Nargott
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Sometimes it's useful to review not only spells but also abilities, with a precise audit of all the nuances of why a particular implementation option was chosen.
For example, it has now become clear that Raise Dead still needs to be strengthened to the level of Resurrection, at a cheaper cost, so that it has a more advantageous position in comparison.
Or that all large creatures need additional physical stat buffs, as they are much more vulnerable to all area attacks (especially area magic).
Each change must be justified. Moreover, the justification must be explicit and public, as open as possible to everyone. It is this approach that allows for the implementation of the best things.
Below I will analyze the already balanced abilities (within the scope of 2 factions - humans and demons), all information is in the corresponding spoilers.
Class abilities:
Heavy Class (50% defense against charging attacks)
- A class ability that allows you to effectively counter attackers, negating the advantage of a first strike.
- Effective against flyers, depriving them of their speed-based striking advantage.
- Ineffective against shooters, offering no protection against them.
- The ability does not depend on the length of the charge; the mere presence of a charge is important: even 1 cell makes a big difference.
- Mass implementation of the heavy class makes precise unit positioning during an attack especially important in order to maximize the defensive advantages of the ability.
Flight (ignores obstacles in the path)
- A class ability that is always complemented by high speed: 6 for small and 7-8 for large (higher than ground troops).
- Effective against shooters, allowing you to create blocking threats from a safe distance (unlike ground troops).
- Ineffective against the heavy class, as it cannot use the speed advantage of a first strike.
Large Size (occupies 2x2 cells)
- A class ability that significantly reduces mobility and increases vulnerability to area damage.
- A large unit encounters 2-3 times more obstacles in its path (most of these limitations are removed by flight - which is why flight is most useful for large units).
- A large unit is 2-3 times more likely to be hit by area damage (from area attacks and area magic).
- A large melee unit is 20% more likely to be hit within point-blank shot range.
- A large shooting unit is 50-70% easier to block (more blocking cells).
- Large troops are effective on open terrain (without obstacles) due to the +1 speed bonus.
- Large troops also have enhanced physical stats and are better protected against targeted damage.
Sorcery
- Warlocks have access to almost all magic in the game, including higher and mass spells.
- Thanks to powerful magic, the role of warlocks in supporting troops is very high.
- As a rule, support units are significantly weaker in physical stats, or have weak damage protection (vulnerable to shooters and magic).
- Some support units have an unlimited number of actions (e.g., free 1st level spells).
Shooting
- A class ability that allows you to deal unreturned damage at any distance until the unit is blocked in melee.
- The ability deals 2 times less damage at long range (7+ cells).
- The ability penalizes melee damage by a factor of 2.
- Shooters are effective against the heavy class, and also against large troops when protected.
- Shooters are ineffective against flyers, who can create a blocking threat from a safe distance.
- Shooter ammunition is significantly limited, which motivates moving to point-blank range to use shooting most effectively (this works due to the reduced speed of ground troops).
- The mobility of shooters is at the same level as that of ground melee units, allowing them to maneuver effectively.
Ground Melee Troops (informal class)
- An informal class that has reduced speed: 3-5 for small and 4-6 for large troops.
- Effective in head-on clashes due to enhanced physical stats.
- Less effective against shooters, as mobility is insufficient to attack them from a safe distance.
New abilities:
Reserve (splits on the first attack)
- A powerful ability that makes protecting the unit before its first attack especially important in order to fully utilize the reserve.
- To counter this ability, you need to attack these creatures preemptively, or avoid their attack followed by splitting while the unit is still full.
Combined Attack (repeats its attacks nearby)
- An aggressive aura that performs better the more similar units there are on the battlefield (thanks to reserve, phantom, or using tactical singles).
- The aura works especially effectively together with Reserve, because thanks to it the first attack is guaranteed to be doubled (or tripled in damage if there was a charge against a heavy class - the copy hits without charging!).
- To counter this aura, you need to timely move troops away from it, preventing encirclement, or completely destroy all additional units of such creatures.
Rebirth (revives after destruction)
- A powerful ability that gives a unit a second wind.
- The downside of rebirth is that it can trigger too late.
- The earlier it triggers, the greater the impact it will have on the battle's outcome, so the unit should be the first to go into trades, seeking destruction.
- Upon rebirth, all buffs and debuffs are also removed from the unit.
