Nargott
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I will provide explanations for the most significant changes:
HUMANS
1. Why was Reserve given to all types of peasants? This is a very strong unifying ability that combines interestingly with each type. The Militia overwhelms by mass, but not in a primitive way (simply a large number of creatures), but through a tactical ability that must be played well. What was the militia known for in the original? It was sluggish meat with completely standard abilities (stun and assault), having no tactical value since there are enough stunning and assaulting units without them. The value of each unit should be played out in a unique combination of abilities, because simply unique abilities will not be enough for this (the number of units is too large). Reserve is a very unconventional solution, but the goal of our mod was not to make the most standard units that are hardest to criticize, but to make the most interesting units without gross violations of logic and common sense.
2. Why were crossbowmen given Armor Piercing (ignore 50% at all distances), and archers given Armor-Piercing Shot? Crossbowmen had no effective use at medium and long ranges, being too niche a unit for "box" situations—effective, but niche. With armor piercing, the unit becomes more dangerous at medium range against targets with high defense. Archers had the opposite problem—they were a universal and best unit at long range, practically the opposite of crossbowmen. That is, the connection between these two grades was strongly broken. With armor-piercing shot, they now have a common niche (any crossbows are effective at close range); on the other hand, at long range, they will work much softer, not so definitively, which is correct—long-range operation is better suited for elves, not humans.
3. Why were all swordsmen given Cover (aura of 50% protection from arrows)? Knights needed a rework, as they were simply slow clones of skeleton warriors. Now their gimmick is that they protect not only against arrows but also intercept melee attacks (Intercept + Infinite Retaliation). The completely random stun was removed. At the same time, an analogy with vampires became interesting (three grades of swordsmen use no-retaliation, double strike, and infinite retaliation, and vampires do too), which clearly hints that vampires are former swordsmen.
Added after 2 hours 11 minutes
DWARVES
1. Spearmen were the most vague unit in history. Even in the original, it was a shooter with almost no arrows and extremely low damage. In our mod, this unit has long since ceased to be a shooter (which distinguishes it from Spear Throwers), but it had trouble with its abilities. Some 3-cell attack that was intended to combo with Wounding, but in practice only one target was crippled. And finally, an unusual and interesting niche has been devised for them: a combination of No Retaliation and Retribution. Wounding and No Retaliation link Spearmen with Spear Throwers (no-retaliation crippling damage), while Retribution gives them "untouchability" for enemy melee units (similar to how shooters can be unreachable for melee). I see no other options for making interesting melee units similar to the grades; and there is even less sense in making them another set of shooters, since all the interesting combinations for shooters have already been taken.
DEMONS
1. All types of dogs are given a common Frenzy (berserker ability). This is very important and fundamental for them. On one hand, thanks to this ability, they get a conditional no-retaliation (similar to the original), and on the other—they can multiply the damage dealt via area attacks or bites. I am sure that it is impossible to come up with anything better than frenzy for dogs.
2. All types of devils received a common No Retaliation attack, because a devil without no-retaliation is not a devil, but a laughingstock (all Heroes 3 fans know this). Base devils also received Inspiration, which was taken from the Daughters of Heaven. The ability is potentially OP for low-level tier 1s, but just right for tier 7. Lords have had the summoning of Balrogs returned instead of Efreets, because current Balrogs have become much stronger.
UNDEAD
1. Base skeletons received a very unusual combination: Wounding + Intercept (100% taunt). Factually, this is a stopping unit that says like Gandalf: "You shall not pass!" Since with reduced speed, bypassing the Intercept will be very problematic. Archers lost their random Regeneration (which was redundant, as they have unique ranged protection from arrows). And warriors had Cover returned (arrow protection aura), since this niche is now free for them (previously it was occupied by Knights with the same stun). The specialization for warriors is such: assaulting shelled positions; that's exactly what stun is used for—to prevent the enemy from escaping focus, while simultaneously allowing your own troops to get under the protective aura (attacking the same target next to the warriors). In principle, in the original, warriors with Cover + Stun could be used similarly; I have only voiced this synergy, explaining why it specifically suits skeletons (mobility, focus on attack) and not knights.
