Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[octavius]

Mega Dragon? More like Mega Buffoon.
With no resistance he went down faster than a professional football player inside the penalty area.

Damned, it seems there is an option in the GreyFace patch to make the Mega Dragon a Black Dragon worthy of being called a Mega Dragon.
Oh well, I have yet to finish MM7 with a Light party, so next time...

 

[fantadomat]

I do use offensive magic but only on enemies that makes them a lot easier to kill that way or are immune to something. I didn't use it during normal battles,won't stop and do turns and aim at some ork with a spell.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Sure.
Fireball and Lightning Bolts are nearly always useful.
Sleep is useful in the beginning.
Web can be effective.
But sadly most clever spells fail in the M&M ganes, so it's safer to rely on those that are likely to work, like buffs and damage spells.

Mass Distortion is your friend, it halves the enemy's HP. It tends to work rather than not.

Shrapmetal is also a surprisingly effective spell.

 

[octavius]

I found Shrapmetal to be more effective in MM7 than in MM6 for some reason.

Most enemies in MM7 have poor resistance to Dark and Light magic.
In MM6 there was no Id Monster skills IIRC, so it was harder to judge which spells would be most useful.

 

[T. Reich]

Shrapmetal in MM6 has absolutely abysmal damage/mana ratio.
Most of the time, you're better off spamming spark (the best dmg/mana ratio in MM6-8 vs solo targets, by FAR). For lightning immunes it's poison spray (matches spark damage eventially, but harder to hit with all projectiles), and finally it's fire blast for when you REALLY want to kill that single target fast.
IIRC, in MM6 shrapmetal is only really useful in VARN vs top-tier guardians, because they are immune to all non-physical damage.
Even then, you're better off softening them up from a distance in packs with rock blast first, and then finishing them off in melee.

MM7 made it that each elemental school spell deals only damage of that element, and also greatly reduced/removed resistances/immunities of most mosters. And no monster in MM7 has high light/dark resistance.
MM8 is even worse in this regard. To the point where clerical combat magic even does some damage.

 

[Lacrymas]

I don't get the point of gems. Theoretically, I know they are supposed to curb the effects of high powered magic, but they are ao numerous it doesn't matter.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Depends on the magic in question. It's certainly trivial for the mid level stuff. Also, there are some special places to spend gems outside of combat.

 

[octavius]

And some monsters is some M&M games steal gems.

 

[Lacrymas]

Exactly because Lord Might told me to give him 5k gems to restore the crystals is why I noticed how trivial it is. I had 20k gems total while using whatever magic whenever I want.

 

[fantadomat]

Exactly because Lord Might told me to give him 5k gems to restore the crystals is why I noticed how trivial it is. I had 20k gems total while using whatever magic whenever I want.

That is like complaining about gold in BG games or any rpg in general. Money always become easy to come by the late game.

 

[Lacrymas]

Gold isn't tied to magic in BG and MM3 already has gold as another resource. It seems trivial is all.

 

[Darth Canoli]

So, you're complaining about the game not being grindy enough ?
Well, at the very beginning, it matters, later on some spells can be quite expensive too but luckily, it's not an issue, i think that's a good thing and there were times when i was struggling with gems.

There's also a few places where you can spend them but i'm not sure which belong to Isles of Terra and which comes from Xeen as i'm playing both.

 

[Lacrymas]

What does this have to do with grind? It's more resource management that seems pointless as it is implemented.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

Never once while playing any M&M game did I think "Man, I wish I had to do a bunch of repetitious tasks to acquire a necessary resource."

 

[fantadomat]

Lacrymas you are just weird mate,it is added for originality and character. It is a shame they didn't continue it with the later games. Not everything in a game should be practical and logical. If you want to have harder times with the gems,just don't deposit them in a bank and take it like a man when you die!

 

[T. Reich]

I'm into high-tier content in MM6 currently, and, boy, is Rock Blast spell a life-saver!
While its damage/mana ratio is rather meh, it deals aoe physical damage, which means that you can pummel any of those pesky mixed immunity mobs into submission in short order.
While fireball is still a staple skill, a lot of the time some mobs in high level dungeons are simply immune to fire.
Same with spark - it might be the most economical spell out there, but it just doesn't have the required punching power vs packs of 4+ 600+ hp enemies, some of which may be immune to lightning damage as well.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[fantadomat]

Just give me a fireblast or sparks and everything falls before me,never had real problem to wipe dragons and similar creatures. Fire ring was really useful in the command center.

 

[calgary.alberta]

I was not expecting to complete the first half of Might and Magic IV so suddenly, also known as the first half of the World of Xeen.

I found MM4 to be rather short game even compared to that of Isles of Tera (MM3), some people have listed World of Xeen at 100+ hours.

MM4 surprisingly displays how simplified the game series has become after MM1, at this climax of the series, you have two major spells Day of Sorcery and Day of Protection which if tossed on covers the gambit of what you need to go toe to toe with a lot of the harder crap in the first half. Then you have the fountains (+might, +10+lvls, etc), simplified inventory systems (quest items have there own spot), quest logs (including auto notes), shops that are always open (changed since MM3), a flat world, and fewer dungeons than the previous entries.

However, you get a considerable larger story, a more thought out world, greater gameplay, improved graphics, and sound (voices too!). I created my group on Saturday morning, by Sunday afternoon I had completed the first half of the game and Castleview without a single issue. The quest system spoon feeds you the directions, hit the towers, free Crodo from the one tower (that so happens to lead to Lord Xeen Castle etc), have to buy a castle (as that is where the sword was buried), get a bunch of mega credits to restore the castle. Once those tasks are completed you can get up there and stab Xeen in the face and be done with it.

I really do enjoy the game, as I previously mentioned by the time I was ready to face Xeen I was able to wander over the entire map several dozen times clearing up every quest, and location without any issues.

Can't wait to get into Mandate of Heaven, dreamed of playing through it ever since I first saw it at a friends house when it first came out. Finally, I have started playing Heroes of Might and Magic from the beginning (oh boy it's rough).

Onto Might and Magic 5!

 

[Lacrymas]

Everyone says 1 and 2 are the more hardcore of the MMs. But really, if you know where to go, it's pretty unlikely for MM3 and beyond to kill you unless RNG screws you up. These games aren't for tough challenges, they are for exploration and whimsy. If you want tough from this series, go 1 and 2. As for HoMM1, I recently completed it with Warlock, which is the easiest faction due to the most overpowered creatures. It's a good little game that shows the series has been declining since then and has been only adding superfluous padding over it.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

Kind of like how Ultima stopped focusing on combat and grinding in the later installments, Might and Magic toned down the difficulty as well.

 

[T. Reich]

you never mention acid burst...

Why should I? It's a rather mediocre (even poor, if you consider its steep mana cost) single target spell that deals poison damage.
Any ranged single target spell is downright shit in MM6-8, unless you're trying to pick off single tough flying enemies from a distance.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Dorateen]

I still advocate world-hopping between Clouds and Darkside. Imagine visiting Castleview with a low-ish level party who only finished Vertigo, maybe the first part of the Red Dwarf Mines, rather than with characters who completed as much as possible in Clouds of Xeen. You will encounter thrilling high level content soon enough that will send them scurrying back cloud side, gaining a few levels, then crisscrossing back and forth.

It's not to everyone's tastes, but it's how I experienced World of Xeen and made for a unique brand of adventure.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm pretty sure he's implying he's playing only MM4, i.e. only Clouds of Xeen, not World of Xeen.