Alright, iron generation from Conjuror type commanders has been rolled back 50%. I've also partially scaled back some of the recent buffs I gave the class. Specifically freespawn rates and prices of new Dreamers. Hopefully this will incentivize leveling up your starting commanders, and using summoning rituals, as well as provide a bit more challenge. One of the Crystal Forests near the starting Hut has been changed to a Market Village so you have some trade to help with getting the gems you want.

Yeah...I had a feeling that might be the case. xD
As for the gems, that's been an ongoing problem. I'll change one of the Crystal Forests to a Market Village in the next update. I'm just testing out a change to how much iron the Dreamers, Spellweavers, Spellshapers, Conjurors and Coruscant Wellsprings generate each turn. Right now it's clearly too much.

I think that stupid-spam classes can't really be balanced well and thats evidence by their sparse use in base game content (until recently with guildmaster i guess) Its an extremely powerful mechanic and you've done a good job at giving a challenging early game before that mechanic kicks off and the wincon is pretty much assured but its really satisfying to watch the random mulligan hodgepodge doomstacks it makes for really interesting combat scenarios you usually don't see with base game. Only issue I have had, which is nothing compared to some of my gripes with basegame classes, is that the gems I spawn with are not always the ones needed immediately (diamond n emerald for the Lofty) and thats fine but theres no guarantee in trade income. I'd say just 1 trade point to the hut to ensure gem income fixing early game would solve that entirely but its not a huge pain

Thanks AwesomeMan4554! Glad to hear you're enjoying it! <3
Any advice on making it more balanced? Does it seem too strong or too weak, or just too all over the place? Also, what difficulty AI are you playing it against? I'm currently testing it against Count difficulty AI as a sort of middle ground.

Been loving this class so far, not exactly balanced but incredibly fun and makes for by far the most replayable and unique "ant-hill" type of custom class that just spams waves of stupids

Player now also starts with a Conjured Guardian on their home square. The Sentinels and Crystals do absolutely nothing if enemies that outrange them attack, since the crystals can't move, and the gates won't open as long as there are ranged units alive behind them. On that note, the attack range of Conjured Crystals has also been increased.

I've also increased the amount of resources generated by Dreamers, Spellweavers, Spellshapers, Conjurors and Coruscant Wellsprings each turn, and removed Ephemeral and Cavernous Dreamers from the free starting commanders. You now get start with an Affluent and Lofty Dreamer, and receive a free Verdant, Maleficent and Littoral Dreamer over the first year of the game.

As far as defending citadels goes, I recommend sending an Ephemeral or Affluent caster to them and using Weave or better yet Shaping summoning rituals until you get a Guardian or Guardian Statue. Many of the other variants have these or other stationary units they can summon at those levels as well, if you have other locations you want to defend. The Verdant, for instance, can summon various giant mushrooms as well as Cursed Trees and Shadow Trees, in forests.

New update is out! This one does seem to break save files, unfortunately, so...time to start a new run I guess. Hopefully things will stabilize eventually. The mod is still very much in a testing phase, so there have been a lot rapid-fire changes. Thank you for bearing with me. <3
I've added a few tile enchantments to some of the Conjurors who have reached at least Spellweaver (level 2) status. These are based on what variant they are. Parched (desert) variants, for instance, can create Vafur Flames at fortified locations.
I've also increased the recruitment chance of Dreamers from 2% to 3%.

Aww thanks! I'm so glad to hear the recent changes worked well. <3
Hmm, several of the conjurors have rituals that summon stationary things like Guardians and Guardian Statues, that will spawn Gargoyle minions over time. I hadn't looked into tile enchantments at all yet, but I'll take a gander and see if I think it'd be doable. I'm not sure if I want to add a variant that can just guaranteed summon a stationary unit every time, but I'll give it some thought. As it is, you have to try the rituals a few times until you get the right one. Your best bet is probably the Shaping rituals. A lot of the Weaves also have stationary units, but Shaping generally has fewer possibilities, so your odds are better.
A few of the summoning rituals, especially the lower level ones, have over 30 different units they can possibly summon. Others, especially the high level ones, have only a few, and some even have just one possibility.