- A reviving unit loses all accumulated turn progress, but deals a full retaliatory strike if it had one before destruction.
- To counter rebirth, you need to deal enough damage so the unit is heavily wounded but still alive - it is least effective during this time.
- A reviving unit should be killed at the right moment, right before its turn, at range, or by first removing its retaliation - in this case the unit will lose maximum time.
Bomb (deals damage (x5) to surrounding enemies upon destruction)
- An ability similar to rebirth, but acting in a destructive manner.
- The downside of the bomb is that it can trigger too late (which is why its damage is so great).
- The earlier the bomb triggers, the greater the impact it will have on the battle's outcome, so the unit should be the first to go into trades, seeking destruction.
- The ability is effective when this unit dies on its own turn (having received a retaliatory strike), because in that case it has the opportunity to choose the death location so as to hit multiple targets.
- The ability does not deal damage to own units.
- To counter the bomb, you need to deal enough damage so the unit is heavily wounded - but remains alive for as long as possible.
- It is optimal to kill such a unit at range, having moved your own troops away (so the ability does not trigger at all).
- It is advisable to finish off the unit on your own turn, moving all other troops away, so the explosion affects at most one target.
- Finishing off with a heavily wounded unit that you don't mind sacrificing to the explosion can also be effective.
Why is the bomb damage so high?
- Too low damage makes the ability less important and interesting.
- Too high damage forces a high cost for this ability, sacrificing physical stats (for balance).
- The ability triggers late - which allows setting a very respectable damage without paying too much for it.
- If this ability is ignored, it can deal fatal damage to multiple targets at once - that is its interest.
Death Blow (25% chance to kill up to 50% of victims)
- The ability works effectively against full units, regardless of how heavily wounded the unit with Death Blow is itself.
- To counter this ability, you need to move full units away from the Death Blow, or completely destroy the unit with this ability.
- Rounding down weakens the effect of Death Blow - in fact, high-level single creatures are not susceptible to it at all.
General abilities:
Fury (+1-2 attack when own units die)
- The ability is most effective when allied troops die quickly, and the unit with this ability survives well.
- Compared to the original, this ability, although strengthened (due to the doubled role of stats), remains minor because it triggers too late and the bonuses from it are too weak.
- In the future, when modifying the executable, it could theoretically be configured to give a higher bonus (e.g., +5 attack after each death regardless of unit strength).
- The ability can be indirectly strengthened by raising all stats, but this yields too little benefit while significantly impacting other abilities (e.g., Defense Penetration, Defense Bypass, or Frenzy).
Intercept (aura: draws attacks to itself)
- An enhanced version of Taunt with a 100% trigger rate.
- The effectiveness of Intercept lies not only in redirecting the enemy's attack to a lower-priority target, but also in the fact that the damage can be significantly reduced if the unit is better protected than the original target.
- Therefore, Intercept works exceptionally well with the Heavy class or when defending.
- Intercept can be countered by properly positioning attacks (so as not to touch this unit).
- There is no point in tying the ability to a chance (as it was in the original); the protection must be sufficiently reliable.
Cleansing (removes 1 random buff upon attack)
- An enhanced version with a 100% trigger rate.
- The ability allows you to counter enemy buffs; however, it can also remove Domination when attacking an allied unit.
- The effect is situational (requires the presence of buffs), so there is no point in tying the ability to a chance (as it was in the original).
- Cleansing can be countered either by preventing attacks on buffed units (blocking a shooter), or by placing additional cheap buffs on an important target to reduce the chance of removing a strong buff.
Standard abilities:
Armor-Piercing Shot (ignores 100% defense at range 2-4 cells)
- The ability is significantly strengthened in terms of range (in fact, it is now applicable twice as often).
- The ability also boosts damage more (due to the doubled role of stats).
- The ability is especially effective against creatures with high defense, e.g., when defending or under Stone Skin.
- To use this ability, it is important to be in the right place (Teleport helps) at the right time (Haste or Slow helps).
Why was this particular range chosen?
- Range 2-3 is clearly insufficient; the ability triggered too rarely.
- Range 7+ effectively makes the ability very easy to use, requiring no special effort from the player.
- Range 2-6, while working several times more often, does not create an additional zone like range 2-4 does - and it is the additional zone that creates interest.
- Range 2-5 has too wide an area of effect (works more often than point-blank range 6).
- Thus, the 2-4 option is optimal.
