GATING MECHANICS
- Gating percentage is now 40% across tiers 1-6.
- Hellfire now has Fireball damage, costs 1 less mana and also triggers on retaliations!
- Hellfire directly unlocks Searing Flames in Destructive.
- Mark of the Damned now has roughly the same impact on all unit tiers. Excruciating Strike is no longer available in Offence as the combination of the two could dispatch high tier units cheaply.
- Consume Corpse unlocks Soulfire in Gating. Soulfire has a serious damage boost which can be further improved with Destructive, Master of Fire and Ignite ^^
SKILLS
Just like Haven, Inferno lacks the raw spellpower to make Destructive and Summoning work, while Light was rare and Light spells hardly guaranteed.
- Light is now a bit easier to get and since you can get +4 random spells per tier there's a decent chance that you can make it work.
The other two have been made viable with the introduction of the Succubus Channeler alt which can boost your Spellpower much like High Druids.
- Destructive is potent as long as the Succubus Channelers live. The DemonLord starts with Fireball, Firewall and Armageddon and additionally gets the Tome of Fire that gives +20% fire damage. Searing Flames is a nice Hellfire upgrade. On the other hand, it is possible to get Cold Steel and Chilling Armour.
- Summoning is not particularly unique, except for two things: Master of Conjuration now unlocks Gate Master that allows you to gate more units and the Conjuring spell (original Summon Elementals) summons Efreet (Immune to Fire, Fire Shield, Flamewave). Summoning has an advantage over Destructive: Summons retain their power even when Channelers go down.
- WarMachines are naturally potent(because the class favours Attack and Knowledge) so they need no upgrades.
- Leadership no longer gives access to Empathy because the gated units can add one too many triggers but also because demons aren't known for being particularly empathetic. Aura of Swiftness is universally out to reduce the impact of a first turn full frontal assault. Instead, Inferno gets access to Retribution and Swift Gating.
- Sorcery has two options. Swift Mind & Refined Mana or Distract & Teleport Assault.
UNITS
- Familiars and Vermin steal less mana. They are more of an inconvenience rather than a death sentence for lower mana builds :)
- Horned Overseers have more consistent damage and are tougher. Explosion has been boosted by 50% and can be activated 3 times.
- Cerberi a bit tougher, Firehounds now deal 100% dmg to secondary targets.
- Hellhound 3rd alt added! Kamikaze unit with Sweep Attack, Fire Shield and Avenging Flames - when killed, it explodes for 3 damage per hellhound.
- Succubus Mistress improved stats/damage because she was underwhelming. Meanwhile, Seducer special is now 25% weaker.
- Succubus Channeler 3rd alt added! She can increase hero Spellpower based on his Knowledge stat. Since Inferno's Defence is lacking, they have 11 Initiative to prevent losses before Channeling.
- Nightmares have been indirectly boosted because neutral starting morale means their Frightful Aura sends opponents straight to -3. They additionally gain Weakening Aura for -2 nearby enemy attack/defence. Meanwhile, Searing Aura has been toned down a bit.
- Pit Lords get improved Fireball/Meteor and +25% Magic Proof.
- Pit Fiend 3rd alt added! Trades destructive spells for Vulnerability(-6) and Mass Vulnerability(-3)! It likes the company of Vermin.
- Archdemons relocation ability has +2 tiles added reach so they can pull units standing directly across the battlefield when their turn comes.
