Guys before complaining about non-existent/retarded AI, please give Equilibris mod a shot.
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/heroes_of_might_and_magic_series/heroes_iv_equilibris

Instead of acting retarded, AI becomes quite smart, unit distribution is better, everything that was broken about AI is fixed. Oh, and you can finally choose what are you summoning. Just press alt-e when you select hero with summoning skills.

Now I have heard everything. Ancient behemoths are one of my favorite units in the game but please stop with the hyperbole. Yes they are strongest IF they can make it to closing range on an Archangel/Black Dragon/Titan/etc. without being slowed/Implosioned etc. first and get first strike against those creatures and this is highly unlikely against Archangels/Black Dragons/ Titans/Pheonixes.
And you can get them built on Day 2 or 3?! What sort of custom maps are you playing that allows you to have all the required buildings built already AND have 20+ crystals on day 2?!

Strongholds are not very underpowered though, as I said before you chimed in, and what makes them slightly underpowered has more to do with the mage guild limitation. No town portal, fly or DD so good luck against 7 enemy Confluxes/Towers/NBecropolis/Dungeons coming at you... Agreed, just as I said in my previous posts. But even so there are better 2nd level units than wolf riders and there are better 5th level units than rocs/Thunderbirds Not true and you are getting haste in your first level mage guild is far from a certainty anyway. Everyone needs town portal/Fly/Dimension Door (at least one of those. preferably all three) unless the map you are playing is specifically designed to overcome such (like being a custom map with NO Town Portal or DD spells available for one example). ...OR you are smart and keep your town(s) well defended until you get your mage guilds built. I have never rushed to get level 4 and 5 mage guilds before the second month so I do not understand your criticism here? I play mostly Large/X-Large random maps now days and I know things are different for smaller maps. I think it has more to do with the advantage of having much higher attack & defense skills early on (which beefs up your units) and most people probably playing smaller maps or multiplayer custom maps. Granted but there is no fairer way to assess such IMO. ANY town can be strong if certain things happen during map generation for example but that does not show the comparable strength of one town vs. another, which is what I am getting at.
We all know about this already. One of the reasons anyone is even bothering to buy and play Heroes 4 at all. If not for the mod the game would be nigh unplayable for many. However even with this mod there are still unfixed issues with strategic AI and the game is still not really a Heroes of M&M game, which is fine by me but I can understand why Heroes fans will be turned off by someone developing a new game and slapping the "Heroes" label onto it.

Waitaminute...are you talking about the general darkness of a map at the beginning of a game, which you have to explore to reveal? or do you mean that constant darkness in many strategy games that prevents you from seeing what enemies are up to? Sorry I get confused sometimes about which is which. I would agree that the latter has no place in Heroes games.

"All the required buildings" is only Wolf Pen and Cliff Nest. On some maps the towns start with lvl 2 dwelling so you build Cliff Nest on Day 1, Behemoths on Day 2. The cavern is only 10 crystal, which is easy at 130%, and really only difficult at 200%.

The problem with your mage guild arguments is that Fly and DD are banned in just about every MP setting. Occasionally TP is as well. In other words, the only level 5 spell you're really missing out on is Implosion, and Barbs aren't gonna be able to cast that with too much effectiveness anyway.

I suppose, in retrospect, that the amount of things that have had to be banned in Multiplayer (which includes Conflux in general, Necro on XL maps, Fly, DD, Conservatories, Hives, and a few others) is an indicator of HoMM 3's less than stellar balance - though really it's hard to think of ANY fantasy TBS with good balance. AoW SM probably comes closest.

HoMM 3 is better balanced than MoM, at least.

