New Advancements for Dwarvish Scout

[Elvish_King]

Hey guys!

I recently had my renaissance with Battle for Wesnoth and played through the mainline campaigns. I noticed the limited options of mainline dwarv advancements (meaning no alternative lvl2s or lvl3s), so I made an alternative for the scout.

It is supposed to be a cave-type unit that explores new mining and living grounds for the dwarvish communtiy. He is armed with a net to tame wild beasts and with a torch to explore even the darkest caves. I'm thinking of adjusting the terrain defense values in the mountains to 60% (so -10% compared to other dwarves) and +10/20% in caves. Another quiet fiting feature of this unit line would be the hit-and-run (disengage) ability of the Quenoth Scout line from UtBS.

cave_explorer2.png (2.51 KiB) Viewed 4538 times

pioneer.png (2.98 KiB) Viewed 4538 times

Let me know what you think of the sprites and the general idea!

(PS. Credit to Vyncyn and Rashy Era because I used some of the Dwarves for frankensteining)

[Edwylm]

They are an interesting concept but i would rename the cave-explorer as surveyor. I see two issues, one is that if they are to explore and settle new caverns than they should be armed with a true weapon that could possibly be used as a tool too and maybe give them a backpack for the sprite to help express this. The other issue is the aspect of taming along side exploring, don't get me wrong, its quite possible but I feel it would also lead to the griffin riders as an option.

The way i see this line is a lightly armed faster scout unit with possible support abilities. A suggestion for weapons possibly be a sling for range, maybe a pick or a pair, the torch could stay. As for abilities you could give them a 10% increase dodge for allies next to them as it be playing with their knowledge of terrain. or you could give them skirmish.

But There can be many lines that could break off from the scout; i have seen a unit that could ambush in mountains, hills and caves, a skirmisher, a ranger like unit,

[lhybrideur]

I like the idea, but as Edwylm mentions, maybe he should have a pick as a weapon on top of the torch (so attack 1 pick pierce, attack 2 torch fire). Not sure about the net anyway. It would be a mix of the Torchbearer (Children of the Dust) and the Miner.
As an ability, I like Edwylm idea of skirmisher but maybe for the pioneer. For the cave explorer, I would go for illuminate (same as Torchbearer). Sure, it would not improve dwarves unit, but it would diminish enemy units, that tend to be chaotic in caves (trolls, cave bear, giant spider, etc.).
Concerning defense, you could go for something like +10%/+20% on cave and fungus for lvl 2/3 and -10% on mountains.

[Dalas120]

Nice sprites! I absolutely agree with you that dwarves are a very straightforward faction (there's a reason the multiplayer faction includes bandits), and it would be nice to have additional advancement options. I also love the idea of a support-oriented scout advancement, and since scouts aren't available in multiplayer it wouldn't demolish balance.

If you do want to try and get these added into the game, I'd suggest joining the discord and mentioning it there. Making animations will also add a great deal to these units' credibility - there's lots of 1-frame units floating around, but a good set of animations is harder to find.

Regarding the units themselves: I think the L2 and L3 look a little similar right now. What about moving the torch to L3 only, and giving it illumination (as others have suggested)?

[Elvish_King]

Thanks y'all for your comments!

The name of cave explorer was just temporary. I decided to name the lvl2 spelunker which basically means the same but sounds more scientific.

Regarding weapons and therefore appearence, what do you think about a shovel? That would fit the vibe of the unit tree and would also give options to distinguish both units better. For example remove the torch of lvl2 and give him a shovel in the hand. Lvl3 would keep his torch and have the shovel mounted on his back. A Pickaxe would also be fine but I like the connection of the blade weapon to the original lvl1 scout. I agree with all of you regarding the net. It would probably make more sense to switch that to a sling.

Regarding abilities I'm not sure about the illumination. First, it does not really help dwarves and second, the other mainline torch units do not have this ability, it seems to be exclusive to magical units (mage of light, mermaid diviner). Others like skirmisher or ambush are nice but would probably be overpowered in combination with the hit-and-run.

Let me know what you think!

[lhybrideur]

A shovel is fine too. Although dwarf rhymes more with pickaxe that shovel to me.

On the torch, what about one more vision hex instead of illumination then?

[Elvish_King]

Hi, I'm back with a few new versions for the sprite.
The idea of one more hex of vision is really interesting. I like it although I wouldn't know how to implement it.

lvl2 with a pickaxe instead of torch

spelunker.png (2.33 KiB) Viewed 4259 times

lvl3 with tool over shoulder (I not really a fan tbh and I don't know where to place the sling)

pioneer.png (2.96 KiB) Viewed 4259 times

lvl3 with tool behind back (I like this more)

pioneer3.png (2.95 KiB) Viewed 4259 times

The pickaxes/shovels can always be replaces with the other tool. For the ranged weapon I decided on a slingshot now. And I removed the torch for the lvl 2 to distinguish them more and make the upgrade more visible.

Let me know, what you think!

[Vyncyn]

The idea of one more hex of vision is really interesting. I like it although I wouldn't know how to implement it.

You just need a vision= tag in the explorers cfg file

sprites look good. You dont need to include all weapons in the sprite if you're worries about the sling placement, but it works on the pioneer3. There is also an option to have a graphic without sling for melee and use the other for ranged.

I think the shoulders on lvl2 are places a bit high. 1 or two pixels down would look relaxter