Campaign- More heroes on Certain Provinces, Ally Rework & Campaign choices have effects/consequences

[unborn saffron]

Choices in Campaign barely matters(Choices you make are mostly for Zen masters you want to unlock)
Having effects/consequences on the choices you make will make each campaign choice unique.

1st is having respawnable enemy Zen Masters on certain maps to make it look like someone is leading them story-wise. Campaign have certain triggers that spawn in units(Unit groups on 12P, 13R, 13Q, Shale Lord on Mines Mission, Longtooth on Swamps, etc) it could be used to make it look like this hero has respawned even if they don't have a keep. So it should be doable.

Choosing 3D- Choosing Arah as dragon, makes AI Ally on 12P & 13R Garrin, but for serpent, you temporarily gain Arah but she & Garrin(since Garrin isn't killed) later joins Otomo as Consequence, Your Pink Ally gets Budo
Choosing 3E- For Dragon you get Garrin, Ai Ally on later missions get Arah instead but as consequence, Shinja on Serpentholm 2 gets access to Vetkin & Budo. For Serpent you get Vetkin & Budo(5D)
Choosing 3F- Dragon, Your Ai ally gets Garrin, Shinja gets both Budo and Vetkin on Serpentholm 2, Serpent Path, Pink Ally gets Vetkin, Otomo gets Garrin & Arah

4C- Arah / Budo/ Vetkin/ Garrin will be present(heroes that AI ally will get will not be present) even the one who will join the traitor on later missions.(For example you chose 3D as Serpent path, Arah will be present in swan's pool mission)

5D/5F(After Swan's Pool mission)- My Idea is that Zen masters that will defect to the traitor are present under your control(Depending on your choices, Garrin/Arah/Vetkin/Budo) so that players get to enjoy them before betrayal.

6H(1st Serpentholm)- My Idea is that having the future recruitable heroes as respawnable(through triggers) enemy commanders will serve as a preview for players. As Dragon, Enemy Lotus have Soban leading them, and Wolf has Gaihla leading them. While as Serpent, Wolf gets Utara and Lotus gets Koril. Continue on Comment Section

More Ideas on Comment Section

[unborn saffron]

6H- Adding respawning heroes on enemy should make the game slighty harder, to balance. A basic(no access to keep, town square, and battle gear buildings) AI ally with a starting hero similar to yellow AI ally on 12P & 13R on dragon path. However this Ai Ally should be led by the defecting hero/heroes depending on your choices(Garrin/ Arah/ Vetkin)

7I(Swamps)- As Dragon, you fight both longtooth(who's always present anyways on this map) and Utara, Killing Utara here will prevent Shinja on Serpertholm 2 from summoning Utara. However since Lotus will attack the wolf later on, Lotus on 12P and 13R will get an Enslaved Shale Lord as a summonable hero. Yellow gets Gaihla
As Serpent, You get Utara, and Wolf gets Koril(its already implemented on the current version)

7J(Mines)- As Dragon, You get Gaihla, Since you Kill Shale Lord who is defending the mines( Lotus on later missions will not have Shale Lord), as Consequence, Soban stays with the lotus and Shinja gets Utara(Headcanon Shinja eventually attacks the swamps and gets Utara in his Service)
As Serpent, attacking this place cause Wolf clan to not be able to summon Shale Lord on the Following Maps. Wolf gets Koril, Pink Ai ally gets Utara as summonable.

7k(Lotus before they retreat)- As Dragon, you get Soban, but Lotus gets Shale Lord on 12P and 13R(head canon. Utara gets killed by the lotus when they attack the wolf, so Enemy Shinja doesn't get Utara on this route)
As Serpent, You get Koril, but Wolf gets to keep Utara for 12P and 13R

8L(dragon spire)- No Changes

[unborn saffron]

9M(After dragon Spire)- As Dragon, Lotus AI should be able to summon Issyl/Soban/Koril on their keep. Gaihla/Soban should be present/waiting on the Blue Base nearby If you didn't get Soban, as consequence, Soban will be a starting unit on the Enemy Lotus instead.
For Serpent its a no build mission, Traitor Zen Master(Arah/Garrin/both) should be present as a starting unit and summonable on keep. To balance it out, Serpents units on 8L(Ronins, cannoneers, Musketeers) should be present. Although it may make things harder or impossible, Units on 8L should carry over like if you lose the geishas on 8L, They should be absent on 9M.

