Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East
Stand-alone expansion adding the Stronghold faction and alternate creature upgrades.
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Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East is a stand-alone expansion for the turn-based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic V, and it is the second expansion overall for that series. Nival Interactive developed it, and Ubisoft put it out in 2007. The expansion brings in a new faction called the Stronghold. It also adds a system where every creature dwelling offers two possible upgrades; players can pick which one to use when hiring, and they can switch between the two later for a small cost.
The game includes three full campaigns that form one continuous story, picking up where Hammers of Fate left off. The first campaign follows the Necropolis faction and features Arantir, the antagonist from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
The second campaign centers on the new Stronghold faction, with the Orc leaders Gotai and Kujin. The third campaign focuses mainly on the Academy faction, bringing back the Wizard Zehir from the base game, who forms an alliance against the demonic Inferno armies. A prologue campaign of a single mission introduces the Orcs.
The combat interface has been redesigned to make certain spells, like Rune Magic and Might abilities, easier to access. New spells have been added to rebalance combat and add more variety. In-game and combat mode settings got a slight redesign, including a health change indicator and an extended life bar for creatures.
The map editor now supports a campaign creator and can handle maps from previous versions of the game, along with expanded terrain and texture options. A model editor for the stand-alone product was also included in the package at release.
Many items now belong to sets that grant extra bonuses when worn together. These items carry over between campaign missions if the hero carrying them reappears. Some bonuses work only for specific hero types, while others apply to all heroes.
Several racial skills were reworked, especially Necromancy. Instead of raising only skeletons, Necromancers can now raise any Necropolis unit, provided they have enough Dark Energy and suitable corpses—for example, Bone Dragons can only be raised from slain Dragons. Dark Energy resets at the start of each week.
Rage of the Tribes
The story begins with a Griffin Empire raid that captures several Orcs. In response, the Orc chief Quroq conquers the Haven city Voron Peak.
Background
The story of Tribes of the East unfolds across three linked campaigns. The first campaign, 'The Will of Asha,' follows the Necromancer Arantir, who is driven by the Goddess Asha to fight demonic corruption in Haven cities. He meets the novice Dark Knight Ornella and together they kill the demon Orlando in the holy city of Flammschrein, freeing a fragment of the true Queen Isabel's soul and revealing a succubus impostor. The second campaign, 'To Honor Our Fathers,' centers on the young Orc Gotai, who takes leadership of the Orcs and seeks to crush the demons.
He gathers support from various tribes, avenges the death of the Orc chief Quroq by killing the mad Archbishop Alaric, and learns that the impostor Biara killed the Griffin heir to corrupt the Griffin Heart artifact. The final campaign, 'Flying to the Rescue,' sees the wizard Zehir ally with Gotai and Kujin, seeking aid from the Dwarves and other factions. After resolving a dwarven dispute and destroying surrounding Inferno towns, Zehir besieges the capital Talonguard and confronts Biara, with the true Queen Isabel appearing to kill her.
The Griffin Empire is heavily damaged, and Isabel passes the crown to Freyda, proclaiming the end of the Griffin Empire and the beginning of the Unicorn Empire.
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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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