Ugh. Um. I hope it's changed a LOT in the last few years. Because balance was the WORST thing about it, last I played it. It wasn't just the balance, it was a design clusterfuck, the RPG elements conflicted with the strategy game elements and the RPS mechanics.
A lot of attacks are elemental based, in a classic RPS fashion. To play optimally, you need the right units with the right elements your enemies are weak to. But to get most of the elements requires leveling up the right units to the right level over several battles, which often changes their element (and often their whole role within an army). If these leveled up units die, you lose all their XP, and often a key part of your army. This makes savescumming mandatory, which because of the RNG heavy nature of the game, means its possible to have a perfect run and lose none of your important units if you get the right rolls (and if you don't, reload and do it again). You also have to maximize your XP by leveling up your weak units by giving them the last hits.
This game is full of great mechanics. But when your primary mechanic is not positioning your units correctly, or chosing the right kinds of units for your composition or to fight your opponents (all mechanics which are great and exist within the game), but grinding XP by running the same battle through RNG over and over until you get good rolls, the game design has fallen apart at the seams.
Okay so maybe having such a strong, leveled up army through savescumming the RNG is cheap and no wonder it breaks the game and renders all the other mechanics obsolete. But there are certain later levels which are impossible to complete without well-leveled units with the rights skills and elements (Half way through, all my white mages and paladins were rendered obsolete by the enemies changing from undead to orcs). Yeah, it is frustrating to be locked out if you didn't do well early on, and I'm okay with playing through a mission twice to see if I can do better. But when im looking for better random number rolls to grind XP, rather than trying to improve my strategies? No. Your game is a debacle.
I'm just going to assume these are all a part of the 'long learning process' and that the game is very different now. Looking at the Wiki though, I doubt it.
