Rates of Fire

Article written by Neilkaz (Hosted with permission from MrFixitOnline)
Published on 09-18-2008; updated on 08-17-2014
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A few days ago MFO Blue sent me MFO’s copy of the beta so I could do my unit tests.

Here are the results of my Rate of Fire (ROF) for all TC units with a few of my thoughts added. I apologize if anything is different from this beta and the released game. Soon MFO will come out with complete unit tables like we have for AOK and ROR.

A ROF of 2.04 indicates that the attacking unit does its damage to the target in that many seconds. It does not correlate with how often you may see the unit strike its target. It is only a measure of how long it takes for the damage to be administered. Most units which formally had the typical ROF of 2.06 seconds required per attack in AOK now measure a ROF of 2.04. I did a thousand trials for most low attack point units.

All TC infantry except the Spearman line and Samurai now have a ROF of 2.04. This, off course, is an insignificant change from AOK. Spearmen, Pikes, and Halberdiers now attack with a ROF of 3.07 which again is basically no change from AOK’s 3.04.

The ROF of Samurai has been improved to be about 5% faster than other infantry. The baseline ROF for Samurai is now 1.94 which with the Japanese bonus measures at 1.63 for Castle Age Samurai and a speedy 1.46 for Imperial Age Samurai or elite. Considering that normal Samurai have a +10 AT bonus vs UU’s and elite have +12, these look to be rather fearsome in the right circumstances.

The ROF of Archers holding bows is now 2.04 with a couple of exceptions. This basically is no change from AOK, however, the Thumb Ring tech provides a nice boost in ROF. The ROF of the Archer line improves to 1.73 with Thumb Ring. The tech has less effect on Cavalry Archers (CA) as their ROF only improves to 1.84.

Plumed Archers have a faster ROF of 1.93 which improves to 1.63 with Thumb Ring. A horde of Elite Plumed Archers can start from outside Elite Longbow range and walk into range and trash them thanks to their higher HP and 1 extra PA combined with faster ROF. Considering that in Imperial they only cost 32 W 32 G and build in about 12 seconds with Conscription, a dangerous horde can be fielded cheaply and quickly from a couple of castles. They also move at 1.20 tiles per second compared to 0.96 tiles per second for other foot archers.

Mongol CA receive a 20% ROF bonus like they do in AOK. The basic ROF of a Mongol CA is 1.63. Thumb Ring only reduces this to 1.52. Mongol’s UU, the Mangudai, has had it’s ROF slowed down a bit to 1.73, however, Thumb Ring provides full benefits for Mangudai and reduces their ROF to 1.47! Elite Mangudai upgraded with Bloodlines, Thumb Ring, and Parthinian Tactics to improve armor would seem to be quite nasty.

Chinese Chu Ko Nu (CKN’s) shoot somewhat faster in TC vs AOK. Anyhow..in AOK their volley fire rate was once every 4.09 sec..in TC I obtained the following:

CKN’s   3.65
CKN’s w/Thumb Ring   3.05
Elite CKN’s   3.82
Elite CKN’s w/Thumb Ring   3.24

Yes..the ECKN’s shoot a bit slower than CKN’s now, perhaps due to more time required to shoot extra arrows. They also seem to miss considerably more often with some of their extra arrows. I have my doubts that unless you have tons of CKN’s and resources that the ECKN upgrade is worth it. It gives you 11% more HP and a faster build time but since you lose some ROF and some of the added arrows miss more often the effects aren’t what one would like for a super unit upgrade. I’ll take a further look at CKN’s when I get the Gold Version.

War Wagons have a ROF of 2.56 which improves to 2.29 with Thumb Ring. They also move fast as one would expect from a horse drawn unit. Their speed in 1.20 which improves to 1.32 tiles per second with Husbandry. I like them, but they are vulnerable to powerful Cavalry with high PA like Paladins.

Hand Cannoneers and Janissaries have a ROF of 3.48 which is essentially no change from AOK.

Skirmishers have the same 3.07 seconds per attack that the Spearman counter line does.

Thumb Ring would seem to be worth it’s cost in most cases and the faster ROF will help counter the effects of the added 1 PA which infantry receive in TC.

The ROF’s of Cavalry Units are little changed from AOK. The ROF’s of Scouts and Light Cav is 2.04 which Hussars receive a 5% boost to 1.94.

Knights and Cavaliers require 1.84 seconds per attack while like in AOK the Paladin attacks slower, once every 1.94 seconds.

Camels and Mamelukes attack once every 2.04 seconds as do War Elephants.

Tarkans attack 5% slower than most other units and have a ROF of 2.14. They are no match for Knight units.

Conquistadors attack at the same rate as other Hand Cannoneers, 3.48.

Cataphracts have a faster ROF in TC. They now attack with a ROF of 1.84 and elites have an even faster ROF of 1.73 which simply adds to their other improvement,the area damage granted by their UT. I have yet to test the specific effects of that area damage, but they do seem to be very powerful now.

The small changes in ROF for Siege Units in TC is basically insignificant. I obtained the following:

Scorpions   3.67
Rams   5.03
Mangonels   6.03
Bombards   6.51
Trebuchets   10.00

The Celts receive the same 20% ROF bonuses.

Note the the Japanese UT Kataparuto really makes Trebs rock. It improves their pack/unpack time fro 11 seconds to just under 3 seconds and gives them a ROF on 7.5!! With this great UT Jap Trebs fire 4 shots in the time all non Celt Trebs fire 3 shots.

The trajectory of Mangonel and Bombard Cannon shots is lower so that they hit their target quicker, thus making them harder to dodge. They don’t fire any faster than in AOK.

Once again there are few difference from AOK. The Galley line has a ROF of 3.07 while Longboats now have a ROF of 3.35. Fireships still have a lightning fast ROF of one attack every 0.26 seconds. Cannon Galleons retain their slow ROF of 10. I did not note any ROF improvement for Spanish Cannon Galleons with Ballistics.

The powerful Turtle ship attacks once every 6.04 seconds. They are costly but very potent and would provide great cover for Cannon Galleons pounding a coastal area.

Note that normal Longboats with ballistics miss alot with their extra arrows. Only 170 out of 300 extra arrows could hit a wall tile at point blank range with the Elite Longboat had perfect accuracy vs the same wall tile at any distance!

I hope I didn’t miss anything and that none of this will be changed in the Gold Version.

– Neilkaz