Defense Penetration (ignores 50% defense)
- The ability works not only on shooting but also on melee attacks, so the pushback by one cell has been removed (it didn't work on melee attacks anyway).
- The ability boosts damage more (due to the doubled role of stats).
- Defense Penetration is effective against creatures with high defense, e.g., when defending or under Stone Skin.
- To counter this ability, you should try to ensure that such a unit only deals damage to units with low defense.
Cavalry Bonus (+50% damage per cell)
- The ability works 10 times stronger than in the original.
- Such a unit has a weak retaliatory strike because it makes it from a standstill (without the Cavalry Bonus).
- The ability is effective against enemies of the light class, providing advantageous damage on a charge of 3 cells or more.
- The ability is less effective against enemies of the heavy class because it cannot deal effective damage from a standstill (damage becomes advantageous only on a full charge of 5-6 cells).
Why such a strong bonus?
- A strong bonus makes correct unit positioning important.
- A bonus higher than 50% (previously set at 100%) makes retaliatory strikes too weak compared to full attacks, without providing a significant gain in variance: with a 50% bonus, damage variance is from 50 to 200% (relative to average charge), while with a 100% bonus, it is from 33 to 233%.
Jump (act: 200% damage with a jump of exactly 5 range, 200% retaliation)
- The ability is strengthened in terms of damage, and the bug with receiving 300% retaliation instead of 200% has been fixed.
- The range is limited to exactly 5 so that the double-damage ability does not trigger too often and can be defended against.
- The ability does not allow choosing the landing cell: this means that if the minimum distance to a cell from which the target can be attacked is less than 5, creatures cannot jump to attack that target.
- To use the ability, you need to position the unit correctly (at a distance of exactly 5 cells).
- It is advisable to remove retaliation beforehand with other units, or attack an already heavily weakened or wounded target that cannot deal serious retaliatory damage after the jump.
Why is the range exactly 5?
- Speeds of 6+ are characteristic of flyers; ground troops should not have such mobility - therefore the maximum range is 5.
- It is desirable that the ability does not overlap with a normal charge, hence the minimum range is also 5 (2 out of 3 demons have a charge speed lower - 4).
Frenzy (act: no-retaliation berserk, attack + defense turned into attack, defense set to 0 until the next turn)
- The ability works much stronger than in the original, due to the doubled role of stats - damage increases 2-3 times, and survivability decreases by the same amount.
- Converting defense into attack is usually beneficial, as the increased attack takes effect immediately, while the reduced defense only matters later.
- However, you must be wary that frenzied units may be focused while vulnerable (and if they can be, you need to ensure the enemy pays dearly for it).
- Another downside of Frenzy is that it allows you to choose neither the target nor the attack cell (it always attacks the nearest enemy target).
- Frenzy allows you to effectively attack vulnerable light targets, dealing colossal damage to them.
- Frenzy allows you to effectively deal with an enemy unit if it has no protection (thanks to the no-retaliation attack).
- Frenzy is less effective against the heavy class, as charge damage will be halved.
- To counter Frenzy, you need to ensure that the nearest unit to it is well-protected.
- After Frenzy is activated, you should aim to destroy the frenzied unit before its next turn, while it has no defense.
- However, it should be noted that the retaliatory attack of frenzied units is also very powerful, so shooters and units with no-retaliation attacks are very useful against them.
Withdrawal (does not retaliate to attacks, retreats)
- The ability works not only for shooters (in which case they retreat and retaliate with a shot) but also for melee units.
- Unlike Cowardice, when withdrawing, the unit retreats to the minimum safe distance.
- Furthermore, the unit only withdraws from direct attacks, not from retaliatory ones.
- For melee units, this ability is notable primarily because they never retaliate (except in special cases).
- Against the heavy class, the ability has an additional downside, as withdrawing removes the possibility of both retaliating and attacking from a standstill.
- In the rare case where the unit has nowhere to flee, it will stay in place and retaliate.
- Since the unit does not deal retaliatory damage, its normal attack is significantly strengthened and poses a high danger.
- Therefore, you should aim to focus such a unit before it starts dealing direct damage.
Rare abilities:
Jousting Strike (on a charge, attacks a target behind)
- The ability deals full 100% damage to the secondary target (unlike the original).
- Jousting Strike triggers even on a minimum charge of 1 cell.
- Jousting Strike requires a charge; it never triggers on retaliatory strikes - and in this respect is safe for allied units.
