Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[Mastermind]

Dark had one buff spell in mm6 (day of protection). In mm7 day of protection was switched to light and dark got pain reflection (which was devastating when enemies used it but pretty shitty). dark spells tend to cost a little more but are generally well worth it IMO. especially dragon breath which at higher levels will annihilate entire groups of monsters (talking titans and dragons here) in seconds. no elemental spell can do that.

 

[Sceptic]

Had no idea about that. I'll probably play the PC version instead, but I'll keep this in mind.

Another advantage of PC version is that you can import your party into MM2. With the NES version you can't, as MM2 was ported to the SNES instead. Imported parties do lose some of their levels (down to 7), but they retain their stats, which is nice if you did the stat increases in MM1 twice (the initial increases, then again after resetting them in Dragadune 4 IIRC) and makes the start of MM2 completely grind-free.

 

[DaveO]

Changes by the GrayFace patch:

GrayFace MM6 Patch v1.10
By Sergey Rozhenko <mailto:sergroj@mail.ru>
https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/

This patch includes official patches, Mok's patch, Angel's patch and makes its own improvements.

([+] - feature, [-] - fixed bug, [*] - other)

New in version 1.10:
[+] Mouse look. (see below for details)
[+] AlwaysStrafe option inverts the behavior of right/left arrows - strafing becomes the standard behavior and turning is done when Ctrl is pressed.

Other changes:
[+] Multiple Quick Saves. (see below for details)
[+] You can change controls. (see below for details)
[+] F2 toggles Double Speed mode. DoubleSpeedKey option controls the key.
[+] TurnSpeedNormal and TurnSpeedDouble options control speed of smooth turning. Default is 100% for normal speed and 120% for double speed.
[+] PlayMP3 option lets you play MP3 files instead of CDAudio. Default is 0 (disabled). (see below for details)
[+] MusicLoopsCount option controls loops count of music. Set it to 0 for infinite loop.
[+] InventoryKey option lets you open character's inventory screen by pressing 'I' instead of clicking a character portrait. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] ToggleCharacterScreenKey opens or closes character screen. The default key is '~'. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] FreeTabInInventory lets you select dead characters by Tab key while in character screen. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Recovery Time value is displayed in Attack and Shoot descriptions.
[+] No Death Movie option makes your death quicker by disabling the movie. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] When you right click on character's experience it shows level to which the character can train and experience needed to train to level after that. Just like in MM7 and MM8.
[+] ReputationNumber shows numerical reputation value together with category name. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] NoCD option. Works only if "Anims\Anims2.vid" is present. Default is 1 (enabled). Note that it works only if Anims folder of the game contains both video files in it.
[+] HorsemanSpeakTime and BoatmanSpeakTime options control time needed for horseman or boatman to say "Let's go" before new map starts loading.
[+] Extracted files from icons.lod (except pictures) are loaded from DataFiles folder. Useful for modders. (see below for details)
[+] Loads all .dll files from ExeMods directory (this is used by MMExtension and you can use it to add your patch).
[+] Improved errors reporting. (see below)
[+] BlasterRecovery option controls minimal blaster recovery time. Default is 5. Game default was 0.
[+] Now Delphi memory manager is used. The limit on amount of allocated memory is removed.
[+] Door state switching command extended. Now modders can pass 3 instead of 2 to switch door state even if it's moving.
[-] MSS32.dll bugs fixed by using a newer version of it. The bugs are: With original version the game didn't run on some systems producing SHRINKER.ERR file with "Pager initialisation error 2" in it. With version from Mok's patch the game could hang when you enter lords' castles or a movie show up.
[-] You could drink from fountains multiple times if all party members are inactive.
[-] You could attack with inactive party members.
[-] FixDualWeaponsRecovery fixes wrong recovery time calculation for characters wielding a weapon in second hand. Dual-wielding was useless before the fix due to doubled recovery time. After the fix it works as in MM7 and MM8.
[-] Now all sounds are stopped when MM6 is deactivated.
[-] AlwaysRun effects turning in turn-based mode now.
[-] Town Portal pauses the game now.
[-] Now you can have gaps between save slots. Save and Load would target the same slot anyway.
[-] Walk Sound disappearing problem fixed.
[-] No need to set compatibility on Win XP anymore.
[-] Some scrolls were endless if you use them on paper doll in turn-based mode.
[-] Inactive characters could use scrolls.
[-] When using a scroll by right click on a character portrait target was chosen automatically. Thus, scrolls like Stone to Flash couldn't be used that way.
[-] Now scrolls sets the game on pause when used on paper doll. This also disallows picking up items while choosing spell target.
[-] Improved Angel's Bootlag Bay circus fix. It didn't work in some circumstances.
[-] One of circus buildings in Bootlag Bay didn't have an entrance texture.
[-] 'Increases rate of Recovery' enchantment now works. IncreaseRecoveryRateStrength controls how much it increases the rate. Default is 10%.
[-] Fixed a game bug which could cause a crash on game start.
[-] Turn-based turn used to take twice as much time as it should.
[-] Smack video volume used to be loud no metter what Sound Volume you set.
[-] Now items that didn't fit into a chest appear in it when you free space for them and reopen the chest. (FixChests option)
[-] Removed buggy character switching amoung slots with Ctrl + click.
[-] Now Starburst and Meteor Shower can't be used on monsters that are beyond the reach of arrows.
[-] Party generation screen animation speed is now limited.
[-] Fixed a couple of index-out-of-bounds errors.
[-] When you move between locations sound buffers were freed while the sounds are playing. Also some resources weren't freed.
[*] Added Smuggler's Guild in Free Haven. It was planned by MM6 developers, but not included in the map file.
[*] Newer versions of MSS32.dll and Smackw32.dll are used always.


