Might & Magic X Teased by Ubisoft, To Be Revealed at PAX East

[Enoch]

Yeah, reading your responses was a bit of a forehead-slapping moment.  Of course that was what has been happening, and I'm not sure how it hadn't yet clicked for me. 

 

I guess I was a bit hung up on how the older M&Ms had a "Speed" stat that determined when a character (or a monster) acted within a round.  But since this one has a clear "Your Turn"/"Their Turn" split, I guess there really isn't much reason for the game to dictate the order in which your characters act.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Enoch

[Enoch]

It's weird that this game has gone with a Zelda-style "unlock portions of the map as you progress in the main quest" approach.  I don't recall that being the case in any of the prior M&M games.  Some dungeons had locked doors, but as I recall you were free to wander just about anywhere on the countryside, limited only by the fact that the enemies in high-level areas would flatten you.  (M&M3 did hold you back from learning the Water Walking spell for a bit, which functionally limited you to the first island, but that made a whole lot more sense than did these swirly mystical gates dotting the landscape.  Also, the first game had a desert that would get you lost.)

 

EDIT:  Actually, now I'm recalling that 3-5 had skills that your party had to learn in order to traverse the thicker territory (Mountaineering, etc.).  They were usually for sale in the cities, though, so you could unlock them all pretty early if you could survive the road between the first few towns.  So, somewhat similar, but not quite like this game's "gated" approach.

 

 

Anyhow, speaking of enemies flattening you, after several tries, I finally was able to defeat the folks guarding the entrance to the Crag last night with a 14th level group.  Jaguar Warriors are still a bit of a reach for me.  I ended the fight with my Freemage dead, so my first task in exploring the city was to find the Temple.  Irritatingly, the Temple didn't offer resurrection services, so I had to hoof it all the way back to Seahaven to get her up and running before I did anything of note in the new town.  (I didn't want to stumble into earning more XP that she wouldn't get to share.)  Now I need to save some more money so that I can actually take advantage of all the new training opportunities there.  (Which, in turn, will hopefully make taking on those Jaguars and the mercenaries down by Karthal a more realistic proposition.) 

 

I've enjoyed the 2 "mysterious crypt" puzzle dungeons I've found so far.  Hopefully I'll find more stuff like that as I go. 

 

By the way, is there any utility to keeping the secret-detection spell going while I'm outdoors?  I've used it inconsistently outside of towns/dungeons, and haven't found any secrets. 

Edited May 6, 2014 by Enoch

[Keyrock]

Wow, you got to The Crag at lev 14, props.  I got there around lev 20 my first playthrough and lev 18 or 19 my second.

 

There are about a half dozen or so mysterious crypts out there.  Sections of the Elemental Forge have puzzles too.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Yeah. I was level 21, I think. Great job, Enoch!

 

And that secret-detection spell can indeed be made permanent, but that would require spoilers on my part.

[Enoch]

I managed to win those two fights largely via crowd control.  Against the first group, I spammed Gust of Wind to ensure that I faced minimal incoming melee attacks.  The second group had a row of 3 goblins in front of 1 spellcaster and 2 jaguars.  I made sure to keep 1 of the low-threat Goblins alive (preferrably asleep) to ensure that I wouldn't face more than 1 of the other beasts at a time.  That and lots of Celestial Shield, Regeneration, and Mana potions.  Also, Sundering made a big difference in the damage my melee types could bring. 

 

It was rather frustrating that I couldn't enter the city gates while enemies were in aggro-mode (but outside melee range). 

[BruceVC]

@ Enoch

 

Nice one dude, you are making the game sound very exciting and doing a great and unintentional  convincing marketing campaign. You have a way with words, I enjoy reading about your adventures

[Keyrock]

I managed to win those two fights largely via crowd control.  Against the first group, I spammed Gust of Wind to ensure that I faced minimal incoming melee attacks.  The second group had a row of 3 goblins in front of 1 spellcaster and 2 jaguars.  I made sure to keep 1 of the low-threat Goblins alive (preferrably asleep) to ensure that I wouldn't face more than 1 of the other beasts at a time.  That and lots of Celestial Shield, Regeneration, and Mana potions.  Also, Sundering made a big difference in the damage my melee types could bring. 

