Posts from Heroes 5.5 WarGame Edition - Tactical Edition.

I understand your point about the patch; I'll probably wait for it.
Personally, I've always found it strange that the Knights are Tier 6 units. A simple guy on a horse, without magic, is just as good as a high-level demon or a six-meter-tall half-human, half-cat with six arms. The Dark faction's riders look more impressive, and they're only Tier 4. I would swap the positions of the griffin and the horse. You can understand why the griffin is Tier 4 (because it's not very big, about the size of a cheetah), but why is the horse so good? The demons have a hellish horse, but it's still weaker.
These are just my thoughts.

I disagree. Imperial Knights should have very strong training, as we saw in the Dilemma of Frida campaign, with a training battle to the death followed by the resurrection of the participants. They should also definitely have combat magic for close combat, something similar to what was in the opening cinematic of the original Heroes - Nicholas was wielding a sword in front of him and casting some kind of barrier (which the devil didn't care about, lol). Paladins could definitely cast something like that in battle, not to mention their legitimate ability to heal the wounded, which could also happen in a battle with some mega-demon.

And also, this is a Tier 6 unit - a very rare unit. For example, in MMX, our team of adventurers goes to beat up Duke Olen, and at the same location are Duke Anton, the EMPRESS, and Lord Kilburn - there should be a lot of high-level units, these are the most important people in the state, but no! If there are 10 Sun Riders, and there's only one angel, but he's very strong.

Added 2 minutes ago

Actually, these positions have been changed for a long time, as well as some other things:

Monks - Tier 4
Knights - Tier 5
Griffins - Tier 6

Oh... I'm a little sad... will there be heroes in the world who will defeat a dragon in an unequal battle!

I disagree. Imperial Knights should have very strong training.

Why? They are just ordinary medieval knights, not heroes.
Of course, you can explain anything, but it's easier to rearrange the tiers so that it makes the most sense – a knight is clearly not on par with an Ent, a Balrog, or a Hydra.
Especially the mass-produced knight, who undergoes mass training.

Oh... I'm a little sad... will there be heroes in the world who will defeat a dragon in an unequal battle!

Heroes are separate, units are separate

Specifically regarding the price and strength of human units:
150 Militia (or rather, a pair – thanks to the Reserve ability = duplication)
250 Archer
400 Swordsman
600 Monk
1000 Knight
1500 Griffin
3000 Angel

For comparison:
250 Assassin
400 Fury
600 Minotaur
750 Predator
1000 Witch
3000 Hydra
6000 Dragon

Moving the knights to tier-5 (and the monks to tier-4) is not only a matter of taste, but also of balance. It allows for a much better balance of retraining, as the difference between a monk and a knight, as well as a swordsman and a monk, is significantly reduced.

Hello, where can I download your mod now?
Google is asking for access; will you grant it? There's a form for sending a message there.
Is it worth waiting for the release? Will it be in the next few days (1-2)?
I didn't quite understand the system with the racial super skill; do you just need to have the amulet and be level 3, or the amulet + level 3 + 2 specific secondary skills?

Good day!
The release will be in January; it's worth waiting for, as there are many fundamental changes (compared to the old version).

The release is intended for the duel format; it is not yet ready for the map.
The Super skill requires level 4 of the racial perk and 3 prerequisite perks from it, meaning a pendant will be necessary.

Added after 2 hours 25 minutes

Updated ability:

Bloodlust (based on battle fury)

Was: +5 from 5% attack, +2 initiative for 2 rounds
Will be: +10 from 10% attack, no initiative bonus for 1 round

The ability will effectively double the damage while the unit is "warmed up." There are nuances here related to the short duration:
- if the unit's initiative is below 10, it cannot warm itself up for the next attack by receiving a retaliation hit (the bonus disappears before its turn)
- if the unit's initiative is 10 or higher, it can warm itself up for the next attack by receiving a retaliation hit

An initiative bonus is not needed here because it is redundant (and the nuance regarding warming up with low initiative would be lost).

Which units have this ability?

