luj1
You're all shills
Looks like shit tbh
Im yet to see a faction which fits in with OG factions
Im yet to see a faction which fits in with OG factions
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TBS HoMM3 fan add-on Horn Of The Abyss now available in English
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Wow, it only took 10 years!!
Zboj Lamignat
Arcane
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OK, initial impressions time.
Factory has a lot of really weird and shit (also weirdly shit) heroes. Guy that gets diplomacy bonus when surrendering, lots of creature specialists in the magic class instead of might, scouting and first aid specialists (that also cannot replace the tent by default), land mine specialist that starts with learning, guy that starts with artillery and ballistics. Even the potentially good heroes tend to be ruined in some way (offense specialist starts with scouting).
There's one obvious standout, though. They do get an armorer specialist that also starts with offense, which instantly makes him one of the best mains in the game. People who buy into the Solmyr meme can probably also enjoy the one that has lightning bolt special (and starts with sorcery). Other than that, there's also one very decent secondary (+350 gold that starts with scholar). Finally maybe the guy who specializes in t4 (very good units) and has tactics.
Overall rating: poo poo. You'll either play random like a man and then weep in the corner or pick the armorer specialist every time like a sperg.
Unit-wise, T1 is the standout one. Second t1 shooter in the game (and the first one when not upgraded). They are expensive, but hit very hard after the upgrade. Considering the nerfs to some of the biggest competitors (skellies, sprites), I think this is actually a decent candidate for the title of best t1 in the game, with the caveat that they don't scale all that great for big hero battles.
T2 has whatever stats, but can res mechanical units and has a breath attack, although it's difficult to utilize with low speed. AI also seems to like targeting them and they are prone to die a lot in autoresolve.
T3 is the defender of the roster and is a shit-tier unit. Other than a body to block stuff with there's nothing there, not even a special that would somehow amplify the defensive role, like dwarves, golems or dendroids have.
T4 is the second (and final) standout. Fast unit with no retaliation and deterministic damage? Yes, please. AI likes targeting them and they can be resurrected by T2. These are also absolute bitch to fight as neutral stacks as their "explode on death" special actually deals a very high damage that will decimate low level units.
T5 has a weird special that's seems to mostly sit in theorycrafting corner and is close to impossible to properly use in practice. They are pretty fast, teleporting units with respectable stats, though, so no complaints here.
T6 is a freakishly weird unit. Similarly to halfings, second shooter in their tier. They are incredibly fragile (45 hp!) and have a bizzare special that just doesn't work by design, because human player will never target them with ranged units and AI is actually programmed to never do it, either. They can do some work, but I really don't think t6 that has 45hp when upgraded is sustainable.
And the big thing about the roster is that it has two t7, which are not mutually exclusive. The flying one reminds me of the necro dragons in that they have bad stats, but fly and are fast which makes them actually more usable than the theoretically stronger slow t7 in many situations. They also have an interesting special ability that together with their speed and flying allows for some unorthodox, aggressive opening moves. The AI is programmed to not attack them when they use it, though. Would be far too op otherwise.
The robot t7 is a slow brawler that's very tanky when upgraded and has a theoretical access to res from t2 by default. They have a special melee aoe attack that's, you guessed it, rather difficult to utilize in practice. I'm not a fan of slow t7 and this one lack the special oomph that hydras have when they actually engage. The upgraded version is very respectable stat-wise at least, which can not be said about the flying one.
The final bummer is the cost. Factory is very expensive not only in gold, but similar to in-adjusted stronghold in that it costs an idiotic amount of crystals (and ore) to get their roster going. So it joins the group of factions that are not only not the greatest performers in general, but also scale poorly on higher difficulty levels.
Final verdict: seems like an average to low faction that has to rely on the early game where they have great t1 and can rush strong t4 supported by t2. No early game flyer, tho. Their units have lots of weird, over-designed special abilities that just don't work in practice and even if they do, the unit itself is too weak (flying t7). Finally, unimpressive hero roster and high costs across the board. They do get +crystal silo and bank is an interesting building for boosting early game builds, but I don't see it as being enough.
Factory has a lot of really weird and shit (also weirdly shit) heroes. Guy that gets diplomacy bonus when surrendering, lots of creature specialists in the magic class instead of might, scouting and first aid specialists (that also cannot replace the tent by default), land mine specialist that starts with learning, guy that starts with artillery and ballistics. Even the potentially good heroes tend to be ruined in some way (offense specialist starts with scouting).
