•Uruk Fighter population 75 (from 60), build time 33s (from 30s), deals Uruk damage (from slash), capture time 20s (from 15s); more pierce resistant (140/40% from 150/75%), more vulnerable to Uruk (150% from 100%) and crush (150/75% from 100/50%); blood thirst experience bonus +20% (from +10%)
Ok so we have a population increase, which isn’t as bad as it may seem. The other changes make up for this clearly. The build time will be barely noticeable, a three second change, which I don’t really see the point in, but never the less, you wont notice it. Slash is also a positive change although capture time has also had a slight increase; it won’t be barely noticeable unless you really need the unit out very quickly. Uruks are more venerable from other uruks so this isn’t a change for any match up except Isen mirrors, where the slightest of health differences will matter. Also pierce resistance is a huge change, now this causes crossbow’s to be used or you will lose in most cases (unless you out number them.) Although, crossbows are weaker to uruks meaning if you can micro a unit around the enemy, it can deal with this swiftly. Crush is also a benefactor which brings wargs into this match up, as you can easily overrun other uruks and the enemy can’t make pikes because of their price increase. An interesting change is that, blood thirst means you level up twice as fast. This means a level one unit could train off a level two unit let the level two units regenerate and use blood thirst again until you reach level two.
• Crossbow cost 350 (from 300), build time 37s (from 30s), health 110 (from 160), speed 58 (from 50); more resistant to pierce (85/40% from 100/50%) and poison (50/25% from 100/50%), more vulnerable to slash (120/60% from 100/50%); damage 65 (from 25), pre- attack delay 820ms (from 500ms), flame damage 35 (from 25).
A higher cost is fair in the aspect that they are infantry killers, so a small price increase isn’t really unfair. They are $50 more than uruk fighter’s, so again, they aren’t that noticeable and don’t drag your economy down early game. Build time again has a weird small increase, 7 seconds is not very long, although early game against the masses of spammed units, they wall be noticeable. Again the health nerf isn’t unfair, ranged support should have a strong attack and low health, because they aren’t meant for melee attacks. A speed increase means that they are faster to escape and also quicker to get to the fight. Like other archers have low health, these should take less damage from ranged attack because they are supposed to have a lot more armour and health. If you know your history, crossbows were regarded higher in the rankings than archers. Just like pierce damage, crossbows are weaker to poison which means that goblins have to spam themselves in order to kill crossbow’s off. It was expected to see a higher vulnerability to slash, as the unit has a great ranged attack so again we can’t complain, it will teach us to micro our crossbow’s better. The higher damage boost is 250% increase (something near there), which now means they can unleash hell early game and completely annihilate early game units. All though pre attack delay is longer, generally meaning it takes longer for the crossbow’s to reload and then fire again; it means we must move our crossbow’s when they aren’t firing so we take less damage. Flame damage means we can kill flying units and fire weak units a lot quicker, although this means we have to have fire arrows on crossbows. This also means we can catch the units/ hero’s off guard and inflicts a lot more damage to them.
•Pike men more vulnerable to flame (100/75% from 100/50%), more resistant to hero (150/90% from 200/100%), hero-ranged (160/80% from 200/100%) and cavalry- ranged (30/20% from 100/50%), speed 58 (from 50), damage reduced (40/80 from 45/90).
Not much of a change here really, but it will be noticeable, I cant stress enough that its going to be common sense that you can still use this units versus army’s like Mordor but you need to take down their archers quicker, which crossbow’s can back you up very easily. This is my favourite change for Pike men, because we can withstand more damage from early game heroes like Gloin, which could save time for other units to arrive and support your units. Hero ranged is also beneficial because of the fact that Legolas will do a lot less damage when these have heavy armour on for example, and for a change push Legolas back. Cavalry ranged has increased hugely, unbelievable change really, we can now easily escape from a battle scene and also push the cavalry back because we withstand more, we can go full head on attack mode. The increase will mean that pike men will be essential, like they weren’t before but more needed versus cavalry reliant factions such as elves/ men. A slight speed increase means that we can be on the attack faster, spring traps and generally with a higher speed, sometimes confuse the enemy by a lot of attacks in different areas. However, more speed would generally mean a slight nerf of attack, and this is what has happened here, there is nothing really in this change, it just mean’s a split second more to kill cavalry.
•Berserker more resistant to pikes (70% from 100%), less resistant to defences (35% from 25%), -20% penalty vs. cavalry.
Now then, the berserkers are generally more resistant to pike’s now, I don’t see how they will be used against certain faction’s. Of course they still have their uses; they will still be ambushing units like in patch 1.04. They will need a lot of micro to make sure you can use them effectively and actually deploy them successfully. Less resistant to defences means that they can do damage versus buildings to a fast extent where it will generally be a hit and run. Although these will require three or four in a huddle to take the building down quickly enough to retreat without allowing time for the enemy to react and make a move. Although, they are killed even easier from cavalry, which is fair as logically speaking, cavalry should own infantry except pike men of course.
•Warg Rider damage 63/125 (from 100/200), crush deceleration 20% (from 50%), trample now does 70 crush (from 60) with splash (5 units), more vulnerable to cavalry- ranged (150/75% from 100/50%), innate healing on level 2; Howl damage boost +60% (from +50%), armour bonus removed, duration 29s (from 45s).