Loving the updates! Great work! Those economic changes were just what I was looking for, super pleased! My favourite mod for this game by far. Keep up the good work!

oh wow...started to document what unit the Ephemeral Conjuror summons and its so many. I think I have used a few hours just summoning the first 3 summoning spells and its like 60+ different units lol

@Silver ...and a question, do you plan on making some kind of Conjurer with focus on construction by any chance? I often find myself missing a unit that could summon units with the purpose of defending tiles and citadels. Also it would be cool if such a unit could upgrade gates and maybe create artifacts.

@Silver: applauding that you still are improving the game. Its hard to catch up lol.
Next time I play I will have to take notes hehe. Keep it up

New update is out. Pirate ships should now just be normal monsters that look like ships. Let me know if that still doesn't work, if you find out before I do, and I'll figure something else out. I'm pretty sure it should work, though.
Sea Dragons are also removed from Affluent summoning rituals. That was an oversight on my part. I missed that one. They shouldn't have been there in the first place.
Neither of these fixes should break save files I think.

Ah, thanks. I'll remove Sea Dragon from the Affluent summoning rituals today.
That's disappointing to hear the pirate ships don't work. *sigh* Oh well. I'll have to remove those.
Expect an update in just a little while today. <3 Thanks for the feedback!

Actually, Peregrine and Ephemeral are the only Spellweavers who get 3 AP. All others are slow and only get 3 AP when they become Spellshapers.
Dreamers and their leveled up forms, and mutate minions do not spawn free units. Only conjured units summoned via rituals have a chance to do that each turn. Not all conjured units have free spawn, though. Generally the stronger, or leader type conjured units are the ones that will have that ability. For instance a Conjured Red Dragon Spawn won't spawn anything. A Conjured Red Dragon Spawn Chief will spawn Conjured Red Dragon Spawns.

The thelassic ship summons need to be removed or redone. For instance, the final thellasic ritual, the one that costs 125 sapphires that summons a pirate flag ship. It's useless and bugs the game out, the ship is summoned empty, and when it attacks anything, the battle instantly ends with the oppponent winning, but the pirate ship isn't destroyed, so the battle reccommences a moment later, over. . . and over . . . and over. . . .lockign the game up permanently, i just had a end game run ended by a pirate ship attacked by seahorses and the turn never ending.

Additionally one of the affluent summons, i forget which one, summons a sea dragon, it isntantly dies the next turn because sea dragons can't survive on land, that needs removed, or moved over to the thalassic dreamer, as that one is water only.

okay I finally managed to get a tier 3 verdant and they have 3AP I think I was just thrown off by the 2nd tier ephemeral getting 3AP. Do the various tiers of dreamers periodically spawn free units outside the rituals?

Sorry I was muddling up spellshaper and spellweaver so are verdant and affluent spellweavers the only ones which stay being slow and get 3AP at tier 3?

Most Dreamers are slightly slower than Spellweavers in battle. They have batteslow2, while Spellweavers only have battleslow. Most variants get 3 actions points when they become Spellshapers.
Some are one step faster, such as the Ephemerals, due to their fleeting nature, and the Peregrines, being associated with the element of wind.
All Conjurors become faster as they level up. Some just get there one step faster than the others.

Are verdant spellweavers supposed to be slow like their dreamer counterparts?

mokelebdwyer that issue should be fixed now. It's working for me in my tests just now, at least. I updated the mod with a fix for it about 12 hours ago.

thalassic dreamer doesn't get a level 3 form, when level 3 ritual is used, they gain access to level 3 rituals but stay in their level 2 form with level 2 spells

Thanks so much DGX!
I've been meaning to look into more reliable ways to generate gems of each color in particular.
To that end, in the update I've just posted, I've added terraforming rituals that can turn forests, jungles, swamps, mountains and shallow seas into other terrain that generate gold and/or gems.
The player will have to decide how many forests, swamps and jungles to convert, in particular, as you do still need herbs and fungus.
The Dreamers themselves, and their upgraded variants, generate small amounts of herbs, fungi, gold and iron each month, depending on what type of Dreamer they are, but no gems. This isn't always shown in their information in game, but if you look at your income you should see the extra income coming from seemingly nowhere.

