Eagle Eye

[+] Eagle Eye gives the hero a 40/50/60% chance to learn each opponent's 1-3/4/5 level spell before starting a combat and when a spell is cast in battle. Allows the player to view 1-3/4/5 level spells in the opponent's spellbook in combat. If both heroes have Eagle Eye, it is mutually blocked (similar to Tactics)

So... they have buffed Eagle Eye. The previous design that lasted practically since Heroes 2 is so famously bad that it could as well have no effect at all and only the crazed mapmakers and hardcore singleplayer guys would notice any difference – this skill is THAT bad.

I am not sure how I feel about this take on the skill. I was personally a proponent of yeeting the skill out just like Resistance was yeeted out, and replacing it with something completely different. This... is still trying to run with the concept of Eagle Eye by making it work more immediately and then adding another effect on top just in case. It may be a solid enough buff – after all information on your opponent has a pretty good value... but this just looks clunky at a first glance.

My prediction is that the main use for the new EE will be suicide checking opponent's heroes just to check their spellbooks. On a main hero it will still be mostly a shitty win more or a hail mary – and this is way too much investment for a hail mary.

Learning

[+] Learning increases the hero's experience gains by 25/50/75%. Gives the hero an extra level-up immediately when picking or upgrading the skill

So... two changes. The big boost of Learning's bonus exp gain effect is, well, important here, but it isn't exactly the, uhm, “exciting” thing about this buff. Sure, instead of a fraction of an extra level you get three extra levels in the long run, which is not that bad in itself – especially considering the buffs of many, many specialties that I will get to talk about later. The second change, though... It is genuinely insane. And I mean it in the negative sense of this word.

Now, first things first, I do understand the design goal of this – HotA Crew wants to make this skill worth picking at any point of hero's development, not just early on by providing an immediate impact. And I do agree on this goal, just not necessarily with the method – because this method is boosting early pickup of Learning to an disproportionate amount. It allows you to rush to the guaranteed magic skill to check whether a hero will get that Earth Magic, it allows you to jump ahead up to four levels early on providing a significant tempo boost, and in the worst case scenario it will let you basically reroll bad level up options. Around level 7 things do get saner, but levelling Learning on levels 2 and 3 is kinda busted.

[+] Learning specialization now increases the skill's effect by 5% per hero level

And then we have to talk about Kinkeria. Thankfully HotA Crew didn't go fully insane, and as such specialty was toned down. The specialty gives her roughly one extra relevant level compared to what you would expect from a non-specialist... which I'd argue isn't that crazy of a specialty effect. Don't get me wrong – it is a very nice boon, and she will be a high value hero in many formats, especially considering she starts with Slow in her spellbook – but a lot of other heroes gain a bit more from their specialty than that.

Interestingly, on M200 templates Learning has been pre-banned in this patch:

[+] 2sm2c(2), Skirmish(M), Nine-day Wonder Templates: banned the secondary skill Learning and heroes Loynis, Moandor, Xsi, Darkstorn, Merist, Kalt, Kinkeria, Victoria

That early game boost from Learning does sound to be quite a bit too much on templates where you can't really afford to have more than one high-level hero and the early contact is the norm rather than exception – and it seems like the HotA Crew recognizes that.

My prediction is that on XL+U templates we will see more control heroes per player on average (I guess half a hero more, if not more) – and Jebus Cross will probably get a little bit faster with the breaks into the desert. This skill will have practically zero impact on one hero templates, where you usually got to fill up all eight skill slots already. More templates may end up having Learning banned due to power level concerns.

Ultimately I wouldn't be surprised to see Learning nerfed... though knowing the HotA Crew's track record with their release cycle, I wouldn't be surprised to see no action at all even if Learning becomes a problem. I do believe if the nerf would be in order, the best way to do so would be to replace the bonus level up with a 20% or 25% boost to the current XP value – it is as close as you can get to retroactively applying the bonus in my opinion without having to deal with Kinkeria's specialty.

War machines

[+] Artillery protects the Ballista and Cannon, preventing them from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit [+] First Aid protects the First Aid Tent, preventing it from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit [+] Ballistics protects the Catapult, preventing it from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit

Cool changes adressing one of the core issues of war machines – their fragility... but there is more!

[+] First Aid gives the First Aid Tent the ability to increase the HP of all creatures in the hero's army by 5/10/15% (rounded down) while the Tent is not destroyed [+] First Aid specialization now increases the HP bonus granted to creatures by the First Aid Tent by 5% per hero level

Aaaaaaand that is terrifying. I am not sure if turning First Aid into Armorer with extra steps is a good idea.