Now this is were an argument about wargs kick in. Yes they are nerfed, but they aren’t nerfed enough to stop them from becoming mid game units. Now that they are strong mid game backup units which are very useful, they aren’t used early game because of the amount of spam the enemy can produce and adapt quickly. So the damage is reduced, a huge reduction but lets not forget, mid game you will have uruks to protect your wargs and therefore they are still useful. Crush deceleration is a blow to be honest, meaning it takes longer to do the damage but if there is no backup units around you should still win that battle, depending on the other unit of course. A positive Trample damage is increased, just what we wanted to hear as in attack stance, this can often destroy an entire unit by itself. We will see this happen against units such as men of the west soldiers, where we can trample but their speed makes it harder. There is also an area of effect which means covering a smaller area but does more damage. Wargs are now more venerable to range cavalry, which means rohirrum can ‘pick off’ our wargs, so like other units we need to micro them properly to make sure we don’t lose them. We still regenerate on level two, which is another bonus allowing us to advance quicker. Howl damage boost means that we can destroy buildings faster; although it’s short duration means we have to make full use of the time with howl to destroy as many buildings as possible, although don’t waste them. The armour bonus has been removed so it’s essential we don’t waste our wargs and the duration of howl is a huge 16 seconds off from 45 seconds, which is a lot to knock off in the game itself.
•Wildmen Allies power position switched by Devastation, Watcher in the water switched by fuel the fires.
There isn’t much I can go into detail about this change, although some sneak previews for some good PP tree have to follow:
Plantir > Wild men > Fuel the fire’s Plantir > Tainted land > Freezing rain Crebain > Industry > Watcher in the water
•Plantir vision area increased (1000 from 300), now casts a +15% speed boost spell to all unit types under its central area, effect lasting for 35s. Power reload time increased (3m30s from 3m)
This is so underestimated, this massive vision range now allows us to see their entire base, so for example in random you can use it and see what he is making and what faction he is so you can choose your power point route. Another benefactor is that when facing your enemy for example, you are against dwarves in this instance, you can see where his builder is going, so that will be a great advantage as you are already prepared for what to come, even you can see what unit he is making when they come out. So the vision range is now 333% larger, which is a great advantage and will be greatly noticed on small maps like fords of Isen II for example. A great bonus is the speed boost, it would be great for uruks as you can actually out run loriens (same speed normally) and hunt them down and other units before they reach a base protection if they have one. Although this is its central area, not on the outskirts of the vision range, they won’t receive the boost, again this only last’s for 35 seconds so don’t count on this being a lasting effect. With all fairness, 30 seconds longer to see 333% more of the map than you normally would, I think is great, no complaints whatsoever.
•Uruk pit build time increased (35s from 15s); Battle Tower now has 1700 hp (from 2500); Furnace health 750 (from 2000).
With this time increase of the uruk pit, there are several areas of concern. Firstly, what happens to the old furnace and furnace strategy to start, well if we do this then the uruks will be on the defensive because of the late arrival of the uruks, which isn’t what can happen. Uruks must have the spam ability and speed to maintain constant harassment to achieve their goal, which is to push the enemy back. Now we need to use the Furnace to uruk pit to furnace. This will leave us with a good economy and uruks are out as soon as possible as they can be. Now with this, your uruks are out before they would be with the two furnace strategy, so I don’t see how it would be noticed. The battle tower has lost a lot of hp, but this doesn’t matter as they aren’t used early – mid game because of their damage, so essentially this doesn’t affect us. Although for custom map players, they make up for the hp loss if they have crossbows inside, the range is a much needed advantage. Now worst of all, furnaces have had a huge nerf, something which is a very bad thing for Isen. Now we must make sure we have a base defence as we lose population and economy with loss of furnaces. So now we need crossbow’s early game and opening uruks to kill other units on the way past until crossbows can arrive and deal with the situation. •Ballista and Mine level requirements on armoury swapped.
There isn’t much I can add to this, except for the fact ballista’s are very powerful now and should be switched to level three.
•Warg Sentry cost reduced (350 from 400), health 2000 (from 1500), build time 35s (from 15s); warg has trample damage (10 crush), hit points doubled, more resistant to Slash (30% from 100%), pierce (25% from 100%), cavalry (30% from 100%), flame and magic (100% from 200%), more vulnerable to crush (50% from 1%)
In this patch, we see great potential in warg sentries. With a lower price, this making them more accessible and cheaper to use. A health buff means they can withstand a lot of damage and this is reflected in the build time increase. Although with more health, they can save you some time by making the enemy spend longer attacking the warg sentry, meaning time to think of what to do at a certain time of that game. The warg has a trample damage which is great, knocking back units like infantry such as orcs/ archers. This essentially slows the unit down giving more time to kill that unit. Hit points doubled means greater attack and they have are more resistant to slash. This is a huge decrease but also have a decrease in pierce. Now archers will be needed to kill the warg sentry because infantry will kill it, but takes longer and trample is fussy for the enemy to deal with. Cavalry now decimate the warg sentry, so they obviously aren’t good against a warg rush/ knight rush. Flame and magic is generally coming from archers and heroes, so we know they will kill him quicker. However a huge increase in crush, we can now survive a lot more than we thought.
