Posts from "Necropolis" - changes to creatures of levels 6-7.

Knights get an attack that inflicts fear, and Necropolis units at level 7 get a deadly strike. It's logical, isn't it?

New versions of the mod will be posted here.

A large (relatively) update has come to an end. You can find out about the new version of the mod by following the link below.

Mod: Necropolis V.1.1.2

-The creatures of the Necropolis faction, as well as some descriptions and abilities, have been changed.
-Undead, Death Knights, and Banshees have been replaced with Black Knights, Death Knights, and Dark Knights.
-Dragons have been replaced with Undead, Death Knights, and Banshees.
-Ghost and Astral Dragons have been moved to neutral creatures of level 8.
-Descriptions of the above units have been changed.
-The description of the "Terrifying Presence" ability has been changed.
-The Banshee's "Mournful Wail" ability has been changed.
-New abilities have been added to the above units.
-The descriptions of some Necromancer city buildings have been changed.
-Other changes.
-Necropolis has finally received interesting, modified creatures instead of uninteresting dragons – full-fledged level 7 units. Knights have finally become part of the Necromancer army. This does not mean that the mod has affected the game's balance. It has only allowed Necromancers to feel more confident in situations where they previously could not compete with other races.

-In addition, two versions of the mod have been created: one for single-player and one for multiplayer. The main difference between these versions is the balance. For example, in the single-player version, the "Mournful Wail" special ability of the Banshee has been weakened.
-The multiplayer version of the mod provides a balance for the game on any standard maps, no larger than "large," and with a game duration of no more than 4-5 months. Further, the balance may change.
-The single-player version of the mod allows you to adjust the current balance for a long game, up to a year, on almost any map or scenario. Of course, this does not mean that either of these versions is strictly intended for the recommended game mode; however, it is better to use this mod in such a way as not to significantly affect the balance related to Necromancers.

-The mod naturally affects the original game files and may be incompatible with some other mods that affect the creatures of the Necropolis faction. There may be "oddities" with campaign missions and single-player scenarios where, for example, Black Knights and Death Knights are used. But such cases are extremely rare.

Thanks for the help:
-RedHeavenHero, Nargott, psatkha, SRD, and others.

Thanks for testing:
-Lord Death, SRD, and others.

Installation:
Inside the archive, you will find the file necropolis.h5u, which must be moved to the User_Mods folder, which is located in the game folder HoMM_V. If you decide to disable the mod, simply remove the above folder from the game folder.

Read the Read_Me.txt file carefully before using the mod. There you can find a detailed list of changes.
The mod is unfinished and imperfect and still needs thorough testing.
All feedback and suggestions will be taken into account.

I wish you good luck using this modification!
Below, you can download the latest version of the mod.

Sincerely, Heroist ;)

To avoid repetition, you can give the Knights a terrible neighboring faction.

Cool! I already like it! :smile44:

Even for a non-neutral unit, it's a CHEAT, CHEAT, and another CHEAT, and if you upgrade Soldier's Luck... :smile38:

Casters with fireballs or temptresses are much more dangerous in terms of losses than this "cheat."
And Soldier's Luck shouldn't work with this ability. Even if it did, so what? This ability is far from the best. A stack normally removes 25% of a stack of the same strength, but with this ability (when it triggers), the damage is only twice as high. Is that overpowered?

And could someone please address the Banshees at level 7 and the Champions at level 6 (by the way, the Champions could have this ability removed altogether, replacing it with Fear attack or giving them, as in Might and Magic III, where Dark Champions could inflict double damage with a certain probability). And in general, Necromancers inspire fear and horror in the hearts of Ashanites (they have all sorts of Banshee screams, horrors, and mournful wails), so why give Fear attack to other units but not to them? Where's the logic? Even the good-natured Gnomes have bear units that scare with their roars, and the Demon has a Nightmare – that makes sense.) And give the 25% ability to undead dragons that have gone neutral, and now that they are neutral, they can also have incorporeality and deadly strike, but if you allow them to be raised by Necromancy, they should cost a lot of dark energy.

