Posts from Harmony - Troop Symmetry Auto-translated

Regarding racial features: - We have the characteristic Necropolis ability, "Undead." - We have the characteristic Inferno ability, "Demon." - We have the characteristic Orc ability, "Raging Blood." Currently, the following changes have been made: - "Demon" is now a racial ability for the Dark Elves (grants immunity to Unholy spells and vulnerability to Holy spells). Renaming options for Dark Elves: first option, make it consistent with the lore as "Malassa's Apprentice" (ability for all Dark Elf units from Heroes 6); second option, "Mark of Darkness," "Shadow-branded," etc., as calling all units from 1 to 7 "apprentices" seems somewhat awkward (in my opinion). - "Raging Blood" will now be "Blood of Demons" and will be possessed by two races: Demons and Orcs. Should other races be given a racial ability? For the Dwarves, it would be natural to have a connection to defense, for example, "Rune Power," "Arcata Warrior," etc. Mechanically, this could be implemented as an inability to reduce the defense of Dwarf units (an ability called "Armor"). For the Elves, something related to agility could be given, for example, the ability "Etherealness" could be renamed to "Elven Agility" and the chance of it triggering could be reduced to 25% (meaning that an agile unit has a chance to dodge a physical attack from the enemy). Since the Magic army is a collection of constructs and elementals, they don't really need a special ability (the abilities "Construct" and "Elemental" already serve this purpose). Finally, there are the Humans - since Humans are canonically balanced and unremarkable warriors, they don't really need a special characteristic.

But if you plan to give new abilities, then you need to give them to everyone, otherwise there won't be any balance.
It's not worth strengthening some factions.

the ability isn't given out just like that – naturally, there will be balance. There is no talk of strengthening any factions.

Added 3 minutes later
the essence of my question is not about this at all (the balance won't disappear).

of course, the balance will be there

If so, then everything is great.

And there are people - since people are canonically balanced and therefore unremarkable warriors, they don't need any special characteristics.

How do you plan to handle the humans? If you don't plan to do anything with them, then it's not entirely fair in terms of balance. Maybe I'm missing something?
Correct me if I'm wrong.

SRD, what's the latest news on the mod? **I hope you haven't abandoned it.**

I also hope that the author is still working on the mod.

I'll get to it over the weekend – the move took up a lot of time.

Divine Retribution: took a long time to adjust
So, I reworked the formula into this:
neophyte F(5+2sp)
basic F(10+2sp)
strong F(15+2sp)
skilled F(20+2sp)
there's also another option:
neophyte F(1+1sp)
basic F(2+2sp)
strong F(3+3sp)
skilled F(4+4sp)

What is this formula based on? What were your guiding principles?

I'm afraid I'll have to revisit the magic system again. On the one hand, Chaos has always seemed very powerful to me, but considering the "Heroes of Might and Magic V" approach of "whoever goes first wins" (related to the excessively high movement speeds of units and the resulting consequences), it might have been justified. I've reduced the speeds, as well as the impact of offensive magic (in general, all ranged attacks need to be toned down, including archers). But now, leveling up Chaos doesn't seem particularly appealing anymore. This also applies to Divine Might – the problem is that Divine Might incorrectly (in my opinion) assesses the importance of those who need to be avenged. In other words, for Divine Might, killing one dragon is equivalent to killing seven peasants (the points awarded for killing a single unit are equal to the unit's level; thus, killing seven peasants yields 7*1=7 points, while killing one dragon yields 1*7=7 points). Therefore, there's a certain imbalance in terms of the damage caused by Divine Might, and sometimes the damage it inflicts is simply enormous, but again, this is only possible when units are lost – not the best condition for dealing significant damage, because Shock or Meteor Shower can inflict considerable damage without any such conditions

About the formulas for offensive magic.

Magic of Destruction (Chaos)

Water
Highly dependent on the "spell power" parameter and weakly dependent on the level of mastery in the magic of destruction.

Fire
Weakly dependent on the "spell power" parameter and highly dependent on the level of mastery in the magic of destruction.

