Hey there!
So we all know Chinese has big issues and overall doesn’t feel smooth to play due to some poor design.
Here are some balance and quality of life suggestions which would make Chinese much better and more fun to play.
Starting bonus
- Chinese start with +2 villagers
Explanation: The Chinese have a worse earlygame economy compared to other civs and are exceptionally vulnerable in Age 2 against attacks. This will speed up their earlygame. They used to start with +2 villagers but this bonus was taken away for no reason.
Landmark balance changes
- Imperial Academy can now train Imperial Officials at 50% cost
- Imperial officials gather up to 10 additional tax gold per age, which means 30 tax in Age II, 40 tax in Age III, 50 Tax in Age IV. The +20 carry capacity stays in the game for a maximum of 70 tax gathered per trip in Age IV.
- Cooldown to collect Tax from the same building is now 10 seconds instead of 30 seconds.
- Barbican of the Sun now increases attack speed for itself, all towers, wall towers, Keeps, Town Centers and its fortifications by 10%
- The Great Wall of China gatehouse now boosts attack damage of infantry on walls by 20% regardless of where they are, instead of boosting attack damage by 50% in a very small radius around it
- The Spirit Way Landmark now reduces the cost of all Dynasty units by 20% instead of 30%, but applies to all Dynasty units regardless of where they are produced
Explanation:
The Tax collection has multiple issues. Being able to train Imperial Officials cheaper from the Landmark will be a small earlygame help which the Chinese need.
The Barbican of the Sun is similar to the Kremlin - but much worse. A small buff will help Chinese fortifications and make it easier to defend. In case you are interested, I did the math and the Handcannon attacks does less dps against every enemy with 3 or less armor than the Kremlin. I presume its the same with other towers and the TC.
The Great Wall of China Gatehouse has basically no effect. Most players build no or very few stone walls. Building Keeps is just better.
The Spirit Way Landmark has very little effect because as the game progresses you build production buildings near the front to cut reinforcement time. This is extremely important and in this case the Spirit Way does nothing. You also need to enter a Dynasty before this building even provides any bonus. In its current state, its one of, if not the worst Landmark in the game.
Tax collection changes:
- All tax generated on a building that is supervised gets converted into gold and added to your ressources directly. Credit to Aussie_Drongo for this great idea!
- See above suggestions for Tax cooldown and gather capacity
- Officials can now drop off Tax at Keeps just like they were Town Centers.
You are never going to get any Tax from buildings which are in the middle of the map. Stone Camps, Wood Camps, forward production buildings, unless you build a TC nearby which is a waste of ressources. The Change to supervise and being able to drop off Keeps is an easy fix for these huge issues.
Unit balance changes:
- Zhuge Nu attack range increased to 5.0, same as Archers and Crossbowmen
- Zhuge Nu movement speed increased to 1.25, same as other Archers
- Zhuge Nu bugfix now benefits from reduced cost properly
- Zhuge Nu gets an upgrade in Age III which adds +2 damage per shot against armored units only
- Palace Guard upgrade battle hardened (+30 HP) moved to Age III from Age IV
- Nest of Bees buffed in such a way that they are actually better than Mangonels, not worse
- Nest of Bees now benefit from Chemistry like they should
- Nest of Bees can now fire while standing inside water
Explanation:
The Zhuge Nu is a worse Archer and gets kited easily. Its also useless against armored units, a new ugprade in Age III will help. The Mongols get a similar +2 upgrade on their special units and so should the Chinese.
Palace Guard loses to all other Men at Arms in direct combat and is much weaker against ranged attacks due to its low armor. Moveing the +30 HP upgrade to Age III will help somewhat.
The Nest of Bees is a worse Mangonel and has several bugs.
Dynasty System:
- The Dynasty button is moved to the bottom left side, right above your Imperial Official UI and reduced in size
- All units and Dynasty buildings stay unlocked once unlocked
- Granaries made smaller than 4x4 tiles, preferably 2x2 or 1x1 tiles, drop off point changed accordingly
- Cost of granaries reduced to 100 wood from 250 wood
- Pagoda now produces 5 times the amount of gold per minute if a relic is deposited inside. That means instead of only producing 10 gold per minute, which is nothing, it produces 50 gold per minute (ontop of the 100 gold per minute from a relic)
- Once you build a 2nd Landmark, the cost of the next 2nd Landmark to enter a Dynasty is reduced by 400 food and 200 coin. This means you if you entered the song Dynasty and want to enter Yuan Dynasty, you save 400 food and 200 coin. If you entered the Yuan Dynasty and want to enter the Ming Dynasty, you save 800 food and 400 coin.
Explanation:
The Dynasty system is not worth investing into for anything other than Song Dynasty. Its too expensive, its bonuses are lost upon entering another Dynasty. Its buildings and units must stay unlocked. The Chinese Landmarks are straight up worse Landmarks compared to what everyone else gets and investing into a second Age III or Age IV Landmark is too expensive.
Granaries have multiple issues and its too difficult to place them. Because when you enter Yuan Dynasty you already have all your farm economy placed.
The 15% gather rate bonus also doesn’t translate to 15% faster food collection in game. Check out this video which explains why:
The Pagoda does nothing special and is not worth building for 10 gold per minute and some negligible tax.
Here are relevant links to topics already discussed by the community:
I’m looking forward to your feedback and suggestions!
good job…