Mortar Overpowered?

I agree, at least at the levels I'm playing, the mortar is the premier defensive weapon, but I contend one weapon or another will be the most effective. Since the balance isn't wildly off (you say "a little"), why fiddle with it? Your adjustments would reduce the mortar's effectiveness but then the <pick an arbitrary defensive weapon here> becomes the most deadly but just by a little. Must we adjust it then? Can't we stay off this slippery slope?

 

The balance issue doesn't come from how it stacks up against other defenses but in how it stacks up against offense. Two mortars spaced far enough apart are super hard to attack, but 3 are darn near impossible. 3 cannons? Not so much.

 

You bring up three issues; in turn:
1. "mortars are the strongest" - see my reply to the Honorable Gangrene Beard. I contend there will always be a strongest weapon. Even if all weapons were effectively the same, that would just mean some arbitrary collection of weapons would be "in harder to reach places where they can survive longer and do more damage."

2. "Gunners are overpowered." Do you want to adjust them also? If so, unless the balance is wildly off, I have the same objections to fiddling with the balance.

3. "most high ranked islands looking pretty much the same" - I agree, there is, IMO, an undesirable convergence of solutions in island design. In my opinion, a solution lies elsewhere. Soon, I will post a suggestion for how to mitigate that convergence.

 

Working on a functional alternative I take it?

 

As a "Sneak Preview": There are several dimensions to the game; consider only, for example, buildings, pirates, and a grid. These three dimensions establish the maximum complexity. Adding more buildings and pirates increases the solution space but only for the higher level players. The only way to stop the convergence of solutions is to add "disruptive" buildings or pirates, but that just pushes convergence to higher levels.

I propose adding another dimension early in the game to expand the solution space along another axis. The additional complexity fosters more diverse solutions at all levels.

There is a dimension in real military planning that is almost ignored in PP. I'll propose adding this dimension and suggest simple 3 items in this dimension as a starting point. If others like the idea, human creativity will supply a myriad of ideas in this dimension.

Stay tuned to your PP channel.

 

Aha, so now we come to the heart of the matter. You're now asserting the balance isn't off a little but that the balance is way off. So far, in fact, as to make 3 mortars invincible.

I have no experience going against 3 mortars. Others do, perhaps they can provide hints to adjust your strategy.

I think there is a good argument that the defense should have the upper hand in this game. Historically, the defense has the advantage in repelling assaults across water. IMO, attacks at and above a "level" should be fraught. For example, at any level, a player who balances investment in attack and defense should always lose attacks against himself (given well-conceived attack and defense plans). Basically, anyone attacking at their own level is raiding for resources expecting defeat or detects a flaw in the defense.