Crusaders (8 initiative + Bloodthirst). Without haste, Crusaders cannot warm themselves up for the next attack, but they can for a repeated strike thanks to Bloodthirst.
Blood Griffins (12 initiative + Endless Retaliation). An interesting combination of warmed-up griffins with endless retaliation. Also, under haste, griffins that take damage will be able to execute a warmed-up "Dive."
Vikings (9 initiative + Giant Slayer). It is beneficial to warm up by exposing oneself to attacks from large enemy units (from which they take much less damage).
Imps (13 initiative + Retreat). On one hand, imps cannot retaliate—but on the other, it's better not to touch them until they are warmed up. They can warm up via retaliation hits.
Brutes, Marauders, Provokers (11, 9, and 9 initiative). Besides interesting warm-up combinations with their abilities, there are nuances with warming up. Brutes can warm up via retaliation (permitted by initiative). Marauders need Haste for this, otherwise they don't have time to warm up via retaliation. As for Provokers, simple positioning is enough. While Provokers lack vengeance, they still deal double retaliation damage—now thanks to Bloodlust.
Steppe Centaurs (9 initiative) - shooters who are best left alone or killed immediately. Double damage while warmed up is no joke. They will definitely pose a threat in shootouts.

Contamination (based on weakening strike)

Was: -2/-2 to 5% attack/defense
Will be: -4/-4 to 10% attack/defense

The ability is strengthened 4 times, debuffing opponents particularly hard (effectively weakening their physical stats by -25%).
Common ability of Cursed, Plague, and Dread zombies.

Added after 13 hours 37 minutes

Aura of Suppression (based on poisoning aura)

Was: -2/-2 to 5% attack/defense, -1 to morale
Will be: -4/-4 to 10% attack/defense, no morale penalty

The aura is strengthened 4 times physically, but without the morale penalty, which was removed so as not to overlap with the nightmare terror aura (-3 to morale).
Effectively, this ability significantly strengthens the unit against melee fighters (similar to +4/+4), penalizing those around by approximately -25%, but it does not work against ranged attacks.

Common ability of Pestilence Liches, Demiliches, and High Liches (shooters gaining extra defense against melee).
This ability is also possessed by Dread Zombies (in combination with Contamination).
This ability is also possessed by Stormtroopers (since they are not undead, the aura works against everyone, including allies).

Added after 56 minutes

Aura of Leadership (based on aura of courage)

Was: morale cannot be lower than +1
Will be: morale cannot be lower than +5 (always maximum)

The aura is strengthened manifold since the original version was almost useless.
Unfortunately, there is currently no technical possibility to similarly strengthen courage from +1 to +5, so only through the Aura of Leadership can a unit's own morale be boosted from +1 to +5.

Ability of Goliaths and Executioners.

Added after 12 minutes

Aura of Activity (based on commander presence)

Was: +1 to initiative
Will be: +2 to initiative

The aura is also strengthened so that its influence remains noticeable throughout the entire battle (changing unit positions on the ATB during movement), rather than just at the start.
Unique ability of Pack Leaders.

Added after 25 minutes
Aura of Terror (-3 to morale): no changes

There is currently no technical possibility to strengthen the aura to -6.
Ability possessed by Crimson Nightmares and Executioners.

Aura of Resistance (30% resist): no changes

Technical possibility for strengthening exists, but it creates too many problems for enemy heroes using Darkness or Chaos.
Unique ability of Silver Unicorns.

Cover (50% arrow protection): no changes

Ability possessed by Swordsmen, Man-at-Arms, Crusaders, Skeleton Warriors, and Shamans (the latter have no inherent arrow protection but have the Evasion spell).

Interception (based on bully)

Was: chance depended on health ratio.
Will be: ability works guaranteed.

A very interesting defensive ability that should not depend on chance.
Ability possessed by Man-at-Arms, Young Ents, Colossi, Punishers, Skeleton Servants, and Provokers.