Changes of Mok's patch:

Changes of Mok's patch:
[+] AlwaysRun option enables running. If you press Shift you'll walk. Default is 1 (enabled). Always disabled before the patch.
[+] Caps Lock key will toggle running/walking if CapsLockToggleRun option is 1. Default is 0 (disabled). (the option to control this was added in GrayFace Patch).
[+] FlipOnExit option turns your party when you exit a building. Default is 0 (disabled). Always enabled before the patch.
[+] LoudMusic option sets the maximum volume of in-game CD Music to maximum of your normal Windows CD Audio Volume Slider. Normally the game sets it to half the volume which is too quiet for some setups. Default is 0 (disabled). Always disabled before the patch.
[-] Fixed broken doors in Shadow Guild and Kriegspire Castle.
[-] Fixed shield and armor recovery (Thanks to Mike Kienenberger for the fix).
[-] Fixed CD Audio initialization. Music will play even if CD2 isn't in the first CD-ROM drive in your system.
[-] Buggy harddrive free space check removed.


I consider spell changes to be a pretty important gameplay change. If the game originally let me use the spell ICBM technique against monsters, I consider that a feature.

 

[Calem Ravenna]

Dark had one buff spell in mm6 (day of protection). In mm7 day of protection was switched to light and dark got pain reflection (which was devastating when enemies used it but pretty shitty).

Huh. Always thought it was the other way around. Thanks for clarification.

By the way, do Clerics have any reasonable damage spells before light/dark? All I recall is Mind Blast and that it was quite terrible.

Another advantage of PC version is that you can import your party into MM2. With the NES version you can't, as MM2 was ported to the SNES instead. Imported parties do lose some of their levels (down to 7), but they retain their stats, which is nice if you did the stat increases in MM1 twice (the initial increases, then again after resetting them in Dragadune 4 IIRC) and makes the start of MM2 completely grind-free.

Ah, skipping the character creation process and low level grinding? No point in playing anything else than PC then.

 

[Fowyr]

By the way, do Clerics have any reasonable damage spells before light/dark? All I recall is Mind Blast and that it was quite terrible.

They have also Flying Fist and it's terrible too.

 

[DaveO]

Heroism does increase melee damage, but it's not like the boost Clerics get from Light/Dark magic.

