<a href="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/579"><img src="/https://www.celestialheavens.com//image ... 4_Mage.jpg" vspace=10 hspace=10 align=right></a>For those of you who missed its original publication, the <a href="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/579">Academy strategy guide</a> written by Sir Charles is now featured on Celestial Heavens, in two parts. Perhaps the weakest town in Heroes V, the Academy will require good player skills to win some games. Sir Charles analyzes the creatures, rates the heroes and explains how you can use the Artificer racial skill to get the most out of your troops.
There are more hints and tips for the game at <a href="/http://www.the-genies-lamp.com/">The Genie's Lamp</a>.
If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/579
Academy Strategy Guide
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Sir Charles
- War Dancer
- Posts: 356
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: Houston, TX
- Contact:
Academy Strategy
Post a comment? Sure, I'll post a comment. All of the parts where I suggest to use your gremlins to heal your golems...ignore all that. They nerfed it to one use per combat in the lastest patch. I'm working on coming up with a new strategy to succeed with the Academy, but it's rough going. All of the Artificer stuff still applies though.
My only success since the patch has been by going the route of a straight magic-user and trying to win with just magic. Because the early going for this town is now VERY tough. By far the hardest town to win with.
My only success since the patch has been by going the route of a straight magic-user and trying to win with just magic. Because the early going for this town is now VERY tough. By far the hardest town to win with.
Calvin: "Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless."
Academy Strategy
Thanks for the Academy Guide Sir Charles. Its very welcome and much needed, for me anyway...
When someone asks whether your glass is half full or half empty, always say your glass is entirely full. The actual contents of the glass is not relevant.
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SmokeyTheBear
- Leprechaun
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Academy Strategy
Nice guide. A few comments...
I tried Faiz and the additional damage from his Vulnerability is just too insignificant, early game or otherwise. The damage is 10xHero Level. I found that it didn't really change anything.
I also tried Galib, but quickly realised that his specialty is quite limited too, as it doesn't help in fighting most neutrals, and is only very useful when fighting Dungeon heroes who cast a lot of spells at your stacks. Soldier's Luck does not increase it, it only increases creature abilities' chance of triggering.
I think Jhora is quite good. The bonus is very weak early game but by mid-game onwards she can cast so often that she can have many buffs on your troops (Light) or debuff the enemy with a multitude of curses (Dark). She can also Resurrect a lot more if she gets it. I feel that the Sorcery main skill is good, as is Magic Insight (for Phantom Forces if no Summoning), but the other skills in the tree are useless. Maybe Counterspell could be good for her as she casts very quickly.
I tried Faiz and the additional damage from his Vulnerability is just too insignificant, early game or otherwise. The damage is 10xHero Level. I found that it didn't really change anything.
I also tried Galib, but quickly realised that his specialty is quite limited too, as it doesn't help in fighting most neutrals, and is only very useful when fighting Dungeon heroes who cast a lot of spells at your stacks. Soldier's Luck does not increase it, it only increases creature abilities' chance of triggering.
I think Jhora is quite good. The bonus is very weak early game but by mid-game onwards she can cast so often that she can have many buffs on your troops (Light) or debuff the enemy with a multitude of curses (Dark). She can also Resurrect a lot more if she gets it. I feel that the Sorcery main skill is good, as is Magic Insight (for Phantom Forces if no Summoning), but the other skills in the tree are useless. Maybe Counterspell could be good for her as she casts very quickly.
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Infiltrator
- CH Staff
- Posts: 1071
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Academy Strategy
Thanks for the great guide, there were definetly some things here I didn't know about the academy 
Infiltrator out.
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Sir Charles
- War Dancer
- Posts: 356
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: Houston, TX
- Contact:
Academy Strategy
@ smokey
True, the damage from Faiz's vulnerability isn't that much, but don't forget, you're also getting the vulnerability hit too. Quite potent and useful for an army that will have a rather pitiful attack stat overall.
