Picked up Heroes of Steel during Xmas sale when it was going for 60% off (that's cheaper than the cost of a movie here and hundreds more hours of entertaining tactical fun) and have had a blast with it so far. Came into this game blind, after seeing that a friend had played it quite a bit during the holiday season and will have to say that it is one of the most memorable turn based experiences I've had. So here's a fervent thank you from me to the developers for making a very engaging turn based tactics game with good depth and options!

The basic to-hit system in melee pits rolling multiple sets of dice (attacking dice from points in Accuracy/weaponskill/Str or Dex vs defending dice from points in Parry/Dodge/weaponskill) against each other, with success for each dice being determined by a certain threshold and the overall result of the attack being a hit, if attacking dice had more or equal number of successes compared to defending dice.
Unlike some other RPGs, there is no straightforward to-hit percentage with flat increases per attribute upgrades and while not particularly intuitive at first glance, it is an interesting system with considerable nuance. For one there are 2 thresholds, one for strong dice (succeeds on a roll of 6 or more on a D10) and one for standard dice (succeeds on a roll of 8), which mean some attributes like Accuracy on weapons and empowered attacks are quite a bit more valuable on the attack. Similarly while Parry values are not taken into account when facing ranged attacks, they are better than Dodge when going up against melee as all Parry points are strong defensive dice. This system by its nature, also provides diminishing returns on extra points (dice) and may incentivize more balanced attribute levelling at some point.
In some ways, a more complex system like this one can be appealing to those willing to spend a little time exploring the mechanics and I for one, welcome it as a fresh change.

Damage outcome is also nicely designed in that armor directly soaks a certain amount (half of Armor value) of physical damage, with the other half of its value being a random amount. This results in lighter weapons which cost less AP and have more strikes per turn being strong against unarmored foes but relatively ineffective against heavily armored ones, a good tradeoff.

The AP centric battle system, where available movement and actions per round on a grid-based battlefield are dictated by the number of Movement/Action Points is intuitive and enables considerable ease on planning positions/moves. Some opponents have less AP than the party (kiteable foes where ranged attacks and use of choke points are likely to be feasible) and some have equal or more AP than party members (non-kiteable foes where brute force and careful positioning are needed). The accompanying map design/layouts were all well thought out too, with some maps providing suitable choke points and others being a cornered fight or open battlefield requiring more care.

In particular, I liked that the 4 party members complement each other well with a good array of different talents (including special strikes, heals, buffs, debuffs and various utility talents). There are various buffs that increase basic attributes (Str), stats (Accuracy) and even movement points. Similarly there is a good mix of debuffs that lower enemy Parry/Dodge and Armor values and even those that strip them of AP. Indeed battlefield efficiency will be dependent on finding a health balance of the above. Sid Meier once said: "a game is a series of interesting choices" and indeed the game does present an interesting array of choices in which to approach combat, dependent on one's playstyle, party members and of course talents levels and gear.
It is also nice to see that higher level talents (while certainly more potent) also require more SP, thereby making the choice to upgrade, one that actually requires some thought and which is partially dependent on one's playstyle and SP drain gear. Expending too much SP in regular fights can result in more frequent use of consumables, a resource the player may not have when dealing with tougher battles later on, so a careful balance needs to be struck.


In terms of the storyline, I like the fact that the characters' background/experiences are neatly woven into the storyline and am eager to see how it will all turn out later on, with gods and all. Would be nice to have a short bio for each character which writes itself as the story progresses (similar to Valkyria Chronicles). The Underdeep is a fascinating place with a good amount of lore and it would be great to have a handy reference to connect the dots more easily. It's good to have various townsfolk discuss the world and its events with the party and some even send the party on side quests, as this lends more color/depth to the tale. I'm hoping future episodes will feature more branching decisions where the party can choose to affect world affairs. The story held my interest all the way throughout Episode 1 and is one of the stronger selling points of the game, besides gameplay of course.

Finally I would like to laud the commitment of the devs on listening to feedback (on forums) and on continuously polishing their product after release. Virtually no game is completely bug free upon release and willingness to tweak display and fix minor issues, is a mark of developers who care about the quality of their work. Would once again like to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed Heroes of Steel thus far and hope more turn based enthusiasts will find their way here too and give this game the support that it richly deserves.