Brilliant mod! I love the idea for the class and it works great in game! I tend to play with lots of mods enabled and have seen no compatibility issues so far. All I'd ask is for some kind of ritual to help build economy. I find I tend to struggle a lot against the high difficulty ai, although that might just be a skill issue on my end. Maybe different variants of dreamers will have a ritual to boost different resources that align with their variant (Littoral for sapphires, Verdant for Herbs, etc)? Not really sure. Either way, amazing mod. One of my favourites so far for this game!

After some consideration. I've decided to give the class a buff. I'll test it out on Count difficulty. I've also changed up the starting Dreamers a bit. Let me know how it feels. <3
I'll also try to test out the Hut upgrades and make sure they're working as intended.

I must confess, I hadn't even thought about the higher AI difficulties yet. I'll...give that some thought. I'm actually relatively new to the game itself. I've never even finished a game. I have this thing where I get another idea I want to try and start over. xD

The tower you upgrade the Hut into is a Witch's tower, rather than a Wizard's tower. So you're just trading 2 Herbs for 2 Fungus.
After that comes a Crystal Tower, 2 gold. Then a Tower of the Elements, 2 Gold, 2 random Gems. Then a Crystal Palace, 4 gold, 2 random Gems.
At least that's how it's supposed to work.

@Embarec you get a defensive wall but yeah this tile is maybe more about protection than resources. if you feel safe you have the option to keep the hut though ;)

So I have to ask, what exactly is the point to upgrading your hut to the tower? Unless I'm missing something, it seems like it's more or less a downgrade, you give up 2 each fungus/herbs for 1 random gem (at least that is what has been happening in my tests). I am not sure what you get once you upgrade it again, I have not survived against enemy AI long enough yet to find out (Although I tend to play on emperor with multiple hostile-to-each-other ai because I like watching them fight... that might be the problem)

Thanks Doppel! I'm glad you like the Conjuror units and their mutate minions. ^_^
The Conjuror units are also intentionally vulnerable to things like Assassins and Siege weapons, especially at the lower levels.
Hmm, that workaround could be doable, but I'd like to keep events down to a minimum, as they increase turn times.

@Silver regarding the astrolgy type spells. I see why you would avoid them. There is a workaround though. Every turn could make a check for all non Conjuror type units and if the conjuror faction has enslaved some units they would be turned into some roaming type units that you can define so it fits with the lore. I could see some fun in that and it would give you an excuse to introduce some kind of fun unit. Im thinking such units should be rather weak to keep it balanced.
In regards to the Conjuror units (including the roaming spellmarkerd units) I think they are very well done. Its so fun to see them battle the enemies and often its kind of unpredictable because many of the battles depends on the Conjurors to use there first few turns to summon creatures and if they do they can win over rather large armies.

I'll change the Eerie summoning rituals to require being within 1 square of "-76 void plane" whatever that means. The manual doesn't say. So you still have to at least be right next to it but not quite right on it. The negative terrain numbers tend to be a broader umbrella, so maybe it'll include the buildings you're talking about, or at least cast a somewhat wider net somehow.

Thanks Doppelganger! <3
Glad to hear the early game is feeling good. Now I just hope the mid to late game has the right balance, too. In the updates before this one, the higher tier summoning rituals were way too cheap. xD
I avoided any spell schools that include things like confusion, command or enslave, because the Conjuror isn't supposed to be able to recruit any units except Dreamers. If you gain control of commanders from other classes, it would negate that. Hence no Astrology on the Eerie variants. None of the creatures you can summon in combat or via summoning rituals have spells like that either.