 

[Storyfag]

Changes by the GrayFace patch

Thanks for the list.

 

[Sceptic]

By the way, do Clerics have any reasonable damage spells before light/dark? All I recall is Mind Blast and that it was quite terrible.

Not really, unless you have no one who can cast elemental magic. Clerics have the buffs (Spriti), the heals and cures (Body) and some misc stuff in Mind, including Mind Blast, but even Mind is better for some of the cures (Fear or Paralysis, can't remember) and a few other utility spells than for offense. Incidentally I always find Mind to be the last skill I upgrade - Body's essential, Spirit is good for buffs early on (Heroism and Bless especially) before you get Light, but Mind's just not that useful.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Should be starting MM6 over the next couple of days. Mucked about with the chargen for a bit, and just wondering, has the balance changed much from 3-6? One impression I've heard is that archers aren't as useful, is this true? And are any of the sorcerous schools particularly poor/great choices?

 

[Mastermind]

By the way, do Clerics have any reasonable damage spells before light/dark? All I recall is Mind Blast and that it was quite terrible.

Light damage spells are shit too. If you're playing light make a melee heavy party instead.

 

[octavius]

Both 1 and 2 are very unbalanced, 2 in some ways even worse (it also has level scaling. I HATE).


Cuisinart is a (French?) brand of food processors. The slogan in one of their (80's) ads was " it slices and dices". I'm sure you can see the parallel

I find both the materials system from 3-5 and the "random effect" system from MM6-8 more interesting than 2's, which was just ridiculous (take item and add + to it until you reach the breaking point? pretty boring IMO)

Hmm...are you sure MM2 was level scaled? From what I can remember the strenght of the monsters was based on area, not on party level. I remember getting scared by Werebulls (I have a healthy respect for bulls in real life) when entering a certain overland area, for example.

Heh, I totally missed the reference to the cuisinarts, but now the mystery is solved after 20 years.

I guess I'm one of the few that liked MM2's items. It surely made it more exciting to openm chests, since there was always the posibility of finding something better, and the really high level stuff was extremely rare. And it actually made alignments matter. In later games I seem to recall I maxed out on weapons and armour fairly early, with Obsidian being the best IIRC.
But of course MM2 was my first MM game so nostalgia may cloud my judgement...

 

[SkeleTony]

Yeah it is subjective I guess... I loved the Hall of the Fire Lord. It made such good use of the z-axis and getting lost in there trying to figure out where the hell I needed to go next brought back good memories of Daggerfall.

Fair enough.

There's a difference between "this was great I wish there were more" and "... that's it? really?" I can't say I was in any hurry to immediately restart MM6 when I finished it, but I was happy, satisfied, and ready after a break to either replay or play the next game when it came out. With MM7 I was left vaguely dissatisfied that everything was too small.

Yeah...one man's 'too large and repetitive' is another man's 'just right' and one man's 'too small' is another man's 'just right'.

Well this is where we're gonna have to agree to disagree. I found 7 and 8's much more boring. 6's to me were long, arduous, exciting, satisfying, challenging... but never boring. I think they would've been boring if I had been exploiting the game, or if they weren't as challenging as they were for the most part, but I loved them as they were, enough to not get bored with their size.

Yeah exploits ruin games for me. About the only time I have ever wanted to use one is when a game has hit me with so much of something I am not enjoying, like in some RPG dungeons that use the 'Find the key -use the (correct)teleprter-hit the correct number sequence-find another key-use the (correct)teleporter-hit the correct number sequence-find the key....'. I don't think MM6 had much of this particular feature though, but the Hall of the Fire lord came close enough to turn me off of it.

I suspect your having played 6 before 7 and making it all the way through that game may be coloring your appraisal here.

Maybe, but I don't think so. I guess we all have some innate preference for what we played (or saw or read or whatever) first, but with M&M specifically there is no pattern - I liked 5 much more than 4 for example.

Makes sense. I may have been projecting a bit there. I played 6 before 7 but only like half way through it or something before starting 7. MM7 hooked me and I finished it before trying to pick up 6 again but now every time I play MM6 I get half way or 2/3rds of the way through it and have this overpowering desire to play MM7 while saying to myself "man...I wish MM6 had done *this* like MM7 did...".

