Posts from Heroes 5.5 WarGame Edition - Tactical Edition.

In the last month, development has slowed down due to the transition to a more detailed calculation model to more accurately assess abilities. However, now there is a technical possibility to set fixed chances for abilities to trigger. There are several options: 1) 50% chance (+25% with soldier's luck) 2) 40% chance (+24% with soldier's luck) 3) 30% chance (+21% with soldier's luck) The third option seems too rare, but the first two can be tried (starting with 50%). By adjusting the factors, you can set a fixed chance individually for each ability (for example, 50% for stunning, 40% for fear, and 30% for blinding). But I'm not sure yet if this is necessary (for now, let's try everything at 50%). The original version (from Nival) is bad because: - on the one hand, it is not a fixed chance, and for small units, the chance of triggering is too low. - on the other hand, it is a poorly managed chance, since even significant increases to the key parameter (in this case, to health or to the number of units) give negligible increases to the chance. In addition, Nival's formula requires performing a bunch of unnecessary actions on a calculator just to calculate the chance, and in general, it has an unexplained flaw (the chance can be either higher than 28% or lower than 22%, but not in between). A fixed chance is good because it allows you to play primarily based on abilities, rather than on the amount of "meat," and it saves players from unnecessary calculations, allowing them to focus on more interesting things and calculations.

A fixed chance is good because it allows you to focus on abilities rather than the amount of hit points, and it saves players from unnecessary calculations, allowing them to pay attention to more interesting things and calculations.

I agree, a fixed chance looks more interesting due to its randomness. It's more fun and engaging.
I don't really like that when the HP ratio is 4 to 1, the chance becomes 75%, and when the HP ratio is 1 to 4, it becomes 5%. It's too predictable and mundane.

And how did you manage to get rid of the standard scheme? Is it very difficult? Or are there parameters that can be changed somewhere? Are they in the .xdb or .Exe file?

I agree, a fixed chance seems more interesting due to its randomness. It's more fun and engaging.
I don't really like that when the HP ratio is 4 to 1, the chance becomes 75%, and when the HP ratio is 1 to 4, it becomes 5%. It's too predictable and mundane.

And how did you manage to get rid of the standard scheme? Is it very difficult? Or are there parameters that can be changed? Are they in the .xdb or in the .Exe?

It's done through the .exe file; otherwise, the scheme would have been changed long ago.

Updated mod files, details below (races: Humans and Demons).

Important changes:

1) Switched to a fixed 50% trigger chance. Really liked how abilities play out now.

2) Monks received ranged attack without penalty to participate more actively on the battlefield (instead of just praying). Inquisitors received Cleansing (instead of unpenalized ranged attack). Adepts received Blindness (instead of Cleansing) - now the entire Monk tier looks perfect!

3) Changed the Blind formula: now scales with SP and lasts 0.2 / 0.4 / 0.6 / 0.8 x SP rounds (this is necessary for the Blind ability to work properly).

4) Balanced the mana abilities of all Imp-tier demons: base Imps now drain 10 mana on the first turn (1 mana per 5 Imps), but their initiative reduced from 13 to 10 (so the hero can go first). Fiends continue to drain 3 mana per action (1 mana per 20 Imps), but now with initiative 13, while Parasites remain unchanged - stealing 1 mana before each of their turns (1 mana per 50 Imps).

5) SP-scaled casting for casters has been removed (i.e., those SP-scaled abilities that depend on the hero's SP now also depend on the caster's SP). In long campaigns, a large squad of casters is thus strengthened, but this isn't the only case where creatures play differently in fast vs. long campaigns (the value of Fiends similarly scales with troop count). In duels, this weakens cast abilities by damaging casters. For example, a full squad of Inquisitors casts Stone Skin for +10 defense, while the minimal remaining squad (one unit) only casts Stone Skin for +6 (however, their Bless remains equally effective, as it doesn't scale with SP, just like the hero's).

6) Succubus initiative reduced from 10 to 7, as Fear now plays a huge role (every other shot causes Fear - this ability is no weaker than Chain Lightning!)

7) Lamia initiative increased from 7 to 10 to enhance ranged gameplay, in exchange, Charm is weakened to level 0 (duration only 0.5 rounds). The core playstyle for these units is now kiting and shooting (speed and initiative allow them to kite, and retaliatory shots and Retaliation punish those who bite). Charm is played at the right moment when the target unit is as close in timing as possible, otherwise you'll miss the check.