[+] Expert Ballistics allows the Catapult to accurately hit targets

I literally forgot that wasn't the case already. Good change, but probably not sufficient to make Ballistics an appealing skill choice.

[+] Ballista price reduced from 2500 to 1500; Cannon price reduced from 4000 to 3000

Good change. These two were arguably overpriced.

[+] Ballista damage formula changed from [2-3 * (attack + 1)] to [2-3 * (attack + 5)]

This is... mildly worrisome. On the one hand it makes Ballista do something for pretty much any hero – extra 10 base damage on average ain't bad after all. On the other, it is a yet another early game tempo increase – and while it won't be relevant everywhere, in templates where it will Ballista users will likely be very efficient map clearers. The specialty also got buffed – it now pumps up attack and defense of Ballista by 3 for every five levels of a hero, rounded up.

It is more than clear that HotA Crew wants players to use Ballistas and First Aid Tents more, and to actually level up Artillery and First Aid skills. While the changes with Ballista are mildly worrisome, I do find them overall positive. As for the Tent... I am not a fan, though despite my worries, I am unable to dismiss this change immediately. One thing for sure – war machines will at the very least see a little bit more experimentation.

Pathfinding

[+] Pathfinding now reduces the standard cost of an off-road step by 25/50/75 down to a minimum of 95/90/85

lol.

lmao even.

I hate this change. I despise this change. I do get it that Pathfinding was a mediocre skill at best (with the exception of the One Minute Madness template) due to competing with Fly spell, as well as Angel Wings and Wayfarer's Boots artifacts... but we really didn't need bonus Logistics.

My prediction is that it will be a very polarizing skill, and that it will be pretty darn powerful on any template with a major desert area – Jebus Cross and One Minute Madness come to mind... tho on 1MM it is very likely that I will end up banning this skill altogether, considering how powerful the original Pathfinding already was.

This change is just god-fucking-awful, and makes me regret that I am writing this post in English instead of Polish, cause for this I really could use a language with a proper swear game.

Sorcery

[+] Sorcery now increases spell damage by 10/20/30%

Not sure if this is a just strong enough buff, or if this is overtuned. I guess with a specialty it may get hilariously powerful in one hero formats, especially combined with any of the +50% elemental spell damage orbs... but eh, at least this skill is usable now.

Mysticism

[+] Mysticism now allows the hero to restore 10/20/30% of his maximum spell points per day, but no less than 5/10/15

No clue what is the rationale here, but sure, why not. I do find it unlikely that this will entice players to unironically pick the skill for main/control heroes – it is still reasonably easy to rest in town to restore your mana, after all.

Hero Specialties

I have already mentioned a few of them, now it is time for the rest of them. And there are quite a few changes there. Let's start with spells.

[+] Enhanced specializations that add +3% to a spell's effect for n hero levels, where n is the target's Tier: changed to +5% for Meteor Shower, Chain Lightning, Resurrection and Raise Dead; +10% for all other spells

I think I kinda do understand why this change has been done – to make damage spell specialists have a little bit more of an unique spice to them. I am not entirely sure if that +10% for stuff like Ice Bolt, Lightning Bolt or Frost Ring is a good idea, though.

[–] Forgetfulness specialization now increases the reduction of attacking creatures' number in target stacks by 10% for n hero levels, where n is the target's level

If I understand it correctly, at level 20 and Expert Water Magic it completely neuters all damage output of opposing ranged units, which is mildly hilarious... and that's about it.

[+] Cure specialization grants +10% effect for (8 – n) hero levels, where n is the target's Tier (affects stronger creatures more)

Somewhat niche, but a cool niche.

[+] Bloodlust, Stone Skin, and Precision specializations add +10/8/6/4 to the spell's effect on Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures [+] Weakness specialization adds +4/6/8/10 to the spell effect for Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures (affects stronger creatures more) [+] Disrupting Ray Specialization increases the spell's effect by 10

All interesting changes, though Stone Skin specialty buff feels a little bit too extra. Labetha mains rise up I guess.

[+] Slayer specialization adds +20/16/12/8 to the spell effect for Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures

Maybe we will see an unironically cast Slayer spell in PvP?

[+] Adrienne's Fire Magic specialization increases Fire spell damage by 50%

She's a campaign hero, she can get this kind of a buff 😂.

