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| Thread: New Q&A! |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 · NEXT» |
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 21, 2012 11:56 AM |
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Edited by Elvin at 09:44, 18 Jan 2013.
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New Q&A!
I am planning a new Q&A, is there anything you'd want me to ask? I have room for 10 questions to be submitted on early January  Give me what you have, I will compile a list and see what can be answered.
Everything is finally ready, gather round for I have a couple of Q&As to share
Along with Irina's Q&A I had asked Erwan about the faction magic affinities as I found some parts unclear or unexplored. For instance.. is it possible for nagas to cast dark magic? Haven has abandoned Sylath and turned to Elrath, do they retain their air affinity or have they lost it? Is stronghold supposed to have access to all elemental magic? And so on. Without further ado I present you..
FACTION MAGIC IN ASHAN!
A quick answer would be that Magic does not discriminate in the world of Ashan. Anyone can learn how to use it, it¢s just that not everyone is good at it (it would be like singing or painting in our world for instance). Theoretically, all the races / factions have access to all the schools but there are some "natural" affinities, related to the Dragon-Blood concept.
Being children of the Dragons, the Elder Races have some kind of "Dragon Magic" in their blood. Air for the Humans, Earth for the Elves, Chaos for the Demons etc. This leads them to favor the associated school of Magic and generally avoid the opposite school.
There¢s also the fact that Light Magic is harmful for the "unnatural beings" (Demons, Undead, Orcs to a lesser extent) so they also generally avoid using this Magic.
Academy, Necropolis and Stronghold are a bit different because these factions are composed of "created creatures", not Elder races.
Academy and Necropolis favor Prime magic as the origin, and superior manifestation of Magic. Sar-Elam did not become an Elemental Dragon but a Dragon of pure ("Prime") Magic.
Talking only of the lore of the world, and not of gameplay needs for strict limits to balance the factions, faction magic affinities would be:
ACADEMY
Favor ORDER (an aspect of PRIME, because they are disciples of Sar-Elam). Equally embrace all the Elemental schools. Avoid CHAOS or VOID (the most obscure aspect of PRIME, like anti-matter in some ways) simply because they consider these powers to be too dangerous and corruptive, making the Mage a slave, and not the master, of its Magic.
HAVEN
Favor LIGHT (conversion to Elrath, led by the Angels who have a natural affinity for Light Magic), are good at AIR (Humans = children of Ylath). Would never use DARK or CHAOS (against their beliefs).
INFERNO
Favor CHAOS (an aspect of PRIME, because they are children of Urgash) and FIRE (it was necessary to adapt to their prison-world Sheogh, which is all fire and brimstone). Very rarely use LIGHT (it harms them) and WATER (quite useless in Sheogh). But they could if they would.
NECROPOLIS
Favor ORDER (an aspect of PRIME, because they are disciples of Sar-Elam, like the Wizards of Academy) and DARK (because this is the "Death" school of Magic). Very rarely use LIGHT (it harms them). Would never use CHAOS (against their beliefs). Some of them have been seduced by the power of the VOID (somehow connected to the Life and Death cycle created by Asha).
SANCTUARY
Favor WATER (children of Shalassa). Very rarely use FIRE (quite useless in their aquatic or icy kingdoms). No problem with using DARK however.
FORTRESS
Favor FIRE (children of Arkath) but sometimes use WATER, which can be useful in their forges and when they go "outdoors" (Grimheim being a range of glaciers, ice fields, and snowy forests).
DUNGEON
Favor DARK (conversion to Malassa, led by the Faceless who have a natural affinity for Dark Magic). Very rarely use LIGHT (harmful to all Shadow-tainted creatures), are good at EARTH (used to be Elves, children of Sylanna plus it is often useful underground). The dungeon "Destructive tradition" is gone and has been transferred to the Inferno faction and the Dark Elves of the Soulscar clan (who have turned to Urgash and the powers of Chaos).
SYLVAN
Favor EARTH (children of Sylanna). Very rarely use FIRE (dangerous in their native forests) but they could if they would.
