Some skill Clarifications

[Elvin]

I'm not sure I agree with that. Of course you won't use it against warlocks but think of the other factions that will charge you, say inferno, haven, necro...They'll go towards your mages and titans so just placing the gargoyles next to them is enough to get a good boost, even more if you have a phoenix feather cape or an evercold icicle. Especially with icebolt as it can be used with motw that in turn triples the damage.

[winterfate]

Hmm...that's a good point.

It is still a rather situational ability though.

That Colossus ability looks pretty neat though (ranged damage reduction and damage to all in the cloud). It may be a bit underpowered though, especially considering that it would take 10 Colossi to reduce ranged damage by 10%. Perhaps the reduction could be higher but capped?

Something like -3% per Colossus, to a max reduction of -30%.

I do have to admit again though, that Nival is putting a lot of effort into this...

Maybe they read my interviews and took offence...

[PhoenixReborn]

I guess some people can't handle that the gargoyle became an offensive unit.

I'm not sure, how useful the golem thing is, unless it somehow works with magic mirror.

GOW is quite correct, the gremlins paralysis should either last longer or be usable multiple times.

I think the collossus power is pretty good, at least better than the call lightning.

The rakshasa ability probably means breaking through terrain.

[Elvin]

I am hesitant about the colossus power. At least call lightning is 30xtitan, 10x even in a 3x3 is too weak. Also 1% is a joke, how many times will you have more than 10 titans?

Exactly because it is weak you'd rather shoot and revert to it when you are blocked. By then it will be too late to have any effect.

Of course who cares as long as the unit has decent stats and hp but will it?

[winterfate]

The damage would add up over time...but it is too weak though.

Here's how I would have it:

Damage: 20xColossi
Ranged Damage Reduction: -3% per Colossi

That would be better.

I've always thought that Call Lightning is a bit underpowered too...considering how much potential damage Titans can do with their normal attacks.

[Gaidal Cain]

One of the upgrades for Cyclops can shoot beam from his eye that affects several creatures, and decreases his victims luck.

Laser-beam cyclops! Yay!

[okrane]

it seems the new creatures are better worked than the old ones.

I just hope that the old upgrades will still get picked.

Sharpshooters are imba...
quasits+pit lords = lots of meteor showers...

[watcher83]

looks like the cyclops is going back to its roots
I wonder if that means that in another expansion or in hommvi the boulder thrower will be the troll, like in homm1,2

[Qurqirish Dragon]

My thoughts on all this stuff:

Orcs
1) Goblins – shamans have the ability to tear spell from an enemy hero or casting unit. If the goblins fail, they will cast the spell they were going to tear on themselves. Goblins – hunters can set traps, which are invisible to the enemy.

Depending on the spell they are stealing, and the combat situation I might actually *WANT* this ability to fail. For example, someone with an anti-magic/armageddon combo, I might want to use anti-magic on my shamans, rather than steal it. (of course, if success means I get both effects - this description is a little ambiguous - then I want success always.)

2) Centaurs are the fastest shooters in the game, but take four tiles on the battlefield. Centaurs – nomads can run away from enemy, who has just hit them and then shoot the enemy from distance with half their normal strength. Centaurs – marauders does not have penalty when shooting into support.

A large level 2 creature? interesting. flee + 1/2 retaliation is interesting. If they get to have their normal turn quickly enough (and as the "fastest shooter", they probably have a 12 or 13 initiative), then they get a ranged attack even after the enemy closes in!

3) One of the upgrades for Orc warrior can take hits, which were targeted on a nearby friendly stacks, also his retaliation attack is two times stronger than normal attack.

Double-strength retaliation? Talk about a tank unit. Just sit back and defend! reduced damage from attacks, and double-strength retaliation. If you somehow get a defense buff on him, this becomes even stronger.