We really are opposites. The only ones I remember from here are Tunnels and Barrows; Tunnels not in a good way and Barrows only for the gimmick, I don't actually remember any of the Barrows themselves. And the Tunnels for me were far, far more boring than any dungeon in 6 could ever be.

While I can remember some of the barrows themselves, I will concede that a)I cannot make any argument for the barrows being any better designed than, say the Hall of the Fire lord and truth be told I never really look forward to entering those barrows when I play(because of the 'gimmick'). And b) The tunnels to Nighon CAN be a bit much. A LOT of repetitive fights with minotaurs and beholders and shit in there.

No, my argument is that quantity+quality>quality. Or, more specifically, that quantity that allows for more variety and quality > all. Specifically regarding overworld design I've explained at length why I like 6's over 7's.

My only disagreement with the above is that IMO, 6 's dungeons were generally bigger but did not make good use of that size(the 'quality' aspect). Even if 'MM6 dungeon A' was bigger than 'MM7 Dungeon B' and even if both were of equal quality, I found MM7's dungeons/overland area-encounters to be such that I could get through them without going "WTF?! MORE of *THIS*?!" for the most part.

You misunderstand my usage of "artificial". I mean that while you may well be able to visit those 15 areas when you start the game in New Sorpigal, unless you are using exploits, bugs or cheats, you are going to die unless you do the goblins and abandoned temple first

I'm going to throw one of your own quotes at you: "A lot of those places that are perhaps too high in level difficulty CAN be beaten earlier on by using clever tactics without needing to exploit the game." [/quote]

Ok...but a)I am unaware of such and b)I have no desire to be able to go to Dragonsands OR MM7's 'Megadragon's lair' at level 1. I want to build my party up and progress through the game gradually. I think that 6 and 7 are pretty much equal in non-linearity(you can go do a LOT of different areas in MM7 as soon as you arrive in Harmondale) and most of the areas you CAN go to right from the beginning of 6 are irrelevant, and thus the non-linearity is 'artificial'.

Wow. Exploits FTW! Bad design enabling people to win the game almost as soon as they start the game = better RPG!

I never used an exploit in MM6. Not a single one. Not once. Not in MM7 either. The only exploit I used in MM8 was having a dragon, but that's more bad design than an exploit.

I do not doubt this but my above was in response to your argument that 'Some people have beaten MM6 at level 1' which does not indicate non-linearity to me but just bad design/exploits.

And where's the bad design in enabling people to win the game "almost as soon as they start" if they're so FUCKING GOOD at it?

Because if you are beating the game at level 1, you are NOT good at it at all. You are using exploits. That is not even a game. It is clicking through some cut scenes basically until you get the "I win!" scene.

I didn't say I had an easy time in Kriegspire, in fact I had a VERY rough time. But superior tactics and preparation prevailed. That's good design. Being rewarded with high-level items for succedding there? fuck yes, if I just went through a high level area much earlier I deserve the sweet rewards.

I see your point here but I disagree that this is good design. If I am playing a RPG that allows me to, through my own clever, out of the box thinking, to create a party of rogues, sneak past a horde of dragons, steal their treasure and zone out(for example), that is just an exploit I am using...taking advantage of poor design.Kreigspire SHOULD be impossible for a level 1 party. I have no problem with being able to outperform your party level and make off with higher level loot due to tactics and such TO AN EXTENT(i.e. your level 3 party defeating the level 10 thieves' guild in some town). But marching a brand new party into Sauron's lair...no. I do not want that.

Winning at level 1? the existence of the possibility demonstrates nonlinearity and openness of the game, it does NOT mean it's easy or doable "as soon as you start"; it requires VERY heavy metagame knowledge and, yes, abusing exploits. Which is why I never tried it; not my type of playing.

So,we... agree(Kind of)?