 

It was rather frustrating that I couldn't enter the city gates while enemies were in aggro-mode (but outside melee range). 

I do that a lot, it's a great way to keep from having to face many powerful foes at once.  Another thing I did when I played my balanced group (couldn't do it with my all-might group), is in the few situations where I'd be attacked from multiple sides (I do my best to avoid those situations, but sometimes you can't avoid it), I'd poison one group with one of the poison spells  then concentrate on the other group while the poison slowly killed that group off, or at least weakened them so much so that when I did get around to attacking them they were near death.

[Enoch]

Got through the first portion of the Lost City (up until the escape hatch to Seahaven).  That gave me enough money to splurge on Master training in the Crag (Axe, Earth, Light, Air).  Also cleared out the "Dangerous Cave" to the west of Seahaven.  Can't use the relic I found (greataxe), but it was a fun fight.  (The Purge spell was crucial in undoing the regeneration spell it would periodically cast on itself.)  I think I'll go take a stab at those other dangerous caves near Sorpigal before pushing further into the Lost City.

 

On character skills: 

 

The Bladedancer is simple-- Swords, Dual Wield, and some Dodge.  The first 2 have the points to GM, but not the training.  I'd put a point into Earth for an additional healing backup, but she doesn't have enough Mana to cast the spell and I keep forgetting to boost the relevant attribute. 

 

The Scout has Axe (points to GM), Dual Wield to Master (max for the class), Expert in medium armor, and a point in Light. 

 

The Runepriest is going to GM Light & Earth (both at Master now, or slightly above), has Expert Fire, and a point each in Spear and Medium Armor. 

 

The Freemage is scattered.  I'm aiming to GM Air and Dark, I think.  Air is at Master level, Dark is between Expert and Master.  She also has Expert in Magical Focus and Primal, and 1 point in Earth and Water. 

 

Everybody has 1 point in the appropriate missile weapon skill. 

[Enoch]

I was really excited to get the Water blessing to unlock new places to explore.  So far, all I'm finding is new places to get my ass kicked. 

 

I think my guys are all level 18.  (The Freemage might be a little behind.)  Plot-wise, I probably should be getting into Karthal right now.  Instead, I'm poking around in the forest-y area to the southeast of the map, and I may have gotten myself into trouble.  I went into the Sacred Grove, which I think is connected to the Bladedancer promotion quest.  I found and managed to defeat the wizard in there (barely).  I quicksaved, rested, and turned around to find myself surrounded by Ravenous Ghouls.  I recall running into those things in the part of the Lost City that was over my head-- they were not a good time.  I might have to revert to my autosave.  That's where I left it for the evening last night. 

[Keyrock]

At lev 18 Ravenous Ghouls will be a struggle, they were for me.  The game will absolutely let you wander into areas you have no business being in at your level (and promptly get mercilessly destroyed).  On my last playthrough I wandered into an area with multiple elite earth elementals when I was still not nearly high enough level.  With no one in the group to cast Purge, I couldn't stop the elementals from healing themselves via regeneration spells and my damage output wasn't enough to significantly outpace their healing.  I really thought I'd have to revert to an earlier save, but several tries and a good chunk of my potions later I managed to kill the elementals and ran back to town just as fast as I could.  The game gets noticeably easier sometime between lev 20-25, when you start getting promoted and grandmastering skills.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Keyrock

[Enoch]

Yeah, I have a tough time imagining how one would take down certain enemies without Purge.  Which makes it all the more puzzling why only 1 class can access Dark magic.  The game really seems to be lacking a hybrid class who can expert Dark for Whispering Shadows, Sleep, and Purge. 

[Humanoid]

If I remember right, ravenous ghouls have a sort of retaliation mechanic where the more you try to hit them, the more attacks they get during their round. So when fighting them, it might be advantageous to not melee if you're low on HP.