[+] Haste and Prayer specializations add +3/2/1 to the spell effect for Tier 1-4/5-6/7 creatures

Not sure if Uberhaste needed a buff, same goes for Prayer specialty (note that Loynis no longer has a dead skill cause Learning is good now).

And now it is time for the unit specialties.

[+] Enhanced the effect of creature-based specializations, giving +5% attack and defense for n hero levels, where n is the creature's Tier: now +10% for Tier 1 creatures; +30% for Ballista and +20% for other creatures

The buff for creature specialties is a decent idea. I have seen some worries about T1 specialists getting a bit too much early game power this way, but I think this is still fine. Remember that the stat increase is based on the base stats of the units – not modified stats. A level 10 Shakti with a good sword won't suddenly give 15 extra attack to Troglodytes 😂.

[+] Fire Elementals specialization: +1 to Attack, +2 to Defense, and +2 to Damage – > +3 to Attack, +4 to Defense, and +2 to damage [+] Earth Elementals specialization: +2 Attack, +1 Defense, +5 Damage –> +3 Attack, +2 Defense, and +5 Damage [+] Psychic Elementals specialization: +3 Attack and +3 Defense –> +5 Attack and +5 Defense

I feel like rest of these changes ain't going to be THAT relevant – at least outside of one hero formats or maaaaaaybe something focused on native army like Conquest or One Minute Madness. After all Conflux isn't exactly known for its army, and these specialties – while considerably boosted, ain't exactly a big deal...

[+] Water Elementals specialization: +2 to Attack –> +12 to Attack

...but I feel like this specific change might be a little bit overcooked. Water Elementals are an early game unit, upgradeable to a shooter. Despite everything, it can deal decent damage, and with a +12 Attack boost... well. Early game will get nuked.

[+] Black Knights specialization for Haart Lich: +5 Attack, +5 Defense, +10 Damage –> +10 Attack, +10 Defense, and +10 Damage [+] Devils specialization: +4 to Attack, +2 to Defense, and +1 to Speed – > +10 to Attack, +10 to Defense, and +1 to Speed [+] Behemoths specialization: +5 Attack, +5 Defense, +10 Damage –> +10 Attack, +10 Defense, and +10 Damage [+] Dragons specialization: +5 Attack and +5 Defense –> +10 Attack and +10 Defense

Honestly? Sure, why not, I don't mind this change. I do think that it will make things a lil' bit more interesting on templates that have these heroes. And hell, these are campaign heroes – they can afford to be a lil' bit cooler, can't they?

I feel like the people most excited for these changes are one hero players – they pretty much got some new toys to experiment with... though I've seen voices of worry or even decrying these changes are ruining the format.

Factory

Factory got buffed... or rather one half of it.

[–] In the requirements of Upg. Halfling Adobe, Town Hall has been replaced with Blacksmith [–] Mechanics damage increased from 2-4 to 3-4, and Engineers damage increased from 2-5 to 3-5 [–] Heroes' starting Mechanics count increased from 6-8 to 7-9 [–] Automaton and Sentinel Automaton explosion damage increased from 70 + 5x to 90 + 5x [–] Cost of Dreadnoughts in gold reduced from 2,500 to 2,200, and cost of Juggernauts reduced from 4,500 to 3,500 [–] Gantry cost in gold reduced from 15,000 to 10,000 [–] Marketplace removed from the requirements for the Gantry; Resource Silo removed from the requirements for the Upg. Gantry

All of this is geared towards boosting the “mechanical” half of the faction. And honestly – fair, though I am not sure if I like Automatons' explosion dealing 20 damage more. These are already super annoying to deal with as neutrals, and that extra 20 damage lets them hit more breakpoints, being able to blast more tier 6 units. I do think the changes will make the mechanical build more appealing on many templates.

Dragons!

yip yip

[+] Building Dragon Cliffs and Upg. Dragon Cliffs no longer requires the Enchanted Spring and Unicorn Glade [+] Building Dragon Cave and Upg Dragon Cave no longer requires the Labyrinth and Manticore Lair

This is a really interesting change that on native army templates lets you go for Castle+Dragons week 1... provided you can afford these, of course. The impact of this is yet to be determined, but my gut feeling is that Dungeon is eating much better here than Rampart. I do guess it might also have some impact on Jebus Cross, but I am afraid it miiiiiight be a tad too fast nowadays.