Regarding artificiality, you seem to consider (correct me if I misunderstood) MM6's approach of populating high level areas with tough monsters to be an artificial limitation but MM7's of not letting you access the area at all to be more natural.

Nope. I am just saying that if a RPG is properly designed then whether you can walk up to the Foozle and be killed at level 1 by a 10,000 damage lightning bolt and 4 dragons breathing on you or whether you simply cannot yet visit the Foozle is rather unimportant. Both are just as 'linear'. The only way you beat the Foozle in the first scenario is through exploits/cheating(and if this is NOT the case then what you have is simply a laughably poor excuse for a game that should have been playtested more or had more thought put into the design).

Don't get me wrong; I know that in 7 you can upgrade your castle and have your Golem finished in the first couple weeks(you have to get a bit lucky though) but that is hardly as bad as 6 is in this regard.

I don't see why either is bad to be honest. If I want to rush through the MQ and I'm good enough at it, why should the game artificially restrict me?

Again, a matter of extent. I have no problem(neither does MM7's designers evidently) with you or I being able to get through areas faster than normal because of knowledge/tactics/whatever. MM7 does not artificially restrict you in this either. My above was an aside because I foresaw a possible reply of "Well in MM7 you can do 'A, B and C' really quick if you...".

In 7 you can do the fairies first or the bandits/Signet ring or the Arcomage deck or the Barrow Mounds.

MAIN quest. They had BETTER not try to make all sidequests depend on a linear progression in my Might and Magic [/quote]

Irrelvant if it is "main quest" or any other quest really. It is either linear or it is not.

So this is another win for MM7.

Oh no doubt, just not a major one. I would've liked if they'd done more with this... maybe race-specific sidequests (racial promotion?), or some kind of innate abilities available to certain races, or something like that. Would've made the choice of race more important on the long run. As it is, it has a significant effect early on (OK, definitely past Emerald Isle) but it then goes away too early on. Though the race-specific artifacts are a nice touch, had forgotten about those.

Agreed. But having 'some' of this is better than having 'NONE' of this.

DECREASE to another stat

That's 6. In 7 and 8 it's just a net 50-point increase. I don't know why they changed it, as the introduction of the Alchemy skill was a definite plus.[/quote]

Ah...that's right. My bad. I guess this is one point that 6 has over 7 then(but a pretty minor point I think).

We will agree to disagree here then. To me the Arcomage tourney rewards alone more than made up for Relics not being there(to tell the truth I do not care about the relics in 6 anyway).

I was wrong after alll... relics are still in 7 and 8. No idea why I thought they'd taken them out. Anyway Arcomage is the most awesomely addictive minigame ever created. I can't believe you didn't just use this one argument to completely destroy my tl;dr arguments in favor of MM6. Yeah too easy I know [/quote]

To tell the truth I have a hard time remembering or distinguishing 'artifacts' from 'relics' anyway. To me they are all just 'magic items'.

Actually, if you really want to put in some effort Celeste is accessible pretty early(don't remember about the Pit since I have not played an 'evil' game in many years).

No, that's the thing. You just cannot get into either of them until you choose the new arbiter.[/quote]

Yeah but you can choose the new arbiter pretty early on(like in less than a month of game time IIRC).

You can't open the door to The Pit, and you can't use the teleporter to Celeste. THAT is what I mean by artificial restriction. At the risk of using another horrible hyperbole, it's like those locked doors in Two Worlds II that magically unlock once you get told to go there. Of course MM7's nowhere near as bad, as they're the only 2 locations locked out like this, but added to all the other locations that are either also locked out or require jumping through hoops (Nighon, Eeofol, Shoals, Evenmorn), it was disappointing after the total freedom of MM6.

Yeah I have not much problem with this. I will be able to get into Celeste when I need to(and am fit to) get into Celeste. I have no desire to go there at level 1 to see items I should not be able to afford, get quests I should not be able to do or fight angels I should not be able to defeat.

Yeah we will just disagree on this. Viva le difference(spelling?).

Without difference there would be no discussion

Too true. If nothing else I have more motivation now to pick up my MM6 save game soon and make another push to finish it.

