You typically only see Siege Towers in meme strategies due to how clunky and glitchy they can be. They’re also rendered useless if the enemy builds something behind their walls (i.e. Houses) or they double-layer their walls. Besides, when a player wants to deal with walls or gates, they typically make Rams or Petards, which are far more consistent.
As a result, it puzzles me why the Siege Tower is so expensive, at 200 Wood and 160 Gold each. Since it’s so difficult to work with and can easily be foiled by the enemy putting Houses behind their walls, it doesn’t make sense for it to cost so much too.
4 Likes
Old question. And no, they should not cost so much.
3 Likes
The problem with the Siege Tower is that it’s an APC (armoured personnel carrier). It goes really fast when completely filled with Infantry.
That allows fragile Infantry (like Gbeto) to get around on the battlefield very quickly while being nearly immune to arrows.
To make it balanced if it was cheaper the speed (and speed bonus from stationed units) needs to be reduces first.
I’d be fine with that. It’s not intended to be a taxi, so lowering its speed (and bonus speed from infantry) would be totally acceptable.
I think they should cost 0 Gold because transport ships don’t cost any Gold either.
2 Likes
Sound good. Also monks should heal and ranged units should countinue to attacking.
Siege Towers should gain a ranged attack if archer units are inside, with the attack getting stronger the more archers there are.
Siege Towers need to have a gold cost of some kind or they’ll be used as arrow sponges like Rams are.
3 Likes
True. You can’t give them bad armour like transport ships or they’ll be useless.
But they shouldn’t cost much Gold.
Maybe they should be a little weaker. Just dropping out the units when they get low HP and don’t sink with them like a transport ship, so it’s not too bad if one dies.
Siege towers should get the Bohemains nwar wagons ability of absorbing half of ranged dmg shot over them
That would be so broken. Basically like a tower on wheels.
2 Likes
that would make them totally busted. what counter play would there be to monks if light cav and archers can’t touch them anymore. similarly archers shooting from siege towers is towerrushing without the need to mine stone
The issue is arena clowns. If they were significantly cheaper, arena tactics would change to: make archers in feudal, make siege towers, drop vils and archers, drop castle inside their walls.
Still, I think that they can drop the cost a bit without affecting the arena meta too much.
Siege towers are already countered by putting buildings behind walls so not really.
3 Likes
Split the Siege Tower into a Castle Age and Imperial Age version.
Give the Castle Age one only 5 garrison while the Imperial Age one keeps the 10.
The Castle Age one would also have less HP.
Maybe not allow Villagers to be carried, that would also solve the Castle Drop issue.
1 Like
Imho they should have a way to Attack, like shooting arrows while garrisoned by archers
It should also cost a bit less yeah, maybe even be the first trash (gold-less) siege weapon, or have some other quirk
A time ago I tried a strat around the siege tower for Arena. Not really a succesfull one, but i find the siege tower behavior surprisingly usefull.
Instead of garrisone units and then unload them throug the wall I just placed the tower in the wall and then order units to garrisone in tower. If the tower is “attacking” a wall, then the units pass through the wall instead of stay garrisoned. Same with military buildings’ rally points.
This is good, but the bad part is that units in the inner side of the wall tend to block the pass and then units out the walls start to stay inside the towers.
Taking this behavior in count I suggest this changes (all of them):
Siege tower no longer has the ability of garrisoning units.
Bye to meme taxi siege towers
Siege tower has deployed and undeployed states (just like trebuchet, packed and unpacked). When you order to "attack" a wall, the siege tower goes to the wall and start to deploy (same as trebs but next to wall). Units commanded to "garrisone" in deployed tower jump the wall like nowdays and go to the rally point*
Reduced the micro needed
Undeployed Siege Tower (packed): Same stats as now. No attack.
Could have very low LOS
Deployed (unpacked): Gain more melee armor. Can't move but shoots arrows (3 damage, 5 range no affected by BS upgrades like TCs).
The goal of give it very low attack is just give the chance of counter the re-walling behind the walls. You will not kill any vil with 3 attack but at least will delay the second wall. 5 range is enough to denay any building, forcing the opponent to wall further away and let an space behind the wall to deploy troops
*Deployed ST gains rally point feature.
Really needed to make the ST use more dynamic and avoid the pass blocking
*Siege Tower only can be deployed by "attacking" a wall
This mean that undeployed ST has not the “unpack” button and deployed ST has only the “pack” button.
This is to avoid possible exploits like Siege towers behind woodlines
1 Like