@Silver Im loving the forest units that actually let me use the herbs. I was a little dissapointed that the Void units only is available to be summoned in the void. I would prefer that the Conjuror could summon them in places like the Sphinx, Pyramids, Eiry Farm, Stonehenge etc.
Also I was wondering why the Eiry Conjoror didnt have any Astrology spells?

@silver its definately has become much more enjoyable playing the early game. you are the right track

I've overhauled the summoning ritual prices again. Also increased the recruitment chances for Dreamers from 1% to 2%. Continuing to search for the right balance here.

Another mini-update! Costs of promotion rituals and new Dreamers have been significantly reduced.
Thank you so much, Faceless! I've spent weeks on it, yeah. ^_^ Some days I worked 12 hours straight.
The crystal forests are supposed to be there. Part of the effects of the Dreamer on reality near their home. The upgrade rituals eventually will let you turn the hut into a tower, then a crystal tower, a tower of the elements and finally a crystal palace.

Just started a new game and I've got two Crystal forests right next to me. Seems like a bug.

I love the mod! I've enjoyed this far more then most I try out. Must of been a ton of work too.

New update is out! One thing I'm still not sure about is the costs of new Dreamers, and the cost of the promotion rituals. I want a good balance so summoning rituals, new Dreamers, and leveling up the Dreamers are all worth using.

@Silver also if you go with a hut you could make some kind of mysterious statue to protect it. It might be from this mysterious unit (possible from the void) that her powers originates in the first place....something like that. Just an idea. :)

@Silverbell thanks, really appreciate it. In the lore it could be that everytime she sleeps (every turn) there is a chance that se dreams up some monsters/unit. She has little control over her abilities so its should be random and random strength. just something free spawn to help claim jungles and forest without putting the Conjuror at risc.

Ah thanks! I'll fix the fire and frost drakes today.
Yep, some Dreamers/Spellweavers/etc. by their nature move with a bit more haste than most of the others, like the Peregrine and Ephemeral ones, so they're one step faster. All Conjurors get faster as they level up. Those ones just get there quicker.
Hmm you have a point there. I originally had her start in the Palace because I wanted something fortified, so the class doesn't just get wiped out immediately in the early game. Hence the big army as well. The Palace seemed the most thematic out of the fortified locations.
Also I didn't realize the Palace had that teleporting ability that only the Illlusionist can actually use, so it's a bit misleading.
I'll change it up a bit, have her start in a hut and give her rituals to upgrade it as she levels up.
I'll also give the early game and starting units another look. It's a tricky thing to balance, but this feedback is really helping! <3

some observations playing the game:
I still find it a bit boring in the beginning. Basically your starting unit is to weak to roam around and I find myself sitting and waiting for gold and especially mushrooms. Waiting is no fun so early game is as of now not very enjoyable. I need something to do.
Also usually I have alot of herbs that I cant use for anything. Maybe you could enable the conjurer to summon some roaming forest units to help with claiming jungles, forest and swamps. That would give me something to do while I wait to upgrade my conjurer.

Are Peregrine Spellweavers supposed to have three move?

@Silverbell: thanks for updating the mod so quickly.
I have have a question about the lore and the mod. My understanding is that the Conjurer is a kind of freak kid that has a natural gift for manipulating reality. I would think that the game should reflect that this kid grow in power and yet she start out by having a big catle and a massive army. I dont get that. Wouldnt it be more in sync with the lore if she started out in a hut and in the beginning now and then spawned roaming units and as she grew these units would become more powerfull and maybe even contrallable. I would prefer that progression instead of the big army and castle and it think in would be more aligned to the lore you started with. Anyways thanks again for the updates

Conjured Fire Drakes are summoned as commanders.

Hello. Having fun with the mod so far. The ritual pricing seems better as well. The Conjured Frost Drake has the sprite of the Baron. Looking forward to seeing this mod evolve.

New update is out! Thank you all so much for the feedback! It would have taken me forever to discover and figure out all those issues on my own! <3