Elemental: War of Magic - Fallen Enchantress Interview

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Written by Brother None on May 3rd, 2011

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Could you talk about the changes to the combat system of the game? Why did you decide to make the changes and what other alternatives did you consider?

We considered removing tactical combat entirely. There were no sacred cows in our design, if it didn't make the game fundamentally better then it was removed.

But in the end we decided that tactical combat was an important part of what Elemental was. There were 3 main focuses for Fallen Enchantress, and tactical combat was one of them (improving the world and magic are the other two).

At a system level we switched to a unit based initiative system (instead of an entire team moving at once). This allows the player to make smaller, more focused decisions. We also separated movement from combat speed. In the old system if a unit had 6 combat speed he could move 6 spaces, attack 6 times or a combination of the two. That made combat speed a god stat, since allowing more attacks multiplys a units damage. Now we can have high movement units without making them killing machines (or make really slow killing machines).

But those are just the supporting systems. Where the game comes alive is with the implementation of the units you fight with, and the monsters you fight against. There are more special abilities. For example the Maul ability allows a unit to continue attacking a victim until he misses, with a cumulative -3 to accuracy with each attack. This is an ability that's given to Bears, Cave Bears and Garrote's. It can also be granted by some magical items such as the Berserker's Axe. This a powerful ability against units with a low dodge, especially when used by units with a high accuracy and a bit of luck.

Stalkers have the charge ability that gives them +3 to movement and attack for the first round of combat. Spellcasters can cast Mantle of Flames that does fire damage to anyone attacking them. Units can be summoned into tactical combat. The Touch of Entropy spell does damage and raises any victim killed by it as a demon under the casters control. Given enough time enemy Ritualists can summon powerful Death Demons into battle. Dragons have Overpower, which multiplies their damage by the amount of units in the defending tile (so entire armies can be wiped out). Unique multi-tile enemies like Morian, the Ruin of Summer, will need armies of high level units and champions to defeat.

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