I just played again after finally being able to update (was unable to for a while). I was unable to try the spell research thing because it appears disabled by default (unfortunately). I did, however, try out one of the new artifacts for the first time: THE Horn of the Abyss. It is a very powerful item... possibly the most powerful item in the game now. Perhaps Armageddon's Blade, the Cloak of the Undead King, the Power of the Dragon Father, or the Angelic Alliance are comparable in power, but perhaps not. I am not really sure what competitive players would think, being only a casual player myself. Like Armageddon's Blade, the Horn of the Abyss is not enabled by default.
Spoiler on what the Horn of the Abyss does...
It summons Fangarms, a new monster, whenever a stack of living monsters (excluding other Fangarm stacks of course) on either player's army is killed. These Fangarms are permanent and will stay with the owner of the horn even after combat. They tend to add up after a while, much like Power Liches do with the Cloak of the Undead King. I noticed that this even takes precedence over the Rebirth ability of a Phoenix stack. The Fangarms themselves are a level 5 flying melee unit that can hypnotize those it attacks and is immune to mind effects. They are somewhat slow, however.
The patch 1.5.1 is about to be rolled out, where, in addition to the usual bug fixes, a number of new scenarios will be introduced. Some of those will be especially interesting to those who like single player fun. Enjoy!
I actually quite like the spell research. It was quite annoying to me having a town with useless spells in its guild. I mean, when you pay the big 10 of each precious resources to build mage guild level 5 and get magic mirror or sacrifice, that was always a sucky feeling because you basically just wasted your resources to get a crummy spell. I am so glad that this has been changed so you can actually make that stupid spell go away. Before spell research was a thing I often decided to build the grail in a random conflux town I had captured JUST so I could get the spells I wanted (I would often make at least one of my enemies conflux aligned to facilitate this). I now rarely have to do this, which makes the game more enjoyable.
I also LOVE the changes made to combat! Specifically the ability to change the actions of various creatures with special abilities (such as the ability to change whether your harpies strike and return or strike and stay or whether your shooters shot or melee). This is something Heroes 4 had that I soooo wished that Heroes 3 had, and now my wish has finally been granted!
1.5.2 update is about to go live. It mostly contains bugfixes and polishes, with some skill and spell rebalancing, two new scenarios and some decorative goodies.
I just installed 1.5.1 the other day and have played a bit with one of the campaigns. Even from that limited sample it's clear what a good job has been done with that mod - thanks to all involved in the labour of love .
It is predominantly aimed at solving issues pertinent to the original game and HotA. The new release does not feature any significant new content, and players should not expect anything major to be out around New Year. However, like two years ago, some kind of an announcement regarding the features to be introduced in the further versions might happen.
The biggest addition is the Wasteland terrain. There's also a number of balance tweaks, a new neutral unit (Steel Golem), many new options for mapmakers and other stuff in it.
Great to see some fellow Hota players here. I keep playing it like crazy for a long time now. They have made an exceptional work over the years.
Now that this thread bumped up, I want to discuss a few things about the changes here(lazy to create an account on h3community website and talk there).
Do you guys know why Hota team doesn’t like Resistance skill? I always thought it as a mediocre skill, there are much more overpowered and underpowered skills, and I’m surprised they first changed it and now replaced it completely. It’s fine to have a new skill as Interference, but why remove resistance skill and items?
I like the balance changes a lot in general, but I thought intelligence was just another mediocre skill. Does anyone know why it was nerfed?
I think there are skills that need much more urgent attention, and I’m surprised these were made priority instead of those. The most obvious ones are unquestionably Eagle Eye and First Aid. They need to be seriously upgraded or just replaced.
I’m super hyped about the upcoming new town and more balance changes. Hopefully they will come in Q1 2020, though it’s looking more like it will be Q2.
Do you guys know why Hota team doesn’t like Resistance skill?
Because of its random nature. It's able to completely ruin a game by cancelling something like an Implosion in the final battle and spoiling an entire evening for two skilled players who suddenly have a game decided by a stroke of luck rather than skill. And Intelligence gives virtually endless spellpoints, while magic heroes are already ruling the playfield by spamming elemental summon. These changes, along with the others in the update, are an attempt to curb some of the less creative playing styles and lower the sheer randomness factor. More change will still be coming, and things like Eagle Eye/First Aid are obviously in for a makeover, but for now, they are so broken that starting by fixing something that's less broken and needs less work to improve it is simply more practical.
Are these changes on the skills set mandatory or optional?
Regarding the Interference/Resistance situation: If you engage in competitive online play, then you'll have to accept them, unless there's a tournament with non-standard rules in effect. If you're only in it to have fun, then you can set up your maps and templates to have old Resistance only, or just new Interference, or both, as you see fit. As for other skills, they've been altered across the board.
Do you guys know why Hota team doesn’t like Resistance skill?
Because of its random nature. It's able to completely ruin a game by cancelling something like an Implosion in the final battle and spoiling an entire evening for two skilled players who suddenly have a game decided by a stroke of luck rather than skill. And Intelligence gives virtually endless spellpoints, while magic heroes are already ruling the playfield by spamming elemental summon. These changes, along with the others in the update, are an attempt to curb some of the less creative playing styles and lower the sheer randomness factor. More change will still be coming, and things like Eagle Eye/First Aid are obviously in for a makeover, but for now, they are so broken that starting by fixing something that's less broken and needs less work to improve it is simply more practical.
That explains it. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks a lot for the explanation. Especially what Hota team has done with multiplayer is extraordinary. I never liked Heroes3 for its multiplayer before, but now with the supported online lobby, all the rules, balance changes and especially simultaneous turns, multiplayer is so much fun.