[Tigranes]

The Grove is the Bladedancer quest, and is therefore harder than the area around it. If you're lv18 and getting the blessings (Air is the most useful) it's time to go around and start picking up a lot of the unique relics, mostly housed in tiny little one room temples scattered throughout the world.

[Enoch]

Ha!  I made it out of there!  My first promotion quest is complete! 

 

The first ambush was the toughest, but walking right up to the tree to channel the Ghouls into one group for Chain-Lightning purposes turned the tide.  Area effect damage spells in this game are generally lousy, but Chain Lightning seems to be the exception because of the multiplier effect you get when there are 3 enemies occupying one tile.  After that, once I figured out that I could avoid most of the other encounters by ignoring the chests (I'll come back later), I got out pretty easily. 

[Enoch]

Been spending most of my limited gaming time scouring the countryside.  I think I've explored everything I presently have access to except for parts of the jungle to the northwest.  Level 20-21 now, and still haven't entered Karthal.  Been focusing on Crypts, Caves, Shipwrecks, and wilderness monsters. 

 

I did clear out Skull Rock and got the Air Shard; bringing that in to get the blessing is next on my to-do list.  That quest was weird in how early it was introduced.  I suppose that they wanted to make sure that the quest-giver was on the plot-critical path, as the Air Shard seems to be something that they didn't want players missing, but putting it back in Act I was probably a mistake. To the extent that the quest-giver gave me any hints as to where to find his sword and how to get it (read: the password for the 2nd level), I had totally forgotten.  If I hadn't been a Marx Brothers fan who always guesses "swordfish" when asked for a password, I'd have probably been off to the googles. I try to solve the puzzles on my own, but I lack the patience to walk all the way back to the Lighthouse to see if that guy gave us a hint I had forgotten. 

 

I will admit to googling trainer locations, as it seems deliberately obtuse that you can't get the previous-level trainer to repeat where to find the next-level trainer after you've been trained.  Not automatically putting that stuff in the Journal is a step too far towards the Old Skool, for my tastes.  I do like, though, that a couple of the puzzles have basically required some mapping to figure out.  The Crypt in the Shadow Woods is my favorite so far-- figuring out the key to that puzzle was an immensely satisfying "A-Ha!" moment.  (That's the one with pressure plates that lower pillars in the dark.)

Edited May 22, 2014 by Enoch

[IndiraLightfoot]

Been spending most of my limited gaming time scouring the countryside.  I think I've explored everything I presently have access to except for parts of the jungle to the northwest.  Level 20-21 now, and still haven't entered Karthal.  Been focusing on Crypts, Caves, Shipwrecks, and wilderness monsters. 

 

I did clear out Skull Rock and got the Air Shard; bringing that in to get the blessing is next on my to-do list.  That quest was weird in how early it was introduced.  I suppose that they wanted to make sure that the quest-giver was on the plot-critical path, as the Air Shard seems to be something that they didn't want players missing, but putting it back in Act I was probably a mistake. To the extent that the quest-giver gave me any hints as to where to find his sword and how to get it (read: the password for the 2nd level), I had totally forgotten.  If I hadn't been a Marx Brothers fan who always guesses "swordfish" when asked for a password, I'd have probably been off to the googles. I try to solve the puzzles on my own, but I lack the patience to walk all the way back to the Lighthouse to see if that guy gave us a hint I had forgotten. 

 

I will admit to googling trainer locations, as it seems deliberately obtuse that you can't get the previous-level trainer to repeat where to find the next-level trainer after you've been trained.  Not automatically putting that stuff in the Journal is a step too far towards the Old Skool, for my tastes.  I do like, though, that a couple of the puzzles have basically required some mapping to figure out. 

I was lucky I was playing through it all at such a high pace, so I recalled that password, even if I did Skull Rock pretty late (for some reason, I always thought of that place as Keyrock). And I agree about your critique on where the sweet spot for old school ought to sit. I resorted to Google at the same kind of instances. I must say I love those classic riddles, where you get to type in the answer. I missed only one, I think it was in the Lost City.

