Posts from Let’s come up with new “war machines.”

But not everyone plays HOMMV online. For example, I also enjoy playing on a single computer.

At the same time, it will be possible to play online if your opponent has the exact same version of the game and modifications installed.

You can leave all the machines as they are. Add upgrades for ballista and tents, depending on the faction. And slightly change the model during the upgrade. Here is my suggestion:
Inferno - Ballista: Essence Theft - When killing n creatures, there is a 40% chance that n:5 imps/devils/fiends will appear, i.e., 5 times less than the number killed. The percentage chance depends on the skill of opening the gates. Basic - 40%, developed - 60%, skilled - 80%, master - 100%.
Tent: Sinful Mana - There is a 40% chance that when resurrecting a dungeon demon/lord, it receives one one-time free dark spell of level 1-3.
When I say "resurrection," this does not mean that the unit must be completely dead.
Sylvan - Ballista: Entangling Bolt - There is a 60% chance that when hitting, the "Slow" spell will be cast, and there is a 30% chance that the unit will be "entangled." "Entanglement" does not affect large creatures.
Tent: Lucky Healing - When healing, there is a 25% chance that the unit's luck will be increased by 1 for one turn.
Necropolis: Ballista - Rotting Shot - There is a 40% chance that when hitting, the unit's morale will be reduced by -1. Does not affect undead.
Tent: Cultivation - When resurrecting creatures, an additional number of resurrected creatures is added; the number depends on the level of the unit and the number of units you are healing. Here's how it looks: level 1-3, 1 to 20; level 4-6, 1 to 10; level 7, 1 to 5. That is, the number of resurrected creatures appears in proportion to their level. In other words, I had 60 zombies, one was killed, I resurrected it, and received an additional +3 zombies.
Dungeon - Ballista: Treacherous Strike - the shot penetrates n% of the defense. The percentage depends on the attack skill. Basic - 20%, developed - 40%, skilled - 50%. Also, +5% for the "Attack" and "Shooting" skills. A maximum of 60%.
Tent: Hydra Blood - Once per battle, you can transfer the regeneration of a hydra/dungeon/chaos creature to another unit of the Dungeon faction. The regeneration parameters remain the same. Moreover, the hydra itself loses regeneration. To activate the ability, you need to click on the spellbook in the tent (it is implied that you need to have the "First Aid Tent" skill).
Academy - Ballista: Chaotic Charge - When hitting, there is a 60% chance that the "Magic Arrow" spell will be cast, a 30% chance for the "Lightning" spell, and a 10% chance for the "Chain Lightning" spell.
Tent: Obsidian Chamber - When healing obsidian gargoyles/obsidian golems, at least 3 creatures are resurrected.
Haven - Ballista: Punishing Aim - When hitting a creature, when the unit that was shot by the ballista attacks your unit, it deals only 70% damage; the remaining 30% is "taken back." When hitting another creature, the effect is removed from the previous one. The effect lasts until the end of the battle, until it hits another unit.
Tent: Holy Calm - You can "heal" an enemy unit, and with a 40% chance, the "Holy Word" spell will be cast on only it for the next turn. With skilled light magic, +10% chance.
Fortress - Ballista: Targeting - When hitting, there is a 20% chance that all archers of the Fortress faction will fire at the same unit that the ballista shot at. With the "Shooting" skill, the chance increases by 5%.
Tent: Rune Tent - When healing a unit, it may be given one free rune with a chance of n%, depending on the unit's level. Level 1-3, 50% chance of a level 1 rune; level 4-6, 40% chance of a level 1-2 rune; level 7, 30% chance of a level 1-3 rune.
Stronghold - Ballista: Roaring Bolt - When hitting, there is a 40% chance that the "Frighten" effect will be applied, and a 20% chance that the "Berserk" spell will be cast. Those with immunity to the listed effects will not be affected.
But this does not mean that if a unit is immune to "Frighten," it is protected from "Berserk"! And vice versa.
Tent: Blood Chamber - when resurrecting a creature from the Stronghold faction, there is a 40% chance that only the resurrected creature's rage will be increased by 0.4 of the number of points (that remain to be gained), as many as are required for the next level. That is, for example, I had 200 points (I'm saying this conditionally!), there are 1200 points in total for the next level. I have 1000 left to gain. I got a 40% chance. This does not mean that I get 400 points! (1000*0.4). This means that I get 480 points! (1200*0.4).
These are my ideas. If you promised to send them to Nival, do it! Otherwise, did I work for nothing? And yes, by the way, if the ballista has several shots at once, the effect is applied only to the first shot.
P.S. There is no need to say "nothing should be changed"! This topic was created to present your ideas and suggestions for improving/creating new combat machines! And not to express opinions about whether something should be changed.

