Great to hear people are enjoying it - we've pretty much tried to address every comment that people have made here with this patch, so it's really good to hear that it's going down well. If people are keen, I can post a detailed rundown of how we went about choosing what to change, and how. We're working on fixes for crashes at the moment. Should go into submission shortly. We're also putting final touches on the Combat Alchemist at the moment, that won't be more than a couple of weeks away, touch wood. Vengeance is power for the Blood Knight - sorry, that's not clearly explained anywhere. New quests : Have been written, and are on the way. Getting the basic game configured as it should be has been our main priority so far, but we always wanted to get more quests out (and more creatures, too). All coming, in time. Crossbow is a Combat Alchemist item, so save 'em up!
If it's not too much work, it will be good to see the rundown (not necessarily in detail). Regarding quests, do all characters have totally different ones, or at least a few unique to them and the rest shared? What about new dungeons (in terms of artistic style)? I really like this game. One thing that needs fixing is the resale value of items. Currently it's around 1/15...should it be half of that at least? Also, since the crossbow is for the combat alchemist, what about the jerkins, gauntlets, cowls? Who are these for? I have lots of epics of these, so I want to choose the character to buy which has the most common ones. Finally, how come the Plague Wizard costs 0.99 on iOS but 1.99 on Android? Shouldn't it be the same? (Ok I was wrong here) Thanks and keep up the great work!!
IIRC there are 40 quests from which 30 are (randomly?) chosen when playing the campaign, so - with few exceptions - you are basically playing the same quests with each of the three character classes. The artistic style (especially the colors) doesn't differ too much between different dungeons and unfortunately each dungeon is used for several quests, so if you want to know how varied the game really is, the question is not how many different quests there are, but how many different dungeons there are. Does anyone know? The whole loot system, especially when compared with Orc, feels somewhat broken to me. I've now played the first eight or ten shadow assassin quests, and the longer I play, the fewer items I get. For example I got 23 items in the first quest, and this number gradually decreased to a measly 5 items in the most recent quest. What's the reason behind this? In general the game is still quite stingy when it comes to rewarding all this hacking and slashing. About half of all those barrels, chests and monsters yield exactly zero reward - no experience, no gold, no items - which makes you feel like completely wasting your time. What's the point in letting the player find items he can't use? Why do these items inevitably have to clutter my precious inventory slots (of which I have to buy additional ones with gold) instead of offering an immediate convert-into-gold option (as in Orc)? In addition, from other Action-RPGs players are getting used to two things: 1. Chests are never (or only very rarely) empty. 2. The harder an enemy is to fight, the greater is the chance that he's dropping an item and/or the greater is the chance that this item is somewhat powerful. Deviating from these two rules, as Heroes Call does, is rarely a good idea ...
Anyone complete the final Shadow Assassin quest? Hello all! I am still stuck on the final Shadow Assassin quest. No matter what I do, all that happens is I kill enemy after enemy. Is this a bug, or is there something I am missing? Thanks, frisbee10461
Thanks for the info. I doubt it is random though, the quest selection. On the descp page, they say over 30 dungeons. For example, The Old COuntry has a few different dungeon styles. Not sure if that counts as one or many. And yes, I agree with you on the loot system.I'm not sure why, but most of loot beyond Level 8 has been for the other classes. I replayed in the guild 5 times and never got anything usable. And then, there's no point buying because they're 1) expensive and 2) have low resale value. Maybe the devs wanna rethink how the loot drops? But in all fairness, Heroes Call gets 4 (maybe 4.5) out of 5 stars. I'm on Android, so we haven't got Orc here, but I'm eagerly waiting for it. Can you vouch that Orc is better...and in every way or only some? Thanks!
I've now come across a notorious bug: I cannot save any progress beyong the beginning of the last arc (quest 27) of the Blood Knight. Everytime I restart the game, progress from before is lost. Has anyone on iPad/iPhone faced this issue? I am on Android. Thanks!
I highly doubt this. For this I had way too many repeating dungeons while completing the game two times. Perhaps "dungeons" and "quests" are sometimes used synonymous, although being two different things. 30+ quests yes, 30+ dungeons no.
I guess that's a matter of personal preference. The pros are that Orc has to offer nicer graphics/backgrounds/animations with a greater variance between different chapters than Heroes Call (where the colors brown and grey are all too dominating throughout the game's artwork) and that looting is simply much more fun than in Heroes Call (although not perfect too). It also offers Game Center achievements, which Heroes Call is completely lacking. The cons are that Orc costs $2.99 and is quite short, with no additional character classes available. There are also some other, minor points, where Orc still has room for improvements: more than two equipment slots (weapon and shield), a hero that is running by default (instead of walking), and skippable cut-scenes should definitely be addressed in a future update. In the end, Orc offered a more polished and a more atmospheric experience to me, with an overall greater quality of content. When it comes to quantity, with only 17 quests in Orc, at first sight it may seem that Heroes Call has to offer way more content (40 quests and 3 character classes), but this is fool's gold: During different quest you are often encountering completely identical dungeons and all character classes are sent through (basically) the same quests, just in a different order. I have to admit that particularly this (either deceitful or unoriginal) kind of content recycling is something I don't like about Heroes Call.