Spell Research

[–] Town Portal or Dimensional Door dropping is now guaranteed at the third (rather than fourth) spell research attempt at the corresponding Mage Guild level.

Less RNG with rolling control magic was deemed necessary, and now the game gets that little faster tempo-wise again. Not entirely sure if this is a good idea to push for that higher tempo that much, but oh well.

Small shit

[+] Increased the AI Value of Ghost Dragons, Scorpicores, Red Dragons, and Cyclops Kings; reduced the AI Value of Nagas

Makes sense, I don't know the new values just yet, but I don't think anyone will complain.

[+] Increased the default number of Sharpshooters on the map, which makes it impossible to generate them in weak guard spots on random maps

Probably the most uncontroversial change. Rolling Sharpies as your 6k value guard was pain.

[–] Default number of Master Genies in Ancient Lamps reduced from 4-7 to 4-6

I feel this is relevant for exactly Jebus Cross and some direct hacks of it. I don't think that people will feel the difference on mt_MP – the change is too minor, and the map is a mirror either way.

[+] Purchasing a skill from the University of Magic in the Conflux now costs resources in addition to 2000 gold: Air — 5 Gems, Water — 5 Crystals, Fire — 5 Mercury, Earth — 5 Sulfur

Has a bit of relevance on traditional XL+U templates I guess – and I'd say it is probably a good change, even if some people would liked to see a bigger nerf to this building.

[+] 0-3 random obstacles appear in Experimental Shop combat; in about 50% of cases, this blocks the standard methods of kiting Steel Golems

Apparently HotA Crew has a massive hate boner for the so-called Experimental Shop “abuses”. Their previous attempts at curtailing schematic strategies in this creature bank failed, so they decided to go for this strategy now 😂. Let's disregard the fact that creature banks are pretty much the most schematic element of the game lul.

[+] The Cloak of the Undead King is not allowed to be assembled by default. It remains allowed on the Anarchy and Clash of Dragons templates, as well as in a number of single player scenarios [+] The option of banning combination artifacts, which influences the possibility to assemble and disassemble them on a template, is added

It is more a new template format feature than a balance change, but it's still a good change – a new and useful tool for template designers.

[+] The Disguise spell effect now lasts not until the end of the day, but rather until the next turn of the player who cast it begins

Shit, now I will have to think again what is the worst spell in the game 😂

[+] View Earth and View Air effects are now saved until the end of the player's turn; information is available through the World View screen

[+] Added the ability to teleport through the Castle Gate of an Inferno town to ally Inferno towns, including when playing without the HD-Mod

Oh right, you can play HotA without HD mod, makes sense.

[+] Now, when teleporting through multi-sided monoliths and whirlpools, the hero always arrives to a previously unvisited monolith of the same type, if any. After visiting all monoliths of the same type, the order of teleportation through them becomes fixed

Irrelevant for PvP, nice for singleplayer.

[–] The Diplomat's Mantle now allows the player to flee (rather than capitulate only) after a spell cast by an attacking hero in the first round of combat

Ehhhhhhhhh, not a super notable thing to be added, but I still don't like this change. IMO Couatl hit and run is already kinda toxic when it gets somehow pulled off – even if it is a rare occurence. This is just Couatl hit and run but better, cause you can run it with a better speed tier units, such as Firebirds or even Archangels.

le conclusione

The overall changes seem to be somewhat geared towards speeding up early game and boosting tempo... and I am not sure if that's actually a good thing. Yes, we all know that people say that Heroes 3 needs faster games... but there is something called too fast. Pathfinding and Learning changes are scary – and in this context, specialty and Ballista buffs do show a little bit of a worrying perspective. The current balancing direction seems to be all gas and no brakes – and I do fear this may eventually break pacing of games.

Let's just say I didn't think I would see this kind of power creep in H3 and end it at that for now.

#Heroes3 #GameDesign

And as such, I have decided to have a different approach instead to what I tried before. Back then, during my previous attempts, I've started with drawing maps, but since I didn't really have any overarching sense of direction, of what I want to do with all these rooms, I had zero idea on how to breathe life into the dungeon. This time, I will start with a more high level idea of what I want to include in the dungeon. I will start with the necessary overarching worldbuilding, instead of jumping headfirst into details.

Of course, from this point onward, spoilers ahead. If you think you might be a player for this megadungeon, you probably want to not read further. That being said, the extra knowledge here shouldn't be that impactful on the gameplay yet, but if you would want to attempt to discover the why the dungeon even exists in the first place, well, you should probably stop reading now.

