I have been playing Wargames Three Kingdoms 2 for more than two years. I have gone from being a new player to an experienced player who barely understands it now. I still have some feelings about the competitive environment and balance of this game.
Let's talk about the overall environment first. This game is an SLG war chess strategy online game. In fact, the core gameplay is the same as that of traditional war chess games, which is to move the grid, calculate positions, and take the initiative. But unlike stand-alone chess, the player's operational capabilities and lineup depth will be amplified in the PVP mode. Especially in high-end games, a game can sometimes drag on for more than 30 rounds, and the outcome often depends on a key positioning error or the timing of skill release.
I think the current balance of the game is pretty good, at least there is no extreme situation like in some MOBA games where "T0 heroes are not required to be banned". There are many generals in the Three Kingdoms theme, and the planning clearly considered the restraint relationship in the numerical design, such as the suppression of cavalry on archers and the counterattack of spearmen on cavalry. These classic relationships are clearly reflected in the war chess. However, in recent versions, several new famous generals have become somewhat supermodels. For example, Jiang Wei's "Provocation" skill combined with the halo equipment can destroy the output of two key units on the opponent's side in one round. As a result, many people in high-level ranks directly choose Jiang Wei. It feels like they still need to fine-tune the skill cooldown or mana consumption.
In addition, the balance of the equipment system is also worth talking about. The best equipment in this game is mainly obtained through troubled times dungeons and limited-time activities, but the strength gap between different sets is a bit big. For example, the "Xuanwu" series, with dual resistance and toughness, can resist two to three times damage when worn by a front-row tank. However, the penetration effect provided by some legal suits only has a fixed value, and the later growth is not good. This has led to many players tending to pile on meaty equipment, and the diversity of the output end has been compressed. I think the penetration percentage of legal equipment can be appropriately increased, or some special effects similar to "armor breaking" can be added, so that the pure output flow can have a more stable space to play.
Finally, I want to complain about the matching mechanism. Although the official said that people with similar ranks will be matched first, in fact we often encounter single-row players with multi-row teams, and the opposing lineup can often perfectly restrain our team. One time I met the same team three times in a row. Their lineup included Lu Bu, Sun Ce, and Zhuge. With the three linkage skills, our back row couldn't stand at all. It is hoped that the protection of single-row players will be strengthened in the future, or a mechanism similar to "global banning" will be introduced, so that at least one or two versions of powerful generals can be disabled in each round to increase the game space.
In general, the competitiveness of War Chess Three Kingdoms 2 is there, and the balance is constantly improving. As long as the planners can continue to pay attention to the data and player feedback, it should get better and better. If you are also a player who likes strategy and operations, you might as well give it a try, at least you won't feel too strong about being crushed by mindless numbers 🐴