Added after 13 minutes
Elemental Auras (stone, electric, fire, ice) no changes (+50% elemental damage)

Stone aura added (vulnerability to earth), which was previously unused in the original.
Stone, electric, and fire auras are distributed among Marble, Obsidian, and Onyx Gargoyles, while the ice aura went to Ice Dragons.

Added after 1 hour 50 minutes
Vampirism (based on drain)

Was: 50%
Will be: 100%

Return of full, classic 100% vampirism (as in Heroes 3).
Ability possessed by Combat, High, and Ancient Vampires, as well as Seraphs.

Added after 29 minutes
Regeneration

Was: 30-60
Will be: 30 (60), no randomness

Formally, the ability barely changes, but it is actually strengthened due to a much smaller number of creatures.
The value in parentheses is based on the old HP scale (which Chaos was calculated by).
Since there is now a technical possibility to use Sylvan Fury (+1 to max damage) instead of Battle Frenzy (+1 to damage), this allows for halving the HP scale of creatures (thanks to the fact that almost all damage spells scale well—they have an even multiplier).

Ability possessed by Vultures, Paokai, and Wyverns, as well as Cave Hydras and Spirits.
The real strength of the ability in duel scales is the resurrection of about 15% of the maximum squad size per turn. Using wait, this resurrection speed can exceed even 100% vampirism.

Added after 5 hours 38 minutes
Giant Slayer (update)

Was: +4/+4 to 5% attack and defense against large
Will be: +10 to 10% attack against large

The ability doubles damage against large units, but no longer strengthens defense (this is redundant).
Common ability of Bonebreakers, Berserkers, and Vikings.
This ability is also possessed by large Colossi (alongside interception - 100% bully).
This ability is also possessed by Hunters (shooters).

Added after 23 hours 46 minutes
Currently, for WGE balancing, an extremely complex and overloaded model consisting of 3 components is used: melee, shooters, magic. With a huge number of nuances and long, tedious recalculations. This tool provides high accuracy (and showed good results in the last release), but its use is so difficult that each such release is comparable to writing a doctoral dissertation.
I decided over one evening to whip up a very simple basic linear balance calculation model for creatures. For now, it won't be used for upcoming releases, but nonetheless, it is curious and attractive in its transparency, linearity, and simplicity.

So.

Let's break creatures down into 4 components that we will simply sum (no complex power formulas):
1) Attack
2) Retaliation
3) Shooting
4) Endurance

Damage = (Minimum + Maximum) / 2
AttackModifier = (5 + AttackStat) / 10 for WGE and (20 + AttackStat) / 20 for original
DefenseModifier = (5 + DefenseStat) / 10 for WGE and (20 + DefenseStat) / 20 for original

Attack = (Speed + 1) * Damage * AttackModifier
Retaliation = (3 - 20 / (Initiative+10)) * Damage * AttackModifier
Shooting = (1 - 1 / (Shots + 1)) * Initiative * Damage * AttackModifier
Endurance = 2 * Initiative * Health / ReceivedDamage, where

ReceivedDamage = 4 / DefenseModifier (from melee attacks) + 2 / DefenseModifier (from shooting) + 1 * (1 - MagicDamageResistance) (in fractions)

Main patterns are observed.
1. Attack: direct attack is linearly accelerated by speed (but with zero speed, attacking from place is still relevant), whereas retaliation no longer depends on speed.
2. Retaliation: with "infinite" initiative (almost equal to endless retaliation), the multiplier is maximal - 3, while even with "zero" initiative, a creature still has one retaliation (multiplier 1). At 10 initiative, endless retaliation is roughly equal to a "one-and-a-half" retaliation, which seems accurate.
3. Attack and defense modifiers scale from 1 to 3 (both in WGE and the original).
4. Shooting: with 0 shots, shooting doesn't work (multiplier 0), while with 1 shot, its contribution is 50% of the maximum (equivalent to 50% shooting with infinite ammo). Initiative also has a huge impact on shooting, directly accelerating the dealt ranged damage.
5. Endurance: a curious pattern is used. If creatures have twice the health, they "melt" twice as slowly, and if they have twice the initiative, they manage to do twice as much. These indicators are analogous, therefore health is multiplied by initiative (ultimately, both characterize how slowly a unit manages to "melt" between its turns if participating in an exchange of blows—and a melee fighter always participates).
6. Received damage: weights for melee and ranged damage are separated, as some abilities provide only melee or only ranged defense. These weights also decrease as the unit's defense increases, so they are formally higher than the weight of magic damage.

