User talk:Csaros

Pumpkin Patch - User Requests

Monoliths

Hello,

I love the changes made to HOTA!

Do you think it would be possible to add a function where if you click a gateway/monolith it shows you the opposite end?

Kind regards

• I'm gonna say probably not. The best that could possibly be done is probably something similar to quest messages "The Grail may be found in the %s regions of the world." or "The Grail may be found in the %s regions of the underworld.". But I don't think this could work with more than 1 exit for a portal. I'll put it in the To-Do list, but I'll honestly say I don't think this can be done. Csaros (talk) 17:38, 1 October 2024 (UTC)
• Update: Melkor showed me that ERA has a similar feature. I'll try to figure out how they did it. Csaros (talk) 18:10, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Fix Faerie Dragon damage calculation

Faerie Dragons don't increase damage based on spell damage artis for Lightning Bolt, Ice bolt and Magic Arrow. (as noted by Melkor).

Request - Mysticism Buff / Mana Regen Items Buff

+Changes Requested: Increased to 6/12/18 (Wouldn't even grant a Fly) - 10/20/30 (Fly + Lightning Bolt, or 1 Dimension Door) Mana per Day, or maybe 6/13/25 depending on how much viable you want the skill to be.

Reasoning: Even with HOTAs update to 5/10/15 and your buff of the Hero Mysticism Speciality, the skill still doesn't feel that great in play. There are just much better option like Intelligence or Magic Schools, or any kind of Combat skill for a Battle Focused Frontline Character considering that you can just regenerate Mana to Full while spending a day in Town or by drinking from a Magic Well. In WOG/ERA you could set Mysticism to regen a percentage of max mana (10%/20%/30%) instead, and it still didn't feel game breaking.

I honestly believe that even making it 10/20/30 points per day wouldn't overbuff it - there are plentiful of better skill option - while it would lead to Mysticism being much more bearable/viable. Compared to a Mage with Intelligence, who with 10-15 Wisdom would have 150-225pt Mana (or considerably more in longer games on bigger maps), and could still regen it so much more quickly in one go even without the Mysticism skill. Point based reg. Mysticism focused to Expert in the early game would at least allow Mage Heroes to fling a few spells more frequently in exploration-encounter combat.

Mysticism Hero Speciality could even become additonal 2/lvl regen, instead of 1pt, with those changes above, and maybe would be kinda ok/good in the late game. You can just regen Mana too easily with other options...

+Mana Items: In relation to the above, mana reg. items are really weak except for the combined item "Wizard's Well". Making the Charm/Talisman/Mystic Orb of Mana grant 2/4/6 or 3/6/9 reg. would be a really nice improvement.

Hope my suggestions didn't sound overly "stiff/businesslike" :D

I'm greatly enjoying playing HOTA again, with your mod-patch on top. Thank you for all your hard work!

Kind Regards,

Eldrin

• Granted. You'll see it in 1.3.1. - Csaros (talk)

Request - Various Spell Changes

Seeing as you can edit Spell Schools:

+Remove Obstacle - Making it an All Schools spell would be nice (You can even make its costs higher [5/3 or 6/4] in exchange). Doesn't really feel like it should belong only to Water, or any 1 Element. Making it so it could remove 2 natural obstacles at Expert would be great, even at a higher Mana cost, but I'm unsure if that's even possible to edit in.

+Force Field - Again as above, All Schools pls. It creates a swirling wall of blue energy, doesn't feel very 'Earthy'. Mana Cost reduction to 11/8 or 10/7 + maybe an additional +1 Round Duration at Expert (if possible to edit in). Its a really situational 3rd LvL spell - it works against melee only field encounters, but fliers and ranged can easily ignore it, and enemy Heroes could dispel it with the updated Remove Obstacle or just nuke creatures hiding behind the wall with offensive spells.

+Slayer - All Schools? It works well for what it does, but I usually forget that it even exists, as it needs Fire Magic to let it affect other 7th LvL Creature Types. It doesn't really feel like it would need to belong to Fire, and Fire School has already 5 other, quite powerful, 4th Tier spells, the most out of all 4 Elemental Schools.

+Magic Mirror - It's still the worst 5th LvL spell. 40 Mana is too high for a chance of MAYBE reflecting spells from 1 Unit Stack. Anti-Magic just gives you spells immunity at a much lower cost (and it removes already present negative effects), the only difference being that it is dispellable, for which an enemy would usually need to waste his 1 spell/round. And even if you cast Magic Mirror, enemies will just plainly choose different targets for their spells, that's all. Fix: Reduce cost to 15-20, Make it All Schools as well, change reflect % to 40/60/80/100 or 30/50/70/90 if you want for it to still have RNG at Expert. If a player wanted to make all his creature completely spell immune, he would need to spend 7 turns of casting Magic Mirror in exchange for buffing/debuffing/offense.

Thank you for all your hard work! Can't wait for the Mysticism changes!

