Chapter LXIX: Defense Squads part 2 – Units

Well, we talked about how to play…now let’s talk about the units here. Here we will use 5 attribute ranks to each unit type…the classic (not really…not many use this term) PKN (pirate-knight-ninja, used to reflect the balance of 3 types of units…the offensive, the defensive and the fast ones…just another reference to the paper-scissor-rock mechanics)…Attack, Defense, Speed, Settlement Endurance and Settlement Impact.

Now lemme give some unit examples:

a) Soldier. A light-armored NPC that deals moderate melee damage. They attack in waves of 5 members every 2 minutes. The soldier concept is the “quantity over quality”. They flood the enemy camp with weak units with a continuous influx of them until the settlement (tent) is destroyed.

b) Pirate. A light-armored NPC that deals great, AoE damage. They come in one group of 10 and devastate anything in the way. They also, once every minute, shoot a wave of cannonballs from their settlement (ship) that deals tremendous area damage randomly at camp, even if the pirates aren’t there still. While this one is an ace unit, it’s restricted to coastal/beach fields and will retreat from battle when all pirates were defeated.

c) Assassin. The most effective offensive unit. They move extremely fast and once every 1 minute it can automatically attempt to OHKO the target. They walk alone and only one assassin from each settlement (hideout) can be out at a time. Once one is defeated, another one will head from settlement. The hideout settlement is really hard to be found, often only visible when open, being like a leaf curtain. Also, while very easy to destroy, when destroyed it causes a break effect, spawning 3 assassins that will engage those who destroyed it then head to camp.

d) Ninja. A unity just as fast as assassins, they move in waves of 2, using ranged attack for combat. Once low in HP they will read a self-destruct attack, dealing heavy AoE damage. Also, at night they move in stealth mode, not being targetable and moving in a translucent way, making them really hard to detect until they attack. At night the only way of claiming them before they attack is with the usage of targetless AoE actions (like Warmonger or Storm’s Path) or using area targeting mechanics to use an AoE attack in the area it is instead of targeting it (vide area targeting chapter).

e) Knight. A heavy armored unit that, while deal low damage, has very high defense and tanking skills, allowing offensive units to fight safely. They are slow-moving NPCs that stay in a group of 3. 1 minute after one is defeated a replacement comes out from settlement (fort). Multiples forts can create bastions, narrowing the area where invaders can pass by and leaving the defense more strategic. When used by invaders, the knights will not march to camp, staying at settlement and defending it. This allows the invader group to also use them strategically to defend vulnerable settlements. This unit in special has a unique feature…it can be repeated as many times as the company wants.

f) Archer. The archers are long-range attackers meant to mitigate the opponents’ defense. Their settlement (caravan) slowly moves closer to camp and they often shot a fast barrage of arrows then run back to settlement to reload. They’re specially good against knights since they can shot over the bastions, damaging the enemies even if they’re protected from melee attackers. The archers move in a group of 5 and disband when out of ammo if the settlement was destroyed.

g) Medic. The medic settlement creates 3 healer NPCs that randomly toss cures and heal status ailments of allies. They never attack but have a fundamental role there…maintain the PC players going. While they do support NPCs too, they will always support PCs first since the PC HP is much smaller than NPCs ones. Also, PCs will be able to get medicines at settlement (medical post). Medicine stock is small but will renew every 5 minutes.

h) Lancer. The lancer unit is the one specialized in intercepting the enemies. They will be mounted at start so each unit will need to be defeated twice since first you need to defeat the chocobo and then the lancer. They move extremely fast and don’t defend camp….once out of the settlement (stable) they will march relentless to the closest (not in stealth mode) enemy, engaging them as soon as possible. The settlement will spawn a unit every 1 min since they are very weak defensively so, even if they need to be defeated twice, they are more like cannon fodders to weaken the advancing army.

And this can continue growing with combos of unities and settlements, like adding airship settlements, mage units, pet units, etc.

At next part we will talk about the most important aspect of it…the settlement upgrade.