Posts from AI in Might & Magic: Heroes VI

I've played all the games in the series, and I've never encountered such problems with the difficulty level. I chose my favorite map from Heroes 5, "Ascension to Power." I selected the easiest difficulty level and also chose the easy level for each AI opponent. Out of 6 players, I left only 3. I played the first time – I was defeated in the 4th week. I played the second time – I took into account the mistakes from the previous attempt and, by the 4th week, I managed to defeat the guardians to get out of my "sandbox." I ran into an AI player and got beaten again. I looked at the statistics: one AI player managed to conquer half the map, another took 2 out of 6 cities, and I was left as the last one with my city. How is this even possible on the easiest difficulty level??? In Heroes 5, I played on medium difficulty and never experienced such problems.

I have a question in return... is it possible to somehow restore the AI from previous versions? The thing is, in version 2.1.1, the computer's strongest hero runs around with a negligible army, while the second hero, around level 7, sits at the base with a huge army. As a result, my hero, level 25-30, easily defeats both of them. In earlier versions, their main hero ran around with a large group, and the weaker heroes simply brought him troops. It's not interesting to fight against a low or insignificant threat... I would like to restore, if not a deadly, then at least a high threat from the AI enemies!

I have the opposite question... is it possible to somehow restore the AI from previous versions? The thing is, in version 2.1.1, the computer's main hero runs around with a negligible army, while the second, weaker hero, around level 7, sits at the base with a large army. As a result, my hero, level 25-30, easily defeats both of them. In earlier versions, their main hero ran around with a large group, and the weaker heroes simply brought him troops. It's not interesting to fight against a low or insignificant threat... I would like to restore, if not a deadly, then at least a high threat from the enemy heroes!

I think it's impossible to simply restore the old AI without reverting the entire version, so I have to tinker with 2.1.0 (that's what I have). The thing is, this main hero with a small army is supposed to teleport to his Castle as soon as you approach and defend it. But usually, he doesn't do this because his army isn't strong enough to fight back (it should be about 30% larger than yours for him to defend with all his might). As a result, if the computer sees that it can't survive, it tries to run to another weakly defended Castle to capture it, and if there are none, it dies after 7 days. In principle, the AI's actions are correct because if its army isn't much larger, it still won't be able to defeat a smart player... but of course, this reduces the interest for the player in the final, total, epic battle. By the way, if the player's army is much smaller than the AI's army, it immediately runs and defeats the player. In the map editor, by changing some settings, I achieved a more aggressive AI than the game offers on the "Difficult AI" setting, but the lack of cheating with the number of creatures the AI can produce still doesn't allow it to achieve a clear advantage over a player playing at their maximum: saving the game at every step, collecting resources in an ideally rational way, and generally squeezing the maximum efficiency out of the map. Therefore, it turns out that only in Heroes 5 is there a challenging AI, if you add a mod.

What kind of truly epic battles can we even talk about when the AI tirelessly provokes the player into eliminating it as quickly as possible, and doesn't allow for peaceful development either in its own territory or on the map as a whole? Even on easy difficulty, it ignores capturing nearby mines and tries to invade our territory, even if it's going to face defeat and disappointment there. And when there are 3 or more AI opponents, they don't give you a moment to breathe. That's why I hate the AI in Heroes 5 and 6. In WoG, for example, you can spend a week fighting on a single map until you get tired of it. But here, it's a lost cause and smells like it.

Perhaps this only happens on very small maps; I play on huge maps and everything is fine, and I haven't noticed any anomalies in the AI's behavior. It's also possible that the AI launches raids if you play with losses and don't save after every turn...
By the way, I extracted the maps from the game's Data.orc files.

I never play on small maps. I don't know, maybe on higher difficulty levels the AI doesn't behave so treacherously, but I'm too scared to increase the difficulty. Even now, it's challenging due to its cheating.

Is the AI strong in Heroes 6? I was just watching a video where a beginner easily defeats everyone on the highest difficulty.

The AI is really very weak, regardless of the difficulty level selected. Because of this, the game becomes somewhat boring.

The AI's strategic thinking suffers greatly. I set the highest difficulty level in the game just for fun. The most challenging AI for each hero-opponent on the map, and what I consider the most difficult map. Naturally, all of this was done without an internet connection, in offline mode. Neighboring opponents can easily be restricted in their movement by purchasing additional hero-assistants, simply by leading them to the opponent's castle each time. The hero-opponent returns home. This allows you to gain an advantage in development, and eventually, the opponent becomes easy prey. Otherwise, it's impossible to win with these settings... :D

Hello everyone. I registered to clarify something. Is it possible to install a different AI or somehow improve it? I've been playing this game for 3 months, and I like it, but the AI is terrible. I set up 3 strong players on a map with 8 players, and the difficulty is set to "hard." I easily defeat the AI, and it's clear that one of them plays more or less decently, the second is worse, and the third is a complete idiot. I play as the Undead, and they are virtually unbeatable – they can resurrect the dead, have a lot of healing spells, and the vampires are very strong. But I can't find an opponent who can challenge me, and there's no excitement – although I like the game.

Added 2 minutes later

The AI's strategic thinking is severely lacking.
I set the highest difficulty level in the game just to test it. The most difficult AI for each hero-opponent on the map. And the most difficult map, in my opinion. Of course, all of this is done offline, without connecting to the network.
It's easy to restrict the movement of neighboring opponents by buying additional hero assistants, simply by leading them to the opponent's castle each time. The opponent's hero returns home. As a result, the opponent falls behind in development and becomes easy prey.
Otherwise, it's impossible to win against all of them with these settings... :D

Where do you get these versions of the game, or is it because of Windows 8? My AI is just terrible

Where do you get these distributions, or is it because of Windows 8? My AI opponents are terrible.

It’s hard to say; perhaps you’re not manually setting up the AI opponents. Instead, you’re letting the computer do it for you.
You need to choose so that all the heroes are different, and then, one by one, set their AI to “difficult” by clicking on this section. Also, set the game difficulty to the highest level so that you start with only 2500 gold.
Personally, it’s not easy for me to complete the game without loading old saves. But that’s probably because I try not to study the map too thoroughly.

I downloaded Heroes 6 from the internet (Might & Magic: Heroes 6 Gold Edition v2.1.1.0 + 4 DLC). The default difficulty level is set to "easy". I started playing skirmishes on the easy level and can't win a single one. I do almost everything perfectly – I gain experience, gather troops, but the computer's threat level is always "deadly" or "high," so I always lose. Also, as soon as I move away from my castle, the computer immediately attacks it. It feels like I'm playing on "hard." Please help me understand what's going on.