Posts from Heroes 5.5 WarGame Edition - Tactical Edition.

I've adjusted the Psathi version, making the sword stand out against the background.

I tweaked the Psathi version, highlighting the sword against the background.

It turned out great!
But personally, I don't really like the sword image for "Divine Retribution"...

I like the "bony hands" option better. It's a shame there isn't a suitable animation; otherwise, I would rename the spell to "Hand of Death" (like in Heroes 4).
On the other hand, the sword is also not bad (it's a classic) – it's a matter of taste, and if most people want this icon, I don't mind using it.

Regarding moving Vampirism to the Light school, it's a debatable but not crucial issue.
Because, in reality, whether Vampirism is in the Light or Darkness school doesn't really matter – all bonus spells are essentially hybrid, not given in the Mage Guild, and require both developed schools of magic.
That is, in addition to the 4 ordinary schools of magic, we have 6 hybrid ones:

Light + Darkness
3 Grief (Darkness)
4 Vampirism (Light)

Light + Chaos
5 Holy Word (Light)
5 Armageddon (Chaos)

Darkness + Chaos
4 Retribution (Darkness)
4 Freezing (Chaos)

Light + Summoning
3 Regeneration (Light)
4 Hive (Summoning)

Darkness + Summoning
5 Wave of Death (Darkness)
5 Raise Dead (Summoning)

Chaos + Summoning
3 Firestorm (Chaos)
3 Earthquake (Summoning)

In ChaosTheory, there's an effect with little hands emerging from the ground; it's a 7th-level undead attack. I replaced the Divine Retribution effect with this one, just to see if it looks good or not.

The "Mana Steal" ability of Imps will be changed.
As a reminder, there are 3 imp-like abilities:

- Imps: absorb 1 mana for every 10 creatures at the start of battle
- Parasites: steal 1 mana for every 10 creatures and transfer it to allied casters (activated ability)
- Imps (variant): steal 1 mana for every 10 creatures at the start of battle and transfer it to their hero

The latter ability looks like an empowered version of the basic Imp ability. To make these abilities more distinct, I have decided to weaken it but make it reusable (infinite).
For example: they steal 1 mana for every 30 creatures and transfer it to their hero every single turn.
The ability will work on every turn they take (as long as there are at least 30 Imps in the stack), but unlike the Parasites' ability, it does not require spending turns to activate.
Nevertheless, the option to use tactical wait remains to double the mana steal speed (though the ability will still be slower than that of the Parasites)

Added after 1 minute

in ChaosTheory there is an effect with little hands coming out of the ground, it's a level 7 undead attack, I put this effect instead of divine retribution, just to see if it looks okay or not

I used your animation, thanks. Additionally, I set the correct visual damage delay (with default settings, creatures take damage first, and then the skeletal hands do their thing).

Added after 23 hours 12 minutes
I need help from animation experts:
Is it possible to set up a jump animation for all 3 demons, given that base demons also have a second activated ability — Explosion (and also, as I understand, there is a gating animation)?

Update: I figured it out myself, no longer relevant.

Added after 13 hours 15 minutes
Demons are almost ready; all that's left is to calculate the physics for all Devils.

Future changes:
Tier 1)
- Grade (Parasites) will be renamed back to Imps
- Alt (Imps) will be renamed to Parasites, as their Mana Steal will now work every turn (stealing 1 mana for every 50 creatures, rounded up)

Tier 2) All demons will receive a general ability — Jump, with a 5-5 radius, 200% damage, and 200% retaliation
- Base (Sulfur Demons) will be renamed to Horned Demons (as the grade was called in the English version), their Explosion ability will be slightly buffed + become reusable
- Fire-skin Demons will receive an empowered Fire Skin (50% damage reflection instead of 25%), as they should play as untouchables in melee combat (unfavorable trades for the opponent)
- Swift Demons will slightly buff their Bomb (death explosion)

Tier 4) All hounds will receive a general Mind Control Immunity (a vaccination against unauthorized rabies)

Tier 5)
- Crimson Nightmares will receive Assault instead of Aura of Fear (as the most aggressive species)
- Blazing Nightmares will significantly buff their Aura of Withering, which will begin to deal colossal damage
- Ash Nightmares will receive Aura of Fear instead of Assault (as a more defensive species)

Tier 6) All pits will receive a general Intercept instead of Heavy Class (an interesting combination with dangerous abilities like Deadly Strike, Shearing Sword, and Slaughter Blade)
- Hellspawn will be buffed as casters (from zero to basic Dark level), which will double the duration of their general debuffs from 1 to 2 rounds, so all enemy stacks will now be under both Curse and Confusion simultaneously
- Balrogs will also be buffed as casters (from basic to advanced Chaos level); with the support of Imps, each of their Disintegrations will kill half an enemy stack
- Fiends will sharply buff Slaughter Blade from 5 to 8 damage (they will bury almost the entire Tier 1 in one hit)

Tier 7)
- Base (Devils) will be renamed to Overlords
- Grade (Overlords) will be renamed to Devils, their Summon Balrogs ability will become reusable and will work on all demon corpses, including enemy ones
- Shaytans will increase the radius of Attraction from 6 to 7 (which sharply increases the utility of the ability)

For the most part, the focus is on strengthening characterizing abilities, even despite the high cost (the stronger the ability, the more physical parameters must be sacrificed in the name of balance).
The most expensive ability became the Spellcasting of the Hellspawn, but their mind-blowing and infinite mass spells are worth sacrificing physics for.

After playing Paladin against the Destroyer (a tough matchup), I came to the following conclusion:

- The "Mana Drain" ability will be weakened to 1 mana for every 20 Imps (instead of 10), rounded up.
This is a rare case where an ability is weakened so that Imps remain a decent melee unit (with ultimately high damage) and don't pay too high a price for an ability that is only useful against a hero and is useless for clearing neutral creatures.

In duels, this means that a full squad of Imps will drain 3 mana (previously 5), which is enough to allow Balrogs to cast the powerful Disintegrate spell (dealing half-stack damage) on their first turn.
However, if at least 10 Imps (20% of the squad) are killed before the Imps' first turn, then the mana drain will be only 2 mana, and the Balrogs will not be able to cast Disintegrate on their first turn.
If the Imps are not touched at all, then this mana drain rate is enough for the Balrogs to cast Meteor on almost every turn until the enemy hero's mana is depleted.

Thus, 5 mana per turn was excessive in terms of providing mana for the Balrogs, and from the enemy hero's point of view, it burned not only a lot of mana but also too quickly (while the Imps themselves remained a very decent attack unit, and it was better not to get within their attack range).
While 3 mana per turn is enough to create a threat of completely depleting the opponent's mana if they ignore the Imps, but not as quickly as before.

I will now publish the current progress on the demons in a clear table.

Demon units

Update: Instead of giving Lilims immunity to mind control, I gave all types of Succubi Mental Immunity (to mind control, berserk, and confusion). This ability will be more useful to them than to Titans, because all Succubi are ranged attackers.
Moreover, a stable damage range (6-6) also effectively gives all Succubi immunity to Curses, i.e., to all 1st-level Dark magic spells.

Games against the Destroyer (demon army raid) have revealed a weak point in balance — namely, vulnerability to Chaos, which was previously underestimated.
Due to this, changes will be made in the near future in two directions:
1) the physical stats of units will generally be increased by 5% (i.e., the effectiveness of buffs and debuffs will increase by 5%, and the effectiveness of direct damage spells will decrease by 5%)
2) overly vulnerable units (such as all Angels and Devils) will receive the ability "Magic Resistance" (25% reduction in magic damage)
At the same time, all Forest Dragons will in the future receive "Magic Protection" (50% reduction in magic damage), and Dark Dragons (Gray and Red) will receive "Magic Immunity" (75% reduction in magic damage).

Also, Balrogs and Fiends will be significantly weakened in physical stats, while the Fiends' ability — Killing Blade — will be strengthened from 8 to 10 damage points. These changes are due to a reassessment of the strength of their striking abilities (the Slashing Sword is very powerful and deals more damage than a physical attack).

The Resurrection of Cherubim will also be strengthened from 30-75 to 60-105 points (for 1-2 Cherubim).

The entire set of changes is aimed at leveling the difficult matchup for the Paladin against the Destroyer (currently, Chaos completely outplays healing).

Added after 14 hours 36 minutes

Human Units

Demon Units

The mod has been updated (now in the thread header).
I slightly tweaked the stats of some units and fixed a bug with Horned Demons (they had an incorrect 15 initiative — such a value is generally impossible for demons).
Granted all Angels and Devils Magic Resistance (25% protection against magic damage).
Removed immunity to Berserk from all Knights (since it's not needed there — horses require a long charge for good damage, and with Berserk they cover a short distance).

I also strengthened the Retaliation of White Griffins from double to triple damage, so as not to buff their stats.
Simply doubling damage doesn't seem particularly severe if the unit is already battered after the first two attacks, given the Griffins' initially low damage.
The ability should work similarly to prohibiting focus on the unit, even if it is already heavily damaged.
The White Griffin, unlike the Man-at-Arms, should be able to nimbly plug gaps in the defense without fearing being quickly overwhelmed by superior physical damage (due to strong retaliations).
The Man-at-Arms, on the other hand, can fight back to some extent, but its main function is to intercept attacks and reduce damage; it has a wider area of static influence (thanks to Intercept). Consequently, its primary mode of operation is defense, not mobile cover.

