Battles of the Third Age mod

This new version that i always wanted to make is different than any other before. I always wanted to make Heroes, Units and buildings properly classified and given proper role. Also,i always wanted to implement some aspects and elements from other strategy games or even MOBA games.

- Classification system

Each Hero, Unit or Building is now properly classified and given proper role in gameplay.
Classes and roles serve to give a player some easier way of memorizing all the different heroes and Units and to organize his play style.
In vanilla,you got quite sparse info about each Unit and hero. You only had the info about health points and damage amount. You (or at least myself) didn't had any clear distinctions between heroes and Units except some short text for each of the 4 different Unit classes. That was very boring, for me at least.

- Hero changes

Heroes are split in to 6 classes:

Swordsman - Heroes of this class usually fight with swords and have high amount of damage and fast attack speed, but have medium armor which depends on the Hero

Warrior - Heroes of this type fight with anything BUT a sword, which includes maces,hammers,axes etc. Their armor depends on the Hero as well and they usually have slower attack speed than Swordsman class, but have higher damage, radius of attack and knock Units.

Tank - these heroes have higher amount of armor than other classes, they don't focus on delivering high damage but rather to receive damage and last longer than any other Hero Class

Marksman - heroes of this class are fast and swift, use bows and fight from a distance ,but usually have low armor or health

Assassin - this class has the lowest health points, but it has very fast Move and Attack speed. Also, this class is usually focused on killing a single target as soon as possible, like Heroes, Monsters or Siege Equipment.

Spellcaster - heroes of this class are not only wizard heroes, but heroes who usually relies on their special abilities, be it magical spells ,supportive abilities, or any other abilities. They do not rely on their health, armor or damage or any other attribute, but rather on properly using their abilities. They usually fight from a distance but that also depends on the hero

Besides classes, there are also Hero Roles:

Army Support - heroes who focus on giving bonuses, buffs and leadership to Units. They also have Unit healing powers, horde respawn powers, experience powers, permanent and temporary buffs, etc.

Hero Support - heroes who focus on giving bonuses to heroes. This role is same as Army Support, only for heroes.

Building Support - heroes who have abilities which supports buildings.

Army Killer - heroes who have abilities that damages, disrupts or debuffs enemy Units

Hero Killer - heroes who have abilities that damages or debuffs enemy Heroes

General Support - heroes who have abilities which supports Heroes,Units and/or Buildings. Usually, faction leader heroes have this role. Faction leader hero is the main hero in the faction, and is crucial for the gameplay.
A role determines on what aspect of the game will a certain hero focus. Role also adds diversity to heroes. Heroes usually have one role, but some have double roles, depending on the hero.

- Unit classification

4 types: Melee Infantry, Spearmen Infantry, Ranged Infantry and Cavalry

5 categories: Basic, Advanced, Heavy, Elite and Special

Each Unit type and each Unit category plays a certain role in the gameplay, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

- Melee Infantry, which includes all Units who fight with sword and shield, usually serves as a backbone of your army. Melee infantry is usually the most useful Unit type in the game because of their versatility. This Unit type is vulnerable to Ranged Infantry and Cavalry, but most usable when fighting in groups or when combined with other Units. When combined with Ranged Infantry, they gain bonus resistance against Ranged Damage.

Melee Infantry is divided in several categories:

Basic Melee Infantry - cheap and fast training Units, can purchase upgrades, usually don’t have formations, can combine with other basic Units, usually archers.

Advanced Melee Infantry - more expensive and slower training speed. Can purchase upgrades, can use formations and combine with other advanced Units.

Heavy Melee Infantry - his Unit type fights with maces, hammers, axes and all weapons that cause blunt or chop damage. They have more damage that the rest of he Units. Can also purchase regular upgrades but usually don’t use formations, but some of them do. They cannot combine with other Units, and their role is to break enemy lines and deal as much more damage as possible.

Elite (Heavy) Melee Infantry – Elite Units are usually locked behind a certain Upgrade and are lower to get in the game. They usually have some Special Abilities, they are already upgraded Melee Units in the game. They usually support other Units and Heroes to which they are connected in some way.