I really recommend playing HoMM with the Horn of the Abyss update and playing it in 2020. Yes, it might sound odd, but the game can still give one of the best tactical Multiplayer experiences. This is a lot of fun.
And it's a bit unreal to see new content for the game, and even a whole town being now one patch away from the release.
@Ludwig_II , and others, I'm curious. How do simultaneous turns in multiplayer HoMM work, exactly? For example, what if I'm trying to secure a mine during my turn, and I'm in the middle of a fight with the mine guards, when another player attacks me or my town? Does it cut me out of the fight I was in, and put me into battle with the other player?
What if two players attack at once, for example, player one attacks my hero, and player two attacks my town? What if player three comes along and sees players one and two standing there, and decides to attack one of them while they're fighting with me?
I'm really confused about how simultaneous turns are possible.
@Ludwig_II , and others, I'm curious. How do simultaneous turns in multiplayer HoMM work, exactly?
In a word, situations like what you described are not possible. Simultaneous turns only last until players meet. On most popular templates for online play, it still means a very significant amount of time saved, as, in most cases, the bulk if not all of the first week is spent by players exploring their starting zones and putting the findings to good use. Each turn can last up to half an hour at this stage, so not having to twiddle thumbs while your opponent makes his lengthy move can be seen as a considerable improvement. The game tends to speed up after players have broken out of their starting zones, and that's when they usually clash, and the simultaneous mode ends. The detailed explanation is laid out on the page Julius linked to - hope that, along with my post, helps.
I purchased HOMM3 Complete on my laptop from GoG. Will HoA work with this, or do I need an original copy?
It will! In fact, it's the recommended version to install HotA over. The addon will also work with Shadow of Death, but not Restoration of Erathia, Armageddon's Blade or the (eurgh) HD version from Steam.
Comments
Spoiler on what the Horn of the Abyss does...
I also LOVE the changes made to combat! Specifically the ability to change the actions of various creatures with special abilities (such as the ability to change whether your harpies strike and return or strike and stay or whether your shooters shot or melee). This is something Heroes 4 had that I soooo wished that Heroes 3 had, and now my wish has finally been granted!
The 1.5.4 version is out.
It is predominantly aimed at solving issues pertinent to the original game and HotA. The new release does not feature any significant new content, and players should not expect anything major to be out around New Year. However, like two years ago, some kind of an announcement regarding the features to be introduced in the further versions might happen.
Full changelog
https://www.esports.com/news/timeless-classic-heroes-of-m
The biggest addition is the Wasteland terrain. There's also a number of balance tweaks, a new neutral unit (Steel Golem), many new options for mapmakers and other stuff in it.
Full description and changelog
Now that this thread bumped up, I want to discuss a few things about the changes here(lazy to create an account on h3community website and talk there).
Do you guys know why Hota team doesn’t like Resistance skill? I always thought it as a mediocre skill, there are much more overpowered and underpowered skills, and I’m surprised they first changed it and now replaced it completely. It’s fine to have a new skill as Interference, but why remove resistance skill and items?
I like the balance changes a lot in general, but I thought intelligence was just another mediocre skill. Does anyone know why it was nerfed?
I think there are skills that need much more urgent attention, and I’m surprised these were made priority instead of those. The most obvious ones are unquestionably Eagle Eye and First Aid. They need to be seriously upgraded or just replaced.
I’m super hyped about the upcoming new town and more balance changes. Hopefully they will come in Q1 2020, though it’s looking more like it will be Q2.
Because of its random nature. It's able to completely ruin a game by cancelling something like an Implosion in the final battle and spoiling an entire evening for two skilled players who suddenly have a game decided by a stroke of luck rather than skill. And Intelligence gives virtually endless spellpoints, while magic heroes are already ruling the playfield by spamming elemental summon. These changes, along with the others in the update, are an attempt to curb some of the less creative playing styles and lower the sheer randomness factor. More change will still be coming, and things like Eagle Eye/First Aid are obviously in for a makeover, but for now, they are so broken that starting by fixing something that's less broken and needs less work to improve it is simply more practical.
Regarding the Interference/Resistance situation: If you engage in competitive online play, then you'll have to accept them, unless there's a tournament with non-standard rules in effect. If you're only in it to have fun, then you can set up your maps and templates to have old Resistance only, or just new Interference, or both, as you see fit. As for other skills, they've been altered across the board.
That explains it. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks a lot for the explanation. Especially what Hota team has done with multiplayer is extraordinary. I never liked Heroes3 for its multiplayer before, but now with the supported online lobby, all the rules, balance changes and especially simultaneous turns, multiplayer is so much fun.
And it's a bit unreal to see new content for the game, and even a whole town being now one patch away from the release.
What if two players attack at once, for example, player one attacks my hero, and player two attacks my town? What if player three comes along and sees players one and two standing there, and decides to attack one of them while they're fighting with me?
I'm really confused about how simultaneous turns are possible.
In a word, situations like what you described are not possible. Simultaneous turns only last until players meet. On most popular templates for online play, it still means a very significant amount of time saved, as, in most cases, the bulk if not all of the first week is spent by players exploring their starting zones and putting the findings to good use. Each turn can last up to half an hour at this stage, so not having to twiddle thumbs while your opponent makes his lengthy move can be seen as a considerable improvement. The game tends to speed up after players have broken out of their starting zones, and that's when they usually clash, and the simultaneous mode ends. The detailed explanation is laid out on the page Julius linked to - hope that, along with my post, helps.
It will! In fact, it's the recommended version to install HotA over. The addon will also work with Shadow of Death, but not Restoration of Erathia, Armageddon's Blade or the (eurgh) HD version from Steam.