Author: Liso1 January 1, 2025 2 Comments

HotA team present to you the Horn of the Abyss version 1.7.2. Some of the more perspicacious viewers were able to unravel the clues scattered across earlier announcement. In this update, you will indeed find long-awaited game balance changes related to the rarely utilized and less-useful secondary skills.

Horn of the Abyss full changelog:

HotA Bugs
[-] Fixed a bug in the third scenario of the Forged in Fire campaign that could make it unwinnable on the Pawn difficulty level
[-] Fixed incorrect handling by RMG of the maximum number of Keymaster’s Tents and artifacts involved in seer quests in the zone and on the map
[-] When Resistance is allowed and Interference banned on an RMG template, the heroes’ Interference skill will be correctly replaced with Resistance, including in the second secondary skill slot
[-] Fixed the lack of Factory Bank debt collection for the red player in online play
[-] Fixed sync break in online play when a player builds a Lightning Rod in a Factory and attacks another player within the same turn
[-] Fixed a bug with hiding a part of the map when a player starts a turn, if after an enemy attack, the player’s hero had increased his Scouting level
[-] Fixed bugs and crashes when starting arena combat, when the inactive player has any interface window opened
[-] Fixed a possible crash after an AI player is defeated and the human player teleports using a Castle Gate of an Inferno town
[-] Fixed a bug: a defending hero could be left without an army after winning a combat if all his stacks had been resurrected with a Basic-level Resurrection spell
[-] Fixed a bug with an incorrect tooltip on the number of creatures being resurrected if the Resurrection power is a multiple of the creature’s health
[-] Fixed a bug with the possibility of seeing texts from Seer Huts at Quest Gates
[-] Fixed faulty shadow recoloring depending on the soil type of the currently selected hero
[-] Restored a bug fix lost in v1.7.0 with multiple creature shadow rendering in combat
[-] Fixed a bug with skipping the first 5 frames of numerous combat animations (Fireball and other similar ones)
[-] Fixed a crash when the Fire Shield is triggered after the attacker dies from an Automaton explosion
[-] Fixed a possible crash in a combat involving Dreadnoughts
[-] Fixed incorrect Dreadnought death animation if it is killed by an Automaton explosion when using the heatstroke ability
[-] Removed playing the soundbite of the Sacrifice spell’s resurrection part in quick combat
[-] Fixed a possible crash when using the Horn of the Abyss by an AI player in combats against other AI players
[-] Fixed the Berserk spell casting by AI on targets that Berserk is already cast on
[-] Fixed the AI’s inadequate assessment of Mechanic repair power in some situations
[-] Fixed a bug: AI never picked the Interference skill
[-] Fixed a bug where the AI did not account for the possibility to visit the Mana Vortex in a town
[-] Fixed the possibility of AI-controlled shooters going outside the town walls for melee attacks in a situation where the AI would not go outside the walls with a regular melee unit
[-] Fixed a bug: The AI did not account for the presence of a Cannon when calculating the value of picking the Artillery skill
[-] Fixed a hero’s permanent level not being accounted for when calculating the number of movement points on the first day
[-] Fixed a bug: the Gazebo message showed the amount of experience without taking into account the hero’s Learning skill
[-] Fixed a bug with converting savegames from custom campaigns when upgrading to a newer version of HotA

