Hundreds of games of various genres and directions are released annually. But only some of them fall into the hearts of players so much that they remain relevant and interesting even after decades. This is exactly what the Disciples II strategy is.
System requirements
Of course, Disciples II was released a very long time ago. In 2002, the system requirements of this game might seem prohibitive. Now, if the game does not start, it is only because the computer is too powerful.
Fortunately, the fact that the strategy required Windows XP, contributed to its playability on the "seven". So, if necessary, you can always run it in compatibility mode.
The remaining parameters are very ridiculous. 32 MB of RAM and a 300 MHz processor. By the way, there is one more problem that may arise for those who wish to play Disciples II. The game may not accept multi-core processors, so sometimes it’s better to disable additional cores.
No one will have a problem with the video card. Even ordinary built-in laptops will do. In fact, this game can be safely downloaded and installed on any modern phone or tablet.
Plot
The story of the confrontation between the four races continues the story of a decade ago, which players could learn about from the first part of the game. In the original version you have to play 4 campaigns, so unlike each other, but at the same time fully complementing the picture of the world:
- the empire of people is mired in a civil war, and you have to restore order in it;
- gnomes seek greatness and try to strengthen the power of their god on earth, simultaneously helping all parties to the conflict;
- the undead try to protect their borders, and their goddess wants to resurrect her spouse;
- demons want to free their master and try to prevent the destruction of the race.
The main concept of the game is the duality of the actions of each hero. Until you play all four plots, you won’t be able to understand what exactly guided the actions of this or that character.
Unfortunately, at the end of the campaign, the player has many questions. "What happened next?" - the main one. The third part of the game, which was released 5 years later, did not give an answer to this question and was a complete failure.
Global map
Finally we got to the gameplay. "Disciples II" is not very different from its predecessor in terms of playability, but made a good step forward in terms of graphics. There is no longer any reason to get scared when looking at a blurred and grainy image. Lines, although they remained quite sharp, give more Gothic than ugliness.
As with most of these strategies, the whole gameplay comes down to controlling the territory on the global map. There are 5 types of resources for which the player will have to compete - four types of mana for spells and gold.
In addition, the player will have to fight for key points - cities that also generate daily income and spread the influence of the owners on the land. This is precisely the main concept - you have to literally force to conquer every piece of land.
One of the most important tactical components will be the global spell system, which is not found in almost any other game. The only exception is Age of Wonders. Depending on the chosen race, you will have to decide on tactics:
- people specialize in blessings and strengthening their own units, up to full immunity to any type of damage;
- demons are masters in terms of attacking spells, they are able to inflict a huge amount of damage without even entering into battle;
- mountain clans (gnomes) are the golden mean, they can both strengthen their own units and attack the enemy;
- undead, as in all other strategies, specializes in curses and weakening the enemy.
In addition, each race is able to summon creatures, but only for one turn. If you choose the magician as the main lord, the most powerful spells will be available to you, and you can conjure each more than once a day. All this allows you to make the game unique in terms of tactics and capabilities.
Cities
The system of cities, in contrast to the closest analogue ("Heroes of Might and Magic 3"), is very simple. There are only two types of settlements - the capital and the usual city.
Minor settlements on the map are outposts where you can hire soldiers. In addition, they increase the spread of your territory. But that’s all. Depending on the level of the city, only the number of troops that you can keep in them for protection changes. The remaining options depend on the buildings in the starting settlement.
The capital is the place from which the mission starts. Developing it, you will discover new levels of development of soldiers, as well as additional opportunities for cities.
The temple allows you to resurrect and heal fallen soldiers for gold.
The tower of magic has only one level and opens the opportunity to study and cast spells. You can learn only one magic per day. You can apply several spells, but once each (per day). If you choose the lord mage at the start, you can cast every spell 2 times a day.
The thieves guild allows you to hire the appropriate unit. It cannot develop and always acts alone. He cannot attack, but uses many different skills (poisoning, killing, duel), the list of which is expanding if you choose the appropriate specialization of the lord.
A special building allows you to hire special units. This building is different for each race. You can hire monsters from demons, from were undead - werewolves, from people - titans, from mountain clans - yetis. All of them are very strong, but they occupy two cells and spend two points of command, which does not allow to hire a sufficient number of different types of troops. The exception is werewolves. They occupy only one cell and are immune to physical attacks. Their only drawback is the price. 1000 gold at the very beginning of the game is an overwhelming amount, and by the time you can hire them, you will already pump a lot of other effective units.
The remaining buildings are used exclusively for pumping soldiers.
Fights
The battle system in Disciples 2 is implemented very simply. Each player at maximum leveling has six slots in which he must install troops. One of them is occupied by the hero himself.
In battle, your main task is to kill opponents in the first line to get to the distant one. Of course, at the same time, archers are able to hit any cell immediately, and due to high initiative, they usually go first. Mages beating across the entire area are usually the slowest and flattest, so protecting them is one of the top priorities. All of this applies to troops not strengthened by blessings.
Units
The system for developing soldiers in Disciples 2 is also quite simple. Upon reaching a certain experience and the presence of buildings in the capital, a soldier changes his appearance and skills. That is why it is important to take care of everyone, to heal and to resurrect. Experience with neutral units is not endless.
Also in Disciples II: Dark Prophecy there is a system of development branches. When choosing a character leveling, focus on your opponents. For example, pumping a warrior from people, you can make him an inquisitor or a knight. The first is better at dealing with undead and mages, the second is more versatile and has armor indicators.
Additions
Everything we talked about in the plot took place in the original Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. In addition to her, two add-ons were released: Guard of Light and Guard of Darkness, which complemented the initial campaigns with three missions. In general, the plot became clearer, but there was a spread for race purposes, and the plot was no longer tied to their relationship. In 2005, these games were included in a single collection of Disciples 2: Gold Edition.
In 2006, another addition came out. It was called Disciples 2: Rise of the Elves and related what happened to the resurrected undead Gallean after the events of the original game. In this part, elves become a playable race, a series of new scenarios and a new type of mana appear, especially for elves.
Codes
For those who do not like to go through missions for a long time and hard, the developers have implemented a whole system of cheat commands that facilitate the game "Disciples 2". The codes are very diverse, and we will not give them all, but we will indicate only the most useful:
- moneyfornothing - adds the maximum of all resources;
- help! - cure all units outside the castles;
- stairwaytoheaven - instantly increases the level of soldiers if the right building is built;
- lifeisacarnival - resurrects dead soldiers from a hero, does not work for cities;
- borntorun - restores movement points.
In "Disciples 2" codes must be entered into the chat window that appears when you press the Enter button.