Answered Debuffs - stacking or replacing ?

[Jixel]

Hi all,
Just want to get an opinion on what the correct behaviour should be in this case in battle .
In this example, I'm fighting with some stacks of Treant IIs, plus Sorceresses.

Assume that Round 1 was just units moving around, not important for this question .

End of round 2: Sorceresses (going last due to Initiative) get their attack, let's say they "zap" a stack of Knights, giving them the -60% "broken valor" debuff (i.e. -60% to their attack until the end of the next round).

Start of round 3: Treants have the next highest Initiative, so they can attack the Knights. The first Treant hits the Knights, and the debuff gets replaced by the "daze" debuff - -20% to their attack until the end of this round.
Next, the Knights get their attack, at -20%.

Round 3 ends, and if I ignore the stack of Knights that was attacked in round 3, their next attack has 0% penalty - i.e. the 20% debuff expired, and the -60% was completely lost.

So, what's the correct behaviour here :
1. Just as it is - I should just target a different opponent with the Sorceresses.
2. The "higher" debuff should stay in effect, i.e. if hit by -60% and then -20%, it should stay at -60% (especially since the -60% lasts a bit longer).
3. The debuffs should "stack" - i.e. should be -80% for the rest of the round.
4. Something else, which everyone will explain in replies ?

 

[Deleted User - 13667]

I like the idea of allowing the higher debuffs to stick but not stacked. As this works both ways.

It could be crippling to your own units on the field. Getting hit by Necromancers (+50% additional damage taken) coupled with (+80% on heavy units) by Golems II, its more than double damage. Worst still if there are canoneers on the field. It could be made impossible to win some battles at all if the terrain is in favor for the AI.

 

[Jixel]

Well, my understanding that the +80% vs Heavy that Golems II get is an Attack Bonus, and that already stacks with the +50% Debuff from the Necromancer (and similar for the Attack Bonus that the Cannonneer gets) - which is what makes some encounters very unpleasant, where there are Necros+Golem IIs+Steinlings against you.
Basically, the enemy units get some "synergy" between the debuffs and attack bonuses, and my units don't get quite the same combination working for them.

 

[Deleted User - 13667]

My most unpleasant moment came early in the game. Against several groups of Cannoneers & groups of thieves. No doubt each group of cannoneer is small (less than 23 i think. I can never win given the terrain advantage. They got blocked off with the thieves blocking the only way in. With only sword dancers and archers at that time, it was impossible to fight and win.

Good thing is after the upgrade, that fight simply changed into something else. ( I actually stopped expanding for a few weeks, too heart wrecked)

I think the issue would also be the battle mechanics is not very fairly scaled. The AI gets not only the advantage in numbers, but in effects as well. I totally feel the burn if that is the case.