Hey guys,
in the past I already discussed with you some of my ideas I brought up regarding some additions to the HRE. My thought process, historical research and some discussed ideas can be found here for example: https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/spicing-up-the-hre-part-2/
The discussions sparked a new idea that I wanted to share with you and hear your thoughts.
My main focus is to counterweight some of the shortcomings of the HRE to some degree. In my opinion these are especially weak feudal fighting power, not a strong scaling potential and just missing that certain something (an inspiration so to say). I also believe that HRE has a little problem of maintaining or gaining tempo in the Feudal Age, which would be necessary to be able to gain control of the Relics starting from Age III.
So here are my thoughts. As discussed in earlier topics, there could be an addition to the HRE, the Prince Electors or College of Electors. The Electors (KurfĂĽrsten in german) were powerful rulers of their own territories, that elected the King, who then could become an Emperor.
I suggest adding a UI, as shown below, that let’s you make choices throughout the Ages. The “nodes” represent the jewels of the Emperors Crown, so by choosing node after node, you “put in” another jewel into the crown.
(note that I am not a professional artist)
This shows the UI minimized.
This shows an example of how the UI could possibly look like.
The nodes organize in Ages, so the bottom row is Age II, middle Age III and top Age IV. After you made your final choice in the third row, you can elect the Emperor from this “house” or Kingdom.
The nodes give you the following things or expect you to fulfill something. Bottom row are the Electors themselves. Middle row is some kind of Tech. Top row is a Holy Duty that has to be fulfilled. Further down below I would also suggest some minor nerfs to HRE, to slightly counterweight.
Per game, you can only choose 5 nodes.
Age II:
Train the Arch-Marshall (150 food 150 gold, 35 seconds): Slightly stronger Early Man-at-Arm (+30 HP, +2 Damage).
Passive Aura: +5% movement speed for infantry units in 4 tile radius. Automatically gets stronger with age-up.
Train the Arch-Treasurer (150 food 150 wood, 35 seconds): Not a unit but gives a flat bonus, which increases over time. +10% gather rate, +10% carry capacity. Every Relic that sits in a building boosts gather rate and carry capacity by another 2%.
Train the Arch-Bishop (100 food 200 gold, 35 seconds). Slightly stronger Prelate (+30 HP). Acts the same way as a Relic, when garrisoned into an Outpost or a Keep.
Age III:
Technology “Gewalthaufen” (200 food 200 gold, 45 seconds): the Arch-Marshalls Aura now also boosts Melee Infantry: +15 HP, +2 Damage.
Technology “Hanseatic Trading” (200 wood 200 gold, 45 seconds): Traders randomly bring back additional food, wood, stone or gold equivalent of 20% of the gold value. Traders move 15% faster.
Technology "Theocracy“ (150 food 250 gold, 25 seconds): Prelates are slowed down 50% less, when carrying a Relic.
Age IV:
Holy Duty : kill 50 enemy units. Count starts in Age IV and after the previous Technology has been researched.
Holy Duty : have at least 70 villagers or 20 traders on the map. Count starts in Age IV and after the previous Technology has been researched.
Holy Duty : secure at least 2 Relics and hold a Sacred Site. Count starts in Age IV and after the previous Technology has been researched.
When you have fulfilled the Holy Duty, you may elect (costing 500 food, 500 gold, 90 seconds) the Emperor from the corresponding Kingdom, giving you:
For Kingdom of Saxony:
Units have +10% attack speed. Siege workshops work 20% faster.
For Margraviate of Brandenburg:
Keeps, Towers and Walls are 15% cheaper. Traders trade 10% additional random ressources.
For Kingdom of Burgundy:
Relics and Sacred Sites generate +40% ressources. One additional Relic arrives at your main TC.
To slightly counterweigh these suggestions:
- Villagers carry +30% more resources (down from 40%).
- inspired Villagers gather +30% faster for 30 seconds (down from 40%).
(With the Arch-Treasurer you can boost this up again - at some cost - and become slightly more independant from Inspiration, so more independant from the Aachen Chapel if you will).
So, are you inspired yet? What are your thoughts?
