Russian version - first impressions

[BB Shockwave]

I downloaded the demo yesterday and played a few hours - I learned Russian like 20 years ago (back then Hungary was still occupied by the Soviets) and I'm not too good at it, but I can make do...

Notable changes (I will only mention what others have not said already):

-In Battle, the enemy troops also have Morale! You can expect to see bad morale if they have undead/too mixed troops, and good morale if they are all the same race, I found that Paladins start with good morale due to "Valor" even in the enemy army!

-What's more, morale changes during battle. If you kill of half the enemy troops, their morale drops.

-The AI is a bit smarter, I think. They avoid traps/tricks I used in the original game to great effect... They make use of their special abilities to great effect, Lizardman always try to attack two hexes, wounded units gather near Paladins for resurrection, Paladins cleverly boost the AP-s of shooters so they can attack twice per round... etc.

-Followers have some special abilities. I hired an elf guy, and afterwards when I clicked on artifacts, I had the option to turn them into Mana Crystals - one crystal per item, certainly better option then selling what's not needed.

-Great icons for Talents - you can now see how long it'll take to reload them by just a glance, no need to right-click. They are half-grey when 1 more round is needed, etc...

-Some spells have been tweaked - I found that for example Phantom Image does not work on level 5 units, I'm sure it did before...

-Maybe not new, but I managed to put level 4 units to sleep with Evil Beholders (their new skin is great, btw)more often then before, maybe the % ratio of chance was increased.

-Inquisitor's Holy Rage is no longer a reloadable talent (I think due to the Rage to mana spell, it'd mean you'd have infinite mana access) - there are 3 charges of it and that's that.

-New Spells (names are made-up, mind you)

-"Time Back" (Icon : hourglass)= Essentially the same as Reaper's ability, I got it up to Level II only so I don't know whether it will work on Level 5 units too. EDIT: just checked the manual, it does work on level 5! Too bad since it's a spell, you cannot use it on Black Dragons anymore... (Distortion Magic)

-"Wake-up call" (icon : ringing bell)= Wakes up Draco, so you can use the Spirit of Rage abilities twice per round (or even when he's resting) - With Higher Magic, this means you can still cast a spell that round. Very nifty spell! (Distortion Magic)

-"Rage to mana" (icon: Dragon head and mana ball)= Transforms a percentage of Rage into Mana, every Mage's dream. Very usefull and costs only 1 mana. Especially great with Inquisitors! (Order magic)

-"Angel of Vengeance" (Icon: angel in armor with sword)= Awesome spell - basically, it increases an unit's defense by a bit, and every time that unit is attacked, a lightning bolt strikes the attacker (after the attack). Does great damage, it killed 5 Archmages after 2 attacks, and Archmagi have 50% Magic resistance... (Order Magic)

-"Energy Ball" (Icon: shining ball with steam of energy coming out of it)= A very damaging spell (does Astral Damage to boot! Maybe affects Black Dragons too?) - basically you select a spot on the battlefield, the spell damages the unit there plus all units (friend or foe) in 4 rows starting out from that hexagon. Very hard to get it done in the first round without harming your troops, unless you have Tactics. (Chaos Magic)

New Rage Spirit Abilities

The Dragon is cute, btw. I especially like when he's offering an apple to the snail...

Another change is that you can use him every round (mostly) and you get 3 upgrade choices when he levels up.

- "Find Treasure" - he digs out a chest which your troops can open. When you click on it, you will see a green hex on the battlefield, he can only use it there. With upgrades, can be used more often in battle and I guess the chest quality increases - if there are two or more hexes shown to contain treasure on the battlefield, that is.

- "Roundhouse kick" (heh, Bruce Lee could take lessons...)= Attacks one enemy troop with a kick, doing physical damage. The dragon needs to land for this attack, so an empty hex needs to be there. After upgrades, it also pushes the enemy back one (or more?) hexes, that's why you need to choose directions.