Other Tips Hey, I finally answered the call for the Shadow Assassin, and while I don't want to give anything away, her call is not a happy one. Oh, the sad fate we have when we value money over integrity, you saucy sellsword, you. Now, on to some additional tips: 1. Use the Bank. What I love about the Bank is that you can place an item for a character that you are not currently playing. So, let's say you are a warrior and obtain wizard items. Place the items in the Bank. Then, you can open the wizard character and retrieve the items from the Bank. 2. Make the appraiser work! Did you know that you have multiple appraisers who can work for you? You get two open slots PER character. So, lets say you have five unidentified items. Place two with the appraiser, and the other three in the bank. Open another character and retrieve the items from the bank. Go to the appraiser, and the slots are empty. Place two more items in the slots. Rinse and repeat for all characters. As I currently have six characters (three for the wizard, warrior, and shadow assassin in Normal mode and three in Hard mode), I have up to 12 open slots for items to be appraised at any time. 3. Make the Hard mode a bit easier. Using the Bank tip above, let's say you are playing the Warrior character in Normal mode and answer the call (complete all 30 quests). If you play the Warrior character in Hard mode, transfer your successful equipment to this character. This way, you do not have to buy equipment for a character type twice.
To be clear on this: Remember that your hero can only use gear with level equal to or lower than his own level, so your Level 1 Hard Warrior can't use your Level 15 Normal Warrior equipment. So in order to reuse your Warrior equipment from Normal mode in Hard mode you have to deposit gear of different levels in the bank while playing the game on Normal difficulty.
I didn't even know that speed reducing items do exist! Never found one and never saw one at the Blacksmith. Very odd! How is this effect described in the description of a weapon?
Well, it says "slows target by -% for -seconds" or something very similar. PS: Nobody else facing gamesave problems?
Hi guys....I realized a few anomalies in the game: 1) Enemy spawning is not consistent at all. I could have a very hard level with lots of lich kings (these are by far the hardest enemies), and die and quit. When I replay, the level is devoid of any lick king. The final (second final infacr) quest to kill the high priestess was a walk in the park as on my second try, not a single lich king (first try had about 10 of em). 2) The gold in-game collected doesn't increase proportionally (not at all infact) with the increase in price of weapons, potions and what not. Weapons have an extremely low resale value. 3) Syncing via Facebook is not really working well. I'm on Level 15, but my FB sync will be a few quests back for example. Also, cross platform sync (ANdroid to iOS) is not working well. As I mentioned before, gamesave is broken on both platforms for some people as well. I hope the devs can address to the above anomalies that can be easily rectified via code changes. If others have more, please add on.
Well, I actually rate Heroes Call to be amongst the best in terms of graphics for a mobile game. Then again, I primarily play on a Tegra 3 Android tablet, and comparing it with the iPad 2 lying at home, the Tegra version has better graphics (dynamic lighting, ragdoll physics among others). Yes, dungeons are basically the same: the have sewers, caves, hallways and giant libraries/church. That's about it. Edit: Did you mention cutscenes in Orc? Wow, that would've been awesome in Heroes Call, though probably inflated the budget by a lot. At least the characters behave differently though. I doubt the quest recycling is deceitful, the make it clear as much in the description that same quests played out in a different order. Based on what you've written, I look forward to Orc on Android. Finally, how do you rate the the playability of HC in relation to Orc with respect to Gold coins/IAP? I know HC is not bad at all in this respect, just curious on Orc as it's a paid title. PS - To the devs: You guys said there are new quests. I think to give the game some boost, limit the quests to only the combat assassin (and maybe shadow and plague wizard). This will make us look forward to playing the game again later and add some novelty to the certain character(s).
I'm playing both games on my iPhone 4. HC has good graphics, but unfortunately not too varied, especially regarding the use of colors. Cutscenes in Orc could've been nice, but as they 1) are using the in-game graphics, 2) are telling a clichee-ridden, unoriginal story, 3) cannot be skipped, I'd rather do without these. Perhaps not really deceitful. It's just that when you're reading things like "over 40 quests" on iTunes you quite rightly expect all quests to play in different dungeons, which is not the case. They also say "more than 30 lush dungeons" on iTunes, which I still doubt, but after already having completed the game twice, I simply do not feel too motivated to verify this, so this is just my overall impression after two completed games. In Orc you're showered with gold, so any IAPs are indeed completely unnecessary. Looking at how much gold you are usually gaining during a quest, how much gold you have to pay for a decent weapon or armor or for unlocking slots or for identifying gear, and how much gold you are getting when selling gear, HC simply feels a bit stingy.