Regarding the balance of Chaos — I played some more and realized that Chaos itself is fine; only the enormous vulnerabilities to it of certain units (Angels, Devils) were not fine.
Because a Chaos Destroyer finds it just as difficult to play against a Dark Fiend as a Paladin finds it easy to play against a Fiend.
This is because units with strong attacks (like those of demons) are highly vulnerable to Berserk and Domination, and in this regard, the Fiend is unmatched (and under such conditions, Darkness can kill even faster than Chaos).
At the same time, the Paladin, thanks to defense and healing, can out-heal physical damage, but Chaos makes dense defensive formations ineffective — it is not reduced by defense, is not blocked by units, and can therefore deal damage to a critical spot too quickly.

In short, there are inherently unfavorable opponents that require adaptation and a change in playstyle (which is why the comrade who claimed that Paladin gameplay is monotonous is wrong — against different opponents, the Paladin is simply forced to play in different styles; the classic defensive style falls apart against Chaos). The goal of game balance in such a case is not to "level the chances," but to provide the player with counter-tools so that they can put up a fight even in the worst conditions. In this case, the Paladin has such a tool — it is the infinite Regeneration of Cherubim (in combination with infinite healing from Paladins), but for it to work, the Cherub must not fall from a single cast (which is why a small magic defense is being introduced).

A similar situation exists for the Destroyer. Against the Fiend, it finds itself in a situation where, with one cast, the Dark Fiend can take down both stacks at once, and it "can repeat" (and similar things are also done by Alt Succubi — Lilim). Therefore, proper positioning and early retreat into defense are extremely important here (first and foremost, against one's own troops). But even here, there is an unexpected trump card: the Devils with their infinite summoning of Balrogs, which now works on enemy demon corpses as well, not just one's own. Thus, the Destroyer only needs the Devil to survive until Chaos completely destroys some units, after which it can start churning out Balrogs non-stop.

Perfect balance (with completely equal chances) is only possible when the player has the ability to independently assemble their troops, heroes, and artifacts — that is, to prepare for an upcoming battle against a specific opponent. Because there are always things that are stronger against some things and weaker against others. In a duel format, an attempt to build such balance would inevitably lead to a mishmash. After all, to effectively fight Chaos, you need units with good damage; to effectively fight Darkness, you need units with good defense. Having units of all orientations in each army provides flexibility but completely strips away style. A Paladin whose troops could deal damage quickly would certainly have good chances against Chaos, but only the name would remain of the Paladin's style. In this regard, Regeneration is a much better solution — it doesn't completely eliminate the problems against Chaos, but it fits the style.

In short, the Regeneration of Cherubim and the infinite summoning of Balrogs, which in this case also works on enemy demonic units, is indeed a great find. When you create truly powerful, extraordinary abilities, they invariably find their use, sometimes even in the most difficult matchups. Now it seems obvious that Regeneration is a natural development of the Archangel's essence, as it allows restoring very, very much damage in the right hands. And once upon a time, the ability seemed like a curiosity. It seemed, why duplicate the Hydra? But the Hydra isn't about recovery; the Hydra's task is to absorb a lot of damage, including through regeneration. The Hydra takes a long time to kill and a long time to recover. The Cherub, on the other hand, is more vulnerable and often needs to retreat to heal its wounds in a calm environment, but it also recovers much faster (thanks to its low health).

Regarding the infinite summoning of Balrogs, it also now seems strange why such an idea didn't come to mind before? An ability that cannot be used every turn, requires sacrificing one of your own units, and is also one-time, devoid of any potential — why was it originally in such a reduced form? It would seem to be an imba — to have the ability to fill the entire battlefield with Balrogs. But to achieve this, the Devil must survive while other units die, which means the Devil cannot afford to jump into the open meat grinder, where it would, of course, quickly become the first candidate for slaughter. And if it stays behind, other units die faster, lacking proper support, meaning higher allied losses, and it's not a fact that even several newly created Balrog units will manage to turn the tide of battle in their favor (by the time the first corpses appear, the battle may already be effectively lost, with a bunch of useless, half-dead units). So it turns out that the Devil, ideally, must be able to both survive and deal its own damage, which makes its use complex and tactically interesting.

Previously, I was against reusable abilities, preferring to simply make abilities more powerful while maintaining their one-time use. This approach allows preserving good physical stats for units while getting strong (when triggered) abilities at a minimal cost. And indeed, this approach works much better than weak reusable abilities, which can formally be used throughout the entire battle, but are of little real use and provide little tactical benefit. However, combining both approaches brings much more interest than either one alone. Strong and reusable abilities (simultaneously) are certainly worth paying for, sometimes at a high cost. It matters less that a unit is weaker in a direct exchange compared to what it is fundamentally capable of showing on the battlefield. Who cares that the same Fiends are mediocre in melee combat (but are dangerous due to Lethal Strike)? If this unit creates a huge presence on the battlefield with its two mass debuffs, which it can refresh indefinitely?

Added after 22 hours 42 minutes
The next change will affect the higher-level spells of the Darkness magic school.

The higher-level Darkness spells (Domination, Berserk) are most dangerous against aggressive factions with high damage, as well as against heroes with high attack and low defense.
At the same time, heroes like Nimus have enough mana to cast a couple of Berserks and a Domination (and Alt Succubi — Lilim — provide another Domination).
Nimus also has low Sorcery, which, however, is of no consequence for Berserk and is not very critical for Domination (it only affects duration).
That is, it turns out that Nimus has an ultimate weapon against a number of opponents, without significant drawbacks.
This state of affairs needs to be corrected.

Berserk (10 mana)
- Unit deals 100% damage for 1 turn (was)
- Unit deals (10% x SP) damage for 1 turn (will be)

That is, Berserk is weakened this way (except for very high Sorcery > 9). Overall, this nerf is not very significant, as besides the attack, the unit loses its turn and probably takes retaliation damage (which is not affected by any penalties). But for those situations where the main danger of Berserk is direct damage (against particularly vulnerable units), this change significantly improves the picture.
Specifically, Nimus will cast Berserk not with 100% direct damage, but with only 30% (however, the retaliation remains just as full).

Domination (15 mana)
- Unit receives 50% initiative and comes under control for (SP + 0/1/2/3) x 0.25 rounds (was)
- Unit receives (10% x SP) initiative and comes under control for 0.5/1/1.5/2 rounds (will be)

Domination is thus not so much nerfed as it becomes softer (with low Sorcery) and harsher with high Sorcery (however, with high Sorcery, there will likely not be much mana).
Specifically, Nimus will cast Domination with 30% initiative (instead of 50%), but for 2 rounds (instead of 1.5). This means his opponents will have more time to react to such a drastic change in the situation.

I tried playing against Nimus (Fiend) with the updated spells as Deleb (Destroyer); the matchup noticeably improved.

Added after 15 hours 58 minutes
In the next update, other spells will also be reworked:

1) Distraction and Avoidance:
- Avoidance will be strengthened from 60% protection to 67% protection (reduces ranged damage by 3 times) for 2/4/6/8 rounds
- Distraction will be weakened from 60% to 50% (reduces the number of active creatures by 2 times, rounding down) for 1/2/3/4 rounds
Reason — targeted Distraction was almost always more attractive than Avoidance because it disabled one shooter against all possible targets, rather than protecting only one target from shooters.
Therefore, when only one vulnerable target needs protection, Avoidance should work much more effectively (and reduce damage more).
The general Distraction from Fiends will also be weakened: from 60% to 50% for 2 rounds.

2) Play based on buffs and debuffs will also be strengthened: Skin, Might, Haste, and Feeble from SP+4 to SP+5 bonus, and Slow will be strengthened from 60% to 67% initiative reduction (3 times).
Skin will also be strengthened for Inquisitors from +8 to +10 for 2 rounds (but their own defense will be reduced by 2).

Added after 17 hours 17 minutes
Also planned is a fundamental change to the Incorporeal ability: from a 50% chance of a miss to 67%, with exactly every third hit missing, without any randomness.
Technically, it's also possible to do the opposite — a 33% miss chance with a miss every third hit — but I dismissed this option immediately, as it would weaken the Phantom too much (which I want to make stronger, on the contrary).

Shouldn't a link to the executable file display as a .pak file, containing the same files as Wargame Tactics 2.0 alfa.pak?

Shouldn't a link to an executable file lead to a .pak file, which contains the same files as Wargame Tactics 2.0 alfa.pak?

No. When updating the versions, I mistakenly uploaded the alpha pack there.
Now I've fixed it; the executable should be available.

Added 4 hours 37 minutes ago
Final future changes to magic (including those mentioned above):

Summoning Magic:

3 Mines = 2 x (SP + 6), 4/6/8/10 turns: reduced damage by 6 (-3) and reduced cost from 5 to 3 mana
5 Phantom = clone up to tier 1/3/5/7, starting turn 40% + 2% x hero level (duels 60%): reduced available tiers (except for expert), increased cost from 3 to 5 mana
With the new mechanic, incorporeality causes misses in 2/3 of cases - it will hit exactly every third attack, i.e., the phantom consistently survives exactly 3 hits (instead of 1-3 with the old incorporeality).