•Battering Ram cost 450 (from 400); more vulnerable to crush (40% from 1%), more resistant to siege (30% from 100%)
Siege is always a fun part of the game as well as the strategy element that’s involved. Now that battering rams have had a slight increase in price, they will still be used. A great strategy late game is to build a siege works out of site, and send battering rams from the side whilst you are fighting, so he won’t notice you’re destroying his buildings (most commonly fortress). A great vulnerability from slash means we can withstand more and it’s a huge increase, which is always needed. They are also more resistant to siege, which makes them better as they can take less damage from the other siege, usually a ballista/ trebuchet.
•Ballista cost 500 (from 350), speed 40 (from 30), minimum attack range 40 (from 100), delay between shots 7s (from 8s), -50% damage penalty against other artillery units
Considering the effects that make ballista’s a superior weapon late game, a price increase of $150 isn’t something to complain about at all. This doe’s slow production down, all though late game you rarely notice the cost unless you’re defending. A greater speed means that they are more mobile and can react from sudden movement near them, although the player has to move it. They can now fire a larger distance, meaning they aren’t so close to the melee fighting, which means it’s easier to fire at the enemy units. Generally a unit to guard the ballista is a good idea, stopping it from destruction at all costs. A faster reload also gives another reason to purchase into the ballista’s, as you can fire one more shot every 8 times it shoots, you have a extra shot than what you would normally do. However, versus other artillery units, the ballista does half its normal damage, meaning if you had two ballista’s, this effect would be cancelled out. The ballista can now be classed as an army killer if given protection, because they are fast and high damaging .
Now im sure that many of you gamereplay.org users are familiar with Bosn’s tip of the day, he has mentioned the use of wall’s to protect certain buildings early/ mid game. Well it certain helps with such low price tags, and the price has been reduced a lot, making this more accessible. The build time is slower but it’s still a great help and when building units cant crossover that line making the units go around to the nearest entrance. Now $900 for the outer wall hub may seem harsh, but this wont is as used because you now have a massive attack force possibility and great siege for assault and defence, you won’t need walls early / mid game. A cheaper regular wall hub means that more walls can be created and spare money for troops/ upgrades. Although it has a larger build time but like I said before units can’t crossover that line, making the units go around to the nearest entrance. Although the wall segment build time is longer also, there is no need to be panicked, because it serves its purpose from second one of construction.
•Tower Expansion cost reduced (400 from 600); faster build time (20s from 30s)
The tower expansion is the best Isen fort upgrade so when it costs much less and builds faster, it enables you to have a decent fort defence earlier. Many times when playing as Isen, the initial rush fails and your opponent has the upper hand as you have limited resources. With the low tower costs, protecting your buildings should be much easier. When combined with Crebain, the fort with 2-3 towers can stave off any early game attack giving you time to recover and launch your own counter attack. This buff may seem insignificant but it is a helpful boost when you are in a defensive position. They are cheaper so in essential you can purchase three for the price of two say for example (3x$400=$1200) (2x$600=$1200)
Wizards Tower is a good upgrade but the problem before was its price. It didn’t have the range of Gorgonoth Spire and it still doesn’t but now its a much cheaper upgrade that can be used effectively to pummel an army or hero. Many times players didn’t cash float 2500 before but now at 1000 you may have a better chance of getting it. Mind you it has a 2000 prerequisite so make sure you get it ate game when you don’t need the cash. The upgrade is good but 1000 can be spent much more wisely, make sure you don’t need it when you go for this upgrade. Burning Forges is an alright upgrade reducing the cost of upgrades for all your fort but that 750 can actually be used to get a forge and purchase upgrades and by the time you would have gotten the money back in savings from purchasing upgrades, the game would be very late game. On paper the upgrade is useful but 750 for such a small buff is not worth it. Excavations are along the same lines. A decent upgrade in theory but 750 can be better spent else where.
• Isengard Siege Works cost reduced (500 from 800), level 2 upgrade cost increased (800 from 500)
This is a huge boost to Isen’s late game. With lower costs ballista’s are easier to get out quickly, much like Mordor’s catapults. Ballista’s are much more deadly, efficient, and just overall effective, Combine this with the fact that their building that produces them is cheaper and you have a win/ win combination making Isengards late game much more potent and easier to win with.
• Isengard Battering Ram now more resistant to hero (125% from 200%), flame and magic (30% from 100%) damage types
Battering rams can be used but are not very efficient. They are slow and can be easily destroyed on their long journey to an opponents base. thankfully with the much needed defence boosts they are more playable but still not very effective. They are harder to destroy but they are still incredibly slow so I don’t recommend purchasing battering rams. Ballista’s are much more effective against units and do great damage versus buildings and are the more intelligent choice when purchasing siege weapons.
• Wormtongue speed 62 (from 50), escape lasts longer (40s from 15s), reload time increased (2m30s from 1m30s); sight distance 450 (from 300); venomous words (now level 1) and escape (now level 3) switched; venomous words also affect heroes, effect is now -50% rate of fire and -50% speed (from –25% damage and armour), range increased (140 from 100)
Before patch 1.05, Wormtongue was a mediocre hero who’s only real benefit was his next to nothing cost. 800 is a joke for a hero and Wormtongue was an example of that. His decent abilities were hard to achieve and you always had to baby him. Thankfully 1.05 changed that. Grima is now stronger and much more efficient making him a unit you want to purchase mid game for his excellent abilities. 2000 for Wormtongue may seem a little pricey but he is totally worth it. When he is purchase he gets venomous words on level 1, an amazing ability. Not only does it give units a debuff of speed and rate of fire (an amazing combination) it can do it to heroes. When combined with crossbows, Wormtongue can easily stall and kill almost any early game hero. If Theoden comes at you with 2 battalion of knights, you just have to venomous words the group and rush in quickly with pikes and fire from afar with crossbows. The ability is so amazing because it give your already speedy uruks another boost because now their rate of fire and speed are leagues faster then your opponents units, combined with plantir (15% speed boost), their unstoppable. He still has his escape when things go sour but his speed is increased which helps a lot when combined with venomous words if he is in a tight situation. Backstab may still be level 6 but because Wormtongue is quicker and can slow his enemies, backstabbing enemy’s heroes is easy and efficient. Wormtongue still is not overly healthy, in that he doesn’t have a ton of health but when he is with 2-3 uruks, he shines and can be used in any situation where you must attack units, whether on offence or defence.
