Heroes of Might and Magic II Mod

[Ya5MieL]

I would support both options, but only to an extent...

In heroes 5 creatures gained additional morale bonuses if they are led by native hero,... i think it was step forward.

And i doubt in H2 warlock troops were designed to be led by barbarian... after all, they have too high att&def skills for my taste.

I can understand high hp and damage, but they should not be more capable combatants

Warlock troops + Barbarian is surely not balanced versus Barbarian troops + Barbarian. It's a slaughter.

[gravyluvr]

Damned if I know what you are talking about.

Sorry you are damned...

A better potential way to start is to change the starting stats to certain classes of heroes.

Give the Sorceress +1 defense, wizard +1 offense, Warlock +1 Offense and Necro +1 Knowledge. This way everyone starts with and equal distribution of Primary Skill points.

Also, could nerf Barbie and Wizard 2nd skill set by changing Barbie to Logistics+Scouting instead of Adv. Logistics and change Wizard to Wisdom+Mysticism instead of Adv. Wisdom.

For secondary skills...

#1 Make every class have a 0% chance of learning Eagle Eye.
Or change it to B=50% of Lvl2 A=75% of Lvl3 E=100% of Lvl4

#2 Make Scouting B=2 Squares A=4 Squares E=8 Squares

#3 Make Mysticism B=4 SP A=8 SP E=100% SP (or 3-6-9 or 2-4-8 if single digits is the only available)

#4 Make Barbarian 0% of Wisdom and Knight changed to 1 or 10% (half current setting)

#5 Diplomacy change to B=20% A=40% E=80%

Just some ideas...

[Campaigner]

This is taking longer then expected. I want to start playing and here are the changes that I would like to see done

Knight & Barbarian get 0% chance of learning Wisdom
All classes get 0% chance of learning Eagle-Eye (if nothing better can be done)


Is it possible to set manaregeneration equal to points of knowledge like in Heroes V or maybe spellpower?
If not, Mysticism must be boosted to something like 3, 6 and 10 to make it usable. And wells on the adv.map should give something like half mana.
Oh, and the changes gravy wants about scouting is good as well.

[Ya5MieL]

I'm not sure about the others but so far i didnt manage to find secondary skill table (tho I' prolly will soon, just need to figure few things).

I would do it campaigner but i need to figure out that first

So far I can edit:

1. All creature data mentioned before.
2. All building data (tho i don't seem to be able to find that new pol necro building but i maybe just overlooked it - all other buildings are editable cost-wise)
3. Hero Primary skills (starting ones and distribution chances on level-ups)
4. Simple text data like Hero and Artifact names etc.
5. All spell related data (Costs, levels, descriptions...).

I needed to reinstall windows so i lost track about some of the offsets but i should be back on track soon.

[Kristo]

I needed to reinstall windows so i lost track about some of the offsets but i should be back on track soon.

We should create some place to document everyone's findings so they aren't lost if someone's computer breaks. Angelspit would probably be ok with us adding a page to the website to hold all the mod information.

[Ya5MieL]

Sounds ok, but I'm not sure is any further progress possible ...
Hex editing is after all, quite limited...

I've rechecked the file and ATM, I cant anything new except the stuff i already mentioned.
I'll post offsets and explanations of how different bytes are pondered, but it will be only for my version (h2 Gold v2.1 - should be same as PoL 2.1?)

I hope it will be helpful fore some, and maybe others will find a way to digg out other data ...

This will be messy now, but i have no time to nicely edit my "quicknotes" that i used while browsing the file with editor:

Here it goes:
----------------------------------
Building Costs - Starting at F1FF4:
(uses reversed pondering, i.e last byte for a value is first and first is last)

Only first 2 bytes of each value seem to have effect, last two are 0 in all cases, they seem to be some sort of flags)

28 bytes per building:
1-4 Wood
5-8 Mercury
9-12 Ore
13-16 Sulfur
17-20 Crystal
21-24 Gems
25-28 Gold (i.e.12-34-00-00 means value is 00003412)

Note: since there is reversed pondering.. The left most byte is used as the one with the least valuable so any changes should go to those bytes (1st,5th, etc.)

