(June 21st, 2021, 09:11)zuzzu Wrote:(June 21st, 2021, 08:58)Seravy Wrote:Quote:but not in a competitive battle between important units. So the AI using the spell frequently serves as a reminder that this is a very asymmetrical sort of thing.
It is, though, I mean the spell is generally used in asymmetric situations.
In general the AI uses the spell in these cases :
-They can't win the battle, your forces are way too strong. In that case killing the best unit at a medium chance of success to make sure the same army won't keep going and taking your cities is a valid choice.
-They want to use direct damage spells and have nothing better. Either your units are immune, have too much defense, or they don't have a decent direct damage spell. This generally happens if you have very few (1-2) units and a success will immediately end the battle, or when they have the far stronger army so they can afford to gamble for a larger win.
-The target regenerates, has a very high value, or is a hero. These are major threats that are often impossible to destroy any other way but leaving them alone would let them steamroll all of the AI's cities. (this is actually the case when I found myself in need of using the spell btw)
-If the target tile has a city wall. (destroying the wall in addition to possibly killing the unit)
So basically you either had a very good unit, or one of the sides had to be much stronger than the other to see the spell unless they literally had nothing better to cast.
What you need to keep in mind is, the AI is damaging your armies because that "next" target the army attacks can and often will be their next city. Obviously this doesn't apply if it's their last one but who wouldn't want to blow up as many of the troops that made them lose the game as possible?
All good theory, but as said at the beginning, I just had a game (at Lunatic difficulty, I admit) where the AI was spamming crack's call way, way too much. No good strategy, no amount of luck, not even reloading and retrying certain battles allowed me to move forward with the game. In this particular game, it was beyond frustrating. What I am suggesting is not to eliminate the spell, but rather to mitigate its effect. E.g. allowing to resuscitate / raise units killed by crack's call, during the same battle, would be enough. Otherwise, a smaller effect (15 damage instead of 21, perhaps at a 33% chance instead of 25%).
That sounds like it's working perfectly as it should be. The AI used an effective strategy for which you have no counter.
As for asymmetry, I don't see it. As a player with access to Crack's Call I spam it just as much whenever I meet AI heroes and other powerful units if I'm not aiming to take their items. If they don't show up with very valuable units, then I don't use it. That seems to be exactly how the AI uses it, so where's the asymmetry?