As for Galib, that's also true that it doesn't help much with neutrals, but in battles against other armies...you'll be shocked at how often it gets triggered. But the biggest reason for taking Galib is that he starts with luck. This is a VERY important skill set for Academy. You'll need to go the route of Resoursefulness/Spoils of War/Magic Resistance to take full use of it though. Forget about Soldier's Luck, it's use with Academy is small at best. But the rare-resource bumps you'll get with resourcefulness and spoils of war are HUGE assets with the Artificer skill. And resistance is just icing on the cake. You'll want tons of resistance to help your mages/djinns survive.
Lastly, Jhora. I just recently had a conversation with Jolly Joker who also was praising the use of Sorcery/Counterspell as well. I have tried that combination several times, but with little success. I'll give that route a few more tries and see if it's a nice viable solution to the changes to Academy.
@ everybody else. Thanks, and you're welcome. *grin*
True, the damage from Faiz's vulnerability isn't that much, but don't forget, you're also getting the vulnerability hit too. Quite potent and useful for an army that will have a rather pitiful attack stat overall.
As for Galib, that's also true that it doesn't help much with neutrals, but in battles against other armies...you'll be shocked at how often it gets triggered. But the biggest reason for taking Galib is that he starts with luck. This is a VERY important skill set for Academy. You'll need to go the route of Resoursefulness/Spoils of War/Magic Resistance to take full use of it though. Forget about Soldier's Luck, it's use with Academy is small at best. But the rare-resource bumps you'll get with resourcefulness and spoils of war are HUGE assets with the Artificer skill. And resistance is just icing on the cake. You'll want tons of resistance to help your mages/djinns survive.
Lastly, Jhora. I just recently had a conversation with Jolly Joker who also was praising the use of Sorcery/Counterspell as well. I have tried that combination several times, but with little success. I'll give that route a few more tries and see if it's a nice viable solution to the changes to Academy.
@ everybody else. Thanks, and you're welcome. *grin*
Calvin: "Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless."
Academy Strategy
Just a remark, I competely agree with the view that Galib is a really good starting hero by virtue of Resoursefulness/Spoils of War/Magic Resistance. At the very least, he makes a good secondary hero for pickups/garrison.
Re: Academy Strategy
It's funny, because I've always thought him to be a good primary hero, but you make a better case for him being a great developed garrison hero. Magic mirror, luck, and letting him pick up all the resources and gold along the way seems to be a good way to go to defend and maintain a castle.sunbearie wrote:Just a remark, I competely agree with the view that Galib is a really good starting hero by virtue of Resoursefulness/Spoils of War/Magic Resistance. At the very least, he makes a good secondary hero for pickups/garrison.
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Daelius Praal
- Leprechaun
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Academy Strategy
I find it amusing that some time ago I posted a comment saying that academy is the weakest alignment and has the weakest ultimate skill (because of the required skills + because of the ultimate itself - like no mass spells etc). And everybody disagreed. Not to mention that the spell system is a sad joke.Anyway, wizards have always been my favorite for all M&M games and the latest version is just a joke when it comes to wizards. So I can definitely say, after growing up with heroes & m&m, playing all versions of heroes and all m&ms from ver 5, that it is finally time to move on. These game series are dead for me, from an enjoyable game-play it has turned into a very frustrating game-play, the kind that gets you wanting to take your monitor and throw it over the window.
So I guess my message is, for whoever develops this game: no more wizards, one less heroes fan at least. And now if you excuse me, I will go find some game that is actually enjoyable and fun to play. Might and magic is finally dead, or if you prefer: there is no more magic in "Might and Magic".
Academy Strategy
a great guide sir charles, well done
Human madness is the howl of a child with a shattered heart.
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SmokeyTheBear
- Leprechaun
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Academy Strategy
Your guide says this under Galib; "taking Soldier's Luck will trigger it much more often", that was what I was referring to when I said Soldier's Luck doesn't work on Magic Mirror or his specialty. That is erroneous and should be changed to avoid confusing players.
I agree that Mass Vulnerability is good for Academy, and Faiz acutally starts with it, but what I meant was that his specialty sounds really good but is only a minor bonus at best. Besides, Mass Vulnerability is AoE and not really mass...I prefer Righteous Might.