There's one obvious standout, though. They do get an armorer specialist that also starts with offense, which instantly makes him one of the best mains in the game. People who buy into the Solmyr meme can probably also enjoy the one that has lightning bolt special (and starts with sorcery). Other than that, there's also one very decent secondary (+350 gold that starts with scholar). Finally maybe the guy who specializes in t4 (very good units) and has tactics.
Overall rating: poo poo. You'll either play random like a man and then weep in the corner or pick the armorer specialist every time like a sperg.
Unit-wise, T1 is the standout one. Second t1 shooter in the game (and the first one when not upgraded). They are expensive, but hit very hard after the upgrade. Considering the nerfs to some of the biggest competitors (skellies, sprites), I think this is actually a decent candidate for the title of best t1 in the game, with the caveat that they don't scale all that great for big hero battles.
T2 has whatever stats, but can res mechanical units and has a breath attack, although it's difficult to utilize with low speed. AI also seems to like targeting them and they are prone to die a lot in autoresolve.
T3 is the defender of the roster and is a shit-tier unit. Other than a body to block stuff with there's nothing there, not even a special that would somehow amplify the defensive role, like dwarves, golems or dendroids have.
T4 is the second (and final) standout. Fast unit with no retaliation and deterministic damage? Yes, please. AI likes targeting them and they can be resurrected by T2. These are also absolute bitch to fight as neutral stacks as their "explode on death" special actually deals a very high damage that will decimate low level units.
T5 has a weird special that's seems to mostly sit in theorycrafting corner and is close to impossible to properly use in practice. They are pretty fast, teleporting units with respectable stats, though, so no complaints here.
T6 is a freakishly weird unit. Similarly to halfings, second shooter in their tier. They are incredibly fragile (45 hp!) and have a bizzare special that just doesn't work by design, because human player will never target them with ranged units and AI is actually programmed to never do it, either. They can do some work, but I really don't think t6 that has 45hp when upgraded is sustainable.
And the big thing about the roster is that it has two t7, which are not mutually exclusive. The flying one reminds me of the necro dragons in that they have bad stats, but fly and are fast which makes them actually more usable than the theoretically stronger slow t7 in many situations. They also have an interesting special ability that together with their speed and flying allows for some unorthodox, aggressive opening moves. The AI is programmed to not attack them when they use it, though. Would be far too op otherwise.
The robot t7 is a slow brawler that's very tanky when upgraded and has a theoretical access to res from t2 by default. They have a special melee aoe attack that's, you guessed it, rather difficult to utilize in practice. I'm not a fan of slow t7 and this one lack the special oomph that hydras have when they actually engage. The upgraded version is very respectable stat-wise at least, which can not be said about the flying one.
The final bummer is the cost. Factory is very expensive not only in gold, but similar to in-adjusted stronghold in that it costs an idiotic amount of crystals (and ore) to get their roster going. So it joins the group of factions that are not only not the greatest performers in general, but also scale poorly on higher difficulty levels.
Final verdict: seems like an average to low faction that has to rely on the early game where they have great t1 and can rush strong t4 supported by t2. No early game flyer, tho. Their units have lots of weird, over-designed special abilities that just don't work in practice and even if they do, the unit itself is too weak (flying t7). Finally, unimpressive hero roster and high costs across the board. They do get +crystal silo and bank is an interesting building for boosting early game builds, but I don't see it as being enough.
I expected it to be overpowered and patched down in strength. You make it sound like the opposite is true.
Bad hero traits that are thematically sensible, but mechanically weak, is also a weird choice for a niche mod that only hardcore players will try. Is this expected to be used with Wake of Gods or some other mod that balances Scout, etc? Does it even work with WoG?
Also I want to shill Song of Conquest, its 50% off right now.
Bad hero traits that are thematically sensible, but mechanically weak, is also a weird choice for a niche mod that only hardcore players will try. Is this expected to be used with Wake of Gods or some other mod that balances Scout, etc? Does it even work with WoG?
Also I want to shill Song of Conquest, its 50% off right now.
Modders making their faction underpowered but interesting and thematic is a chad move, if you ask me.
Zboj Lamignat
Arcane
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- Feb 15, 2012
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- 5,575
They are clearly designed to work in the way original Forteress and Stronghold were supposed to work (but didn't): go fast or go home. Even their special building, which allows to get some gold for an income penalty in the following turns, screams: ruuuuush. The issue with it is that they don't have early game flyer and t2/3 are not among the best units (t3 is, in fact, shit). They will really suffer late game, tho.
I don't see anything particularly thematic about their hero roster. It seems, I dunno, try-hard and quirky of the xddd variety. And then they drop one guy that's so much better than all the others.
Maybe this is an (over)reaction to the cove, which was indeed a bit too strong on release.