I really like HoMM IV, and with Equilibris, I don't see any flaws you are talking about. Care to explain. Only issue is that all official downloads for Equilibris are dead, but that's sorted out *points to topic I made in HOMM subforum*

ah yes my bad also.. i was talking about constant reapearing fog of war..
p.s. atm im playing homm4 campaign. Got very involved so i guess all bad things just dont care anymore for me.. :) good game

I actually played all the HOMMs in order. Started with HOMM 1, liked it, then bought HOMM 2 as soon as it was released :). It was a fantastic game and I wasted much of my youth playing it. HOMM 3 didn't really do it for me though - not sure why but it just didn't have the same appeal.

Didn't get HOMM 4 for quite a long time but when I did I became hooked instantly. It's now my favourite of the series. Loved how it was more like an RPG and you could build your heroes up to be demi-gods on the battlefield. Also great how diverse the skill sets can be and no single hero can have every advantage. Strategy makes a huge difference in battles and some seemingly impossible battles can be won by making some subtle changes in your approach.

I've won every one of the main campaigns on Champion difficulty (without cheating). Many people think this is impossible in certain campaigns, but it can be done with the right strategy and a bit of luck (and some AI abuse ;). My highest score is 5290 for "Opposites Attract" (Gathering Storm campaign) and from the original campaigns it was 3120 for "The True Blade". I've had some absolutely epic battles during these campaigns, often getting stuck at one battle and replaying it over and over again in slightly different ways to find a winning strategy.

There's usually at least one killer feature of all the main skill trees. Listed in my order of preference:
* Combat - Grandmaster Magic Resistance is essential, otherwise the hero will die on the first battle against magic-using opponents
* Life magic - Regeneration and Heavenly Shield can make a hero close to invincible if they can survive at least one round. Song of Peace, the Warding spells and the rest of the buffing spells are very useful (Chaos Ward is a lifesaver against Black Dragons, along with potions of Fire Resistance)
* Order Magic - Teleport, (Mass) Slow, Berserk, Dispel can all be used to make otherwise impossible battles winnable. None of these spells require line of sight, so are great for siege battles (try teleporting your buffed up hero onto a tower)
* Nature Magic - Many good buffing spells. Summon Leprechaun as a level 1 spell gives your hero the Fortune (max luck) effect while also providing a one-time shield against even the strongest shooting creature, which can make all the difference. Quicksand and Terrain Walk combined with Slow, Regeneration or Poison (or even a Wand of Firebolts) is a great combination
* Death magic - Poison/Plague, combined with Fatigue/Slow or Quicksand can make some battles winnable which are impossible for any other character, even if your Necromancer is only level 2 (think of a fight vs 1000 Hydras or Behemoths, for example). These spells also do not require line of sight, making them great for sieges
* Scouting - Many extra movement points and stealth. Most people ignore stealth, but actually if used properly can result in almost double experience for the hero
* Nobility - Very useful for secondary heroes on some "Champion" difficulty campaigns
* Tactics - If you prefer to let your creatures do the talking
* Chaos Magic - OK, not every skill is hugely useful - I tried to avoid this one

Must be time to break out the old CDs again :). One of these days I'll record an epic battle and put it on Youtube.

It is the hidden wealth displayed by the textures. People balk at it and look for excuses to justify their subliminal dislike. The game is better than II because it lets you customize your parties, hero, heroes, hero + troops, heroes + troops, troops only, and wandering troops is a near RTS system with more tactical options to avoid premature fights. It is what was missing from HOMM II. But then you are limited to only eight free armies on the field and there is no next hero button, which is uncomfortable. If you got used to the super classical HOMM II you feel off, but that is all. One is a board game, this one is a strategy game and much harder overall, HOMM III does feel like HOMM II without the cartoonish look and that is all. HOMM IV is easier on the eye if you do like your soil to be bronze, stained gold, brushed silver...

A big reason for the dislike for Heroes 4 is that it tried to be so very different yes, but even without that, there are plenty of flaws about it. Mind, I actually think that HOMM 4 can be fun to play, and isn’t overall a bad game.

