I believe that these are all good changes to the game even though I don't even play competitively. I mostly want the game to have the UI to be cleaned up because it can be very confusing looking at endgame cities and just seeing a jumbled mess.

The only thing I don't see much of a point to is the ladder system as the Endless games don't really have that huge of a playerbase especially because they are 4x games. Basically anybody with decent knowledge of the game could become the top player easily just because there is so little people to base player skill on.

This last thing is just personal preference, but I think the current system of just two accesories is fine. It encourages building around natural skills and having to choose between faster units and better stats just seems more interesting to me rather than just making a dedicated Improved Movement slot. Plus it the introduction of a third accessory slot could probably result in a lot more of broken combinations and I don't think Amplitude is THAT interested in balance.

I am a very new player, just over 130 hours played, and have played with  and won with only 4 factions in Normal Mode. 2 wthout DLC, and 2 with full DLC (except Symbiosis). Still, from my observation, I suggest the following points:

More comeback mechanics:

I feel like comeback mechanics are necessary in any game in order to keep things exciting for everyone. It is not fun to know you have no real way to win anymore, and it isn't fun (for long) to just stomp everyone without opposition. Some possibilities could be:

• Improving the Quest/Ruins rewards for Empiress that are behind: Simply put, the Rewards players get from searching Ruins should be based on the highest Era among players in the game. So if a Player has reached Era 6, but the other Empires are still in Eras 3-4, they all should get Era 6 loot. This would enable Empires who are behind to catch up with the Leader. At least those who are still bunking away from the leader.
• Making the Research of certain technologies cheaper if they exist in many buildings/units in the world: This would need heavy tuning, but I feel like each instance of a Unit with a certain armor, or each instance of a certain building in a different City should decrease the Cost of researching that same Technology by 1% (for Unit) and 3% (for building), with a hard Cap (25-33% max decrease). So if a player has built 11 Shipyards, it is cheaper to develop the Shipyard tech for those behind. Maybe limit this decrese to Empires with Common Borders, as it doesn't make much sense for guys in the other side of the world to get this kind of buff, while it would make a ton of sense that merchants trade secrets like these between Empires with Common Borders..
• Creating a "Common Enemy" Diplomatic status from which Peace/Alliance can be reached regardless of Diplomatic Tech: If say, two Empires are at war or have lost a War (and entered Cold War) against a third specific Empire, both could enter this Diplomatic status. And from it, they could enter Peace/Alliance at 120-150% the cost from which they could Enter if they had the proper Diplomatic tech and were at Cold War.
• Rethink the Wonders/Competitive event mechanic a little bit: I really like the Wonders mechanic, but I feel like, for most of the Powerful factions, getting every single Building Wonder in every era is very easy, even while going for one or two of the other Competitive Quests, and some buildings (Industry one mainfly) also help obtaining some of the other Wonders. In my opinion, the Building Wonders should compete with eachother, by showing up in the same or nearby Eras so a player that is busy builidng the Science one can't also get the Influence one, as both would show up at the same time in this reformatted style for the Wonders. Maybe also make ones better for Wide strategies and some better for Tall strategies

Alternatives to some technologies:

I feel like some technologies are a bit too good to miss out, and this makes it so players are further railroaded into playing the game in similar ways always. Even in Factions that technically don't make that much use of the technology otherwise. For example, the Cultists don't need to buy that many Heroes in the Mercenary Market due to the fact they only have just one Ciyt and don't need a ot of governors, but due to the fact that many Minor Faction quests require you to have a Hero, you do kinda want to get a Mercenary Market so you can fulfill them (I haven't played with the Allayi or Mykara, but I assume they are similar). Similarly, even with the Vaulters, I found that the basic Glassteel/Titanium techs weren't that good because they were just the Age III Iron Amors, but earlier. And  I haven't had the need to go to War in Age 1 yet with any faction. Here are some possibilities:

