Horror Reward System
 

After seeing the stats of these new horrors and witnessing some of them in action it seems some sort of reward should be given to the commander for winning a battle against one of these terrible creatures which come from different planes and/or dimensions.

It seems only logical a commander or unit which has been able to slay one of these terrible beasts in battle would be more experienced and/or receive a bonus or two for one of his random stats such as strength, magic resistance or dexterity.

Currently even if a commander slays any of these super horrors twenty or thrity times the only reward is the same as killing a single infantry on a normal battlefield.

Any ideas on what types of rewards could be given to a commander which slays one of these terrible horrors?

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Yes, let's make a SS combat spell which rewards victim. And no one would abuse it.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

it could remove 1 level of horror marking

Re: Horror Reward System
 

That's a great idea

Re: Horror Reward System
 

I like the idea of awards as well! They don't have to be huge, but given the strength of these horrors they not trivial to beat. You would need to almost build a custom SC built with the purpose of killing horrors and if so... why not have another advancement path to gain power.

I rather like the idea of gaining power and dominion in the Astral plain where these creatures and horrors reside.

Maybe there is some tie in to the void gate mechanics?

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Seems like it might ADD a level of horror marking. They would note you as having killed one of their own. OTOH, you would certainly come away with something--a random thing:

1. fear/awe aura--something about you has changed that marks you among lesser men.
2. You gain insight into the universe from your encounter--random magic at 1 level.
3. You found an item on the horror--random item.
4. You took a piece of it as a souvenir (an extra horror mark, plus another pick on this chart).
5. During the battle, some of the Horror's ichor soaked into your own wounds--vastly increasing one of your attributes (e.g. ap, strength, protection, def lvl, mr)
6. Two more rolls on the table.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

The problems with rewards for horrors is that they'll tend to escalate. As you're killing them you get horror marked, consequently getting attacked more often and killing more horrors. Maybe some kind of feedback reward - for example not getting attacked by lesser horrors (comparatively to defeated ones) in any circumstances?

Re: Horror Reward System
 

The various doom horrors are nasty enough that I wouldn't want to send even a really buffed out pretender up against them repeatedly. Of course, the best defense against the doom horrors is probably astral shield (Or being a really buff gorgon). They tend to paralyze themselves via their massive number of attacks.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Maybe allow to take petrified horrors as souvenirs? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Lower horror mark seems most rational, it will not get out of hand and it seems when you have killed one horror there is one horror less that have noticed you.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

I think it depends on the build of the commander in question. With the right commander + equipment , the Hunter of Heroes is very beatable.

I finally met the Hunter of Heroes in one of my SP games, and the Dai Oni he was coming for won the fight. The Oni in question had his bodyguard of three automatic wolves, plus a squad of undead from the wraith crown. The bodyguard kept the horror occupied long enough for the Oni to hit it a few times with his flame brand sword and that was the end of it, horror dead. Not so scary http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Yes I agree, for example if a commander has killed the Hunter-of-Heroes 3 times... I see it as unlikely for this horror to desire battles with this commander again.

Also the reward mentioned by Action sounds like a justified reward.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Haven't you heard of revenge?
After having achieved Immortality, there is nothing left for the Hunter of Heroes but to GET REVENGE http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Just what i was thinking, also if you've killed countless horrors they would probably consider you dangerous enough to become a threat. I personally like Uh-Nu-Buh's reward system but dont know how easy it would be for the dev's to impliment.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

There's two problems with your theory. First is in regards to game balance which is that if a SC is strong enough to continously kill these horrors then having the horrors pursue the same SC will only have them attack other targets less frequently in the game.
Second is in regards to the Hunter of Heroes which is not mindless. Being immortal I see little reason for it to desire killing a creature which has defeated it in battle frequently compared with seeking an easier target.

A threat to what?? The horrors have no home, no property and can travel between different planes. These creatures FEED on the emotions of suffering, lamentation and fear... not on being killed over and over by the same powerful SC.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Yes Uh-Nu-Buh has some great ideas.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

I also like Uh-Nu-Buh's ideas. The Doom horrors are so powerful it just screams out that achieving mastery over them should be worth something.

I wouldn't even mind if things like body guards didn't appear to help you, or the Horror always targeted the commander (if it could reach them) regardless of what other chaff is available. That would keep the wrath crown and some simple magic from being able to take out the horror.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

I don't think we know enough of how horror attacks work to say that for sure. It might as well be possible to have multiple instances of HOH every turn.
Read more Fantasy books - Immortals use their immortality as a means to strengethen themselves to achieve one goal they focus on, and they don't let anyone kill them and get away with it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

The HoH is one single creature... it cannot attack several commanders during one turn. If this was true we would have heard of at least one report by now.

As I wrote earlier... these creatures FEED on the emotions of suffering, lamentation and fear... not on being killed over and over by the same powerful SC. Their goal is not vengeance it is to feed and being killed over and over will not accomplish its feeding. Read more about the units their description says NOTHING about seeking revenge.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

Well I believe the developers are on vacation right now, but hopefully with the next patch one of our suggestions or some other feature reward will be added for those commanders which win these doom horrors.

Musing over reputation...
 

What if

- every unit started with a base reputation/fame value

- when you killed a unit in battle, you gained reputation proportionate -- quite a bit if the loser had equal or higher rep than the winner, less otherwise

- when you died in battle, you lost the same amount of reputation that the victor gained

- reputation bonus for winning the Deathmatch :p

And that would be used for the HoF, instead of pure kill count. If the HoH has been killing powerful heroes who've slain many, its reputation will be high, and he who kills it next will gain correspondingly.

Re: Musing over reputation...
 

Just wanted to point out that it isn't pure kill count, its 2*kill count + experience points
(At least that's what I understand from empirical testing)

Re: Musing over reputation...
 

There's also a 25 "hero point" bonus for each time you've died I believe.

Re: Musing over reputation...
 

What I meant was that kills are counted equally as it is -- so somebody who kills chaff is quite possibly more famous than somebody who runs around slaying powerful heroes.

On a tangent, does the 'Vengeance of the Dead grows exponentially stronger with repeated casts' still exist? VotD kills probably shouldn't count... unless the dead are supposed to become more vengeful every time you kill their shades.

Re: Musing over reputation...
 

Maybe their buddies in the underworld come along to help them get some vengance?

Re: Musing over reputation...
 

I don't really like the idea of killing a horror giving you a reward. It's already possible to make really really powerful dudes, and having another avenue ("hunter of horrors") open for gaining even more power could yield dudes who are totally unstoppable. If it could be done without making this possible, it might be interesting...

I do like Action's idea of removing a horror mark level if you kill one. You could maybe even push this a bit; if you kill a doom horror, you lose your horror mark entirely, and you lose one level of horror markage for killing even a regular horror. Serious effort in a battle, or abuse of a mighty artifact, could still doom you, but you would have the chance to not just survive but actually triumph.

Re: Horror Reward System
 

...unless it was a particulary masohistic horror, who likes to feed on his own suffering. Than the more you kill him the more often he will come to you for more... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

...unless it was a particulary masohistic horror, who likes to feed on his own suffering. Than the more you kill him the more often he will come to you for more... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

[/quote]

Heh. Anyone else seen the japanese movie, "Ichi the Killer"? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Horror Reward System
 

How about removing/lowering the horror mark, and a custom title if the hero manages to slay one of the doom horrors (might be a neat idea to have the title increase per horror killed, i.e. slayer of horrors, destroyer of horrors and so on, would give some cool bragging rights for HoF hero's)