The cons:
The AI: Utterly braindead most of the time. The AI has no idea how to push an advantage, and often just goes off to get itself killed somewhere against random monsters. The AI just tends to hole up in their castle, and only move very little from there. (And yes, there are mods for this, but no, that does not count in the game’s favour….as it means it really needed to be changed in the first place.)

The graphic style: To put a point to it, the game has a tendency to look ridiculous. Weird design choices, like leprechauns, rainbow-maned unicorns, Bela Lugosi vampires (And yes, HOMM2 had that problem too. They looked out of place there too.), roundhouse-kicking satyrs, the Muppet behemoth and more. Many of the monsters look awkward in motion too, hobbling or bouncing along as they cross the battlefield (I’m looking at you again, Satyrs.). It doesn’t get better on the over world map either. Everything Is crowded, and bigger world map sites overlap, making it hard to navigate properly. The biggest magic shrines are so overblown in size and effect that they look ridiculous. There is also something to be said for simplicity, which is what I’m really missing on the world map, thing should be easy to identify.

The sound: Everywhere you go, there is something humming, crackling, laughing, quacking (I really hate the ducks of HOMM4), or making some sort of noise. Almost every item on the world map makes some kind of obnoxious sound on a short loop. Mind, this is a nitpick and you can just turn off/down such sounds. Now…this I might get crucified for, but…I don’t really like the music of HOMM4. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very competently made and could be considered beautiful, but in context it tends to get on my nerves very quickly. Most of the songs are a bit too similar, and almost all of them are on the bombastic side, with opera singing and all. Like the world map, less is more (Also, the ‘other player’s turn’ music piece reminds me and my brother of a laundry detergent commercial).

The game mechanics: I don’t really like the system where you have to choose between creatures while building. Not because I can’t get them all…but because the choice tends to be a little too obvious. The creatures don’t feel well balanced, and such, there is often no reason to choose one of the monsters, as the other one is clearly superior. It should be a choice of playstyle, but tends to be a choice of knowing which one is the bad one. The battlefield map tends to be problematic too. In theory, it should allow more detail than the old hex-based field, but in reality, it just makes position much harder. You often can’t see why you can’t hit an enemy, and blocking off routes tends to be much harder too. Another things that’s a bit sad, is that heroes no longer have special abilities like in HOMM3. It would suit the more RPG oriented feel of HOMM4.

The lore: They blew up the old world that was developed in Might and Magic 6, 7 and 8 + HOMM 1, 2, 3 and Chronicles. That is a very big step…and I’m not sure I like it. They did make something of it though, see campaigns below.

The pros:
The mechanics: I for one don’t mind using your heroes in combat alongside the monsters. Sure, it takes some getting used to, but it does open up for some nice tactics and strategies (For example, once saved a castle by attacking the enemy’s army, and only killing his hero, which meant they couldn’t take over said castle). Caravans are a nice addition too, not much more to say than that. They also got rid of a lot of the busywork of gathering resources from mills, and gathering creatures from dwellings (And the dwellings got much more useful, now that you don’t have to upgrade things too).

The campaigns: It has the best campaigns of the old heroes games (Only challenged by the Heroes Chronicles games really). They work well, are written interestingly and you don’t have to be a god at the game to actually get through them.

The map editor: It has far more options than the previous ones, especially in regards to triggers and such. I wish HOMM3 had that, so you could really make interesting story maps in it, but at least HOMM4 seems to have that one down (Mind, I haven’t used the HOMM4 editor much, but I’m very willing to give it the benefit of doubt.)

All in all, it’s a good, if flawed game. I have enjoyed my time with it, and I’d heartily recommend it for playing the campaigns. For multiplayer I’d look to the other HOMM games, in particular HOMM3 (Which very much has its own set of flaws though).

Heroes 4 is my favourite. Great music and very interesting campaign stories.

I started with HOMM2, I skipped 3, and played 4 which became my favourite.

I played 5 also, and it was ok, but I prefer 4