Always been like this, I remember this being brought up (meaby even by me ) during the beta, I still object this as it feels wrong

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

i noticed that (relative) lack of traits on higher level heroes, too. i view the high level heroes as optional, i won't go out of my way to get one just to have them. i think some of them have rather interesting class combinations that make up for a few missing traits. an extra class alone is typically worth about 2-3 picks, and some of them come with unique abilities that you can't otherwise get, so it's hard to quantify how much the unique abilities are worth.

also, keep in mind that some of them have spell book combinations that unlock combo spells. for example, in my last game as kraxis, i hired gwynneth (spelling?) who starts with life  2, water 2 and something else, so she basically gave me access to the "mantle of the oceans" buff (40% mana discount for tactical spells). that alone was easily worth the 800 gildar.

and some of them have a nice item or two, so even if you don't need the champ, the item alone may well be worth the cost.

and last but not least - there's always the option of steal spirit to give your sovereign a spell school he otherwise couldn't get. playing a mage sovereign, it may be worth it hiring a champion just to get that fire,death,water or air apprentice trait to unlock combo spells or just to get more offensive spell options. 

so i'd say overall they seem to be useful enough, even with a few less traits than the level 1 guy you got at the start and levelled up from scratch. 

Maybe, but only if you don't already have a few champions you hired at lower levels, or don't have the ability to hire henchmen. The high-level heroes generally cost 1000+ gold each, and all they bring is some equipment and maybe a unique trait. Once I have two or three champions, I have all the heroes I'll need for the game unless I really want a governor in each city, since the game economy is set up in such a way that you can't really afford more than a couple main armies (defined by me as "large armies usually led by a champion"), and unless you leave an area unsettled for monster farming you rarely (in my experience) have enough quests and random monsters to level more than two or three champions to a decently high level - at least unless you have access to quest maps.

By the point in the game where I can afford to hire one of the high level champions, I don't need them anymore because I've already obtained my two or three combat champions, and 1000+ gold for an extra governor, or for an extra spellbook for my sovereign, isn't worth it. Plus, the equipment the champions come with is, by and large, ignorable. There are a handful of special mounts, and one or two champions come with a special weapon that does extra damage per hero level, but most of them have at best a set of chainmail armor and a longsword (or equivalent). I can usually get equipment at least equal to that through quests and monster hunts, or at least gain enough loot to pay for purchasing that set of equipment (although I generally consider it wasteful to purchase anything beyond leather armor, a mount, a dagger/bow/magic staff, and perhaps a few trinkets like the Ring of Embers for a champion - once you can get the high level champions, you ought to be able to field decent trained units which can serve as much better meatshields than most champions ever could, and you can rush-train several of those for the cost of outfitting a champion in high-end gear).

I personally feel that champions should always have at least as many traits as levels, and that if they have a weakness they should gain an extra trait to compensate, or gain a special ability, unique weapon, or special mount. I'd generally consider the sum total of the equipment the champions carry is not worth any more than one trait, except in the cases of unique weapons and mounts, which might be worth a trait each - which should be taken out as a cost increase to the champion, or out of the traits beyond the one-per-level minimum. Sovereigns get anywhere from one to nine traits at level one (you have to have a profession, but aside from that you're pretty much free to do as you will). While I wouldn't say that most champions should be on par with average sovereigns (I consider an average sovereign to have one or two schools of magic, a profession, and four or two traits at level one, with no weaknesses - and the gauntlets of grazna, which are equivalent to most of a suit of leather armor, are only worth one point while most weapons are free), they should at least follow the same general rules as with sovereign creation - a set of level-appropriate weapons and armor is at most equal to one trait, and a particularly good weapon/mount/piece of equipment might be worth another trait, but no more, and you can't have less than one trait per level.

If I were to redo champions, I'd probably try creating them as if they were sovereigns drawing from a four-point pool, with an additional point for each level beyond the first, with a free blood trait and a free starting trait. Level appropriate equipment would be free, mounts and special weapons would cost a point each. So you'd see champions with up to five traits (up to seven with a weakness) at level one, and then one additional trait per level beyond that. Schools of magic would be priced as with sovereigns, and equipment appropriate to the next level group of heroes could be had for an extra point.

My view of level-appropriate equipment, as drawn from the champions currently in game:

Level One:  No armor, weapon is a dagger or equivalent

Level Three:  Partial suit of leather armor, and a dagger or equivalent

Level Five:  Full suit of leather armor, and a battle-axe or equivalent

Level Seven:  Mixed leather and chain/light plate or partial chain/light plate, and a battle-axe or equivalent

Level Nine:  Full chain/light plate (possibly full plate or masterwork chain), and an enchanted battle-axe or equivalent.

I find a use for the high-lvl guys, esp if I go town-heavy strat.  That said, the XP loss with multiple heroes really nerfs that strategy  (and stacking heroes for fighting other kingdoms/empires isn't a huge deal since you get so little XP for it)

Agreed, high level heroes are sub-par in many ways so combined with their high cost it only makes sense to buy most of them if you have already won (and therefore don't need to spend your resources sensibly).

Bear in mind that you can mod in your own champions and set a fairly high occurrence rate.  Time-consuming as it may be, at least then you can fill out their traits and equipment and give them enough of an army at their side that they can't easily be whacked.

You don't need to know a thing about XML, just remember that all tags need to be closed after they're used.  You can pretty much copy and paste what you need.

Also, you can contain a hero and their stuff inside one individual file rather than rolling all your heroes into one file.  So if you make a boo-boo you're not scrolling through four hundred pages of code to figure out what went wrong.

They don't have to be particularly original or have brilliant stories, just figure out what works for you and go from there.

I mean no offence, it's just that I find the game is more enjoyable with a few personal touches than without.