• Equipment with weak versions of some technologies: For example, I picture an "Universal Translator" equipment that enables Heroes to Parlay with villages if it is equipped, as if you had the Language Square Tech.Similarly, there could be equipment that reduces Road movement for the equipped creature like the Endless Mechanisms tech, and maybe some that reduce movement in other factions. I would put this kind of specialized equipment in the Glassteel/Titanium Armor tech, as it is not that good normally otherwise.
• More Minor Faction heroes: I really like the concept of the Sisters of Mercy Hero (even if I have never obtained it myself) and feel like there could be more such Minor Faction Heroes to be obtained from Assimilation Quest in order to reduce the importance of the Mercenary Market a little bit.
• Minor factions that offer alternatives to these effects: Minor Factions that let you produce some Sea Units could be really valuable and I think are due, but there could also be Minor Faction Units with the "Universal Translator" skill I described in the Equipment point and other such useful non-combat abilities.

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Other suggestions:

I haven't played Multiplayer as I said, so I obviously haven't seen Tech trading at its most broken. But I've seen people wanting it gone and I can imagine why as I've exploted it plenty with the AI. My suggestion would be making it so you can only trade Technology from Eras before your Current Era. Maybe also make it so Traded Tech is received one-by-one each day, so if you traded 5 technologies, you get them throughout 5 days.

Even when I think Fomorians made the sea much more interesting as a whole, I've found Sea Battles to be largelly bland compared to land battles due to the lack of interesting terrain and abilities in most units. Some obstacles are needed if a player is expected to be able to keep units away from the computer's. Something that can replace terrain heights in depth. I feel like even if it isn't that realistic to our world's ocean battles, more terrain types with more drastic effects, and more complex units, are necessary. Things like Fortresses themselves and Ruins could show up in the battle map. For example. Also, I think that at least in the default settings, Fomorian fortresses are a bit too common and make it so crossing the ocean without your own army of Sea Units suicidal. Especially for the AI. A possibility to solve this could be reducing the number of Fortresses per Sea a little bit (so there are two in most Seas, and 3 only in really big ones) and improving the speed of transport boats. At least the ones with less than 4 units (so boats transporting armies of 3 or less move at a speed of 4) and with 4+ at a speed of 3..This way it would be feasible for some boats sometimes managing to cross the oceans without meeting the Fomorians.

December, 14th 2019 : I updated my list of suggestions to take account of the recent changes bringed by the great ELCP Mod.
For exemple, the whole part on Allayis has been deleted.
This new list is shorter and better than the list of the first topic.

- I am the best player of this game, with the player Grinder. I got 3000 hours of playing. I know what I say when I talk about balance.

- The goal of this topic is to give suggestions to balance the factions, and to suggest new features, for more strategies, more replayability and fun. These suggestions of course would require a good dev to work on it, or who knows, that an Endless Legend 2 day exists.   :D

- These suggestions take into account all expansions of Endless Legend including Symbiosis. They also take into account the excellent and indispensable ELCP mod, which improves the AI, the balance, add smart features, and eliminates many bugs. Link to the ECLP mod.

Increase defensive power to make aggression more difficult :

The ELCP mod has clearly increased the defensive power, making fortifications effective if one attacks the besieger. But that's not enough. Taking a city is very easy, and it's not a good thing because EL is already a game where conquest is easy and low risk.

I propose that the following measures be taken:

- Currently additional districts increases a little the height of the fortification. Something like +20 I think. It is not enough. I propose that this bonus be doubled. Large cities must naturally be more powerful defensively.

- It is possible with a level 4 spy infiltration, to completely destroy the fortifications of a city, even a cult city. It's unrealistic, and far too powerful. I propose that the infiltration action "Destroy Fortificaiton" can destroy only half of the fortifications at the maximum (level 4 or 5).

- The buildings dedicated to the fortification have seen their effectiveness increased thanks to the action of Leader Ennemy Boss, the creator of the ELCP. But we should go further to make the cities more powerful.

I propose that all defensive buildings after era 1 sees their industrial construction cost drop again by -25%, in order to encourage players to look for these technologies (which currently never happens in multiplayer games!). I would like Aggression less efficient over defense.