•Sharku speed 80 (from 100), health 3000 (from 3600); leadership now affects all cavalry unit types, and halves their deceleration when trampling; Man Eater requires level 8 (from 10), tame the beast now also affect warg sentries, blood hunt available on level 4 (from 5).
In 1.04 Sharku’s is considered one of the most worthless heroes for many reasons. His level one ability is pointless in most situations and he out runs his own men. Thankfully his speed is reduced so he can run with wargs at the same pace but he still doesn’t get his leadership on level 1. The fact that his leadership can affect allies is great but with the less health and long time it takes to level, he is still largely ineffective. If you do purchase Sharku, I suggest creeping so he can give that leadership and you receive the added bonus of cash. If you creep before you use him he can be very valuable but all of this could be a waste of time in the heat of battle. He is an effective hero somewhat for killing units but he doesn’t shine like Wormtongue or Lurtz, I suggest purchasing him when you have all of the other heroes first.
Lurtz is now even more amazing then before for several reasons. In 1.04 he could take on whole battalions alone, in 1.05, he can do it much more quickly. Thus he is a must have and a staple in your offence and defence when playing as Isengard. His carnage is reduced in time but 15 seconds is till enough to do damage and by then he should be on his way to level 4 and as we all know, cripple is an amazing ability. Lurtz may seem the same but the lesser cost and carnage level 2 can keep your base defended quickly right after he is purchase and he is an effective early powerhouse. Lurtz is one of the greatest heroes in bfme2 for this reason and should be used always.
• Saruman armour now tough-hero (from hero); dominate ability moved to level 8 (from 4), setup time 1.2s (from 2s), attack range 275 (from 200), radius 80 (from 60); fireball now affects allies, range 300 (from 250), triple damage against fliers now include Dorgoth, +50% damage bonus against structures, and has a 75% chance of knocking back heroes.
Saruman is one hero that you either love him or hate him. The new patch changes reflect this mentality. Before people complained he cost too much, his health was too low, he levels slowly, yet im retrospect EA didn't seem to address these issues as some would think they did. He costs the same, he has the same health (as far as I know), but don't worry about these things because Saruman rapes. Going through his new changes they don't seem to be a huge deal but you must look beyond the words. The fact that he is now a tough hero makes him more resistant to damage (except by cavalry I believe) so the health issue is covered slightly. Another factor is his speed, its been buff'd so to say, so now he can have several uses and not be bogged down by slow speed. Also his ability dominate is moved to level 8. This ability is very good, you take control of your opponents units for a good length of time. Because of how well it is, it had to be pushed back but don’t worry, he more then makes up for it. His setup time is now 1.2 s, may not seem like much but everyone time he cats a spell, attacks, etc., he is doing it quicker so his speed is addressed, just more subtly. Now for the heavy stuff, his attack range is almost increased by a third, his range is for fireball has increased by a fifth and does triples damage to fliers (against Dorgoth), and he gets a 50% increase against structures and a 75% chance of knocking back heroes. This is what makes him amazing. He can do 900 damage to Dorgoth alone, goblins most powerful hero, he can finally be used as a building killer, not just a unit destroyer, and he can finally be used as a method to disrupt opponents heroes from ruining your day by throwing them back ten or twenty feet. He is now an all around guy, he can do everything, and he can do everything better, stronger, and faster then before, and even though his cost is the same, let me tell you friends it is well worth it. He may not be Lurtz, but late game he is just as effective if not more.
This post has been edited by Negotiate: Sep 9 2006, 18:30 PM
I don't want to be rude, but this don't add much to locke analysis. Have some question here: -venerable means vulnerable?? -did saruman had a speed buff? (in the earlier info, we heard that saruman had a speed of 55, wich is more than descent) -the patch was supposed to make every unit/heroe usefull, so why sharku still ineffectvie (your words) -did you tested 1.05?? (once again, I don't want to be rude)
This post has been edited by djallil85: Sep 9 2006, 02:25 AM
I like the new Sharku. He is definately not useless. If I have two thousand, and the enemy is tending to rely on soldiers and archers more than Pikes, go Sharku. If he's relying on a big variety of troops, get Wormtongue (so to not have to worry about Sharku going after the wrong units and dying fast).
you should correct your analysis negociate (at least about saruman speed). And maybe, about sharku being ineffective since you didn't even tried it (and for the last time, I don't want to be rude [wich means don't flame me])
WTH did i missread all? or is isengard just nerfed xcept heros?
Mean wargs were way powerful ok. But the rest of the army?
When upgraded they r cool here and there... but decrese build time also?