4) Shamans – Human and succubus hybrids can cast haste and slow. One of the upgrades, when engaged in hand-to-hand combat will curse (Slow, Weakness, Curse, Disrupting ray) the opponent.

haste and slow are always useful. The other ability really depends on the stats of the shaman.

5) Orc warlords raise initiative of all friendly creatures by one.

This makes those centaurs even more nasty. Already fast, this gives a further initiative boost.

6) Pao-kai is one of the upgrades for wyvern. It is immune to blind, because it has no eyesight to begin with. It attacks with electric breath that harms everyone standing near the attacked creature (amount of damage is divided among those affected by the discharge). In addition, Pao-kai can eat dead bodies to restore health.

Interesting unit. I assume that a dead-body that was eaten falls under the "consume corpse" category of not being raisable any more.

7) Cyclops is a strong hand-to-hand fighter, with an ability to attack walls, when in siege battle. One of the upgrades for Cyclops can shoot beam from his eye that affects several creatures, and decreases his victims luck.

The old H2 cyclops is back, almost. It would be nice if the eye-beam inflicted paralyze again also.

Overall, a very strong lineup. Of course, with no magic for the faction, they better be strong!

Necropolis
1) Skeleton warriors will receive only one fourth of damage dealt by an attack.

So basically they get 4x the health. the skeleton army is returning in a new form!

2) Disease zombies will cause all creatures excluding undead to decrease their attack and defense values by two and decrease morale by one.

If this is just by their presense, then this is a free mass weakness/ disrupting ray every battle. necro heroes will be quite happy with this. there might actually be a good reason to buy &/or raise a few of them.

3) Poltergeists will be able to remove a number of ammunition from a chosen shooter creature. The amount of removed ammunition is calculated from weekly growth of poltergeists.

Considering that later on, any shooter-dependant army will have an ammo cart, this is really only good against weak neutrals. not very impressive.

4) When Nosferatu attacks, he can put creature to sleep for three rounds.

Combine with soldier's luck, and this is probably stronger than no-retaliation! I could even see filling emty army slots with stacks of 1 nosferatu, just to put multiple stacks to sleep. In fact, since the sleep is for 3 rounds, 3 stacks of them could keep an entire army permanenty asleep!

5) Lich masters have the ability to deal damage to all creatures (excluding mechanisms and undead) in the surrounding area (radius 3 tiles).

So they lose shooting, but get a 3-radius melee attack! Talk about a complete turnaround in fighting style!

6) Banshee causes all of the enemy’s creatures to have decreased morale by one.

Banshees are the new bone-dragon

7) Horror dragons cast sorrow when they attack.

I think fear was better, but we'll have to see how this works out. Definitely not a unit you want with banshees, since they already reduce morale.

Inferno
1) Quasit extracts mana from enemy hero and distributes it evenly between all casters in quasit’s army.

So they can give spell points to heroes or pit-fiends/lords, depending on the variant. Depending on spells available, a tough choice.

2) Horned leaper can jump to indicated creature if there is a free tile next to it and deals damage increased by 10% for each tile crossed while jumping. In addition, the leaper can jump to creature even it is impossible to reach it by walking.

I wonder how far it can leap? Considering that I almost never get a chance to use demons in battle anyway, one good shot like this could be nasty. Also conside teleport-assault combined with this!

3) Firebreather covers two tiles with his fire breath.

a low-level fire breather (and a 1-tile one at that!) Gotta be careful, but firebreathing is almost always a useful ability.

4) Succubus Temptress is immune to hypnosis, and has the ability to seduce a creature one time per battle. The owner of the succubus can control seduced creatures.

For how long? I would guess it will be similar to puppet-master (0.25 turns per spell-power, power determined by stack size) Any skill that completely neutralizes an enemy stack is very powerful.

5) Hellmare will cause all enemy creatures to suffer from 10 points of fire damage multiplied by the count of hellmares in the stack when they reach their turn while residing in the immediate area of hellmare.

