Posts from Heroes 6 - Discussion Auto-translated

No, it just started that way with the first game. The developers focused on four races. One is oriented towards defense, another towards attack, the third towards knowledge, and the fourth towards magic. The first was based on humans – a knightly medieval setting. The second was composed of creatures associated with barbarism. The third was based on the good side of fantasy creatures. The fourth was based on the evil side. That's how it started. Later, in the fourth game, they decided to correct this, but they miscalculated by focusing on 5 schools of Magic + Strength. They failed to combine 9 castles into 6. By the way, I saw information about what the fifth game for 3DO was supposed to be. First, the developers were going to develop the ideas of the fourth game. A fifth level of dwellings would be added to the castles. And they were also going to make the game on an improved engine from the fourth game. The latter is terrible because part of the Heroes series that was released on PS2 used a three-dimensional engine with models from the fourth game. By the way, it had a square grid. And in general, what do you think about the prospect of the Swamp in the sixth game (I'm talking about the link - http://www.psatkha.narod.ru/ncf_other/test_30.rar)?

Personally, I find the division into "light/dark elves" in Heroes 5 to be quite irritating. It's an unnecessary and rigid fantasy categorization for the heroes, in my opinion. It's not just about the centaurs or dwarves...
In the very first Heroes game from 1995, which, in fact, established the series' famous "heroic spirit," the concept of unit division was quite different compared to, say, what was implemented in Heroes 5. This is, by the way, one of the reasons why I don't like Heroes 5 – it's overly saccharine and mainstream. It tries to emulate "others." But in the previous games in the series, this wasn't the case (or at least, it wasn't as noticeable).
People seemed to be in favor of reviving the ideas from the early games, which, in principle, became the concept for the development of Heroes 5. At the same time, it's strange why the ideas from the same race-based "fourth" game (good, bad, strong, and humans) – one of the cornerstones of the series' beginning – are mostly perceived negatively...

This isn't off-topic; it's just my personal, somewhat strange, and modest wish that the division of races in Heroes 6 would be more avant-garde than in its predecessor.

P.S. The link doesn't open

God forbid! There's no need to break such a well-structured system that was implemented in the 5th installment. Here, each creature has its place, and it's explained why it belongs there. But thankfully, we shouldn't expect too much avant-garde, as the 6th game will be a continuation of the 5th in every sense. Honestly, I'd say that the 5th game was made just for me. The faction composition in the 5th game, in my opinion, is the best in the series. Of course, there are still some things I don't like (the balance needs some minor adjustments, for example, to make the bonus from the Castle Ability affect direct attack, as they did with Devil's Strike and Torture, and to weaken Channel, etc.), and I'm hoping for a patch, but unfortunately, it won't happen. What a pity. P.S. That's strange; the link works fine for me. I just checked. I don't understand.

So, what's the justification for angels in the Castle faction? It's just mindless borrowing from Heroes of Might and Magic III. Nothing more. Where else do angels fight on equal footing with humans and rank slightly higher than cavalry in the hierarchy? It's absurd. Even in my favorite Heroes of Might and Magic III, I don't support the developers' introduction of this unit. :(
Devils are a different story. All their subordinates are also from the Underworld (including imps, nightmares, and succubi). But angels don't walk the earth, so there's no reason to include them among humans.
It turns out that Heroes of Might and Magic V isn't perfect in terms of faction distribution either.

Well, then, what's the justification for angels in the Castle faction? It's just mindless borrowing from the third game. Nothing more. Where else do angels fight on equal footing with humans and rank slightly higher than cavalry in the hierarchy? It's absurd. Even in my favorite third game, I don't support the developers' introduction of this unit. :(
Devils are a different matter. All their minions also come from the Underworld (and imps, nightmares, and succubi). But angels don't walk the earth, so there's no reason to include them among the human ranks.
So, it turns out that the fifth game isn't perfect in terms of faction distribution.

Angels rank higher in the hierarchy, not just above cavalry, but above paladins, sacred warriors endowed with divine superhuman power.
It's just that angels don't walk our earth; maybe in the world of Heroes, people's faith in God is stronger.

I don't understand how, while justifying the place of devils in the Inferno faction, one can doubt the existence of angels.

In the 5th installment, a new system was introduced: initiative, unit movement range was added, and each race received specializations.

That's interesting. Actually, in the 3rd game, "speed" is responsible for initiative, just like in the 4th. The only difference is that in the 3rd game, two indicators (action speed and movement) are combined into one, while in the 4th, they are separated. There's nothing new in the 5th game in this regard.
Movement range? Here, 50% is just cosmetic and for convenience, and 50% is a novelty.
"Specializations for each race" - the 4th game also had them. Each race has its own magic, for example. Necromancers, in general, have always had their own specialization throughout the series. So, it's not quite accurate to call all of this new. It's just a development of existing ideas.

Dwarves with elves - Where have you seen that before? - In Heroes. Centaurs in forests - Where have you seen that before? - In Heroes...

When an author creates their own world, they have the right to put anyone and anything anywhere. If they can explain it in a clear and understandable way, then it doesn't bother anyone.