Magic of Light:

0 Dodge = 67% protection from ranged attacks for 2/4/6/8 turns (overall - on all): increased from 60%

1 Stone Skin = +(SP + 5) to defense for 1/2/3/4 turns (area of effect - 4x4): increased by +1
2 Righteous Might = +(SP + 5) to attack for 1/2/3/4 turns (area of effect - 4x4): increased by +1

3 Haste = +10% x (SP + 5) to initiative for 1/2/3/4 turns (area of effect - 4x4): increased by +1

Magic of Darkness:

0 Confusion = 50% of creatures do not shoot and do not respond to attacks for 1/2/3/4 turns (overall - on all): weakened from 60%

1 Weakness = -(SP + 5) to attack for 2/4/6/8 turns (area of effect - 4x4): increased by +1

3 Slow = -67% to initiative for 2/4/6/8 turns (area of effect - 4x4): increased from 60%

6 Blind = 2/3/4/5 turns, on expert, the enemy does not respond to the attack: now the duration does not depend on the spell
10 Berserk = attack the nearest target with (10 x SP) % damage (always for 1 turn): damage weakened and now depends on the spell (but in the future, with SP > 10, the spell is strengthened)

15 Dominate = (10 x SP) % initiative + control for 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 turns, on expert, you can target tier 7 creatures: now initiative depends on the spell, and duration - only on the skill

Light + Summoning:

4 Regeneration (Light) = 10% x (SP + 3) creatures, duration 1/2/3/4 turns: increased by 30% (+3)

Chaos + Light:

12 Holy Word (Light) = 1/2/3/4 x (SP + 5): weakened by -1/2/3/4 (-1)

Light + Darkness:

4 Grief (Darkness) = -(SP + 3) to luck and morale for 2/4/6/8 turns: now the effect depends on the spell, and the duration - on the skill (this does not apply to the Grief attack of undead dragons)
8 Vampirism (Light) = 100% vampirism and undead for 1/2/3/4 turns: duration reduced by half

Blind, Dominate, Grief are brought to a single standard: duration depends only on the skill, effect - only on the spell (if it depends).

Added 18 hours 50 minutes ago
Mod updated (links in the topic header).

The next update is coming, and we've finally gotten around to the demons.

The hit points of all demons will be slightly reduced (from 130 to 120).
Hammers of Fate will deal slightly less damage and have slightly more defense (-2 attack, +2 defense).
The "Inspiration" ability will also be strengthened: it will grant an immediate turn (all 100%, instead of 50%).
I will test whether I am correctly assessing the strength of the ability, or if this buff is too much.

The matchup between the Destroyer (grade) and the Impaler (alt) will become easier for the former, due to the fact that the former's Disintegration now kills an entire Shaitan, despite the 25% resistance (i.e., the entire tier-7 unit). Accordingly, the early first corpse allows the Demons to immediately use the "Summon Balrogs" ability, because the corpse is demonic (whether it's their own or an enemy's).

Next up are the elves (according to the order in which the duel presets are presented in the game).

Demons

.

Updated the mod in the topic header (accordingly, to the demon table above).

Added 15 hours 54 minutes ago
I will also keep a list of reworked abilities (I will add it to the topic header in a spoiler), because new and powerful abilities are one of the key features of the mod.
The list below currently concerns humans and demons; the abilities of other factions will be added as they are balanced.


Class abilities:
1) Heavy class (50% protection from attacks with movement): previously, it was only available to warriors with a different formula (-10% damage for each cell the enemy passes)
2) Flight: now, the advantage in mobility is expressed by the fact that ground troops are always slower in speed
3) Spellcasting: the spellbooks of sorceresses have been significantly reworked; in general, they contain the entire set of spells, including mass versions
4) Ranged attack: in general, ammunition has been reduced (and the speed of ground troops has also been reduced) to encourage moving forward for direct ranged attacks, rather than standing in the corner


New abilities:
1) Reserve (splitting upon the first attack): previously, it was only available to neutral wolves
2) Joint attack (they repeat their attacks nearby): previously, it was only available to neutral wolves
3) Resurrection (upon the first death of a unit, they are resurrected): previously, it was only available to neutral phoenixes
4) Bomb (upon death, 5 damage to enemies around for each creature)
5) Deadly strike (25% chance to kill 50% of the victims): previously, it was only available to neutral death knights

Enhanced abilities:
1) Rage (+1-2 to attack when your own units die): slightly enhanced due to the greater role of stats
2) Armor-piercing shot (ignores 100% protection at a distance of 2-4 cells): the range of action has been significantly increased (especially against the background of reduced speeds)
3) Interception (aura: causes attacks on itself): 100% activation (unlike the taunt in the original)
4) Cleansing (removes 1 buff upon attack): 100% activation
5) Cavalry bonus (+50% damage for each cell): enhanced 10 times!
6) Tournament strike (attack on the target behind when charging): now works with any charge (even on 1 cell), and with 100% damage
7) Frenzied counterattack (each subsequent counterattack is tripled): the bonus has been sharply increased (compared to battle frenzy in the original)
8) Pike (act: 100% damage to 2 lines): the damage has been increased, and the ability has become repeatable
9) Healing (act: heals damage, debuffs): much more relevant healing (due to low numbers), and also removes much stronger debuffs
10) Regeneration (restores 20 HP per turn): greatly enhanced (due to low numbers)
11) Vampirism (restores 100% of damage)
12) Explosion (act: 25 SP damage around): greatly enhanced, and the ability has become repeatable
13) Fiery skin (returns 50% of damage): greatly enhanced fiery shield
14) Berserk (act: unprovoked berserk, attack + protection, protection to 0 until the next turn): bonuses and penalties to physics are much higher (due to the greater role of stats)
15) Draining aura (aura: 10 damage to enemies for each creature): significantly enhanced due to the reduction in numbers
16) Slicing sword (damage +1 killed victim): much more relevant ability (due to low numbers)
17) Killing blade (damage +10 for each victim): enhanced 5 times!
18) Inspiration (act: give a turn immediately): previously, it was only available to the hero; the bonus has been increased from 30 to 100%
19) Summon Balrogs (act: +2 Balrogs from a demonic corpse): it has become repeatable and works on enemy demons as well (unlike summoning pit lords)
20) Attraction (act: pull in a radius of 7): the range of action has been increased, which makes it much more relevant

Updated abilities:
1) Battle fervor (+8 to attack if you receive damage, for 1 round): previously, there was battle rage with a different formula (3 times weaker bonus to physics, with a bonus to initiative and with a duration of 2 rounds)
2) Prayer (+2 to attack, protection, morale for 2 rounds): previously, it was only available to the hero, with a different formula (the new prayer gives 4 times stronger bonuses to physics, 2 times more to morale, but without initiative and lasts shorter)
3) Armor penetration (ignores 50% protection): previously, it was only available to forest archers; now it does not push back, but also works for melee units (and the bonus works stronger due to the greater role of stats)
4) Jump (act: 200% damage with a jump to a distance of exactly 5, 200% counterattack): there was a triple counterattack, a range of 4 to 8, but the damage bonus was lower - 10% for each cell
5) Intimidation (20-30% chance to scare): now there is also for archers, previously it was only for melee units
6) Retribution (200% counterattack): now there is also for archers, previously it was only for melee units
7) Retreat (does not respond to attacks, runs away): now there is also for melee units, previously it was only for centaurs (with a retaliatory shot): it differs from cowardice in that it runs to the minimum distance and does not run away from retaliatory attacks
8) *Mana theft (each turn steals 1 mana for every 50 creatures, rounded up): previously, it was only on the first turn, but much stronger (1 mana for every 4 creatures)

Weakened abilities:
1) *Mana absorption (on the first turn, it takes away 1 mana for every 10 creatures): it was for every 4
2) *Mana drain (act: steal 1 mana for every 20 creatures): it was for every 8

* The rare abilities that were actually weakened are marked. All these abilities affect mana and in the original worked too strongly, often completely depriving the enemy hero of mana, especially at the beginning of the battle. This is a rare case when the excessively inflated power of an ability does not increase its tactical interest, because it creates a flaw that does not require any action from the player.
In this mod, strong and very strong abilities are welcome, but in any case, they must be commensurate with the strength of the unit (1 unit should not completely cancel out all of the hero's magic).

Added 12 minutes ago
Jump also deserves a separate comment, because in general the ability has become weaker (only physics has become stronger, but the distance is significantly limited).
The fact is that:
1) a ground unit should never behave like a flyer, so the maximum jump distance is lower than flight (5 versus 6)
2) the minimum jump distance should also be higher than the movement range (so that the standard attack and jump do not overlap)
In addition, with such range settings (exactly 5), you can really defend against the jump by moving the troops closer or further away (because this is a significant threat - double damage!).

The next faction (Elves) will be ready within a week or two (roughly the average time it takes for balance).

In the meantime, I'll publish a comparison of different "similar" spells for Light and Darkness, with explanations of the differences between them and the reasoning behind why they are designed this way and not otherwise.

Bless and Curse

0 Bless = maximum damage for 2/4/6/8 rounds
0 Curse = minimum damage for 1/2/3/4 rounds

- Why does Bless last twice as long as its opposite, Curse?
Because in relative numbers, Curse has a stronger effect: for example, with a range of 1-3, Bless increases damage by 1.5 times, while Curse reduces damage by 2 times.

 

Air Shield and Forgetfulness

0 Air Shield = 67% protection from ranged attacks for 2/4/6/8 rounds
0 Forgetfulness = 50% chance creature does not shoot or retaliate for 1/2/3/4 rounds

- Why does Air Shield reduce damage by 3 times and last twice as long, while Forgetfulness only reduces it by 2 times?
Because Forgetfulness also affects retaliations and is more versatile (it's easier to disable a shooter against all troops than to protect only one unit from shooters). Furthermore, due to rounding of creature numbers, Forgetfulness can work better, up to 100% (against 1 creature).

 

Bless and Air Shield

0 Bless = maximum damage for 2/4/6/8 rounds
0 Air Shield = 67% protection from ranged attacks for 2/4/6/8 rounds

- Are they stronger than in the original?
Generally, yes. Bless immediately gives maximum damage regardless of skill. Air Shield immediately gives the maximum bonus (almost the same as the expert level in the original) regardless of skill. At expert level, both last long enough and require no SP. Additionally, both are free. The mass version is also free but slower in tempo – as it requires 100% of the turn instead of 50%.