Make useful the myriad of unnecessary special equipment :

- The first thing to say is in my opinion, that the units have only two slots of equipment. It's not enough. Firstly, in 95% of the situations, the unit will have a slot dedicated to a speed talisman, to move faster on the map and the battlefield. Which leaves us an available location, which is too little to do something.

I suggest that units get not one but two additionnal slots with Meritocraty technology. Or, adding +1 slot at reach of the Era III. It would allow more specialised and qualitative units choice.

- The players always use the same talismans and rings, because the others are too expensive in rare resources, or they are simply useless.

For example, talismans that increase the attack of a unit in High Ground position, is far too expensive. The resources are carefully conserved by the players, and it's a rational choice.

- Moreover, in terms of efficiency, resources currently should only be invested in army boost equipment (like Defense Boost 2) and in weapons. Never in the armor because the effect of efficiency is too weak, even for the Vaulters (who have however a bonus when they use a booster).

- Designing better equipment, with a more powerful and remarkable effect, would allow the setting up of expensive but specialized armies, and greatly improve the tactical diversity.

- Since there are too many changes to be done on this topic, I have not written some suggestions here, but I can do it if a modder wants to tackle this problem. But I can write two ideas of equipement with powerfull tactical effects :

An adamantium talisman that gives two rounds of slowdown for one ground to the affected creature (great on fast archers).

A Mithrite ring that blocks the counterattack of the target (would be useful only if one has the superiority of initiative).

Make city infiltration a bit more difficult :

One thing annoys me a lot in Endless Legend: it is impossible to guard against the infiltration of its cities.

Anyone can have any fast unit, approach a city and instantely put his spy.

With stalth units, it's even easier, and the detection towers are useless. You can put towers everywhere, it will not change anything, as any unit can simply reach you, you will be infiltrated anyway.

I do not know exactly what should be done, what elegant solution it can exist. But I have a little idea to propose. I do not know if it is technically feasible:

- Placing a spy requires vision on a city for 1 turn, not 0 turn. It is only after one rounds of vision on the city that the infiltration action is possible in this city.

The advantage is that a fast unit can reach any city, but if it is detected and destroyed, the infiltration is not possible.

This change will make a strict map control strategy viable, with watchtowers and fast interception units on duty.

Buff the Vaulters / Mezari (Balance) :

Vaulters have their advantages but are underpowered. And their benefits are good on paper but rarely useful.

On paper, they have teleport, powerful units, and a strong defensive bonus (bunker city).

In reality, their teleport is not very useful because the units go almost as fast by the roads.

Their units are not so powerful, because special resources continue to be expensive.

And their cities have no defensive bonus at the height.

Here is what I propose to improve the Vaulters :

- Improvement of their defensive power: Their Special military building of Era III, Strenght of the Vault, also adds one Titan and one Marine to the militia. These units has the equipment corresponding to the technological age of the player, like the militia. This building is never ever recherched, it will allow the Vaulters to be really more powerful in defense, especially to defend their distant cities.

- The teleport, activated via the resource booster, now allows you to teleport settlers to heroes, even outside the Eclypse. This will greatly help the Vaulters build distant cities early in the game. On the other hand, teleporting units to heroes, for vicious rush actions, is only possible during the Eclypse.

- The Vaulters see the cost of special equipment diminished. Not weapons, nor armor, but only special equipment. They cost -25% less resources to use. This will allow the Vaulters to more often use these tactical tools on their armies, making them more qualitative than those of other empires.

- Nerf: In exchange, the Vaulters lose their ability to build roads. They can still build watchtowers. The Vaulters cities practice autarky, and the notion of a trade route is foreign to them. It's an economic and military nerve. The Vaulters will have to rely on fast units, their fortification, and their teleport to defend their territory.

Buff the Allayi (Balance) :

- Buff the Allayi Hero as City Governor : The Allayi is weak as city governor. And not much strong as commander. Here are propositions made by me : Link or by The-Cat-o-Nine-Tales Link.