I don t see any improvement or so. Maybe i just can t connect the changes of isen to the changes of the other races... but i don t see a bright future for isen.
Don t get me wrong, but i just see all te isen changes like the witchking change. Expected a good woot, but got a theres a change at all instaed?
WTH did i missread all? or is isengard just nerfed xcept heros? Mean wargs were way powerful ok. But the rest of the army?
When upgraded they r cool here and there... but decrese build time also?
I don t see any improvement or so. Maybe i just can t connect the changes of isen to the changes of the other races... but i don t see a bright future for isen.
Don t get me wrong, but i just see all te isen changes like the witchking change. Expected a good woot, but got a theres a change at all instaed?
It's hilarious how so many people are complaining that Isengard got screwed over. The new Isen looks terrifying, actually. My only concern is that Wargs look overpowered (a guy riding a dog is the best trampler in the game??). If I'm right, Wargs with Sharku can trample 6 units apiece, which is, uh, four battalions from one battalion of Wargs.
The Howl nerf is much made up for by the innate healing, imo.
you should correct your analysis negociate (at least about saruman speed). And maybe, about sharku being ineffective since you didn't even tried it (and for the last time, I don't want to be rude [wich means don't flame me])
Why would Sharku be effective from the information we have? Tell me please. He will be useful for the wargs, the leadership effects cavalry only and seeing as our army will most likely be made of uruks early game, where will Sharku fit into this?.
This post has been edited by Negotiate: Sep 9 2006, 13:26 PM
Wargs can trample 3 units now. With Sarku's ld they will be able to trample 6 each? And they are 8 in a battalion? So thatmeans they could trample 48 units before having to stop? Is this true?
And dos anybody of you know how long venmous words works?
Why would Sharku be effective from the information we have? Tell me please. He will be useful for the wargs, the leadership effects wargs only and seeing as our army will most likely be made of uruks early game, where will Sharku fit into this?.
Burning Forges is an alright upgrade reducing the cost of upgrades for all your fort but that 750 can actually be used to get a forge and purchase upgrades and by the time you would have gotten the money back in savings from purchasing upgrades, the game would be very late game. On paper the upgrade is useful but 750 for such a small buff is not worth it.
So does this mean that burning forges deduces the cost of fortress upgrades too (i.e. iron plating, wizards tower, Arrow tower expansions and upgrades from a forge??)
units before having to stop? Is this true?
Ok so we have a population increase, which isn’t as bad as it may seem. The other changes make up for this clearly. The build time will be barely noticeable, a three second change, which I don’t really see the point in, but never the less, you wont notice it. Slash is also a positive change
• Crossbow cost 350 (from 300), build time 37s (from 30s), health 110 (from 160), speed 58 (from 50); more resistant to pierce (85/40% from 100/50%) and poison (50/25% from 100/50%), more vulnerable to slash (120/60% from 100/50%); damage 65 (from 25), pre- attack delay 820ms (from 500ms), flame damage 35 (from 25).
A higher cost is fair in the aspect that they are infantry killers, so a small price increase isn’t really unfair. They are $50 more than uruk fighter’s, so again, they aren’t that noticeable and don’t drag your economy down early game. Build time again has a weird small increase, 7 seconds is not very long, although early game against the masses of spammed units, they wall be noticeable. Again the health nerf isn’t unfair, ranged support should have a strong attack and low health, because they aren’t meant for melee attacks. A speed increase means that they are faster to escape and also quicker to get to the fight. Like other archers have low health, these should take less damage from ranged attack because they are supposed to have a lot more armour and health. If you know your history, crossbows were regarded higher in the rankings than archers. Just like pierce damage, crossbows are weaker to poison which means that goblins have to spam themselves in order to kill crossbow’s off. It was expected to see a higher vulnerability to slash, as the unit has a great ranged attack so again we can’t complain, it will teach us to micro our crossbow’s better. The higher damage boost is 250% increase (something near there), which now means they can unleash hell early game and completely annihilate early game units. All though pre attack delay is longer, generally meaning it takes longer for the crossbow’s to reload and then fire again; it means we must move our crossbow’s when they aren’t firing so we take less damage. Flame damage means we can kill flying units and fire weak units a lot quicker, although this means we have to have fire arrows on crossbows. This also means we can catch the units/ hero’s off guard and inflicts a lot more damage to them.
•Pike men more vulnerable to flame (100/75% from 100/50%), more resistant to hero (150/90% from 200/100%), hero-ranged (160/80% from 200/100%) and cavalry- ranged (30/20% from 100/50%), speed 58 (from 50), damage reduced (40/80 from 45/90).
Not much of a change here really, but it will be noticeable, I cant stress enough that its going to be common sense that you can still use this units versus army’s like Mordor but you need to take down their archers quicker, which crossbow’s can back you up very easily. This is my favourite change for Pike men, because we can withstand more damage from early game heroes like Gloin, which could save time for other units to arrive and support your units. Hero ranged is also beneficial because of the fact that Legolas will do a lot less damage when these have heavy armour on for example, and for a change push Legolas back. Cavalry ranged has increased hugely, unbelievable change really, we can now easily escape from a battle scene and also push the cavalry back because we withstand more, we can go full head on attack mode. The increase will mean that pike men will be essential, like they weren’t before but more needed versus cavalry reliant factions such as elves/ men. A slight speed increase means that we can be on the attack faster, spring traps and generally with a higher speed, sometimes confuse the enemy by a lot of attacks in different areas. However, more speed would generally mean a slight nerf of attack, and this is what has happened here, there is nothing really in this change, it just mean’s a split second more to kill cavalry.