Aura of fire - quite strong. In large groups, you may not even want to attack with them - just move them close and defend.

6) Pit Spawn will deal damage increased by two for each creature in the attacked stack.

Damage increase by size of the target? This sounds like a few stacks of 1 will be stronger than one large stack.

7) Arch Demon’s ability “Summon Other” will allow him to choose any creature in the radius of his movement area. Chosen target will teleport near the Arch demon stack in tile, which will be the closest to the direction of previous position.

So much for protecting ranged units! Either the ranged unit itself, or the blocking unit can be pulled away!

Sylvan
1) One time per battle, dryads will be able to heal and resurrect treants, in the same time treants will be able to heal dryads. One dryad heals four hit points, one treant 20 hitpoints.

I like this one. and it makes treants even harder to kill!

2) Bladesinger will receive two point addition to defence for every crossed tile.

anti-charging. nice complement to sheildbearers.

3) Sharpshooters will ignore 75% of targets defense, his shoot can throw target back by one tile.

Better be relatively low damage. Gelu's troops were incredibly strong in H3.

4) High Druids can perform special ritual, which transfers their magical power to hero, adding him spell power. The effect lasts until there are no more druids alive.

A spell-POWER buff? I guess those destructive spells are looking better, aren't they?

5) When White Unicorns participate in battle, every light magic spell excluding damaging spells will be cast on the unicorns, regardless of the caster.

This looks like a mixed-blessing, as you cannot buff your other troops.

6) Anger treant’s ability “Rage of the Forest” will activate only once per battle, and take effect for the whole battle. Treants will transfer half of their defense to attack, increase their initative by two and loose the ability to entangle enemy.

Anyone care to storm Isengard?

7) Rainbow Dragon’s fire attack can affect one to five tiles, depending on luck.

I hope you have SOME control over this. Otherwise you cannot have friendly troops anywhere near the dragons when they fight!

Academy
1) Gremlins will be able to paralyze any mechanical unit on the battlefield (golems, ammo carts, tents, town towers) for one turn, if the unit’s total hit points are lower than gremlins.

If catapults are included, then this can be very helpful in a seige. most other things probably aren't worth it.

2) Gargoyles and all creatures (including allies) standing near them will receive 1,5 times more damage from fire, air and water based spells.

Another mixed-blessing. If you have allies nearby, you can get hurt as much as the enemy. These guys have to fight alone.

3) Obsidian golems are immune to all spells excluding those dealing damage. Every spell that deals magical damage heals and resurrects golems. The amount of restored hitpoints equals to 50% of the damage, which would have been dealt by the magical attack. At the start of the battle, golems receive “Obsidian sphere” that zeroes damage from destruction spells. If the golem stack was somehow damaged, next magical attack that hits them will heal the stack. If the golems suffer from area spell together with allied units, they will transfer portion of the damage to themselves.

So with an area spell, they transer some damage to themselves, which is then either negated or heals? golems continue to be great defenders.

4) Battle mages have a little amount of spells, their shoot only hits one target.

Well, what is "little" spells? 2? normally no spell caster has many anyway! As long as that spell is a damage-type, no problem.

5) Genies – viziers can increase luck for friendly creatures and decrease it for enemy creatures. They can do that three times per battle. It is possible to do so on a single unit only once per battle.

Not a very powerful one, but at least it is predictable!

6) Rakshasa princess can break through six tiles in front of them.

If this means through obstacle, does it include castle walls? Even if only normal terrain obstacles, it means that tactics in battle gets easier, as this is one less large creature to worry about getting pinned.

7) Colossus can summon 3x3 tile sized cloud to any place on the battlefield; every creature that gets under the cloud receives 10 points of damage for each colossus that summoned the cloud. Shooters under the cloud receive 1% penalty to ranged attack for each colossus.

Much stronger than the call lightning - particularly if it remains a few rounds or you can hit multiple targets (and at 3x3, you can probably get at least two very easily)

Fortress
1) As long as defenders do not move, they receive five point addition to their defense.

