Heroes 6 - Discussion

The announcement of Might & Magic: Heroes VI (the official name of the game) took place on August 17, 2010, in a Ubisoft press release. The following day, a presentation of the game was held at Gamescom. The main highlight of the presentation was the showing of a short pre-alpha demo video for Heroes VI (only selected fans were allowed to play the demo version). Then numerous previews from various publications poured in. There are also several interviews with Erwan Le Breton, the producer of Heroes VI. Below, we have attempted to provide a brief summary, laying out the "bare facts" based on official information and "eyewitness accounts." If you find any inaccuracies or have something to add, write to heroes@ag.ru, specifying in the subject line: Heroes VI.

Main Facts:

PLOT

* The action of Heroes VI takes place in the 564th year of the Seventh Dragon (approximately 400 years before the events of Heroes V), during the second eclipse of the Blood Moon, when Kha-Belekh, the future Lord of Demons, began his rise to power.
* Heroes VI will tell the story of the Griffins at a time when they were still dukes of the Holy Empire and did not sit upon the Imperial Throne (as in Heroes V and Clash of Heroes). The Duchy of Griffin is located in the east of the Empire, in an area that corresponds to Slavic countries in our world.
* The main characters of Heroes VI are five blue-blooded brothers and sisters leading five warring kingdoms.
* Brief backstory: Slava, ruler of the Griffin dynasty, is killed by his own daughter Anastasia. Anastasia is executed for this but is resurrected as undead. Convinced of her innocence, Anastasia sets out to study the dark art of necromancy, hoping it will help her bring her father's real killers to justice. The throne is inherited by Anton, Paul's eldest son. Anton begins to suspect everyone whose faith in Elrath is not as strong as his own – and, encouraged by strange voices speaking to him, Anton immediately declares any forms of worship illegal except for the orthodox ones. Kirill, Anastasia's twin brother, participates in the murder of their father against his will, and then agrees to an offer from the angel Sarah to accompany him on a dangerous journey to Sheol, the prison of demons. Kirill seeks to find the mysterious power responsible for the death of his father and sister.

INTERFACE AND GRAPHICS

* Objects on the map have become much more detailed than in Heroes V.
* Fixed map viewing angle: although the map remains three-dimensional, it is no longer necessary to rotate it to avoid missing an object or item.
* There will be a full city screen (not the "replacement" that was seen in the exhibition demonstration).
* Bookmarks can be made on the global screen and battle screen. For example, on the battle screen, your favorite spells can be placed on the panel and cast from there without digging through the spellbook.

RACES

* There are 5 races in the game. Humans (Paul's race), Necromancers (Anastasia's race), demons (Kirill's race), and orcs (Sandor's race) will definitely be present.
* Each race has its own unique "playstyle" with its own unique units. (Think StarCraft!)
* The racial ability will "charge up" during the battle, meaning it can either be used more often but with a smaller effect, or one can wait for "full charge" and strike with maximum effect. There are 4 levels of racial ability "charge" in total.
* The human racial ability is Guardian Angel: a friendly squad becomes immune to hits and negative effects (presumably for a time).
* The demon racial ability is Gating: it works similarly to the same "opening of gates" from Heroes V.
* The Necromancer racial ability is traditional Necromancy, but it now works differently: creatures fallen in battle now increase a certain "counter," which can be used to increase the size of one of the necro-squads right during the fight. After the battle, only a part of the raised necro-creatures remains.

HEROES

* Each race has 2 types of heroes: warrior and mage.
* There will be hero classes.
* Now there are no primary and secondary skills or abilities, no perks, no separate spells. Everything is now abilities that a hero can obtain by earning "ability points." This system is similar to the World of Warcraft system.
* Female and male hero models will differ from each other.
* The player now determines their own hero's development (i.e., when leveling up, you can choose available skills from skill categories).
* Hero development is limited to level 30.
* Depending on reputation, a hero can choose one of three paths: Life, Death, and Neutral and receive the corresponding Advanced class. Initially, each faction has two hero classes: Might (warrior) and Magic (mage), then there is a branch into an Advanced class (3 possibilities), resulting in 6 different types of Advanced class heroes per race. These types are truly unique because, in addition to racial abilities, "class abilities" are also present.
* Heroes will not be directly involved in combat (system as in Heroes III).