If I were doing the balance from scratch, I would try to use the model above; it is very transparent, convenient for calculations, and reflects the main patterns.
But since the project is already many years old, I will continue to use the old proven model, and then perhaps in the future, the results of different models can be compared.

Added after 16 hours 54 minutes

Random abilities.

Some random abilities will work guaranteed:

-Fire Wave (wave of fire)
-Interception (bully)
-Incendiary Projectiles (sign of fire)
-Wounding (crippling wound)
-Purification

Some random abilities now have a fixed chance = 50%:

-Bear Roar (now works only against small units)

Some random abilities will no longer work:

-Crushing (no longer stuns)
-Defense Penetration (enhanced arrow: no longer knocks back upon firing)

Other random abilities will have a factor of 1:

-Intimidation (fear attack 0.8)
-Stunning (stunning blow 1.5)
-Blinding (1)
-Paw Strike (1)
-Assault (1)

A number of abilities remain questionable, which I want to make guaranteed:

-Corruption (whip strike)
-Numbness
-Shock Arrows (stopping arrows)

I want to give Corruption to Daughters of Earth instead of witch attack (fortunately, there is slow there, which combines with swift attack). In that case, the following rearrangements in unit spells will occur:
- Daughters of Earth will get Curse (total: Curse, Slow, Berserk - 100% set of spells from Corruption)
- Daughters of Heaven will get Blessing (total: Blessing, Haste, Teleport)
- Shamans will get Exorcism (total: Evasion, Exorcism, area Exorcism)
- Fairies will get Wasps instead of Exorcism (and since they are free, they are unlimited - 20% ATB pushback)
- Druids will lose Wasps (only Hive will remain)
- Inquisitors will get Might instead of Blessing (total: Might and Skin)
- Adepts will lose Might (only Blindness will remain)

I want to clearly separate Shock Arrows from Stunning (which scouts have); they can be made guaranteed with a 10% ATB pushback (total from a double shot - 20%).

I want to separate Numbness from Blinding; it can be made guaranteed with a duration of 30% of a round.

Megeras, in this case, lose Assault (with guaranteed Corruption, it is redundant).
Ghosts, in this case, lose Joint Attack (with guaranteed Numbness, it is redundant).
Since Numbness guarantees Ghosts an unopposed attack, Shadows lose the unopposed attack and receive Evil Eye instead (unlike Tropical Cyclopes, without a 2-cell attack).

Unlimited wasps (fairies) and Shock Arrows (jaegers) can be used to gain full control and break through infinitely strong neutrals. On the other hand, in this form, these abilities are much more interesting in battles against players. Unlike TE, battles against players have the highest priority here, and breaking through is secondary (it's the opposite there).
Therefore, it makes sense to limit breaking through to 10 rounds, after which the battle ends in a draw via scripts. This is now possible since combat scripts can be enabled. This will be implemented in the future.

Added after 58 minutes
Generally, it's an interesting question what duration to set for guaranteed numbness (freeze).
Ghosts have 10 initiative; if the duration is set to 50% of a round, then 2 ghost squads using wait can slow any enemy squad to 0 with their attacks (without taking retaliation damage).
If the duration is set to 40% of a round, then 2 ghost squads slow the enemy by 5 times (every 0.5 rounds, the enemy misses 0.4).
If the duration is set to 30% of a round, then 2 ghost squads slow the enemy by 2.5 times (every 0.5 rounds, the enemy misses 0.3).
At a duration of 20% of a round, 2 ghost squads slow the enemy by 1.67 times (every 0.5 rounds, the enemy misses 0.2).
At a duration of 10% of a round, 2 ghost squads slow the enemy only by 1.25 times (every 0.5 rounds, the enemy misses 0.1), and the ability is almost identical to unopposed attack.

