i don't like some of the balancing in the original game. so i created this mod and played, updated and improved it for over 2 years now. while this mod adds nothing new (besides a few item set boni that hardly matter), it does make some items and other options interesting that i considered useless before. which is pretty much the same as adding something new in my book. the changes i've done are small. useless items are still usually useless, but sometimes they aren't.

if you want a mod that adds alot of new things, you should use new horizons. i disliked the balancing in new horizons even more than in the original game (though it's been 2 years since i tried it, it may be better now) and i don't see the need to add anything new. so it was not the mod for me.

some examples for changes in LRM:
armor is still the most important skill for warrior, but smithing it at least a bit better.

i always only used pure warriors as main heroes (and i usually still do). so i nerfed them and slightly improved other classes.

mages had knifes and staves as melee weapons. but mages never use melee weapons anyways, because wands are just better. in the rare occasion that they might actually melee, most of the knifes and staves were too weak to matter. so i changed staves to instead help more with spellcasting and gave knifes fast draw. my mages still usually use wands, but sometimes those other items make sense now.

item and guard contract shard rewards in the campaign are now much more usable. this was the main reason for me to make this mod.

i'll post the readme below

download link:
http://members.inode.at/405191/EadorGenesis_LRM_20170118.rar

v2017.01.18

letsdances rebalance mod for eador.genesis. first the file names are given, and then what is changed in them. each group of changes can be applied independently. text files go to the Text directory, var files to the var directory, .dat files go to the dat directory overwriting existing files (most of the .sav files delivered in backups.rar are the originals but one or two are probably not so probably best to just backup the whole installation directory). savegames are compatible to vanilla and most changes work immediately.

features:


item.var, .txt, item_set.var
improved useless items to have at least situational uses
made items more different from each other
tweaked item rarities and some set boni
made daggers and Kris offhand weapons
some small improvements for early mage items
many more tweaks
can buy one magic spark scroll in library (this also needs inner_build.var, otherwise it will show in the library description but not be buyable)
made warrior shield a beginner commander's shield that has a non-usable healing effect (helps unit regeneration outside combat) and forced march 3

skill.var, .txt, hero_class.var, .txt, hero_class_d.txt, stat_progress.var
chieftain gets round attack at lvl 20, moved berserk bonus to skills instead
chieftain less armor on full skills
archer less ranged attack and ammo on full skills
mage less ranged attack on full skills
improved weak skills
warrior, scout and commander can get spell duration +1 from skills

stat.var
heroes get more stamina and a bit more morale, but less life, from health stat

unit.var, .txt
devil speed 2 -> 3
imp: exp 17 -> 25 (when killing them)
spiders: ammo 3 -> 2
reduced upkeep from egg creatures (spiders etc)
bowman and crossbowman upkeep 12 -> 10
swordsman upkeep 9 -> 10
pikeman upkeep 7 -> 6 and get +20% exp
militiaman and slingers get exp alot faster
max exp penalty now 150/200/250 for tier 1-2/3/4 units, except elves (300 -> 250)
warrior exp penalty 130 -> 160
scout, commander and wizard slightly higher hp
warrior has item maintenance 10
commander has first aid 1
wizard has gem income +2 (coded as upkeep -2)
slightly increased chance to get wizard items from shamans, sorcerers, monks and healers

defender.var, .txt, defenders.dat
reduced guard upkeep by alot, slightly improved few guards (example: hunters are higher lvl now)

inner_build.var, .txt
all guard contracts limited to 8 each (makes games less boring because you don't have the same enemy guards everywhere; but this also makes it easier)
tweaks to buildings: moved some effects from powerful buildings to weak buildings to make them useful as well
can breed animal eggs a bit earlier (spiders etc)

outer_build.var, .txt
tweaks to province buildings: removed some population mood boni (it shouldn't be so easy to make your people happy)
made weak buildings better (example improved informary healing bonus)
made buildings that need templates better or cheaper (example gave shaman hut a mood bonus and let it build in forest)

medal.var, .txt
i can't remember details. fixed resilience description and i think reduced medal upkeep so they can be used early on
changed medal of courage to morale +8
probably some other small change

spells.var, .txt
improved weak spells or made them cheaper
improved spell descriptions and added resist modifier information to them
tweaked spell costs and effects, especially concerning resists
moved resist bonus from astral energy to air shield
made white magic a mass heal + stamina heal + poison cure spell and removed damage effect
switched magic spark and dispel
switched word of life and mass healing
reincarnate now lvl 3 but does not work on heroes. still requires lvl 4 mage guild.

ability.txt
improved a description, don't remember which one

event.var, dialog.var, quest.var, encounter.var
a bit easier to get alliances with some other races
reduced inquisition chance 15% -> 3% (was just annoying)
reduced local noble chance 8% -> 3% (was just annoying)
reduced chances for some of the common cash events (eg peon finds chest of gold)
eggs gained from spider egg steal event 2 -> 1
increased payment needed for phoenix spell scroll quest
slug eggs can be traded for random lvl 2-3 spell instead of embroidered bracers
conjurer gives 2 random lvl 1 spell scrolls instead of burn ammo.

site.var
late resources may have weaker guards
reduced prices in knowledge stores (300% -> 200%)

difficulty.var
set competent difficulty level to 100% exp/loot/hp, increased maximum turns a little.
motbw: same but with expert

names.var
added W to all warrior names, S to all scout names and C to all commander names. i keep mixing them up when i see only the name

ritual.var
switched Fair Wind and Chalice of Life costs

shard_bonus.var
these work only when a new campaign is started
this also requires item.var, defender.var, defender.txt, defenders.dat. if not using (all of) them, can use shard_bonus_LRM_old.sav - rename it to shard_bonus.var.
tweaked campaign shard rewards
removed gold and gem start boni and cheaper resources
much higher chance for items instead
better costs for items and guard contracts
shard bonus items and guard contracts have SB added at the end of their name. any SB item does (should) only come from shard rewards. those are cheaper and do not require resources.

Nice. I'll check it out next time I play Eador Genesis.

Good idea for a mod package, too.

I would recommend to remove that.
The reason for reincarnate being t4 spell is that it can be used by heroes for second life.
And Mage+Warrior with couple of reincarnations would be very annoying.

yes i'm currently considering what to do with reincarnation and resurrection. it's mostly a problem with shadow knight. but reincarnation at higher level than resurrection seems wrong to me. currently i'm testing reincarnation forbidden for heroes (they should rather use invulnerability). i'm also not convinced resurrection is suitable as a level 4 spell.

i've been playing eador for the last couple of weeks and did some other things too. i also want to make mage more usable as first hero. i'll post an update when i'm done.

updated to new version. this will probably be the last for a while. reincarnation not working on heroes anymore, but circle 3 instead of 4. finally i got shard rewards working well. those items and guard contracts are now reasonably priced.

also gave commander and wizard small character boni from the start to help them in the beginning.

reduced life gained from health, get more stamina instead. this makes +life items more important.

probably many other but small changes.

updated download link in first post.

item maintenance on warrior might not work. gonna test that some time, but it's a minor issue.