Proposal to add a level 3 Ulfserker - Dwarvish Bloodaxe

[Dalas120]

https://github.com/wesnoth/wesnoth/pull/9612

Dwarvish singleplayer campaigns suffer from issues with variety. Campaigns frequently disallow Outlaws, Gryphons, and Ulfs, leaving only the basic Fighter/Guardsman/Scout/Thunderer available to the player. Without the elements that make the multiplayer Knalgan faction interesting and dynamic, campaign gameplay can suffer.

Ulfs in particular simply aren't useful in many campaigns. Campaigns rely on mulching through large numbers of enemies without losing your own veterans - completely different from the Ulf's role in multiplayer. Even if the player makes the effort to level up an Ulf, there's little reason to recall a Berserker, as berserk makes them hard to keep alive and steals XP from other units.

To help address this issue, I'd like to add a level 3 "Bloodaxe" advancement to the Berserker. Having a L3 advancement makes Berserker XP less wasted, and including drains helps to solve the campaign survivability issue - a skilled player's Bloodaxes can always be at full hp. 8-4 berserk drains is VERY strong, but I think it's a worthy reward for keeping your Ulf alive to L3 - and it only takes a single unlucky 1% chance for your veteran to die.



"According to legend, the dwarvish bloodaxes were forged at the dawn of time in the great stone-fires of Dhur Darihm, when all Irdya was still drowned in flame and soot. It is with them that the first dwarves made war against the troll-mother, laying low her people and forevermore claiming dominion in the underearth.

While the truth of this legend is a matter of debate, battlefield reports leave no doubt that such weapons exist, and that they confer great resilience upon their wielder. The dwarves’ few remaining bloodaxes are jealously guarded, passed down from father to son and reclaimed from the fallen even at great cost."

[egallager]

I swear I've seen other UMC with alternate Berserker advancements before; it might be worth researching to see the ideas that others have had...

[sine_nomine]

I want to see more variety in dwarf campaigns but I think this proposal is misguided. To me the central issue is that THoT isn't designed in a way that encourages the player to use a variety of units. Aside from ulfs, you don't use guardsmen and even thunderers are a bit lacking. The best way to fix this flaw is to make scenarios where the player naturally wants to use these units. Not to add an overpowered new unit as a reward for using "bad" units, that turns one issue into two.
(SoF is harder to adjust and ulfs don't seem to fit. NR has plenty of variety and ulfs were good there in 1.16)

Ulfs and berserkers are very strong units in singleplayer because you can easily initiate favorable matchups against mages/archers then shield them from attacks. They're also ideal when you are racing against the clock and need to break through a defensive formation. If you don't have magical attacks you can use ulfs to deal with some evasive enemies. In THoT specifically they benefit from the loremaster's leadership and are extra effective against slowed enemies.

Unfortunately THoT is short and easy, so you spend the early parts feeding exp to your loyals, then you reach the end where you need dwarf lords to fight high level dwarves and undead. Nevertheless, I think with some adjustments it could allow all dwarven units a chance to shine.

By the way THoT was changed significantly in 1.16. Several scenarios were removed, enemy variety was reduced, and the story suffered worst of all. Originally THoT gave the dwarves their own unique customs and culture, yet the new version has a masked dwarf join your party near the start of the campaign and your loremaster even speaks in support of the mask. I hope the storyline is restored when this campaign is altered.

As for the specific lvl3 proposed I don't like drain. It would probably break some UMC if it was added as a default advancement. I also don't think the berserker should have an advancement at all, to me it's better to encourage the player to level several lvl2s and sacrifice them when necessary rather than have one invaluable lvl3.
I see the description mentions a troll-mother, since when is that a thing?

tl;dr: don't add new units, adjust the campaign

[Dalas120]

Aside from ulfs, you don't use guardsmen and even thunderers are a bit lacking. The best way to fix this flaw is to make scenarios where the player naturally wants to use these units.

Irregardless of campaign design, I feel that the dwarven recruits given most commonly in SP - Fighter, Thunderer, Scout, and Guardsman - simply don't have much variety. They're all tough, slow, powerhouses with both a melee and ranged attack. Compare the Lord, Dragonguard, Explorer, and Sentinel to the enormous variety available to an army of level 3 Loyalists, Undead, Dunefolk, Drakes, etc.

Ulfs and berserkers are very strong units in singleplayer because you can easily initiate favorable matchups against mages/archers then shield them from attacks.

For the first scenario or two in a campaign, I agree that Ulfs can be solid. I don't think they're incredible - because in SP you need to trade gold better than 1:1 - but I certainly think they can fight effectively.

But later in a campaign, I've never seen Berserkers out-competing Lords, Steelclads, etc for a 20g recall. In my experience, their huge fragility (death = wasted XP) combined with being capped at lvl2 makes them inferior to other options - and they can't even be used to help level up new recruits because they always either kill or die. And the poor performance of the Berserker makes the Ulf worse, as they steal XP that could go into Dwarvish Lords instead.

That said, I'm willing to eat my words (and shelve this whole topic) if you have replays with Berserkers being used more effectively than could a Lord/Explorer/Dragonguard (or even a Steelclad/Pathfinder/Thunderguard), and surviving to the next scenario.

I see the description mentions a troll-mother, since when is that a thing?

Just a made-up piece of legend, like the "Knights of the Silver Spire" and such. The description also specifies "the truth of this legend is a matter of debate".

[sine_nomine]

I don't have replays.

Maybe the problem is that I can't keep every unit alive while feeding exp to ideal targets in challenging campaigns. So rather than stealing exp I think berserkers are helping me win. It's rare for berserkers to outperform dwarf lords, but I can easily level ulfs and I usually have some gold left over after recalling my dwarf lords.

[Dalas120]

I don't mean to strongarm or suppress you! I personally feel Berserkers are weak, but if you and other players are using them regularly then I agree with you that there's no need for a lvl-3. I'll ask around to try and get a sense of how the community in general is using them.

[Numero]

I don‘t see an issue with this idea. A different option I would propose is making the AMLA of the level 2 ulfserker stronger