I think 30% is the optimal "freeze" duration (though 20% is also a good option).

Added after 4 hours 33 minutes

Tested the new numbness; in practice, there is a bug-feature that makes it slightly stronger:

For numbness and blinding, the actual effect duration is extended until the turn of the next unit, i.e., the effect does not drop immediately, but only when the turn of any unit or hero occurs (this bug is also visually noticeable on the scale, when a unit should seemingly move but jumps back).

Effectively, an additional random delay appears, usually 5-10% ATB, but it can be higher (up to 100%) if few units remain on the field and the distance between turns on the ATB scale is large.

In other words, at the end of the battle, the effectiveness of numbness will be much higher due to this same additional "random" delay. Thanks to this feature, a couple of ghost squads can keep any single neutral squad in eternal slumber, as numbness will most often drop only on the turn of one of the ghosts (sometimes a hero) and be reapplied by them.

Updated the description of Numbness:

With every hit, the creature puts the opponent to sleep (negative physical mental effect), removing them from the game (initiative turn stops, retaliation strike is not delivered).
Attacking while asleep removes this effect but remains unanswered. The ability does not affect undead, elementals, or mechanisms.
The effect ends during the turn of any unit or hero, but no earlier than after 30% of a round.

And in the description of Blinding, I added a line:

The effect is removed during the turn of any unit or hero if its duration has ended by that time.

Added after 14 hours 7 minutes
Wounding (based on crippling wound)

Was: -50% speed, -30% initiative for 2 rounds (random trigger)
Will be: -30% speed for 3 rounds (guaranteed trigger)

Influence on initiative is not needed, as Slow exists for such things.

Strike of Sorrow

-4/-4 to luck and morale, the only debuffing ability that looks decent even in the original and does not need strengthening.

Curse (casting a curse)

Was: 80% effect, long duration
Will be: 100% effect for 3 rounds (since in WGE Curse always works fully, there are no percentages)

Corruption (based on whip strike)

Was: slowing (-35% init, long duration), weakness (-9 to 5% attack, long duration), berserk (2 rounds, with bonus damage), random trigger
Will be: slowing (-50% init, for 6 rounds), weakness (-Magic+2 to 10% attack, for 6 rounds), berserk (2 rounds, without bonus damage), guaranteed trigger

The main strengthening of the ability comes from the guaranteed trigger. Slowing and especially Weakness play out much stronger, while Berserk plays out slightly weaker (I would like to nerf it to 1 turn, but so far this has only been achieved for the Berserk spell, not the ability).

Witch Attack (witch strike)

Was: Curse, Slow (-40% init, long duration), Weakness (-12 to 5% attack, long duration), Beam (-6 to 5% defense)
Will be: Slow (-50% init, for 6 rounds), Weakness (-6 to 10% attack, for 6 rounds), Beam (-5 to 10% defense)

The main change is that Curse has been removed from the spell set, and now the attack starts immediately with the strongest debuff. Also, debuffing beams begin to play out much stronger and earlier.
The ability has been renamed because, unlike Corruption (whip strike), it also works on shooting.

Poisoning (poison): 1 per creature for 3 rounds, formally no changes

In fact, poison will be significantly stronger than in the original due to the lower amount of enemy health.
Assassins will have only one shot with strong poison, and thereafter they will operate in melee, like trappers, who lack this shot but will have very good defense (under agility).
In duels, poison will kill approximately 10-12% of the enemy squad at a time.

Toxin (based on animal poison)

Was: 5 for 3 rounds
Will be: 10 for 10 rounds

Sharp strengthening of the wyverns' weak poison; it now works at the level of equally strengthened regeneration, and for a very long time.
In duels, toxin will kill approximately 12% of the enemy squad at a time, to the point where after a large number of rounds, the enemy squad may completely perish from poison alone.

