HeroQuest Companion App Update - Smarter, Tougher Monsters with New Tactics (Plus Bug Fixes)
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- čas přidán 15. 07. 2024
- Always Board Never Boring was surprised to see an update to the HeroQuest Companion App this morning. Turns out Avalon Hill's app development team have been busy incorporating bug fixes and updates, including adding lots of new options for tailoring your dungeon-crawling experience. These options are basically official variant rules you can use if you want to, which is a fantastic idea.
In this video ABNB runs through the updates, and talks about what he likes and isn't so keen on.
Here are your time stamps:
00:00 Intro
00:54 Update overview
02:18 Monsters attack weakest hero
04:44 Advanced monsters
06:22 Doubling wandering monsters
07:54 Tougher monsters
11:21 Good times for HeroQuest
#heroquest #companionapp #avalonhill
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And here's a little extra news about Rise of the Dread Moon, direct from Avalon Hill: "Rise of the Dread Moon will officially be released on 7/15. And for those in the EU, it will be offered in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian!"
Would love to see it as a game app to; with AI companions
nice. you guys are all ahead of me... I'll be covering this tomorrow night. Great news!
This wasn't my planned video content for today, but when I saw the update drop this morning I couldn't resist playing around with the options.
Just saw on Facebook that your new HeroQuest video is live! So I’m here. 👍🏻
The Facebook page is good for something at least! Thanks for checking out the video.
Many thanks for this. I wasn’t aware or the update and then didn’t reaslise you had to scroll down to see additions!
Thanks for watching. I'm happy it helped!
It's good that they keep working on it. It has the potential to be really useful. I wonder if the wolves can still attack through the walls, though. 😀
They will add a toggle for diagonally attacking ghost wolves. They are on by default.
Creature packs is a great idea!
Of course, people can always source a few goblin miniatures and chuck them in, but some official pieces and cards would be cool, I think.
Thanks for the update. Wasn't on my radar until now.
Thanks for watching.
Ooh thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching.
Thank you very much for this in-depth explanation of the new features! 😁👍 The app has a real problem with transparency. They'll add stuff with absolutely no explanation of how it should be utilised 😟
It did take a little while to figure out exactly how attacking the weakest worked and what the "advanced" enemies did. I'm glad the video was helpful for you!
Thank you for talking about the update and putting in some great work and testing it. I was hoping you would do that, because I was a little bit confused about the new updates😊👍
Thank you for watching. I'm pleased the video was useful.
love this upgrades
Thanks!
Thank you for your support. I really appreciate it.
Great video! 👍🏻
Thank you.
The new options for monsters makes me wonder if this is more of a beta test for some new monsters they are thinking about. When a fully equipped hero runs around with 4\6 or 3\7 (attack\defense), the extra attack, defense, and HP would be needed in something like Keller's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord. An ordinary goblin or even abomination would struggle against a fully equipped hero. Dread warriors would become the new mediocre threat. I've yet to play Mage of the Mirror or Frozen Horror so do wonder how well fully equipped heroes handle those quests.
I don't think it's a beta for new enemies. The only thing we haven't seen before is the advanced goblin ability to attack in the middle of movement. I think this is just a way to address complaints that early missions can be too easy.
I feel that seven defence is pretty uncommon (at least consistently). Most heroes are going to get to six with something like Borin's armour or plate armour, helmet, and shield. If they want to use the battle axe they are dropping to five defence, so 4/5 or 3/6 is what I would imagine most heroes run at unless they swig a potion, benefit from a spell for a while, or use something like the Spirit Blade against undead. I believe the wizard is at 2/4 most of the time. The rogue can't do any better than four defence as standard (and that's if you rule they are allowed to wear a helmet, otherwise it's three), and to make use of their skills they can't carry anything better than a shortsword and daggers, so that's 2/4.
Regardless, I personally feel the need to buff enemies drops off pretty quickly. The core set could use it. Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord is on the balance. I wouldn't want to give the monsters too many buffs as they appear in such large numbers. Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror are shockingly tough and really don't need to be made harder. It's nice to have all these options available though.
Really helpful video and fantastic timing for me as today I received the new Heroquest game, the Frozen Horror and the Rogue heir and am really looking forward to getting stuck into a game. Mage of the mirror is also en-route but not certain if I will get Keller's keep or return of the witch lord as I have them for the original game and they don't appear to have changed much (or at all) for the new game.
If you have the original NA versions of Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord there isn't a whole lot of point getting the new editions, unless you want all of the cards and miniatures to match your new core game.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Ah good point, I am in the UK so it is the European versions that I have. Time to order 2 more expansions then.
