Input wanted on map Difficultiy

[eekstah]

Hi.

A long, long time time ago I started making this HIV map that I now though I could finish and release publicly.

I have only played multiplayer with friends over LANs, so my problem is that I don't know how good the average HIV player is, and what is expected at the different difficulty settings etc.


In the first battle that will take place, the player has a Level 3 Ranger (Nature) with +2 Attack and +1 Defence bonuses, all arrows and a Longbow, a potion of Speed, a portion of Strength, plus 19 Berserkers and 19 tryglogytes.

I use the script that sets varible "Difficulty" to 1,2,3,4 or 5 where 1 is Novice and 5 is Champion.

The Opponent will be berserkers, and the Quantity depends on the Difficulty setting with this formula: 74 + "Difficulty" * 3 .

The result is
Difficulty 1 - 77 Berserkers
Difficulty 2 - 80 Berserkers
Difficulty 3 - 83 Berserkers
Difficulty 4 - 86 Berserkers
Difficulty 5 - 89 Berserkers

The Quantity will not grow, because the Player will not have the opportunity to recruit more creatures before this battle.


What do you think of this? I was thinking of rating this map "Advanced". Does it seem Advanced to you? The purpose is that the player will have to use both the potions in order to win this battle, and loose all troops but the Hero in the battle.

I'm gratefull for feedback and suggestions.

If you are interested, i have uploaded a map HERE where I have copied the right adventure objects and scripts, so that you can play it to see for yourself, and tell me how hard you found it.



Thanks

[jeff]

I am not sure what you mean by all arrows, but the difference or 12 Beserkers from novice to champion seems way too small. Even at lower levels for a hero the difference probably should be double, triple or even more than that.

[eekstah]

"All arrows" is the artifacts Arrow of Poison, Arrow of Stunning, Flaming Arrow and Arrow of Slaying

I know that the difference between 77 and 89 is small, but you have very little troops yourself, and when I played it I found that 88-90 berserkers where roughly the limit of what i could hold back myself.

The Hero only make sufficient damage while shooting, and the creatures is there just to hold back the berserkers long enough to get some real hits.

I have also taken into to equation that a Novice player will most likely not organize the troops properly before the battle, and about 77 is the limit I could kill when not doing so.

Because i have, so far, rated the map Advanced, Andvanced will also be the recomended defficulty setting, and I feel that 83 berserkers is just about the right challange.

Because of the "randomnes" of damage and battle terrain, I have tested this many times. But my point is that I'm not sure how good I play. Maybe I'm increadly good, and nobody else would manage to win, or maybe I really stink and everyone else will think it's a piece of cake...

So In this case I don't think that doubling or tripling something is right, but thank you for point of view. Maybe you would like to test it and see for youself? I find it really hard to beat the berserkers at Champion difficulty. I would be very grateful for all input.

[Thelonious]

Well at what diffeculty do you normally play, because if you play at intermediate, you can't handle what a impossible player can handle... You should consider that as well.

[eekstah]

I see your point. Thank you.
I started playing Heroes when H2 was new, and then I started playing at Intermediate. And since then I have actually never played at anything else. The thought simply never accured to me. Hmm.

Could an impossible player be so kind to try out the map? I gave a link in the first post. It's not an entire map, it countains only what you see in the picture, but it's the same circumstances as in the actual map. It would be useful to know if it is way too simple to beat the berserkers when playing at max difficulty.

[Thelonious]

I see your point. Thank you.
I started playing Heroes when H2 was new, and then I started playing at Intermediate. And since then I have actually never played at anything else. The thought simply never accured to me. Hmm.

Yeah, that's what's happened to me to

[pepak]

Could an impossible player be so kind to try out the map? I gave a link in the first post.

On my first try, I managed to kill all the berserkers with 4 shots and 15 troglodytes remaining. I did use both potions before the fight, but this proved unnecessary - I would win just as well with no potion whatsoever, as my hero didn't come into contact with the berserkers at all. I think you can quite safely increase the amount of berserkers to a 100 or maybe even more.

Savegame just before the last shot: download