- What makes this ability interesting is its combination with the Cavalry Bonus: sometimes it is more advantageous to hit 2 targets on a short charge, and sometimes it is more advantageous to hit 1 target on a long charge.
- If the opportunity arises to hit both targets on a long charge, this yields colossal damage.
Furious Retaliation (each subsequent counterattack doubles)
- The ability is strengthened so that the unit can effectively counter being focused by superior forces (the damage doubling compensates for its own losses, which otherwise reduce damage).
- Further strengthening is not advisable, as the unit is already disadvantageous to focus (the ability works to prevent attacks).
- The downside of this ability is that it does not strengthen the first retaliatory strike at all.
- For effective use of Furious Retaliation, it is important not only to block the enemy's alternative attacks on other targets but also to create a physical advantage, making single trades disadvantageous (buffs to defense, attack, or Vampirism).
- To counter Furious Retaliation, you should shoot such a unit, attack it with units that have no-retaliation attacks, or attack it without focusing, using more powerful units.
Dive (act: 100% damage along 2 lines)
- The ability is not only strengthened in terms of damage but has also become reusable - making it as useful as Strike from the Heavens.
- Unlike Strike from the Heavens, Dive deals full 100% damage against the heavy class, at any distance.
- It is effective to choose attack lines where enemy troops are most likely to cluster - usually the central lines.
- The ability works well if you manage to hit at least 2-3 targets (and poorly if it hits only 1 target).
- If you manage to hit many targets (4 or more), the total damage can be catastrophic for the enemy.
- Against large creatures, Dive effectively attacks along 4 lines (a third of the field!), so flying to the outer lines is less effective (only 3 lines against large creatures).
- A significant downside of the ability is that it not only takes up the creature's 2 turns but also has a delayed effect.
- Therefore, Haste on such creatures can be particularly effective.
- The ability is more effective at the start of the battle, when there are many units on the field, and less effective at the end of the battle, when few units remain.
- A safe countermeasure is to disperse troops across the field so that by the time the turn starts, no Dive hits many targets.
- A reliable countermeasure is to put vulnerable units into defense.
- A risky countermeasure is to try to guess the opponent's Dive (Dive is likely aimed at: central lines, troop clusters, shooters, warlocks, or units that won't have time to flee).
- If there are empty lines on the field, you can move troops there (Dive there is unlikely).
Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.
Regeneration (restores 20 HP per turn)
- The ability is formally weaker than in the original, but in reality - much stronger (due to the reduced unit counts).
- For effective use of Regeneration, you need to regularly take damage (e.g., by removing retaliation) and heal it at double speed - through waiting.
- Skipping a turn (waiting) for Regeneration should not be underestimated, even when an attack could deal more damage: Regeneration not only works twice as often but also does not receive retaliatory attacks.
- The most useful buffs for such a unit are Stone Skin and Haste - both boost the healing power of Regeneration relative to damage taken.
- To counter Regeneration, you should either not attack the unit at all or quickly focus it; Blindness, Plague, Slow, and Disrupting Ray are also useful.
- Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to move the unit aside to avoid focus and heal in a calm environment.
- Also, for healing, it makes sense to first go into defense if there is a risk of enemy attacks.
- Regeneration reliably protects against weak damage (including magic and long-range shots with a penalty) but may not cope with strong damage.
Why were these specific numbers (20 HP) chosen, and not higher?
- Too high regeneration costs too much in terms of physical stats (for balance) and reduces the need to use waiting to double the regeneration rate (which is its main usage).
- Balance is important, where the physical stats are strong enough to attack, and simultaneously the regeneration is strong enough to wait instead of attacking - that is when an interesting choice appears.
Vampirism (restores 100% of damage dealt)
- The ability is much stronger than in the original.
- Vampirism makes the unit much stronger against melee troops.
- For effective use of Vampirism, you need strong physical stats, while regularly taking damage (e.g., receiving attack damage and healing after a retaliatory strike).
- If the unit is too heavily wounded, Vampirism will no longer help it.
- Therefore, such creatures are quite vulnerable to strong ranged damage (shooting, magic).
- Any buffs will be particularly useful on such creatures, giving them the necessary stat or initiative advantage.
- Debuffs on the units they are fighting will be no less useful, for the same reason.
- For the same reasons, defense can be very effective, making focusing such creatures difficult.