Elementals

The summoning of elementals is balanced as follows: the higher the initiative of the elementals, the weaker their strength (and price). Additionally, the elementals are balanced as in Heroes 3:

Tier 2) air elementals, initiative 15 (price 300)
Tier 3) water elementals, initiative 12 (price 400)
Tier 4) fire elementals, initiative 9 (price 500)
Tier 5) earth elementals, initiative 6 (price 750)

Air elementals have received flight, retaliatory strike, incorporeality, and protection bypass (which, in the case of a flying unit, ignores 20% of the enemy's protection if the attack is made while moving).
Water elementals have received magic (ice shard, ring of water) and healing (like paladins)
Fire elementals have received ranged attack, fire skin, and burning (like red dragons)
Earth elementals have received the heavy class, infinite retaliatory strike, and magnetism (and this is the most durable unit in the game)

Earth elementals, in addition to being able to protect against area-of-effect chaos by absorbing damage, provide excellent protection against meteors and spikes because they are immune to earth and do not take damage themselves. For the same reason, they are good for clearing mines (mines also deal earth damage).

Update: it turns out that the "Magnetism" ability pierces any immunities, in terms of the damage that is redirected. For example, a meteor dealing 54 damage to 3 targets, one of which is an earth elemental, will actually deal 107 damage to the earth elemental (a standard Nival rounding error). The elementals themselves will not take damage from the meteor, but the other 2 targets will. This, of course, reduces the effectiveness of magnetism against earth, but not by much - if chaos damage is directed at the summoned earth elementals, this is a very advantageous trade for the summoner.

The summoning of a phoenix is implemented as follows:
- if a hero summons a phoenix, then the standard phoenix is given attack and defense equal to the hero's magic skill (it does not depend on the skill level)
- if a phoenix is summoned by guardians (druid upgrade), then the phoenix does not receive any bonuses for magic

With the exception of possible attack/defense buffs from the hero's magic skill, the summoned phoenix has the same characteristics as a neutral phoenix, and the same abilities, except for resurrection - instead, it has 50% magic resistance.
In other words, guardians (unit) summon a lesser phoenix (which is equivalent to tier 7, but without the main ability - resurrection), while a hero can summon a more powerful phoenix, which, with good magic skill, is stronger than a neutral phoenix due to higher stats, despite the lack of resurrection.

In WGE, the phoenix is not an uber-monster that takes down tier-7 dragons left and right, but a tier-7 unit equal to them (and even a summoned phoenix with high magic skill is not much stronger than a dragon).

Added 1 hour 37 minutes ago

Area-of-Effect Attacks

1. Dragon's Breath.
In the original: dragon's breath and acid breath do the same thing, although they are called differently.
In WGE:
- Acid Breath is safe (it only attacks enemies)
- Fire Breath is dangerous, but deals 200% damage to secondary targets
- Area Breath is a new ability of dwarf dragons, an area attack of 2x2 with a safe 50% damage to secondary targets

2. Attack in 3 cells.
In the original: deadly splash and 3-head attack (for cerberuses) do the same thing, although they are called differently.
In WGE, this ability is called the same - Wide Attack.

3. Half-circle attack.
In the original: whirlwind and 3-head attack (for hydras) do the same thing, although they are called differently.
In WGE, this ability is called the same - Half-circle Attack.

4. Circular attack.
In the original: battle dance of dancers deals only 50% damage to secondary targets, but the 6-head attack of hydras deals full damage to all targets.
In WGE, this ability is called the same, and works the same - Circular Attack, full 100% damage to all targets around.

5. Hellish Breath.
In the original: hellhounds have the ability of 3-head attack and dragon's breath, however, the hounds deal a safe 75% damage to all secondary targets, which is illogical (both abilities should deal 100% damage separately, in addition, dragon's breath should damage its own units).
In WGE, this is a single ability - Hellish Breath, which hits similarly in 6 cells and deals 50% damage to all secondary targets (there is no confusion).