 

Curse and Forgetfulness

0 Curse = minimum damage for 1/2/3/4 rounds
0 Forgetfulness = 50% chance creature does not shoot or retaliate for 1/2/3/4 rounds

- Are they weaker than in the original?
The former is not, the latter is. Curse immediately gives minimum damage regardless of skill, but the short duration negates this advantage. Forgetfulness does not scale its effect with skill and also has a short duration. However, both spells are free. The free versions are also free but worse in tempo – requiring 100% of the turn instead of 50%.

 

Bless and Righteous Might

0 Bless = maximum damage for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – on all)
2 Righteous Might = +(SP + 5) to Attack for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)

- Why does Righteous Might last half as long, and its mass version only works in an area, while mass Bless works on all units immediately?
Because Righteous Might is much more powerful and also scales with SP. It is used when you need to deal significant damage quickly. Bless works for the long term, providing a much more modest damage bonus.

 

Curse and Weakness

0 Curse = minimum damage for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – on all)
1 Weakness = -(SP + 5) to Attack for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)

- Why does Weakness last twice as long as Curse?
Because the relative damage reduction from both debuffs is comparable: for example, with a range of 1-3, Curse will reduce damage by 2 times, which is clearly not weaker than Weakness at an average SP. Meanwhile, Weakness is a more expensive (non-free) debuff, so it should have an advantage.

- Why then does mass Weakness only work in an area, while mass Curse works on all units immediately?
So that both mass spells (obtained from the same ability) have roughly equal priority for casting. Mass Curse provides greater total damage reduction here and now, while mass Weakness lasts twice as long and has greater long-term potential.

 

Stone Skin and Righteous Might

1 Stone Skin = +(SP + 5) to Defense for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
2 Righteous Might = +(SP + 5) to Attack for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)

- Why is Righteous Might twice as expensive as Stone Skin?
Because both spells have a short duration, and the absolute damage increase from Righteous Might is higher than the damage reduction from Stone Skin. For example: both double/halve damage, meaning Righteous Might increases damage by +100%, while Stone Skin only reduces it by 50%. With a short duration, this matters more than relative values (Attack pays off faster than Defense).

- Are these spells stronger than in the original?
Generally, yes – despite the shorter duration, the bonuses are several times stronger (because Attack and Defense parameters have double the effect). However, their mass versions can be weaker (at low SP) – because they only work in an area and require 100% of the turn instead of 50%.

- Buffs scale with troop growth. Is scaling them with SP too much?
No, it's not too much. Troops grow for both sides. While the opponent also grows their physical stats (Attack and Defense), the mage can grow SP instead, allowing the mage to compensate for the physical gap through SP.

 

Weakness and Disrupting Ray

1 Weakness = -(SP + 5) to Attack for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
2 Disrupting Ray = -(SP + 1/2/3/4) permanently, stacks (mass – 4x4 area)

- Is it stronger than in the original? Why is the Ray so powerful?
Definitely stronger, due to the dependence on SP and a fairly long duration. However, the mass versions can be weaker (at low SP) – because they only work in an area and require 100% of the turn instead of 50%. The second point is crucial for the mass Ray, whose tempo is half that of the original, so the power per cast is proportionally higher.

 

Stone Skin and Weakness

1 Stone Skin = +(SP + 5) to Defense for 1/2/3/4 rounds
1 Weakness = -(SP + 5) to Attack for 2/4/6/8 rounds

- These spells do almost the same thing. Why does Weakness last twice as long?
Because Stone Skin is more reliable; it has no opposing spell that dispels it for free. Additionally, Stone Skin provides a 1.5 times higher bonus if the unit defends. Weakness is less versatile and cannot reduce Attack below 0. That is, Stone Skin provides stronger, more reliable protection for a short time, while Weakness removes the ability to deal good damage for a long time.

 

Righteous Might and Disrupting Ray

2 Righteous Might = +(SP + 5) to Attack for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
2 Disrupting Ray = -(SP + 1/2/3/4) permanently, stacks (mass – 4x4 area)

- Why is the power of these spells almost equal, even though the Ray works much longer?
Because duration is less critical when damage is heavily scaled. A vulnerable victim can be destroyed in less than 2-3 rounds, while Righteous Might will continue to work afterwards against other targets.

 

Haste and Slow

3 Haste = +(SP + 5) x 10% to initiative for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
3 Slow = -67% to initiative for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)

- Why does the first depend on SP, but the second does not?
Because with an equally strong dependence on SP at high Sorcery, Slow would reduce initiative to 0, scaling extremely harshly (stronger than Blind).

- Why is Slow more powerful and also has a longer duration?
Slow is more powerful only in relative terms; in absolute terms, Haste is more powerful. For example, over 1 round, a unit with doubled initiative of 10 gains an extra 100% turn, while a unit with initiative reduced by three times loses only 67% of a turn. Thus, Haste provides a stronger but short bonus, while Slow disables an enemy unit for a long time.

- Are these spells stronger than in the original?
Much stronger. Moreover, even their area mass versions are stronger. However, in terms of tempo, their mass versions are inferior, requiring 100% of the turn instead of 50%.

 

Weakness, Slow, and Sorrow

1 Weakness = -(SP + 5) to Attack for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
3 Slow = -67% to initiative for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
4 Sorrow = -(SP + 3) to Morale and Luck for 2/4/6/8 rounds

- Is Slow much stronger than Weakness?
Yes, much stronger – because it reduces initiative by 3 times, while Weakness only reduces damage by 2 times (at average SP). However, Weakness is three times cheaper and sometimes more useful – when you need to sharply reduce the damage of a unit whose turn is coming soon (Slow is not as useful in this regard, working more for the long term). In this respect, Slow is also inferior to Forgetfulness (besides, if a shooter acts less often, it saves ammo).

- Sorrow doesn't seem as strong as Slow. What are its advantages?
Formally, Sorrow makes a unit act 1.6 times less often and deal 1.33 times less damage, meaning it reduces damage slightly more than Weakness, but less than Slow. However, Sorrow's advantage over Weakness is that it works well even at low SP = 2-3. Its advantage over Slow is that it can reduce damage or even delay the turn of a unit whose turn is coming soon (more effectively than Slow would). Furthermore, at high SP, Sorrow plays much stronger against units with upgraded Luck or Morale, effectively canceling all their bonuses. In other words, Sorrow's potential is higher. Sorrow is also good for its unpredictability, which generally works against the opponent (this fact is proven with numbers).

- Is Sorrow stronger than in the original?
Yes. At low SP, Sorrow works just as strongly and for as long as the original does at high SP, while having greater scaling potential (against positive Luck or Morale).

 

Righteous Might and Haste

2 Righteous Might = +(SP + 5) to Attack for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
3 Haste = +(SP + 5) x 10% to initiative for 1/2/3/4 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)

- Which spell boosts damage more?
Generally, Haste is stronger (and more expensive). Because the real bonus from an additional Attack is lower than 10% per point, as it scales base damage, not current damage. Additionally, Haste is more versatile, as it accelerates not only damage but the entire turn. On the other hand, for a unit that is about to take its turn, Righteous Might will be more useful, as it provides an immediate tangible bonus, while Haste only speeds up the second and subsequent turns.

 

Cure and Anti-Magic

3 Cure = 100% dispel, only on allied targets
4 Anti-Magic = 100% dispel and immunity to magic for 1/2/3/4 rounds on any targets

- Does Cure no longer dispel Light effects?
Yes. This spell has become much less versatile than Anti-Magic, but cheaper. Meanwhile, Anti-Magic can be cast on any unit, including enemy ones, removing all their buffs. The main reason for this is that Cure has a mass version, while Anti-Magic does not.

- Are these spells stronger than in the original?
Generally, stronger. Cure, though less versatile, always works, independent of any chances or any skill. Moreover, it removes much stronger debuffs than in the original, but is also more expensive (given mana scarcity). Anti-Magic is even more expensive but more versatile, allowing the removal of several of the strongest buffs from a single unit regardless of skill or SP.

 

Slow and Blind

3 Slow = -67% to initiative for 2/4/6/8 rounds (mass – 4x4 area)
6 Blind = Paralyze for 2/3/4/5 rounds (or until first damage)

- Slow is very strong, and both spells do not depend on SP. What is the fundamental difference between them?
If we consider a developed skill, over 6 rounds Slow will lead to a loss of the same 4 rounds of turns as Blind. However, during those 6 rounds, the unit will still act. With Blind, the unit will only act on rounds 5 and 6, meaning it starts acting much later. On the other hand, Slow's advantage is that it allows dealing damage to that unit without removing its effect, unlike Blind.

- Is Blind stronger than in the original?
Generally, stronger. For high SP, the difference is negligible, but for low SP it is noticeably stronger because it does not depend on it.

- Why does Blind no longer depend on SP?
Because such is the new standard: the effect of buffs and debuffs depends only on SP, while the duration depends only on skill. In this case, the effect is the same – full paralysis – and it cannot be tied to SP.

 

Blind and Domination

6 Blind = Paralyze for 2/3/4/5 rounds (or until first damage)
15 Domination = control for 0.5/1/1.5/2 rounds with SP x 10% initiative

- What is the fundamental difference between these spells at low SP?
At low SP, the unit may not get a turn at all, making both spells similar. Blind lasts much longer, but Domination allows attacking that unit without even receiving a retaliation.

- The bonus to Domination's effect from SP is incredibly high; can it exceed 100%?
No. Increasing SP above 10 has no effect on this spell (however, up to 10 it is quite desirable).

- Is this Domination stronger than in the original?
In terms of effect power – much stronger (initiative is penalized less). However, it has a short duration that does not scale with SP. Moreover, this spell is also much more expensive (given mana scarcity).