STRONGHOLD
Have an affinity for AIR (because of their Human origins) and CHAOS (because of their Demon blood). They also favor EARTH because it¢s useful to them (they live off the land). They avoid LIGHT (it harms them). Their magic is weaker and more unpredictable than the other races because of their mixed blood. They generally hate CHAOS (because they hate the Demons), and PRIME magic in general (the magic of their makers the Wizards). But individual Orcs could learn Order Magic and become Wizards, others (like Toghrul in H6) could turn to Demon-Worship and become Chaos Warlocks. Father Sky and Mother Earth are strange Orc concepts, often connected to Ylath and Sylanna but sometimes to Urgash and Asha, and there is no equivalent for the other Elemental Dragons.
And on to the main course, the questions that you asked
COMMUNITY Q&A
03.01.2013
- Will you continue the side story started in Danse Macabre? Will you eventually return to the old universe at some point (Axeoth and Enroth)? This old universe had a more retro/classical fantasy that many of us appreciate. If you revisit it, will it be in the same vein as in M&M and HoMM 1-4?
As you know, the release of Heroes VI coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Might & Magic brand. So we wanted to celebrate that special event by making maps recreating the ancient worlds. There was VARN in Pirates of the Savage Sea, XEEN in Danse Macabre and Enroth in the Gold Edition.
Apart from this kind of tributes to the rich history of the Might & Magic brand, there is no plan to actively return to the ancient worlds and make them the main setting again. However, there might be some nods and connections here and there, in the same vein as the “Week of the Ancients” in Heroes VI, which hinted that the Ancients may have visited Ashan at some point. So while Ashan stands on its own and is indeed quite different from the previous settings of the Might & Magic series, it¢s quite possible all the worlds of Might & Magic co-exist in the same cosmos... After all, who can say what lies on the other end of the Void?
- Any plan on improving/extending the skill system? It is considered by many to be the weak point right now. Any plans for more magic diversity between factions or addition of new spells?
Extending the skill system is part of Shades of Darkness, as a new faction is being introduced. Then it means skills related to the Dungeon faction are implemented. Though, we won¢t revamp the Skill System as it is right now as it would mean changing basically a large part of the original game and that would be a nightmare to do for a 120+ hours game. So we tweak and fix here and there and add new content to the current system, but we won¢t change the whole she-bang.
- Overall, will you improve anything from the actual game? Or just add content?
Our main goal is to add content for sure, meaning 2 new campaigns but also 1 new faction (Dungeon). Other than that, we¢re also fixing issues and bugs still present in the game, but won¢t improve existing features or add new ones. We know that many players asked us for more improvements but we couldn¢t do it for a reason that the current engine is not flexible enough to let us changing features, or add new ones (especially Sim Turns and Battle Replays). Indeed, we would have to change the engine architecture to implement such features.
- Will we get a second expansion? What about fan favorite factions like academy or sylvan?
There are currently no plans for a second expansion pack for Heroes VI. But of course, only time will tell.
- Danse Macabre was good because for once you gave us a more mature plot, more sophisticated and less childish. Is this the new tendency or will this stay isolated?
This evolution is indeed intended for the Heroes series. A more mature and sophisticated storytelling, morally ambivalent, inspired by the historical dramas, in which the heroes are men and women of power, leaders of armies and nations. Danse Macabre is a perfect illustration of this trend, a tale of manipulation, deceit and betrayal with a villain as the main protagonist.
That said, with Might & Magic we also have the opportunity to tell different kinds of story, and the Single Player maps or mini-campaigns (like in the Adventure Packs) are ideal occasions to try different tones. Pirates of the Savage Sea, for instance, was a loving pastiche of the sword-and-sorcery genre, with its barbarian hero and crazy cult.
- Why did you introduce new composers alongside King and Romero?
While Rob King and Paul Romero are indeed strongly associated with Might & Magic since the first Heroes, let¢s not forget there are not the only composers to have worked on the series through time. Before them, great composers like Tim Tully, Masaharu Iwata or Joe Hisaishi (who composed the music for the PC-Engine port of the first Might & Magic) were involved with the franchise. And even after Rob and Paul came onboard, other composers like Jennifer Wang or Steve Bacca contributed to the soundtracks from time to time Also worth mentioning are Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan, who composed the soundtrack for Dark Messiah, and Sean Lorhish, who created a lot of great melodies for Clash of Heroes.