•Berserker more resistant to pikes (70% from 100%), less resistant to defences (35% from 25%), -20% penalty vs. cavalry.
Now then, the berserkers are generally more resistant to pike’s now, I don’t see how they will be used against certain faction’s. Of course they still have their uses; they will still be ambushing units like in patch 1.04. They will need a lot of micro to make sure you can use them effectively and actually deploy them successfully. Less resistant to defences means that they can do damage versus buildings to a fast extent where it will generally be a hit and run. Although these will require three or four in a huddle to take the building down quickly enough to retreat without allowing time for the enemy to react and make a move. Although, they are killed even easier from cavalry, which is fair as logically speaking, cavalry should own infantry except pike men of course.
•Warg Rider damage 63/125 (from 100/200), crush deceleration 20% (from 50%), trample now does 70 crush (from 60) with splash (5 units), more vulnerable to cavalry- ranged (150/75% from 100/50%), innate healing on level 2; Howl damage boost +60% (from +50%), armour bonus removed, duration 29s (from 45s).
Now this is were an argument about wargs kick in. Yes they are nerfed, but they aren’t nerfed enough to stop them from becoming mid game units. Now that they are strong mid game backup units which are very useful, they aren’t used early game because of the amount of spam the enemy can produce and adapt quickly. So the damage is reduced, a huge reduction but lets not forget, mid game you will have uruks to protect your wargs and therefore they are still useful. Crush deceleration is a blow to be honest, meaning it takes longer to do the damage but if there is no backup units around you should still win that battle, depending on the other unit of course. A positive
•Wildmen Allies power position switched by Devastation, Watcher in the water switched by fuel the fires.
There isn’t much I can go into detail about this change, although some sneak previews for some good PP tree have to follow:
Plantir > Wild men > Fuel the fire’s
Plantir > Tainted land > Freezing rain
Crebain > Industry > Watcher in the water
•Plantir vision area increased (1000 from 300), now casts a +15% speed boost spell to all unit types under its central area, effect lasting for 35s. Power reload time increased (3m30s from 3m)
This is so underestimated, this massive vision range now allows us to see their entire base, so for example in random you can use it and see what he is making and what faction he is so you can choose your power point route. Another benefactor is that when facing your enemy for example, you are against dwarves in this instance, you can see where his builder is going, so that will be a great advantage as you are already prepared for what to come, even you can see what unit he is making when they come out. So the vision range is now 333% larger, which is a great advantage and will be greatly noticed on small maps like fords of Isen II for example. A great bonus is the speed boost, it would be great for uruks as you can actually out run loriens (same speed normally) and hunt them down and other units before they reach a base protection if they have one. Although this is its central area, not on the outskirts of the vision range, they won’t receive the boost, again this only last’s for 35 seconds so don’t count on this being a lasting effect. With all fairness, 30 seconds longer to see 333% more of the map than you normally would, I think is great, no complaints whatsoever.
•Uruk pit build time increased (35s from 15s); Battle Tower now has 1700 hp (from 2500); Furnace health 750 (from 2000).
With this time increase of the uruk pit, there are several areas of concern. Firstly, what happens to the old furnace and furnace strategy to start, well if we do this then the uruks will be on the defensive because of the late arrival of the uruks, which isn’t what can happen. Uruks must have the spam ability and speed to maintain constant harassment to achieve their goal, which is to push the enemy back. Now we need to use the Furnace to uruk pit to furnace. This will leave us with a good economy and uruks are out as soon as possible as they can be. Now with this, your uruks are out before they would be with the two furnace strategy, so I don’t see how it would be noticed. The battle tower has lost a lot of hp, but this doesn’t matter as they aren’t used early – mid game because of their damage, so essentially this doesn’t affect us. Although for custom map players, they make up for the hp loss if they have crossbows inside, the range is a much needed advantage. Now worst of all, furnaces have had a huge nerf, something which is a very bad thing for Isen. Now we must make sure we have a base defence as we lose population and economy with loss of furnaces. So now we need crossbow’s early game and opening uruks to kill other units on the way past until crossbows can arrive and deal with the situation.
•Ballista and Mine level requirements on armoury swapped.
There isn’t much I can add to this, except for the fact ballista’s are very powerful now and should be switched to level three.
•Warg Sentry cost reduced (350 from 400), health 2000 (from 1500), build time 35s (from 15s); warg has trample damage (10 crush), hit points doubled, more resistant to Slash (30% from 100%), pierce (25% from 100%), cavalry (30% from 100%), flame and magic (100% from 200%), more vulnerable to crush (50% from 1%)
In this patch, we see great potential in warg sentries. With a lower price, this making them more accessible and cheaper to use. A health buff means they can withstand a lot of damage and this is reflected in the build time increase. Although with more health, they can save you some time by making the enemy spend longer attacking the warg sentry, meaning time to think of what to do at a certain time of that game. The warg has a trample damage which is great, knocking back units like infantry such as orcs/ archers. This essentially slows the unit down giving more time to kill that unit. Hit points doubled means greater attack and they have are more resistant to slash. This is a huge decrease but also have a decrease in pierce. Now archers will be needed to kill the warg sentry because infantry will kill it, but takes longer and trample is fussy for the enemy to deal with. Cavalry now decimate the warg sentry, so they obviously aren’t good against a warg rush/ knight rush. Flame and magic is generally coming from archers and heroes, so we know they will kill him quicker. However a huge increase in crush, we can now survive a lot more than we thought.