8) Nightmares now have a proper physical profile (previously had too much damage plus Fear, now they are units that primarily rely on Fear).

9) All tiers now have a solid base damage, in exchange for nerfed super abilities:
- Reduced average damage rolls from 30% to 25% (to nerf common demon curses)
- Mana pool of Barlogs reduced from 12 to 6. Now you need to farm mana with Fiends for a second Meteor Storm, and to unlock the strongest spell, Disintegration, you need to drain at least 9 mana, which is no longer available from the first turn as before.
- Damage of Executioner's Blade from Trolls reduced from 10 to 6 (now Tier-1 units even have a chance to survive a single hit from it).

10) All Devils now have a proper physical profile - they are glass cannons with many strengths, but literally pay for everything with their lives: basic attacks, ranged shots, and magic are lethal to Devils (their abilities at least protect them from retaliations and charge attacks). However, they have truly amazing abilities: Archdevils can immediately grant a 100% turn to any unit (Inspire), Devils can endlessly summon Barlogs (as long as there are any demonic corpses, including enemies), and Satans pull units in a 7-tile radius (much harder to defend against than 6).

Humans

Demons

The next update will include: 1. **Purify** - 50% chance instead of 100%. A fixed chance is very good; there's no need to calculate anything, regardless of whether there are more or fewer hit points. The main reason is a softer counter to Light + stronger physics for creatures with this ability (since it has now become weaker and, therefore, cheaper). This means that the ability doesn't counter Light as harshly, and units don't suffer as much when Light is absent (and the ability does nothing). Now, Inquisitors have a choice against Light: either cast the buff themselves (100% chance) or shoot with 50% damage (half-strength shot) with a 50% chance to remove the buff. This choice is not always obvious, as it used to be when using Purify was definitely stronger than the buff. This ability is still much stronger than in the original, due to the fact that the buffs themselves are much stronger. The HP dependency in the original was completely unnecessary, as magical units can freely interrupt casts, regardless of their numbers - this is their advantage, so why should Purify be different? 2. **Hide** and **Might** will be slightly weaker (bonus +4 Attack instead of +5), **Haste** will be significantly weaker (bonus (+4 Attack) x 10% instead of (+5 Attack) x 10%), and **Slow** will be reduced to 2.5 times slower instead of 3. **Dodge** will also be increased to 75% (reducing ranged damage by 4 times instead of 3). This is due to a reassessment of the importance of combat parameters, especially initiative. 3. **Mass versions of spells** will cost 4 times more mana, not 2 (except for Exorcism). This will affect spells of the 2nd and 3rd levels, since spells of the 1st level cost 0 mana (are free). This effect will be achieved by modifying the executable file. Thus, in the end: 1) all mass casts take 100% of the hero's turn, not 50% 2) all mass casts of levels 2-3 affect an area of 4x4, not all 3) all mass casts of levels 2-3 will additionally cost 2 times more mana (a total of 4 times, except for Exorcism) Why does area Exorcism (100% Remove Charm with an effect only on your own units) remain at double the price? Firstly, this is a technical limitation (this is how the changes in the executable file are implemented, which I borrow). Secondly, this corresponds to the balance - because Grief, Blindness, and Subjugation do not have mass versions, and area Exorcism is not needed to remove them. Thirdly, Exorcism is already expensive (single-target 5 mana, area 10 mana - which is more expensive than 4-8 mana for area spells of the 2nd level, and not much cheaper than 12 mana for area Haste). The 2nd and 3rd level spells themselves work approximately twice as strongly as in the original, due to the effect's dependence on spellcasting skill. Thus, in general, mass spells remain approximately as strong as in the original, but are slower in tempo and now much more expensive in mana. However, even a fourfold price is worth it if you look at the strength of the effect (even in the area version, a mass spell is at least 2+ times stronger than a single-target spell). In general, mass spells of levels 2-3 are significantly less beneficial for combat units than in the original - and vice versa for mages: since they require mana and scale well with spellcasting skill. Examples: - A combat unit with 3/3 spellcasting/knowledge will cast mass Haste (level 3) for +60% initiative in a 4x4 area for 4 turns for 3x4 = 12 mana (or 80% of their total mana) - A mage with 9/9 spellcasting/knowledge will cast mass Haste for +120% initiative in a 4x4 area for 4 turns for 3x4 = 12 mana (or 27% of their total mana) With low knowledge, it will be difficult to use mass spells of the 3rd level, and you will have to work with mass spells of the 2nd level, which are 2-3 times cheaper. The same applies to regular spells of the 5th level. Mass spells, both in terms of strength and cost, actually add +2 levels to the single-target version (each subsequent level costs twice as much as the previous one). Spells of levels 2-3 in WGE are very strong and require both spellcasting (any versions) and knowledge (mass versions). In the original, you could almost play buffs for +40% to the army's initiative for almost free, without any requirements for knowledge, spellcasting, and for 50% of the turn - there will be no such freebies here. Next in line will be the elves, for whom doubling the prices for area spells is especially relevant (which are available to alt druids - Archons). Thanks to this change, to cast their powerful area spells (haste, might, hide), Archons will need twice as much mana - 12 instead of 6, which brings them closer to other upgrades (Druids = 16 - 2 hives of 8 mana each, Theurgs = 20 - 1 phoenix for 15 and regen for 4 mana).