So, they basically are always in defend-mode? And the defend command has double-effect.

2) Harpooners can shoot harpoon that in addition to standard damage can pull the attacked creature by one tile closer to the harpooner.

There seem to be a lot of "move the target stack" abilities. No matter what faction you play, you'll have to learn to deal with this.

3) When bears attack, they can frighten the attacked creature and enemy creatures that stand nearby. Bear receives one point addition to his morale and ten percent gain to his health. The effect lasts for two turns.

that extra health will be useful, but I think the paw-strike of the black bears may be ultimately more useful.

4) Every time Bonecrusher deals damage, he will gain two point addition to his initiative and five point addition to his attack. This effect is active for two turns. When fighting with large creatures he will receive four point bonus to his attack and defense.

Considering that he is unlikely to go two rounds without dealing damage, you can figure, in general, +4 or +6 to initiative and +10 or +15 attack. I am assuming that the boost stacks if you deal damage while it is already active. Once initiative is over 10, the triple-boost is easy. With retaliations from the enemy, an initiative near 20 seems possible to build. Rune of ressurrection seems like it will be very useful to keep them going.

5) Priests – After death, their inner flame escapes and deals fire damage to every enemy in the surrounding tiles. Level of damage depends on the amount of priests in the dead stack.

Limited use, since they are not melee units. will cause the enemy to be cautious about finishing them off, however.

6) One time per battle thanes can do standard damage multiplied by 1,2 to any creature and hang “Mark of fire” on them.

As opposed to chain lightning? I fthe enemy is spread out, I guess this is better, although the mark of fire can help with the appropriate hero abilities.

7) When the dragons attack, they leave a fire wall, that deals ten point damage for each dragon in the stack.

This sounds like it has quite devistating potential! Even for non-dwarven heroes.

Dungeon
1) Stalker can turn invisible for the enemy until it attacks or moves to a position in next to an enemy unit. The ability works only once per battle and lasts for three rounds.

I've already commented on this above.

2) Blood Witch is immune to curses, deals less damage and has more hitpoints.

If they still have that large damage range, then immulity to curses is very useful.

3) Minotaur Captain causes all creatures in the area around him (radius 3 tiles) to be unable to have morale with value less than one.

I wonder how this interacts with the necromancer Ultimate?

4) If, while moving towards his target, the Black Rider passes any enemy creatures, it inflicts damage equal to one fourth of his normal damage on them and then restarts his movement.

These guys will be running around a lot, won't they?

5) When acid hydra takes damage, it spills acidic blood four tiles to the side of the attack. The damage of the acid is equal to one fourth of normal damage dealt by the stack of hydras.

I think these babies are going to be incredibly nasty. Ranged/magic seems to be the way to go after them.

6) Shadow Mistress’s Invisibility works the same way as stalkers, but she can cast spells without being exposed.

Considering I seldom used the spells from the witches/matriarchs, their spells better be good enough to make them wothwhile.

7) Red Dragon can fly up and attack nearby enemy with 1,5 times more powerful attack without receiving retaliation.

Get the minotaurs near them, to increase the chance of good morale, and have fun

Some information
It will be easier for heroes to gain superabilities, because the list of requirements for them is reworked.

I am surprised nobody commented on this yet? I wonder how they reworked them. It could really change the entire hero development track. (particularly for academy and sylvan)

Both, standard upgrades and alternative upgrades will cost the same; it will be possible to retrain creatures, but only in towns and for high price.

This is good. No freely-swapping abilities I hope the price is indeed very high. The choice of which upgrade to get should require some thought.

One of the new adventure buildings is ”Teacher of memory”. When a hero visits it, he can forget one of his skills or abilities for a price and learn another one.

This is another great one for getting the skills you want. This, in itself, may have been enough for making the superabilities easier to get. If they have made them easier anyway, we may see them used more in maps.

