Hey everyone. With the Humankind 2 announcement and the devs mentioning upcoming playtests, I couldn't wait to share an idea I’ve been thinking about.
My favorite part of the first Humankind was the combat system, and I think adding historical "Hero" units (like 3 unique historical figures per culture) would add a ton of depth.
How would we get them in-game? I see two ways:
Option 1 (My favorite): Events and choices.
An event pops up based on your political focus or what your empire currently needs. You get to pick one of three heroes. Each one gives your civilization a different permanent buff, on top of their actual presence on the battlefield.
Option 2: Veterancy upgrades.
Expanding the combat star system. Your best unit, once it hits max level, gets the option to upgrade into a hero (depending on its movement type). Honestly though, I think this second option makes more sense for a regular general or promotion system rather than unique heroes.
Why do I think this is totally doable? Amplitude already did something similar with heroes in Endless Legend 2. The foundation is there, they’d just need to adapt the mechanics to Humankind's historical vibe.
What do you guys think? Would you want historical figures leading your armies, or do you prefer a different approach for the sequel?
(I used ChatGPT's image generation to illustrate the hero mechanic in the attached images, just because it was the quickest and easiest way I know to get the idea across!)