This will be optional, of course. If you want ladders to continue popping out of pockets (or the rear) in siege mode, you can still do that.

However, the ease with which any unit can produce ladders has led many players to see walls as a waste of time. They prefer to defend the narrow inner barricade points of settlements and forgo outer defenses altogether. That’s why Creative Assembly’s plan for the upcoming siege update includes removing pocket ladders or turning them into an on/off menu item. Siege equipment will be rebalanced, and ladders will be replaced with cheaper, more efficient siege towers and battering rams. The math behind siege wear and tear is also being refined so that sieges take longer to set up but are tougher once set up.

Turrets and gates are being reworked: the range of turret projectiles will be reduced, their damage will be increased, and gates will be tougher against monstrous infantry but weaker against battering rams, which will encourage their use. Improvements to siege location maps are also promised. Larger siege maps will make maneuvering easier, and battles within settlements will be less confusing.

“Even though it is not perfect, and many aspects can be improved, we believe that pulling a huge ladder out of thin air can break the immersion for players and detract from strategic battle planning. These changes will result in less strange behavior from the Battle AI during sieges and enable it to play the game without pocket ladders. In the future, we plan to explore the following options: introducing ladders as new constructible siege equipment; rebalancing the way garrisons work and the units available to them for all factions; changing how towers or barricades are built; and making more Battle AI and pathfinding upgrades,” writes Milcho Vasilev, Battle Team Lead at Creative Assembly Sofia.

Creative Assembly is considering bringing back ladders, among other changes, in a more meaningful form. The company also mentions that it is working on improving auto-resolve for players who don’t want to deal with every single siege. The removal of pocket ladders and other changes will be tested in a two-week beta test from July 24 to August 7. The siege update will roll out to all players sometime after that.

It may come with the delayed Tides of Torment DLC, which we reported on earlier.

Source: PCGamer, Creative Assembly