Heroes 5 Tribes of the East: demons and orcs - brother enemies

• About Orcs and magic
  Shamans (sort of witches) can cast Slow and Haste, and can sacrifice Goblins to replenish their mana. But globally, Orcs are oriented towards Might, not Magic, and know how to spoil the enemy spells, because of a special ability, that reduces the enemy [apparently hero and units] Spellpower by a certain percentage during battles.
• About designing the Orcs line-up:
  It is necessary to say that, for example, the selection of the strongest Orc creature was a serious battle between the designers: some said that this must be the Behemoth, the others defended the Cyclops. Everyone gave arguments for his champion, but the supporters of Cyclops crushed the competition by their exceeding number.
• About recruiting alternative upgrades in Heroes 5 Tribes of the East:
  In ToE, it will be possible not only to select one of two existing upgrades, but also at any time to switch between them. As soon as the player constructs the upgrade building, he will be able to recruit both upgrades at his choosing. Some upgrades are intended to be more effective against neutral monsters, while others should be preferred for the fights against enemy heroes.
• About the Stalker (Assassin alternative)
  When using "Invisibility", the Stalker becomes invisible for the enemy for three actions. [I guess it can only be used once per combat! ]
• About multi:
  It will be possible to use scripts in multiplayer maps.

Highest rate of filling "rage bar" gives melee attack that executed by orc's stack in Heroes 5 Tribes of the East. Middle rate of filling bar gives melee attack performed by enemies against orc's stack. Slow rate of filling bar gives ranged attack performed by enemies against orc's stack.

And there are many other actions that fills "rage bar" (almost all actions with exclusion of Wait and Defend). For example, the shamaness fill her rage bar by cast spells, sacrificing goblins.

There will be 3 levels of "rage" bonuses to stack. Bonuses will be awarded to stack automatically after rage bar is filled to certain level. First bonus is easy to get – it needs 1-2 melee attacks by stack; but higher level bonuses will require much more "rage points".

Each type of creature gives its own bonuses. For example, Orc (level 3 unit of Stronghold) on 1st level of rage gets bonuses to HP and speed; on 2nd – bonus to attack; on 3nd – Double Attack ability.

By default, the rage bar is empty in the beginning of combat. But special building in orc's town gives small starting bonus to "rage points" in the beginning of combat. For example, if that building will be built in 4 orc's towns than orc stacks will be enter in combat already having 1st level rage bonus.

From: alexrom66

It is YSD 330; an era of calm reigns precariously. The nations of Ashan are expanding, discovering each other, magic and the wonders of nature: harnessing the forces of their world.

Meanwhile, in the heart of Sheogh, the Demons' home and prison, things are stirring…

Asha, the primal dragon of Order has been sleeping and healing within the silvery cocoon of the moon since Chaos was defeated by her champion, Sar-Elam. There was a slight flaw in the wizard's sealing ritual that has allowed the Demons an opportunity to escape. Should Asha be obscured by her twin brother Urgash, the primal dragon of Chaos, the chains that bind him at Ashan’s molten core would be dangerously loosened.

In YSD 330. the races of Ashan bare witness to the first lunar eclipse, and the first demon invasion.

Totally unprepared for the onslaught of the demon hordes, the defensive lines of Asha’s children are swiftly broken and they are forced to retreat. First the Elven lands are overrun. A hurried alliance between the remainder of the Elves, the Humans and Dwarves fares no better. The survivors flee south, hotly pursued, hoping that within the magic of the Wizards of the Seven Cities they will find something to stop this relentless invasion.

Their hopes dwindle and prayers seem in vain. In battle after battle the Demons are victorious; the only resources left to the defenders are fear and desperation…

It is at this point that a daring experiment is made. Focussing the energy of inert earthen elements on a human body pumped full of demon blood, the Wizards discover that they can bring it back to life. Though the beast immediately dies, they learn that they could perhaps combine two fundamentally opposed forces to create a new race, a different race, a race made from a child of Asha and a child of Urgash. Such a creation could turn the balance in the war.

Though their Haven allies are opposed to this atrocity for religious reasons, the Wizards remain pragmatists and explain that if they were only allowed to continue, they could make a powerful army. This new race, later to be known as the Orcs, would inherit strength and immunity to Demon magic from their demonic blood. Their human body would give them fertility and the assurance to walk the surface of the world freely. The desperation of the dark hour, which had chased away all other hopes and alternatives gives the Wizards their opportunity. Reason leaves for brighter pastures. The experiment is repeated in mass.

Failures are numerous: burning bodies, madmen, and beastly freaks are born from their arcane laboratories in alarming proportions. But a breakthrough is made by a wizard named Ishizaar. He discovers that by increasing the concentration of elemental components, notably through augmenting and properly aligning the energetic prisms of gems and crystals, the conflicting forces are confined in a manner that remains stable.

The Orcs are born.

Their coming to the battlefield is like a tornado through a field of crops. Unable to use their magic against the savage power of the Orcs, the Demons are helpless. Fuelled by the power of their blood rage and united by indivisible bonds of clan-like brotherhood, the Orcs turn what was to be the Demons' finest hour into a nightmare of slaughter and rout. Behind the Orc shock troops, the nations rally. Time is now on the side of the allies who use it to develop defensive and offensive strategies incorporating their new elite forces. Their improving art of warfare swings the tide back in their favor, and the Demons days on Ashan seem counted.

The Demon Lords, boiling in anger, refuse to go down alone. They swear that if their legions will not survive the war, neither will the Orcs. Their solution is one of demonic simplicity – with no Orc children, there will be no future for the Orcs.

The demon tactics turn to infiltration and assassination. As their creators drive their Orc slaves to the front lines to fight, unprotected Orcish villages are visited at night by shadowy forms haloed in flames and terror. When the victorious tribes return to their huts, their future generations and hopes are missing.

The diabolical plan came too late however. The Demon troops are destroyed even more quickly than predicted, and with a raging vengeance. The plans that had taken them centuries to elaborate are broken. Their prison is sealed anew. The Orcs live on and give birth to new offspring.

Among the other races of Ashan, the great war against the Demons that started in YSD 330 is known as the War of the Blood Moon – the first eclipse, the first Demon invasion, a horrifying memory of near extinction. In the Orcish counting of the years, the event has a different name: the War of the Empty Cradles.

There are some things that the Orcs will never forget, will never forgive. Though the other races may view Demons and Orcs as but two sides of the same coin, for the Orcs that concept is incomprehensible. The two races, forever, shall be brother enemies.