[Keyrock]

I thoroughly enjoyed the riddle locked chests.  I'm proud to say I didn't Google a single one of those.  I will, however, admit to Googling a couple answers to Sir Whatshisname's riddle quest in the tower.

[Enoch]

I thoroughly enjoyed the riddle locked chests.  I'm proud to say I didn't Google a single one of those.  I will, however, admit to Googling a couple answers to Sir Whatshisname's riddle quest in the tower.

 

Yeah, I haven't done the map-riddle quest yet, but I suspect that I'll probably end up doing the same.  From a roleplaying perspective, I figure my characters would know the answers after having walked all over the peninsula a couple times.  So I'll collect whatever that reward is after I've unlocked/explored the whole map. 

 

One of the chests in the Tower of Enigma made me mad.  It was something along the lines of "I don't walk, swim, or fly, but still I wander.  I shed tears but never cry, what am I?"  The answer that worked after a whole lot of guessing was "Cloud," which really annoyed me because I felt the that the "I don't fly" part was simply untrue.  There was also one in the Lost City that seemed especially obtuse, but I'm not ruling out the possibility of there being a hint somewhere later on.  I remember that some prior M&Ms would have clues in lategame areas that provided the answers to one of the riddles somewhere in the world, which amounted to giving you multiple-choice options for any particularly difficult ones you hadn't figured out yet.  (The 3rd game definitely did this.)  Anything like that here? 

[Humanoid]

I seem to remember from the patch notes that the game at least will tell you what region you're in at any given moment. Prior to that it only informed you, and very briefly at that, when you technically enter that particular zone.

 

There was also the one riddle that wasn't so much of a riddle as much as a vocabulary test. You either know that word and get it instantly, or you don't and are completely stumped.

Edited May 22, 2014 by Humanoid

[Enoch]

There was also the one riddle that wasn't so much of a riddle as much as a vocabulary test. You either know that word and get it instantly, or you don't and are completely stumped.

 

If you mean the

palimpsest

chest, there actually is a hint I found.  The woman in the spell shop in the Karthal slums explains what one is and even quotes a line from the riddle-poem in one of her dialogue options.  It's pretty clearly intended as a clue for players who (like me) scribble down the bare bones of any riddles they find but can't solve immediately.

[Llyranor]

Hey nerds, this game is 12 bucks on the Steam sale right now. How bad is Uplay, really?

[ShadySands]

On a scale of 1 - 10, not that bad

[Humanoid]

This game doesn't use the "full" functionality of Uplay, so it's passable. Y'know like when some people try to claim some Steam titles are DRM-free on some sort of technicality? Well this is Ubisoft's version of it, apparently the most intrusive features of Uplay are not enabled for this.

 

That said, I don't actually own a title that uses the full functionality of Uplay, so I can't say for sure how it compares, but whenever people make specific complaints about Uplay it's usually about stuff that I've never encountered and never knew was a thing.

[Llyranor]

So what's actually implemented for this game, then? You just need to log into your Uplay (and thus have to be online) to play or something?

[Keyrock]

Hey nerds, this game is 12 bucks on the Steam sale right now. How bad is Uplay, really?

It has yet to set my cat on fire.

 

In all seriousness, I haven't had a problem with it, granted I don't exactly have a ton of Uplay games.  The only hiccup I experienced was the infamous Great Watch_Dogs Uplay Outage of 2014 that, judging by the outrage it created, claimed millions of lives and was the worst thing since Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin all rolled into one.  It didn't really bother me since I already had the game downloaded and I just played it in offline mode.  No problems other than that, including no problems whatsoever with Might & Magic X.  As always, your mileage may vary. 

 

Edit: You only need to be online for the initial activation, after that you can play Might & Magic X in Uplay offline mode, which is essentially like Steam offline mode..

Edited July 6, 2014 by Keyrock