All machines can be kept. Add upgrades for ballistas and tents, depending on the race. And change the model slightly upon upgrading. Here is my proposal:
Inferno - Ballista: Essence Theft - Upon killing n creatures, there is a 40% chance that n:5 imps/devils/imps will appear, i.e., 5 times fewer than those killed. The chance percentage depends on the Gate Opening skill. Basic-40%, Advanced-60%, Expert-80%, Master-100%.
Tent: Sinful Mana - There is a 40% chance that upon resurrecting a cave demon/lord, it receives one single-use free darkness spell of circle 1-3.
When I say "resurrection", it does not mean that the entire squad must have perished.
Sylvan - Ballista: Entwining Bolt - There is a 60% chance that "Slow" will be cast upon hit, and a 30% chance that the unit will be "entwined". "Entwining" does not affect large creatures.
Tent: Lucky Healing - Upon healing, there is a 25% chance that the unit's luck will be increased by 1 for one turn.
Necropolis: Ballista - Rotting Shot - There is a 40% chance that upon hit, the unit's morale will be reduced by -1. Does not affect undead.
Tent: Cultivation - Upon resurrecting creatures, an additional number of resurrected units are added; the number depends on the unit's level and the number of units you are healing. It looks like this: level 1-3 1d20, level 4-6 1d10, level 7 1d5. That is, the number of resurrected units appears in proportion. Simply put, I had 60 zombies, one was killed, I resurrected it, and received an additional +3 zombies.
Dungeon - Ballista: Cunning Strike - The shot pierces n% of defense. The percentage depends on the attack skill. Basic-20%, Advanced-40%, Expert-50%. Also +5% for "attack" and "archery" skills. Total maximum of 60%.
Tent: Hydra Blood - Once per battle, the regeneration of a hydra/cave/chaos hydra can be transferred to another Dungeon unit. Regeneration parameters remain the same. The hydra itself loses its regeneration. To activate the ability, you must click on the tent's spell book (assuming you must have the "First Aid Tent" skill).
Academy - Ballista: Chaos Charge - Upon hit, there is a 60% chance that "Magic Arrow" will be cast, a 30% chance for "Lightning", and a 10% chance for "Chain Lightning".
Tent: Obsidian Tent - When healing obsidian gargoyles/obsidian golems, a minimum of 3 creatures are resurrected.
Haven - Ballista: Punishing Sight - Upon hitting a creature, when the unit shot by the Ballista attacks your unit, it deals only 70% damage, while 30% is "taken" back by itself. Upon hitting another creature, the effect is removed from the previous one. The effect lasts until the end of the battle, until another unit is hit.
Tent: Holy Calm - You can "heal" an enemy unit, and with a 40% chance only for that unit the "Holy Word" spell will be cast on the next turn. With Expert light magic +10% chance.
Fortress - Ballista: Guidance - Upon hit, there is a 20% chance that all Fortress archers will shoot at the same unit the ballista hit. With the "Archery" skill, the chance increases by 5%.
Tent: Runic Tent - When healing a unit, it may be given one free rune with an n% chance, corresponding to the unit's level. Level 1-3: 50% chance for a circle 1 rune, level 4-6: 40% chance for a circle 1-2 rune, level 7: 30% chance for a circle 1-3 rune.
Stronghold - Ballista: Roaring Bolt - Upon hit, there is a 40% chance that the "Fear" effect will be applied, and a 20% chance that the "Berserk" spell will be cast. For those with immunity to the aforementioned, the effects will have no impact.
But this does not mean that if a unit is immune to "Fear", it is protected from "Berserk"! And vice versa.
Tent: Blood Tent - When resurrecting a creature from the Stronghold faction, there is a 40% chance that only the resurrected unit's rage will be increased by 0.4 of the point total (not what remains to be gained) required for the next level. For example, I had 200 points (hypothetically!), and a total of 1200 points are needed for the next level. I have 1000 left to gain. I hit the 40% chance. This doesn't mean I get 400 points! (1000*0.4). It means I get 480 points! (1200*0.4).
So, those are basically my ideas. Since you promised, send them to Nival! Otherwise, did I work for nothing? And yes, by the way, if the ballista has several shots at once, the effect is applied only for the first shot.
P.S. Don't say "nothing should be changed"! This thread was created to provide your own ideas and suggestions for improving/creating new war machines! And not to express opinions on whether something should be changed.