Ah, yeah. They are quite a bit different to the European versions. You could just download the NA rules stuff from online and use the components you have, but I went ahead and bought new copies of them both.
Awesome stuff mate!
I've been using some of the Mythic tier monster variants with some extra rules that might be of interest to combine with some of these "advanced monster" options -
Skeletons with sword & shield = +1 Defence
Abominations with no weapons = Grab attacks like the Yeti
Orc with Warhammer = +1 Attack (or as the named Orcs)
Zombies with knife = -1 defence (because the basic Zombies have shields) but damage is poison (can only be healed between quests or using the specific anti-poison potions / artefact)
Gargoyle with weapons = use a the guardian at the end of Kellars Keep
Dread Sorceress = use as Kassandra the Witch Queen
Because you have a high number of the basic greenskins & undead from Kellars Keep and Return of the Witch Lord the Mythic extras don't ever need to be used - but it's nice to have some options to spice up combat encounters especially in those first two expansions where the enemy types start feeling quite ssmey by the end.
Best thing is because those models are rarely used it is easily recognised by players which one's have the special rules.
I might start using the advanced Skeleton & Goblin idea's from the App too.
But as you also say - by the later quest packs these nice extras are maybe a bit much, especially if these rules applied to all enemies of a certain type.
These kind of rules are just nice simple additions that a nice options for the evil wizard player to spice things up when needed, keep the heroes on their toes.
Good stuff. I've been saying for a while I think it would be cool if they made a monster pack that just gave some different spins on regular monsters - goblins with spears for poking diagonally, goblin archers, orcs with heavy armour, that sort of thing. Obviously, all very easy to proxy with miniatures from any collection, but it would be nice to have a box of miniatures and cards specific to HeroQuest for that purpose.
excited to watching this video and checking out the details myself. my biggest gripe is simplicity for heroquest. I'd love to see more options added in over time with things like in advanced heroquest etc. would make my heroquest collection get more use with my 11 year old that thinks it's to bland and plays star saga instead with me. Heroquest is what I grew up with but it's to simplistic. add a rule setting companion set with alternate rules perks for monsters, additional actionsI'd pay for it if it was fleshed out well look at advanced heroquest out of print on secondary market... make a reprint amd make it compatible with heroquest 2021. add a few new bits and corner the market for best mid range dungeon crawler game
Advanced Heroquest - number four on my list of best games ever - is a different kettle of fish, really. I appreciate what you're saying, but as far as I'm concerned, the strength of HeroQuest is its streamlined, accessible design. It's a fantastic foundation for homebrewing, but also a fun, light game in its own right that I have never seen anyone hate. I think there's space for new things to be explored, like the new heroes with their special abilities, monsters with more varied tactics, and more varied quest structures, but for the most part I wouldn't want HeroQuest to change too much from what it was always intended to be. There are so many other dungeoncrawlers on the market already that are a notch or two (or ten) above HeroQuest in terms of complexity.
You have the Rogue and the Knight. What about trying all those options ON while playing a 6 hero party?
I know the App doesn't support more than 4 heroes, but you could supplement that on your own.
Personally, I'm not keen on the idea of trying to run larger parties. HeroQuest tends to be rather cramped anyway, and with more heroes milling about (and even after buffing the monsters you would probably still need to add more) I feel it would just end up with long, drawn-out games with lots of characters struggling to get involved in the action. I think it would also be a pain to try to run that sort of game through the app, which doesn't cater for that player count, so it's something I think would be better when you have a real Zargon player.
Can we talk about updating the spells, and equipment in the app? I know the designers STRONGLY encourage you to buy the core gane, which is well and good, but filling out more of the skills from new characters (like the Rogue or Monk, Druid, with abilities not covered in the app, or allowing a bit more clarity, like the Elf taking in 1 element and the Wiz taking the rest. Just some UI bookkeeping, and updating would be great!
I need dark company campain on the app!
Amazing news. We love hero quest but stopped playing it, because it was just to easy. We were fully stacked with healing potions (already not allowing to drink potions yourself while down) and just breezed through the dungeons. I think I will add the advanced Goblins and Skeletons and +1 attack and see if this is enough to provide a proper challenge. Hero quest I am back ! Best update ever.
It's nice to see them adding new features like this. I think +1 attack, +1 defence, and the advanced enemies would be great for the core game. The advanced goblins might potentially be a bit much for Kellar's Keep because the goblins show up in such large numbers, but the boosted attack and defence would probably be worth it. For Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror, in my experience the campaigns are so tough I probably wouldn't add any of these options.