List of buildings:
Mage 1
Mage 2
Mage 3
Mage 4
Mage 5
Fortifications
Coliseum
Rainbow
Dungeon
Library
Storm
-????? 2000+5+5
Thieves Guild
Tavern or Marketplace
Shipyard
Well
---EMPTY
Castle
Statue 1250
Left Turret
Right Turret
Marketplace or Tavern
Horde
Moat
*******Last Moat byte at F2293*******
---EMPTY
---EMPTY
???????
******First Peasants Hut byte at F2488******
Peasants Hut
Archery Range
Blacksmith
Armory
Jousting Arena
Cathedral
Upg. Archery
Upg. Blacksmith
Upg. Armory
Upg. Arena
Upg. Cathedral
-Same procedure for other races ending with byte at F2C2F (Last byte of upgraded Lich Dwelling)


Hero Stats, starting at F1D18:
5 bytes per class:
1- AT
2- DF
3- SP
4- KN
5- ? (flag)
ending at F1D35


Starting at F1040- primary skill chances table
8 bytes per class
1-4 A,D,S,K for lvl 2-10
5-8 A,D,S,K for lvl10+
last byte at F106F


Will add spells later, dont have the offsets in notes...

[grobblewobble]

Warlock troops + Barbarian is surely not balanced versus Barbarian troops + Barbarian. It's a slaughter.

This only applies to dragon vs cyclops. The other barbarian creatures are a match for the warlock creatures, because their higher growth compensates sufficiently for lower stats.
Besides the dragon, only the hydra is exceptionally strong (in terms of weekly growth), but with its slow speed it is usually hard to realize their full potential on the battlefield.

[Campaigner]

I've PMed belphegor and asked him to post about the secondary skills table.
But can we change the effectiveness of the skills? Like increasing the manaregeneration of Mysticism and the viewrange of Scouting?
If we can do that we got a few more things to settle on.

About the primary skill table. In Heroes V almost all heroes focus on both a might and magic attribute(f.e Attack & Knowledge). Only Knights and Wizards are excepted from this rule (Defense & Attack for Knight and Knowledge & Spellpower for Wizard). In Heroes II, all heroes are extreme in that they focus only on either might or magic (There's no 'Attack & Spellpower or Knowledge & Defense. It's Attack & Defense and Defense & Attack for the Knight and Barbarian f.e.).

[Darmani]

This important thread is overdue for a bump.

[gmars3yp]

Hey, I play Heroes 2 whenever I can find someone to play! Send me an email or look for me on the Celestial Heavens - HoMM 2 hamachi network!

As for power discrepancies... Yikes!! Poor barbarians and knights are so much weaker! Even if you take magic out of the equation entirely and just look at creature strength alone, a Warlock & Wizard will never lose against a barbarian or knight unless the warlock/wizard plays extremely poorly and the barbarian/knight plays well. It's not a big deal against the computer, but I wouldn't want to be a knight against a human walock player!!

[Darmani]

Even if you take magic out of the equation entirely and just look at creature strength alone, a Warlock & Wizard will never lose against a barbarian or knight unless the warlock/wizard plays extremely poorly and the barbarian/knight plays well. It's not a big deal against the computer, but I wouldn't want to be a knight against a human walock player!!

Of course 1 week's troops worth of Warlock's or Wizard's troops would beat one week's worth of Knight's or Barbarian's troops. But that's an extraordinarily naive analysis. Knight and Barbarian are the rush factions; Wizard and Warlock are the late-game factions. A Knight or Barbarian player will need to turn his early-game military advantage into a late game resource advantage.

(Note: Castles owned and military troops available are both considered resource advantages.)

[AngelEyes]

Of course 1 week's troops worth of Warlock's or Wizard's troops would beat one week's worth of Knight's or Barbarian's troops. But that's an extraordinarily naive analysis. Knight and Barbarian are the rush factions; Wizard and Warlock are the late-game factions. A Knight or Barbarian player will need to turn his early-game military advantage into a late game resource advantage.

Right. It really depends on the size of the map. Sure, on those large maps where Dragons and Titans can be developed, Warlocks and Wizards rule the battlefield. But Knights and Barbarians on a small or medium map can really be a handful.

[Darmani]

Of course 1 week's troops worth of Warlock's or Wizard's troops would beat one week's worth of Knight's or Barbarian's troops. But that's an extraordinarily naive analysis. Knight and Barbarian are the rush factions; Wizard and Warlock are the late-game factions. A Knight or Barbarian player will need to turn his early-game military advantage into a late game resource advantage.

Right. It really depends on the size of the map. Sure, on those large maps where Dragons and Titans can be developed, Warlocks and Wizards rule the battlefield. But Knights and Barbarians on a small or medium map can really be a handful.

