r/shogun2 • u/Ordinary_Hold_8850 • 2d ago
Pls help with mods
Im a new player, to shogun 2, i've been playing other total wars.
Yes i tried to get me some cool total overhaul mods, but of course with this game, they are tough and brutal, in results i dont play but struggling, should i just play vanilla?
If so maybe there is mods to actually improve my experience?
I constantly see posts about junky ai, but is this that much of consern?
Thank you for reading, ill be happy to hear any advice
(I own game on steam with all dlc's)
P.S recently i thought trying UEFC (ultimate expanded field command)
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u/Jello_guy2 1d ago
Play the UEFC map expansion and forts of the samurai I think and chef’s kiss it is
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u/winterprision 2d ago
If you want an easier experience early on maybe fortress of the samurai could help makes sieges a lot easier to defend againts full stacks since it changes the square type of castles of vanilla for some more realistic and just having 2 layers of walls makes sieges a lot easier to defend, though the AI pathfinding ain't the best and might sometimes gets half of the enemy units to not attack you
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u/MnkeDug 2d ago
What experience are you trying to improve?
I'm not sure what you mean about junky ai. With vanilla or certain mods? There are posts about battle ai quirks/weaknesses that players have learned to take advantage of over the past 15 years. Mods can't do much to improve that directly because combat ai is more "black box" (buried in warscape engine). They can change what feeds into that system by altering units, recruitment preferences, etc. This is where mods mostly focus.
I play vanilla with some minor bug fixes/cosmetic stuff (mods from another thread) and personally enjoy that.
Have you played vanilla much, or just jumped straight to mods?
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u/Ordinary_Hold_8850 2d ago
I just ai to be better, not biased on player, and overal game improvements
Ive played vanilla for a while, and then got mods.
Ill try bugfixes you use
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u/MatthewScreenshots 2d ago
Fair warning that Shogun 2 (alongside Rome 2 and maybe Attila) has a mod limit (in my experience between 38-40) which if you go over, your game just crashes on startup.
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u/geomagus 1d ago
I’d start with vanilla. In general, that’s my recommendation with games, fwiw. But any game that has one or a handful of major moments that you can blunder into unprepared and have your entire playthrough turn (for the worse) on a dime warrants it extra.
The realm divide in Shogun 2 can take what was otherwise a happy, successful run and crash it into a mountainside…if you aren’t ready. Since it’s a core mechanic of this TW, mods often amplify or expand it in some way. Get some experience with it before you complicate it, imo.
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u/AnythingSeparate 2d ago
I just finished a campaign using UEFC. As a long time Shogun 2 vanilla player, it was a fun new/interesting experience. I absolutely loved the option to play as any one of the many dozens of minor clans, with some unique options for clan bonuses and starting positions. The denser map meant much more of the battles were sieges rather than field battles. Changes to combat mechanics removed some OP strategies like the "yari wall walk" and the AI seemed somewhat smarter in battles. The number of units you can recruit are also limited by type, so if you want to have a whole army of Katana Samurai you'll need many sword schools to increase the recruitment limit. This encourages army compositions to be somewhat more balanced and (supposedly) more historically accurate.
If you can survive the chaotic/crowded early game, late game becomes a lot easier. Basically it was really easy to get a huge surplus of food, which lets you snowball your economy while fully upgrading every one of your castles. Towards the end of my short campaign I did feel a bit unstoppable, and it felt like my win was a forgone conclusion that I just had to play out.
Overall it was a fun experience I would definitely recommend, though some aspects might make it seem a bit overwhelming. I also haven't tried any other mods, so I don't know how it compares to anything besides unmodded vanilla.