[PhoenixReborn]

2 quick responses to QD: I think the bladesinger gets defense for every tile that it moves not the enemy unit. I think the unicorn gets buffed in addition to whatever else gets buffed.

[Elvin]

A few corrections and additions by Geny from hc:

Goblins – shamans have the ability to (tear)disrupt spell from an enemy hero or casting unit.

Centaurs – marauders does not have penalty when shooting from no range (No Melee, I guess).

One of the upgrades for Orc warrior can take hits, which were targeted on a nearby friendly stacks, also his retaliation attack is (two) 1.5 times stronger than normal attack.

Disease zombies will cause all creatures next to them excluding undead to decrease their attack and defense values by two and decrease morale by one.

Poltergeists will be able to remove a number of ammunition from a chosen shooter creature in its movement range. The amount of removed ammunition is equal to number of weekly growths of poltergeists.

Horror dragons cast sorrow when they attack on basic level.

Bladesinger will receive two point addition to defence for every crossed tile.Given right after the movement, works until the next turn.

Obsidian golems are still hurt by armageddon.

Genie vizier's effect on a single unit works for 1 round * Genie's SP.

Every time Bonecrusher (deals)receives damage, he will gain two point addition to his initiative and five point addition to his attack. This effect is active for two turns. When fighting with large creatures he will receive four point bonus to his attack and defense.

Flame damage from the runepriests is calculated by the initial number of priests in the beginning of the battle.

When the dragons attack, they leave a fire wall for 2 turns, that deals ten point damage for each dragon in the stack.

Haven's alts will be Renegades

[Apocalypse]

The Sharpshooter is IMBA

Haven's alts will be Renegades

[Elvin]

I was still hoping it would not come to pass...

[ThunderTitan]

That's cause Pandora shut the box before it flew out.

[Adicto]

Would be nice to know how Death Wail works, or if the pathetic -1 to all enemy creatures is actually the Death Wail. Even Harm Touch seems a good ability compared to that.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Obsidian golems are still hurt by armageddon.

That's not too bad, seeing as how the cpu never bothers with it.

I did think the Bonecrushers special was a bit strange before the correction. Made him really powerful.

[watcher83]

- the reduce defense damage won't happen, the sharpshooter will have no range penalty instead of double shot, and force arrow instead of warding arrows( both won't happen with every shot)
like I said the sharpshooter may be more usefull but in essence the sharpshooter will be better against ranged units and the master hunters against walkers
- also I believe that the succubus seducer will be able to seduce only a stack with lower hitpoints than their own
- incinerate should have a chance of occuring;
- not sure I understand the pit spawn's ability completely;
- firebreath for the hound is overpowered;
- leaper is overpowered, not because it's a great unit but because the overseers are next to useless;
- sleeping attack should have a maximum chance of 30%;
- invisibility = really overpowered;

but since some units from every line-up also seem weaker than the classics maybe if comparing the two line-ups they might be more or less balanced

[PhoenixReborn]

Obsidian golems are still hurt by armageddon.

That's not too bad, seeing as how the cpu never bothers with it.

In my normal difficulty that is modified so that the enemy can use 5th level spells I've had armageddon used against me several times. Sometimes logically, as a parting shot, somtimes just randomly, but it does use it.

[Omega_Destroyer]

I've never had a cpu even bother with an implosion or meteor shower spell. They usually opt for something more annoying, like mass slow or mass weakness.

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

I've never had a cpu even bother with an implosion or meteor shower spell. They usually opt for something more annoying, like mass slow or mass weakness.

The computer is limited in the spells it can cast based on difficulty level. At expert it can cast level 4 spells. On heroic it can cast level 5 spells. I only play on heroic and see the high level spells cast routinely.

Nival has a whole lot of balancing to do looking at the alternate upgrade ability lists. I am quite concerned.

GOW