6. Crushing Blow.
In the original: the ability of cyclops, dealing dangerous 100% damage in an area of 2x2, while stunning several targets, and even if a secondary target is stunned, the primary target somehow does not respond to the attack.
In WGE: Crushing Blow (dangerous 100% damage in an area of 2x2) no longer stuns anyone (and Stun is transferred to basic cyclops).

7. Curse.
In the original: the ability of cyclops imposes bad luck on enemies, while this same ability somehow attacks 2 targets.
In WGE: cyclops received a separate ability Burn (attack 1x2) and a separate ability Curse (debuff -3 luck).

8. Electric Breath.
In the original: the ability deals damage to the target and all surrounding enemies, distributing the damage equally among all. However, there is an undocumented bug: with retaliatory strikes, the damage is not distributed, but is dealt in full to all targets.
In WGE: the ability is called Distributed Attack, and it clearly states that the damage is not divided with retaliatory strikes (moreover, this feature of the Paokai is also enhanced by another ability - infinite retaliatory strike).
Twilight witches also received a distributed attack because the ability works perfectly with ranged attacks.

9. Storm Strike.
In the original, this is called the chain attack of thanes, but the one-time ability of earls is called something else - unexpected storm. And the jarls have a flame strike, which is also one-time.
In WGE: storm strike is a one-time ability (as is flame strike), and the thanes' own attack is simply called - Chain Attack.
Moreover, elemental witches received a chain attack because the ability works perfectly with ranged attacks.

10. Magic Attack.
In the original, mages have an ability with a very strange name - supposedly magic attack, and also an ability that makes such ranged attacks safe at close range for their own units. Also with a strange name - magic suppression. In reality, neither one nor the other has anything to do with magic and only causes confusion among players.
In WGE, the linear attack of mages is simply called - Piercing Attack, and the corresponding defensive aura is called - Aura of Impenetrability.

11. Cross Attack.
In the original, this is called the ability of Arkat priests, but it only works on ranged attacks, dealing 100% safe damage to secondary targets in a cross.
In WGE: the ability is renamed to Cross Volley to emphasize that the ability does not apply to melee attacks.
Also, all gremlins have been given a new ability Explosive Projectiles, which deals dangerous 100% damage diagonally. The purpose of adding a new ability is that with it, crystals can now be broken with secondary damage, while priests cannot do this, their safe secondary damage simply ignores crystals.

12. Fire Wave.
In the original: the ability is limited to a range of 5 cells.
In WGE: the ability is not limited in range and can damage almost the entire field if the jarls attack from the corner. The damage to distant targets is quite small (10% at the maximum distance of 10).

So, the Crystal Breath ability is gone?

So, there's no more Crystal Breath?

Why? There is. It just hasn't changed (except for the name - it's now Prismatic Breath).
And it's still only available to one unit - the Azure Dragon (alternate Forest Dragon).

Okay, I just didn't see it in the list and got scared.
And I'll add that I really enjoy this painstaking work; we've been waiting for you and your mod. Maybe it would make sense to create a separate dueling map in addition to the duels, like this one? It won't add much work, but this mode has its own fans, and it also has the advantage of slightly better replayability.

Okay, I just didn't see it in the list and got scared.
And I'll add that I really enjoy this painstaking work; we've been waiting for you and your mod. Maybe it would make sense to create a separate dueling map in parallel with the duels, like this one? It wouldn't add much work, but this mode has its own fans, and it has the advantage of slightly better replayability.

First, the duels, then the other modes.
Otherwise, I've already been distracted several times by minor things. While the time wasn't wasted, it significantly pushed back the current release.
Therefore, not in parallel – sequentially, yes

Otherwise, it turns out that the duels are almost ready (a lot has been done), the arena is almost ready (a lot has been done), the map is partially ready (the main things are done), but in reality, none of this has been brought to completion, and there are no visible results. We just need to push through and finish things, without getting sidetracked. I think I'll finish the duels and release them in January, and then we'll see what's next.