 

[SkeleTony]

Should be starting MM6 over the next couple of days. Mucked about with the chargen for a bit, and just wondering, has the balance changed much from 3-6? One impression I've heard is that archers aren't as useful, is this true? And are any of the sorcerous schools particularly poor/great choices?

Do you mean the CLASS "archer" or just ranged/bow attacks in general? Each of your characters should get bow skill as soon as you can afford it. Makes battles a Hell of a lot less frustrating. The Archer class is useful and whether or not to take on is largely dependent on personal preference. They are limited to chain armor and no shield but they can get expert dagger skill(allowing you to use a dagger in left hand and another melee in right hand) and can learn sorcery schools up to expert level IIRC.

 

[Mastermind]

in 6, if you can access a skill you can master it. So archers can master the elemental schools. 7 onward had mastery restrictions based on class.

 

[Calem Ravenna]

Incidentally I always find Mind to be the last skill I upgrade - Body's essential, Spirit is good for buffs early on (Heroism and Bless especially) before you get Light, but Mind's just not that useful.

Yeah, I don't remember investing more than a few points into mind, only enough to have the cures work.

Light damage spells are shit too. If you're playing light make a melee heavy party instead.

This being MM6, there's no point in limiting oneself to only dark or only light .

One impression I've heard is that archers aren't as useful, is this true?

Never used archers myself in any of the games. In MM6 they might be quite decent I think. Can learn all of the elemental schools and master them, good melee (although I might be confusing it with MM7 here), more health than pure spellcasters but obviously less spell points.

And are any of the sorcerous schools particularly poor/great choices?

While I'm hardly an authority on the subject, having forgotten most of the stuff over the years, I can definitely say that from elemental spell schools you want to invest in Water magic for the excellent teleportation spells, Air for flying and implosion (one of the more damaging single target spells I think) and Fire for its variety of damage dealing spells. I don't recall Earth being of much use, although it probably had some decent buff spells.

 

[Mastermind]

mm7 archers are mediocre in melee.

Their archery is good but druids/sorcs (light) and clerics/sorcs/druids (dark) are just plain better. Only point in having an archer is if you want a novelty 3/4 archer party.

Earth magic is utter shit in 6 (Iirc, most buff spells were bugged and did not work unless you cast them via light magic's mass buffs, leaving it with pretty much just blades as a decent skill)

It's a little better in 7 due to telekinesis (open chests from a distance) and mass distortion not being automatically resisted by everything in the late game, but still pretty shit.

 

[kmonster]

Should be starting MM6 over the next couple of days. Mucked about with the chargen for a bit, and just wondering, has the balance changed much from 3-6? One impression I've heard is that archers aren't as useful, is this true? And are any of the sorcerous schools particularly poor/great choices?

In MM6 all classes get the same number of attacks per round, so if the stats are the same a sorcerer will be doing just as much damage with a bow or dagger as a knight.
The class specific hit point differences are much higher in MM6. The knight gets about as many hitpoints as the sum of spellpoints+hitpoints the paladin gets, how many additional hitpoints you get for raising endurance or the bodybuilding skill depends now on class.

Archers are ok in MM6. I consider knight the weakest class, but you can still take one, there are even guides which recommend doing so.

My favorite spell school in MM6 is water, you get many comfortable travel spells and can enchant magical items to get more gold when selling them.

 

[Sceptic]

Mucked about with the chargen for a bit, and just wondering, has the balance changed much from 3-6?

Pretty much yes, thanks to the introduction of skills. Though if you want a balanced quickstart party the default classes (Paladin, Archer, Cleric, Sorcerer) make a well balanced one. For more tactical but easier on the long run games, shift the balance towards spellcasting.

One impression I've heard is that archers aren't as useful, is this true? And are any of the sorcerous schools particularly poor/great choices?

I find archers to be exceedingly useful actually. Their melee skills is good (dual swords or spear, depending on what the other warrior is using), they start with archery (very useful), and they can master all elemental schools, which means you can shift some of the weight away from the sorcerer. I usually pour as many points as I can into Water with my sorc so he can master it ASAP, and the archer takes care of the gaps until then (expert Air is great for Wizard's Eye to show ground items).