 

Berserker and Domination

10 Berserker = Loss of control for 1 turn with SP x 10% damage
15 Domination = control for 0.5/1/1.5/2 rounds with SP x 10% initiative

- Which spell is stronger?
Here and now, Berserker is usually stronger. The unit, though generally dealing less damage, receives full retaliation (so Berserker is not as dependent on SP). However, Domination lasts longer, is more versatile, and allows more effective attacks. However, at very high SP > 10, Berserker's power continues to grow, unlike Domination.

- Is Berserker weaker than in the original?
Yes, Berserker is weaker in every parameter – in damage (at SP < 10, damage is weaker than 100%), in duration, and is also much more expensive (given mana scarcity). However, the context for its use is better. First, reduced speeds prevent immediately charging into the enemy, which would make using Berserker problematic. Second, generally higher damage amounts make Berserker a more dangerous spell. As practice shows, against aggressive factions, Berserker remains a very unpleasant spell even at low SP, despite its cost and reduced duration. This is a rare case where a spell is genuinely weakened, because there is no reason to strengthen it.

 

Regeneration and Vampirism

4 Regeneration = (SP + 1) x 10% for 1/2/3/4 rounds
8 Vampirism = 100% for 1/2/3/4 rounds

- Why does Regeneration depend on SP, but Vampirism does not?
Because as troop size increases, Vampirism scales, while Regeneration does not (only scaling with SP).

- Are these spells stronger than in the original?
Yes. Regeneration is much stronger due to the reduced troop size. Vampirism is stronger because it immediately provides a strong bonus, regardless of SP (and only at very high SP is Vampirism in the original stronger, due to duration).

- Why is Vampirism in the Light school?
Vampirism actually belongs to the combination Light + Darkness, as it requires both developed skills to learn, while its dependence on Light is more formal (because it strengthens a unit).

- Is Vampirism stronger than Regeneration?
Generally, yes. Due to its ability to remove the most severe debuffs and gain immunity to them (along with the Undead property). But in terms of healing properties, they are comparable. Regeneration on high-level targets restores health faster. Health is restored before the turn, not after (which can affect attack power). Regeneration scales with initiative and can be accelerated by waiting, including while defending. Additionally, Regeneration works at any range, does not require dealing damage, and works well even on heavily damaged units if it can save them from complete destruction. Vampirism, however, is more versatile, allows gaining more benefit from a physical advantage, but requires the unit not to be too heavily damaged for the healing to be effective.

 

Plague and Vengeance

5 Plague = 3 x (SP + 9) damage for 1/2/3/4 turns
8 Vengeance = 15/20/25/30 x F damage

- Are these spells stronger than in the original?
Plague is many times stronger than in the original (given the reduced troop size), but also much more expensive (given mana scarcity). Vengeance works strongly but costs quite a lot, eliminating the possibility of constant spamming.

- Vengeance does not depend on SP; is that correct?
Vengeance scales with troop growth, albeit not linearly. Therefore, a dependence on SP would be redundant (double scaling); Vengeance is unlikely to scale slower than Chaos from SP over time.

- Why is Vengeance moved to the Darkness school?
Vengeance actually belongs to the combination Darkness + Chaos, as it requires both developed skills to learn. It is connected to Chaos by dealing direct damage, but the damage does not scale with SP (untypical for Chaos) and plays out in a prolonged game (typical for Darkness). Nothing connects this spell to Light.

 

Holy Word and Death Wave

12 Holy Word = 1/2/3/4 x (SP + 5) damage to demons, undead, orcs
12 Death Wave = 3/4/5/6 x SP damage to all except demons and undead

- Which spell is stronger?
Typically, Holy Word is stronger (except at very high SP > 10), due to its lesser dependence on SP. However, Death Wave is relevant twice as often. Also, both spells work against orcs (except wyverns).

- Are these spells weaker than in the original?
Formally, yes, but in practice they are equally strong due to the reduced troop size. However, they are much more expensive (given mana scarcity), eliminating the possibility of constantly spamming these spells.

Sometimes it's useful to review not only spells but also abilities, with a precise audit of all the nuances of why a particular implementation option was chosen.

For example, it has now become clear that Raise Dead still needs to be strengthened to the level of Resurrection, at a cheaper cost, so that it has a more advantageous position in comparison.
Or that all large creatures need additional physical stat buffs, as they are much more vulnerable to all area attacks (especially area magic).

Each change must be justified. Moreover, the justification must be explicit and public, as open as possible to everyone. It is this approach that allows for the implementation of the best things.

Below I will analyze the already balanced abilities (within the scope of 2 factions - humans and demons), all information is in the corresponding spoilers.

Class abilities:

Heavy Class (50% defense against charging attacks)

- A class ability that allows you to effectively counter attackers, negating the advantage of a first strike.
- Effective against flyers, depriving them of their speed-based striking advantage.
- Ineffective against shooters, offering no protection against them.
- The ability does not depend on the length of the charge; the mere presence of a charge is important: even 1 cell makes a big difference.
- Mass implementation of the heavy class makes precise unit positioning during an attack especially important in order to maximize the defensive advantages of the ability.

 

Flight (ignores obstacles in the path)

- A class ability that is always complemented by high speed: 6 for small and 7-8 for large (higher than ground troops).
- Effective against shooters, allowing you to create blocking threats from a safe distance (unlike ground troops).
- Ineffective against the heavy class, as it cannot use the speed advantage of a first strike.

 

Large Size (occupies 2x2 cells)

- A class ability that significantly reduces mobility and increases vulnerability to area damage.
- A large unit encounters 2-3 times more obstacles in its path (most of these limitations are removed by flight - which is why flight is most useful for large units).
- A large unit is 2-3 times more likely to be hit by area damage (from area attacks and area magic).
- A large melee unit is 20% more likely to be hit within point-blank shot range.
- A large shooting unit is 50-70% easier to block (more blocking cells).
- Large troops are effective on open terrain (without obstacles) due to the +1 speed bonus.
- Large troops also have enhanced physical stats and are better protected against targeted damage.

 

Sorcery

- Warlocks have access to almost all magic in the game, including higher and mass spells.
- Thanks to powerful magic, the role of warlocks in supporting troops is very high.
- As a rule, support units are significantly weaker in physical stats, or have weak damage protection (vulnerable to shooters and magic).
- Some support units have an unlimited number of actions (e.g., free 1st level spells).

 

Shooting

- A class ability that allows you to deal unreturned damage at any distance until the unit is blocked in melee.
- The ability deals 2 times less damage at long range (7+ cells).
- The ability penalizes melee damage by a factor of 2.
- Shooters are effective against the heavy class, and also against large troops when protected.
- Shooters are ineffective against flyers, who can create a blocking threat from a safe distance.
- Shooter ammunition is significantly limited, which motivates moving to point-blank range to use shooting most effectively (this works due to the reduced speed of ground troops).
- The mobility of shooters is at the same level as that of ground melee units, allowing them to maneuver effectively.

 

Ground Melee Troops (informal class)

- An informal class that has reduced speed: 3-5 for small and 4-6 for large troops.
- Effective in head-on clashes due to enhanced physical stats.
- Less effective against shooters, as mobility is insufficient to attack them from a safe distance.

New abilities:

Reserve (splits on the first attack)

- A powerful ability that makes protecting the unit before its first attack especially important in order to fully utilize the reserve.
- To counter this ability, you need to attack these creatures preemptively, or avoid their attack followed by splitting while the unit is still full.

 

Combined Attack (repeats its attacks nearby)

- An aggressive aura that performs better the more similar units there are on the battlefield (thanks to reserve, phantom, or using tactical singles).
- The aura works especially effectively together with Reserve, because thanks to it the first attack is guaranteed to be doubled (or tripled in damage if there was a charge against a heavy class - the copy hits without charging!).
- To counter this aura, you need to timely move troops away from it, preventing encirclement, or completely destroy all additional units of such creatures.

 

Rebirth (revives after destruction)

- A powerful ability that gives a unit a second wind.
- The downside of rebirth is that it can trigger too late.
- The earlier it triggers, the greater the impact it will have on the battle's outcome, so the unit should be the first to go into trades, seeking destruction.
- Upon rebirth, all buffs and debuffs are also removed from the unit.
- A reviving unit loses all accumulated turn progress, but deals a full retaliatory strike if it had one before destruction.
- To counter rebirth, you need to deal enough damage so the unit is heavily wounded but still alive - it is least effective during this time.
- A reviving unit should be killed at the right moment, right before its turn, at range, or by first removing its retaliation - in this case the unit will lose maximum time.

 

Bomb (deals damage (x5) to surrounding enemies upon destruction)

- An ability similar to rebirth, but acting in a destructive manner.
- The downside of the bomb is that it can trigger too late (which is why its damage is so great).
- The earlier the bomb triggers, the greater the impact it will have on the battle's outcome, so the unit should be the first to go into trades, seeking destruction.
- The ability is effective when this unit dies on its own turn (having received a retaliatory strike), because in that case it has the opportunity to choose the death location so as to hit multiple targets.
- The ability does not deal damage to own units.
- To counter the bomb, you need to deal enough damage so the unit is heavily wounded - but remains alive for as long as possible.
- It is optimal to kill such a unit at range, having moved your own troops away (so the ability does not trigger at all).
- It is advisable to finish off the unit on your own turn, moving all other troops away, so the explosion affects at most one target.
- Finishing off with a heavily wounded unit that you don't mind sacrificing to the explosion can also be effective.