Gameplay
[+] Eagle Eye gives the hero a 40/50/60% chance to learn each opponent’s 1-3/4/5 level spell before starting a combat and when a spell is cast in battle. Allows the player to view 1-3/4/5 level spells in the opponent’s spellbook in combat. If both heroes have Eagle Eye, it is mutually blocked (similar to Tactics)
[+] Learning increases the hero’s experience gains by 25/50/75%. Gives the hero an extra level-up immediately when picking or upgrading the skill
[+] Artillery protects the Ballista and Cannon, preventing them from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit
[+] First Aid protects the First Aid Tent, preventing it from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit
[+] Ballistics protects the Catapult, preventing it from losing more than 40% HP in a single hit
[+] First Aid gives the First Aid Tent the ability to increase the HP of all creatures in the hero’s army by 5/10/15% (rounded down) while the Tent is not destroyed
[+] Expert Ballistics allows the Catapult to accurately hit targets
[+] Ballista price reduced from 2500 to 1500; Cannon price reduced from 4000 to 3000
[+] Ballista damage formula changed from [2-3 * (attack + 1)] to [2-3 * (attack + 5)]
[+] Luck triggered in combat now increases damage by exactly 2 times, instead of adding +100% to base damage alone
[+] Triggered luck or bad luck now changes the damage inflicted on every target hit, instead of just one
[-] Luck and bad luck now affect the heatstroke ability of Dreadnoughts and Juggernauts
[+] Pathfinding now reduces the standard cost of an off-road step by 25/50/75 down to a minimum of 95/90/85
[+] Sorcery now increases spell damage by 10/20/30%
[+] Mysticism now allows the hero to restore 10/20/30% of his maximum spell points per day, but no less than 5/10/15
[+] Learning specialization now increases the skill’s effect by 5% per hero level
[+] First Aid specialization now increases the HP bonus granted to creatures by the First Aid Tent by 5% per hero level
[+] Enhanced specializations that add +3% to a spell’s effect for n hero levels, where n is the target’s Tier: changed to +5% for Meteor Shower, Chain Lightning, Resurrection and Raise Dead; +10% for all other spells
[-] Forgetfulness specialization now increases the reduction of attacking creatures’ number in target stacks by 10% for n hero levels, where n is the target’s level
[+] Heal specialization grants +10% effect for (8 – n) hero levels, where n is the target’s Tier (affects stronger creatures more)
[+] Bloodlust, Stone Skin, and Precision specializations add +10/8/6/4 to the spell’s effect on Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures
[+] Weakness specialization adds +4/6/8/10 to the spell effect for Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures (affects stronger creatures more)
[+] Haste and Prayer specializations add +3/2/1 to the spell effect for Tier 1-4/5-6/7 creatures
[+] Slayer specialization adds +20/16/12/8 to the spell effect for Tier 1-2/3-4/5-6/7 creatures
[+] Disrupting Ray Specialization increases the spell’s effect by 10
[+] Adrienne’s Fire Magic specialization increases Fire spell damage by 50%
[+] Enhanced the effect of creature-based specializations, giving +5% attack and defense for n hero levels, where n is the creature’s Tier: now +10% for Tier 1 creatures; +30% for Ballista and +20% for other creatures
[+] Water Elementals specialization: +2 to Attack -> +12 to Attack
[+] Fire Elementals specialization: +1 to Attack, +2 to Defense, and +2 to Damage – > +3 to Attack, +4 to Defense, and +2 to damage
[+] Earth Elementals specialization: +2 Attack, +1 Defense, +5 Damage -> +3 Attack, +2 Defense, and +5 Damage
[+] Psychic Elementals specialization: +3 Attack and +3 Defense -> +5 Attack and +5 Defense
[+] Black Knights specialization for Haart Lich: +5 Attack, +5 Defense, +10 Damage -> +10 Attack, +10 Defense, and +10 Damage
[+] Devils specialization: +4 to Attack, +2 to Defense, and +1 to Speed – > +10 to Attack, +10 to Defense, and +1 to Speed
[+] Behemoths specialization: +5 Attack, +5 Defense, +10 Damage -> +10 Attack, +10 Defense, and +10 Damage
[+] Dragons specialization: +5 Attack and +5 Defense -> +10 Attack and +10 Defense
[-] In the requirements of Upg. Halfling Adobe, Town Hall has been replaced with Blacksmith
[-] Mechanics damage increased from 2-4 to 3-4, and Engineers damage increased from 2-5 to 3-5
[-] Heroes’ starting Mechanics count increased from 6-8 to 7-9
[-] Automaton and Sentinel Automaton explosion damage increased from 70 + 5x to 90 + 5x
[-] Cost of Dreadnoughts in gold reduced from 2,500 to 2,200, and cost of Juggernauts reduced from 4,500 to 3,500
[-] Gantry cost in gold reduced from 15,000 to 10,000
[-] Marketplace removed from the requirements for the Gantry; Resource Silo removed from the requirements for the Upg. Gantry
[+] Increased the AI Value of Ghost Dragons, Scorpicores, Red Dragons, and Cyclops Kings; reduced the AI Value of Nagas
[+] Increased the default number of Sharpshooters on the map, which makes it impossible to generate them in weak guard spots on random maps
[+] Building Dragon Cliffs and Upg. Dragon Cliffs no longer requires the Enchanted Spring and Unicorn Glade
[+] Building Dragon Cave and Upg Dragon Cave no longer requires the Labyrinth and Manticore Lair
[-] Default number of Master Genies in Ancient Lamps reduced from 4-7 to 4-6
[-] Town Portal or Dimensional Door dropping is now guaranteed at the third (rather than fourth) spell research attempt at the corresponding Mage Guild level.
[+] Purchasing a skill from the University of Magic in the Conflux now costs resources in addition to 2000 gold: Air — 5 Gems, Water — 5 Crystals, Fire — 5 Mercury, Earth — 5 Sulfur
[+] 0-3 random obstacles appear in Experimental Shop combat; in about 50% of cases, this blocks the standard methods of kiting Steel Golems
[+] The Cloak of the Undead King is not allowed to be assembled by default. It remains allowed on the Anarchy and Clash of Dragons templates, as well as in a number of single player scenarios
[+] The Disguise spell effect now lasts not until the end of the day, but rather until the next turn of the player who cast it begins
[+] View Earth and View Air effects are now saved until the end of the player’s turn; information is available through the World View screen
[+] Added the ability to teleport through the Castle Gate of an Inferno town to ally Inferno towns, including when playing without the HD-Mod
[-] The Diplomat’s Mantle now allows the player to flee (rather than capitulate only) after a spell cast by an attacking hero in the first round of combat
[+] Now, when teleporting through multi-sided monoliths and whirlpools, the hero always arrives to a previously unvisited monolith of the same type, if any. After visiting all monoliths of the same type, the order of teleportation through them becomes fixed
[+] The AI now ignores the limits on the number of heroes it can hire when rebuying its own heroes who have fled from combat
[+] h3dm1, mt_Diamond_Diamond, mt_Jebus_Jebus, mt_TeamJebus_TeamJebus, mt_Andromeda_Andromeda, mt_Antares_Antares templates: banned Rion, Gem, Verdish and Floribert
[+] 2sm2c(2), Skirmish(M), Nine-day Wonder Templates: banned the secondary skill Learning and heroes Loynis, Moandor, Xsi, Darkstorn, Merist, Kalt, Kinkeria, Victoria