GLOBAL MAP

* Only 4 resources remain in the game: gold, wood, ore, and crystals.
* There is a dungeon.
* Ships will not disappear.
* "Control points" in the form of cities and forts have been introduced. Each control point controls resource extraction (in mines) and creature production (in external dwellings) within its zone of influence. (That is, whoever owns the control point receives resources and creatures from the zone of influence). To take a mine or dwelling from an opponent, you must capture the corresponding control point. (If a hero simply "enters" a mine, it will only be a temporary capture: as soon as the hero leaves, the mine returns to the owner of the control point).
* The above applies only to "owned" mines. If a mine is still neutral, capturing the corresponding control point will not lead to automatic capture of the mine: it will remain neutral. If an enemy hero captures a neutral mine belonging to your control point, as soon as that hero moves from the mine, it automatically passes into your possession.
* If a control point is not yet occupied by anyone (neutral), mines/dwellings "work" in the traditional way (as in Heroes V and before) and change their owner depending on whose hero last visited the mine.
* Heroes move faster in their controlled zones. Some races have unique buildings with an effect that extends only to the castle's zone of influence.
* The introduction of control points depends entirely on the map creator. Only some areas can be "controlled," or no control points can be placed at all (in the latter case, mines/dwellings are captured the old-fashioned way).
* Creature transportation: caravans are no longer required for delivering creatures. External creature dwellings will work like resource-producing mines: after capturing an external dwelling, it will add creatures to a certain "creature pool" every week, from which they can be hired in any city or fort. Thus, heroes are not needed to deliver creatures from external dwellings. Nevertheless, when you first capture a dwelling, you can immediately take reinforcements for the hero's army.
* Each race will still correspond to its own type of terrain: Jungle, Plains (two types: summer and autumn), Lava, Wasteland (for Necromancers), Underground.
* There will be simple "animals" that you don't have to fight: turtles, dolphins, birds, etc. "Weather conditions" do not affect gameplay.

CASTLES

* Each race will have its own 4 unique buildings, each of which provides either creature growth, resource growth, or some "special abilities" on the global map or in battle. However, only 2 unique buildings can be built in each castle (a choice must be made regarding what to orient the castle toward). Having identical unique buildings in several castles increases the efficiency of those buildings (similar to how markets increase in efficiency).
* Captured castles can be converted into castles of your own race. Resources are spent on conversion. Unique buildings are lost during conversion.
* Not only castles, but also forts and external creature dwellings can be converted.
* If you retake your castle during the conversion process, the conversion will stop.
* Unique buildings cannot be destroyed at will (to build others instead). Unique buildings are destroyed only during castle conversion.
* Cities will have specializations.

CREATURES

* Creatures are now divided into three levels: Core, Elite, Champion. Creatures of the same level have comparable (roughly identical) stats but different special abilities. Each castle will have 3 Core units, 3 Elite units, and 1 Champion unit.
* Creature special abilities will be passive (always active "automatically") and active (must be activated, spending a turn).
* There will be approximately 50% new creatures.
* All creatures will have only 1 upgrade.
* Upgraded units inherit all the abilities of non-upgraded ones and are clearly stronger than them.
* Each faction has 2-3 "large creatures" (occupying a 2x2 field).
* The Phoenix will be a neutral creature. It will be blue because it is "linked" to the Moon.

MAGIC

* Magic spells are now added as abilities rather than being learned in the Mage's Guild or elsewhere. (Accordingly, the Mage's Guild has been removed).
* There will be 7 schools of magic: Air, Fire, Earth, Water, Light, Darkness, and Primordial.
* Offensive magic will be significantly weakened so that a mage hero cannot practically wipe out entire armies of Might heroes single-handedly. Magic will play a "support" role alongside other traditional abilities.

ARTIFACTS

* There will be about 160 artifacts, 100 of which are unique. By "unique," it means artifacts that provide bonuses of different types (rather than one type). For example, an artifact +1 Attack, +2 Attack, +3 Attack, etc., is considered as one unique artifact (increasing only attack).
* There will be set artifacts. No fundamental differences from previous "Heroes" games.
* The "Tear of Ashan" remains.

BATTLES

* The battlefield is divided into squares.
* There will be a dynamic battlefield, the size of which can change during the fight depending on the opponent's actions or simply "by script" (as intended by the map creator). Additionally, new obstacles may appear and old ones disappear from the battlefield from time to time.
* There will be various battle goals besides "kill them all": for example, hold out for X rounds, protect a temple in the center of the field, or destroy a specific enemy squad.
* There will be clashes with "bosses" – huge monsters that clearly occupy more than a 2x2 field.
* During a siege, squads can deal damage to fortifications (but clearly with less effect than a catapult).
* There will be defensive moats in front of castles.
* If a squad is in "cover" (behind an obstacle), it takes reduced damage from ranged attacks.
* The initiative bar has been removed (although a set of icons remains at the bottom of the screen reflecting the order of squad turns). Turns are clearly divided into rounds, as they were before Heroes V.
* morale in battle gives an extra turn or causes a skip of a turn.
* Luck in battle affects the damage dealt (from minimum to maximum).
* Weather conditions can affect the battlefield.