Work on the mod continues; I will be posting current ideas and developments in this thread. Planned changes for Humans and Demons in the distant future (which depend on modifying the executable file): Archers: increase the arc shot percentage from 50% to 60% - I really want this change, which would make arc shots an equally viable and frequently used option; however, I haven't been able to find this location in the executable file yet. Ash Horrors: reduce the aura of fear from -5 or -6 morale to -3 - a desirable change to make the Horror aura much more influential and as powerful as the Blazing Horror's draining aura. Currently, the aura of fear is a playable but not very noticeable aura, and arc shots are almost a useless ability. Future features for Elves (currently being calculated). **Fairies / Nymphs / Dryads** General abilities: flight, wide attack, retaliatory strike Fairies: spellcasting (bees deal 10% or 20% damage per turn, for 0 mana) - a reliable and infinite source of ranged control. Nymphs: symbiosis - only fairies will be resurrected, but in large numbers (the complete opposite of Goblins repairing Golems). Dryads: wheel of fortune (infinite number of activations): ideally, +/- 3 luck or more, as a random minimum of +/- 1 is very annoying (wasting a turn), but I haven't been able to find this location in the executable file yet. **Dancers** General abilities: agility (+3 defense for each tile) - a significantly enhanced version compared to the original. In terms of strength, it can be said that this is an analogue of a heavy class, but for light units. Blade Dancers: double strike + retaliatory strike - the most effective attacking damage against a single target. Death Dancers: area attack (100% damage around) - maximum damage against multiple targets, a unique area attack for a small unit. Wind Dancers: bypass defense (ignore 20% defense for each tile) - maximum bonus for a full run, a killer of units with high defense. Unlike the original, Elven Dancers are focused on survivability (agility) and will have low base damage, which is increased by their abilities. **Stingers / Rangers / Snipers** General abilities: ranged attack, double shot (increased ranged damage, decreased melee damage) Stingers: agility + poison (new) Rangers: shock arrows (50% chance of 25% turn loss for each shot) - the chance will be restored (but high and independent of HP), the turn reduction will be stronger than the Fairy's sting, but less consistent. Snipers: ranged attack without penalty (enhanced arrow - armor penetration, characteristic of Humans, not Elves - is removed). Unlike the original, all Elven archers will have reduced base damage, but the highest initiative, which will distinguish them from other archers. Stingers are similar to Assassins (ranged poison) on one hand, but significantly different in characteristics on the other. Stingers have many shots, but weak poison, which they will use to poison 2-3 different targets. The melee damage of Stingers is extremely weak, but they have defensive agility. Assassins have strong poison, but only 1 shot, which will be used to attack only 1 target at range. The melee damage of Assassins is high, but there is no defensive agility. Similarly, Rangers and Scouts (ranged stun) are closely related. Rangers have many shots, but weak stun (with 2 attempts to trigger). Melee damage is very weak, there is no melee stun, and there is no defensive agility. Scouts have strong stun, but only 1 shot. Melee damage is without penalty, with the same stun and with defensive agility. **Druids / Theurgs / Archons** General abilities: ranged attack, spellcasting. Druids (8 mana): hive (for 8), energy channel (strength is still being calculated). Theurgs (16 mana): phoenix (for 15), regeneration (for 4), mana transfer (limited by the number of creatures - in a duel, up to 6 mana at a time). Archons (12 mana): area haste (for 12), power (for 8), skin (for 4), power channel (in a duel +5 SP). It was decided to make the hive one, not two - because single Druids will provide too much control in the attack (with infinite free bees). Yes, Secrets of Light will allow each Druid to cast the hive twice, gaining very strong field control in the attack. But a similar effect can also be achieved with single Rangers with soldier's luck and a cart. Druids will have the strongest field control, but the hives still need to be placed correctly - because they do not choose targets, but attack the nearest one, are easily destroyed (due to low SP), and cannot be restored. Planned changes to spells: **Bees:** reduce the knockback from 20/30/40/50% to 10/20/30/40%, while increasing the damage (since 50% bees provide too much control for a free 1st-level spell). Will the damage of Bees be fixed or depend on SP - the answer to this question depends on whose SP the hive will look at, the SP of the Druids (which is logical), or the hero's SP. In the second case, it makes sense to make the bees independent of SP with fixed damage (10), so as not to violate the logic. And in this case (fixed damage), the bees of the Fairies should also be weakened from 20% to 10% - since good knockback combined with high damage (for single Fairies) is too much. **Resurrection** and **Reanimation:** will be strengthened by 20-25%, and will resurrect approximately 1.5 times more HP than Chaos removes. Why is this? Some players have complained that it is difficult to win duels as a Paladin (while I personally play against the AI with a hero advantage, purely on troops, and I don't see any problems with the Paladin's troops - therefore, the problem is with the hero). Resurrection is the strongest, ultimate spell of the Paladin, which significantly affects his effectiveness as a hero. Similar high-level spells are generally most effective at the beginning of the battle (the sooner a powerful effect occurs, the greater its impact on the outcome of the battle). However, powerful resurrection effects are quite difficult to apply at the beginning of the battle, and this significantly weakens their impact. That is why they should be much stronger than similar Chaos spells. Another argument is that Chaos allows you to destroy the strongest enemy units with superior physical power. While, playing with Resurrections, the hero may have significantly weaker physical power than the opponent, and thus the resurrected units will be much weaker than those that could simply be destroyed by Chaos. Resurrection spells have an undeniable advantage in the attack - however, their application is limited by the huge mana cost.

