Another Look At Heroes 4

[Bandobras Took]

I've picked up Heroes 4 again and have been replaying the campaigns. To my surprise, I find myself both enjoying it more and having an easier time.

After wondering why, I've come to the conclusion that it's too easy to go Combat-heavy in the campaigns without even meaning to. This is especially true when first learning the game, since Combat gets offered an awful lot, and most of the original campaigns were automatic losses if the hero dies. That pushes choices towards heavy survival, which means that many campaigns feature large final maps in which creatures are an afterthought as one or two heroes systematically mowed everything down with bows.

One problem there is that creatures aren't as afraid of Combat heroes as they should be, forcing more pointless battles to be played out.

So it's easy to fall into the trap of every hero feeling the same because they're all GMing Combat and then slogging through a bunch of pointless battles without any real risk.

This time through, I decided to focus on the non-Combat skills.

And suddenly, it was fun. If probably wasn't that efficient, or that awe-inspiring, but being able to experiment with other options, even if it required more patience, suddenly meant I could use a resource/troop advantage from Nobility to eventually win a map rather than just having a combat hero mowing down everything in a dull slog of tedium.

I learned that since most of the original campaigns feature civil wars, you can get a ton of mileage out of Diplomacy and Charm.

Using Order Magic to turn armies against themselves is far funner than simple shooting them with a crossbow. Using Chaos Magic to decimate armies is funner than yet again shooting things with a crossbow.

And the campaigns are actually littered with enough stat boosts that you don't need Combat, as I originally thought.

My opinion has improved. The game was actually closer to a finished product than I have thought in the past.

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Definitely agree on your combat thoughts. That's what I ended up doing on my first play-through, though I was still learning the game at that point.

I'll have to look at focusing on the other skills as you did on my next play-through. Sounds like there are some good options for making things interesting while running through the stories again.

[Panda Tar]

Nice one, Bandrobras. Although H2 is my favourite, H4 comes as a second and the feeling of not overwhelming Combat on the battlefield might really a bit more of fun indeed. Might try someday as well.

[BrennusWhiskey]

HOMM 4 has great multiplayer gameplay though waiting for turns can be a bit tiring, especially for beginner players. Then you just get used to it and do other things while waiting for your turn.