- "Build wall" (I wish masons would work this fast...) =Similar to Zerock's ability, except the wall can be 'rounded', not just a straigth line. Also, it last until the end of battle thankfully.

- "Place egg" - The egg hatches in 2 rounds (I think the time can be reduced with upgrades) - I guess it summons reptiles only, for me it was 20 Royal Snakes. Will see, maybe on later levels you can summon dragons too.... would be nice.

- "Comet" (that has to hurt for poor Draco) - He flies up, then slams to the ground, inflicting damage on ALL enemy troops around him. You can select the place of impact, but I did not see any changes in damage no matter where he impacts - maybe on later levels he can stun enemies?

- "Mana Ball" - Like Lina's Superchargers, but new graphic. Places one (on later levels more) mana balls on the battlefield, gives back mana (more then Lina's) and the unit that took it can move one more hex or attack. You can also select the place he'll place them, but it doesn't give back rage.

-New Units (again, names are made-up in some cases)

-Paladin: Very powerfull, resistant to Magic as well as physical. Thankfully (if you are fighting against it) slow, but it'll usually move 1 hex and then use its ability to give Action Points to shooters... a real pain. Magic Shackles is needed against it.

Royal Griffin If you thought Griffins were great, these are even better. Does everything a Griffin does, plus is faster (6/6), stronger, has more HP, 50% Magic resistance (!!!), does 150% damage on Dragons. Talents are great - one acts as "battle Cry" except only works on Humans (I guess, HOMM reference that Griffins belong to human armies). The other is Phantom Griffins - the translucent grey ghost Griffins act like regular Griffins, they have very few (33) HP, but they are phantoms, so 50% physical resistance and can move through everything...

Droids: Although both are fliers, with a speed of 3 you won't see them fly unless avoiding a Giant's earthquake or hasted - they walk when moving. Both are mechanical, meaning mind spells, poison, blinding doesn't work, cannot be healed or resurrected (they crumble to dust upon death). The -50% magic weakness is a big drawback, if you play as a mage they are easy prey and I suspect enemy heroes will bug them as well. The warrior type is a great asset with the grapple cable ability - it can tow in enemies from 5 hexes away! I think they can also shock them like the Archmage. The other is an archer (average one with good HP) and can also heal/resurrect machines, so I recommend you use both types as other then time back they are the only way to heal the droids.

Trolls - Very sturdy and dangerous enemies, if slow... "Calming" acts as a weakness spell plus lowers intiative. 30% phys and fire resistance makes them as sturdy as Cyclopes, except they have more HP. Have not fought them underground yet but I guess regeneration is a good thing for a level 5 unit...

Lizard units

Creepers ('Gobots' - heck, I hope the name changes - THIS is a Gobot...): Interesting 'archers' - basically they can attack everyone on the map without range penalty by burrowing under them. They also move by burrowing. Still have to melee if someone is standing next to them. Not very powerfull though, and I lost most of them in bigger battles. If they are down to 50% the original numbers they can split into two stacks of the same size (essentially doubling their numbers) - they never survived enough hits for me to try this.

Adult Creepers ('Mature Gobots')= Little stronger, can poison enemy - with a ranged attack, that's not bad. You can make them from regular Creepers by the Sandworm's ability.

Lizardman (Gorgul)= very usefull unit. Not too strong, but has great special abilities. With running, can move 5 hexes on one turn, can attack two hexes (but won't damage your troops unlike dragons). If it kills a stack, there is an 50% chance it will act again. The other ability is a round-attack like the Knight's, but you can only use it if you have lost half of your lizardmen... not a good tactic but you'll see the enemy using this a lot. Also, they suffer only 50% damage from archers!