About Jhora, personally I don't use Counterspell much. I usually cast Mass Haste and Mass Divine Strength quickly, and even Mass Weakness/Suffering if I have them. She can get off all these buffs/curses very quickly making your army extremely effective or the enemy's weaker. You can also recast them very quickly if the enemy does Cleansing. Moreover, being able to cast Phantom Forces very often is a killer, whether it be on Titans, Djinns or Mages. Not so good on Rakshasas because their initiative is lower and they can't reach the other side in one turn.
I agree that Mass Vulnerability is good for Academy, and Faiz acutally starts with it, but what I meant was that his specialty sounds really good but is only a minor bonus at best. Besides, Mass Vulnerability is AoE and not really mass...I prefer Righteous Might.
About Jhora, personally I don't use Counterspell much. I usually cast Mass Haste and Mass Divine Strength quickly, and even Mass Weakness/Suffering if I have them. She can get off all these buffs/curses very quickly making your army extremely effective or the enemy's weaker. You can also recast them very quickly if the enemy does Cleansing. Moreover, being able to cast Phantom Forces very often is a killer, whether it be on Titans, Djinns or Mages. Not so good on Rakshasas because their initiative is lower and they can't reach the other side in one turn.
Academy Strategy
Hi all! Thanks for the good guide! I employed many tactics you suggested in my own gameplay and can confirm they worked fine.
Also Academy is one of my favourite castles in HMM series and so I would like to add some more thoughts based on my own experience and game style. I am a big fan of developing magic when playing wizards and so there are thoughts in this guide where I do not agree.
For example I always develop Sorcery skill for the wizard. Why? Because you can cast more spells and you can cast them much more often. Even a single additional cast can win a battle and believe me - there are always battles (in any game stage) where the amount of mana you have is not enough to win or greatly minimize your losses.
Another reason for developing Sorcery is Magic Insight (ability to cast any 3d level of spells) and actually the only spell I need here is Phantom Forces. This is an extremely useful spell even without having Summoning magic skill. Usually I do not take spellpower oriented magic for wizard (like Summoning or Destructive) because wizards are not spellpower men like Warlocks or Necromancers (though with Mark of the Wizard they can be very close;) .
I think Phantom Forces spell is one of the key to success for wizard. This is even more true after patch 1.2. Simple combination of large MG and Steel Golems stacks can beat extremely large neutral monster groups (non casters) without any losses if accompanied with Phantom Forces support. Also AI player will usually target your Clone first allowing you to preserve your real troops.
For long battles (and sometimes even for battles lasting only several turns) I strongly recommend to put Mark of the Wizard on your phantom targets. In this case you will get not only one but two (or may be even more?) Phantom stacks for any successive spell cast!
Next I recommend to always take Light and Dark Magic. Even a single Resurrection spell would be worth to take Light magic. With this spell you can rip off very mighty heroes and neutral monsters with minimal losses. Just don't forget to put Mark of the Wizard on the troops you want to ressurrect - and you will resurrect not only more troops but even several different stacks(!) in one Resurrect spell cast till the end of the battle!
And Dark magic has very nice spells like Hypnotize, Confusion, Berserk etc you can cast as many times as you want (as soon as you have enough mana which is not a problem with wizard;) Wizards have many spells in their magic guild (due to Library structure) and so they need to take this into advantage.
You should built level 3 magic as soon as you can learn Phantom Forces spell and built level 5 magic guild as soon as you have expert Light magic to learn Resurrection. Usually you may need to disassemble some of your artifacts to achieve this but still it should be decided based on current situation on the map.
As for heroes description I feel the article underestimates Nur (Mana Regeneration speciality). With this hero you actually can cast spells infinitely (on higher levels) and recall my earlier phrase - sometimes there are situations when "the amount of mana you have is not enough to win or greatly minimize your losses". With this hero this problem dissappears completely. You can Resurrect infinitely, cast Phantom Forces infinitely and so on - this is tremendous bonus in my opinion! In a huge battles against enemy heroes it is very important who's mana will be exhausted first. Even in the early or mid-game when it is easy for your mana to end up - you can just put Mark of the Wizard (costs 0 mana) when it comes to your turn and you have no mana until enough mana is regenerated.
