very nice, I would also suggest a cost increase to the zen master from 90 to 110, but it might not be needed after those changes.

Can't wait to try these out.

Wow. So this pretty much removes the chance for Chinese rushes altogether...

Will the Aztecs also get some tweaks to mix things up? I'm going to guess the Az v Chi match-up is hugely in our [Az] favor now... lower hp + increased CD could spell an easy Jaguar rush. Just a guess, though.

Re: david_A; if zen masters cost any more they would need an hp boost; they're extremely fragile against any spell.. or Aztec towers

I think you've got the basics down. The best thing you can do here is try to gain a resources-advantage with towers, since the Chinese units are terrible against 'em - rockets excluded. You're also limiting their mana regen with every spot.

Poison Cloud is always the way to go (unless you're bored). And Sacrifice should probably be picked up around the time you see Zen Masters. If you are still getting beaten senseless by Rockets, make sure to pick up Mind Control fast..

I was just thinking, another unit I don't see used very often is the Chinese Ninja Monkey. Its the most awesome strategy unit ever imagined and i it seems like nobody uses them. Maybe they need a little boost to one of their stats, like maybe a slight increase to their range

I find that they're kind of difficult to mix in with an army well into the game, but every single match in which I've used a Ninja Monkey Rush, I've won.

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If the moon was made of barbecued spare ribs, would you eat it?

The problem with towers though is that it doesn't stop the dragon, so getting towers up isn't gonna stop him from destroying your economy. I hardly ever use mind control against chinese( or at all really) I find that for its cost poison cloud does more damage.

As for the zen master cost increase, they are as vulnerable to spells as necromancers that are already 120 so I don't think its unreasonable considering how good they are.

Hey david, most of the matches I lose are when I cant mind control -- but thats probably because my strategy generally revolves around cheap tricks. I guess what I'm trying to say is, MC is the best way to get around rockets, either by taking control of 'em or fighting off with swordsmen. The biggest gain here is you're diverting splash damage from your frail units to their beefy ones... If you're getting dragon'd, which totally sucks, then chances are you're not pressuring enough, which Mind Control offers for a heavy price.


Balance wise, will we see new maps at any point? Maybe another small one with more/less towers at least?

I'll give that a try. Usually the mindcontrolled unit dies right away since its right next to the rest of their troops that it doesn't make much of a difference but will see.

I rarely use mind control, but when I do, sometimes it's beneficial to MC the rear unit so instead of getting quickly wiped out by the large force, it attacks and slows down the net units being pumped out. Or, MCing a rocketeer in the middle of a huge army means when they do they do some decent splash.

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If the moon was made of barbecued spare ribs, would you eat it?

Why has nobody mentioned anything about Aztec?

Its pretty interesting to see buffs and nerfs for Vikings and Chinese but nothing on Aztecs.

I think the biggest issues are Boulder being completely useless because of tower rebuilding and the fact you half to sacrifice Giants to even get close to getting the spell, and the poisen spell not being good enough compared to other spells of other factions. Its interesting to see Swordman completely counter 2 tier 1 units for Aztec, and its interesting to see the Giants, which are 140 to research and 180 to build, completely countered by a unit that costs no time to research, only 120 to research and 90 to make. So for every giant you can get 2 zen masters, but you only need 1 lol.

The power of swordsman is just insane to Aztec tier 1, especially with magic shield which just makes it an easy win button. This is definitely my biggest hold up for Aztec vs Chinese since if the Chinese player is strong enough, they win or set you back earlier enough you are forced to fight a losing battle. The only counter for Aztec would be Giants, but I just explained why this doesn't always work, it basically comes down to Chinese is stronger in the rock/paper/scissors game because they have units that can take out multiple stuff.

A suggestion: To make it more balanced tier 1 Gate needs to be improved so that its a completely crowd control spell. Its pretty useless when Viking can heal through it or Chinese Swordman can reflect through it. It should completely isolate the unit I think.

I'll end with the known fact that there is a reason theres 6 chinese on average in top 10, and way more than half the score board is Chinese.