CAMPAIGNS AND EDITOR

* There are 5 main campaigns in the game, each tied to one of the races. The campaigns are linked to each other, but they can also be played separately and in any order. Each campaign has 4 missions. After completing all these campaigns, a final mission will become available.
* There will be a tutorial map, which can be safely skipped to play the "real" campaigns.
* The same map editor used by the developers themselves will be released, but with a more "user-friendly" interface.
* The editor will be like in WarCraft III: you'll be able to create maps without knowing programming.
* Bosses can be placed on the map (in the editor) just like any other object.
* There will be "achievements" in the game.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

* Heroes VI will be released only for PC. A Mac release is being considered.
* System requirements are not exactly known, but according to the producer, the game will run on 2-3 year old laptops with a discrete video card at low graphics settings.

Hello everyone,

Here is a series of developer answers to questions. They are sorted by specific themes.

MAP EDITOR

*Can we customize the area of effect for forts and capitals?

Yes.

*Will there be an option to automatically convert maps from previous Heroes games into maps for Heroes VI?

No, of course not. The games use different engines and different code. Given the changes made (zones of influence, etc.), you simply cannot convert them directly.

*Can we place bosses on maps?

Yes, you can use bosses as creatures: for example, to guard treasures.

*What will the editor be like? Like Warcraft III, divided into modules (map editor, trigger editor, sound editor, ...) or like in Heroes IV?

It is a trigger system, like Warcraft III. You will be able to create maps without writing a single line of code.

MODS

*Will it be easy to create mods for Heroes VI?

Indeed, that is our goal ^^

*Will mod integration be simpler compared to Heroes V (for example, file organization, the ability to change/import 3D models)?

We want the game to have a simple interface for activating/deactivating mods. Heroes VI has more neat file organization.
Options

*Will there be an option to disable the dynamic camera that triggers when a unit deals a critical hit?

Yes.

*Will it be possible to turn off/on the camera fly-over in adventure mode, which shows us the main points of the map, via options? Can we "restart" it during the game?

To the first question – yes. To the second – no.

*Can we reset hotkeys?

Yes.

OTHER

*Regarding demons, how will Ubisoft explain to us the absence of some creatures that we didn't see during the events of Heroes V (for example, juggernauts)?

Sheol is chaos itself. It has thousands of different forms. We only observe a small part of them. A creature can be in Heroes V and not in Heroes VI, and vice versa. But that creature still exists in Ashan and from time to time its form may have fundamental differences in different periods.

*Will there be Achievements?

Yes. We will give a more detailed explanation later.

*Will there be a Beta? Open or closed?

We can't tell you yet J

*Which features that you added to Heroes VI do you love the most?

There are some things we haven't presented yet.
Technical Information

*If an opponent captured my castle and started its transformation, but then I took it back. In this case, will the conversion continue or be stopped?

In this case, it will automatically stop.

*Will we be able to load/save the game during battle?

Loading – yes, saving – no.

*How will Multiplayer work in Heroes VI? Through ubi.com? Or a more simplified interface, like in H3?

We will tell you about multiplayer later J

*Will we have access to the battle log?

Yes.

CITY

*If we build 2 towers, is their price lower? (As in Heroes Kingdoms)

No.

*Can we destroy a unique building in the city to build a new one instead?

No, although something similar is possible during city conversion.

*Will external buildings (speeding up creature growth) affect only ordinary creatures or upgraded ones as well?

The increase will affect all creatures. The player can choose which creature they want to buy.

*Will cities have specializations (in Heroes 5, each city has its own specialization, if I'm not mistaken)?

Yes.

*Will there be a Grail or its equivalent?

Yes, the tear of Ashan.

ADVENTURE MAP

*How will creatures in a hero's army affect the hero's movement?

The hero's movement is the movement of his army. In other words, the type of creatures in the hero's army does not affect movement.

*You talk about preserving the fundamental basics of Heroes, but "old-timers" are crying over your first changes with resources :p Why such changes? What new things does the new resource system bring to the game, in your opinion?

Resources are by no means a pillar of the game, but an element. You must understand the difference between the soul of the game, its fundamental basics (such as turn-based nature, RPG elements, kingdom and city management) and elements (for example, the number of resource types). We will explain the reason later. (See another Q&A).

*In one of the interviews you mentioned espionage and reconnaissance in enemy territory, which will allow us to determine our development strategy. Does this imply a real fog of war? If so, will there be an option to clear it or cast it on enemy territory?

The fog of war is static. Once cleared, it disappears. Abilities and artifacts will help with this.

*Can you find an explanation for the mine with crystallized Dragon blood?