One other hint is about using Mages in the early game. When you fight ranged (or maybe some slow enemies) like Elves for example it is better to split your mages into 7 stacks (with 1-2 mages in each stack) and cast Magic Fist until you have mana and in the same time use some destructive spells with your hero. As mages initiative is rather good they usually will start their turn before enemy does.
This is what just came into my mind after successful playing with this race in HMM 5. Surely there are some other hints not mentioned here or in the article and if you know about them please share with community:)
Thanks!
Also Academy is one of my favourite castles in HMM series and so I would like to add some more thoughts based on my own experience and game style. I am a big fan of developing magic when playing wizards and so there are thoughts in this guide where I do not agree.
For example I always develop Sorcery skill for the wizard. Why? Because you can cast more spells and you can cast them much more often. Even a single additional cast can win a battle and believe me - there are always battles (in any game stage) where the amount of mana you have is not enough to win or greatly minimize your losses.
Another reason for developing Sorcery is Magic Insight (ability to cast any 3d level of spells) and actually the only spell I need here is Phantom Forces. This is an extremely useful spell even without having Summoning magic skill. Usually I do not take spellpower oriented magic for wizard (like Summoning or Destructive) because wizards are not spellpower men like Warlocks or Necromancers (though with Mark of the Wizard they can be very close;) .
I think Phantom Forces spell is one of the key to success for wizard. This is even more true after patch 1.2. Simple combination of large MG and Steel Golems stacks can beat extremely large neutral monster groups (non casters) without any losses if accompanied with Phantom Forces support. Also AI player will usually target your Clone first allowing you to preserve your real troops.
For long battles (and sometimes even for battles lasting only several turns) I strongly recommend to put Mark of the Wizard on your phantom targets. In this case you will get not only one but two (or may be even more?) Phantom stacks for any successive spell cast!
Next I recommend to always take Light and Dark Magic. Even a single Resurrection spell would be worth to take Light magic. With this spell you can rip off very mighty heroes and neutral monsters with minimal losses. Just don't forget to put Mark of the Wizard on the troops you want to ressurrect - and you will resurrect not only more troops but even several different stacks(!) in one Resurrect spell cast till the end of the battle!
And Dark magic has very nice spells like Hypnotize, Confusion, Berserk etc you can cast as many times as you want (as soon as you have enough mana which is not a problem with wizard;) Wizards have many spells in their magic guild (due to Library structure) and so they need to take this into advantage.
You should built level 3 magic as soon as you can learn Phantom Forces spell and built level 5 magic guild as soon as you have expert Light magic to learn Resurrection. Usually you may need to disassemble some of your artifacts to achieve this but still it should be decided based on current situation on the map.
As for heroes description I feel the article underestimates Nur (Mana Regeneration speciality). With this hero you actually can cast spells infinitely (on higher levels) and recall my earlier phrase - sometimes there are situations when "the amount of mana you have is not enough to win or greatly minimize your losses". With this hero this problem dissappears completely. You can Resurrect infinitely, cast Phantom Forces infinitely and so on - this is tremendous bonus in my opinion! In a huge battles against enemy heroes it is very important who's mana will be exhausted first. Even in the early or mid-game when it is easy for your mana to end up - you can just put Mark of the Wizard (costs 0 mana) when it comes to your turn and you have no mana until enough mana is regenerated.
One other hint is about using Mages in the early game. When you fight ranged (or maybe some slow enemies) like Elves for example it is better to split your mages into 7 stacks (with 1-2 mages in each stack) and cast Magic Fist until you have mana and in the same time use some destructive spells with your hero. As mages initiative is rather good they usually will start their turn before enemy does.
This is what just came into my mind after successful playing with this race in HMM 5. Surely there are some other hints not mentioned here or in the article and if you know about them please share with community:)
Thanks!