Picked up Heroes of Steel during Xmas sale when it was going for 60% off (that's cheaper than the cost of a movie here and hundreds more hours of entertaining tactical fun) and have had a blast with it so far. Came into this game blind, after seeing that a friend had played it quite a bit during the holiday season and will have to say that it is one of the most memorable turn based experiences I've had. So here's a fervent thank you from me to the developers for making a very engaging turn based tactics game with good depth and options! The basic to-hit system in melee pits rolling multiple sets of dice (attacking dice from points in Accuracy/weaponskill/Str or Dex vs defending dice from points in Parry/Dodge/weaponskill) against each other, with success for each dice being determined by a certain threshold and the overall result of the attack being a hit, if attacking dice had more or equal number of successes compared to defending dice. Unlike some other RPGs, there is no straightforward to-hit percentage with flat increases per attribute upgrades and while not particularly intuitive at first glance, it is an interesting system with considerable nuance. For one there are 2 thresholds, one for strong dice (succeeds on a roll of 6 or more on a D10) and one for standard dice (succeeds on a roll of 8), which mean some attributes like Accuracy on weapons and empowered attacks are quite a bit more valuable on the attack. Similarly while Parry values are not taken into account when facing ranged attacks, they are better than Dodge when going up against melee as all Parry points are strong defensive dice. This system by its nature, also provides diminishing returns on extra points (dice) and may incentivize more balanced attribute levelling at some point. In some ways, a more complex system like this one can be appealing to those willing to spend a little time exploring the mechanics and I for one, welcome it as a fresh change. Damage outcome is also nicely designed in that armor directly soaks a certain amount (half of Armor value) of physical damage, with the other half of its value being a random amount. This results in lighter weapons which cost less AP and have more strikes per turn being strong against unarmored foes but relatively ineffective against heavily armored ones, a good tradeoff. The AP centric battle system, where available movement and actions per round on a grid-based battlefield are dictated by the number of Movement/Action Points is intuitive and enables considerable ease on planning positions/moves. Some opponents have less AP than the party (kiteable foes where ranged attacks and use of choke points are likely to be feasible) and some have equal or more AP than party members (non-kiteable foes where brute force and careful positioning are needed). The accompanying map design/layouts were all well thought out too, with some maps providing suitable choke points and others being a cornered fight or open battlefield requiring more care. In particular, I liked that the 4 party members complement each other well with a good array of different talents (including special strikes, heals, buffs, debuffs and various utility talents). There are various buffs that increase basic attributes (Str), stats (Accuracy) and even movement points. Similarly there is a good mix of debuffs that lower enemy Parry/Dodge and Armor values and even those that strip them of AP. Indeed battlefield efficiency will be dependent on finding a health balance of the above. Sid Meier once said: "a game is a series of interesting choices" and indeed the game does present an interesting array of choices in which to approach combat, dependent on one's playstyle, party members and of course talents levels and gear. It is also nice to see that higher level talents (while certainly more potent) also require more SP, thereby making the choice to upgrade, one that actually requires some thought and which is partially dependent on one's playstyle and SP drain gear. Expending too much SP in regular fights can result in more frequent use of consumables, a resource the player may not have when dealing with tougher battles later on, so a careful balance needs to be struck. In terms of the storyline, I like the fact that the characters' background/experiences are neatly woven into the storyline and am eager to see how it will all turn out later on, with gods and all. Would be nice to have a short bio for each character which writes itself as the story progresses (similar to Valkyria Chronicles). The Underdeep is a fascinating place with a good amount of lore and it would be great to have a handy reference to connect the dots more easily. It's good to have various townsfolk discuss the world and its events with the party and some even send the party on side quests, as this lends more color/depth to the tale. I'm hoping future episodes will feature more branching decisions where the party can choose to affect world affairs. The story held my interest all the way throughout Episode 1 and is one of the stronger selling points of the game, besides gameplay of course. Finally I would like to laud the commitment of the devs on listening to feedback (on forums) and on continuously polishing their product after release. Virtually no game is completely bug free upon release and willingness to tweak display and fix minor issues, is a mark of developers who care about the quality of their work. Would once again like to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed Heroes of Steel thus far and hope more turn based enthusiasts will find their way here too and give this game the support that it richly deserves.