SoD Bugs
[+] Fixed incorrect animation of a Faerie Dragon’s death if it dies as a result of its own spell
[+] Fixed multi-rendering of creature shadows in combat when a chat message is received or disappears
[+] Fixed a bug where the map and interface for the inactive player in an online game would fail to rerender after receiving online messages in the game’s internal windows or exiting these windows, which could lead to crashes
[+] Fixed bugs in Basic-level Disguise, which could lead to crashes in HotA
[+] Fixed incorrect interaction with a defeated player’s mine when guards were left in it, which could lead to a crash in HotA
[+] Fixed a bug: the central tower was considered to be located lower than the lower tower during a siege when calculating catapult shots in case of a miss or destruction of the original target. Now the central tower is considered equidistant from the upper and lower parts of the town, and all towers are considered as close to each other as possible
[+] The AI now accounts for the Forgetfulness effect when calculating damage

Graphics
[+] Added new Ravines for the Highlands
[+] Added Armadillo Skull for Wastelands
[+] Added a number of new Seaweed plants with large leaves
[-] New visuals for Carnivorous Plants of the Swamp
[-] Fixed possible overlap of Wasteland Pit edges with roads
[+] Lower spellbook bookmarks now have the player’s color
[+] Fixed blinking pixels on the Harpy Hag’s claws and wings
[-] Fixed issues with the Scorpicore image palette that appeared after previous edits to the same image
[-] Fixed a bug with missing blinking outline when constructing some Fortress and Factory buildings

