Make Meso Cavalry a bit more useful please

I think Xolotl Warriors need a serious buff. It is a beautiful unit and it is a pity that we never see it in the game as it is totally useless.

To get it, you must convert a stable (if not several stables if you want to mass Xolotl Then you get a super weak units without any cavalry upgrades.

Maybe give the possibility to Aztecs monks to range convert stables ? A small up of the Xolotl would be also welcome to make them playable in some cases.

If nothing is changed, it is better to delete them from the game as every units should belong to a strategy. The target is not to make Aztecs OP but at least to give them a possibility to exploit their ressources using a new strategy Xolotl oriented.

What do you think ?

To remind you, Xolotl warriors look like that :
image

image

2 Likes

The unit is more of an easter egg unit, I believe earlier when Aztec (and Inca?) monks converted Stables, they were simply empty.

Xolotl Warrior is not meant to be used in strategies, it’s there to just look cool.

11 Likes

Ok but it doesn’t even “look cool” if we do not see them.

Without boosting there stats, we would imagine a kind of strategy like :

“Aztecs monks can convert stables with a short range, and 1 Xolotl warrior is popping each time a monk convert a stable”.

It could be super fun early castle age.

1 Like

I don’t think the point of Xolotl Warriors is to give Americans a viable alternative should they convert a Stable, but as simply a neat little unit that can also work in custom scenarios.
As Nerathion said, it’s an easter egg. Besides, considering how a player gets access to them, their stats would need to be beyond that of a Paladin for it to realistically be good.

EDIT: I also believe they were primarily introduced so that Americans aren’t given too much of a disadvantage in Battle Royale maps.

6 Likes

Why not able to build stables once you convert an enemy stable?

2 Likes

I think it is also a good idea )

Dude, Aztecs are one of the only infantry civs other than Goths. Xotol warrior is cosmetic. Nobody uses them. That doesn’t mean it should be made usable.

4 Likes

“With [update 42848], Xolotl Warriors are granted +30 hp, +2 attack, and +2/+2 armor in matches that begin in the Post-Imperial Age.”
Should probably auto-evolve to this in Imperial or have an upgrade available.
Also maybe they could be affected by Imp-UTs (+4Attack for Aztec / +1/+2 Armor for Inca)
That would take them to almost the strength of a generic Cavalier, which I think is fine, as they could be viable in niche cases, but aren’t really the power unit Knight-line usually is.

3 Likes

What would happen if you convert an Indiana stable? No Xolotl warrior but a Jaguar warrior on Elephant?

1 Like

Make the flaming camel great again.

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Why are you talking about a Jaguar warrior on elephant ?
Is it a joke or something ?

I didn’t understand the point of the question…

I mean even if Xolotl warriors were super strong, It would still be almost impossible to mass them. The oppenents will make sure to delete their stables before it get converted.

I like the idea of buffing them. It obviously wouldn’t mean anything relevant to balance, as I think I’ve only been able to make them once in about 2000 ranked games, but would be really cool, so why not?

I like the idea of giving Xolotl a mechanic similar to a konnik, so the dismounted unit becomes a jaguar warrior: this way it becomes kind of viable even though what we’ve essentially created is a much more expensive and slower creating jag that has a bit of an early speed boost.

This would also mean that you don’t need to give meso civs cav upgrades.

4 Likes

Make the Xolotl Warrior be affected by infantry armour upgrades and given an Elite upgrade that gives them Cavalier stats.

They should also be affected by the unique technologies

  • Garland Wars (+4 Arrack)
  • Fabric Shields (+1/+2 Armour)
  • El Dorado (+40 HP)

They would still miss Bloodlines and Husbandry.
The Aztec Elite Xolotl Warrior would have 1 more attack then the Malian one but 20 less HP.
The Incan Elite Xolotl Warrior would have the same armour as the Sicilian one but 20 less HP.
So the Mayan Elite Xolotl Warrior would just have +20 HP making it weaker then a Frankish one (with +24 HP) and the Franks have the Paladin too.

It would be a strong unit but not something you could built a strategy around since it’s hard to even get one stable in the first place.

Would be funny to play on a map that gives you a stable at the start.

4 Likes

Easiest buff would be if infantry armor upgrade would effect them.

If you want to make them usable, what about a redesign ?

  • change cost from 60f/75g to 80f
  • decrease hp from 100 to 75
  • decrease attack from 10 to 7
  • increase armor from 2/2 to 2/4
  • increase movement speed from 1.35 to 1.5
  • decrease attack speed from 1.8cd to 1.9cd

Then converting stables will be very valuable for the 1v1 late game.

i would make it auto upgrade in imperial age, or give an imperial age upgrade of sort, to mimic the cavalier. they already mimic a knight in castle in stats so this make sense.

also, another buff could be to make them count as eagles for unique buffs, so they would get 40 HP from mayans, +armor for incas, and +attack for aztecs. in every case, they would still be a weak cavalry unit, cause even 160 HP cav in imperial age but with just 10 damage and 2 armor from no upgrades, and no husbandry, it’s not good, but they would at least feel more integrated into the meso civs

You cannot train Knights in an Indian stable
So, if you manage to convert one with an American Monk now you can train Xolotl warriors?

Good question.
Are you able to create elephant archers or cavalry archers If you play as spanish and convert an dravidian archery range, or can you create Eagle Warriors If you as a non meso civ convert a meso barracks?
I would say you can only create what your techtrees allows you to create regardless of what civ you convert a building from.
To satisfy my curiosity i will do some testing later today

2 Likes

Of course you cannot ) No need to test. Xolotl Warriors are an exception !

Im just interesting in what was in the head of the dev who designed the Xolotl Warriors production. Maybe he has been fired before finishing his idea.

The facts is these Xolotl warriors look very well but its too complicated to produce them and if you manage to get some, they are totally useless.