present, but it scales into the late game more gracefully.
b) The fact that Freyr can infinitely repair a Town Center with his villagers is quite handy, especially when the enemy makes an ambush and your army needs time to arrive. However, in the latest patch the repair speed was greatly reduced, which is an another indirect nerf to Freyr, making this bonus less effective. This is one more reason why Freyr needs a buff that would compensate for the nerf.
c) Freyr can’t transform his villagers to Berserks for cheaper anymore. For me it felt logical that gods that have no access to Ragnarok (Freyr and Loki) are able to create a pseudo-ragnarok with Berserks instead. Loki was always struggling to defend himself against Ragnarok in the original game, so this change basically fixed this issue. Vidar also provides upgrades for the Berserks, and Twilight of the Gods gives bonus damage against heroes; he was designed to protect Freyr against Ragnarok. I understand that transforming villagers is not really a technology, but it really played along quite nicely with Freyr’s other bonuses and with his defensive nature.
d) Freyr’s Gift used to give 25% hitpoints to all human units and heroes – now it gives only 10%, but to all units. This change made Hel a more desirable pick, but you are going to use human units most of the time anyway, so this change is overall a huge nerf.
This upgrade was supposed to be a gift (it’s literally in the name) for surviving the early game, providing you a strong late game. Currently the upgrade’s effect is barely noticeable. For reference, Dionysia costs 150 wood and 20 favor, and provides 5% hitpoints to all units. Meanwhile Freyr’s Gift is 400 food and 0 favor, but only if you researched at least 30 technologies. It doesn’t feel satisfying.
My suggestion would be to crank up the number to 15% instead. Currently Freyr has the weakest early game, and also the weakest late game among the Norse gods.
3) MINOR GODS
Classical Age:
As BoIt said, Freyja basically unlocks the potential of the Norse. This is a perfect description. The Norse require a hit-and-run playstyle, so they need fast units and healing – Freyja and Forseti provide exactly that. When you pick Heimdall or Ullr, you sacrifice the healing. They are considered as defensive picks, but ironically, they actually make you vulnerable. However, if you use them correctly, and/or the opponent doesn’t punish you, you can get quite good value out of them. Heimdall is great for this, but Ullr on the other hand, falls short. His best asset is the Asgardian Bastion, but even that is locked behind an upgrade, which feels really pointless. Even if it stays in the game, at least the Draugr could get some buffs, because they are not cost effective – they need to be either stronger, or cheaper.
Heroic Age:
I prefer Bragi most of the time, but Aegir is a solid choice as well. Bragi is more consistent, meanwhile Aegir requires the usage of Hill Forts to make his upgrades shine. Overall he is in a good spot right now, the Rock Giants make him really valuable. Hopefully Aegir won’t get nerfed further.
Mythic Age:
Vidar is great, but using Fafnir is not worth at all. Nobody wants to give 300 gold to the opponent. Healing Fafnir is an option, but it is just not strong enough to make it worth the hassle. It’s much easier to use the other myth units instead. It would be great if the 300 gold bounty would get reduced.
SUMMARY OF SUGGESTIONS
150% extra research time in all ages –> research time punishment gets reduced by 25% per age (150/125/100/75)
Freyr’s Gift: 10% –> 15% bonus hitpoints to all units
Slight Ullr and Fafnir buffs
I won’t add cheaper Berserks to the list, because it can be left out if the correct compensations are made. It was a very situational bonus, but it made Freyr overall more comfortable to use in the late game, when you had maximum number of villagers already.
FINAL WORDS
These buffs might seem overpowered to some people. However, I believe this is the power level that all major god should have. People are talking about Gaia being S tier, meanwhile I’m happy to see that she is finally strong after all those years. There are some things that definitely require a nerf (as a Loki main, I admit that Loki having vision over the entire map was indeed overpowered), but in general it is much better when the major gods, the god powers and the myth units are strong, because in this case your choices actually matter, and it offers gameplay with great variety.
If everything keeps getting toned down, eventually every major god from a pantheon would feel the same, and nobody would bother using myth units anymore – and people that played the original game, know exactly how this looks like.