•Battering Ram cost 450 (from 400); more vulnerable to crush (40% from 1%), more resistant to siege (30% from 100%)
Siege is always a fun part of the game as well as the strategy element that’s involved. Now that battering rams have had a slight increase in price, they will still be used. A great strategy late game is to build a siege works out of site, and send battering rams from the side whilst you are fighting, so he won’t notice you’re destroying his buildings (most commonly fortress). A great vulnerability from slash means we can withstand more and it’s a huge increase, which is always needed. They are also more resistant to siege, which makes them better as they can take less damage from the other siege, usually a ballista/ trebuchet.
•Ballista cost 500 (from 350), speed 40 (from 30), minimum attack range 40 (from 100), delay between shots 7s (from 8s), -50% damage penalty against other artillery units
Considering the effects that make ballista’s a superior weapon late game, a price increase of $150 isn’t something to complain about at all. This doe’s slow production down, all though late game you rarely notice the cost unless you’re defending. A greater speed means that they are more mobile and can react from sudden movement near them, although the player has to move it. They can now fire a larger distance, meaning they aren’t so close to the melee fighting, which means it’s easier to fire at the enemy units. Generally a unit to guard the ballista is a good idea, stopping it from destruction at all costs. A faster reload also gives another reason to purchase into the ballista’s, as you can fire one more shot every 8 times it shoots, you have a extra shot than what you would normally do. However, versus other artillery units, the ballista does half its normal damage, meaning if you had two ballista’s, this effect would be cancelled out. The ballista can now be classed as an army killer if given protection, because they are fast and high damaging
•Fortress Wall hub expansion cost 70 (from 200), 20s build time; Outer Wall hub cost 900, 50s build time; regular wall hub cost 150 (from 200), 50s build time; wall segment build time 30s (from 20s); Wall gate cost 400 (from 500)
Now im sure that many of you gamereplay.org users are familiar with Bosn’s tip of the day, he has mentioned the use of wall’s to protect certain buildings early/ mid game. Well it certain helps with such low price tags, and the price has been reduced a lot, making this more accessible. The build time is slower but it’s still a great help and when building units cant crossover that line making the units go around to the nearest entrance. Now $900 for the outer wall hub may seem harsh, but this wont is as used because you now have a massive attack force possibility and great siege for assault and defence, you won’t need walls early / mid game. A cheaper regular wall hub means that more walls can be created and spare money for troops/ upgrades. Although it has a larger build time but like I said before units can’t crossover that line, making the units go around to the nearest entrance. Although the wall segment build time is longer also, there is no need to be panicked, because it serves its purpose from second one of construction.
•Tower Expansion cost reduced (400 from 600); faster build time (20s from 30s)
The tower expansion is the best Isen fort upgrade so when it costs much less and builds faster, it enables you to have a decent fort defence earlier. Many times when playing as Isen, the initial rush fails and your opponent has the upper hand as you have limited resources. With the low tower costs, protecting your buildings should be much easier. When combined with Crebain, the fort with 2-3 towers can stave off any early game attack giving you time to recover and launch your own counter attack. This buff may seem insignificant but it is a helpful boost when you are in a defensive position. They are cheaper so in essential you can purchase three for the price of two say for example (3x$400=$1200) (2x$600=$1200)
•Wizards Tower fortress upgrade cost 1000 (from 2500); burning forges upgrade cost 750 (from 500); excavations cost 750 (from 1000)
Wizards Tower is a good upgrade but the problem before was its price. It didn’t have the range of Gorgonoth Spire and it still doesn’t but now its a much cheaper upgrade that can be used effectively to pummel an army or hero. Many times players didn’t cash float 2500 before but now at 1000 you may have a better chance of getting it. Mind you it has a 2000 prerequisite so make sure you get it ate game when you don’t need the cash. The upgrade is good but 1000 can be spent much more wisely, make sure you don’t need it when you go for this upgrade. Burning Forges is an alright upgrade reducing the cost of upgrades for all your fort but that 750 can actually be used to get a forge and purchase upgrades and by the time you would have gotten the money back in savings from purchasing upgrades, the game would be very late game. On paper the upgrade is useful but 750 for such a small buff is not worth it. Excavations are along the same lines. A decent upgrade in theory but 750 can be better spent else where.
• Isengard Siege Works cost reduced (500 from 800), level 2 upgrade cost increased (800 from 500)
This is a huge boost to Isen’s late game. With lower costs ballista’s are easier to get out quickly, much like Mordor’s catapults. Ballista’s are much more deadly, efficient, and just overall effective, Combine this with the fact that their building that produces them is cheaper and you have a win/ win combination making Isengards late game much more potent and easier to win with.
• Isengard Battering Ram now more resistant to hero (125% from 200%), flame and magic (30% from 100%) damage types
Battering rams can be used but are not very efficient. They are slow and can be easily destroyed on their long journey to an opponents base. thankfully with the much needed defence boosts they are more playable but still not very effective. They are harder to destroy but they are still incredibly slow so I don’t recommend purchasing battering rams. Ballista’s are much more effective against units and do great damage versus buildings and are the more intelligent choice when purchasing siege weapons.