On Heroes VI, our plan was always to pay tribute to the various composers who worked on the series in recent years, hence the inclusion of themes from Dark Messiah and Clash of Heroes. But during the production of Heroes VI, it also became apparent that conflicting schedules and personal issues would prevent Rob and Paul to compose as much music as was initially planned. So we discussed with them and found a solution: we licensed from them the rights to include some remixes of their previous Might & Magic soundtracks in Heroes VI, and for the rest of the tracks we brought another composer, Jason Graves, on board. Jason also composed the new themes for the Adventure Packs and the Stand-alone add-on.
That doesn¢t mean we won¢t work with Rob and Paul again in the future as we truly consider them to be an essential part of the Might & Magic feel.
- Will the new content be implemented into the old campaigns? Will I be able to play haven campaign with more artifact sets and fight against the dark elves as neutrals?
Actually, Shades of Darkness will be based on the design of Heroes VI Vanilla. So it means that artifact sets collected in a campaign cannot be used in other campaigns. Though, all the elements related to your Dynasty (weapons & pets) can be used in all campaigns.
- Will there be an open beta-testing for "Shades of Darkness"?
Organizing an Open Beta-Testing for a game is really a complex process, which requires a lot of time and resources. Moreover, it is really interesting when working on a brand new game (using a new engine) as it helps the dev team to find major issues but also major flaws. As Shades of Darkness is a Standalone Add-On with no major change to the game design, we thought that an open beta testing of the game was not necessary.
However, please note we¢re currently working with VIPs to start balancing the game as good as possible before releasing it to everybody.
- Will we get an improved map editor (with possibilities to put bosses/Dynasty weapons on our map)?
Unfortunately, as stated by Limbic and Ubisoft during Heroes VI Support, it is not possible to improve the Map Editor. Indeed, we would have to create a new Map Editor from scratch in order to provide you an user friendly and accessible tool, which would take a lot of time and resources. We then decided to focus on the expansion content, as our goal is to provide you a brand new faction (with new skills and units) and quality content for the Dungeon faction.
- If I have extra seals from the original game, can I use them to unlock new stuff from the expansion?
Shades of Darkness will be entirely tied to Heroes VI Vanilla, meaning you can access the original content and the new content using the same Executable file. So, it also means that the Dynasty Seals can be used to unlock stuff from the original game and from the expansion.
And a few lore related questions:
- We know that there are multiple Dark Elf Clans. And we know that each one in headed by one of Tuidhana's Children. We know of the Soulscar, the Nightshard and the Shadowbrand clans and we also know that Realag is the head of the Soulscar at first and of the Shadowbrand after he is purified of his demonic taint. Which other clans are there and who lead them?
Shadowbrand, Nightshard and Soulscar are the main clans, and they are usually the ones involved in the big storylines. They are led by Raelag and his brothers, the twins Menan and Sylsai, that you¢ll get to know better in Shades of Darkness. But there are also several smaller clans. For instance, Raelag¢s half-sister Eruina (who also appeared in Heroes V) leads her own clan, far from her brothers¢ courts.
- The game never covered the story of the six demon overlords and their subsequent defeat by the Sovereign. Will this storyline be explored in the future?
This is a story we¢d love to tell since it is a major turning point for the Demons. It will, however, remains shrouded in mystery for the time being
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Locksley
Promising
Famous Hero
Wielding a six-string
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posted December 21, 2012 12:21 PM |
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The future of H6 after the expansion?
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Dave_Jame
Promising
Legendary Hero
I'm Faceless, not Brainless.
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posted December 21, 2012 12:34 PM |
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Why there are only 2 campaignes.. and how long will they be. 4 maps like in the original game, ore more...
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I'm just a Mirror of your self.
We see, we look, we gather, we store, we teach.
We are many, and you can be one of us.
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DarkLord
Supreme Hero
Fear me..
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posted December 21, 2012 01:21 PM |
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Edited by DarkLord at 13:22, 21 Dec 2012.
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if there is planned come back of "old" heroes (like Sandro, Craig Hack)
for example Solmyr, Gelu, Gauldoth, Yog and etc.
