So here we are a month from release and Generals still aren't behaving like Generals.  Sedna foregoes Yetis but is beating up UB, QoT uses Shamblers mainly as fertilizer, and no one seems to be playing Oak unless victory is guaranteed.  I would say something about Erebus, but I haven't seen him to play against in weeks.  Does anyone use idols except in 1 v 1 against another general?  If they do, do they win?  I know the devs spent alot of time and effort implementing idols, but the baseline mechanic just doesn't make them worth it relative to equipment, right now.

I was comfortable with tactical, squad-based Generals - I didn't need base-builders or supcom-style ACUs.  Generals as "Assassins with Pets" worked fine for me.  But right now people are playing Generals as Assassins without Pets, and it's the optimum build in most cases.  Don't take my word for it.  Do some playtesting with some of us and find out for yourself.  (Two good Assassins without Pets teams I encourage the Devs to track down and play against are 1. Iamkira and Terror and 2. TheBigOne and TheLittleOne - they are on all the time and I'm sure they be happy to demonstrate ^^) 

Don't get me wrong - I'm all about build flexibility - I just wish we could get a minion build to play on the Demigods with, you know, the minions ^^

So here are some long-term tweaks for Generals to go with the Minions thread I posted over here (in that thread I said we should greatly increase minion damage and lower minion health):

- Lower General's normal damage 30-50% but add unique debuff to normal hits for Generals (which can be increased through skill choices.) 

Example - At level 1 on target QoT's hits have a 3% chance to steal 50 mana, Sedna's hits have 3% chance to Silence for 2 seconds, Oak's hits have 3% chance to lower armor 15% for 5 seconds, and Erebus' hits have 3% chance to do something cool I haven't thought of ^^.  Make it synergize with other General abilities so that proc chance increases when other debuffs are applied.  So when Sedna uses Pounce her chance to Silence increases 20%

- Lower General's spell damage 30-50% but increase buff and debuff effects 30%.  Sedna does a stupid amount of damage with Pounce.  Not to mention the debuffs or the interrupt.  It should be the other way around.

- Lower General health 30% at all levels, but increase health regeneration 50% - A General, even with a shield or heal ready, shouldn't be happy to trade hits with an Assassin.  If they get hit a couple of times and manage to get out of the battle, though, they should be able to come back in pretty quickly. 

Combine this with glass cannon minions and you get a Demigod who is really good at supporting Allies and Minions but who relies on them for the damage in most cases.  Unique minions have value.  The Assassins without Pets build is still available but no longer optimal.  

The normal-hit debuffs are probably too intensive to get in before release, but I really don't think it would be all that hard to tweak the other numbers here, and I, for one, would love to at least try a build that looks like this.