Earth
Highly dependent on both the "spell power" parameter and the level of mastery in the magic of destruction.

Air
Weakly dependent on both the "spell power" parameter and the level of mastery in the magic of destruction.

The concept behind the formulas:
1) The average value of the "spell power" parameter was determined; this is, of course, a debatable point, so the question remains open.
The average value here is 10; this is not the average for a Warlock or Necromancer, but the average for the entire game, i.e., the value that lies on the border between a significant parameter value and an insignificant value, at which it is not reasonable to focus on "spell power."
2) The values of the coefficients before "spell power" were determined, defining the strong/medium/weak dependence of the spell's damage on spell power (if there is no dependence on the level in the magic of destruction, then the values 8/12/16 were adopted, respectively).
3) With the average value of spell power, the formulas were calculated and compared between the elements.
Example:
Based on the above dependencies of the elements (in terms of damage) on the hero's parameters ("spell power" and level of mastery in the skill), as well as considering the balance between the elements, it can be argued that when the same number of required conditions are met for a particular element, their effectiveness should be equivalent.
Let's consider each element to determine the number of required conditions for their effective (and/or priority over other) use:
Water - one requirement ("spell power")
Fire - one requirement (level of mastery in the skill)
Earth - two requirements ("spell power" and level of mastery in the skill)
Air - zero requirements
As you can see, water and fire have the same number of requirements for their effective use, so let's try to compare their formulas when the hero meets both requirements (both the one required for water and the one required for fire).
Based on the above ("...when the same number of required conditions are met for a particular element, their effectiveness should be equivalent..."), let's compare the spells of water magic and fire magic, which are on the same level, and calculate their damage when "Expert Magic of Destruction" is present and the "spell power" parameter is equal to 10 units:
Second level of Magic of Destruction
Ice Bolt - 36+12sp=156
Fireball - 76+8sp=156
It turns out that, for example, a Demon, when leveling up the magic of destruction, will tend towards the element of fire, and only if his spell power becomes higher than average, the requirement for the element of water will be met, and when the threshold (10 units) is exceeded, water will become more promising (which is rarely seen in a Demon). If spell power grows well, but the magic of destruction is not leveled up, then the use of water magic will always be more promising (Necromancer).
The element of earth requires the most conditions, or rather, both existing conditions ("spell power" and level of mastery in the skill), so if the player has invested in fulfilling both conditions for the hero, then the element that requires this should be the most effective. Also, if the player does not have good "spell power" and a high level of mastery in the skill, then the magic of destruction should not be completely ignored (as well as other schools of magic) - here, the element of air comes to the fore.

We get:
A Demon, who has leveled up the magic of destruction, will more often choose fire spells; one who does not level up the magic of destruction will choose air.
A Necromancer, who does not level up the magic of destruction, will more often choose ice spells; one who levels up the magic of destruction will choose earth.
A Knight, who does not level up the magic of destruction, will choose the element of air; one who levels up will choose fire (the connection between light and fire has not disappeared - hello, Holy Inquisition).
A Warlock, who levels up the magic of destruction, will primarily tend towards the element of earth; in second place, fire and water will be simultaneously (since both requirements are met at the same time - "spell power" and level of mastery in the skill); air will be the least promising (casting a thunderstorm in a dungeon seems unwise); if we are playing through the combat league on the dark side, then the most promising element of destruction will be the element of water.
The most versatile class here will be the Ranger (the philosophy of balance is present): if he does not level up anything, he uses air; if he takes blue Druids, he goes through water; if he levels up the magic of destruction, he goes through fire; and if he takes blue Druids and levels up the magic of destruction, he casts earth.