The 5th installment gave Heroes a new lease on life. The game was revitalized with new colors.

O_o Well, they re-released the game. And they did a good job. But it doesn't warrant such grand statements.

Many fans don't like the plot of the 5th Heroes game. And they're wrong. The main problem with the Russian version is the localization.

O_O The banality of the plot doesn't depend on the Russian localization, does it?

improved skill/ability system.

This is the only thing that genuinely evokes positive emotions.

So, what's the justification for angels in the castle? It's a mindless borrowing from the 3rd game. Nothing more. Where else do angels fight on equal footing with humans and rank slightly higher than cavalry? It's absurd. Even in my favorite 3rd game, I didn't support the developers' introduction of this unit.
Devils are a different story. All their subordinates are also from Hell (imps, nightmares, and succubi). But angels don't walk the earth, so including them in a human faction doesn't make sense.

It's all quite simple... All other races have a legendary creature, like a titan, dragon, devil, hydra, monster, or phoenix. So, humans should have something to counter them. Otherwise, it would look a bit awkward.

That's interesting. Actually, in Heroes of Might and Magic III, "speed" determines initiative, just like in Heroes of Might and Magic IV. The only difference is that in Heroes of Might and Magic III, two indicators (action speed and movement) are combined into one, while in Heroes of Might and Magic IV, they are separated. There's nothing new in Heroes of Might and Magic V in this regard.

Actually, initiative affects the number of turns per round and, consequently, the sequence. If there's nothing new, why are so many people upset?)
In Heroes of Might and Magic IV, doesn't defense determine initiative?

Actually, initiative affects the number of turns per round and, consequently, the turn order.

Well, there you go, the turn order. As for the number of turns... I don't really know the intricacies of the game's mechanics, and I didn't bother to delve into it:( There are always a lot of people complaining. There's no point in trying to please everyone.

In Heroes of Might and Magic IV, everyone has 1 turn per round. Battle Dodge (BD) gives you the opportunity to go before others. But the main distinction is based on the speed stat.

Angels in Ashan are one of the Elder Mortal Races, created by Ashan, along with humans, elves, dwarves, nagas, and the Faceless. Initially, the angels were servants of Elrath, the Dragon of Light, and humans were servants of Sylath, the Dragon of Air. During the Wars of Fire, the angels were brought to the brink of extinction. This almost-extinct race found refuge among humans. The angels began establishing churches of Elrath throughout the Human Kingdom. These churches also attracted the interest of humans, and after some time, a royal decree declared the faith in Elrath as the state religion, and the Human Kingdom was renamed the Holy Empire. Those who disagreed with the decree moved east and founded the Free Cities. However, even in the Empire, there were still believers in Sylath. There are quite a few of them in Stormdale, for example. Humans perceive angels as messengers of Elrath, even though the angels were and remain mortal. This is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that angels succumbed to heresy, although if they were a higher race… The situation with demons is much more interesting; they were all originally created by demons. Any creation of Ashan is born, lives, and dies, even the Elemental Dragons (Elrath was killed by Urgash, and his spirit went to the World of Spirits, where he took the place of a Judge). Demons, however, are not born and do not die (and probably do not live, but exist). If a demon's physical form is destroyed, it is reborn as an imp and begins its journey through the hierarchy again, from imp to devil. However, due to the harsh customs in Sheoh, few rise to such heights

Oh, I'll be so happy when I finish playing Ashan. Everything is so well-structured and wonderful. It's just that, for some reason, there aren't any fewer enemies in the fifth game than in the fourth. And nothing good will come of it if Ubisoft and Nival make the sixth installment again.

Oh, I'm just overwhelmed by the world of Ashan. Everything is so well-structured and wonderful. But for some reason, there are just as many enemies in the fifth game as in the fourth. And nothing good will come of it if Ubisoft and Nival make the sixth installment again.

I like the fifth game, and I'm looking forward to the sixth. And I couldn't care less about the third. And there are many people like me. In my opinion, a game that evokes indifference is much worse than one that has many detractors.

Angels are hierarchically higher than not just cavalry, but paladins, sacred warriors endowed with divine superpowers.
Perhaps angels don't walk on our land; maybe in the world of Heroes, people's faith in God is stronger.

I don't understand how, while justifying the place of devils in the Inferno race, one can doubt the existence of angels.

Well, there is some meaning to it, of course. In general, I would divide it like this:
Angels are the sky (I don't know what race that would be...).
Humans are the earth.
Demons are the underground realm of Hades.

It has always been the case that angels and demons are symbols of good and evil, respectively.
Humans are in the middle because they are a very controversial race. NWC tipped the scales towards good (I would even say towards holiness), and as a result, they were led by those who symbolize good, i.e., angels... This is perhaps the only real, not invented motivation that I find.

At the same time, the nature of angels, as celestial beings, is very different from most of those inhabiting the Castle...

Yeah, it's fine, it's okay, you can bring back the swamp and elementals, the main thing is that the game is good!!!!!