Response to Feedback Hello, all: I'd like to respond to some feedback posted recently for Heroes Call. "Remember that your hero can only use gear with level equal to or lower than his own level, so your Level 1 Hard Warrior can't use your Level 15 Normal Warrior equipment. So in order to reuse your Warrior equipment from Normal mode in Hard mode you have to deposit gear of different levels in the bank while playing the game on Normal difficulty." I think doing this at the end is a good idea. So, after your character in Hard mode reaches level 12 (or higher) try to use the equipment for the associated character in Normal mode. "About half of all those barrels, chests and monsters yield exactly zero reward - no experience, no gold, no items - which makes you feel like completely wasting your time. What's the point in letting the player find items he can't use? Why do these items inevitably have to clutter my precious inventory slots (of which I have to buy additional ones with gold) instead of offering an immediate convert-into-gold option (as in Orc)?" Wow, you must be having some terrible luck. It is true that not every creature, barrel, or chest gives gold or equipment, but less than half for you? For me, I get something from 60 - 70 percent of my kills. However, in my opinion, the most important thing you can get is the health orb. And with certain equipment, you do increase your chances of getting a health orb. Also, why would most barrels give equipment drops? In reality, not every creature you are going to kill is going to have a piece of equipment you can use. But, I feel the equipment drops are fair. "I'm not sure why, but most of loot beyond Level 8 has been for the other classes. I replayed in the guild 5 times and never got anything usable. And then, there's no point buying because they're 1) expensive and 2) have low resale value. Maybe the devs wanna rethink how the loot drops?" If they are for other classes, why not just drop them in the Bank, and then, you can use them for your other characters? In fact, what I do is play a character until I level up, and then the next character, and then the third one. This way, I get equipment that can be pooled for all three characters. For the person who asked which is better (Heroes Call or Orc Vengeance), they are both pretty good. Why not play both of them? "The pros are that Orc has to offer nicer graphics/backgrounds/animations with a greater variance between different chapters than Heroes Call (where the colors brown and grey are all too dominating throughout the game's artwork) and that looting is simply much more fun than in Heroes Call (although not perfect too)." I'm not sure how the looting is more fun in Orc Vengeance. Looting is looting. Cracking open barrels and chests seemed to me the same throughout. I did prefer the way you move (the circle lights up to indicate your path). "The cons are that Orc costs $2.99 and is quite short, with no additional character classes available. There are also some other, minor points, where Orc still has room for improvements: more than two equipment slots (weapon and shield), a hero that is running by default (instead of walking), and skippable cut-scenes should definitely be addressed in a future update." I would add to this the difficulty of performing the circle and zig-zag moves. Also, when you say quite short, there are a grand total of 17 quests, and for $2.99, that is way, way too short. In addition, you don't achieve your maximum level when you beat the game. For me, after playing the game a few times (it is fun), I maxed out at level 25. To play from 25 to 30 served nothing, as I had already beaten the game several times. I don't think anyone played the game until they reached level 30. "Did you mention cutscenes in Orc? Wow, that would've been awesome in Heroes Call, though probably inflated the budget by a lot." It can work both ways. Many people complain that you are forced to watch the cutscenes in Orc Vengeance. Some people suggest that the scenes should appear for the first time only, and for future times, the player has the option of skipping them. However, if people clamor to skip cutscenes, why have them in the first place? "Finally, how do you rate the the playability of HC in relation to Orc with respect to Gold coins/IAP? I know HC is not bad at all in this respect, just curious on Orc as it's a paid title." You will not have to use IAP for either game. The gold is generous for Orc Vengeance, and the blue and green drops in Heroes Call result in you not having to purchase any equipment. Thus far, I have completed all three HC characters in Normal mode, and I am halfway through completing the game with the three characters in Hard mode, and I haven't had to purchase a single piece of equipment.
A Question + Status Has anyone beaten the game with all six characters? Presently, here is my status: Warrior in Normal mode: COMPLETED Wizard in Normal mode: COMPLETED Shadow Assassin in Normal mode: COMPLETED Warrior in Hard mode: Level 9 Wizard in Hard Normal mode: Level 9 Shadow Assassin in Hard mode: Level 4
Favorite Spells Which are your favorite spells? For me, my favorite spells are: Warrior: Frenzy + Whirlwind + Shield combo Wizard: Infect [where one monster gets the plague and when he dies, the plague spreads to other monsters] Shadow Assassin: Stab + Trap [especially when you can place two traps in a row, and then guide the enemies to the traps]
With regard to drops: The percentage is fine but the distribution is sometimes painful. More than once I've seen clusters of five barrels in a corner yield nothing. It's all part of the salting mechanism that loads monsters and loot when you start a level. With regard to loot quality I'm afraid it's abysmal. Nothing I wear as a warrior has less than three stats on it and nothing is less than two from my current level. I've never found anything for any class with more than two stats. The Bank doesn't fix anything but it sure is nice to have. All that being said I'm pretty sure I owe the devs around $5 after playing a couple of times every week since last May, having a blast. I want to see more. More classes and especially more world graphics.