Yes, during the Ancient Wars, gods shed their own blood in Ashan, which crystallized into a source of energy called Dragon veins. The inhabitants of Ashan learned to extract these crystals by building special mines.

*Will external dwellings specialize in a specific creature or a certain category (core, elite, champion)?

In a certain category.

HERO

*When customizing our own hero, will we be able to determine their name, gender, orientation toward sword or magic...

Of course, we can customize the hero's name, gender, orientation toward sword or magic, and advanced class, which will determine their skills.

*How will a hero's strength be calculated? Their damage, in my opinion, was somewhat unbalanced in Heroes 5 (a hero could kill at most 1-2 level 7 creatures, and about ten level 1 creatures, while spells easily destroyed hundreds).

We plan to balance Might heroes more deeply with Magic heroes.

*Can you tell us about the schools of magic?

There will be seven schools: air, fire, water, earth, light, darkness, as well as primordial magic (Asha/Urgas).

*Will the development system be similar to the one in King’s Bounty (a tree for might skills, a tree for magic skills, a tree for everything else) or will we see a separate tree for each skill?

There will be a tree for each category of skills, slightly similar to KB, but there will be more of them. More detailed information later. :p

*If we have full control over hero development, how do we avoid the situation where all heroes are similar? Are you going to create intermediate skills so that no perfect template exists?

Each hero belongs to a certain class with a unique ability. Furthermore, not all factions will have identical access to those skills and magic schools. Each faction will have its own unique ability.
Battle

*If the arenas are larger, can more than 7 stacks be placed on them?

No.

*How will morale and luck work?

morale will allow an extra action or prevent an action. Luck will give increased or decreased damage.

*Will we have the ability to place archers on a tower; what happens if it is completely destroyed?

When the tower is destroyed, the squad perishes.

*The shape of the arena will not always be the same, but will weather conditions affect the battle by changing speed, spells, shooting (rain, snowstorm, fog...)?

Actually yes, but not systematically.

*How will changes in the terrain change the course of the battle? For example, will the water level change movement speed or completely block the path?

Flooded squares block the path. On other arenas, other effects are possible.
Creatures

*What is the maximum size of the largest creature of a faction? 2x2 as before in Heroes 5, or can some creatures occupy a different area, for example 3x3?

Faction creatures, as before, are maximum 2×2. Bosses can be larger, 4×4, for example.

*Will there be archer-type creatures like in Heroes 5, who after upgrading to crossbowmen lost the ability to hit an area?

An upgrade is not an alternative. It is a real improvement; they do not lose abilities.

*What will be the ratio of neutral and castle creatures?

I won't give any estimate of the ratio, I'll only say that neutrals will be there. You can look at the Gamescom t-shirts. J

*In the screenshots, we see 5 Necropolis creatures occupying only one cell. Does this mean there will be 2 large creatures per faction?

That depends on the faction. There will be about 2-3 large creatures.

CAMPAIGN

*Can we learn more about Svetlana? Was she also chosen by Asha like Arantir? Is she perhaps from the Dragon Knights or Blind Brothers?

"I am Svetlana, Slava's aunt. I left my home to give my life in service to Asha, the Goddess of Death. Once called the 'flower of the north,' now I am feared and called an Apostate, a Heretic, a Necromancer..."

The daughter of the Duke of Griffin, who hoped for a son, Svetlana was an unwanted child and was forced to live in constant loneliness.

At age 15, after the birth of her brother Paul, everyone forgot about her, while he was named heir to the throne.

Finally coming to terms with the way things were, she left home to study the world of Spirits, first with Angels and then with the mages of the Seven Cities.

She was an excellent student, and soon the Necromancer Aguirre became her mentor.

Having finally severed ties with her family, Svetlana joined the cult of the Spider Goddess that was developing at the time; she became Aguirre's assistant and his right hand.

She traveled with her teacher to the Nag islands in the Emerald Sea to free Mother Namtaru, a powerful aspect of the Spider Goddess.

Aguirre was killed during the expedition, and Svetlana had to return Mother Namtaru to the Seven Cities alone, becoming a living legend among her fellow Necromancers.

But she did not enjoy her new status for long, as after her triumphant return, she went home to help Paul in the fight against demons.

Unfortunately, she was too late to help her brother. Instead, she had to become regent of the Duchy of Griffin until Paul's only son, her nephew Slava, grew up.

*Will both aforementioned orders take even a small part in the campaign plot?

Yes :)

*The Ancient War in which the Archangel General perished – is that the war with the Faceless, or something else?

Yes, that very war.

*Why 400 years before?

Because the events after Dark Messiah are told by Heroes Kingdom. The authors wanted to tell about the past, the origins of the events of Heroes V.

I hope you received the necessary information :)

Xhane