Kind Regards,

Eldrin

• • Moving spells to all schools - the base game has very few (I believe 2) spells that belong to all schools of magic. I moved TP to all schools for balance, but I don't want to now put all sorts of spells into all schoos as well.
  • Remove Obstacle - I don't think I can make it work on 2 separate obstacles.
  • Force Field is actually a really good spell! Try it yourself (or see a youtube video): a 150 marksmen with forcefield and some meat can take down a dragon utopia!
  • Slayer got buffed to work on all units and is now a reasonable pick for dealing with difficult level 7 fights. Why doesn't it work on all t7? No idea, but its not really a balance issue. I could move it to another school... but I think Fire fits it very well - first of all, it's sort of a mirror image of prayer (the way frost ring and fireball are), and secondly it's about that inner fire, the will to fight.
  • Magic Mirror - yeah, you make a good point. I think the whole concept of the spell is problematic (remember why Hota deleted Resistance?) and I think I'll have to change this spell more.
  • I'm glad you like the pumpkin patch! Thanks for the feedback! - Csaros

Np. I was just brainstorming that maybe having 1 combat spell per tier of magic could be fun.

Remove Obstacle - Yeah, thought it would be impossible to script it for 2 separate obstacles. And if Force Field stays in One School, making Remove Obstacles All Schools would be a huge nerf to it. But maybe switching Remove Obstacle to Earth - as it is quasi terraforming the terrain - and Force Field to Water could work?

Force Field - Saw the video of Dragon Utopia. Interesting play. Still doesn't really fit with Earth from the look of the barrier :D, maybe Water if you wanted to have it in One Elemental School (as Water usually represents 'Utility')? But I can understand why you would want to just let it be as-is.

Slayer - True, I forgot about the Mass Cast on Expert now! And Fire does usually represent 'Offense'. Just that Fire already has Frenzy and Berserk, and the buffed Mass Cast Fire Shield works well too. But again, isn't a huge issue if it stays in its current form. Its rather specific in what it does, and with Mass Cast on Fire Expert, it works ok.

Magic Mirror - It's a tough nut to crack. I did try to coax AI heroes to target it, even reloading a fight and casting it on units, it debuffed or bolted previously as a spell opener, but it just switches targets or buffs its own units like a human player would, once Mirror was cast. Other H3 players speculate that it was just made to make acquiring the 'good' 5th Tier spells harder. If it was All Schools (or maybe Air+Water? But again, I feel like the coding only allows for a spell either belonging to One or All Schools, right?), with a lesser mana cost and a higher reflection percentage (maybe even only up to 75-85 on Expert), it could be a reasonable alternative to the Earth-based Anti-Magic. And if you could make it that it cleanses negative effects from targeted creatures like Anti-Magic does, Mirror would be quite good I think. On my recent playthroughs on L-H random maps whenever I got it in 5th Tier Mage Guilds, it was just such a disappointment, even if I had Air Magic on a Hero, and I did get it multiple times even in newly conquered towns, often times with heroes that had other Spell Schools mastered.

Keep up the good work! :)

- Eldrin

• You'll see the Magic Mirror at much higher % values in the next patch. I'll consider the Remove Obstacle - Force Field Swap. - Csaros (talk) 09:00, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

Request - Small Town Changes

[Fortress]

It has some good 5-7 LvL units, but the first 1-2 LvL are rather boring. Maybe that's why you can build Wyvern Nest so early? I remember that WOG added some kind of Preemptive Strike to Gnolls, and Double Attack to Lizards at Upgade. Preemptive Gnoll Atk. would be probably weird to implement (or not? Gunslingers have some Preemptive Shot, right?), and it honestly isn't that necessary, but the only Fortress Archer deserves some love :D

+Lizard Warrior (the Upg. Archer) - Add Double Attack (like Marksman, Grand Elf), Nerf Dmg to 2-4 from 2-5, Def to 6-7 down from 8, Health to 14 from 15. Maybe increase cost by 20-40g per unit? // It's more fun when a town has at least One viable Shooter unit. Most 2nd LvL Shooters in other towns like Marksman, Storm Elementals (especially those), Magogs, are much more powerful and even Halflings, a 1st LvL unit, have some special abilities now. A mostly 'defensive'/'tanky' 1-shot Archer is kinda dumb.

-Glyphs of Fear - Cost increase by 2-4 Ore? // As a slight nerf to offset buffing Upg. Lizards, and Siege Defense Buildings usually cost something more in addition to gold.

-Blood Obelisk - Cost increase by 2-4 Ore? // As a slight nerf to offset buffing Upg. Lizards, and Siege Defense Buildings usually cost something more in addition to gold.

[Dungeon]

+Scorpicore - Maybe a small Dmg boost from 14-20 to 15/16-21/22, +10-20 HP? And a -2 Sulfur & -2 Mercury cost reduction to Manticore (Base) Dwelling? - Base Manticores don't have Special Abilities like Paralyzing Venom, so the first building is a bit costly too. // They kinda suck stat-wise as an Upg. 6th lvl unit. Compared to other creatures at the same Tier, they're the weakest of them all, cost more than better equivalents, die very easily and don't do much Dmg on the frontline. Paralyze is good, but it has a lower chance of triggering than Wyvern Monarch Poison; Unicorns have much frontline stats, Blind AND Magic resistance, AND cost less; Cyclops can attack from a safe distance and Shoot walls; Cavaliers have Jousting; Efreeti have really solid stats, Fire Immunity and get Fire Shield at Upg., etc.