- Vampirism is more effective against units with low defense and less effective against units with high defense and against the heavy class.
- Vampirism is more effective against units with low damage, while the main threat to it comes from units with high damage.
- To counter Vampirism, you need to quickly focus this unit, attack at range without taking retaliatory damage, or create a stat advantage by any means.
- Therefore, Vampirism is generally not effective in a straight-up trade against multiple enemy units at once.
- Not touching the unit to avoid giving it healing may turn out to be a bad idea if, in the endgame, you lack the physical stats to handle a full unit.
Why these specific numbers (100% instead of 50%)?
- 50% Vampirism can work effectively in theorycrafting, but against a real opponent it is insufficient, significantly losing out to focusing.
- 100% Vampirism is already sufficient to create real problems for the opponent, making focusing important.
- Further strengthening does not fundamentally affect the need for focusing but requires too much physical stats in return (for balance).
Explosion (act: 25 SP damage around)
- The ability is much stronger than in the original, and furthermore, reusable.
- The strength of the ability generally surpasses a direct attack even against a single target - but requires that the target be nearby (and at the same time, no own units nearby).
- Due to the importance of positioning, Haste and Teleport are particularly useful for such a unit (and both are difficult for a demon to access - however, it has access to Slow).
- The ability completely ignores defense, and therefore is especially effective against creatures with high defense.
- The ability deals damage from a standstill, and therefore is effective against the heavy class.
- To counter Explosion, you need to move away from it in time, or focus the unit in time (but in that case, there is a risk of taking a weakened Explosion hitting multiple targets at once).
- Against such a unit, Haste, Slow, and Disrupting Ray are useful (and Curse, Weakness, and Shield are useless).
Why was this specific damage chosen?
- The damage must definitely surpass a direct attack to make using Explosion advantageous when conditions for it are met (a target nearby).
Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.
Fire Shield (returns 50% of damage taken)
- The ability is much stronger than the analogue (Fire Shield) in the original.
- The strength of the ability can even surpass the damage the unit deals with its own attacks.
- The ability ignores defense and is effective against any melee units, especially those with low health.
- The heavy class is useless against Fire Shield.
- In effect, the ability means the unit is untouchable (it is disadvantageous to trade with it, even with superior physical stats).
- It is advantageous to remove retaliatory strikes with such an ability, as their effect is often more than compensated for by the fire damage.
- To counter this ability, it is important to attack the unit at range (shots, magic), not attack the unit at all, or, as a last resort, attack with troops that have a good health pool.
- Consequently, such units should avoid being within point-blank shot range.
Why were these specific numbers chosen?
- The effectiveness of the ability is directly tied to the damage the unit can withstand - that is, its health amount.
- Fire Shield demons have a high amount of health - twice as high as some vulnerable units.
- The value of 50% was chosen so that some melee trades not only become less advantageous but lose all meaning.
- In total, this ability can deal as much damage as Explosion or Bomb (abilities of other demon grades) do to 1.5 units.
Prayer (+2 to attack, defense, and morale for 2 rounds)
- Unlike the original, Prayer gives a quite substantial physical stat bonus (considering the doubled role of stats), but does not give an initiative bonus and lasts only 2 rounds.
- Now this ability is available not only to the hero but also to creatures (and it is a reusable ability!).
- Prayer is very powerful in its effect but requires regular renewal.
- Thus, the unit spends half of its turns strengthening all allied troops (roughly speaking, by 20% - while Prayer is active).
- The ability is especially effective at the beginning of a battle and less effective at the end.
- Prayer conflicts with the Vampirism spell - since it does not affect allied undead.
- To counter Prayer, there is no point in focusing the unit itself, unless there is a chance to destroy it completely.
- Slow or Blindness will be useful, as by the end of the battle, Prayer will be of little use.
Why these specific settings for Prayer (bonuses, duration)?
- There is no point in providing an initiative bonus, because a focused bonus is more interesting than one diluted across multiple parameters.
- At the same time, it is impossible to remove the morale bonus (because the value for morale and physical stats is shared).
- A weak bonus (+1) is not interesting for a hero even with infinite duration.
- A +2 bonus is strong enough: it is 1.5 times stronger than the general Blessing spell but loses to it by 2-4 times in duration.
Inspiration (act: grant an immediate turn)
- Unlike the original, Inspiration grants a turn immediately (100%, not 30%).