Even on those large maps, Knight and Barbarian can do well if they turn their martial advantage into a resource advantage.

On smaller maps though, Wizard and Warlock will have some more problems winning. Warlock could do fine; Griffins and Minotaurs are capable, and Hydras are a beast if they can be brought into combat. Wizards may have some more trouble. Golems are capable defenders, but the only great troops before the Titan they have are the Magi.

[gmars3yp]

Of course 1 week's troops worth of Warlock's or Wizard's troops would beat one week's worth of Knight's or Barbarian's troops. But that's an extraordinarily naive analysis. Knight and Barbarian are the rush factions; Wizard and Warlock are the late-game factions. A Knight or Barbarian player will need to turn his early-game military advantage into a late game resource advantage.

(Note: Castles owned and military troops available are both considered resource advantages.)

Not sure just how "early" you're talking about when you say "early-game military advantage." In fact, this notion of "early-game" seems to crop up quit often in online Heroes discussions, and I've never really understood it. I'd expect to purchase a green tower or cloud castle no later than my opponent purchases a cathedral or pyramid - and in a map with adequate resources that's almost always by the end of week two. After that, if you're not able to buy a full week's worth of troops as a wizard or warlock each week, you're playing poorly. In other words, Wizards and Warlocks can get up on their feet just as easily as the other alignments; only their troops are far stronger. So unless by "early" you mean weeks 1 & 2, I really don't think there exist any such "early game phase." Furthermore, the troops that a warlock has in week 1 are already more powerful than those of a knight or barb. So even if you're talking about battles on turn 5, I'm still rooting for the warlock all the way.

In conclusion; it's true that knight/barb troops cost less than wizard/warlock troops, but that shouldn't stop a competent player from getting the wizard/warlock troops just as soon. The only thing the knight/barb then has to show for it is extra cash... and that's not going to help win the battle!

[Darmani]

You're making some pretty bold statements about balance that goes contrary to just about every fact as well as the manual's opinion of the factions. Please back up the following statements, assuming you're not playing in Easy or Normal difficulty:

I'd expect to purchase a green tower or cloud castle no later than my opponent purchases a cathedral or pyramid - and in a map with adequate resources that's almost always by the end of week two.

(Green Tower with requirements is over twice as expsnive as a Pyramid.)

After that, if you're not able to buy a full week's worth of troops as a wizard or warlock each week, you're playing poorly.

(Black Dragons alone cost 15k, which is more than a Warlock Castle w/ Dungeon+Statue's weekly income.)

In other words, Wizards and Warlocks can get up on their feet just as easily as the other alignments

(Despite being several times more expensive?)

cash [...is] not going to help win the battle!

(Why does everyone recommend getting gold from treasure chests, then?)

Anyway, if you attempt to make the Knight equal with the Warlock on all levels, then you've just destroyed several of the main attractions of Heroes II. It's easy to balance by making everything the same, but it damages the fun factor.

[dborca]

I came across this thread only recently, so bear with me. A few things to note on the technical side:
- for reversers: someone asked for a good decompiler. I don't know any, but a good disassembler is provided by DataRescue. In fact, it is TEH tool of the trade. freeida43.exe can be downloaded for free (legally: http://www.datarescue.be/downloadfreeware.htm) from the net (eg: http://www.programmersheaven.com/downlo ... nload.aspx). That's free as in free beer. If one is interested in free as in freedom, one can get HT Editor from http://hte.sourceforge.net, which is pretty good.
- for programmers: a free implementation of Heroes2 engine: http://sourceforge.net/projects/fheroes2. Incomplete, but promising; needs game content.

[gmars3yp]

You're making some pretty bold statements about balance that goes contrary to just about every fact as well as the manual's opinion of the factions. Please back up the following statements, assuming you're not playing in Easy or Normal difficulty:

The manual wants to portray the game as being well balanced and well crafted. Of course they will overlook the power discrepancy. It’s possible that after making the game, they didn’t even fully realize the degree of the discrepancy. After all, it may take a while of playing before its magnitude becomes fully apparent.

(Green Tower with requirements is over twice as expsnive as a Pyramid.)