PS: Above, I compared the spells of the second level, saying that in terms of damage value, they should be equivalent, but in reality, this is true only if both spells affect an area, or if both are intended for one target; since Ice Bolt and Fireball were compared, the latter should be weaker. This point is taken into account in all elements, except for fire (the damage is already too reduced - I did not reduce it further - for now, I played on a higher price for fire spells - approximately 1.3 times more expensive in mana)

A small digression regarding units (I'm tired of formulas).
From the description of Silanna: "...Silanna's Breath is a cloud of stone shards that either tear the target to pieces or completely cover it, turning it into a stone statue."
I have an idea to represent this ability as an alt-upgrade skill for green dragons (in my opinion, prismatic breath lightning doesn't fit because lightning is air, not earth).
The ability could be called "Petrifying Breath," and in terms of mechanics, I'm thinking of something similar to the medusas from Heroes 4 (they had a similar ability). In Heroes 5, it could work like this: the first unit in the stack turns to stone. "Cleaving Sword" on a dragon looks a bit strange – what do you think?
Source: http://ru.mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/Силанна

Maybe it would be better to just give them the Stun ability? In my opinion, killing a single creature is not very effective for an improved dragon (3-4 weeks). I think it was also weak against Lords. In RTF, basilisks were simply given the Blind ability.

SRD, there is a certain logic to your idea regarding the offensive magic formula. Your main concepts:

1) An average value for the "magic" parameter is defined; this is a debatable point, so the question remains open. For the average value, 10 units were taken – this is not the average for a necromancer or warlock, but the average for the entire game, that is, a value that lies on the border between a significant parameter value and an insignificant value, where focusing on "magic" is not reasonable. 2) Values for the coefficients before "magic" are defined, determining the strong/medium/weak dependence of the spell's damage on magic (if there is no dependence on the level in destructive magic, then the values 8/12/16 are taken accordingly). 3) With the average value of magic, the formulas were calculated and compared between the elements.

are also understandable and harmonious. I would like to see all this in action to understand how it will work and to correct any shortcomings or imbalances that may appear. Do you plan to release a pre-release version of the mod on the forum?

And in response, silence...

What does it mean, a pre-release version posted on a forum? If I release a mod, that's already a release, and what's the point of that? I'm all for a finished product. Of course, it won't be without patches, but constantly releasing them every couple of days seems pointless to me; I don't have much time. Let's discuss something else: leadership. There are several options for distributing leadership perks; one of them is like Nargott's in WGE (many interesting concepts from this mod became the basis for some of my ideas). Inspiration -> Retribution Diplomacy -> Empathy -> Morale Recruitment -> Treasury In this version, I definitely like the combination of *Inspiration -> Retribution*. The combination of *Diplomacy -> Empathy* also exists in the original ToE, but I don't see much logic in it. Here's another option: Inspiration -> Retribution -> Morale Diplomacy -> Empathy Recruitment -> Treasury Morale ensures the stack's survivability (it's more of a defensive perk), and therefore, having this perk in a branch that is clearly focused on offensive perks like Inspiration and Retribution seems strange. However, if we approach the question from the perspective of defining the object on which the perk's effect is directed, we get a branch that is played out directly in battle, and its logic is similar to that of battle cries – the hero affects the troops, raising their morale and/or fighting spirit, and they rush into battle with more vigor, i.e., faster, stronger, and without fear of death (correspondingly, Retribution/Inspiration/Morale). Based on the same logic regarding the object of the perk's effect, we can distinguish a "Personal Qualities" branch, which would include the perks *Diplomacy -> Treasury*. In turn, the logical connection between *Recruitment -> Empathy* makes sense as a branch that is not aimed at aggressively driving the army into battle (the path of blood), but rather supports a defensive playstyle (for example, for a hero defending the capital, recruitment will clearly be more useful, and empathy will often be more effective than retribution, as a large part of the troops that cannot shoot will simply stand there, and in such conditions, Retribution will not be effective, but Empathy, on the contrary, will show itself in all its glory, especially if the hero is a powerful mage). Morale, in this case, looks more interesting in the *Recruitment -> Empathy* branch. So, we also have this option: Inspiration -> Retribution Recruitment -> Empathy Diplomacy -> Treasury Question: Where should Morale be placed – with Retribution or Empathy?