Hive Leader Auto-translated

Phew, updated the version to 1.1.0! (in the first post)

Changes:
New questline to liberate the Ancient Evil
New (modified) creatures + 1 boss + 1 super-hero + 1 Ancient Evil
New part of the dungeon (Tomb of Darkness + Wandering in Darkness + Repository of the Abyss)
And a few other things

Regarding hardcore players:
Difficulty adjustment
Increased creature growth in enemy cities each day
Increased enemy army size after capturing nearby outposts (depending on the current week)
And several other changes.

Note that I did not test two things:
a) The behavior of the Ancient Evil after emerging to the surface (it may be more difficult/impossible to complete the game)
b) HARD mode (probably made it too hard)


===============================
I will be glad for any comments and feedback, which I really need right now.
Sincerely.

Started a Veteran game in version 1.1.0 and captured 5 towns. The game is progressing normally, but I need more explanations. In the 5th town, I visited the red tent and received the Skull of Marchel; I don't understand yet what it's for.

what specific clarifications are you looking for? If you're referring to the tent, it's basically a lottery. It contains interesting prizes, and you can also get quest items, including items that are banned on the map, and... (I'll tell you all the tricks later).
Here's a small cheat code for the map, just for fun.

What specific clarifications are you looking for? If you're referring to the tent, it's just a lottery. It contains interesting prizes, and you can also get quest items, including items that are banned on the map, and... (I'll tell you all the tricks later).
Here's a small cheat code for the map, just for fun.

Okay, I thought there would be some kind of quest. Well, everything is going according to plan so far. 7 towns - mentor - utopia, now I'm going to find the mountain brother.

well, getting ahead of myself, I didn't really change the main storyline.
I only added an alternative one, which is more suitable for those who like to play "solo".
By the way, I found a serious bug in the hard version. There, the updating army is determined by the current week, but this week cannot be more than 4, so after a month of playing, the difficulty, as I planned, will not increase =( I'll re-upload it tomorrow...

I'm playing on the Hero difficulty level, and the AI has become slightly stronger than in previous versions. It finally uses battle cries (especially the terrifying roar), is more active, and, as promised, its army is significantly larger than the AI's army in previous versions. However, the fundamental weakness of the AI in Heroes 5 makes the game quite easy in the Barbarian vs. Barbarian scenario. I've noticed for a long time that the AI's ballista is very weak, considering it has a skill for it. And the main bug: the red tent always gives an artifact for 1,000 gold (and it's a Dragon-level artifact). It's like a guaranteed win, or rather, a cheat. I've been playing for 6 days, 4 weeks, and 2 months, and I've captured 5 castles, without touching any secondary quests.

Added 1 hour 21 minutes later
I completed the "Hard" difficulty on the Hero, in 99 days. The AI level of the heroes defending cities 4-8 definitely needs to be increased; otherwise, it's like beating up a baby in auto-combat. Moreover, in the city 4-8 directory, the AI doesn't show any activity at all; there's a complete lack of aggression. It should be allowed to attack from the rear via a portal, and the defense of which should be weakened significantly. I fought the last battles in auto-combat. The AI turned out to be weak. I didn't complete any secondary quests because they don't affect the map's completion. It turns out that they only have an aesthetic meaning, i.e., they create an atmosphere and nothing more. Thank you for the map. It was enjoyable to play as the horde.

Things got confusing. I found a mountain brother. But there are no entrances to 3 abandoned mines; they are simply occupied.
I approached the Death Knights, and they ask for 100 goblins and 15 mercury. I have both, but they don't give me the quest. Or do the goblins have to be unupgraded?

jjjoker777 - thank you for the feedback. Regarding the lottery - yes, it's currently winnable, but there's a chance (1%) of getting some really cool stuff. Regarding the strength of 4-8 cities, there was indeed an error that needs to be fixed. And yes, I agree, I'll add one-way portals. (Ideally, the AI's army should become significantly stronger after breaking through the outpost before the fourth city.) asseco - how is that possible, there's no entrance?! That's strange, I'll check it now, but nothing has been changed there... If anything, there's a trick: you can capture them before visiting the Mountain Brother, and then only enter. If you can open the console at that point and see what's highlighted in red, I would be very grateful. The Goblins need to be unupgraded. Added after 49 minutes up: I checked the hard version. I made a few things more difficult, fixed an error in the scripts, increased the weekly growth of cities controlled by the AI. The mine works perfectly for me, I don't know what the problem is for you, asseco. Future ideas include adding portals for the AI, strengthening the starting hero of the AI, allowing the AI to hire many heroes, and adding active Haven heroes. Added after 9 minutes up2: by the way, for those who have already completed the map, I strongly recommend completing the quest chain with the Death Knights and the continuation.

"but there's a chance to get some cool items, with a 1% probability."
In three attempts, I got: a dragon power artifact, then an artifact of Frida that I didn't quite understand, and third, the Holy Grail. The 1% chance didn't work out. )

Why didn't it work? It seems like you only got artifacts =)

There are only 100 items in total, some of which I've already filled, and the rest are for artifacts. When you buy a ticket, you don't know what you'll get, but here you can't lose =)

I've practically completed everything and collected the artifact. I killed both super-heroes; I'm not sure if it's worth going after the "Cosmic Evil." It shows "no chance" against all the undead in "Darkness." But what's the point of killing it?

This is just blatant cheating if each one costs 1000 and gives you a powerful artifact. I don't understand the point – why make the game so easy? I completed the new version on Hard difficulty in 90 days, and the AI is still weak. Increasing the number of creatures of levels 2 and 3 to the size of legions didn't make it stronger, as the attack/defense ratio of the AI hero and the human hero by the middle of the second month is approximately 14/7 versus 25/23. It's like beating up a baby with slow, stun, and fear abilities. The legions simply don't have time to make a move. For a true Hard difficulty, I think the level of the AI hero defending the cities 4-8 should be at least 25, with attack/defense stats of 40-30. I took the last outpost and the 8th city using auto-combat without significant losses. Auto-combat on Hard difficulty shouldn't be possible at all; that's what Hard is for. Especially in the final stages. Thank you again for the map. I'm looking forward to improvements and, of course, a continuation. Added 2 minutes later: And the AI still didn't use the portal to infiltrate behind my lines, as the guard on it is too strong for the AI.

The lottery was just for fun, let it stay, I'll change it later. =)
Regarding the portals, yes, I'll add a few unprotected ones for the AI.
I'll also buff the hero; I know it needs it. (By the way, those stats are achieved thanks to Draighar's specialization, which, combined with Education, gives huge stats.)

asseco - if you release the Evil One, you'll unlock two new parts of the dungeon, although there won't be anything interesting there by the end of the game. The Evil One should be almost impossible to kill.

==P.S.:==
And in general, playing the same map several times, and even in a relatively short time, is a big compliment to you, and a huge thank you!

Added 3 minutes later
and in general, the enemy hero was initially 8 times stronger; I just weakened him after a long test.
and also - you can, for example, add an increase in the enemy hero's level after death//an increase in stats every week//depending on Draighar's army.

asseco - if you release Zlyuka, you will unlock two new parts of the dungeon, although there will be nothing interesting there by the end of the game. Zlyuka should be almost impossible to kill.

But what's the point then?

What I'm getting at is this: there are two separate storylines - Nick and Zlyuka, which are not connected to the main plot in any way. In my opinion, this is not quite right.

I know, I know, but on the other hand, if you make them mandatory, it results in: 1) nonsense 2) it drags out the game 3) an incompatible and illogical plot