Mod/Fix : Hunter of Heroes Nerf

[Twan]

This (short) mod gives the hunter of heroes the stats of a false horror. Be aware pretenders and heroes, the Hunter has 1hp.

( http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=467272&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 for why)

Edit : changed light infantry stats for false horror

[NTJedi]

Great idea... the Doom Horror needed a fix since the next patch will be at least a week.
Giving identical stats of a light infantry seems a little too extreme... perhaps something a little more balanced like the stats of a lesser horror thus being more realistic as well.

[Twan]

As it attacks non marked random heroes of the hall of fame, my goal was to make the hunter totally unefficient.

But you can change #copystats 28 by #copystats 307 for a lesser horror (or #copystats 308 for a normal) if you want a little more sport (#copystats 216 can be fun too).

[NTJedi]

Twan said:
As it attacks non marked random heroes of the hall of fame, my goal was to make the hunter totally unefficient.



Thanks for the download!

I wasn't aware it was actually attacking unmarked heroes as well. If this is true then the most balanced and realistic nerf would be the weak false horror.

[Twan]

Good idea, I've made him a false horror.

[PashaDawg]

Thanks, Twan!

[PDF]

Well, isn't a False Horror still dangerous for the puny commanders that enters HoF on turn 1 because they gained 2 xp ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif
You should give it att 0 too http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[DominionsFan]

Now this is a real hotfix! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Thanks Twan.

[Meglobob]

Well done Twan, this is a excellent patch/hotfix for all us MP people, now we can get on with some gaming...

[Hammerstein]

Yeah good job. Since it hadnt happened to me yet I didnt care much until I lost 3 of my best heroes last night.

[Twan]

The version attached with this post also nerf the Eaters to be normal horrors with a little more hp.

(I'm searching if there are other doom horrors, I dislike things that have 0,0001% to happen and kill your best unit like these unique horrors)

[Endoperez]

Slave to Unreason, Eater of Gods, Hunter of Heroes, Maker of Ruins (he doens't attack commanders AFAIK, and haven't seen him attack any cities yet), Eater of Dreams at least.

[Taqwus]

Unless 3.01 added any, or there are non-unique doom horrors, those are the only ones -- the Eater of Dreams, the three forms of the Eater of Gods, the Slave to Unreason, the Maker of Ruins, and the Hunter of Heroes.

[Mind Elemental]

Those are some pretty badass-sounding horror names. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif Is there any chance someone could post a screenshot of each of those guys?

[The DarkOne]

Here you have the hunter of heroes.
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/469688-Hunter%20of%20heroes.jpg

[The DarkOne]

And here is the Eater of gods in one of his forms.
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/469689-eater%20of%20gods.jpg
I don't have any screenshots of the others.

[Twan]

Thanks.

[Meglobob]

The Hunter of Heroes text needs changing for v3.01 to ,"The Hunter emerges every month to slay every hero and pretender in the hall of heroes until none are left alive". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Beorne]

Is it possible to apply this mod to an already running mp game?

[Endoperez]

Beorne said:
Is it possible to apply this mod to an already running mp game?



No.

[Beorne]

Ok, so I think that damn bug should be fixed soon ...

[Caduceus]

Here's another pic of a different hunter.

[Amos]

Any idea about the damage type for Curse Luck? Does it simply curse?

[Endoperez]

Nope. I thought it was, but then someone actually survived for one turn in one of my test games...

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/463812-temp.jpg

[Amos]

Ouch! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif Thats why they are so fatal. If I make them summonable in my Horror mod, they will need to cost an insane amount of gems.

[Epaminondas]

The DarkOne said:
Here you have the hunter of heroes.
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/469688-Hunter%20of%20heroes.jpg



Hmmm. I have not seen him in the game (I only have the Demo), but his stats don't look overwhelming. That is, a well-equipped SC should handle him or even a mage-type with strong body guards, no? He just looks like an SC who is slightly better stat-wise than a Niefel Jarl. Of course, I don't know what all of his attacks do...

[Endoperez]

Consume Soul - mr roll or die
Astral Fetters, Astral Hooks, Life Drain are all armor-piercing or armor-negating, add strength, and can't be resisted by magic. Curse Luck is like some strange inverse Luck, as per the spell.

He has good defence, so only few units can hit him. He has good attack, so he can hit all units... Only few units can damage him through that protection, and they can't deal much damage, any way. He, on the other hand, mostly ignores armor. Also, he has Blood Vengeance, so anyone trying to hit him has to succeed a MR roll or damage themselves instead. Then he's also ethereal, so you'd need magical weapons to actually hurt him. The Fear rating is +20 or so, i.e. Very Bad.

He has 90 hp and no elemental resistances, so in theory you can use spells to hurt him. Most elemental spells can't punch through prot 25; Air probably could. If the caster could deal, say, 20 damage/turn, and had 10 bodyguards (Ring of Warning), and Rarku only killed 2 of them each turn, and if the bodyguards were undead and he couldn't drain life back, and only one of the bodyguards killed himself on his Blood Vengeance every turn, and he killed all the bodyguards before attacking the mage...

