AstralLein
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UPDATE!
v2.2 (07/17/2023)
— The "Unclean Word" spell has been disabled, guaranteeing that "Subjugation" will be obtained on the fifth level of the Guild of Mages in the starting town.
— Arantir starts with the "Unclean Word" spell.
— "Initial Education" has been removed from Arantir's starting skills, but "Spiritual Bond" has been added instead.
— The characteristic bonus that Giovanni receives after a certain stage of the game has been reduced.
— Giovanni's army has been slightly strengthened in the later stages of the game.
— A message has been added after Giovanni is strengthened.
— A guarantee has been added to ensure that Giovanni does not appear to the player before the fourth week.
— Benedict's "Darkness Suppression" has been replaced with "Suppression of Summoning." His starting characteristics have been slightly reduced.
— Kagrak's skills have been changed. His starting characteristics and level have been slightly reduced.
— The weekly troop increase for the blue player has been changed.
— The blue player's heroes no longer respawn stronger than they were before being defeated. They receive a fixed army, which is not prone to becoming infinitely powerful as the game drags on. However, in the first few months, these troops may seem quite impressive and will cause trouble even after the first attacks are repelled.
— Wessel's combat script has been rewritten for Veteran and Hero difficulty levels. He is now much less vulnerable to the strategy of focusing on the summoned phoenix.
— The quest neutral knight has been slightly strengthened.
— The Seer's Hut in Arantir's starting area now gives more ghosts as a quest reward.
— The blue player no longer hires secondary heroes. This is because they often prevented the AI from recruiting Benedict in time. However, this change also has certain drawbacks. In particular, the blue player now clears his zone less effectively.
— The starting city development for the blue player has been slightly changed.
The link remains the same.
Added 14 minutes ago
The sponsor of the sudden update is once again Nixan. I looked at his Walkthrough and came to the conclusion that patch 1.2 from 2018 was even worse than I thought. It wasn't just limited to overpowered outposts. The blue player also became overpowered, whose troops become stronger after defeats and attack in an endless march of meat, turning the overall dynamic map into a series of identical battles in the best traditions of necromancers. On the one hand, this corresponds to the idea of a constant threat from the blue player, and on the other hand, it turns it into an absurdity. So now the blue player has been nerfed. All this will have a minimal impact on the pace of the game and the initial invasion, but in the long run, there will no longer be battles with orcs every two turns and every turn when trying to reach his city. The enemies are still strong enough and pose a threat for longer than on the release of the map, but they are not infinite as they were starting from version 1.2. Overall, the map has become easier, but definitely not for those whose most pressing problem is Giovanni). I also made changes to the spells to avoid situations like "Unclean Word" and "Blinding" in the castle, which could cost the player a defeat simply due to bad luck.
Added 20 hours 10 minutes ago
So, I played through my own update on Hero difficulty and decided that it was necessary to add a couple more changes:
— The locations of the Seer's Huts in Arantir's starting area have been swapped.
— The resurrection of the blue player's heroes blocks him from crossing the border with Arantir for 5 days, which will give the player more time between attacks.
Overall, I am now satisfied with the balance on the map. The enemies are still numerous and aggressive, but not as overpowered as before. An experienced necromancer will probably not find the Path difficult, as it boils down to very standard necromancer strategies. I gathered a lot of vampires and made a build that easily defeated everyone, but nevertheless.
v2.2 (07/17/2023)
— The "Unclean Word" spell has been disabled, guaranteeing that "Subjugation" will be obtained on the fifth level of the Guild of Mages in the starting town.
— Arantir starts with the "Unclean Word" spell.
— "Initial Education" has been removed from Arantir's starting skills, but "Spiritual Bond" has been added instead.
— The characteristic bonus that Giovanni receives after a certain stage of the game has been reduced.
— Giovanni's army has been slightly strengthened in the later stages of the game.
— A message has been added after Giovanni is strengthened.
— A guarantee has been added to ensure that Giovanni does not appear to the player before the fourth week.
— Benedict's "Darkness Suppression" has been replaced with "Suppression of Summoning." His starting characteristics have been slightly reduced.
— Kagrak's skills have been changed. His starting characteristics and level have been slightly reduced.
— The weekly troop increase for the blue player has been changed.
— The blue player's heroes no longer respawn stronger than they were before being defeated. They receive a fixed army, which is not prone to becoming infinitely powerful as the game drags on. However, in the first few months, these troops may seem quite impressive and will cause trouble even after the first attacks are repelled.
— Wessel's combat script has been rewritten for Veteran and Hero difficulty levels. He is now much less vulnerable to the strategy of focusing on the summoned phoenix.
— The quest neutral knight has been slightly strengthened.
— The Seer's Hut in Arantir's starting area now gives more ghosts as a quest reward.
— The blue player no longer hires secondary heroes. This is because they often prevented the AI from recruiting Benedict in time. However, this change also has certain drawbacks. In particular, the blue player now clears his zone less effectively.
— The starting city development for the blue player has been slightly changed.
The link remains the same.
Added 14 minutes ago
The sponsor of the sudden update is once again Nixan. I looked at his Walkthrough and came to the conclusion that patch 1.2 from 2018 was even worse than I thought. It wasn't just limited to overpowered outposts. The blue player also became overpowered, whose troops become stronger after defeats and attack in an endless march of meat, turning the overall dynamic map into a series of identical battles in the best traditions of necromancers. On the one hand, this corresponds to the idea of a constant threat from the blue player, and on the other hand, it turns it into an absurdity. So now the blue player has been nerfed. All this will have a minimal impact on the pace of the game and the initial invasion, but in the long run, there will no longer be battles with orcs every two turns and every turn when trying to reach his city. The enemies are still strong enough and pose a threat for longer than on the release of the map, but they are not infinite as they were starting from version 1.2. Overall, the map has become easier, but definitely not for those whose most pressing problem is Giovanni). I also made changes to the spells to avoid situations like "Unclean Word" and "Blinding" in the castle, which could cost the player a defeat simply due to bad luck.
Added 20 hours 10 minutes ago
So, I played through my own update on Hero difficulty and decided that it was necessary to add a couple more changes:
— The locations of the Seer's Huts in Arantir's starting area have been swapped.
— The resurrection of the blue player's heroes blocks him from crossing the border with Arantir for 5 days, which will give the player more time between attacks.
Overall, I am now satisfied with the balance on the map. The enemies are still numerous and aggressive, but not as overpowered as before. An experienced necromancer will probably not find the Path difficult, as it boils down to very standard necromancer strategies. I gathered a lot of vampires and made a build that easily defeated everyone, but nevertheless.