I have 2 main issues with Hoplites in Chronicles:
- They are too much like the Milita Line
- The Milita Line is weak in AoE2 and therefor the Hoplites are weak too
(I know it’s technically the Levy Line in Chronicles but I will keep to the AoE2 names to reduce confusion)
They are too much like the Milita Line
The Hoplite costs a little more Food and Gold and provides a little more armour then the Milita Line.
Their formation bonus is kinda boring because it’s basically just -1/-1 armour of single Hoplites. The bonus activates even it you just have 2 Hoplites.
Since they just have a little more armour then the Milita Line they fulfil the same role.
The 0.3 range has little practical effect. Kamayuks have +1 range so they can attack from the 2nd row in a formation. That can double your armies DPS in some situations. But 0.3 range just makes it a little easier to connect with the enemy, nothing more.
Both Civilisations that can train Hoplites have some bonuses and UTs for them so you will rarely have a reason to train Milita Line units. The main advantage is that you instantly get Hoplites in Castle Age without having to research 2 upgrades first.
The Milita Line is weak in AoE2 and therefor the Hoplites are weak too
The Milita Line is pretty weak in AoE2 and barely gets used unless the civilisation has some massive bonus like +33% attack speed, -30% cost, +4 attack and so on.
Even worse there is no Gambesons in Chronicles while Cavalry and Archers kept all upgrades from AoE2.
My suggestions
- Make the Hoplite stronger
- Change the costs
- Make the Milita Line a Hoplite counter
- Buff the Unique Technologies
Historically the Phalanx tactics where countered by Swordsman. Roman armies beating Macedonian armies being the prime example.
Make the Hoplite stronger
Since they have a Spear and a big Shield I think they should have bonus damage vs. Cavalry and higher pierce armour.
Current armour with formation bonus:
- Hoplite: 2+1/1
- Elite Hoplite: 3+1/1+1
Suggested change:
- Hoplite: 1+1/2+1
- Elite Hoplite: 1+2/2+2
Effectively -1 melee armour and +2 pierce armour in formation.
Formations are now also more important and single Hoplites are significantly weaker which makes it more tactical to use them.
Bonus change
+5 (+6) attack vs. Cavalry for (Elite) Hoplite.
This is far from being OP. Viking Infantry also get +5 vs. Cavalry too.
+4 (+5) vs. Camels should probably be added to, even though Chronicles only has one Campaign Exclusive Camel unit atm.
Change the costs
Currently the Hoplite is just +10 Food and +10 Gold cost compared to a Milita with Supplies. Since both units have almost the same costs you are never incentivised to use one over the other depending on your economic situation.
My suggestion:
40 Food 40 Gold
-15 Food and +10 Gold compared to now.
-5 Food and +20 Gold compared to Milita Line.
This makes the Hoplites more Gold heavy, which fits their design. It also makes them even more different compared to the Spearman Line that also counters cavalry.
Make the Milita Line a Hoplite counter
Hoplite get Eagle Warrior armour class or a new “Heavy Infantry” Armour class.
This way the Milita Line can do bonus damage vs. Hoplites.
Other Chronicles exclusive units can also have their stats adjusted to balance out the new Hoplite stats, for example Immortals could gain a little bonus damage vs. Hoplites, maybe even in ranged mode.
Using the existing Eagle Warrior armour class would have the advantage of making it more compatible with Crossplay. Most AoE2 Infantry UUs have some bonus damage vs. Eagle Warrior.
Buff the Unique Technologies
Xyphos
Currently:
+1 attack for each 10 enemies nearby, up to +3
My suggestion:
+1 attack for each 5 enemies nearby, up to +5
Aztecs get +4 on all Infantry as a Unique Technology. Getting +3 on 2 units (one being a ship) and only when there are 30 enemies are nearby is not really all that good.
Giving them +5 from just 25 enemies nearby would be a lot more useful and also certainly not OP. This bonus really only applies in large battles.
Eisphora
Currently:
Hoplites cost -10 Gold but +10 Food
My suggestion:
Hoplites cost -20 Gold but +20 Food
-10 Gold is not that much, especially not for a technology that cost 750 Gold. That means you have to train 75 Hoplites to break even on this technology, and that completely ignores the increased Food cost and the Food cost of the technology itself.
With the bonus increased to -20 Gold it would take 37.5 Hoplites to beak even.
Also the end results of the technology would be 20 Gold in both chases.
Now it’s 65 Food and 20 Gold with the technology, in the future it would be 60 Food and 20 Gold, so just -5 Food overall.