2. Now all vampires have common vampirism. Previously, the lack of vampirism for the base unit caused questions among many players. The explanation for why they now have vampirism is simple—a powerful combination with double strike was found (attack - heal, attack again harder - heal again harder). Alt vampires lost their useless torpor because it prevents another powerful combo from fully unfolding—vampirism with infinite retaliation. With such power, any additional ability is superfluous, as it comes at the cost of lowering stats.
ORCS
1. Why do shooters have no-retaliation (referring to combat centaurs)? The answer is very simple: a centaur is a horse archer. What does a normal horse archer do? Shoots at enemies while constantly moving. The combat centaur does the same. Does he like his current position? He shoots from it. Doesn't he? He moves to a new position, with tempo, without retaliation and without loss of damage, attacking the enemy.
2. Shamans were criticized for losing their signature Haste and Slow, so these spells were returned to them (correspondingly to the Daughters of Heaven and Daughters of Earth). For the Daughters of Heaven, Haste compensated for the loss of Inspiration, but unlike it, it consumes mana. The Daughters of Earth also got their spellcasting back, but conditionally—they have 5 mana, while Slow costs 6; on the first turn, they'll have to "eat" goblins. And this is their fundamental difference from the Daughters of Heaven: those are primarily casters, and the Daughters of Earth are combatants with an option to spend tempo to enter spellcasting. Why Haste and Slow were previously removed from shamans—the thing is that all orcish magic fundamentally should not depend on Spellcasting (the stat), and these spells only stopped depending on Spellcasting now (their duration is determined by skill, not spellcasting). Despite the fact that Daughters of Earth now need to spend extra tempo to start casting, as a unit they are much cooler than their original prototype, because their magic is no joke (reducing target initiative 2.5 times, which is much stronger than the Slow version from the original).
Added after 35 minutes
In old WGE, new abilities were distributed randomly based on what fit best to avoid repetition (for example, base skeletons got Wounding because it fits axes and because they previously had no abilities). As a result, many interesting combinations were created by trial and error; but on the other hand, there were still useless units like those same skeletons (to whom the acquired Wounding was completely irrelevant—it just existed, as vague as the assault/stun of original peasants). After much time, I conducted "natural selection," picking the most liked units, studying their advantages, and realizing how to rebuild the remaining ones to raise them to the same level.
A fundamentally important role began to be played by the COMBINATION—a set of interconnected abilities (example: those same skeletons who received Intercept—100% taunt—in addition to Wounding). In the context of simple abilities, the decision to give Frenzy to all dogs is weak, since Frenzy is a unique berserker ability. But in the context of a combination, this decision is very strong because it allows playing out the same ability from 4 different angles. Where else will you see Frenzy with bite or Frenzy with area attack? Is creating 4 interesting combinations worth the sacrifice of 1 unique ability? I believe unequivocally yes. Because a unique combination is more than a unique ability.
Added after 14 minutes
Another example—Bloodlust (combat rage of alt berserkers). Implementing this ability for all orcish fighters brought them to a fundamentally new level. What linked the warmonger with its taunt and fierce retribution to other grades? Nothing. It was a fundamentally different unit that somehow ended up in this trio. Now let's see what replacing Retribution with Bloodlust gives? Basically, a very similar combination: when an orc is attacked (taunt), Bloodlust triggers and his retaliation damage increases about 1.5 times (with retribution—it was 2 times, but only worked on retaliations). But at the same time, Bloodlust is something that perfectly suits other orcs (synergy with Rage and with Assault). Did the alt berserker lose after such a replacement? Hardly, as he has Giant Slayer, which imposes serious differences in use (Bloodlust must be activated from large units, not just anyone, while avoiding small ones). And did the orcs win? All 3 types—unequivocally. At the same time, the combination of Retribution and Intercept was not lost; it went to base minotaurs—the Punishers).
