Greetings to all Heroes fans! (c)
There’s an idea to hold a new online tournament. While browsing the topic of the recent offline tournament, the "2023 Siberia Championship," I came across a format new to me — the arena. I googled "heroes 3 arena" and found several game recordings by Yama_Darma on the "Arena Konwentowa" map. I liked the concept of this map so much that I immediately wanted to run a small tournament on it
As I understand it, historically the "sod" players dominate on HW. I’ve known classic Heroes since childhood myself, but I’ve only been playing HotA in the last two years. However, I believe that, given the specific features of this particular map, games in this format should also appeal to sod lovers. I'll explain why. None of HotA’s new strategic map objects come into play here. The ability to rearrange spells in the Mage Guild, the new numerical values for Logistics, Necromancy, Mysticism, and Scouting have no effect. The new starting armies (on this template, heroes start without creatures) and the rule about the second level being already built in the town are also irrelevant. Additionally, especially for classics fans, a rule is being introduced allowing you to ban one town (meaning you can ban the sod-alien Cove Since relic artifacts don’t spawn on this map, the absence of the Sphere of Permanence can be considered not a HotA feature, but a map gimmick to avoid ruining mages).
Some HotA features will remain. Specifically: replacing the Resistance skill with the Interference skill (now the hero doesn’t increase his chances of blocking the opponent’s spells, but reduces the opponent’s spell power by a percentage); reduced numerical values for the Intelligence skill; creatures can now trigger negative luck; Arch Devils reduce the opponent’s troop luck by -2 instead of -1; Liches and Magogs can now shoot not only at the hex where the enemy stack is located, but at any hex on the battlefield. New artifacts have been added (but their effect, like that of sod artifacts, is aimed at increasing the hero’s parameters or changing his luck and morale; only the numerical values differ somewhat). I may have forgotten something, but in any case, it doesn’t play a decisive role.
Thus, there is an opportunity to save a huge amount of time on traversing the strategic map, leveling up heroes, and building an army. There is a good chance of getting a balanced final battle, which is generally rare. And there is a guaranteed chance to have a large-scale battle with all the familiar creatures. I think all this is worth overlooking the minor changes brought by HotA, which in this case don’t have a serious impact on gameplay.
HotA fans are also invited to participate in this tournament; for them, explanations are unnecessary
You can download the latest version of the "Arena Konwentowa 2.6.3" map from the attached file at the bottom of the header of this topic: https://m.vk.com/topic-59561616_36671817
Save the downloaded file to the "Maps" folder in the "HoTA" folder on your computer. Then, when launching the game, select this map among the scenarios (not random maps, please note).
For those who, like me, haven't heard of this map before, I'll provide a description. It’s a final-battle simulator where players don't need to traverse the strategic map in the usual sense (no fights with neutrals); instead, they simply gain experience, artifacts, stat upgrades from boosters, and an army from objects placed on the map to level up their hero and gather troops for the final battle against the opponent.
Conceptually similar to a skill-test, but the fundamental difference is that here the player starts with 4 heroes and can level up 2 of them, then choose one as the main, as well as choose from the offered artifacts at their discretion, and decide which stat to boost in the upgrades. And, of course, a striking feature is the battle with armies consisting of the full creature lines of the corresponding town. The number of units is quite substantial, but not excessive (for reference: the Castle line will have 11 Archangels and then progressively increasing, up to 315 Pikemen). That is, unlike the randomness of a skill-test, here conditions are created that are as favorable as possible (as much as possible in Heroes, where there is always room for randomness) for a roughly balanced final battle. And a quantity of units more familiar for a final battle is set (not just one week's growth, as in a skill-test).
Additionally, a special bonus for the old-timers: battles with native level 15 heroes with native creature lines will allow you to reminisce about the days of cozy games with friends in hot-seat mode on fixed maps. Back when both armies in the final battle weren’t some variation of the same set of creatures: Angels, Wyverns, and Skeletons (in the case of HotA, Cyclopes, Giants, and Phoenixes are added to this list, but the essence is the same).
Structurally, the template can be divided into four parts.
1. Hero Leveling Zone. There is a native town which only has a built Mage Guild; you cannot build or rebuild anything in the town. You start with 4 native heroes (2 warriors and 2 mages), there is a Witch Hut with a random skill, a University, a Magic Shrine, two Scholars, a spell scroll, and two identical Pandora's Boxes with experience. One hero can learn only one skill at the University (the starting gold technically allows learning two skills, but a nearby sign states that you are only allowed to take 1 skill per hero at the University). Learning two skills with one hero will be considered a rules violation. Learning one skill each with two heroes is perfectly legal. One hero can take only 1 Pandora's Box and thus level up to level 15, and also learn a few basic spells Magic Arrow, Protection from Air, Protection from Water, Protection from Fire, Bloodlust. Additionally, mage heroes can visit an adjacent area (separated by gates) where there is a "magic" Pandora's Box granting Expert Wisdom, stat boosts (+1 Attack, +1 Defense, +3 Spell Power, +3 Knowledge) and several spells: Lightning Bolt, Meteor Shower, Anti-Magic, Force Field, Inferno, Fire Shield, Land Mine. Also in this additional area are Pandora's Boxes for Castle, Citadel, Fortress, and Cove, where the hero will be given level 4/5 spells, which for obvious reasons cannot be learned in the towns of those factions. I repeat, entry to this area is for mage heroes only. In addition, there is a Colosseum in the leveling zone only for Alchemists and Death Knights.
