In the past months there has been a debate on the state of Hand Cannoneers, in the official Forums and even SotL made a video about it...
I think its save to say that indeed, Hand Cannoneers are a niche unit which most of the time aren't used by civ that have Arbalest. They are mostly "only" seen by Cavalry Civ that need something to complement their Paladins. Their accuracy is lacklustre and not that good.
To buff them I would suggest removing the Archer Class from them.
This would have multiple effects:
Skirmisher don't do bonus damage vs them, meaning that Hand Cannoneers are now an Anti Trash unit.
Hand Cannoneers counter Huskarls properly.
Meaning that Goths Imp Powerhouse will lower slightly and skirmishers have an additional Counter.
Edit: Changed my mind, Conqs and Jannis should be unchanged, because they are too strong already.
For consistency, we would also need to remove the Cavalry Archer and Archer Class of Conqs.
In return, I would suggest that Conqs lose their Pierce Armor entirely and Spanish get a buff somewhere else.
Personally, I don't like the Spanish as they are a weak civ (especially after Tower rush gutting) where they are OP when they get to their Conqs, and almost lose when they don't.
Conqs where actually nerfed by adding the Cavalry Archer Class as Skirms do extra damage as their bonus vs CA class gets added on top of the Archer Class
Thoughts?
I think its save to say that indeed, Hand Cannoneers are a niche unit which most of the time aren't used by civ that have Arbalest. They are mostly "only" seen by Cavalry Civ that need something to complement their Paladins. Their accuracy is lacklustre and not that good.
To buff them I would suggest removing the Archer Class from them.
This would have multiple effects:
Skirmisher don't do bonus damage vs them, meaning that Hand Cannoneers are now an Anti Trash unit.
Hand Cannoneers counter Huskarls properly.
Meaning that Goths Imp Powerhouse will lower slightly and skirmishers have an additional Counter.
Edit: Changed my mind, Conqs and Jannis should be unchanged, because they are too strong already.
For consistency, we would also need to remove the Cavalry Archer and Archer Class of Conqs.
In return, I would suggest that Conqs lose their Pierce Armor entirely and Spanish get a buff somewhere else.
Personally, I don't like the Spanish as they are a weak civ (especially after Tower rush gutting) where they are OP when they get to their Conqs, and almost lose when they don't.
Conqs where actually nerfed by adding the Cavalry Archer Class as Skirms do extra damage as their bonus vs CA class gets added on top of the Archer Class
Thoughts?
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