Lizardwoman (Gorguana)= Caster and ranged attacker, has an awesome talent "mark of blood" that essentially makes the enemy target receive double damage everytime it's hit (something like the spell Doom) - combine this with the Pteranodon's critical hit ability, and you can wipe out even a strong stack in one turn! If it loses 50% of it's numbers, it can cast a weak attack spell that damages the enemy and resurrects the Lizardwomen, but it's no substitute for resurrection spells. The third ability I have not yet seen in action, from what I guess it works on Lizardman, activating their round-attack even if they are not down to 50%. Lizardwomen also have the "durable scale" and "thirst for blood" abilities.

Pteranodon= A very strong flier (I'd say stronger then even Royal Griffins), the best ability it has is that if it flies more then 3 hexes before attacking, it will always cause critical hits... The AI uses this to great effect, so the Pteranodons always switch targets to cause the greatest damage. Also, it can summon allies, laying an egg that will hatch at the end of next round (has a very funny animation where the ptero chick pops his head out of the egg) containing 50% of the troop. So if you fight against them, wipe out the eggs fast - use spells.

Sandworm A very curious unit. Basically... it cannot move! So tactics is essential if you use it. It has high HP (not as high as Royal Thorns, though) and a very powerfull melee attack, but unless you teleport it it'll never get to the enemy. Has no ranged attack as well... The only thing it can do is to spawn Creepers (can do every second round) and to upgrade them into adult Creepers (also every second round). Frankly, I found this unit not too usefull at all... Creepers, at this stage of the game, are fairly useless, only good for cannon fodder. And basically this means the Sandworm can only do something usefull every second round... The high melee is nice, but the AI is smart and will first attack your moving melee units before attacking this unit. It also has an ability (after 50% are dead) to eat enemies or allies to resurrect itself.

Brontor Very fun and innovative unit! In its starting mode, is very slow - move of 1 - but well-armored. I have not yet had the chance to see it, but I believe it attacks like the Cerberus, on 3 hexes. It has, however, a great talent - acts like Lina's Ice Ball and runs through the battlefield, hitting the first unit in a straight line. With the Brontor's high defence and HP, it can survive the attacks it gets after such assaults. Or, if you have "Fit of Energy", us it on him and make him Burrow - in this mode, it will have even stronger defense, and get a ranged attack it can use even in melee! (he has range penalty though unlike Creepers). What's best - although it won't retaliate, every enemy that attacks it gets hit by the Brontor's spikes (works a bit like the Efreet's fire shield in HOMM3, but it always hits for a fixed amount, not % of damage). A very versatile unit, can be a tank or a ranged attacker, though it's best for blocking enemies.

T-Rex What can I say, I love this guy! 1000 HP, 80-120 damage, and 4 movement points? 6 Initiative? Giants and Ogres can sulk away in shame... has physical resistance, increases the morale of your lizards, lowers the defense of nearby enemies, and like Lizardmen/women, is resistant to archer attacks. And the best is saved for the last- like Devilfishes, can scare enemies on attack (only for 1 round), meaning they won't retaliate. Works only on 1-4 level units. Has two talents, both reload in2 rounds. Roar makes all enemies who have less leadership then T-rex to receive damage (not as much as Giant's earthquake) and lose half of APs - it's best used in mid-combat. The T-rex can also eat a corpse (only living creature corpse, zombies taste baaad!) restoring itself to FULL HP (!!!) and still having APs left to attack that turn. This corpse-eating also works automatically if the T-rex kills a troop. I must say, this guy is easily the best Level 5 unit in the game... the healing abilities are great especially. "Me Grimlock... like!"


All in all, the Lizards are a powerfull race with good melee units, one flyer and some shooters. The worms are the only ones I'm not too fond of... other then producing cannon fodder, the Sandworm is an useless unit, Dryads can do the same and more. Either is should be able to move (slowly), or it should get a medium ranged attack ability to do something when it's not producing Creepers - even Orc Shamen can be used as melee tanks when they are out of talents.

Can't wait for the game to be released! I wonder - KB was translated to Hungarian, will Armored Princess be translated as well?