- Now this ability is available not only to the hero but also to creatures (and it is a reusable ability!).
- Inspiration allows you to immediately take the turn of any other unit instead of your own (a fair trade).
- It is most effective to inspire a unit that has just moved.
- Inspiration is more effective on units with low initiative and less effective on units with high initiative.
- Before a melee trade begins, it makes sense to inspire other units with ranged abilities (shooters, warlocks).
- This is precisely why the ability is particularly strong, providing flexibility in both ranged and melee combat.
- To counter Inspiration, you need to weaken its potential targets.
- Slow is only useful on the Inspiration unit itself and useless on all other targets.
Why is Inspiration so cool?
- The real turn bonus depends on the target's position on the turn meter and is usually significantly less than 100%.
- With lower values, the skill becomes not particularly attractive for hero development (compared to mass buffs or debuffs, for example).
- The maximum Inspiration bonus unlocks maximum tactical possibilities.
Summon Balrogs (act: +2 Balrogs from a demonic corpse)
- This ability has become reusable.
- Unlike the original, you can now also target enemy corpses if they are demonic (which provides additional advantages in mirror matches).
- The Balrogs are raised with their new Intercept ability (100% taunt), thus perfectly handling the task of immediately diverting enemy attacks to themselves.
- The main downside of this ability is that it starts working late, and furthermore, the summoned Balrogs need some time before they start taking turns.
- The ability is effective if allied units die quickly, and less effective if they start dying too late.
- To counter this ability, you must either avoid finishing off enemy units for as long as possible, or block the corpses, or kill this unit before it starts summoning Balrogs.
Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.
- If this ability is ignored, it has tremendous potential and can overturn the entire battle, flooding the field with Balrogs (that is precisely why reusability is needed!).
Executioner's Blade (+10 to damage for each victim)
- The ability is strengthened 5 times.- The main damage of such a unit comes from Executioner's Blade, not from the physical attack.
- The ability is extremely effective against low-level, numerous units but is much less useful against high-level creatures.
- Neither the heavy class, nor high defense, nor defense stance saves against this ability - only fleeing or completely destroying this unit (Slow or Blindness are also useful).
Why is the bonus so high?
- The bonus is exactly such as to completely destroy almost any 1st level unit in one hit (analogous to how the Cutting Sword destroys almost any 7th level unit due to its low count).
Battle Fervor (+8 to attack if damage taken, for 1 round)
- The ability is sharply strengthened in terms of physical stats (compared to Battle Fury in the original), but has lost the initiative bonuses and lasts only 1 round.
- Battle Fervor also strengthens all retaliatory strikes, as they are all carried out after the unit takes damage.
- For effective use of this ability, you need to take damage regularly (e.g., from retaliatory attacks).
- To counter this ability, you must either deal no damage at all, or deal a lot of damage at once, quickly killing the unit.
- If the unit is already heated (the ability is active), it will likely maintain Battle Fervor by taking retaliatory hits - therefore, it makes sense to kill it quickly or flee far away so it has nothing to attack.
- Slow or Blindness are especially effective against such creatures, cooling them down.
Why these specific settings (bonuses, duration)?
- An initiative bonus is superfluous, as it does not strengthen retaliatory strikes - it is better to focus all the power on attack.
- The duration is reduced so that the ability works approximately 50% of the time - this is the optimal ratio to play both states (normal and heated).
- The attack bonus corresponds to an increase in damage from 75% (before heating) to 125% (after heating) - this is also close to optimal and sufficient for the ability to have a strong impact.
Mana Theft (each turn steals 1 mana for every 50 creatures, rounding up)
- The ability is approximately 10 times weaker than in the original, but it works every turn.
- Effective use of the ability involves regularly using waiting; in this case, the unit can potentially steal a lot of mana but will spend its turns doing so.
- When using waiting, the unit steals mana at almost the same rate as with Mana Drain (but has the option to skip waiting, stealing mana passively while simultaneously fighting).
- The maximum potential of such an ability is realized in a prolonged battle - when the opponent runs out of mana.
- To counter this ability, focusing is insufficient (due to rounding), unless you have the ability to kill the unit completely.
- Slow is useful against such a unit, as it will slow down the mana theft by 3 times and ultimately allow saving more mana than the spell itself costs.
- For the same reason, Blindness can save more mana than it costs.
Why was the ability reworked in this way?