As suggested here, it would be better not to reinvent the wheel, but rather to slightly improve the old one. Therefore, let's create alternative upgrades for the siege weapons of each race, naturally, their appearance will now be different for each race:
1) Elves. The tent gets the "Swarm of Wasps" spell (it will look like a beehive, you can heal your own, or you can cast the spell on the enemy). The ballista gets a 15% chance to blind the target it shoots at. The cart should not get an alternative upgrade at all.
2) Humans. The tent gains the ability to inspire. The ballista's damage is supplemented by the "Retribution" ability.
3) Demons. The tent can summon imps (the number depends on the skill in siege weapons). The ballista adds the "Fireball" spell to its damage.
4) Mages. The tent summons elementals. The ballista fires a magical arrow through the target, like mages.
5) Necromancers. The tent revives undead. The ballista casts the "Plague" spell.
6) Warlock. The tent casts antimagic on one of the units for three turns (once per battle). The ballista adds elemental damage to its damage.
Think about the Dwarves yourself...

It would be good to introduce a battering ram! Let it have 500 HP, and it breaks through with one hit, but it has low speed...

Guys, you just don't understand the point. Besides tents, ballistae, and wagons, we need to come up with a unique combat machine for each race. For example, a dome that gives a 30% magic resistance to a selected mage unit. Or a siege wall that protects its units from Haven archers. Or some special dendroids for Sylvana. Or a seismic machine for demons...

It could be something like a tent, but instead of restoring health, it restores mana for units (it would be very useful for mages).

Currently, there is an optimal number of combat machines in Heroes, and it would be great if each faction had its own unique design for combat machines. :)

As suggested here, it would be better not to reinvent the wheel, but to slightly improve the old one. Therefore, make alt-upgrades for the machines of each race, and naturally, their appearance will now be different for each race:
1) elves. Add a wasp swarm spell to the tent (it will look like a hive, you can heal your own, or you can cast the spell on the enemy). Add a 15% chance to blind the target to the ballista. It is better not to give the wagon an alt upgrade at all.
2) humans. The tent gains the ability to inspire. The ballista's damage is increased by the "retribution" skill.
3) demon. The tent can summon imps (the number depends on the skill in siege machines). The ballista adds the damage of the fireball spell.
4) mages. The tent summons elementals. The ballista fires a magical arrow through, like mages.
5) necropolis. The tent revives undead. The ballista casts a plague spell.
6) warlock. The tent casts antimagic on one of the units for three turns (once per battle). The ballista adds elemental damage to the damage.
Think of something for the dwarves...

Each race needs at least different skills in the machines. And if they also looked different. For example, for the ballista: for the orcs, the ballista should consist of bones and skulls. For the dwarves, it should be decorated with runes from their alloy, for Inferno, it should be burning, maybe made in the form of a mouth with burning eyes.

I disagree with the weakness of the machines, in the case of the tent, this seriously depends on the timing of the game, if you play like some people for several months, the tent really becomes obsolete, which is perfectly normal (each skill has its time). But if necessary, you can increase the number of shots of the tent or even the initiative.

In the case of the ballista, the question is whether it will be possible to upgrade ranged weapons, i.e., without them, the multistrike branch remains weak. The solution is simple - if you move ranged weapons to the machinery branch.

In the case of the catapult, we have 2 situational, not very useful perks, which would be nice to strengthen. This is what is planned to be done in the Wargame Edition mod (see the first posts of the topic - description of skills and perks). In short, artillery (catapult) will kill part of the troops even before the battle (not only siege), and these enemy losses will be so great that they will pay for not only the perks, but also often the base taken for them.

for each race it is possible to - upgrade machines - thereby strengthening them and giving them - special abilities -
- additional shot
- initiative reduction
etc.

I have another idea – what if we create a hero with a unique war machine? For example, a mage hero with something like a hybrid of a mortar and a catapult, and a skill to control it. At the beginning, it fires randomly, but at higher levels, it can deploy mines and control them. Also, spells could be attached to the mines, with their power depending on the hero's magic, and these spells would consume the hero's mana.

A new war machine for the Order faction, I hope no one has suggested it yet. A cart with a Holy Cross. In the Middle Ages, people used to go on crusades with such carts. So, the cart gives all units the Aura of Courage ability, and if it is destroyed during battle, all units, regardless of whether they have this skill or not, will gain Fury.

Then, for the undead, we need to create a similar cart that would destroy morale... And if it really isn't possible to create new war machines, then at least add new skills for them for each race, plus a unique appearance, plus differences in the characteristics of war machines for each race. For example, dwarves could have ballistas with a large amount of health, while tents, on the contrary, would be the weakest, and so on.

For the Horde, we can add something related to their ancestors or ancestral spirits (like in Warcraft 3).

I think the only way to strengthen war machines without having the game's source code is to come up with new artifacts that affect the combat characteristics of the machines.

However, there is still a way out of this problem. The EWA 2.0 mod is currently being finalized – the last touches and improvements are being made. So, in this mod, there will be a significant number of non-networked mods that are suitable for single-player games! At the same time, it will also be possible to play over a local network if your opponent has exactly the same version of the game and the mod installed.

The only thing that can be done in this case is to increase the hit points of the catapult and add some defense to it. This way, it will become much more difficult to destroy.