+Dragon Cave (Base) - Wood cost reduced to 10 down from 15? Maybe stone down to 10 too? Potentially in exchange for making the Dwelling Upg. cost 20 Wood & Ore instead, up from 15? // Wood and Ore usually aren't a problem but it would be a small boost to get Red Dragons earlier, and diversify building costs between Base and Upg. Dwelling. (Rampart Dragon Cliffs have a Gold Increase between Base/Upgrade costs, Inferno Palace lessens Wood/Ore but Increases Gold. Some Towns have the same cost for 7th Base & Upg. Dwellings, but I think it would fit Dungeon to have that small bit of upgrade cost variety as Rampart, with its Dragon equivalent, has it too.)

Probably my last suggestions for a while :D

Can't wait for the next patch!

- Eldrin

• • You'll see a different Lizard Warrior buff in 1.3.1. Don't wanna give away too much before the big day.
  • Scorpicores were buffed - now paralyse hits 25% of the time.
  • Glyphs of Fear and Blood Obelisk are rather weak.
  • Dragon Cave - In 1.3.1 there will be a cost reduction for unupgraded dragon dwelling. But know that I am a capricious lover and I take back everything I give, sometimes twofold. - Csaros (talk)

Lizard Warrior - OK.

Glyph/Obelisk - Sure, OK.

Manticores/Scorpicores - Consider that they are still relatively weak, potentially the weakest, even with better Paralyse proc chance (and you did buff other 6th Tier and Lesser Creatures procs while boosting Paralyse, like Unicorn Blind, Death Knight Blow, Thunderbird, Basilisk, Medusa, ... - I do like it, but it doesn't equalize Scorpicores that much). Iirc WOG buffed Scorpicores to 18-22 Dmg like Wyvern Monarchs (and Poison is 30% on those, right?) and they still felt borderline underwhelming, and rather not worth the Sulfur and Gold Dwelling cost.

Maybe if you don't want higher Dmg on them, what about making the Scorpicores Upgrade a bit hardier with +15-20 HP, so that they can survive more to try proc some Venom, and at least Cutting Sulfur and reducing the Gold Costs (-1000g so the Base gold costs would be similar to other Unupgraded 6th Tier Dwellings - Fire Lake, Unicorn Glade, Golden Pavilion, Nix Fort, Watchtower, all 4000g for much better 6th Tier Unit Dwellings) from the Base Manticore Dwelling so that players wouldn't be inclined to skip it in favor of hoarding Sulfur for Dragon Cave. Base Manticore is really similar to Wyverns, but you can find Wyverns by freeing them from Dragonfly Dens and Wyvern Nest Costs 3500g + 15 Wood, while Manticores Lair Costs 5000g + 5 Sulfur + 5 Mercury + 5 Wood + 5 Ore. The more valuable resources Sulfur and Mercury, and 1500 higher Gold are a rather steep price considering that Manticores don't have Venom or any kind of other special ability or passive yet. Wyvern Monarch Dwelling only adds valuable resources like 10 Mercury on top to the Upgrade Cost once the creatures learn Poison. Unicorns, Efreets, Naga, etc. All have Special Abilities at Base, and so their 1st Unupgraded Dwellings cost valuable/rarer resources like Gems, Sulfur, Mercury, Crystals.

Cyclops Dwelling Costs only Ore+Gold at base, and they're Shooters, with Siege Walls, similar stats to Manticores, better Minimum Dmg [16-20 vs Manticore 14-20] and Cost Less [Cyclops 750g vs Manticore 850g]. Only Cavaliers and Black Knights have a 5000g/6000g 1st Dwelling Cost, and still no special resources at Base, only Wood/Ore, and both are much better 6th Tier Units than Manticore with stats and Cavalier's base Jousting ability. And there are Base Dwellings that Cost even less than 4000g, like Altar of Thought 3000g, Cyclops Cave 3500g, both giving better Units.

An Unupgraded Efreety packs more punch (16-24), has more Health (90) and some nice passive immunity. An Upg. Efreety Sultan costing 1100 (50g more than Scorpicore), has still better Dmg and HP stats, passive immunity and fire shield. Unicorns have Blind/Res at base, 18-22 Dmg, 90 HP, at the Cost of 850g, while War Unicorns have Blind/Res, same Dmg, 110 HP at the Cost of 950g.

Dragon Cave - Np, I develop Tabletops in my free time, so I know how balancing likes to meander XD. Should be OK tho. And feel free to add those -5 Wood/Ore as +5 Wood/Ore Cost Increase to the Upgradable Black Dragon Cave - should balance it out (like Ramparts Dragon Cliff does, just with Gold instead of Resources, Base 10000g vs Upg. 20000g, same 30 Ore + 20 Crystals on Base and Upg. Costs).

And no, I don't favor Dungeon/Scorpicore as my Town/Creature of Choice, even if it sounds like that XD (The Statistics speak for themselves!)

- Eldrin