2. Artifact Collection and Stat Boost Zone. Artifacts are divided into 6 piles first, there are three sets of 6 artifacts each, then another three sets of 4 artifacts each. You must choose one pile from the first group and one from the second. You cannot take more than two piles. Using combined artifacts is prohibited. You can use their individual components, but without assembling them into a single set. Relic artifacts are not generated. After this, there are two "forks" with objects for stat boosts. In the first case, you choose: +2 Defense vs +2 Spell Power and +2 Knowledge. In the second: +2 Attack vs +3 Defense vs +4 Spell Power vs +8 Knowledge.
3. Army Recruitment Zone. The hero takes two Pandora's Boxes with units. You can only take "native" (relative to the assigned town) units. Level 7 creatures located near the boxes act as indicators. One box contains the entire line (levels 1 to 7) of upgraded troops, the other contains the entire line of unupgraded troops. The player chooses which version of the creatures to keep in the army between the upgraded and unupgraded versions. Unupgraded stacks are more numerous. You cannot have two versions of the same unit in the army. That is, you can take Angels instead of Archangels, but you cannot keep Archangels and take Angels instead of, say, Halberdiers. (Note according to the map's internal rules, taking Pandora's Boxes with creatures from other towns is not banned. That is, it can be done technically, unlike, for example, attempting to take a third pile of artifacts. However, in this tournament, such actions are prohibited; you may only take native creatures.) Also in this zone, you can learn one level 1 spell of your choice, or Blindness. After that, the player can purchase war machines. Then, enter the portal.
4. Final Battle Zone. The hero is transported to the final battle area. There, they visit a Magic Well, after which they are ready for combat. The battle can take place on one of three strategic map tiles. Each tile has its own terrain. You can view it via one of the links in the "battlefield" section here:
https://m.vk.com/topic-59561616_36671817
The choice of the battle tile belongs to the blue player. At the end of their turn, they move to the chosen tile and write "ready" to the opponent. After that, the red player can attack.
The tournament rules are quite simple. Since the map is played in HotA, the built-in HotA rules current at the time of the tournament automatically apply. No mods need to be installed. On this map, assembling artifact sets is prohibited, as already mentioned above. Theoretically, even if a player wanted to, they cannot take more artifacts, stats, or spells than allowed, since the template has strict conditions for passing through border guards. However, if a bug occurs or a player somehow manages to gain bonuses beyond what is permitted, it will be considered cheating.
A difference from the arena used at the "2023 Siberia Championship" (judging by the description in the tournament topic) will be the ban on taking any creatures other than native ones into the army (mentioned above). Another innovation players have the right to ban one town of their choice. Thus, after creating a room, players must, in the PvP options on the right side of the screen, ban one town of their choice (or ban none if they wish) and select Random Town vs Random Town. This generates 5 pairs of random towns. Then, by taking turns crossing out, each player removes two pairs of towns. The order is determined by a coin flip. Then a coin is flipped again to determine which player chooses their town from the remaining pair. The second player gets the unchosen town from the remaining pair. After that, in the menu, players select their towns, the starting hero field remains random, and the starting bonus is Gold. Players will alternately play as red and blue, swapping colors after each game. The question of who starts as which color in the first game is decided by a coin flip.
Regarding the battle itself. In a situation where a weaker unit deliberately avoids engagement and uses its greater speed to flee from the enemy stack (and magic can no longer be used), the player avoiding the fight must either concede defeat or attack the opponent. The second point concerns summons. Victory achieved using summoned creatures counts as a battle victory. If both heroes die (say, from Chain Lightning), it is a draw, and the players replay that game with the same towns they were assigned.
Given the fast pace of games on this template, an entire series of games can be played in a few hours. For this reason, and also to minimize the impact of randomness from the assigned towns, all tournament games will be played in a BO5 format (i.e., first to 3 wins). Since even 5 games on this template can be played in a few hours, one week is allocated for each round of the group stage. Of course, there is no prohibition against playing matches in advance, before the round deadline, if both players find such an opportunity.
For each win in a group stage match (a match refers to a series of games against another player overall), 3 points will be awarded. For a loss, 0 points. If, at the end of the group stage, several players in the same group have the same number of points, the difference between games won and lost will be considered (a "game" refers to an individual component part of the match; to win the match, you must win three games). If there is still a tie, then the Berger coefficient is considered, followed by the head-to-head result.
In the event of controversial situations, or if players cannot agree on the time of their match, the final decision is made by the judge. The tournament organizer will act as the judge.)
If players fundamentally cannot reach a compromise regarding the date and time of the game, they contact the judge. When making a decision, the judge will try to schedule the game for an evening on a weekday or on a weekend. Failure to show up for the game on the day appointed by the judge or being more than an hour late will be considered a technical defeat.