Oh, do you shuffle the treasure deck as well? My players have levied a complaint that I do so, they are insistent that I use Rules as written, which would have them always draw from the top of the deck, and bad cards are placed at the bottom. But on the flip side, when I did that, they would just count the good cards. When they knew all the good cards were drawn, they simply stop searching.
Call me silly, but I think that kills some of the tension when searching. Honestly I'm tempted to print off the "You find nothing" card, sleeve it and put it in my deck.😂
Your heroes aren't playing fair. Refer them to the Rules, page 15 (new edition). "The treasure cards MUST be shuffled before a hero draws one from the deck."
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring what?? Did I miss that?! Boy is my face red!
Well, the first Frozen Horror quest had them humbled as they got the Wandering Monster Card at least 4 times!
In our last game we had nothing but traps and wandering monsters. It wasn't too hard to deal with, but we came out of the adventure with about 25 gold!
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring daaamn, cheap dungeon!
My group was freaking out over all the upgraded traps and hazards:
"Why did that summon two monsters?!"
"What do you mean, the axe trap goes off each time?!"
"Why the heck cant we search for some traps?!"
@@HivisoftheScale Frozen Horror is an absolute horror show!
Retreating monsters! When there are 3 or more the last one should be able to retreat, open doors or call for help.
It's a neat concept, although the sentries could be a bit annoying in Advanced Heroquest. I would probably prefer to see it as a specific sentry monster class rather than something every monster could do. I think every monster having that potential to run off could cause problems with mission layouts and ruining the pace or flow of the more narrative dungeons; but it would be a fun thing to have happening from time to time in a more controlled environment where special events could trigger from a sentry's actions.
I use the app now when playing Heroquest with my family and friend on Sundays. I have to say it's more enjoyable to play a hero instead of Zargon. My eldest son didn't want to play so I taken over the Dwarf. And I'm impressed with the app and Zargon on the app rocks and even he can be funny, "The goblin has died". I no longer need the GM screen or the Quest Book just find the Quest on the app and let Zargon do his thing while setting miniatures, furniture, and tiles.
I actually really enjoy being Zargon, but the app is a great addition to the game, especially if they continue to tweak it with bug fixes and improvements to the AI as they are at the moment.
ImAlive 4U: *Exactly,* the app is an add-on, which you are using to guide play, participating yourself in control of a hero with other players. This is what the app is intended for. If there is anything conflicting, you can just override the app's proposed action in a fair and balanced way. As another poster commented, one can easily even introduce house rules in play using the app.
double wandering monsters.. could perhaps be done by type, double goblins, orcs, maybe zombies, but not the others?
seems like the app almost could do with those options on a "per monster" type, and as a yes/maybe/no, with a % chance of occurring, i.e. a 0-100 slider, computers are good at that sort of thing
A lot of the later expansions often have two wandering monsters show up at once, so you might need to put a cap on the number of enemies that turn up at once, but yes, there are lots of things they could add to the app to vary things up.
Still waiting for a quest randomizer 😊
Or a quest creator!
after playing the new rules advanced goblins, advanced skeletons, one extra defence die, monsters attack weak I can say it did breath new life into heroquest for me. ending after 3 missions for a break mission 4 boss and room was nuts the way goblins will attack move to let someone else cone in to attack you then run away was crazy! ended with 1 dead 2 people at 1 health and the barb was 4 hp. definitely a win for the game. keep it up avalon hill. I was close to shelving it because it was just to easy. in that last quest the warlock died but was bait. the rogue had to run with 1 hp and the knight was picked to target alot. just a blast!
I think these can really help with the core game, which starts to get very easy, but I suspect most people will gradually start phasing them out as they get deeper into the expansions, with all of them switched off by the time they get to Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I agree quest 4 that boss and 4 extra adds all with 1 extra defence dice then giving them logic to attack and hit and run made for a very close to wipe but it was exciting lol. hoping that by the time I hit frozen amd mage that my armor and gear can keep that white knuckle experience and I don't have to cut them off. but I have not gotten there so I can pt say for sure. live your channel.
It’s really good that you can switch the options on and off whenever you like. It’s a bit like having a real Zargon player who will go easy on you when you are struggling and ramp up the pressure when things get easy. Thanks for watching!
I definitely agree with your thoughts on the app update and be playing around with these options. Also just wondering has any one had monsters stand on bookcase and other furniture spaces so they are able to attack the heros?
If you set "intangible terrain" to "on" then monsters and heroes will be able to walk all over it. I've not seen it happen otherwise.
@Always Board Never Boring ahh must have turned it on by accident at some point. But while playing, my wizard was tucked in a corner, and then an ork got on the book and took a swing, I was like ahhh. But it definitely made the game a little interesting, and some of the other update options could be more fun 😀.