- Ranged Infantry includes Units who fights with Bows, Longbows, Crossbows, Throwing lance and any type of ranged weapon. Ranged Infantry usually takes a bit longer time to train, but their advantage is their ranged damage. They are not especially strong against a certain Unit type because they deal damage from long range. They lose their effectiveness if enemy Units get close to them. So basically, Ranged Infantry is pretty much useful if properly managed

Ranged Infantry is divided in several categories:

Basic Ranged Infantry – usually uses short bows but some Basic Ranged Units uses longbows. Their role depends on stats rather than range. Their special advantage is fast reload speed.

Advanced Ranged Infantry – more expensive and stronger than their Basic counterparts. This type usually uses Longbows and deal more damage than Basic type or Units with Shortbows. They also have more range but slower reload speed and can purchase stronger upgrades.

Heavy Ranged Infantry – This type of Unit uses any ranged weapon except Bows. That includes Crossbows, Throwing Axes, Throwing Spears and Javelins etc. Their advantage is high ranged damage and they are excellent against upgraded Units. Their only weakness is short range and long reload speed.

Elite (Heavy) Ranged Infantry - Elite Units are usually locked behind a certain Upgrade and are lower to get in the game. They usually have some Special Abilities, they are already upgraded Ranged Units in the game. They usually support other Units and Heroes to which they are connected in some way.

- Spearmen Infantry includes Units that uses Spears, Pikes and any long weapon. This type’s advantage is the same as Melee Infantry, strong when fighting in close combat and when fighting in groups, but they deal bigger damage. Their special advantage is against Cavalry, stopping their charge and dealing more damage. The only weakness this type has is Ranged Infantry.

Spearmen Infantry is divided in several categories:

Basic Spearmen Infantry – this type uses Spears as their weapon and is strong against any Light Cavalry Unit. They can purchase upgrades and usually can combine with other Units. When combined with Ranged Infantry, they gain bonus resistance against Trample Damage. They are weak against Ranged Damage, but usually have Shield Upgrades which gives them additional resistance against Ranged Damage.

Advanced Spearmen Infantry – this type fights with long Pikes, and their main role is to stop and break Cavalry Units, but their special advantage is that they are very strong against Heavy Cavalry Units. They fight from longer range than any other Melee or Spearmen Units, have bonus Damage to Structures, use formations and can combine with other Units. They provide excellent protection against Cavalry and debuffs other enemy Melee or Ranged Infantry. Only weakness they have is Ranged Damage, and usually do not have Shield Upgrades.

Elite (Heavy) Spearmen Infantry - Elite Units are usually locked behind a certain Upgrade and are lower to get in the game. They usually have some Special Abilities, they are already upgraded Spearmen Units in the game. They usually support other Units and Heroes to which they are connected in some way.

Cavalry includes all Units who are mounted on a Horse, Warg, Wolf, Boar, Elk, Spider etc. Their main role is to brake and disrupt enemy Range and/or Melee Infantry. They are specially useful against Ranged Infantry because of their Move Speed and Trample Damage. Trample Damage determines the Cavalry type. Only weakness this type has is of course, Spearmen Infantry.

Cavalry is divided in several categories:

Light Cavalry – this Cavalry type is cheap and trains fast. Has good amount of Health which helps to withstand more damage while Trampling. Their main Role is to break enemy Basic Melee and Ranged Infantry, and are very vulnerable to Spearmen Infantry.

Heavy Cavalry – this type is more expensive and trains longer, but has higher Trample Damage and Health. If fully Upgraded, they can even withstand damage against Basic Spearmen and Ranged Infantry, which makes Advanced Pikeman Infantry their ONLY weakness.

Elite (Heavy) Cavalry - Elite Units are usually locked behind a certain Upgrade and are lower to get in the game. They usually have some Special Abilities, they are already upgraded and are strongest Cavalry Units in the game. They usually support other Units and Heroes to which they are connected in some way.