Why is the bomb damage so high?
- Too low damage makes the ability less important and interesting.
- Too high damage forces a high cost for this ability, sacrificing physical stats (for balance).
- The ability triggers late - which allows setting a very respectable damage without paying too much for it.
- If this ability is ignored, it can deal fatal damage to multiple targets at once - that is its interest.

 

Death Blow (25% chance to kill up to 50% of victims)

- The ability works effectively against full units, regardless of how heavily wounded the unit with Death Blow is itself.
- To counter this ability, you need to move full units away from the Death Blow, or completely destroy the unit with this ability.
- Rounding down weakens the effect of Death Blow - in fact, high-level single creatures are not susceptible to it at all.

General abilities:

Fury (+1-2 attack when own units die)

- The ability is most effective when allied troops die quickly, and the unit with this ability survives well.
- Compared to the original, this ability, although strengthened (due to the doubled role of stats), remains minor because it triggers too late and the bonuses from it are too weak.
- In the future, when modifying the executable, it could theoretically be configured to give a higher bonus (e.g., +5 attack after each death regardless of unit strength).
- The ability can be indirectly strengthened by raising all stats, but this yields too little benefit while significantly impacting other abilities (e.g., Defense Penetration, Defense Bypass, or Frenzy).

 

Intercept (aura: draws attacks to itself)

- An enhanced version of Taunt with a 100% trigger rate.
- The effectiveness of Intercept lies not only in redirecting the enemy's attack to a lower-priority target, but also in the fact that the damage can be significantly reduced if the unit is better protected than the original target.
- Therefore, Intercept works exceptionally well with the Heavy class or when defending.
- Intercept can be countered by properly positioning attacks (so as not to touch this unit).
- There is no point in tying the ability to a chance (as it was in the original); the protection must be sufficiently reliable.

 

Cleansing (removes 1 random buff upon attack)

- An enhanced version with a 100% trigger rate.
- The ability allows you to counter enemy buffs; however, it can also remove Domination when attacking an allied unit.
- The effect is situational (requires the presence of buffs), so there is no point in tying the ability to a chance (as it was in the original).
- Cleansing can be countered either by preventing attacks on buffed units (blocking a shooter), or by placing additional cheap buffs on an important target to reduce the chance of removing a strong buff.

Standard abilities:

Armor-Piercing Shot (ignores 100% defense at range 2-4 cells)

- The ability is significantly strengthened in terms of range (in fact, it is now applicable twice as often).
- The ability also boosts damage more (due to the doubled role of stats).
- The ability is especially effective against creatures with high defense, e.g., when defending or under Stone Skin.
- To use this ability, it is important to be in the right place (Teleport helps) at the right time (Haste or Slow helps).

Why was this particular range chosen?
- Range 2-3 is clearly insufficient; the ability triggered too rarely.
- Range 7+ effectively makes the ability very easy to use, requiring no special effort from the player.
- Range 2-6, while working several times more often, does not create an additional zone like range 2-4 does - and it is the additional zone that creates interest.
- Range 2-5 has too wide an area of effect (works more often than point-blank range 6).
- Thus, the 2-4 option is optimal.

 

Defense Penetration (ignores 50% defense)

- The ability works not only on shooting but also on melee attacks, so the pushback by one cell has been removed (it didn't work on melee attacks anyway).
- The ability boosts damage more (due to the doubled role of stats).
- Defense Penetration is effective against creatures with high defense, e.g., when defending or under Stone Skin.
- To counter this ability, you should try to ensure that such a unit only deals damage to units with low defense.

 

Cavalry Bonus (+50% damage per cell)

- The ability works 10 times stronger than in the original.
- Such a unit has a weak retaliatory strike because it makes it from a standstill (without the Cavalry Bonus).
- The ability is effective against enemies of the light class, providing advantageous damage on a charge of 3 cells or more.
- The ability is less effective against enemies of the heavy class because it cannot deal effective damage from a standstill (damage becomes advantageous only on a full charge of 5-6 cells).

Why such a strong bonus?
- A strong bonus makes correct unit positioning important.
- A bonus higher than 50% (previously set at 100%) makes retaliatory strikes too weak compared to full attacks, without providing a significant gain in variance: with a 50% bonus, damage variance is from 50 to 200% (relative to average charge), while with a 100% bonus, it is from 33 to 233%.

 

Jump (act: 200% damage with a jump of exactly 5 range, 200% retaliation)

- The ability is strengthened in terms of damage, and the bug with receiving 300% retaliation instead of 200% has been fixed.
- The range is limited to exactly 5 so that the double-damage ability does not trigger too often and can be defended against.
- The ability does not allow choosing the landing cell: this means that if the minimum distance to a cell from which the target can be attacked is less than 5, creatures cannot jump to attack that target.
- To use the ability, you need to position the unit correctly (at a distance of exactly 5 cells).
- It is advisable to remove retaliation beforehand with other units, or attack an already heavily weakened or wounded target that cannot deal serious retaliatory damage after the jump.

Why is the range exactly 5?
- Speeds of 6+ are characteristic of flyers; ground troops should not have such mobility - therefore the maximum range is 5.
- It is desirable that the ability does not overlap with a normal charge, hence the minimum range is also 5 (2 out of 3 demons have a charge speed lower - 4).

 

Frenzy (act: no-retaliation berserk, attack + defense turned into attack, defense set to 0 until the next turn)

- The ability works much stronger than in the original, due to the doubled role of stats - damage increases 2-3 times, and survivability decreases by the same amount.
- Converting defense into attack is usually beneficial, as the increased attack takes effect immediately, while the reduced defense only matters later.
- However, you must be wary that frenzied units may be focused while vulnerable (and if they can be, you need to ensure the enemy pays dearly for it).
- Another downside of Frenzy is that it allows you to choose neither the target nor the attack cell (it always attacks the nearest enemy target).
- Frenzy allows you to effectively attack vulnerable light targets, dealing colossal damage to them.
- Frenzy allows you to effectively deal with an enemy unit if it has no protection (thanks to the no-retaliation attack).
- Frenzy is less effective against the heavy class, as charge damage will be halved.
- To counter Frenzy, you need to ensure that the nearest unit to it is well-protected.
- After Frenzy is activated, you should aim to destroy the frenzied unit before its next turn, while it has no defense.
- However, it should be noted that the retaliatory attack of frenzied units is also very powerful, so shooters and units with no-retaliation attacks are very useful against them.

 

Withdrawal (does not retaliate to attacks, retreats)

- The ability works not only for shooters (in which case they retreat and retaliate with a shot) but also for melee units.
- Unlike Cowardice, when withdrawing, the unit retreats to the minimum safe distance.
- Furthermore, the unit only withdraws from direct attacks, not from retaliatory ones.
- For melee units, this ability is notable primarily because they never retaliate (except in special cases).
- Against the heavy class, the ability has an additional downside, as withdrawing removes the possibility of both retaliating and attacking from a standstill.
- In the rare case where the unit has nowhere to flee, it will stay in place and retaliate.
- Since the unit does not deal retaliatory damage, its normal attack is significantly strengthened and poses a high danger.
- Therefore, you should aim to focus such a unit before it starts dealing direct damage.

Rare abilities:

Jousting Strike (on a charge, attacks a target behind)

- The ability deals full 100% damage to the secondary target (unlike the original).
- Jousting Strike triggers even on a minimum charge of 1 cell.
- Jousting Strike requires a charge; it never triggers on retaliatory strikes - and in this respect is safe for allied units.
- What makes this ability interesting is its combination with the Cavalry Bonus: sometimes it is more advantageous to hit 2 targets on a short charge, and sometimes it is more advantageous to hit 1 target on a long charge.
- If the opportunity arises to hit both targets on a long charge, this yields colossal damage.

 

Furious Retaliation (each subsequent counterattack doubles)

- The ability is strengthened so that the unit can effectively counter being focused by superior forces (the damage doubling compensates for its own losses, which otherwise reduce damage).
- Further strengthening is not advisable, as the unit is already disadvantageous to focus (the ability works to prevent attacks).
- The downside of this ability is that it does not strengthen the first retaliatory strike at all.
- For effective use of Furious Retaliation, it is important not only to block the enemy's alternative attacks on other targets but also to create a physical advantage, making single trades disadvantageous (buffs to defense, attack, or Vampirism).
- To counter Furious Retaliation, you should shoot such a unit, attack it with units that have no-retaliation attacks, or attack it without focusing, using more powerful units.

 

Dive (act: 100% damage along 2 lines)

- The ability is not only strengthened in terms of damage but has also become reusable - making it as useful as Strike from the Heavens.
- Unlike Strike from the Heavens, Dive deals full 100% damage against the heavy class, at any distance.
- It is effective to choose attack lines where enemy troops are most likely to cluster - usually the central lines.
- The ability works well if you manage to hit at least 2-3 targets (and poorly if it hits only 1 target).
- If you manage to hit many targets (4 or more), the total damage can be catastrophic for the enemy.
- Against large creatures, Dive effectively attacks along 4 lines (a third of the field!), so flying to the outer lines is less effective (only 3 lines against large creatures).
- A significant downside of the ability is that it not only takes up the creature's 2 turns but also has a delayed effect.
- Therefore, Haste on such creatures can be particularly effective.
- The ability is more effective at the start of the battle, when there are many units on the field, and less effective at the end of the battle, when few units remain.
- A safe countermeasure is to disperse troops across the field so that by the time the turn starts, no Dive hits many targets.
- A reliable countermeasure is to put vulnerable units into defense.
- A risky countermeasure is to try to guess the opponent's Dive (Dive is likely aimed at: central lines, troop clusters, shooters, warlocks, or units that won't have time to flee).
- If there are empty lines on the field, you can move troops there (Dive there is unlikely).

Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.

