AI Difficulty

[Goolies]

I want to get this game but have been reading that the AI completely broken to a point that they are unbearable/unbeatable. Has this issue been addressed?

[Mort]

The AI is very beatable, the game just has a lot of boomerang mechanics (bodyguards/infirmaries) that allow all players to rebound from losses, so it feels like an never ending tide unless you're winning decisively or taking their towns. And the tutorial is the worst ive ever seen, since the AI will come murder you since it doesn't recognize that it's a tutorial match.

[Power Button]

Play it on easy, normal is a new hard in this game

[RegalKain]

The game is really easy, even on the hardest difficulty, if you've played a Heroes of MM game before, or played any sort of strategy games you should be fine, just read and think ahead a bit.

[Livy]

All the difficulty setting goes is to give the AI a handicap such as getting more troops than you can in a week/respawn their army. So if you can manage to minimize losses you can always beat them.

[Sievers]

I've been playing on normal and haven't been having any issues. Sometimes the randomness catches me in a situation that I can't really get out of, but it has never felt unfairly hard. I played a teensy tiny bit of HoMM3 way back in the day so it's not like I'm an expert or anything, you just need to pick a strategy to focus on and keep focusing on it, don't spread your skills out too much, pile them on the stuff you're getting the most use out of.

[eddieballgame]

Normal is fine, many ways to set up maps & such to make adjustments until you improve,
Game is great...buy it. :)
btw, I own the GOG version & will probably pick up the Steam version...support & all.

[twitch.tv/GFYE]

Originally posted by Goolies:

I want to get this game but have been reading that the AI completely broken to a point that they are unbearable/unbeatable. Has this issue been addressed?

The game is fine, it just has a steep learning curve. A few hours in it will finally click when you find a faction you like and get their mechanics down. Each faction has a unique playstyle or mini-game within the game. Go ahead and buy it, if you are a fan of HOMM or like tactical games this will be a fun time. Each race feels unique and DAY ONE support for mods, means there is a lot of untapped potential after you've tried all of the vanilla content.

[Kinja]

Don't listen to people with frail egos who think the game is broken just because they're not immediately beating the game. Make up your own mind, go to the dev's itch.io and try the game's demo for free.

[Kinja]

Originally posted by ZirzoR:

Originally posted by Kinja:

Don't listen to people with frail egos who think the game is broken just because they're not immediately beating the game. Make up your own mind, go to the dev's itch.io and try the game's demo for free.

Got the steam version today, my first game I smashed 3 normal AI's 1v3, not even remotely hard, was a complete wash.

Yeah, if you know what you're doing the difficulty is fine. I have no idea what these "experts" who claim they've played "tons of HoMM" yet can't beat the game on easy are talking about. Just need to actually look at your unit traits and pay attention what you're sending them out against.

[Amaze]

The AI is not broken, and the game is very fun when you learn to play.

What I will tell you is that, if you expect to jump into the game, do 0 planning ahead, 0 strategy, put 0 effort in to learn any synergies, you'll get crushed. The people complaining are mostly casual players who want to jump in a game, make a ♥♥♥♥ ton of blunders, and then expect to still be able to win.

Like the first person in the thread addressed, you need to do a little research on the boomerang mechanics (bodyguards, hospital, etc). The tutorial doesn't highlight their critical importance.

The fact that boomerang mechanics are not clearly shown to the player leads HoMM veterans to believe the AI cheats, when in fact, it only utilizes these mechanics available to the player.

[FaintPulse]

It’s not that bad. I can play and win on Normal no problem. And I don’t even choose a faction. I just let it select randomly, so I get some exposure to the various faction strategies. Also, there’s no shame in restarting if you’re off to a bad start.

I’m learning the game and enjoying myself. The similarities to HoMM are real, and like others have said, if you’re familiar with turn-based strategies, you won’t feel out of your depth.

[Goolies]

Okay, so what I am gathering from your responses is that the reviews are made by highly impatient people that don't want to put the work in to grasp the mechanics.

Thank you all for the honest responses. I'll definitely be checking this game out. Appreciate all the help.

[fierybird]

If you have a large amount of experience in these games, or if you are willing to work on it for a large amount of time, you'll get there.

If you just want to drop in and play for fun here and there, the AI is harsh and will crush you. Even on easy.

[Expio]

The game is very easy at most levels. The AI only attack when you have no defenses.

Try to use a empty city as bait and hunt the less leveled heros of the AI.

[Syrias]

Don't listen to the five jackass trolls who repost "lol git gud, the problem must be you" in every single thread complaining about the difficulty. There's a serious problem, even if they're too stupid to see it-- there's a huge portion of the consumer base who agree with you.

Unfortunately, we (the real fanbase) are still trying to figure out what's exactly causing the source of this dissonance. It's definitely something in the playstyle-- currently, I'm leaning towards magic-using heroes being far more powerful than their melee counterparts. Additionally, the skill tree seems to favor players who focus is a few key skills instead of spreading themselves out. There is a clear "playstyle" that is rewarded and others are not getting the same benefits, but it isn't immediately clear what that is because these butts refuse to contribute and add more useful information, instead choosing to mock other players. Ignore them. There's a problem, and the adults are going to fix it.