Starting from the beginning

So, let's start at the first thing for this worldbuilding excercise – why a megadungeon such as this would exist in the first place? Digging out an underground structure is hard^{[citation needed]}, especially if you consider that such structure is a living space for various creatures, and well... it is huuuuuge. Not only that, but the deeper you go, the larger the expectation for crazy things to be there – so it can't exactly be just a large natural cave complex.

The idea I have in mind is centered around an artifact left by a long gone god. The artifact isn't really well known, but for simplicity let's call it Chaos Core. During a feud between gods, one of them has decided to set up a contingency plan in case their demise – an object buried deep into the ground that would shape the surroundings and create new followers. While that god no longer has any followers – and as such no longer exists – that Chaos Core still works and shapes its surroundings, even if the area of its effect is limited.

The aura of the Chaos Core has attracted a certain crazed wizard (name and details obviously still pending) to build a tower over its location. The wizard did not know about this divine artifact – their plan was instead to create a place where they could experiment with rare and dangerous magical rocks undisturbed. They dug deep, getting somewhat close to the cave-like structures created by the Chaos Core – but before they could reach it, they have realized the danger of these magical rock is so high, that it has to be sealed. They have created one last vault, and left this world soon after.

Soon after, the upper floors of the dungeon have been expanded and settled by various creatures and animals, connecting them to the nearby caves. The lower floors that housed the laboratory were eventually reached and connected by the Chaos Core's structures. This allowed the energy of the artifact to emanate more freely, and ultimately influence a larger area with its power.

Going back to structure

The worldbuilding done here gives me an actual idea on how the dungeon will have to be structured. There will be essentially three layers of this dungeon, each spanning several floors.

The upper layer will be the living layer – you will have mostly some typical factions there, like kobolds, goblins and orcs, as well as mostly dangerous animals. That being said, thanks to various magical influences of previous denizens, as well as the power of Chaos Core, there can be spots where undead are a thing.

The middle layer is going to be the lab of the wizard, with the vault containing the dangerous magical rock being the main, erm, “attraction” – tho I will slap on the radioactive waste warnings onto that. There will be plenty of golems and machinery there, as well as some undead and really weird arguably living beings.

The lower layer will be dedicated towards the chaos. Expect non-euclidean architecture, and absolutely weird and unhinged shit. If I get down there with creating the megadungeon, I will go crazy here. A bit of noneuclidean stuff will be featured in the previous two layers, like teleports and loops – but here I might get to the point that it would simply be easier for me to not bother with drawing a proper map and instead just mark down the graph structure on the paper or something. Players will get lost. Hell, I will probably get lost as a GM. You could call it a bad game design, but honestly? If you manage to get so deep into the dugneon, if you manage to get both your characters and your player group to hold on for that long – the final challenge should be intense in more ways than just one.

What's next?

Next, I will have to start fleshing out the three layers that I have outlined. I don't want to jump right into the floors themselves just yet for two reasons. First, if I were to go into specific floors right now, I risk these floors to be detached from each other, being essentially separate areas stitched with each other, instead of forming a coherent microworld to explore. I am not saying it is a mistake to duct tape things like this – but I do want that certain degree of coherence. The second reason is the fact that I want to incorporate some structures that span across two or more floors. They are important to faciliate some kind of fast travel, they work wonders with connecting the floors with each other, force players to think in the third dimension, and well... they are just cool as fuck.

With this being said, the plan for the next steps in the megadungeon creation is set. The next blogposts will be about the three layers and the important structures I want to incorporate, as well as some factions and denizens of importance.

#GameDesign #OSR #Megadungeon

That being said, there is one thing that has little support in HoMM3, and is a thing that is sometimes being asked about – that being free for all player vs player gameplay. There are few maps and random map templates that properly try to support this type of play – and well... the mechanics of HoMM3 work against the FFA format being fun, due to several pretty major problems that show up specifically in this one format of play.

Problem 1: The downtime

HoMM3 is a game that already struggles with large downtime between turns. While the competitive community has implemented some ways to mitigate this issue via mods, such as the better turn timer, simultaneous turns and improvements to UI allowing better planning during opponent's turn, it is still an issue that can't really be solved. In the late game, it is impossible to use the simultaneous turns feature, and the turns may last for 20 minutes or more at times even despite the timer limitations. Even at the fastest timers you can often expect players to take several minutes to play out their turn fully due to all the battles with the neutral monsters.

