Try playing on Hard, guys!

from Elemental Forums

It's a giant rift in complexity between Challenging and Hard.

I advice all beta-players to give it a try.


In first ~20 turns weaker factions a wiped away by roaming monsters, and stronger ones become stronger, by turn 30 they declare warm and by turn 50 you are dead.

Player can't really explore around freely, because powerful monsters block fertile areas. Champion's proress is slower, gildar goes to minus faster.


All in all, rather unbalanced, but extremely entertaining after a number of wins on Challenging

12,016 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

I just finished world conquest on the hardest settings this morning. Blizzard is overpowered.

Hard is not hard enough, I say!

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Hard is crushing me as well.  It's very difficult to expand because there are such strong monsters nearby.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

ZardOZ was such an awesome movie. 

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Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top


Hard is still not too hard imo, but that has more to do with ai not considering how broken OP champions can get.

As long as you can get your adventuring party rolling, you don't really need gildar, cities, research, troops, etc. Just destroy civilizations with 2 swords and 2 minds. Of course, if you're not able to get rolling  due to poor champion options nearby your sovereign or a poor set of monsters to fight, then you will lose. It's more a gamble than anything else.

This will all change once things are balanced and AI is accurately able to assess your threat level.

 

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Sythion, reply 4

Hard is still not too hard imo, but that has more to do with ai not considering how broken OP champions can get.

As long as you can get your adventuring party rolling, you don't really need gildar, cities, research, troops, etc. Just destroy civilizations with 2 swords and 2 minds. Of course, if you're not able to get rolling  due to poor champion options nearby your sovereign or a poor set of monsters to fight, then you will lose. It's more a gamble than anything else.

This will all change once things are balanced and AI is accurately able to assess your threat level.

 

Yes and no.

Improving the AI will help... but it's not like it can currently do much against a 2 water sharded Blizzard, really. Heck, ignoring own making of op champs, I have no idea how to stop it, besides with maybe counterspell.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Will do a difficult game come next patch.

As long as some of the annoying stuff are dealt with.

Also I have high hopes for the new balance changes and the tactical AI!!!

It will be a different game.

 

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Hard is pretty hard, but a LOT depends on your starting position.  I've one twice when I had unusually good starting positions, but gotten stomped early 3 times with more normal starts.

Try counting goods things in sight at the start before you move or build a city.  +1 for each resource; +1 for each hireable champion of your alignment; +1 if there is a forest in sight, and +1 if there is a river.  I've seen starts as poor as 2 and as good as 9, with 3 or 4 being most common.  My first win at "hard" was the  +9 and the other was a 6 or 7 and I almost didn't make it.  I'm not the first to bitch about how much the start positions vary, but just thought I would toss that in.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

I just played a game where I had a 8/3 starting position with every shard near my capital. Wish I could enjoy this, but in .77 it didn't matter that much. Still the best start I have had. 

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

No matter the difficulty setting, it is impossible to lose so long as you are careful about the battles your sovereign gets in.  Even if you have no champions but your sovereign, and you have no city for dozens of turns, eventually, through XP and drops, you reach a point where you can still steamroll the AI.  Which is cool, in its own way.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Urrumi, reply 9
No matter the difficulty setting, it is impossible to lose so long as you are careful about the battles your sovereign gets in.  Even if you have no champions but your sovereign, and you have no city for dozens of turns, eventually, through XP and drops, you reach a point where you can still steamroll the AI.  Which is cool, in its own way.

That's actually cool! a no cities game where you play without cities and raze the ones you conquer!

 

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Update: It's only true for medium ravaged world, a large world with plenty of resources and mana still becomes too easy after you get an army of 3-4 high level champions.

Strongly agree about overpowered Blizzard.

And melee hero with Discipline is an instant tank. 

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

Also other players are still too peaceful towards each other.