Map Editor
[+] The option of banning combination artifacts, which influences the possibility to assemble and disassemble them, is added
[+] A new option in specification of global and town events, which allows to point out on which difficulty levels the event will be present on a map, is added
[+] The option «Allow coming of leveled heroes in tavern», which disables the mechanic which prevents leveled heroes from appearing in tavern, is added
[+] The option of town events «Apply to neutral towns», which allows to create events that will affect neutral towns, is added
[+] A new type of quest checking the difficulty level chosen by the player is added
[+] Maximal number of Pandora’s Boxes and Events on a map is increased from 200 to 500
[-] The mechanic of monster generation by value is changed: it now considers a standard minimal and maximal number of monsters in guard
[+] The indication of color is added to the names of Border Gates, Border Guards and Keymaster’s Tents
[+] The indication of color is added to the names of Monoliths and Portals
[-] The incorrect image of a boat for Factory heroes is fixed
[-] Abandoned Boats are moved from Miscellanous decorations to Sand Objects
[-] A number of interface fixes

Campaign Editor
[-] The handling of character sets is corrected; the consideration of user system locale is added
[-] Interface adapted to High DPI monitors, numerous corrections
[+] The possibility of opening a campaign by dragging its file to the editor window is added

Template Editor
[+] The option of banning combination artifacts, which influences the possibility to assemble and disassemble them on a template, is added
[+] The option of setting max value of monsters blocking a road in a zone is added (1/3 of zone value by default)
[+] The possibility of opening a template by dragging its file to the editor window is added
[+] Interface adapted to High DPI monitors, some corrections
[-] The bug with disappearing settings of objects when editing several zones simultaneously is corrected
[-] The bug with incorrectly displayed conditions on the number of players for links on non-mirror templates is corrected
[-] The main Template Editor file is renamed to h3hota_tmpled.exe

Interface
[+] The description of hero specialties is expanded: effect on current level is displayed for specialties which depend on hero level
[+] In the tooltip shown by clicking and hovering over Border Guards and Border Gates, it is now noted whether the corresponding Keymaster’s Tent has been visited
[+] In artifact description, it is noted a component of which combination artifact it is, and whether this combination artifact is allowed for assembly on the current map
[+] In the properties window of Ballista and Cannon when buying one, its damage formula is now displayed
[+] In descriptions of war machines in battle, the effects of Artillery, First Aid and Ballistics skills of the hero owning them are now displayed
[+] In the header of the window of a stack in battle, the numberof creatures at the beginning of the combat is now shown
[+] In the tooltip when shooting at walls, the information on the number of attacks, chance of hitting the target, possible damage, current and overall durability of the target is now shown
[+] In the tooltip shown when right-clicking arrow towers, the information on their current and overall durability and ignoring the target’s defence is now shown
[-] In tooltips for Resurrection and Repair, both numbers of resurrected units and all dead units in the target stack are shown
[-] In the tooltip for Repair, the standard contractions for huge amounts of damage are now used
[+] The SoD bug of not considering Forgefullness in the tooltip on damage from attack is now corrected
[-] In the tooltip for attack, the number of attacks is now placed before the information on damage
[+] The SoD bug of not changing the maximal number of spell points when replacing artifacts in the hero window is now corrected
[+] The message on time limit in quests is now separated from main text and is more noticeable
[+] Many graphic flaws of various windows of the Marketplace, Altar of Sacrifice, Skeleton Transformer and Warlock’s Lab are corrected
[+] The possibility of highlighting an empty slot and the impossibility of resetting a highlighted slot in Skeleton Transformer is corrected
[+] Fixed overly large icons of primary skills of heroes and the palette of the gold in towns icon in Kingdom Overview
[-] Incorrect description in the standard message of losing spell points by a hero is now corrected
[-] Unnecessary demonstration of a window by left-clicking the icon of increasing or decreasing movement points is removed

Miscellaneous
[+] 9 new scenarios added: Heritage of the Ancients, Air Tyrants, The Cataclysm, The Cataclysm (Allied), Beltway, Strife in the Woods, Seven Days, Paradise Lost, Headhunting
[-] All the texts in missions of the Under the Jolly Roger, Terror of the Seas, and Horn of the Abyss campaigns revised
[-] Large volume of new quest and event texts added to the Forged in Fire campaign
[+] Inactive player can no more save the game in online play (such saves were working incorrectly)
[-] When finishing a scenario, if a campaign file is missing, the game no more crashes but shows an error message instead
[-] An attempt to load a map with incorrect monolith types will show a warning of inplayability instead of a crash
[-] Some corrections of cutscenes in existing campaigns
[-] Corrections of maps, campaigns, templates and texts