Hmm...are you sure MM2 was level scaled? From what I can remember the strenght of the monsters was based on area, not on party level.

The type of monster yes, and monster stats are fixed, but the number of monsters per encounter goes up with your level. So if you level up too quickly all your encounters suddenly become against 255 of whatever enemy the game wants to throw at you. And it gets incredibly boring at this point.

The tunnels to Nighon CAN be a bit much. A LOT of repetitive fights with minotaurs and beholders and shit in there.

Wasn't that Thunderfist Mountain? because I like this one. The Tunnels were full of gogs IIRC.

So,we... agree(Kind of)?

Yeah I guess

whether you simply cannot yet visit the Foozle is rather unimportant

See, to me it is, at least in this particular type of game. I like being able to walk into a too powerful area and getting my ass handed to me, with a small note being made "come back here in 10 levels." But that's just my personal preference.

Irrelvant if it is "main quest" or any other quest really. It is either linear or it is not.

On the contrary, very relevant. Elsewhere on the 'dex many have bashed Oblivion for (among its many sins) being far too linear, ie each questline (MQ and guilds) is a straight line offering no diverfence (aside from so minor they're not worth mentioning branching in the FG). That crticism doesn't get invalidated just because you can put the MQ on hold and go do DB quests.

Yeah but you can choose the new arbiter pretty early on(like in less than a month of game time IIRC).

Far more than that. You have to wait a whole month between doing the rulers' quest(s) and the horn thing, then another month between the horn and the Fairweather dying. That's 2 months game time of doing being forced to wait for the game to kindly let you proceed. I don't like this kind of design in an open exploration CRPG, as it's completely unnecessarily restrictive.

I have no desire to go there at level 1 to see items I should not be able to afford, get quests I should not be able to do or fight angels I should not be able to defeat.

I do... but if the game absolutely wants to stop me from doing so, trying to come up with some semblance of reason would've been nice. As it is, the door/teleporter are inactive and that's that, no explanation necessary. It rubbed me off the wrong way.

Too true. If nothing else I have more motivation now to pick up my MM6 save game soon and make another push to finish it.

:D

 

[Fowyr]

Yeah but you can choose the new arbiter pretty early on(like in less than a month of game time IIRC).

Far more than that. You have to wait a whole month between doing the rulers' quest(s) and the horn thing, then another month between the horn and the Fairweather dying. That's 2 months game time of doing being forced to wait for the game to kindly let you proceed.

More than two months, there is two periods of 50 days waiting before quests.

 

[DaveO]

One of the weak elemental magic schools is Earth. Rock Blast works like Fireball, and I'm not even sure if Mass Distortion works. Those are the only two spells I saw that might have offensive potential.

Archers are like sorcerers, but have no access to Light and Dark spells.

 

[Mastermind]

rock blast isn't exactly like fireball. It's essentially a grenade in that it bounces off walls and will explode after a little bit of time (unless it hits an enemy in which case it explodes on the spot). Mass distortion works, it's just frequently resisted (and in 6 it's pretty much always resisted when you actually need it). It took half a dragon's health once when i used it in 7 but that's about the only use i got out of it.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Well, people weren't exaggerating about the amount of enemies M&M6 throws at you

 

[Nael]

Well, people weren't exaggerating about the amount of enemies M&M6 throws at you

Have fun storming da castle!

(Seriously. It gets ridiculous in the dungeons. The Supreme Temple of Baa in particular.)

 

[Darth Roxor]

Ah, another fool oblivious to the wonders of Castle Darkmoor approaches Might and Magic 6.




Enjoy the ride

 

[Nael]

Ah, another fool oblivious to the wonders of Castle Darkmoor approaches Might and Magic 6.




Enjoy the ride

The sign outside Darkmoor should have read "SOMEONE YOU LOVE WILL DIE TODAY."

Supreme Temple of Baa takes the cake as far as numbers of enemies though.