The downtime scales linearily with every player added to the game. For example, if you expect a typical turn to take a modest for this game 10 minutes, in a 1v1 you will typically wait 10 minutes before your turn starts. If you add a third player, this time will increase to 20 minutes, fourth player will increase this to 30, and so on – until you get to 70 minutes with the maximum possible amount of 8 players. Needless to say, nobody wants to wait for an entire hour – if not more – to actually play the game.

Problem 2: The time

The problem with downtime instantly shows the issue with the total time needed to play out a single game in this format. The games in HoMM3 take a loong time – depending on the random map template used, as well as the timer settings, the shortest time you can expect is around 2 hours. Even with the most extreme formats meant to make the gameplay as fast as possible, you can't really go under an hour without severely dumbing down the game and removing any sense of progression.

The time necessary to finish the game also scales linearly with the number of players... well, almost. There is a case to be made that higher playercount will also increase the turncount, even taking into account the possibility of surrendering, which in turn further increases the time required – but also the simultaneous turns reduce the scaling factor sonewhat significiantly.

As for why this increase of time matters, the longer the game, the more difficult it is to set it up – especially when you want to play with a higher playercount. It is way easier for two people to make time for a 4 hour game than for four people to make time for an 8 hour game. A longer game is also more prone to break down due to external factors – whether it is the standard human need to sleep or someone having to go due to an unforseen circumstance, the probability of this happening increases massively with both the playercount and the amount of time spent. And even though you can save, it will be hard for everyone involved to synchronize their free time again to maaaaybe finish the game.

Problem 3: Last Man Standing

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is – under most circumstances – an elimination game. The victory condition is to eliminate all opponents – and while in 1v1 and singleplayer this doesn't change much, in a FFA scenario things get problematic.

As soon as a player gets eliminated, they are unable to participate in the game anymore. While against random people on the internet it may not be such a huge deal, when playing against friends an early elimination means being excluded from a social activity. And it is not just any social activity – it is a social activity that you have likely set aside an afternoon, if not an entire day to take part in. It is also not that uncommon to end up with losing your army or your main hero early on due to mistake or the need to make a risky play, effectively knocking you out from the game despite not technically losing by the game mechanics.

Problem 4: Negative sum interaction

The previous three problems, while serious, are comparatively small compared to what we have here, since you can still argue them to be acceptable and you can arguably work around them a bit. This one though, well... is harsh, to say the least.

They typical flow of a 1v1 PvP game starts with a early buildup of resources, that will lead to expanding the player's influence and control on the map. Ultimately, the players will meet each other, and will try to take away the map control off their opponent. The game then usually culminates in a final battle, where the full army of each player is pitted against each other, which in turn ends with either one player surrendering the match after loss or an escape and preparation for another final battle... though sometimes you will just catch the opponent unprepared and force them to surrender this way.

Now, the issue here comes down to the fact that the battles between players are an inherent loss of resources for both players. Each battle you take is an inherent loss of resources – but while fighting against neutral units leads to you gaining more resources than you've spent, fighting against players has a different goal in mind. That goal is to make your opponent lose more resources than you.

In a 1v1 game this is a healthy play pattern – it provides a very interesting decision space with various trades you can make to gain an advantage over your opponent despite both of you losing resources. It also allows the game to progress towards its natural end. If you add more players though, this play pattern is undesirable and completely screws over the game's flow, making interacting with other players a losing endeavor. When attacking the other player causes both of you to lose resources, you fall behind every other player in the game. You can decisively destroy another player – but you will likely lose far too much in the process, and in turn be an easy target for other players to pick on. The game's mechanics naturally discourage any form of interaction between players in a free for all gameplay. The only exception is when a player is so far ahead compared to their attack target that they will actually get a net gain from the battle – which in many cases is a result of unbalanced gameplay due to random factors, giving effectively zero chance of a victory to the player on the receiving end of the attack.

Additionally, the interaction between players is often an all-or-nothing thing – to defeat a player, you need to enter that decisive final battle, which is a massive commitment. Without a huge advantage you will incur substantial losses of army – which is a resource that you can't exactly easily regain. To even initiate the conbat, you will also spend the valuable movement points of your main heroes, which in turn slows down your expansion, setting you back compared to the others. All you may or may not get as a reward are experience points and artifacts – that while powerful, may very much not offset the loss, and if the opponent runs away – no artifacts for you. Immediately after the battle your hero will also be vulnerable, with most of their mana being spent.