Quoting straight from the manual, a green tower costs 15,000 gold, 30 ore, and 20 sulfur. A pyramid costs 6000 gold, 20 ore, and 20 crystal. Just The beginning of the game is marked with the great opportunity to pick up all those treasure chests, gold, and resource piles just laying on the map. Let’s break down a complete and thorough analysis:

Costs of pyramid and all requisites:

Adobe: 2000 gold, 10 ore, and 10 wood
Bridge: 4000 gold, 20 ore
Pyramid: 6000 gold, 20 ore, 20 crystal

Total: 12,000 gold, 50 ore, 10 wood, 20 crystal

Cost of green tower and all requisites:

Crypt: 1000 gold, 10 ore
Nest: 2000 gold
Maze: 3000 gold, 10 gems
Swamp: 4000 gold, 10 sulfur
Tower: 15,000 gold, 30 ore, 20 sulfur

Total: 25,000 gold, 40 ore, 10 gems, 30 sulfur

Now, consider for a warlock… Let’s see how a warlock’s finances play out during the first two weeks – enough time to buy a green tower before week three so as to get the third week’s creature growth. Purchase a dungeon on day one. This costs 3000 gold. It yields 500 a turn, so in 5 turns it has paid for itself. Hence the net effect is 14 – 5 = 9 days of +500 gold = 4500 gold. Purchase a statue on day two. This costs 1250 gold and 5 ore. It pays for itself in 5 days, which means 14 – 5 – 1 (didn’t have statue on day one) = 8 days of +250 gold. Thus provides 2000 gold. Thus statue + dungeon effects yield 6500 gold within the first two weeks. Now, regular income generates 1000 x 14 = 14,000 gold. So the total so far is 20,500 gold. Add this to the gold you started the game with, which in hard mode is 5000 gold. Now you have a total of 25,500 gold. But let’s again remember that your heroes are suppose to be running around finding treasure chests and piles of resources. It’s fair to say that within two whole weeks of running about you can find about 7 treasure chests averaging 1,500 gold (the middle amount it can offer) and 5 piles of gold, averaging… say 500 gold each (a conservative estimate). This yields another 13,000 gold! So the total gold that you should have gotten and spent by day seven in week two is 38,500. As you can clearly see, this is more than enough to purchase every requisite dwelling and also a green tower. Further, it leaves 13,500 gold to spend on the troops you needed in the first two weeks. But there’s more, I assumed that none of your heroes even had estates or gold producing artifacts, or flagged any gold mines! So these would only add even more thousands in gold! As you can see, it is apparent that building a green tower is not as difficult as most seem to think it is… if you spend your money wisely. Sure it may be even easier to build a pyramid, but like I already said… the only thing the barb has to show for it in the end, is extra resources. And these will not help him in battle. Hence, I stand by my claim.

(Black Dragons alone cost 15k, which is more than a Warlock Castle w/ Dungeon+Statue's weekly income.)

That’s completely incorrect. Black dragons cost 4000 gold + 2 sulfur each. A tower generates one dragon a week, two with a well. For two dragons a week, that’s 8000 gold and 4 sulfur. A warlock town, with a statue and a dungeon (both of which should be purchased in week one), generates an income of 1750 x 7 = 12,250 a week. As you can clearly see, this is more than enough to purchase the dragons. Further, with a gold mine that’s an additional 7000 a week, hence a total of 19,250 a week. Further still, a hero or two with estates with only add even more to this. As if all of this were not enough, there is in addition that little aspect of the game known as exploration. This provides exploring heroes with many a gold pile and treasure chest. These will rack up several thousand more a week in gold alone. Lastly, if needed, one may always resort to trading in a marketplace – the more you own, the better the deal. In case you’re thinking that the chests, gold, and resource piles only last for a limited time before they’re all picked up from the map, you’re right. But by the time they’re gone you’ve also flagged many mines and should have extra castles and sources of income (maybe even artifacts too like the endless purse). All of this provides more than enough to buy what you need. Buying dragons is not hard at all.

(Despite being several times more expensive?)

Yes, despite being much more expensive. You bet they sure can.

(Why does everyone recommend getting gold from treasure chests, then?)

I often take gold from chests in the first two weeks to help build a tower, cloud castle, or whatever… after that I usually always choose experience. Timing is everything.

Anyway, if you attempt to make the Knight equal with the Warlock on all levels, then you've just destroyed several of the main attractions of Heroes II. It's easy to balance by making everything the same, but it damages the fun factor.

Of course I don’t want everything the same, and yes I agree that it would be difficult to tweak things without damaging the fun factor, but there still remains an overwhelming and undeniable discrepancy of power. My statements may be bold, but there are far from wrong. When my friends and I play, we know that being a knight or barbarian against a wizard or warlock means almost certain defeat.

