Heroes VI discussion thread

Maylander

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I've noticed that quite a few people are playing Heroes VI, based on the comments in the news threads. I couldn't find any discussion threads related to it, however, so I decided to make one.

Let's try to keep it primarily spoiler free. Use spoiler tags for story related stuff.

Personally, I feel it's a good game, worth about 7 or 8 out of 10 (as mentioned in some news thread). I have currently played through the following campaigns:
- Tutorial
- Necromancer
- Haven
- Sanctuary

I've just started Inferno. From my experience, the campaigns take quite a while to complete - certain huge maps simply take many hours to get through.

Instead of going on for too long, I'll just list some pros and cons to get started:

Pros
- I like how they've expanded the special abilities for regular units. It really adds an extra element to combat. In previous HoMMs such abilities were reserved certain special units (like Archangel and Fairy Dragon).
- Somewhat interesting storyline. This is not a huge plus or anything, as the story is hardly amazing compared to most RPGs, but it's quite a bit better than your average strategy game. It's good enough to keep me interested.
- The difficulty: Just like older HoMMs, it can get quite hard from time to time.
- Tying tagged mines to cities or forts. Yes, yes, I know, it basically means that aspect has been simplified. The truth is, I never liked playing the "resource game" with my enemy, constantly re-tagging old mines all over the place.
- The Blood and Tears system. It doesn't really add a lot, but it's a nice touch. Definitely something they can expand upon.
- The new town, Sanctuary, is very interesting. It's a solid addition to the HoMM universe. The units are quite well balanced and with several interesting abilities. The Pearl Priestess might be a bit overpowered for such a low level unit, but that's just nitpicking.
- Choices with consequences during the campaigns. Among other things, it sometimes determines which secondary hero you get.

Cons
- The number one con is the DRM system. The idea of linking everything in a Dynasty is actually a decent idea. Unfortunately, the implementation is filled with bugs, especially related to the online syncing, which means you might experience losing certain Dynasty weapons all of a sudden, or losing the experience you've gained with them. I've lost several weapons myself, which is quite frustrating. Luckily, I've found a workaround for this issue, so just let me know if you're having problems and I'll write a short description.
- Also related to DRM: My game crashes whenever I lose connection to Conflux.
- The balance between Might and Magic is still greatly in favor of Magic. This is something of an old issue in both HoMM and MM, so it's not really a big issue, but it is a bit annoying. Basically, it's far easier to keep the army alive through a series of battles by picking Magic. Just like previous HoMM titles, the balance shifts a bit once you get a big enough army - good Might/Defense stats means incredible damage and damage reduction boosts if the army is large enough.
- I find that the towns are not as well balanced as they used to be. This might change as I get more experienced in playing the various towns, but for now Haven, Sanctuary and Stronghold seem to trump Inferno and Necromancer quite easily. Especially Stronghold, as they get access to an Elite unit at Core level, which pretty much makes them the winners by default early in the game. Then again, the swamp town in HoMM3 was complete rubbish compared to the others, so I suppose this issue is not unheard of.
- Morale seems to have no negative effects. I have never seen a unit skip a turn due to low morale. Is it still in the game? In previous HoMMs, undead units were balanced in terms of morale because living units could get either good or bad morale. In Heroes VI, it seems living units either get one or two turns. Zero is no longer an option from what I can see, in which case the undead are at a clear disadvantage. This might be a bug though.
- The special attack of the Imperial Griffin does not work. Annoying bug.

That's all I can think of for now. Will probably update later on.

PS. It ended up longer than I had intended, sorry about that.
 
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Necromancer has always been overpowered in HoMM, due to Vampire Lords and Necromancy, but in Heroes VI? How on earth can they be overpowered? Everyone has access to either Heal/Mass Heal or Life Drain/Mass Life Drain, in addition to Regeneration/Mass Regeneration. Their units are average, at best, with very few special abilities. And then there's the massive drawback of morale, where other races can get two turns, but undead always get a single turn.

Like I said though: I suspect the morale thing is a bug. It's just too weird for it to be exclusively an advantage.

The only reason I can think of that makes Necromancers seem overpowered is the fact that people start out playing their campaign. They're not used to Stronghold and their redicilously overpowered shamans just yet. Either that or they play Necromancer with the default Magic hero and Stronghold with the default Might hero - that could make a huge difference. Magic is way better than Might, especially early on.
 
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Small update: I've now seen negative morale twice, making units skip a turn. It is extremely rare though, seems it's rather easy to get enough morale for it to never happen, even if you're affected by spells that lower morale.
 
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I'm a little late to the M&M discussion party but did you purchase a digital copy or a boxed copy? I'm asking because I see a boxed copy for sale online at Amazon.ca but not Gamestop online.
 
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I bought it in Amazon, a digital copy for like $40.
So far I finished the tutorial, and I think at the second to last or last map in Necro campaign. Can't say if necros are overpowered as it's the only faction I've played (and the tutorial), but they're all right, don't feel overpowered at all.
The game is good so far, I'd put it 2nd between HoMM3 and 5 in my favorites, but it's still early.
It's also still very buggy, hoping next patch will address the most glaring bugs (like the one you mentioned).
Difficulty-wise, I always play in 'normal' difficulty, and other than the trash mobs on the map, I can always find challenging fights around, and the end 'bosses' have made me sweat to beat them. I'm glad for that.
Not sure if the AI is good yet or not. The fights I've lost or come close are usually because the enemy has 2 times or more my army, but I don't see them being particularly smart in the tactical battles. Serviceable though.
Without bugs, I'd give it an 8/10, but considering current state of bugs, it's more like a 6.5/10 right now.
 
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I'm a little late to the M&M discussion party but did you purchase a digital copy or a boxed copy? I'm asking because I see a boxed copy for sale online at Amazon.ca but not Gamestop online.

I bought a boxed version at my local multimedia store.

And yes wolfing - the bugs are rather annoying. Hopefully they'll patch it soon.
 
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Is the demo a good representation of the rest of the game? I found it quite boring to be honest, but one only gets to play with the basic units in it.
 
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Got my copy on steam. More or less agree with the OP lists of pros/cons. The FX is really nice, easy on the eyes. I do agree the required added account creation to use is VERY annoying. I don't care about the online database, I just want to play the damn game *chuckle*

Only a few hrs into the storyline but seems interesting and well written so far, also the voice acting isn't that shabby.
 
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