HUMANS
1. Why was Reserve given to all types of peasants? This is a very strong unifying ability that combines interestingly with each type. The Militia overwhelms by mass, but not in a primitive way (simply a large number of creatures), but through a tactical ability that must be played well. What was the militia known for in the original? It was sluggish meat with completely standard abilities (stun and assault), having no tactical value since there are enough stunning and assaulting units without them. The value of each unit should be played out in a unique combination of abilities, because simply unique abilities will not be enough for this (the number of units is too large). Reserve is a very unconventional solution, but the goal of our mod was not to make the most standard units that are hardest to criticize, but to make the most interesting units without gross violations of logic and common sense.
2. Why were crossbowmen given Armor Piercing (ignore 50% at all distances), and archers given Armor-Piercing Shot? Crossbowmen had no effective use at medium and long ranges, being too niche a unit for "box" situations—effective, but niche. With armor piercing, the unit becomes more dangerous at medium range against targets with high defense. Archers had the opposite problem—they were a universal and best unit at long range, practically the opposite of crossbowmen. That is, the connection between these two grades was strongly broken. With armor-piercing shot, they now have a common niche (any crossbows are effective at close range); on the other hand, at long range, they will work much softer, not so definitively, which is correct—long-range operation is better suited for elves, not humans.
3. Why were all swordsmen given Cover (aura of 50% protection from arrows)? Knights needed a rework, as they were simply slow clones of skeleton warriors. Now their gimmick is that they protect not only against arrows but also intercept melee attacks (Intercept + Infinite Retaliation). The completely random stun was removed. At the same time, an analogy with vampires became interesting (three grades of swordsmen use no-retaliation, double strike, and infinite retaliation, and vampires do too), which clearly hints that vampires are former swordsmen.
Added after 2 hours 11 minutes
DWARVES
1. Spearmen were the most vague unit in history. Even in the original, it was a shooter with almost no arrows and extremely low damage. In our mod, this unit has long since ceased to be a shooter (which distinguishes it from Spear Throwers), but it had trouble with its abilities. Some 3-cell attack that was intended to combo with Wounding, but in practice only one target was crippled. And finally, an unusual and interesting niche has been devised for them: a combination of No Retaliation and Retribution. Wounding and No Retaliation link Spearmen with Spear Throwers (no-retaliation crippling damage), while Retribution gives them "untouchability" for enemy melee units (similar to how shooters can be unreachable for melee). I see no other options for making interesting melee units similar to the grades; and there is even less sense in making them another set of shooters, since all the interesting combinations for shooters have already been taken.
DEMONS
1. All types of dogs are given a common Frenzy (berserker ability). This is very important and fundamental for them. On one hand, thanks to this ability, they get a conditional no-retaliation (similar to the original), and on the other—they can multiply the damage dealt via area attacks or bites. I am sure that it is impossible to come up with anything better than frenzy for dogs.
2. All types of devils received a common No Retaliation attack, because a devil without no-retaliation is not a devil, but a laughingstock (all Heroes 3 fans know this). Base devils also received Inspiration, which was taken from the Daughters of Heaven. The ability is potentially OP for low-level tier 1s, but just right for tier 7. Lords have had the summoning of Balrogs returned instead of Efreets, because current Balrogs have become much stronger.
UNDEAD
1. Base skeletons received a very unusual combination: Wounding + Intercept (100% taunt). Factually, this is a stopping unit that says like Gandalf: "You shall not pass!" Since with reduced speed, bypassing the Intercept will be very problematic. Archers lost their random Regeneration (which was redundant, as they have unique ranged protection from arrows). And warriors had Cover returned (arrow protection aura), since this niche is now free for them (previously it was occupied by Knights with the same stun). The specialization for warriors is such: assaulting shelled positions; that's exactly what stun is used for—to prevent the enemy from escaping focus, while simultaneously allowing your own troops to get under the protective aura (attacking the same target next to the warriors). In principle, in the original, warriors with Cover + Stun could be used similarly; I have only voiced this synergy, explaining why it specifically suits skeletons (mobility, focus on attack) and not knights.