Multiplayer suggestions (For EL 2 maybe) :

- Teamers : Create a cooperative way of playing, to play the game as teamers, in permanent alliance (3Vs3 for example). A lot of people complained and asked this commun feature.

- Improve the lobby : Improvements like : Game name can be set to the same defaut thing each game, a tchat, heard a sound when your game is full, and few small improvements like from others well known multiplayer game, that would make the lobby a really more interesting place.

- Chat box in multiplayer lobby : From Amazigh. Link.

- Ladder/rank system : An automatic ladder system, to evaluate the level of each player. It really help to set a game with the right level of players. It would be be attractive for the players from the 4X's ecosystem.

Comfort when playing (EL 2) :

- Auto-collect pearls : Collecting pearls is annoying, is very time consuming, and not very funny. Pearls are a nice system but the time it consumes is too high. It's becoming worst if you are not allayi, because if you want to collect them frequentely you need to spot the land each winter. Totaly annoying, and totaly hard to manage by beginners.

Suggestion : Create a new function : seach for pearls. Something which say to the unit to reveal land (even known land) and collect pearls.

- Auto-launch units when garrison is full : Auto-launch units in a new army when garrison is full. If not, it's time consuming and often stop units production when garrison is full.

- UI feedback customizablity : More feedback choice would be great. For exemple, Start/End of building a settler (in specific, not as a part of the big building sum up). Or

Enemy forces entering your territory in X region. From Rymdkejsaren. Link.

- Improve UI : pathfinding and battle board overlay : Brillant idea from an annoying problem. From Abmpicoli. Link. Improve UI: pathfinding and battle board overlay.

- Ideas to increase the interface comfort 1 : From Wallish. Link.

- Ideas to increase the interface comfort 2 : From Vicarious. Link. Best ideas are underlined.

Can we expect you guys to implement any of the following changes/options into the game in the near future?
a way to get rid of unwanted settlers other than exiling them to enemy regions
minimal number of military power required to lay siege to a city determined by the city's defenseretreat
waiting periods triggered by some diplomatic actions or any other changes that prevent players with huge Influence income from declaring war on a weaker AI faction next turn after agreeing on truce with that faction in exchange for a bunch of its resources or technologies
"Auto-upgrade units in queue" option
possibility to set the interval between autosaves manually
possibility to remove an unfinished building or unit from the build queue without losing the progress

- Automation into the update of the units : And saving of template of units design, for others uses into new games. From Savage. Link.

- Map highlight mode : Great idea with excellent screen exemples. It would largely increase the comfort of playing. From Abmpicoli. Link.

- Queue stuff even without pre-requisites met & Global queue : Elegant and simple idea from this ingenious guy. From Abmpicoli. Link.

- Facilitating work with a large queue of research. An obvious need. From Rustam. Link.

- Save game should have unit/city focus, window and notifications persisted : Excellent idea. From Abmpicoli. Link.

- Increase the character limit for army name :  From SentientDawn. Link.

- Ability to calculate the needed influence for a desired empire plan : It would be nice if there was a way to see in game (perhaps in the simulate screen) how many points you will need to have to pick whatever configuration of empire plans you have or wish to have. From Northwoods. Link.

- Notifications when new heroes appear in the mercenary market : Often, I check each turn the mercenary market to see if one ore more new hero appeared. It is annoying. Notification would be so simplier.

- Make the cliff easier to distingue : Cliffs can sometimes be hard to see. It is annoying and frustrating. They should be seen in all situations. From Arqane. Link.

- Gray-out city boundaries, focus on region : From Abmpicoli. Link.

Additionnal topics dedicated to particular suggestions :

Reflexion & Suggestions to change the Mykara's Fungal fixed fortification system : Link.

Obsolete topic (do not read it) : Link.

The number one thing I miss in Endless Legend 1 is singleplayer focus: Best bid would be a well-made campaign. I don't enjoy playing against cheating AI's, and I think the game is way too long and random to be fun as a competitive multiplayer game.