1st - 70 hp, 7 bodyguards left
2nd - 50 hp, 4 bodyguards left
3rd - 30 hp, 1 bodyguard left
4th - 10 hp, last bodyguard is dead and Rarku moves next to the mage, giving him 50% chance of not being able to cast due to being threatened.

Of course, if you had something like Ether Warriors as bodyguards, they could be VERY nasty indeed. Attack just 13 and Moon Blades have just 2 att IIRC, so only 14% of the attacks bypass Rarku's defence, but with 16 str and increased damage against magical creatures they might deal 10 or so points of damage to him on a successful hit, if they succeeded the Blood Vengeance resistance throw and didn't hurt themselves.


But yes, it IS possible to defeat Rarku. It will be hard, but it can be done. He might even have some afflictions when he comes again.

[Turin]

Can he fly in storms? I know the old doom horrors could, but maybe IW forgot to implement it for Rarku. If he can´t it should be easy to beat him with a staff of storms due to his 4 ap.

[Epaminondas]

Endoperez,

Ok. I didn't realize what his attacks did. Further, I missed the Ethereal icon. So I guess he can't be soloed by a well-equipped Niefel Jarl! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Are Ether Warriors undead? It's been a while since I played Dom II, and they are not available in the Demo.

[Endoperez]

Epaminondas said:
Endoperez,

Ok. I didn't realize what his attacks did. Further, I missed the Ethereal icon. So I guess he can't be soloed by a well-equipped Niefel Jarl! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Are Ether Warriors undead? It's been a while since I played Dom II, and they are not available in the Demo.



Magical beings, but their Moon Blades deal more damage to magical beings such as Doom Horrors.

[Epaminondas]

Also, are magical beings not protected from Life Drain? You know, they are not "alive" or organic in the sense we are http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Taqwus]

If memory serves, the only difference is if you happen to be lifeless / inanimate. You still take life drain damage (!), but the drainer will not regain hp / fatigue in the process. I seem to remember killing a (Dom2) Sacred Statue with Drain Life casts...

Rarku is nasty. Not as nasty, perhaps, as the two True Ethereal forms are of Umor, depending on just how much protection TE offers.

A Spirit Helm will offer extra lightning damage per turn; so does the shield o' shocking grasp. A Phoenix Rod will do fairly significant always-hit armor-negating fire damage via Incinerate. Frozen Heart may also help. A bodyguard of Storm Demons might also be fun. :p

[Epaminondas]

Taqwus said:
If memory serves, the only difference is if you happen to be lifeless / inanimate. You still take life drain damage (!), but the drainer will not regain hp / fatigue in the process. I seem to remember killing a (Dom2) Sacred Statue with Drain Life casts...

Rarku is nasty. Not as nasty, perhaps, as the two True Ethereal forms are of Umor, depending on just how much protection TE offers.

A Spirit Helm will offer extra lightning damage per turn; so does the shield o' shocking grasp. A Phoenix Rod will do fairly significant always-hit armor-negating fire damage via Incinerate. Frozen Heart may also help. A bodyguard o

f Storm Demons might also be fun. :p



Storm Demons? A screenshot? If not, at least their stats--pretty, please? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[Taqwus]

Well, I'm away from the manual right now (on vacation still... but addicted to the forum it seems *shrug*).

They're Blood/Air, can fly regardless of storms, can fire off a lightning attack (some limited number of shots per battle), and have a melee lightning attack as well, if memory serves. Can't remember if they're ethereal, but might be. Oh, and they're lightning-immunes, of course.

The bit that makes 'em potentially useful against Rarku is that lightning attacks are universally armor-negating (even against basic innate protection, not just armor), and he's not immune, so it's a good way of beating prot-25.

[Shovah32]

Yes, they are ethereal (fairly useless vrs most of rarku's attacks though). The best bodyguards imo would be either tartarians (huge strength and undead) or wished for things such as a vastness ect.

[Endoperez]

Shovah32 said:
Yes, they are ethereal (fairly useless vrs most of rarku's attacks though). The best bodyguards imo would be either tartarians (huge strength and undead) or wished for things such as a vastness ect.



Those would be the STRONGEST bodyguards. The best bodyguards would be something like Caelum or LA Atlantis troops with Ice weapons (magical), or Frost Fiends/Storm Devils if you go for Blood - they can't kill Rarku, but they can hurt him, and you can produce enough of them to afford to have some in guard duty.

[Lleihsad]

I fired up a game as early age Ulm with your mods in effect, and found that my warrior chiefs now had the stats of horrors! I did some experimenting and found that it's caused by the general Horror Nerf mod. I don't know if other units are changed as well, but I thought I'd let you know.

[NTJedi]

Lleihsad... the most recent Dominions patch fixes the Hunter of Heroes bug, so there's no legit reason to use this mod.

[Twan]

It seems some units numbers have been changed in the last patch, normally my mod only change the hunter of heroes (and some other unique horrors in the version posted after).

[Amos]

As far as I know my Horror mod still works, so it doesnt seem likely.