2. Now all vampires have common vampirism. Previously, the lack of vampirism for the base unit caused questions among many players. The explanation for why they now have vampirism is simple—a powerful combination with double strike was found (attack - heal, attack again harder - heal again harder). Alt vampires lost their useless torpor because it prevents another powerful combo from fully unfolding—vampirism with infinite retaliation. With such power, any additional ability is superfluous, as it comes at the cost of lowering stats.
ORCS
1. Why do shooters have no-retaliation (referring to combat centaurs)? The answer is very simple: a centaur is a horse archer. What does a normal horse archer do? Shoots at enemies while constantly moving. The combat centaur does the same. Does he like his current position? He shoots from it. Doesn't he? He moves to a new position, with tempo, without retaliation and without loss of damage, attacking the enemy.
2. Shamans were criticized for losing their signature Haste and Slow, so these spells were returned to them (correspondingly to the Daughters of Heaven and Daughters of Earth). For the Daughters of Heaven, Haste compensated for the loss of Inspiration, but unlike it, it consumes mana. The Daughters of Earth also got their spellcasting back, but conditionally—they have 5 mana, while Slow costs 6; on the first turn, they'll have to "eat" goblins. And this is their fundamental difference from the Daughters of Heaven: those are primarily casters, and the Daughters of Earth are combatants with an option to spend tempo to enter spellcasting. Why Haste and Slow were previously removed from shamans—the thing is that all orcish magic fundamentally should not depend on Spellcasting (the stat), and these spells only stopped depending on Spellcasting now (their duration is determined by skill, not spellcasting). Despite the fact that Daughters of Earth now need to spend extra tempo to start casting, as a unit they are much cooler than their original prototype, because their magic is no joke (reducing target initiative 2.5 times, which is much stronger than the Slow version from the original).
Added after 35 minutes
In old WGE, new abilities were distributed randomly based on what fit best to avoid repetition (for example, base skeletons got Wounding because it fits axes and because they previously had no abilities). As a result, many interesting combinations were created by trial and error; but on the other hand, there were still useless units like those same skeletons (to whom the acquired Wounding was completely irrelevant—it just existed, as vague as the assault/stun of original peasants). After much time, I conducted "natural selection," picking the most liked units, studying their advantages, and realizing how to rebuild the remaining ones to raise them to the same level.
A fundamentally important role began to be played by the COMBINATION—a set of interconnected abilities (example: those same skeletons who received Intercept—100% taunt—in addition to Wounding). In the context of simple abilities, the decision to give Frenzy to all dogs is weak, since Frenzy is a unique berserker ability. But in the context of a combination, this decision is very strong because it allows playing out the same ability from 4 different angles. Where else will you see Frenzy with bite or Frenzy with area attack? Is creating 4 interesting combinations worth the sacrifice of 1 unique ability? I believe unequivocally yes. Because a unique combination is more than a unique ability.
Added after 14 minutes
Another example—Bloodlust (combat rage of alt berserkers). Implementing this ability for all orcish fighters brought them to a fundamentally new level. What linked the warmonger with its taunt and fierce retribution to other grades? Nothing. It was a fundamentally different unit that somehow ended up in this trio. Now let's see what replacing Retribution with Bloodlust gives? Basically, a very similar combination: when an orc is attacked (taunt), Bloodlust triggers and his retaliation damage increases about 1.5 times (with retribution—it was 2 times, but only worked on retaliations). But at the same time, Bloodlust is something that perfectly suits other orcs (synergy with Rage and with Assault). Did the alt berserker lose after such a replacement? Hardly, as he has Giant Slayer, which imposes serious differences in use (Bloodlust must be activated from large units, not just anyone, while avoiding small ones). And did the orcs win? All 3 types—unequivocally. At the same time, the combination of Retribution and Intercept was not lost; it went to base minotaurs—the Punishers).