[Bug] Gilden is uber

Holy Hit Points Batman!! Lord Markinns got over 3k

Something's bugged.

What I would like to know is how he lost like 2k of those hitpoints... Especially since he was Matrix-dodging all my attacks...

  He used Blood Curse to do it.  Blood curse allows you to sacrifice your people to add to your hit points.  It also disables your ability to heal (so if you want to get some life back you better kill more people).  Looks like he has been killing a lot of people.

That might be a bit OP.

Sounds like a death spell. Why would gilden have it?

Lord Markinn, in his early days of founding his kingdom of Gilden, discovered a type of powerful stone beneath his home city. These stones glistened with a crimson fire unknown to survivors of the Cataclysm. Markinn was mesmerized by these fiery crystals and immediately dug them out and fashioned them to adorn his crown, armor and personal weaponry. Unbeknownst to him, these gleaming stones imprisoned the essence of the Blood Titan Kil-Palax. Lord Markinn's body was fed immense power when adorning these crystals (henceforth called Bloodstones by his personal retinue), and he soon discovered he could steal the essence of his followers with the slightest touch. The lust for power and immortality overcame Markinn, and soon he used the power of the Bloodstones to feed Kil-Palax's insatiable hunger for human essence. Followers drained by the Bloodstones became mindless husks, with only the power to obey the imprisoned Titan's will. The once prosperous kingdom of Gilden is now a desolate land whose citizens mindlessly scrape inside the earth, searching for more Bloodstones.

Markinn's soul has been corrupted by the Blood Titan's influence... and all of Elemental is poised to submit to the power of the Bloodstones. Is there any Champion that can reverse the Blood Curse and save all that they hold dear? Only time will tell... dun dun dun...

Bit OP? But definitely cool!

I'm thinking diminishing return might be a good idea. 

I agree.

Evokes memories of certain stuff the AI did in FFH2. Give the AI the tools and it starts to use them in hillirious and shocking ways. It already is becoming a beta-tester in its own right (hope it doesn't become self-aware soon... ;)).
Driving home points about balance with brute force . Just hope Derek doesn't get burned by one of those like a certain Dragon or Lich in another project of his...

What is most fun is that it isn't a bug, just a creative way to use a feature which may or may not be OP. Maybe let the AI and players roam free with it a bit. Who knows what the real price for that huge load of HP was. If it means giving up all your economic base for it, seems like a possible fair way to get a huge opportunity from huge costs.

Power rating: "strong" is quite an understatement though. Maybe insert additional power levels like titanic, colossal ect...

Can't wait to see the AI doing similar silly stuff in my games.

spoiler

There is a tower, called the Dark Spire, in the Ruins of the Imperium wildland.  It is a very tough area to get to and guarded by powerful elementals and demons.  The spell is in that tower and available to any faction that reaches it.

/spoiler

Now that sounds like the AI earned its Markinnzilla the hard way. Mayhaps let the AI also keep the spoils of its endavours... (Players whould probably feel entitled to that as well if they fought as hard as you describe for it after all...)


At least now we know what you said about the big rewards to be gained in the Wildlands in the sneak peak wasn't an understatement. Question would be if the risk is really appropriate (or to low) for the above award.

Holy hell... (looks back at army...) "You guys go this way, I'll go home."

Yay for ridiculous AI win!

Is it indication of the improved AI, that Markinn was able to reach the Tower; and have the desire to adventure there in the first place?

Another thought, it seems very early in the game for someone to be able to achieve such a feat. From what I gather from the screenshots, the factions have only had time to settle their capital cities. With little time to build up an adventuring force, or adequately equip professional adventurers for a quest of this apparent magnitude.  Did he stumble upon some blind luck? Or was it not so tough as intended? Or did the "guardians" see him as a fellow? Or what? Something may be more off than just the OP of the spell affect.

Looks awesome to me.

that realy sounds very cool.

some dimishing return would be ok but please dont remove it

Huzzah for the AI! To the victor goes the spoils.

I do agree that diminishing returns might be something to consider.

Still, very cool to see.

Derek really is making the game more like Master of Magic!  I love when the knight hero in MoM gets bugged and gets every skill available, including summoning demons like a demon lord.  That's what that screen reminded me of.

One of the questions is how did he manage to get Blood Curse from the wildlands so early in the game? That's the part that worries me the most - I thought wildlands were supposed to be super hard.

From what I see in my games, the monsters seem to be ignoring enemy sovereigns.. Not sure of their other armies.

I actually believe I just saw twenty minutes ago an enemy sovereign occupying the same tile as a monster stack. The monsters were invisible beneath the sov. Hitting end of turn saw the monsters move out from the tile.

I wonder if this was a stop gap measure to keep the game going even if the AI was being super dumb.