Best HoMM spell system

[Aemar]

I'll personally refer here only to the second, the third and the fourth game, since I've never bothered playing the rest of them save for the first one a bit.

HoMM2: I like the second game's spell system the most, even if it's simpler than its iterations. Less is more. Most spells remain relevant throughout the game, one of the reasons I like this system. Also, they're not divided according to magic schools. Mass spells and powerful spells have been placed at the top of the spell tier list, where they belong.

HoMM3: unbalanced would be the term to define this spell system. Magic school mastery has become more important than acquiring better Knowledge and Spellpower stats. A lot of spells are quite useless, while others are insanely OP. A spell cast at expert level can become absurdly more powerful than the same one cast at basic level. Mass spells can become available early on. Due to magic schools masteries and gameplay context, some low level spells can become OP, even for the Might heroes. The most flawed of the bunch.

HoMM4: dividing the spells according to conceptual schools instead of elemental ones makes more sense. Learning better spells is attached to accessing certain secondary sub-skills. Heroes can no longer become OP on an individual level due to the limited skill slots and their available upgrades. Learning additional/different school spells can be done by attaching other heroes to the army. Mass ''insert spell'' becomes once again available only at the higher tiers. The most interesting system of the bunch.

 

[octavius]

2 and 3 are quite similar.
1 was more original, since it used a memorization system instead of spell points, so you had to visit magic guilds regularly.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Out of 2-4, I'd say 4 had the most interesting system. It was more balanced and having the choice of casting or acting with your hero made spell casting less of a no brainer. HoMM3 spells are fun but clearly overpowered. Out of games 1-6 I prefer HoMM5 integration of magic skills, casting and action economy. Having the option to attack with your hero or using a racial skill added to the hero gameplay during combat and spells were also less unbalanced. The extended skill system was also good.
Additionally I'd like to mention HoMM6 point-buy skill system, which allowed for straight forward builds of heroes that weren't luck dependent. The blood/tear system affecting spells and granting different abilities wasn't bad either, although the themes were out of place in the HoMM series. I think the game should not have been released as a HoMM title as it strayed quite far away from what made the series up to that point but the spell system was ok, just a bit too much streamlined and uniform, reducing its replay value. I've never touched HoMM7, so no idea how casting worked there.

 

[RuySan]

I must give negative points to 6. It really butchered the game and took and away my enjoyment.

 

[hello friend]

HOMM3's system is terrible. It is also the most fun. Some happy hybridisation of HOMM3 and HOMM4 would be ideal, I think.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

I liked how Age of Wonders handled spell casting. Adding some resource cost to spells could alleviate some of the spell spam that usually dominates later stages of HoMM. It could work well with all the different kinds of resources that are featured in HoMM, that become mostly useless (besides trading for gold/artifacts) once you have upgraded your castles. I've always wondered how a mix of HoMM and AoW would play.

 

[Harthwain]

I'd say IV followed by I.

IV - because I like the idea of spells belonging to different domains (this is also why I enjoyed the contrast between Humans and Undead in Warcraft III: you could heal your units with the same spell you could harm enemy units, which is the next step up).

I - because you can't exactly spam the same spell over and over: you have only a limited number of uses, meaning you need to be more careful with how you use your spells. III technically sounds better, because you are still limited and at the same time free to spend your magic points as you wish, but in my opinion it hurts creativity in the end.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Did a mage guilds in HoMM1 replenish all spells or only spells that it contained ? I still remember that you actually had to click/enter the guild but that other detail is murky.