- To not be just a strengthened version of Mana Absorption.
- The amount of mana was lowered because in the original, the unit stole much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).
Mana Absorption (on the first turn, removes 1 mana for every 10 creatures)
- The ability is approximately 2 times weaker than in the original.
- It triggers only once, so it has no particular tactical interest (except for the possibility of damaging this unit before its first turn to save mana).
Why was the ability weakened?
- Because in the original, the unit destroyed much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).
Mana Drain (act: steal 1 mana for every 20 creatures)
- The ability is approximately 2 times weaker than in the original.
- The unit drains mana 2-3 times faster than with Mana Theft, but requires spending the unit's turns.
- The maximum potential of such an ability is realized in a prolonged battle - when the opponent runs out of mana.
- To counter this ability, it makes sense to attack this unit, which will significantly reduce the mana drain rate.
- You can also destroy warlock units so there is nowhere to drain mana (the ability will then lose part of its strength).
- Slow is useful against such a unit, as it will slow down the mana theft by 3 times and ultimately allow saving more mana than the spell itself costs.
- For the same reason, Blindness can save more mana than it costs.
- Berserker or Domination are also useful (though expensive), as they not only save at least 3 mana immediately (due to the lost turn) but also help to damage this unit, reducing further mana drain.
Why was the ability weakened?
- Because in the original, the unit drained much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).
Old abilities in a new context:
Healing (act: heal damage, debuffs)
- Healing is much more relevant than Laying on Hands in the original due to the effectiveness of healing (with reduced unit counts) and the much stronger debuffs it can remove.
- A key ability that can not only counter Darkness but also partially negate damage from Chaos.
- Combines effectively with creatures that have high individual health and high defense (as a result of Stone Skin or defense stance), because if creatures do not die quickly, healing becomes maximally useful.
- Often more advantageous than a direct attack, because it does not receive retaliation and works from the rear, without being exposed to attack.
- Care must be taken to ensure that all important targets remain accessible for healing (correct positioning).
- To counter this ability, it is enough to break the connection between this unit and its potential targets that would benefit most from healing.
- Strong attacks and defense reduction (Disrupting Ray) allow you to quickly kill creatures, making healing useless.
- For the same reason, sufficiently strong Chaos can help finish off creatures faster than they can heal.
Retribution (200% counterattack)
- The ability is now also available to alt Succubi, doubling their retaliatory shooting.
- In effect, it makes shooting attacks against this unit not just less advantageous, but specifically disadvantageous (untouchable).
- Also, thanks to Retribution, the unit can deal good retaliatory damage in melee, compensating for the penalty.
Desiccating Aura (aura: 10 damage to enemies per creature)
- The ability has formally not changed, but in reality has become stronger (due to changes in unit counts).
- A very strong aura that can deal more damage than direct attacks.
- Effective against the heavy class, units with high defense (which it ignores), and units that act frequently or are about to act.
- To counter this ability, it is not enough to simply leave the area of effect in time - because the damage is dealt immediately upon the start of the turn.
- The real countermeasure is focusing this unit, using units that are outside the aura's area of effect at the start of their turn, as well as shooters.
- You must kill these creatures before their aura starts to take effect.
Why is the ability so strong?
- The numbers are chosen so that, on the one hand, it deals enough fire damage, and on the other hand, the unit does not pay too much for it in terms of physical stats (both threats should remain relevant).
Cutting Sword (damage +1 killed victim)
- The ability is many times stronger than in the original (due to the reduction in unit counts).
- In effect, the unit's main damage comes from this ability, not from its physical attack.
- The attacks of this unit are very effective against high-level creatures and extremely ineffective against low-level creatures.
- Neither the heavy class, nor high defense, nor defense stance offers any protection against this ability - only fleeing or complete destruction (Slow or Blindness are also useful).
Pull (act: pull within a radius of 7)
- Formally, the ability is the same as in the original: only the speed of these creatures has increased, which directly affects the pull range.
- In reality, the difference between a radius of 6 and 7 is enormous: it is not only a +33% increase in area covered but also an increase in transfer distance.
- This unit is very dangerous against shooters, as it can pull them from a safe distance of 7 (which it could not do in the original).
- Pull is especially effective in the context of reduced ground troop speeds and other sharply strengthened abilities (e.g., pulling a unit into Explosion, Frenzy, Cutting Sword, or Executioner's Blade).