Good afternoon!

I have a request: please fix the display of the final result after a battle for the Human faction.

The issue:

When peasants attack, a copy appears (a reinforcement unit). After the battle ends, this unit dies (specifically, the death animation; it could be replaced with a teleport). However, after the battle concludes, this reinforcement is still displayed in the losses section, which isn't ideal.

Also, there's a negative impact on the building menu; it doesn't look very good:

And also, the negative impact on the building menu doesn't look very good:

I assume that a mod for changing the city's construction was used additionally!

I believe that a mod was additionally used to change the city's buildings!

No, I installed only this mod, without any others.

The texture on which the building squares are placed remains the old one. Therefore, it doesn't fit. This isn't the entire mod for city building.

Good afternoon!

I have a request: please fix the display of the final result after a battle for the Human faction.

The issue:

When peasants attack, a copy appears (a reinforcement unit). After the battle ends, this unit dies (specifically, the death animation; it could be replaced with teleportation). However, after the battle, this reinforcement is still displayed in the losses section, which is not ideal.

Good afternoon!
It is impossible to fix this bug for peasants with the available tools – it is hardcoded into the game.
Regarding the building issue, this shouldn't happen – it seems to be related to using it in conjunction with other mods; I will check.

Hello, is it possible to install this mod with EWA 2.7.1?

Hello, does this mod include a skill wheel?

Hello! Is there any progress on this mod?

Good afternoon!

Work is in progress, but without rushing.

Just yesterday, we were discussing ways to develop the mod.

I consistently maintain the position that diversity must be preserved, and within the current framework, we should fine-tune the best balance. The opposing viewpoint is that everything should be simplified as much as possible because that will lead to a better balance.

I am fundamentally not going to reduce the number of units, their parametric diversity, or their abilities. However, there are certain limits to when this system works best.

For example, let's consider the classification of units by damage:
- normal: 33% damage to normal (i.e., it takes 3 hits to kill itself)
- damage dealer: 40% damage to normal, 50% damage to damage dealer (i.e., it takes 2 hits to kill itself)
- tank: 25% damage to normal, 20% damage to tank (i.e., it takes 5 hits to kill itself)

With these settings, we get quite good damage diversity, without excessively high or low damage. The difference between killing in 2 hits and killing in 5 hits is noticeable.