[Darmani]

I started drafting a response to point out several problems with your method, but I realized that a better and more constructive thing to do would be to try it. So I did.

I normally play on Expert difficulty, but, as your thing was written from the perspective of Hard difficulty, I played in that. I picked the map "Dragon Wars" to test this on.

The result? At the end of the two weeks, purchasing one hero and and 2940 gold worth of Centaurs, Gargoyles, and Griffins, I easily met the Gold requirement, made the Ore requirement by a short margin, but, after purchasing the Swamp, only had 7 of the 20 needed sulfur. As a result, I'd likely purchase the Green Tower 10 days after the hypothetical Barbarian player in Dragon Wars purchased the Pyramid. In an extra-large and mazelike map such as Dragon Wars, that might not make a difference. In a Medium, or even a Large map, that's more than enough time for the Barbarian to charge up here and smack me (especially considering I've been miserly with troops). Also remember that, even if you do build defenses, the strength of defenses is a function of the number of buildings built.

Additionally Dragon Wars is hardly a normal map. Although the resources were spread out, they were plentiful and with weak defenses. The map was rather open. In by far most maps in Heroes II I've played (as well as the rest oft he series), you start in an area confined with by trees/mountains and strong neutrals, with every mine guarded.

I tried this again, in the map "Mountain King." This time, I came only 10 sulfur short, but missed the gold mark, as I needed some troops as I went out in search of more sulfur (I got narrowly defeated by a pair of AI heroes that likely would not be there/be much weaker in PvP, but it likely would have made little difference in my ability to find 10 sulfur in 4 days.

Mountain King still seemed to have weaker neutrals than I'm used to (e.g.: Sulfur mine was guard by 30ish Goblins; I'd expect to find it guarded by tier 3 or 4 creatures; Sawmill was unguarded, but the sawmill in the game on Lost Continent I started this morning [Expert difficulty] was guarded by 25 Nomads), but the point still stands. If that 10 sulfur+10 spent on the Swamp had been Crystal and I a Barbarian player, I would've gotten the Pyramid by the end of week two, and had enough gold to purchase a full, [mostly] upgraded army and capture several castles.

Lesson to be learnt: When drawing proposals on paper, don't forget to take equally important factors into account. The game won't.

[gmars3yp]

Hehehe, I don't know what you "tried out." I never outlined a strategy to get a green tower, I just showed that the raw stats make it quite possible. If you weren't able to pull it off, well.. sorry. I've always been able to get a green tower on week two on Dragon Wars. I haven't played Mountain King in a long time, so I'll give it a shot sometime soon and let you know how it goes. Anyway, you asked me for details - you asked for me to provide backup and I did. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it can't be done.

I also want to add that even if you weren't able to get dragons early enough and a barbarian or knight came running up into your territory in the beginning of the third week... you'd easily be able to crush them if they tried to "smack" you. It'd be a slaughter defending in your castle, even with no extra ballistae/garrison. They would be slightly weakened from fighting natives to get to you, and you'd be sitting fully powered in your castle... it'd be such an easy victory.

Anyway, I'd happily play you in say, Beltway or some other adequately resourced map - medium or large and see if you as a barb or knight can so easily "smack" me when I play as a warlock.

Edit:

You know, I just realized something that puts an even bigger hole in everything you’re saying. Here’s what you said about being able to get enough resources when you tried playing:

The result? At the end of the two weeks, purchasing one hero and and 2940 gold worth of Centaurs, Gargoyles, and Griffins, I easily met the Gold requirement, made the Ore requirement by a short margin, but, after purchasing the Swamp, only had 7 of the 20 needed sulfur.

You “made the Ore requirement by a short margin” Hmmm… well, let’s look back at the ore requirements for the green tower versus the pyramid…

Costs of pyramid and all requisites:

Adobe: 2000 gold, 10 ore, and 10 wood
Bridge: 4000 gold, 20 ore
Pyramid: 6000 gold, 20 ore, 20 crystal

Total: 12,000 gold, 50 ore, 10 wood, 20 crystal

Cost of green tower and all requisites:

Crypt: 1000 gold, 10 ore
Nest: 2000 gold
Maze: 3000 gold, 10 gems
Swamp: 4000 gold, 10 sulfur
Tower: 15,000 gold, 30 ore, 20 sulfur