Added 15 minutes later
There should be more new units in Heroes 6. The angels, knights, and a few other units are getting a bit repetitive, it's time for something new. And I don't know why you're all arguing about the factions, some people don't like this, some don't like that. Everything is fine, what's really stupid is combining the undead and demons into one faction in Heroes 4, but everything else looks more or less good.

The racial composition, IMHO, will change. Here is what we have now.
Humans - the composition is completely identical to the one from 3. It 100% will not change, as many perceive it as the classic. Unless fans of 2 are against it. However, reshuffles regarding the 1st level are possible, though unlikely. Training from peasant archers looks, IMHO, better than from spearmen. But if the shooters are moved to the 3rd level and the swordsmen dropped to the 2nd... I still believe it won't change.
Demons - this castle appeared only in 3; in 4 it was... let's not say what. The composition is almost identical - some reshuffling of levels occurred and Efreets were replaced by Nightmares. Unlikely they'll change it, although... I quite like Nightmares, but some want the Efreets back. The return of Efreets contradicts the concept of Ashan, but as neutrals, they'd fit perfectly. Overall, I liked how the demons were implemented in King's Bounty - both visually and in terms of unit strength, it's just a pity that Cerberi correspond to them. Demons and imps are just too weak in Heroes, just too weak. In King's Bounty, for fun, after completing a quest in Cordar for beer, I spent time in Demonis and built a fully demonic army. And so, demons and imps were my main strength. By the way, I also liked them in the art from Heroes Online: Kingdoms (and the best piece of art I've seen from that game is the Angel. I set it as the background for my PDA).
Undead - now this is a big problem. Ubisoft wanted to make this castle in an Egyptian style, ala Tomb Kings from Warhammer. But here Nival did well—they fought for the classic look. Then there was the controversial replacement of Death Knights with Harbingers. But later it justified itself. Without it, my favorite new necromancy likely wouldn't have appeared. But the composition of the Necropolis in 6 remains a question mark.
Wood Elves - in the original plan, the castle composition was completely identical to 2, only the dwarves (they have no place in the Rampart) were replaced by dancers. Ents were added. Although they could have had female riders on pegasi :). Then there was again a controversial replacement of phoenixes with dragons. To be honest, I don't know which is better here. By the way, comparing the rampart in 2 and 3, I choose 2. Elves should have more than one shooter.
Dark Elves - the composition of this castle changed throughout the entire series. In 2, it had centaurs, griffins, hydras... In 3, medusas, troglodytes, beholders... In 4, thieves, nightmares... Only minotaurs and dragons were in this castle throughout the entire span from the 1st to the 4th part. They were kept. This castle resembled a hodgepodge more than any other. So it was changed, leaving perhaps only the dragons and minotaurs. Now it is the Dark Elf castle. Oh, what a fuss the fans made. But I liked it. I played this castle extremely rarely; now I do it more often. Generally, if you look at it this way... you can easily recognize the thieves from 4 in the assassins, and the harpies in the furies. If you use some imagination, some will see medusas in the matriarchs, and some will see beholders. I doubt they will redesign it, and I don't want them to, but...
Mages - originally, this castle was supposed to be without changes. Except that an Arabo-Indian style was acquired. But that is correct. Some creatures didn't look great with nagas and djinn (by the way, there is a sketch depicting a naga as she should have been in this castle, had she been there). Then the nagas were moved to the planned Swamp, and rakshasas took their place. IMHO, the castle composition will not change, but the appearance will 100% be corrected. Developers, decide on the gender of the rakshasas. And give the djinn their heads back. And make the gargoyles into normal chimeras, like in all the parts. And for once, why are they elementals? Make them mechanisms. IMHO, it's more atmospheric and they could be repaired by gremlins.
Dwarves - a new race. Dwarves in the game were merely a unit, and even then, always located where they didn't belong—among the elves. Honestly, I'm glad they were finally implemented. I doubt the castle composition will change. Everything is in its place. Hird, spear throwers (though by the original design these were supposed to be axes), bear riders, priests, jarls. I can't imagine dwarves without all this. In King's Bounty, the composition of dwarves wasn't great for me, but they are useful... The class name should be Warlord, not Rune Mage. And give the throwers axes.
Orcs - The castle composition is a sort of blend of 3 and 4. Goblins, centaurs, orcs, shamans, chieftains (you won't believe it, but in the Ukrainian localization they are atamans), wyverns, and cyclops. StrongHold is quite recognizable.
Nagas - the unimplemented castle from the third add-on. It was supposed to be in a Japanese style (more likely, based on all the Far East countries at once, IMHO). There are a number of models in the resource files of "Hordes of Storms". I've seen them. A lizardman with a crossbow, a troll with a weapon ala Wolverine (called a steel claw, if I'm not mistaken), a "samurai", and a naga. Presumably, medusas and dragons were also supposed to be among them. Only long, mustached eastern ones. At least on the sketch, their statues are on the castle facade. The plot of the third add-on, IMHO, has been moved to 6; we'll see.

If all these prophecies come true, then the Heroes series will be finished, and no amount of modified graphics will save it. The proposed faction arrangement is a convenient, conservative solution for fans of Heroes 5, for those who believe that the ideal factions have already been established.