10H- I'm pissed that the traitor(Otomo/Shinja) only uses their keep for monks/ninjas its just plain and boring, Otomo/Shinja gets to summon(Arah/Garrin/Budo/Vetkin) Depending on the choices you made. Wolf/Lotus Enemy AI doesn't have access to a keep so we'll give them the respawning enemy commander(through campaign trigger) Wolf gets Longtooth who's already present in the current patch but no longer in the watch tower. While Lotus gets Koril which fits since both heroes are the 2nd in command of the Main Enemy Clan leaders(Grayback/Zymeth)

-Now now before you rage saying its already hard as it is why give them more heroes. This is the perfect mission to introduce your Actual AI ally- The Loyalist, those that didn't join the traitor(the one you have on 12P/ 13Q/13R Pink/Yellow)

-Dragon gets Yellow Garrin/Arah(not respawnable just in starting army like in current dragon path 12P & 13R) their Starting location should be on the rice field below the lotus

-While Serpent gets Pink Vetkin/Budo/2 Ronins (if you chose to get Budo and Vetkin) Ally(not respawnable), however pink will only join the game once you cleared the small Wolf base on the bottom. or the devs can altogether remove the small wolf abse on the bottom and replace it with pink AI Ally already.

Ai Ally should have a limited tech tree(No access to keep and town square)

[raw escarp]

@unborn saffron has learned a new technique and is now level 3!

[unborn saffron]

11N(Ninjas)- as Dragon, no changes since you get Tao and is a no build mission, As Serpent, Koril/Utara is present depending on your choices and is a summonable hero for the Wolf enemy here.
110(Monks)- As Serpent, No changes since you get Tao and is a no build mission, As Dragon, Soban/ Enslaved Shale Lord is present and is a summonable hero the Lotus enemy here.

Campaign- More heroes on Certain Provinces, Ally Rework & Campaign choices have effects/consequences

[unborn saffron]

12P- Prison Cells mechanics on 12P Serpent path should apply to both wherein cells should contain units for the defeated clan of the chosen path(Dragon-Lotus Defeats Wolf, Serpent-Wolf Defeats Lotus) but a twist should be added. instead of a getting units you can control(you can snowball quickly if you can control savable units like on 12P Serpent) you can get either AI allies or enemies
So breaking Prison cells can either reward you, or hinder you.

As Dragon, Ai Ally is already implemented in current version but should change depending on your choices(Arah/Garrin)
Prison Cell Mechanic for Dragon Path, could contain Green or Pink Wolf AI, Pink is Allied to you, yellow, and green, and is only hostile to Lotus. While Sometimes breaking cells could contain Green Wolf Units(Wolf who still have fighting spirit refusing to backdown to the other clans) is only allied with pink, and hostile to you, yellow and the lotus clan. Prison units should be in groups of 4-7 units, they don't build bases and acts like a attack wave that just attack moves to a enemy base.

As Serpent, you get Pink AI (Vetkin/Budo/ or Utara if you chose to get Vetkin and Budo but chose to attack 7J(mines) which gives Pink AI Utara)
Serpent units on cells are replaced by Teal/Purple Lotus units, Teal is allied to you, pink and hostile to Wolf. While Purple Lotus(Lotus Forces that refuses to bow down like Zymeth on Serpent 7K) units will attack everyone

with possible enemies on cells, and units inside are controlled by AI not by the player, it prevents Steamrolling like on current Serpent 12P

Pink Serpent/ Yellow Dragon AI Staring hero is still not respawnable similar to current Garrin on Dragon 12P, and AI Tech tree should now have access to Town square.

[unborn saffron]

Mission 13, Heroes summoned by you, AI ally, and Enemy now depends on choices you made earlier on the campaign.

Current Mission 13R, Lotus not using keep(only Monk/Ninja) until Zymeth Dialogue is triggered. Heroes are spawned in.
-Unit summon triggers are already present on the current patch on 13R(Dragon Final Mission) like Koril is a set spawn on the nearest lotus base. and that on certain times Issyl/Koril/Soban/Multiple can Spawn out on the spawning location to join that Lotus AI's attack waves.