Total: 25,000 gold, 40 ore, 10 gems, 30 sulfur

Whoops! A pyramid costs 10 more ore! That’s no “short margin.” In other words, you wouldn’t have been able to build a pyramid by the end of week two! You didn’t have enough Ore! What’s the lesson? It turns out pyramids aren’t always as easy to get as you thought, and whether you had been a barb or a warlock, you still wouldn’t have been able to build your highest level dwelling that week! Seems to totally throw out everything you’ve been saying…

[Darmani]

Hehehe, I don't know what you "tried out." I never outlined a strategy to get a green tower

Strategy to get a Green Tower in 14 days:

1)Play on Hard difficulty
2)First two buildings should be a Dungeon and a Statue
3)Be conservative with troops and garbage heroes. Don't upgrade anything unless you're certain it won't affect your ability to get a Green Tower.
4)Conserve sulfur and get as much as you can.
5)Send out heroes in search of treasure chests and gold piles (and sulfur).

You didn't outline that, but you sure made it clear that that's what should be done.

Anyway, I'd happily play you in say, Beltway or some other adequately resourced map - medium or large and see if you as a barb or knight can so easily "smack" me when I play as a warlock.

Oh, I have no doubt you could pull this off in Beltway. Unfortunately, if you need a scenario with "lots of resources" in the description to provide adequate resources for this plan, then that's not a very foolproof plan, is it? What ultra-resourceful maps like Beltway do is compress the midgame by letting you build your Level 5 Mage Guild and Black Tower much earlier than in "normal" maps.

Whoops! A pyramid costs 10 more ore! That’s no “short margin.” In other words, you wouldn’t have been able to build a pyramid by the end of week two! You didn’t have enough Ore! What’s the lesson? It turns out pyramids aren’t always as easy to get as you thought, and whether you had been a barb or a warlock, you still wouldn’t have been able to build your highest level dwelling that week! Seems to totally throw out everything you’ve been saying…

More specifically, I had 35 ore at the end of Dragon Wars. 5 ore is a small margin, and I'd need 5 more ore

Last night I also tried getting a Pyramid in Mountain King. I spared no expense on getting the unupgraded version of troops. At the end of two weeks, I was 3 ore short (remember, Statues cost Ore). Luckily, I had built a marketplace the day before, and was more than willing to exchange 15 gems for 3 ore. I succeeded in building the pyramid. Ore is a lot cheaper than sulfur.

(By that time, by not being stingy with troops, I also managed to defeat my southern neighbor; in a real game, I would've purchased a marketplace there before doing the exchange.)

Whoops....I just spotted a non-problem with my statement. A Dungeon, statue, and Green Tower cost 55 ore. A Pyramid and Statue also cost 55 ore. Problem where?

I also want to add that even if you weren't able to get dragons early enough and a barbarian or knight came running up into your territory in the beginning of the third week... you'd easily be able to crush them if they tried to "smack" you.

I highly disagree with that. Edit: Warning, rant ahead. Don't get caught up too much in arguing with this.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're using a might hero as your main (since, if you're trying to get a Green Tower, you wouldn't build a Mage Guild Level 2, and your magic skills would be worthless) and saw me coming early enough to build moat and turrets. However, your turrets would likely be shooting my Trolls. In other words, they'd be doing almost nothing, since my trolls can regenerate, and the strength of turrets is a function of the number of buildings.

That pretty much means I'm willing to sit back until my catapult destroys everything. Since Barbarian shooters are far superior to Warlock shooters, you can let me decimate your forces and then move in with walkers, or you can move out to engage me. Unfortunately, that'd put the Warlock Army at several disadvantages.

For starters, I should mention that, as I've been less stingy with troops the whole way through and fought neutrals on the way (and your might hero would likely not have been built until later), my hero is almost assuredly going to be higher level. If your flyers move out at the start, they will quickly be cut down by Barbarian walkers. Additionally, the one thing my Barbarian army with Cyclopes would fear are your Hydras. Normally I'd do my best to avoid those until I can gang up on them with everything, but, if you move out, that'd be easier (and if you don't then my shooters would destroy everything else, so it's a win-win situation).




Anyway, I suppose I have been partially convinced that some balancing should be done against the Warlock. One thing that easily comes to mind is to make the Dungeon more expensive, say 4000 gold, 15 wood, 15 ore, 5 of every secondary resource. It would still pay for itself in gold quickly, but the resource cost would slow down building everything else, meaning it would likely not be built until later.