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War-overlord
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Presidente of Isla del Tropico
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posted December 21, 2012 04:09 PM |
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A lore related question, but who would expect differently from me.
It has a bit of a run up, but here goes:
We know that there are multiple Dark Elf Clans. And we know that each one in headed by one of Tuidhana's Children. We know of the Soulscar, the Nightshard and the Shadowbrand clans and we also know that Realag is the head of the Soulscar at first and of the Shadowbrand after he is purified of his demonic taint. Which other clans are there and who lead them?
The run-up is there so we don't get answer we already know. Provided the question is picked. Also, try not to let them get away with a "Wait and see"-answer.
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Vote El Presidente! Or Else!
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natalka
Supreme Hero
Bad-mannered
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posted December 21, 2012 05:49 PM |
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Ok, my question is will they keep the battle sites so lame. 
No, seriously! They have power of 550-650. I made my version of battle sites with power minimum 1100. And you can still fight them no problem.
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seddy
Known Hero
Spinner of delicious cupcakes
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posted December 21, 2012 11:21 PM |
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Hmm, well I guess I'm curious about:
How will you increase hero build variety (thus replayability) and prevent "cookie cutter builds", where all heroes always pick the same skills?
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xerox
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
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posted December 21, 2012 11:30 PM |
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Edited by xerox at 23:30, 21 Dec 2012.
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The above question MUST be asked.
Will there be any new spells?
What makes Dungeon gameplay unique?
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Over himself, over his own
body and
mind, the individual is
sovereign.
- John Stuart Mill
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IbnWaliBarad
Hired Hero
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posted December 22, 2012 12:36 AM |
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I've been stalking these forums, but just thought it was the perfect opportunity to create an account :
1. Will you continue the side story started in danse macabre? Will you eventually return to the old universe at some point (axeoth and enroth)?
This old universe had a more retro/classical fantasy that many of us appreciate. If you revisit it, will it be in the same vein as in M&M and HoMM 1-4?
2. Any plan on the skill system? It is considered by many to be the weak point right now. Any plan for more magic diversity between factions?
3. Will you give us sim turn?
4. Overall, will you improve anything from the actual game? Or just add content?
5. Danse macabre was good because for once you gave us a more mature plot, more sophisticated and less childish. Is this the new tendency or will this stay isolated? (feel free to reformulate that the way you want)
6. What about academy? Can we hope to see it in this game one day? Specifically academy since it is said that blackhole had started working on it.
PS : I suppose you are well aware of that, but just is case : Please don't add any useless question like : ''what do you like the most...'' add some question about actual content, and big question about big feature that the community desire.
Ask question about stuff were we really have no clue and are awaiting anxiously. Don't ask question about the number of campaign or what color will be the elves. Ask more about stuff that we are anticipating the most.
AND ask YES/NO type of questions, one where you can be sure that the answer won't be a vague : ''we are not sure...''. Don't ask about the future of the franchise, you know they won't answer clearly.
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[CENTER]
[URL=http://www.nodiatis.com/personali
ty.htm]
 [/URL][/CENTER]
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 22, 2012 12:57 AM |
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Some very good questions. Not to worry, Irina will let me know what can be answered before I submit my final set of questions Sim turns has long been revealed as not viable for H6. After BH left and Limbic took over they confirmed that it's not possible without messing up the game, something to do with the game's code. Same goes for introducing major gameplay changes, it risks introducing new bugs or even breaking the game. BH's departure while unavoidable left behind more than a few issues and broken bridges..
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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krs
Famous Hero
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posted December 22, 2012 11:15 AM |
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"4. Overall, will you improve anything from the actual game? Or just add content?" If not...
4.1 Will you improve anything from the actual game after this addon?
"5. How about the rest of the factions (academy)?"
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IbnWaliBarad
Hired Hero
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posted December 22, 2012 02:00 PM |
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Quote:
Some very good questions. Not to worry, Irina will let me know what can be answered before I submit my final set of questions Sim turns has long been revealed as not viable for H6. After BH left and Limbic took over they confirmed that it's not possible without messing up the game, something to do with the game's code. Same goes for introducing major gameplay changes, it risks introducing new bugs or even breaking the game. BH's departure while unavoidable left behind more than a few issues and broken bridges..
