Update 4.1

- +50 cost for Trueflight Arrows units, upkeep and related cost adjusted accordingly expect AI generation values which is already higher than other variants

- -50 upgrade cost for armoury 1 arrows to Trueflight, i.e. 250->200

Update 4

- Added Moonfire Shot (Technical details at the end of the note)

- All Trueflight arrows now have 100 marksman bonus (technically might not help tracking units since the other accuracy parameters are maxed but just in case)

- Fixed Deepwood Scouts(Hagbane Tips) can be incorrectly upgraded to Glade Riders (Trueflight Arrows)

- Mod pic updated


The Moonfire Shot is designed to be a support arrow type. Flight characteristics are also based on Starfire.

- It has 70% less AP than Starfire but due to its flammable contact effect, the gap is narrower in practice

- It is designed to be paired up with Starfire so it should have more AP/damage output than 2 Starfire units (with normal RNG)

- It is also designed to be supporting the melee frontline, making the flame banner much more useful in campaign

- It is also a good standalone arrow type to deal with units which are already weak to fire

Update 3

- Much much much improved Trueflight arrows homing parameters/capabilities, homing activation takes 2 seconds (for the ease of testings and practicalities, Trueflight Arrows have the same capabilities across all units, at least for now.)

- Glade Captain's arrow now use the improved Trueflight arrow homing parameters and flight characteristics (still retain the vanilla visual model and shockwave)

- Glade Captain’s arrow can now damage vehicles

Here is a very detailed explanation/personal rumbling on the homing parameters for anyone interested and future me who forgot what he did:

But first of all, there is a reason why modern ATGM like the Javelin has a ballistic computer on it to calculate the firing solution every time it fires: there can’t be single one parameter to get the job done every time, but here we are with only one homing parameter with each type of projectile.

One more thing before we start – homing effect when done right will be much more accurate than any accurate direct fire.

The reason why the vanilla tracking fails on hill – in order to make the arrow homes accurately in open field (and in general), the vanilla arrow activates homing 0.2s after it is “fired”. The result is, unfortunately, that the arrow just goes to the most direct path to the target very fast, which is through the ground, and hits the ground. The steering coefficient, which determines how fast the project moves and corrects the path (if I’m not mistaken), also contributes to this result, but not that significant here.

To solve the homing issue on hilly maps is not difficult and there are two ways I want to do it – fast arrow with short homing activation time (loop around the hill faster and start homing faster) or slow arrow with longer activation time. Faster arrow is more fun and closer to what happens in Vermintide 2, however, faster arrow will make the projectile have less time to home/turn and correct the path, making it much less accurate in air-to-air/ground-to-air scenarios. Yes, don’t forget there is air to air combat in this game and it’s the hardest situation for the projectile to hit, especially when trying to hit small entities like Valkia. And don’t forget if a fast arrow has fast activation, it will hit the ground on hilly maps. On the other hand, a slow arrow means it has more time to turn and correct before hopefully hitting the
target, which is important for some fast flying targets.

So at this point, already after hours of testing (also due to my lack of experience), I have found out that the arrow should be slow before homing starts and the minimum time needed for a slow arrow to go around a hill is about 2 seconds. Therefore, the homing activation time for the arrow will be 2 seconds as well. Then the other important value I need to consider is the steering coefficient, again, which determines both the speed of the projectile after homing started, and the speed at which the projectile corrects its path (if I’m not mistaken). Since it controls both parameters, it seems that a higher value will not always produce a better result, so a balance/a particular value/range is needed for the specific arrow speed and activation time I have chosen.

Most “standard” arrows in this game have a speed of 45 firing at 45 degrees. Still, I have chosen 40 speed which is the slowest (used mostly by goblins) because it makes the arrow fire at a higher angle and works better with a slow homing activation time.

For the steering coefficient, it seems that “2” is a good balance for tracking fast flying targets.
Also, I made the arrow super accurate by changing the calibration range and area but it can still miss a lot without the homing effect kicking in due to how missile attack is tracked in the game.

After all these “troubles”, this solution is not perfect and there will not be one under this system. For this configuration, due to the 2 seconds activation/arming time, the Trueflight will still miss when a fast flying target is too close, like a torpedo/missile fails to arm. It can still track targets weirdly like others in defensive siege battles, and still hit the wall when attacking a unit on the wall as the AI doesn’t loop the shots. And like modern jet plane dogfights, you need to position your unit well so the arrow will hit home and hit like a missile.

Still, the Trueflight arrow still nukes single entities when homing is activated. It is the most accurate shot type at longer ranges when it can track, but it tends to hit the front rank only. When the target moves closer, it might be out performed by other shot types in terms of damage. Still, as it fires at 45 degrees unlike some other AP arrows at 35, it might still be able to loop the shot even when the front rank is engaged.

If you have read all these rumblings till the end, thank you and please let me know if you have any suggestions or encountered any problems. For now, I would like to stop testing and enjoy the mod!

Update 2

- Added Trueflight Arrows

- Changed Mod pic

Update 1

- Added Arcane Bodkins (same base arrow model as the corresponding units but with magical sound, flight characteristics based on Starfire Shafts)

- Fixed Waywatchers Starfire vegetation ignore time
- Fixed Glade Rider Starfire vegetation ignore time
- Fixed Glade Rider Swift Shiver vegetation ignore time
- Adjusted cost to switch to Hagbane Tips
- Minus 100 cost for Waywatchers (Swift Shiver) - want it to be cheaper than RoR atm

Mod pic change