When my units of ashigaru in Total War: Shogun 2 used to procure grappling hooks out of nowhere to climb enemy walls I didn’t question it, but as the games have gone on the use of “pocket ladders” (or “ass ladders” if you prefer) has become a point of contention among players. The ease with which any unit can produce them has led many players to treat walls as a waste of time and instead defend the narrow interior chokepoints of settlements, abandoning the outer defenses entirely.
Which is why Creative Assembly’s plan for the upcoming siege update includes the removal of pocket ladders. Or at least, turning them into a menu option you can toggle on or off. As Milcho Vasilev, battle team lead at Creative Assembly Sofia Sofia writes, “Even though it is not perfect and there are many more aspects that can be improved we believe that the ability to pull a huge ladder out of your…nothing, can be quite immersion breaking for the players and takes away from the more strategic planning of the battle.”
That’s the headline feature, but plenty more is being promised. Siege equipment’s being rebalanced, making up for the lack of ladders with cheaper and more effective siege towers and battering rams. The math behind siege attrition is being tweaked as well, taking longer to set in but being harsher when it does.
Towers and gates are due for a rework, with the range of tower projectiles being reduced while their damage is buffed, and the toughness of gates will be higher versus monstrous infantry, but lower against battering rams to encourage their use. All these changes have necessitated improvement of the battle AI during sieges: “These changes will offer less weird behaviour from the Battle AI during sieges and allow it to be able to play the game without the use of pocket ladders.”
Taking a step back, improvements to the maps sieges play out on are also being promised. Bigger siege maps will make maneuvering less of a faff, and combat inside settlements look like less of a mess.
Looking further ahead, Creative Assembly is considering a way to bring ladders back but in a more sensible form, alongside other changes. “In the future we have a wish list of possible options to explore such as introducing ladders as a new constructible siege equipment,” Vasilev writes, “rebalancing the way garrisons work and what units are available to them for all factions, changing the way the building of towers or barricades works, as well as more Battle AI and Pathfinding upgrades.” He also mentions that work’s being done to improve the autoresolve for players who don’t want to engage with every single siege.
The removal of pocket ladders and other changes will be tested in a two-week beta that runs from July 24 to August 7, with the siege update rolling out for all players at some point after that. It might even arrive alongside the Tides of Torment DLC, which has been delayed.