In the WGE mod:
- basic undead have "mournful wail," only much stronger
- Banshees have a real Banshee scream (like a hero)
- the entire undead line deals great damage, not like in the original, where they're useless
- bone dragons have Fear attack, protection from arrows, and a morale penalty for enemies
- horror dragons have panic horror (like incorporeality: 50% chance that the enemy will run away in fear instead of attacking them) and an expert weakening strike
- astral dragons have incorporeality and a sorrow strike of -6/-6

That is, everything that undead "need" is already there. All that remains is to wait for the mod to be released for the classic mode (maps).
However, the RS, with its poor Deadly Strike, couldn't compete with such units and didn't make it into the Castle.

To avoid repetition, you could give the knights a terrible synergy.

Is that the one where Altgarde's horses are replaced with demons?

In general, I liked the idea of upgrading Death to level 7. I would even give it a Death Strike ability; the only thing is that its "something" should balance it out when choosing the upgrade. Let's look: What is the strength of, say, an upgrade with this ability? To take away a lot of troops from the enemy, so you need to get to the opponent's units faster. Accordingly, we reduce most of the stats of the Herald + initiative + speed. This results in a weak but dangerous unit that is best not to approach closely.
Therefore, the upgrade should be the opposite of it. Accordingly, we make a fast Death Knight, strong and powerful. And we keep the "best not to approach closely" ability with the Nightmare upgrade, possibly with a curse/fear attack.

Let's move on to the weakened knights (I just didn't understand if they should still be on a dragon? Then there will be 4 flying creatures in Necropolis, which is too many). You can simply remove it from the dragon and repaint it. Next, we get level 6 units. One can be made faster but weaker, say, with a curse attack, and the second, on the contrary, slower but with a fear attack. In addition, we give the Confusion spell at a medium level. One of the knights can be "tried" to be made incorporeal; then it would be better to add a blinding strike/vampirism to the second, so that there is definitely a balance.

By the way, you can also give the Deaths a spell, for example, Unholy Word. You can also think about blindness or berserk, but only once, but at the maximum skill level ;)

Death can be made flying, since at level 7, units either shoot, or fly, or throw and break walls ;) Lava dragons don't seem to be able to do anything on their own, in my opinion ;) There can't be any silly obstacles for Death as such, like a fortress wall.
The only thing is that we will have to redo the building in the castle to +1 to units, since there is already a blatant imbalance. You can replace it with +1 to the growth of knights, as an option. (If possible).

Something like that ;)

This is what I wanted to say. I perfectly understand that many (including me, I accidentally deleted the model) do not like the dragons of Necropolis. And everyone thinks about how to improve, move, replace, change them, etc. And everyone has their own interesting opinion on this.
I just liked the idea of putting the knights on level 6, where they should be, and upgrading the Deaths to "lords of Necropolis". There are already too many boring dragons; it would be better if all of them were exclusively neutral.

There are already too many boring dragons; it would be better if they were all exclusively neutral.

I don't know about the other factions, but for Necropolis, you could sacrifice the dragons and make a change: knights on level 6, and banshees on level 7!

Yeah, that’s what I meant. It’s just annoying that there’s such a generic unit at level 7. You could come up with so many different units for each faction.

Is this the one that the Altgreyd's horses have, the demons?

No. The horses have an ability called "Withering Aura," but "Terrifying Presence" is not found in standard creatures. The ability works like this: when a creature with this ability attacks, the attacker may become frightened and run around the arena (if susceptible to mind control).