Problem 5: Toxic play patterns

With more players, certain game mechanics can get abused to create what is commonly understood as undesirable play patterns.

The first of these play patterns is excessive kingmaking. There is nothing preventing a player to send their resources to the other player, giving them a substantial early game boost – there is also nothing preventing them from intentionally crashing their hero with artifacts into a chosen opponent, effectively giving out artifacts for free.

Another problematic play pattern is spiteful play – the player may be reduced to the point that winning the game is impossible, but they can still harass and force other player to respond if not eliminated completely – and complete elimination is not exactly something you have time for in a free for all scenario. In the 1v1 play, the expectation is that someone who is way behind to the point of a guaranteed loss simply surrenders – but in a FFA game this may simply not be the case. The practically defeated but not yet eliminated by game mechanics opponent can still send out weak heroes, forcing a response of someone who has to deal with full powered player – this in turn has a ripple effect further punishing interaction and making the game need even more time to finish.

Now, before someone asks, the potential for diplomatic approaches – setting alliances, painting someone as main threat to gang upon, etc. is 100% fine. Small amount of kingmaking is also fine, but if it can give a very clear advantage over other players, things get very, very iffy.

Can these problems be solved?

I'll be honest – I am not sure these problems can be solved. You can design your map or template around some of these problems, but in practice things will be clunky and will require some artificial rules – that is rules that are not implemented in the game, forcing the players to remember them – to be added.

The first two problems can be handled by designing for short turn timers and structuring the map or template in a way that forces early interaction – similar to Jebus Cross with its iconic desert zone in the middle. The third problem is unsolvable without setting a different victory condition that is more viable than the standard victory condition of elimination – either via an artificial rule, or via setting in the map editor. This could also somewhat work around the fourth problem – but it can easily end up in removing player interaction whatsoever, turning the gameplay into essentially a race. And as for the fifth problem, well, I guess you can add an artificial rule to disallow sending resources to opponents.

You can definitely deal with some of the issues, as evidenced by the MKC's Jebus Outcast, which has a version supporting the free for all format. It is meant for very quick turn timers, reducing the downtime to absolute minimum. Via an artificial rule, it provides an alternative win condition of controlling the center, forcing interaction and ensuring that the game will end in a timely manner – and it does force at least some interaction to happen. It deals away with the spiteful play pattern by limiting each player to a single hero that they are not allowed to rebuy after losing a battle to the player. It has an additional artificial rule disallowing retreating from a battle, ensuring that the winner of the battle will at least recoup losses by getting some artifacts from the opponent. The rest of the interaction between players is also closer towards zero-sum, with stealing army dwellings being an option.

That being said, it still does not deal with the last man standing problem, and at lower levels of play you can easily see early game fuckups ending with the loss of all army that are effectively impossible to recover from in a meaningful manner – or sometimes losing you the game on the spot due to you permanently losing your only hero. Kingmaking, at least in theory, is more significiant here than on more standard templates – gold management is extremely important there to be able to buy out all the necessary units, and crashing your hero to give someone your artifacts is far more impactful – since it also kicks you out from the game, completely shifting the balance of power. And of course, there is still the problem that the limit of having just a single hero isn't something that everyone likes.

To make a more traditional gameplay work, the best way I can think of is the good old fixed map, with a victory condition being capturing the town in the center. To prevent devolving the game into a simple race, one would have to also include intermediate map goals that require going into the enemy territory – for example keymaster tents. Of course, the main issue of this approach is the fact that it is a fixed map, which stiffles the replay value of it compared to a random map template – but in practice, how often will you even get to play a FFA game?

Conclusion

If someone asks me what template I would recommend to play in a 3 player FFA format... I will probably say Kerberos (technically it is made for 3p) or the one hero templates (JO/Duel). I will then follow up on this by recommending some alternatives, like, for example, co-op against AI opponents or playing a different game altogether. For 4 players though, I can also recommend the 2v2 format, which, while it isn't without problems, it does actually work fine. The thing is, with how many problems FFA in H3 has, I do not want to subject unknowing players – especially ones with a little bit of pvp experience – into what is a very unoptimal experience, to say the least. After all, to make FFA in Heroes 3 work well, you have to go against the nature of the game – and when you do so, why not play something else then?

#Heroes3 #GameDesign