The production values and the overall effort is still top notch, of course, and in line with the rest, not the "hurrr, look ma I'm modding" approach of wog and the similar.
I don't see anything particularly thematic about their hero roster. It seems, I dunno, try-hard and quirky of the xddd variety. And then they drop one guy that's so much better than all the others.
Maybe this is an (over)reaction to the cove, which was indeed a bit too strong on release.
The production values and the overall effort is still top notch, of course, and in line with the rest, not the "hurrr, look ma I'm modding" approach of wog and the similar.
Jvegi
Arcane
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- Nov 16, 2012
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In my world hota is the default that most current players use. Wake of Gods is a weird niche mod that most players avoid nowadys.
My world might be wrong though.
As for the mod I've been only playing it drunk hot seat on New Year's eve. Not much to say other that I like the visuals. Too little variety colour-wise, just like Cove, but it's ok, feels inspired by heroes 2, Wizard's town. I like how t3 has a seperate hasted animation, not sure if those were the thing in Cove or anywhere else.
The on-map hero animation seems floaty at high speed, like it's just the horse's legs moving. Feels different.
I like the new icon for entering the bulding you're standing on. I'm sure some people don't know you can use space for that, but even I found it convinient while playing hot-seat on the right side. Reaching for the keybord is sometimes cumbersome, depending on the amount of chips and bottles of wine on the desk.
Zboj Lamignat
Arcane
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Scouting has been considered a usable skill by pros for quite a long time, but I don't know what would need to happen to it for me to not see it as a wasted slot. It's kinda similar to navigation in a way that the effect is actually useful (although navigation is hands down better, obviously), but you still feel like you've wasted your level ups.
Popular multi templates where games end week 3 tops are governed by their own rules, but I'm still fairly sure everyone would like to end up with Mephala or Crag rather than Fiona. Although Cove's Miriam is not a half-bad pick, that's for sure.
zool
Arcane
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- 898
Disagree and agree: it looks great graphically speaking but it doesn't fit at all with OG factions.
The original HoMM was supposed to have a tech faction, but they had to release before it was finished. The Might&Magic games have tech in them, too.
So it fits the setting, and fits the original vision of the game.
Black
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Scouting is very popular in one-hero online formats where you can't have secondary heroes doing the scouting for you and on top of that it was buffed in HoTA to +5 on Expert. It's the difference between being able to see utopias and relics without straying off the road.
zool
Arcane
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yes I know but
1. the fact that they released the OG without that particular faction shows that it wasn't a priority to the devs, probably because it wasn't necessarily a good idea to include it in the first place;
2. I have to say that tech in Might and Magic has never seemed right to me;
3. what's more, tech faction with cowboy steampunk a la Wild Wild West movie fits even less into Might and Magic IMO.
How does tech in Might and Magic "not seem right"? The setting has always been a sci-fi and fantasy mashup (well, at least until Ubisoft got their grubby hands on it). The first game in the franchise was literally set on a fucking spaceship.
Forge was supposed to be an evil faction. This one is neutral.
Jvegi
Arcane
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Wizard's town in heroes 2.
Tower in 3.
Shit in 4 and 5 and 6 and 7.
Can't be bothered to post screenshots.
Wow. This first map of the campaing is really something.
They did a good job simulating an alien invasion with modest means.
C'mon, Cove is perfect. Do you even M&M VIII?
std::namespace
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luj1
You're all shills
No one is disputing this
But that doesn't mean the style of the sprites is automatically good
ciox
Liturgist
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The new faction seems to fit pretty well with what say Tower looks like, think of the Golem Factory for one.
It's the original "beta" faction that looked wrong and seemed designed as some kind of shocker or gotcha, since it didn't look like anything else in the game, including the terrain or any neutral buildings, it's like you took two steps and suddenly there's modern airstrips and glass skyscrapers.
It's the original "beta" faction that looked wrong and seemed designed as some kind of shocker or gotcha, since it didn't look like anything else in the game, including the terrain or any neutral buildings, it's like you took two steps and suddenly there's modern airstrips and glass skyscrapers.
Ummm, but the poster I was responding to was pretty emphatically implicitly doing that?
Saying tech in M&M doesn't "feel right" is like saying mysticism in Star Wars doesn't feel right, or that christian values in Ultima don't feel right; you're certainly free to make that assertion, but all it really does is belie your own ignorance of the topic.
zool
Arcane
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You're right, so I'll rephrase: tech in HoMM III has never seemed right to me since that entry of the M&M franchise is heavy on the fantasy side and not on the tech side. Tower is 'magic tech' so to speak.
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