Added 8 hours 42 minutes ago
Currently, the development status is as follows:

100% of dueling heroes are ready
100% of spells are ready
40% of units are fully calculated
20% of units are almost calculated
40% of units (archers and casters) are not calculated

And also the final tweaking of parameters, which will take a day or two:
- give some more health instead of defense, and vice versa
- give some more damage instead of attack, and vice versa
- give some more attack instead of defense, and vice versa
- different damage ranges

So, there won't be a release this weekend, right?
Should we expect one next weekend?
Does the mod have a community Discord server or something similar where people play the mod?

Oh, is an update coming? Great news! We'll be waiting and testing it.

By the way, how is it going – is the skill (something like "Guardian Angel") that revives the last unit in the army still not working?

Well, there's an alpha version available for testing (duels mode), but half of the units are not yet balanced (see the list above). Wargame Tactics 2.0 alfa - the mod itself (alpha version 2.0), place it in the data folder. H5_GameWGE - the executable file, place it in the bin folder, and launch the game through it. Many matches can be played, but some are very difficult to win because not all units are properly balanced. Overall, the spell balance is good (you can win with all schools of magic); the issue lies in properly balancing all the units (physical parameters). For example, the Druid (magic, summoning) currently lacks the unit strength to defeat the Barbarian (strength, machines), although summoning generally works well. However, the Dark Elves have well-balanced troops, and both as Darkness and as Orcish Chaos, they can be very effective.

Well, there’s an alpha version available for testing (duels mode), but half of the units are not yet balanced (see the list above).

Wargame Tactics 2.0 alfa - the mod itself (alpha version 2.0), place it in the data folder.
H5_GameWGE - the executable, place it in the bin folder, and launch the game through it.

You can play many matches, but it’s very difficult to win some of them because not all units are properly calculated.
Overall, the spell balance is good (you can win with all schools of magic); the issue is specifically in properly calculating all the units (physical parameters).

For example, the Druid (magic, summoning) currently lacks the unit strength to defeat the Barbarian (strength, machines), although summoning generally works well.
But the Dark Elves have good troops, and both as Darkness and as Chaos Orcs, they can be effective.

Where can I download version 1.23? I want to transfer scripts for the map from 2.0 to it (so that after building a fort/citadel/castle, troops arrive and at the beginning of each week, unpurchased troops are removed)

Where can I download version 1.23? I wanted to transfer scripts for the map from it to 2.0 (so that after building a fort/stronghold/castle, troops arrive and at the beginning of each week, unpurchased troops are removed).

Version 1.23 (outdated)
I haven't been working on those scripts for a long time, so I removed them from the new version. If you need working ones, you'll have to manually enter the growth numbers there.
...

I've updated the mod, it's available at the same link from my previous post (2.0 alpha)
First of all, I "groomed" the Humans.
Cherubim have received a new ability - Regeneration, now all types of angels have abilities for self-resurrection (revival, regeneration, vampirism).



Currently, the most imbalanced are the Orcs (i.e., I wrote above that it's difficult for Elves to break through them, but it turns out that other factions also have problems with Orcs, even Dark Demons with several Berserkers and Subjugators can't easily break through an Orc).
Therefore, the next in line are the Orcs.

Added 4 hours 5 minutes ago
I re-uploaded the mod, updating the Orcs:



In addition to stat adjustments (including nerfing the imbalanced Centaurs), there are ability adjustments:
- Corpse Eating: reduced from 50% to 30% HP
- Goblin Betrayal: the negative ability was removed so that it would be possible to weaken the overly strong physics of Goblin Bandits (this ability could also be abused on the map, which is not very good).

The main interest of playing as Goblin Bandits is not in betrayal, but in breaking through with a double attack without a response, because if there is a response, there will be no second attack (they will run away).

Added 3 hours 17 minutes ago
I updated the Elves: strengthened the Archers, "reduced" the number of Fairies (increasing it from 30 to 60), moved Rage from Ancient Ents to Young Ents, and other minor changes.

I played the mod.
What kind of feedback is appropriate to give? I understand that discussing the classic PvE gameplay and city schemes is not relevant now.
When I leveled up a perk that gives a regeneration spell, nothing appeared. Do I need to run some scripts, or is it just a bug?