Combat happens frequently enough and is of great enough significance that I feel there should be a larger emphasis on adding more interactive elements to make things interesting and keep the Player involved. That's what I'm pushing for in DK2 at least, and something I'd at least attempt to push for if making a patch for DK1.
I find DK combat interesting because you can't tell your Creatures what to do. It makes the Creatures feel more alive in a sense, much like how they follow their own needs in the dungeon but still try to listen to what you have to say. You have indirect influence over combat by buffing your Creatures via spells or trying to manipulate their position through pick up / dropping or slapping (the latter applies mostly to DK2 and is a rarer element). The interactive element in patched DK2 comes from a feeling of impact in the results of combat by assisting your Creatures and a certain level of skill and quick decision making required to properly do such.
Like, this feeling that it couldn't be done without your help, but at the same time, there's an undeniable reliance upon the Creatures you attracted and raised as they still stand at the center of combat while you're more of a background figure pulling strings. That's what makes it feel satisfying for me while still keeping the core DK style of combat.
I've dreamed of my own DK game to make what I consider to be maximizing the true highlights and certain styles of the game (I guess sort of like everyone else), but it isn't really supposed to be like a DK3 or spiritual successor. Rather, it's closer to my own vision and game and what I'd like to see from something of that specific genre; it's something that would technically emphasize its own identity as opposed to trying to be another Dungeon Keeper game specifically. Maybe I'll attempt it someday if mostly everything goes right for me, who knows.
I'm not entirely convinced WftO will match up with what I personally want but I don't keep up with it enough to truly know that. I kinda just want to wait until it comes out to experience it fresh without any background knowledge of stuff going on during its development, although that's kind of impossible I guess at this point considering that I used to also work on WftO.
While I don't remember the details of all my past WftO suggestions (I made a lot back when WftO was on KK and plenty of my units were intended to be implemented but got scrapped during the IP change, so you don't see any of them now, never bothered with suggestions after that as it would ultimately be a waste of time), there is one particular Hero suggestion that comes to mind and I think matches well with your suggestion on unit synergy in the dungeon, but with a different approach.
The Maiden I believe is the first publicly accepted suggestion. The thread is quite outdated as I remember I was working on an update but could never get around to finishing it due to a lot of events going on around the time and it eventually became irrelevant to work on. Basically, she is a pure buff unit that supports working Creatures in the dungeon to increase their efficiency or buff them in combat. She creates a bond with a specific male unit and continues to support him to drastically increase his capabilities. In essence, the Maiden works as a clone of another existing creature. While she takes up a slot in your army, she can excel in literally any task in the dungeon, indirectly, by supporting someone who already works well at a certain job. In combat, she works similarly by buffing your strongest creature to make it so you essentially have a second copy of it. In practice it's obviously different from simply that but it is an interesting and fair comparison nevertheless for concept discussion.
The concept of a Maiden works so well because it fits that role perfectly as a typical damsel in distress type character, something that also works because it fits the DK style of archetype Heroes and she fittingly works well with Knights. Additionally, she fills in the role of pure buffer, something that both vanilla DK1 / Dk2 lack. She has an easily understood concept and consistent usage in both battle and the dungeon while at the same time she adds an element of depth to the game on her own based on the impact she has in dungeon management. It's that strong element of unit synergy that you mentioned.
I honestly feel that the way to go about expanding on dungeon management in DK would be through units like the Maiden. Creatures that can have this kind of unique and personalized impact on the whole dungeon can certainly add additional layers of depth on their own. At the same time, each creature needs to be given enough thought to make sure its concept matches up properly with its usage to ensure it's easily understandable, while also avoiding the feeling of them being fluff. The Maiden is a prime example of such, I feel.
Funnily enough, this major emphasis on combat that I'm expressing is more or less something discovered sort of accidentally.
I originally just started with trying to balance the game and I thought it would be interesting if I made it so Keeper Thunderbolt could be castable anywhere to balance out the nerfs I did to it originally with damage drops and a recharge time. I also just sort of randomly created an Invulnerable Keeper Spell to replace the OP Turncoat spell (originally I worked with a Raise Dead spell but that was kinda boring). I then noticed a higher demand for skill and certain interactive elements appearing as, due to recharge times, I had to properly time my castings on the right targets to make the most out of the spells.
Due to changes I did to Creatures and Heroes, there's a higher reward in personally interacting with combat. Heavy Hitters focus everything in one blow, and it is incredibly rewarding to stun them just as they're attacking to deny them that one blow. Then there's the added capability of burst damage through spells like Fireball and that synergizes with the stun because you double that burst.
Upon realizing this strong interactive element and how it improves combat experience, I began to move more towards that, especially with the new update I'm working on.
It's quite good that I'm doing this as DKII otherwise doesn't really have anything. By default, DK1 pretty much does mostly everything better than DKII. DKII just has no soul, nothing really going for it, and its default combat is even less of an experience than in DK1. It just so happens that, due to the way the game's designed and the game's engine, DKII has the potential for expansion in its combat elements. Bringing out the best potential of the game is in essence the main goal of the patch.
I also feel I downplayed DKII's dungeon management too much. Thinking about it more, I realize it does still have a lot of elements and its own level of depth involved to keep the dungeon at higher efficiency and to better raise your army for when battle encounters do actually occur. There are some things it has that it does better than in DK1, such as trap / door placement due to the better variety of traps and doors in addition to resources required to use them.
The main problem with it all is just the fact that it's not as fun / interesting or as satisfying as in DK1. There are smaller details that make a difference, but one of the bigger things are the Creatures. DK1 Creatures are much better than DK2 Creatures and they feel more alive, which also makes your dungeon feel more alive and interesting to interact with.
Well that definitely makes sense to me.
One of the problems with vanilla DK2 and why its such a casual game is the fact that the game almost never pressures you, like ever. It's also why everyone hates level 10. The increased pressure in my own maps definitely seems to be quite the improvement and forces Players to keep up with their dungeon efficiency to keep their armies healthy and to stay on top of combat, sometimes doing both simultaneously. Naturally, there is a higher focus on the combat latter because that's what patched DKII offers better of. So it only makes sense that DK1 would have more emphasis on the former as that's what it does better.
Fair enough. There isn't enough to do in a map to make it so the IF limit is consistently being hit so it's not really a worry or a priority demand.
Yeah, I understand and know how it is.
I would agree with this.
Well, it forces you to think. You can't just do whatever as you'll run into problems with those limitations. You need to think more carefully on how to get what you want without having it being restrained by these limits, and it forces you to make certain judgement calls.
I think it's mostly a case of the provoking of thought and more careful planning than what would otherwise be applied that causes such.