 

Regeneration (restores 20 HP per turn)

- The ability is formally weaker than in the original, but in reality - much stronger (due to the reduced unit counts).
- For effective use of Regeneration, you need to regularly take damage (e.g., by removing retaliation) and heal it at double speed - through waiting.
- Skipping a turn (waiting) for Regeneration should not be underestimated, even when an attack could deal more damage: Regeneration not only works twice as often but also does not receive retaliatory attacks.
- The most useful buffs for such a unit are Stone Skin and Haste - both boost the healing power of Regeneration relative to damage taken.
- To counter Regeneration, you should either not attack the unit at all or quickly focus it; Blindness, Plague, Slow, and Disrupting Ray are also useful.
- Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to move the unit aside to avoid focus and heal in a calm environment.
- Also, for healing, it makes sense to first go into defense if there is a risk of enemy attacks.
- Regeneration reliably protects against weak damage (including magic and long-range shots with a penalty) but may not cope with strong damage.

Why were these specific numbers (20 HP) chosen, and not higher?
- Too high regeneration costs too much in terms of physical stats (for balance) and reduces the need to use waiting to double the regeneration rate (which is its main usage).
- Balance is important, where the physical stats are strong enough to attack, and simultaneously the regeneration is strong enough to wait instead of attacking - that is when an interesting choice appears.

 

Vampirism (restores 100% of damage dealt)

- The ability is much stronger than in the original.
- Vampirism makes the unit much stronger against melee troops.
- For effective use of Vampirism, you need strong physical stats, while regularly taking damage (e.g., receiving attack damage and healing after a retaliatory strike).
- If the unit is too heavily wounded, Vampirism will no longer help it.
- Therefore, such creatures are quite vulnerable to strong ranged damage (shooting, magic).
- Any buffs will be particularly useful on such creatures, giving them the necessary stat or initiative advantage.
- Debuffs on the units they are fighting will be no less useful, for the same reason.
- For the same reasons, defense can be very effective, making focusing such creatures difficult.
- Vampirism is more effective against units with low defense and less effective against units with high defense and against the heavy class.
- Vampirism is more effective against units with low damage, while the main threat to it comes from units with high damage.
- To counter Vampirism, you need to quickly focus this unit, attack at range without taking retaliatory damage, or create a stat advantage by any means.
- Therefore, Vampirism is generally not effective in a straight-up trade against multiple enemy units at once.
- Not touching the unit to avoid giving it healing may turn out to be a bad idea if, in the endgame, you lack the physical stats to handle a full unit.

Why these specific numbers (100% instead of 50%)?
- 50% Vampirism can work effectively in theorycrafting, but against a real opponent it is insufficient, significantly losing out to focusing.
- 100% Vampirism is already sufficient to create real problems for the opponent, making focusing important.
- Further strengthening does not fundamentally affect the need for focusing but requires too much physical stats in return (for balance).

 

Explosion (act: 25 SP damage around)

- The ability is much stronger than in the original, and furthermore, reusable.
- The strength of the ability generally surpasses a direct attack even against a single target - but requires that the target be nearby (and at the same time, no own units nearby).
- Due to the importance of positioning, Haste and Teleport are particularly useful for such a unit (and both are difficult for a demon to access - however, it has access to Slow).
- The ability completely ignores defense, and therefore is especially effective against creatures with high defense.
- The ability deals damage from a standstill, and therefore is effective against the heavy class.
- To counter Explosion, you need to move away from it in time, or focus the unit in time (but in that case, there is a risk of taking a weakened Explosion hitting multiple targets at once).
- Against such a unit, Haste, Slow, and Disrupting Ray are useful (and Curse, Weakness, and Shield are useless).

Why was this specific damage chosen?
- The damage must definitely surpass a direct attack to make using Explosion advantageous when conditions for it are met (a target nearby).

Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.

 

Fire Shield (returns 50% of damage taken)

- The ability is much stronger than the analogue (Fire Shield) in the original.
- The strength of the ability can even surpass the damage the unit deals with its own attacks.
- The ability ignores defense and is effective against any melee units, especially those with low health.
- The heavy class is useless against Fire Shield.
- In effect, the ability means the unit is untouchable (it is disadvantageous to trade with it, even with superior physical stats).
- It is advantageous to remove retaliatory strikes with such an ability, as their effect is often more than compensated for by the fire damage.
- To counter this ability, it is important to attack the unit at range (shots, magic), not attack the unit at all, or, as a last resort, attack with troops that have a good health pool.
- Consequently, such units should avoid being within point-blank shot range.

Why were these specific numbers chosen?
- The effectiveness of the ability is directly tied to the damage the unit can withstand - that is, its health amount.
- Fire Shield demons have a high amount of health - twice as high as some vulnerable units.
- The value of 50% was chosen so that some melee trades not only become less advantageous but lose all meaning.
- In total, this ability can deal as much damage as Explosion or Bomb (abilities of other demon grades) do to 1.5 units.

 

Prayer (+2 to attack, defense, and morale for 2 rounds)

- Unlike the original, Prayer gives a quite substantial physical stat bonus (considering the doubled role of stats), but does not give an initiative bonus and lasts only 2 rounds.
- Now this ability is available not only to the hero but also to creatures (and it is a reusable ability!).
- Prayer is very powerful in its effect but requires regular renewal.
- Thus, the unit spends half of its turns strengthening all allied troops (roughly speaking, by 20% - while Prayer is active).
- The ability is especially effective at the beginning of a battle and less effective at the end.
- Prayer conflicts with the Vampirism spell - since it does not affect allied undead.
- To counter Prayer, there is no point in focusing the unit itself, unless there is a chance to destroy it completely.
- Slow or Blindness will be useful, as by the end of the battle, Prayer will be of little use.

Why these specific settings for Prayer (bonuses, duration)?
- There is no point in providing an initiative bonus, because a focused bonus is more interesting than one diluted across multiple parameters.
- At the same time, it is impossible to remove the morale bonus (because the value for morale and physical stats is shared).
- A weak bonus (+1) is not interesting for a hero even with infinite duration.
- A +2 bonus is strong enough: it is 1.5 times stronger than the general Blessing spell but loses to it by 2-4 times in duration.

 

Inspiration (act: grant an immediate turn)

- Unlike the original, Inspiration grants a turn immediately (100%, not 30%).
- Now this ability is available not only to the hero but also to creatures (and it is a reusable ability!).
- Inspiration allows you to immediately take the turn of any other unit instead of your own (a fair trade).
- It is most effective to inspire a unit that has just moved.
- Inspiration is more effective on units with low initiative and less effective on units with high initiative.
- Before a melee trade begins, it makes sense to inspire other units with ranged abilities (shooters, warlocks).
- This is precisely why the ability is particularly strong, providing flexibility in both ranged and melee combat.
- To counter Inspiration, you need to weaken its potential targets.
- Slow is only useful on the Inspiration unit itself and useless on all other targets.

Why is Inspiration so cool?
- The real turn bonus depends on the target's position on the turn meter and is usually significantly less than 100%.
- With lower values, the skill becomes not particularly attractive for hero development (compared to mass buffs or debuffs, for example).
- The maximum Inspiration bonus unlocks maximum tactical possibilities.

 

Summon Balrogs (act: +2 Balrogs from a demonic corpse)

- This ability has become reusable.
- Unlike the original, you can now also target enemy corpses if they are demonic (which provides additional advantages in mirror matches).
- The Balrogs are raised with their new Intercept ability (100% taunt), thus perfectly handling the task of immediately diverting enemy attacks to themselves.
- The main downside of this ability is that it starts working late, and furthermore, the summoned Balrogs need some time before they start taking turns.
- The ability is effective if allied units die quickly, and less effective if they start dying too late.
- To counter this ability, you must either avoid finishing off enemy units for as long as possible, or block the corpses, or kill this unit before it starts summoning Balrogs.

Why was the ability made reusable?
- Because after using a single-use ability, the unit loses its unique distinguishing features.
- If this ability is ignored, it has tremendous potential and can overturn the entire battle, flooding the field with Balrogs (that is precisely why reusability is needed!).

 

Executioner's Blade (+10 to damage for each victim)

- The ability is strengthened 5 times.
- The main damage of such a unit comes from Executioner's Blade, not from the physical attack.
- The ability is extremely effective against low-level, numerous units but is much less useful against high-level creatures.
- Neither the heavy class, nor high defense, nor defense stance saves against this ability - only fleeing or completely destroying this unit (Slow or Blindness are also useful).

Why is the bonus so high?
- The bonus is exactly such as to completely destroy almost any 1st level unit in one hit (analogous to how the Cutting Sword destroys almost any 7th level unit due to its low count).

 

Battle Fervor (+8 to attack if damage taken, for 1 round)

- The ability is sharply strengthened in terms of physical stats (compared to Battle Fury in the original), but has lost the initiative bonuses and lasts only 1 round.
- Battle Fervor also strengthens all retaliatory strikes, as they are all carried out after the unit takes damage.
- For effective use of this ability, you need to take damage regularly (e.g., from retaliatory attacks).
- To counter this ability, you must either deal no damage at all, or deal a lot of damage at once, quickly killing the unit.
- If the unit is already heated (the ability is active), it will likely maintain Battle Fervor by taking retaliatory hits - therefore, it makes sense to kill it quickly or flee far away so it has nothing to attack.
- Slow or Blindness are especially effective against such creatures, cooling them down.

Why these specific settings (bonuses, duration)?
- An initiative bonus is superfluous, as it does not strengthen retaliatory strikes - it is better to focus all the power on attack.
- The duration is reduced so that the ability works approximately 50% of the time - this is the optimal ratio to play both states (normal and heated).
- The attack bonus corresponds to an increase in damage from 75% (before heating) to 125% (after heating) - this is also close to optimal and sufficient for the ability to have a strong impact.

