This thread is an updated reboot of the thread at https://www.games2gether.com/endless-space/forum/29-archives/thread/13301-hero-recruitment-system





The problem is that we are limited to 3 heroes to choose from in the first few dozen turns and we start with 3 academy slots, we then receive only a few more throughout most of the game. This leaves us with no real choice as to what heroes we get in the early and midgame, unless you are Horatio (who can clone their favorite heroes).



We can expel heroes and replace them once we have a few to choose from, but that requires leveling up a new hero and allows other civilizations to take the hero you leveled up.



I propose that we consider changing the system by which we select heroes thus:



(1) Heroes should be recruited from a pool of 5 heroes. Every time a hero is drawn out of the pool, he/she is replaced by another hero.



(2) There would always be 1 pure civilian recruit (currently out of 1 possible), 1 pure military recruit (out of 3 possible), and 3 hybrid recruits (out of 10 possible).



(3) There would always be, say, 2 heroes of your race and, say, 3 heroes of other races. On the other hand, the Cravers could have all Craver heroes to choose from. (This is a purely aesthetic recommendation and would have little impact on gameplay.)



(4) Instead of expelling heroes, heroes are retired in which case they are put back in the recruit pool in addition to the 5 recruits who would always be in the pool. They can be reactivated by you and are only available to you



(5) The rate at which players can change the heroes in their academy should be limited. If you must wait, say, 10 turns to change a hero then strategy and foresight become important and you only want to take the heroes you need.



(6) You could also be able to dismiss potential recruits to cycle through to one you want, but it would trigger, say, ½ of the waiting period.



(7) It could be made so that you can swap out heroes during the waiting period, but you would have to pay a significant amount and it would reset the timer… I am fine ether way with this one.



(8) However, make it so that recruiting a hero when not in the waiting period is free. The idea is to allow players to adapt their academy and it would be an undo restriction to players short on dust.



(9) Heroes should be able to reach the level cap in a reasonable amount of time. This is because you must weigh the costs and benefits of retiring a max level hero in order to train a new recruit in order to adapt your academy. If it takes too long to level up a hero, players will not be able to adapt their hero roster.



(10) Add a 3ed civilian trait heroes can have. I am calling it “Leader” and it would have the abilities that improve approval because that increases the amount of all resources you can get (in the case of dust, it allows you to have higher taxes and have the same or better approval). Then Administrator would increase food and industry, and Corporate would increase dust and science through trade.



(11) Make it so that all heroes have the same total starting stats, there is no reason to have some heroes be better than others.



(12) Instead of having a hero be injured and then healing them, it would be cooler to have a hero die and to resurrect them, Commander Shepard style. It could be said that the dust in their system allows you to rebuild or recreate their body and mind.