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There have been tons of posts on how useless archers are compared to crossbows. The problems seems to be that archers (even high valor ones) don't lead their targets any, so if you fire at a moving unit, you miss all but the last few guys. I assume crossbows have the same problem, but since their arc of fire is so low, the bolts end up ripping through the formation anyway. The imbalance created by this twist of fate is really showing in multiplayer, where you hardly ever see anything but crossbows.
I have no idea how difficult it would be to allow archers to lead their targets correctly, and I know you devs are very busy, but is there any hope of seeing more accurate archers at some point in the future? I doubt you could get it into this patch, but maybe a future one or the add-on? It would really help bring missile units back into play.
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I think archers work fine. In single player they're very useful.
The reasons they're not used in multiplayer
i) People always taking 16 units so they dan't want to waste a slot on a non melee unit
ii) Playing at high florin costs with heavily armoured units
iii) Using high valour units so that the morale effects of being under fire don't count for much.
iv) Use of large spear units that aren't that affected by arrow casualties
v) There's not much of that easy to hit cavalry around.
vi) Playing on flat maps with infantry rush tactics
Hopefully after the patch there'll be more cavalry and 60 man units around.
I've also changed the system so that the cost of missiles is not counted when deciding the cost of upgrades. This'll make combined archer / swordsman units such as Turkish Janissaries more effective.
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Longjohn--
One thing I really miss from STW is the frontline of ranged units that forced a flank approach on most advances.
Arbalesters do an "ok" job of this, but it seems like the only really "scary" ranged units are longbowmen.
Of course, this difference between MTW and STW makes MTW unique, which is necessary and appreciated. I guess I just miss the sheer violence of a charge into archer/musket fire. Nothing in MTW seems to approach the level of bloodshed that ranged units in STW were capable of. Which is kind of strange because in feudal Japan ranged units were de-emphasised as being "cowardly" (yes, I know there were Samurai Archers, and that Muskets had a huge impact on late feudal warfare).
Just some thoughts....thanks for your tinkering in the patch.
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i really wish there was a "fire at terrain" command for ranged units. you could create a hail of missiles in ONE specific area and hit any unit passing through it instead of needing to target specific units.
limits usefullness of archers...