 

Mana Theft (each turn steals 1 mana for every 50 creatures, rounding up)

- The ability is approximately 10 times weaker than in the original, but it works every turn.
- Effective use of the ability involves regularly using waiting; in this case, the unit can potentially steal a lot of mana but will spend its turns doing so.
- When using waiting, the unit steals mana at almost the same rate as with Mana Drain (but has the option to skip waiting, stealing mana passively while simultaneously fighting).
- The maximum potential of such an ability is realized in a prolonged battle - when the opponent runs out of mana.
- To counter this ability, focusing is insufficient (due to rounding), unless you have the ability to kill the unit completely.
- Slow is useful against such a unit, as it will slow down the mana theft by 3 times and ultimately allow saving more mana than the spell itself costs.
- For the same reason, Blindness can save more mana than it costs.

Why was the ability reworked in this way?
- To not be just a strengthened version of Mana Absorption.
- The amount of mana was lowered because in the original, the unit stole much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).

 

Mana Absorption (on the first turn, removes 1 mana for every 10 creatures)

- The ability is approximately 2 times weaker than in the original.
- It triggers only once, so it has no particular tactical interest (except for the possibility of damaging this unit before its first turn to save mana).

Why was the ability weakened?
- Because in the original, the unit destroyed much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).

 

Mana Drain (act: steal 1 mana for every 20 creatures)

- The ability is approximately 2 times weaker than in the original.
- The unit drains mana 2-3 times faster than with Mana Theft, but requires spending the unit's turns.
- The maximum potential of such an ability is realized in a prolonged battle - when the opponent runs out of mana.
- To counter this ability, it makes sense to attack this unit, which will significantly reduce the mana drain rate.
- You can also destroy warlock units so there is nowhere to drain mana (the ability will then lose part of its strength).
- Slow is useful against such a unit, as it will slow down the mana theft by 3 times and ultimately allow saving more mana than the spell itself costs.
- For the same reason, Blindness can save more mana than it costs.
- Berserker or Domination are also useful (though expensive), as they not only save at least 3 mana immediately (due to the lost turn) but also help to damage this unit, reducing further mana drain.


Why was the ability weakened?
- Because in the original, the unit drained much more mana than it cost (disproportionate to the strength it was supposed to have).

Old abilities in a new context:

Healing (act: heal damage, debuffs)

- Healing is much more relevant than Laying on Hands in the original due to the effectiveness of healing (with reduced unit counts) and the much stronger debuffs it can remove.
- A key ability that can not only counter Darkness but also partially negate damage from Chaos.
- Combines effectively with creatures that have high individual health and high defense (as a result of Stone Skin or defense stance), because if creatures do not die quickly, healing becomes maximally useful.
- Often more advantageous than a direct attack, because it does not receive retaliation and works from the rear, without being exposed to attack.
- Care must be taken to ensure that all important targets remain accessible for healing (correct positioning).
- To counter this ability, it is enough to break the connection between this unit and its potential targets that would benefit most from healing.
- Strong attacks and defense reduction (Disrupting Ray) allow you to quickly kill creatures, making healing useless.
- For the same reason, sufficiently strong Chaos can help finish off creatures faster than they can heal.

 

Retribution (200% counterattack)

- The ability is now also available to alt Succubi, doubling their retaliatory shooting.
- In effect, it makes shooting attacks against this unit not just less advantageous, but specifically disadvantageous (untouchable).
- Also, thanks to Retribution, the unit can deal good retaliatory damage in melee, compensating for the penalty.

 

Desiccating Aura (aura: 10 damage to enemies per creature)

- The ability has formally not changed, but in reality has become stronger (due to changes in unit counts).
- A very strong aura that can deal more damage than direct attacks.
- Effective against the heavy class, units with high defense (which it ignores), and units that act frequently or are about to act.
- To counter this ability, it is not enough to simply leave the area of effect in time - because the damage is dealt immediately upon the start of the turn.
- The real countermeasure is focusing this unit, using units that are outside the aura's area of effect at the start of their turn, as well as shooters.
- You must kill these creatures before their aura starts to take effect.

Why is the ability so strong?
- The numbers are chosen so that, on the one hand, it deals enough fire damage, and on the other hand, the unit does not pay too much for it in terms of physical stats (both threats should remain relevant).

 

Cutting Sword (damage +1 killed victim)

- The ability is many times stronger than in the original (due to the reduction in unit counts).
- In effect, the unit's main damage comes from this ability, not from its physical attack.
- The attacks of this unit are very effective against high-level creatures and extremely ineffective against low-level creatures.
- Neither the heavy class, nor high defense, nor defense stance offers any protection against this ability - only fleeing or complete destruction (Slow or Blindness are also useful).

 

Pull (act: pull within a radius of 7)

- Formally, the ability is the same as in the original: only the speed of these creatures has increased, which directly affects the pull range.
- In reality, the difference between a radius of 6 and 7 is enormous: it is not only a +33% increase in area covered but also an increase in transfer distance.
- This unit is very dangerous against shooters, as it can pull them from a safe distance of 7 (which it could not do in the original).
- Pull is especially effective in the context of reduced ground troop speeds and other sharply strengthened abilities (e.g., pulling a unit into Explosion, Frenzy, Cutting Sword, or Executioner's Blade).

Updated information for all the abilities mentioned above.

I have now realized that it makes sense to consider abilities that haven't changed significantly (for now, only those concerning humans and demons—other races will be considered later).

Stun, Charge, Intimidate (and other similar ones)

- The factor for all abilities (except guaranteed ones) was set to 1.
- Ideally, I would like to have a fixed chance (1/3 or 1/2) for any such abilities to trigger—however, this requires additional edits to the exe (theoretically possible in the future).
- Right now, the factor can be raised to 2, which would boost these abilities to exactly those values (1/2 with a health advantage and 1/3 with a health disadvantage).
- The decision to set the factor to exactly 1 was dictated primarily by the convenience of calculating the exact chance rather than practical considerations.
- It is now becoming clear that these abilities triggered too rarely, which is especially noticeable against other very powerful and non-random abilities.
- Soldier's Luck provides the greatest bonus trigger chance precisely at a 50% base chance.
- Every time a random ability fails to trigger, it leads to disappointment—that is why an optimal chance of around 50% is best, so that triggers and failures occur with equal frequency.

Strike from the Heavens

- A perfectly balanced ability that requires no changes.
- The damage is high enough to justify spending 2 turns on this ability (1 turn activation + 1 turn delay).
- The delay is exactly right so that the opponent has time to move their units away, except in special cases (Haste, Slow, Blindness, tactical waiting).
- The ability now works with medium rather than high initiative (but this can be corrected by casting Haste).
- This means that certain effort is required to guarantee a landing against a unit with lower initiative (requiring a double turn for this) by using tactical waiting.
- The ability is effective against ranged units or Sorceress (because they rarely move) and ineffective against the heavy class, as damage is halved.
- Unlike the original, the unit has sufficiently sturdy physics to not fear being destroyed immediately after landing.
- With a stronger ability (higher damage or lower delay), the unit would have to pay for it with their physics.
- Meanwhile, the unit can now operate effectively both with and without dives (just like other upgrades), which provides additional choice in which mode to use the unit.

Standard abilities that cannot be changed:

- Shooting without penalty
- Arrow protection
- Cover (arrow protection aura)
- Unanswered attack
- Infinite retaliation
- Bloodlust (cleaver)
- Strike without penalty
- Half-power shooting
- Magic resistance (25%)

Added after 18 hours 18 minutes
I tried the new factors—before and after are like night and day.
Now stun, charge, and intimidate will work noticeably more often than in the original.
Another question is that their cost needs to be calculated correctly; for example, the Nightmares currently have physics that are too strong for such magnificent abilities.
For example, Crimson Nightmares now:
- Scare immediately in almost 50% of cases
- Charge in another 25% of cases (if they didn't scare + charge triggered)
- Scare after charging in another 12.5% of cases (if they didn't scare immediately + charge triggered + the scare triggered on the second hit)
And all these amazing abilities are layered on top of an attack with excellent physics, which seems like overkill.

That is, some time is needed to test better and re-evaluate the updated abilities, but it is definitely worth it, as the chances are an order of magnitude better than they were.
Nightmares should nightmare, creating chaos, not just hit!

Added after 1 hour 7 minutes
With a factor of 1, in 24% of cases over a series of 5 attacks (on average per battle), the ability will not trigger a single time, regardless of the player's actions.
With a factor of 2, such an atrocity happens in only 6% of cases, which is many times better.

The point of a random ability is not that it happens rarely, but that it creates unpredictability—and from this point of view, a trigger chance of around 50% is optimal:
- it ensures a high enough contribution of the ability (with minimal chances that it won't work at all)
- it does not create inflated expectations of one outcome or another
- as a result, it minimizes the gap between expectation and reality (variance)

The only exception is abilities with a very strong effect, such as deadly strike. Such abilities work even when they don't work—creating high danger and influencing the opponent's plans.
Halving a unit is not the same as simply scaring it. Therefore, a 25% chance here (as in the original) is quite justified.

Given the new factors, combinations of Slow + Stun or Slow + Intimidate become a real threat of completely removing a unit from the game (considering that Slow reduces initiative 3 times for a long period).

There are also 2 other abilities for which there are plans and which I forgot to mention:
- lofted shot: 50% damage is clearly too little, I want to make it 60%
- aura of terror: needs -6 morale instead of -3 (-3 is not terror, but a slight fright—too minor an ability)

Both edits require changing the exe (there is a chance they can be implemented in the future).