• Wormtongue speed 62 (from 50), escape lasts longer (40s from 15s), reload time increased (2m30s from 1m30s); sight distance 450 (from 300); venomous words (now level 1) and escape (now level 3) switched; venomous words also affect heroes, effect is now -50% rate of fire and -50% speed (from –25% damage and armour), range increased (140 from 100)
Before patch 1.05, Wormtongue was a mediocre hero who’s only real benefit was his next to nothing cost. 800 is a joke for a hero and Wormtongue was an example of that. His decent abilities were hard to achieve and you always had to baby him. Thankfully 1.05 changed that. Grima is now stronger and much more efficient making him a unit you want to purchase mid game for his excellent abilities. 2000 for Wormtongue may seem a little pricey but he is totally worth it. When he is purchase he gets venomous words on level 1, an amazing ability. Not only does it give units a debuff of speed and rate of fire (an amazing combination) it can do it to heroes. When combined with crossbows, Wormtongue can easily stall and kill almost any early game hero. If Theoden comes at you with 2 battalion of knights, you just have to venomous words the group and rush in quickly with pikes and fire from afar with crossbows. The ability is so amazing because it give your already speedy uruks another boost because now their rate of fire and speed are leagues faster then your opponents units, combined with plantir (15% speed boost), their unstoppable. He still has his escape when things go sour but his speed is increased which helps a lot when combined with venomous words if he is in a tight situation. Backstab may still be level 6 but because Wormtongue is quicker and can slow his enemies, backstabbing enemy’s heroes is easy and efficient. Wormtongue still is not overly healthy, in that he doesn’t have a ton of health but when he is with 2-3 uruks, he shines and can be used in any situation where you must attack units, whether on offence or defence.
•Sharku speed 80 (from 100), health 3000 (from 3600); leadership now affects all cavalry unit types, and halves their deceleration when trampling; Man Eater requires level 8 (from 10), tame the beast now also affect warg sentries, blood hunt available on level 4 (from 5).
In 1.04 Sharku’s is considered one of the most worthless heroes for many reasons. His level one ability is pointless in most situations and he out runs his own men. Thankfully his speed is reduced so he can run with wargs at the same pace but he still doesn’t get his leadership on level 1. The fact that his leadership can affect allies is great but with the less health and long time it takes to level, he is still largely ineffective. If you do purchase Sharku, I suggest creeping so he can give that leadership and you receive the added bonus of cash. If you creep before you use him he can be very valuable but all of this could be a waste of time in the heat of battle. He is an effective hero somewhat for killing units but he doesn’t shine like Wormtongue or Lurtz, I suggest purchasing him when you have all of the other heroes first.
•Lurtz’s speed increased (58 from 55); cripple requires level 4 (from 1); carnage requires level 2, 15s duration (from 30s), recharge 2m10s (from 1m), armour bonus +10% (from +20%)
Lurtz is now even more amazing then before for several reasons. In 1.04 he could take on whole battalions alone, in 1.05, he can do it much more quickly. Thus he is a must have and a staple in your offence and defence when playing as Isengard. His carnage is reduced in time but 15 seconds is till enough to do damage and by then he should be on his way to level 4 and as we all know, cripple is an amazing ability. Lurtz may seem the same but the lesser cost and carnage level 2 can keep your base defended quickly right after he is purchase and he is an effective early powerhouse. Lurtz is one of the greatest heroes in bfme2 for this reason and should be used always.
• Saruman armour now tough-hero (from hero); dominate ability moved to level 8 (from 4), setup time 1.2s (from 2s), attack range 275 (from 200), radius 80 (from 60); fireball now affects allies, range 300 (from 250), triple damage against fliers now include Dorgoth, +50% damage bonus against structures, and has a 75% chance of knocking back heroes.
Saruman is one hero that you either love him or hate him. The new patch changes reflect this mentality. Before people complained he cost too much, his health was too low, he levels slowly, yet im retrospect EA didn't seem to address these issues as some would think they did. He costs the same, he has the same health (as far as I know), but don't worry about these things because Saruman rapes. Going through his new changes they don't seem to be a huge deal but you must look beyond the words. The fact that he is now a tough hero makes him more resistant to damage (except by cavalry I believe) so the health issue is covered slightly. Another factor is his speed, its been buff'd so to say, so now he can have several uses and not be bogged down by slow speed. Also his ability dominate is moved to level 8. This ability is very good, you take control of your opponents units for a good length of time. Because of how well it is, it had to be pushed back but don’t worry, he more then makes up for it. His setup time is now 1.2 s, may not seem like much but everyone time he cats a spell, attacks, etc., he is doing it quicker so his speed is addressed, just more subtly. Now for the heavy stuff, his attack range is almost increased by a third, his range is for fireball has increased by a fifth and does triples damage to fliers (against Dorgoth), and he gets a 50% increase against structures and a 75% chance of knocking back heroes. This is what makes him amazing. He can do 900 damage to Dorgoth alone, goblins most powerful hero, he can finally be used as a building killer, not just a unit destroyer, and he can finally be used as a method to disrupt opponents heroes from ruining your day by throwing them back ten or twenty feet. He is now an all around guy, he can do everything, and he can do everything better, stronger, and faster then before, and even though his cost is the same, let me tell you friends it is well worth it. He may not be Lurtz, but late game he is just as effective if not more.
This post has been edited by Negotiate: Sep 9 2006, 18:30 PM
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