-Triggering Zymeth Cutscene disables the hero spawning triggers and AI actually using their keep(this is implemented already)
-I've experimented on with this one on the current patch, triggering the Zymeth cutscene may cause multiple copies(controlled by 2 different AIs) of Koril/Issyl/Soban since Lotus(near your base may have summoned them through the hero spawn trigger) and Zymeth main Base will use their keep to summon them

-I want it to also implemented on other bases once that base is destroyed. so that heroes are still present on other attack waves if you still haven't triggered Zymeth cutscene when you have destroyed the lotus base near yours

Current Mission 13Q, wolf actually uses the keep normally which is good. Although putting hero spawn triggers for the other Wolf AIs on attack waves will make look like they actually use the keep. Devs could also make it similar to Lotus, where keep is disabled(Except Monk/Ninja) until Grayback is spawned in, and have Hero spawning triggers to have Zen Masters to make it look like they use the keep

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT/ AN ISSUE? BECAUSE MOST OF THE TIME WHEN PLAYERS TRIGGER Zymeth/Grayback cutscene, Most players already have a full army and will destroy the keep before the AI can even utilize the Keep. For a Final Mission the lack of Zen Masters on most attack waves seem lackluster especially since you already have an Ally present.

13Q(Serpent Final Mission)- Pink AI ally rework to actual base instead of a unlimited spirit warrior summoning machine.
Pink starts with(Vetkin/Budo/Utara)
Pink AI techtree now has access to Keep(no access to necromancer's throne) and can summon the following zen
-Vetkin(3F)
-Budo(3D)
-Utara(7J)
-Ninja/Monk(11J/11O)

While Wolf Clan
-Longtooth
-Gaihla
-Shale Lord(if you didn't choose 7J Mines)
-Koril(If you Chose 7I/7J)
-Utara(If you Chose 7K)
-Monk/Ninja(11O/11K)

13R(Dragon Final mission)- Yellow AI starts with (Arah/Garrin)
I techtree now has access to Keep(no access Dragon Monument) and can summon the following zen
-Garrin(3D/3F)
-Arah(3E)
-Gaihla(7I)
-Ninja/Monk(11J/11O)

While Lotus Clan
-Issyl
-Koril
-Soban(7I/7J)
-Shale Lord(7K/7I)
-Ninja/Monk(11K/11O)

[unborn saffron]

Conclusion.
-This would make the certain runs have a different experience, increase campaign replayability, and addresses the absence of the other characters/ Zen masters if choosing other paths, CHOICES actually matter and will have effects/consequences for YOU, YOUR ALLY, AND THE MAIN ENEMY CLAN.

-The Respawning Hero/Zen Master through Triggers on maps where enemy don't have keeps makes it feel like they're being led by somebody. This Idea is inspired by Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Dawn of War 1, and when I experimented on the different Unit triggers on the campaign. I mean it's already used on different parts of the campaign. Why not use the trigger more?

[timber basin]

Unchosen Zen Masters and those you don't kill/encounter in the story on the enemy or ally sides actually showing up on later missions is actually a POG idea. you get a LIKE from me.

Respawning Hero for Enemy on no Keep Maps also sounds good since it would make the campaign more lively since it won't be just random soldiers vs Kenji and the Boys, and extra difficulty is always a plus for me, but won't that get buggy if the Devs fail to put like a disable condition or limit on the spawning. THAT IDEA would be amazing if the devs can actually pull it off without screwing the spawn thingy triggers.

Well I do think the main issue is that will the devs actually read your suggestion?
No offense to you or the devs. Its just that this post is so long, I was just bored, that's why I actually read it

[woven lark]

@restive thicket great suggestion here, I am also giving my thumbs up here 👍

[unborn saffron]

Last few requests if the Devs do read this
First is Can y'all just put the ENDGAME/WOTW Final Mission Grayback on the Serpent Path Final Mission?
Just to make it on par with No corruption Zymeth, because Grayback is absent on the entire campaign just for a anti climatic fight after his dialogue.
Base Grayback just dies unlike No Corruption Zymeth who actually feels like Leader on the Antagonist Clan
Give him like a buff to resistances or HP (just buff or add more units on the final WOTW mission to balance it out)

Second, something Like adding Grayback on the Dragon Path(somewhere before 2nd serpent Holm mission), since Zymeth appears on Serpent Path, Maybe Grayback Somewhere, You can even use reuse his dialogue of "The Wolf will never bow to the Serpent" which is perfect counterpart for Serpent Path Zymeth's "The Lotus would rather die than bow to your kind again". I think it would fit because since there was never a peace talk or negotiation, Grayback fought thinking that Kenji reformed Dragon clan is still the Serpent Clan. Thus leading to cutscene(after 2nd serpernt holm) where Kazan explains to Kenji that the Lotus has crushed the last of Wolf resistance. Off-screening/Zero Cameo Grayback on the Dragon Path is anti-climatic for someone who was the Protagonist of WOTW.

[unborn saffron]

I know it is kinda long but I tried to make it as detailed as possible so devs would have a easier time understanding rather than giving a vague or impossible suggestion, sorry for the long post tho