That's one sneaky orc. I have a vision of it inching along the top of the bookcase, pressed up to the ceiling as it wiggles into a position to strike.
Someone I knew back in the day used to let the Goblins move on some of the furniture - mainly the cupboard, tables, torture rack and bookcases (basically those that the models could be placed on without risk of falling) - no rolls needed and only used to do it with the Goblins.
It does make some encounters very interesting and kind of fits that the little guys will be climbing on top of bookshelves to try and get extra attacks in.
For Chaos Warriors it doesn't make sny sense but I guess it made for a nice little house rule to spice things up now and again.
Any plans to take a look at league of dungeoneers? It seems right up your alley
It's not on the cards, I'm afraid. I don't own a copy, and it hasn't appealed to me enough from what I have seen to look into getting one.
I'm playing on app version 2.3. My wishlist for future updates include setting a speed for heroes walking, from default to instant, because backtracking in the app is rather tedious. Sometimes I complete the quest objective and have to walk all heroes across the board back to the exit stairs. Perhaps let me move heroes and monsters anywhere on the revealed map. Secondly, give me control over monster actions as well. Sometimes when entering a room I like to play Zargon's moves, I just need the app to trigger traps if heroes walk on them. Basically as a solo player I just need the app to open doors, reveal the board and quest notes, it would be great to have more control over heroes and monsters so I can apply homebrew rules or jump in to control monsters.
All good suggestions. There are some imperfect solutions you may want to try in the meantime. You don't have to move everyone back to the start tile of a mission. You can return to the mission select screen and manually tick the box to mark the mission as complete. If you want to control monsters, after they have spawned in the app and you have placed them, immediately tap on them and mark them as dead to remove them from the board, and then run their turns manually. The only risk here is if they have some special abilities that you won't know about.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring good ideas! I did not know I could mark missions completed :D
@@ronkhoo It's not ideal, but it is a workaround. Hopefully they will continue working on the app.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring i just discovered hquestmaster and it has a lot of the features i'm hoping from the official app :D now if only someone would port all the official quests...
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I've just discovered hquestmaster which has a lot of the features on my wishlist like adjusting movement speed and controlling monsters :D now if only someone will port official quests...
I wish they extend this app to other Asian Countries. No access to the app here in Philippines and i cant also create an account because they dont have states for Philippines.
It would be nice if they could eventually make it more accessible.
I learned, just now, there is no deletion confirmation and just deleted the test party entirely.
Might want to let them know about that one!
So far I haven seen an option in the app to track henchmen.
When you start a quest where mercs are available the app will ask you to add them to the party.
@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Awesome, didn't play one with mercenaries yet. Glad to know they included them!
Still trying to find a copy of heroquest I can pay for
Are you looking for a copy of the original or the remake? In the UK the prices of the original are coming right down now the new edition is out, while the new edition is pretty pricey but has gone on sale with a couple of retailers on a few occasions.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring had the original as a kid, nostalgia hits hard, a complete set with an ok box still going for more than I can afford right now. Good to know it's coming down in price. Cheers!
Definitely keep checking. Sometimes decent copies slip through the cracks, or there are copies that only need a few replacement bits. Good luck with the hunt!
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring wasn't expecting this to happen but went online just to browse since we talked about it and found myself an affordable copy from 94, the box is not the best but it's complete. Glad we talked and I looked for it. Cheers! 🍻
I'm Missing diagonal attack....
Am I right?
Sorry, I don't understand what you are asking.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring
The app/ Game doesn't allow diagonaly attacks. Why? Some weapons have theese ability
Monsters with diagonal attacks will attack diagonally. When heroes attack, you just tap on the monster wherever it is on the board and mark the wounds on it. I'm not sure why what is happening on your app that makes you think you can't attack diagonally.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring
The graphic in the attack tutorial. The elf uses Shortsword but has the same text and picture AS the barbarian with the broadsword. Text an picture for attacking diagonaly must be different.
Now we're getting somewhere. Avalon Hill's version uses the North American rules set, where short swords don't grant the ability to attack diagonally. This is different to the old European rules.
They just need to make it compatible with the Kindle Fire.....
It would be nice to make the app even more accessible to more people.
And still: the app is not available for the European countries. Unbelievable.
I'm not sure why they haven't rolled it out to more territories. Hopefully they will.
Lol just play without the app. It’s a board game
The app runs the dungeon, allowing solo play for people who can't get their game group together. It also allows for the game to be played co-operatively without one person having to take on the role of the enemy, which some game groups prefer. Avalon Hill went to the effort to make the app for these groups of people, so they should continue to improve and refine that experience.