Additionally, if we add things like initiative (units with low initiative hit harder and live longer than units with high initiative) and speed (slow infantry is more powerful than fast flyers), we get that the range of possible damage in an exchange increases even more (from 50% for damage dealers up to 75%, if a powerful melee damage dealer attacks an initiative-based flying damage dealer). That is, this makes it possible to have very high damage, close to a one-shot kill. This is the price of diversity – when several factors work simultaneously, each of which is strong enough, it results in a particularly wide range, which may be beyond "normal".

But this only applies to units, and there are also heroes, and here too, we need to create diversity in parameters. There are combatants with strong physical stats and mages with weak physical stats. When this is combined with what was mentioned above, one-shot kills become quite real. For example, with a +6 stat difference in duels (the most offensive class against the most fragile), damage increases by 50%, and it can already be high.

In duels, I think it is normal when high diversity in units is added to the same strong diversity between heroes (and their physical stats – that is, attack and defense parameters).
For example, a hero with maximum physical stats performs at 80/20%, that is, the army works at 80%, and the hero himself at 20%.
And a hero with minimum physical stats performs at 60/40%, that is, the army works at 60%, and the hero at 40%. The army of such a hero is 25% weaker than that of the warrior above, but the hero himself casts spells twice as strongly and compensates for the lag.

I would like to point out that even in this case, in duels, the main contribution is made by the troops (60 to 40), and this is fundamental – the mod is built around units, and units are crucial here.

However, what will happen when we go beyond duels, when development is added to the heroes, higher levels, parameters, artifacts, and skills? Obviously, the gap in physical stats between mages and warriors will increase, and this is not good. As soon as the main contribution to the battle begins to be made by the hero, and not the troops, the "chess-like" nature collapses in favor of the gameplay that we would like to avoid (when troops stand in a tight defense as static elements, and the hero wins with magic, for example, by casting meteors). To avoid this, we should not increase the gap between heroes in parameters and skills. Thus, we come to the following conclusions:

1. The initial difference between heroes in parameters should be minimized. Let heroes start with parameters like 2/1/1/1, where the two will refer to the "racial" parameter (for a demon, attack; for an elf, magic, and so on). This difference is really minimal (but it is noticeable) and will be revealed as they develop further.

2. Artifacts should not be too strong (minor +1 stat, major +2 stat, relic +3 stat – this is a sample, in terms of the original, this is +2, +4, and +6 stats, respectively). Since a warrior may prefer combat artifacts, and a mage may prefer magic artifacts, the difference between them in physical stats may increase significantly if the artifacts are too powerful and/or if too many of them are worn. This means that artifacts should not be made stronger than they already are in Heroes 5 (and there will be no such powerful artifacts as in Heroes 3). The number of artifacts worn simultaneously by a hero should also not be too large – it is wrong when all of the hero's slots are filled with relics. Therefore, the game should end before the hero is "fully equipped".

3. Since we do not want to weaken the skills and abilities themselves (on the contrary, we want to strengthen them so that each level up is noticeable), and we need to limit their cumulative effect, it follows that the total number of upgraded skills should be small (closer to level 10 of the heroes than to 20 or 30). Here, there is a fundamental contradiction between the fact that it is most interesting to level up further (from the point of view of the interest of leveling up, level 20 is the best), but the quality of the battle begins to suffer greatly due to the increased gap. And since the quality of the battle is the highest priority, therefore, unnecessary levels will have to be sacrificed.

All of the above should ultimately lead to the fact that both in the real game on the map, heroes will be close to how they are in duels, that is, about 9/7/5/3 in parameters (and with a "moderate" difference between their maximum and minimum parameters, so as not to create too large a gap in physical stats). In addition to this, a small number of skills and abilities are added (about 12 at level 10). As a result, if a conditional mage with fully magical parameters builds a fully magical build (all skills for magic), then his 60/40% will turn into 40/60%, but no more. With such development, it is permissible that the hero will begin to play the main role, and not the army (this is a diversity of tactics), but only on the condition that the share of the army is not too low. If the difference in physical stats between the warrior's army and the mage's army reaches a twofold advantage (for example, 40% for the mage against 80% for the warrior), this is already at the limit – even greater distortions should be avoided, since such battles (a pure hero against a pure army) lose a significant share of interest.

Summarizing the priorities in the development of the mod: the emphasis is placed on strongly playing factors (parameters, skills), therefore, the number of factors working simultaneously in battle should be limited, otherwise the balance will become worse with strong distortions.