Such a shame really. I thank you for informing me of this. I wouldn't have guessed the situation was so desperate. Better wait for the 7th, if it ever come (even if it'll probably a disappointment''.
I wish not to derail from the topic, but it's too tempting to say that ubisoft really did ruined this franchise. Transforming it into a childish, cheap cash cow, mainly oriented toward simplistic internet games. They obviously didn't put the adequate budget, and probably engages in doubtful business practice (outsourcing, scamming the developers...). Typical gaming corporate behavior 
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 22, 2012 03:35 PM |
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Please check your HC messenger, better not to derail this thread
Back to questions!
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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DarkLord
Supreme Hero
Fear me..
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posted December 23, 2012 08:50 AM |
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Edited by DarkLord at 08:52, 23 Dec 2012.
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in which years will Expansion take place??
i mean in Ashan chronology
also will the ending of Danse Macabre have impact on the expansion story, or its for future games??
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watcher83
Supreme Hero
Child of Malassa
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posted December 23, 2012 10:45 AM |
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1) How will the blood path mage hero be called? (Not Warlock)
2) Why not academy also?
3) This game will have less than 9 races in the end? That's disapointing. Please let them answer why.
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War-overlord
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Presidente of Isla del Tropico
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posted December 23, 2012 11:10 AM |
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Quote:
3) This game will have less than 9 races in the end? That's disapointing. Please let them answer why.
This isn't set in stone. It is unlikely, I'll admit that. But nowhere has it been confirmed that not all factions are going to make the final cut.
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Vote El Presidente! Or Else!
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undead_assault
Adventuring Hero
Armageddoning
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posted December 23, 2012 02:50 PM |
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hmmm, I am very interested in Ashan story. Here are my questions:
1. Why Sanctuary faction already extinct on HOMM V?
2. Where are the dragons in Heroes VI? (not elemental dragon gods) There was only dragon bones in Pao Islands on Stronghold Cammpaign.
3. What is Raelag actually? In HOMM V, the change from Agrael to Raelag information was very little. And in Heroes VI expansion, he already became Raelag, not Agrael first.
4. When will stories about 6 Demon Overlords be released?
Thanks
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War-overlord
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Presidente of Isla del Tropico
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posted December 23, 2012 03:02 PM |
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Quote:
hmmm, I am very interested in Ashan story. Here are my questions:
1. Why Sanctuary faction already extinct on HOMM V?
2. Where are the dragons in Heroes VI? (not elemental dragon gods) There was only dragon bones in Pao Islands on Stronghold Cammpaign.
3. What is Raelag actually? In HOMM V, the change from Agrael to Raelag information was very little. And in Heroes VI expansion, he already became Raelag, not Agrael first.
4. When will stories about 6 Demon Overlords be released?
Thanks
I can answer two of those.
1: No, after the events of Heroes VI, but before Heroes V, the Naga of the Lotus Empire are plunged into a Civil War. Having to rebuild their empire, they focused mainly on those others closest to their Empire when they were not focusing on themselves, IE the Pao Orcs and the Sea Elves. It is with them that they made a stand against the Demons during Isabels War.
3: Realag is a Dark Elf. Agreal is the name he assumed as a Demon Cultist. Like Heretic Heroes in VI, Agreal is Realag in possessed Demon Armour. Effectively, Argeal is a Heretic(even if he is classed as a Demon Lord in 5). The ritual that grants his Possessed Armour fuses it with his mind, soul and body. Which is why he needed a Dragon Knight, Tieru to cleanse him to severe his bonds and alliance with the Demons. Allowing him to take his old name of Realag again. I believe the Campaign of Shades of Darkness will focus on how Realag came into contact with the Demons in the first place.
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Vote El Presidente! Or Else!
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 23, 2012 05:14 PM |
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The dragon knights can shapeshift into a dragon but pure dragons are around, just not encountered in H6 yet.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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The_Polyglot
Promising
Supreme Hero
channeling capybara energy
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posted December 23, 2012 11:37 PM |
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This is something that bugs me to no end:
Why did they introduce new composers alongside King and Romero?
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Friend-shaped
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