Oh, I'm really glad my idea was well-received, and here's what I have to say: - An unholy word for the one with the scythe on level 7 is cool, but the mournful wail is clearly weaker, even though it can be used more often (mana isn't needed). Giving them Deadly Strike – well, then reduce their health a bit, and give the Alt unit with Deadly Strike more of it instead – I support this, but I have doubts (maybe not half for 25%, but then a quarter of the entire squad should be killed). Knights are all on horses now, and they're on level 6. And how do you like the idea of teleportation with an animation of a dark black cloud (with a purple glow like the banshee and a bluish glow like the harbinger)? Added 3 minutes later Still, Deadly Strike could now be given to neutral undead dragons.

No. The horses have an ability called "Draining Aura," but "Terrifying Presence" is not an ability of standard creatures. The ability works like this: when a creature with this ability attacks, the attacker may become frightened and run around the arena (if susceptible to mind control).

Aha. I understand. At first, I thought that the attacker with this ability would run away himself – I thought it should be given to the Goblins. ;)
Yes, it's a good ability. Then, we can create a combo for the Knights: one with "Fear Strike," and the other with "Terrifying Presence." One scares, and the other repels. ;)
Then, give one Death creature "Death Strike" and the other "Draining Aura."

Besides that, we can give the Death creatures "Curse" and the ability that the Plague Zombies have.

Oh, I'm really glad that my idea was well-received, and here's what I have to say:
- "Unholy Word" for the creature with the scythe on level 7 is great, but "Mournful Wail" is clearly weaker, although it can be used more often (it doesn't require mana). Give them "Death Strike" – then reduce their health a bit, and give the creature without "Death Strike" more health instead – I support this, but I'm not sure (maybe it shouldn't kill half, but instead 25%, or even a quarter of the entire unit). The Knights are all on horses now, and they are on level 6. And how do you like the idea of teleportation with an animation of a dark black cloud (with a purple glow like the Banshee and a bluish glow like the Herald)?

Added 3 minutes ago
All in all, "Death Strike" can now be given to the neutral undead dragons.

What is "Mournful Wail"? I have a terrible memory for addresses, abilities, names, etc. ;)

Regarding teleportation, that could work.

I'm more interested in the "through" rather than "over" the wall. Guys, what do you think, is this possible? It's a bit annoying that ghosts fly over the wall when they could go through it.

Here's how I think it could work:
1) Wailing Cry (Banshee) vs. Unholy Word (Harbinger)
2) Death Strike (Banshee) vs. Grievous Grasp (Harbinger)

Added after 12 minutes
Wailing Cry for the Banshee is an alternative to Grievous Grasp for the Harbinger of Death (this is their difference).
The essence of Wailing Cry: Banshees stand, and enemies stand nearby. The Banshee unit uses this ability, and all units within a 3-cell radius take damage and do not counterattack. The damage is greater the more Banshees there are, the closer the enemy, and the lower the morale of the enemy units.
Calculation: Number of Banshees * (10 - Morale) - for the first row, twice as much for the second row, and decreases further for the third (last) row. Let's say you have a Dread and the enemy has a Fear Aura, and skilled leadership, and we have 50 Banshees, then the first row in a circle will receive: 50 * (10 - (2 + 3 - 2 - 6)) = 650.

Thank you for the clarification ;)

Heroist, why do Banshees need a life-draining aura?:eek:
But the mournful wail needs to be strengthened. In its current form, it's not suitable for a creature's ability at level seven.

And yes, incorporeality is only available to level 3 Necromancers and possibly to neutral undead dragons now. This ability shouldn't be given to any Knights or Undead creatures.

Added 2 minutes later
Could someone please take on this mod? :smile45:

RedHeavenHero, which ability should be used against the Death Strike? I don't think making the 7th-level ability weak again will be a 100% solution.

Added 1 minute ago
SRD, I'm a bit busy right now. While we're thinking about the mechanics, I don't see any difficulties for myself.

I'm still curious, is it possible:

I'm more interested in the actual passage - "through" rather than "over" the wall. Guys, what do you think, is it possible? It's a bit annoying that ghosts fly over the wall when they could go through it.

Could we create a parallel move animation during the flight, so it appears as if they are going through, rather than over, the city walls?