New Upgrade mechanic
In addition to new Hero and Unit classification, there is also new Unit Upgrade System.
In the previous versions, Units can only be upgraded near the Armory or the Forge. There were 4 basic upgrades, like in the vanilla.
In this version, the Unit upgrades are automatic, which means, if you purchase Mordor Leather Armor in Mordor Armory (a new upgrade for Mordor Units) ,you no longer need to click on the upgrade in the Units commandset, it will start to upgrade automatically.
This means that you no longer need to constantly clicking on each Unit separately in order to upgrade them, all Units will upgrade themselves. This saves a lot of time and makes you focus on something else during the battle. The Upgrades are not free and cost resources, which means that you have to keep up with your economy constantly and focus more on expanding your base than staying in your camp and go "turtling", which was so annoying in vanilla game.
Note: you can always cancel the specific upgrade by right clicking on the button, but who has the time for that.

This mod is not imagined like any other mod, as you figured out already. It was made from my perspective of the gameplay, I don’t like to rush, especially in the early game. I want for a game to be progressive and rewarding for those who are willing to fight longer battles. Each Factions has many Upgrades and each of those Upgrades will give you advantage, either in early or late game.

New Damage values (this is from the previous article but I had to include it)

- In basic game, you had several regular damage values. For example, Gondor Soldiers have slash damage, or Orc Archers have pierce damage. Some units have high or low Slash resistance, some have high or low Pierce resistance, etc.

Reworked damage types:

SLASH damage – Basic, Advanced and Heavy Melee Infantry have this damage type, usually strong vs other Infantry types

PIERCE damage – Basic, Advanced and Elite Ranged Infantry have this damage type, usually strong vs Melee and Spearmen Infantry types

STAB damage (for other modders out there this is originally SPECIALIST damage) – Basic and Advanced Spearmen Units have this damage type, usually strong vs Cavalry Units

CAVALRY damage – All Cavalry types have this damage type, and it is the damage they deal vs Units in melee combat

ARMOR PIERCE damage (for other modders out there this is originally CAVALRY_RANGED) – This damage type requires some Weapon Upgrade, depends on a faction, and it deals higher amount of damage to Upgraded Units

CHOP damage – This damage type requires some Weapon Upgrade, depends on a faction, and it deals a higher amount of damage to Upgraded Units. Some Basic, Advanced or Elite Infantry have this damage type from the start

BLUNT damage (for other modders out there this is originally URUK damage) - – This damage type requires some Weapon Upgrade, depends on a faction, and it deals a higher amount of damage to Upgraded Units and Buildings. Some Basic, Advanced or Elite Infantry have this damage type from the start

All of the Unit Health, Armor, Speed, Cost, Build Time, Weapon Accuracy are being re adjusted and re balanced to improve the Unit role in the game.

Gameplay Tips

Take advantage of Experience Powers and Leaderships. Level up your Units because All Units gain +60% Health up to Level 10, instead some small amount that was in vanilla. This makes Units much more durable, making battles longer, giving you some more time to think, organize and managing your Heroes and Units in the middle of the battle.

And also, READ. Every Ability, or Hero, or Unit has their own description of their Roles, Attributes, Strengths and Weaknesses. Take your time to read everything and get to know your Faction. And take your time in general, the gameplay is maybe slow in the Early game, but once mid game kicks in, you are in for one wild game because AI is more aggressive and smart. The Economy mechanics are also imorived by adding advanced Economy Buildings, that serves as an additional Resource maker and contains useful discount Upgrades. But what I would very much like is to watch some PvP games, so please be free to play against other people and share some info with me on my Discord channel Discord.gg

This is very short explanation for all the new stuff, but it gives you a fine amount of information, and enough space for you to explore.

This is a complete version in terms of gameplay concept, it has all the stuff that I planned to make before moving on to some other aspects, like implementing new Factions and mechanics. I also wanted to release it so all of you can play and send me your feedback so we can improve the gameplay.

Also, im planning of releasing one update per month, depending on my free time.

Sorry for the long wait but I hope it was worth it.

Please read this, get to know the new stuff before playing, explore every Faction and make your own army combinations.

Good Luck and enjoy