Suggestion: Minion Veterans

[Kirro]

I'd like to start off by saying this suggestion would have to be approached carefully to avoid making minions insanely OP. A lot of people already see minions as making the game too easy, but I would respond that the 4th Shards DLC will balance it out by making nightmare even tougher. That said, onto the suggestion.

Minions, especially archers and spiders, have a problem. On my minions, I get about a 54% increase in damage, in line with towers. Fair enough, it's in line with towers. However, archers do so little damage and their rate of fire is so low that this doesn't even come close to justifying any mana spent on upgrading minions, and results instead in favoring quantity over quality. 40 mana gets you a 100% increase in damage compared to 2620 for a ~50% increase.

So what I suggest is a system of experience for minions, where minions are able to upgrade after a certain number of kills, or based on the value of the mob killed. Nothing crazy. A minion would never get to the 3 star level without some mana investment. Only the mob that delivered the killing blow would get the exp, which means that 1-2 minions at a position would level much faster than a 4-5-15 minion blob. Higher tier minions would require more kills to level, to the point that you might as well just invest the mana in your ninjas and ogres.

I think this would add a little more strategy to placement of minions, and a shift to quality over quantity. Veterans could be shifted to positions where they're most useful, requiring some degree of micro-management.

Alternatively, just make upgrades for minions cheaper. But that's not as cool.

P.S. Apparently veterancy isn't a word. Someone call up Webster and tell them to fix that.

[Dingle]

So basically, "Minions, like Pets, are sentient, and should therefore gain experience for upgrades"?

I suppose that makes some degree of sense, but in the end, the value of upgrading minions is exactly the same as upgrading damage towers. +10% damage/health per upgrade. Using archers for everything is more or less the same as using Magic Missile towers for everything as an Apprentice - the upgrade total gets ridiculous because of how many you use (perhaps the argument should be more for scaling upgrade costs based on the DU/MU cost of a unit?)

Well, I won't complain if it gets implemented in some form, but i's not something that bothers me too much.

Something else that bugs me is that repair costs for minions get absurdly high for DEW and Ogre minions - up to 50% of their base cost means there are times when it's cheaper to upgrade than repair them. But that's another issue.

[Kirro]

perhaps the argument should be more for scaling upgrade costs based on the DU/MU cost of a unit?That's one change that I would support, maybe only with MU. I also agree with the repair costs.

I don't honestly expect this to be implemented, but when I come up with an idea that I think is cool, I like to throw it out there as a possibility and see what people think.

[Grim indeed]

Alternatively, just make upgrades for minions cheaper. But that's not as cool.
i like that using minions means more time (and mana) to upgrade... its like a lame counterbalance...

*

Something else that bugs me is that repair costs for minions get absurdly high for DEW and Ogre minions - up to 50% of their base cost means there are times when it's cheaper to upgrade than repair them. But that's another issue.
mages?

[Plasmakirby]

I do kinda like the idea in that it would require more moving of minions. thats kinda what i had hoped for when i first got summoner, instead of using them as just towers. Sometimes I have warriors follow other players if extra mu is present, like a body guard

[Lazerus]

i like this idea, i like it realy.
it would add even more RTS feelings if you have to move your minions around.
and if the level of them would scale stronger in their dmg/hp/etc it would be even more rts like.
trendy, do this <3