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murmurwoods
- Leprechaun
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 30 Jun 2006
Academy Strategy
I played through all five campaigns, endured all the bugs, etc. just so i could play my favorited faction. but what i got instead is a HAVEN campaign pretending to be a Wizard's.
Wow, Nival sure knows how to disappoint HOMM fans.
Wow, Nival sure knows how to disappoint HOMM fans.
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Sir_Toejam
- Nightmare
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Academy Strategy
hmm, I'm still building my wizard for the campaign, and have one skill slot left. I have access to a good selection of spells for just about every school.
currently, the wizard has:
artificer, offense, destructive magic, summoning magic, and logistics.
the choices for the last slot bounce around in my mind between:
luck, sorcery, light magic, and dark magic.
luck would help the troops, sorcery would help the wizard, and I would lean towards light magic over dark (more usefull mass spells).
I see with the nerfs from 1.2 that maybe sorcery is a better choice than it previously would have been, especially as I've built with destructive magic.
but still, mass righteous might and haste, mass endurance and deflect... resurrection...
would 30% faster casting make up for that?
currently, the wizard has:
artificer, offense, destructive magic, summoning magic, and logistics.
the choices for the last slot bounce around in my mind between:
luck, sorcery, light magic, and dark magic.
luck would help the troops, sorcery would help the wizard, and I would lean towards light magic over dark (more usefull mass spells).
I see with the nerfs from 1.2 that maybe sorcery is a better choice than it previously would have been, especially as I've built with destructive magic.
but still, mass righteous might and haste, mass endurance and deflect... resurrection...
would 30% faster casting make up for that?
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Grumpy Old Wizard
- Round Table Knight
- Posts: 2205
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: Tower Grump
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Sir_Toejam
- Nightmare
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Academy Strategy
yeah, I finally came to the same conclusion.
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mmontgomery
- Leprechaun
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 23 Aug 2006
Academy Strategy
To Daelius Praal: 'there is no more magic in "Might and Magic".'
Are you for real? Yes, magic has been toned down from the level of Heroes III, where only a fool would pick any might skills. But magic still rules, particularly for a high level hero.
Here is an example battle. I had a high level magic hero (Expert Dark, Expert Summoning, Expert Destructive, Expert Sorcery), facing a might hero (Expert Offense, Expert Defense, Expert Luck, Expert Leadership) of similar level with an absolutely HUGE army. I did not even bring my entire army on the field, because I knew there would be high casualties if I did. So I just brought on my Obsidian Gargoyles equiped with a level 20 artifact to raise Health, Defense, and Magic Resistance, leave them cowering in a corner and defend at every action.
I cast expert slow. Nobody reaches the Gargoyles. A bit of range damage and Hero damage. I summon a Phoenix, and park it in front of the Gargoyles. Now no large creature can even get to the Gargoyles, and only 1 small one can. (I know I can win the battle, but I need for at least one Gargoyle to remain alive to avoid mutual loss.) Next I cast Puppet Master on his most dangerous stack, which fortunately has a no retaliation attack. I use it to pound on another stack, and keep control since it received no damage. Next I cast Puppet Master on his second most powerful stack. It does not have a no retaliation attack, so I use it to attack his stacks that it will completely kill. In no time, my enemy has nothing left but the two stacks under my control. Yes, his hero tried to cleanse, but with no profiency and my having much higher spellpower, he failed. Next I put an arcane shield on my Gargoyles, to reduce heo and ballista damage, and wipe out the ballista.
It is now time for the finish. I summon elementals, getting a pile of water elementals, and move both enemies, the Phoenix and the elementals to the back corner. I have the enemies attack each other, then hit them with the Elementals and Phoenix, and finish them off with a couple of implosions.
Net results: I lost 93 Gargoyles. They lost an army with 20 level 7, 40 level 6, 120 level 5, 200 level 4, etc. creatures.
Tell me again how there is no more magic in HOMM5??
Are you for real? Yes, magic has been toned down from the level of Heroes III, where only a fool would pick any might skills. But magic still rules, particularly for a high level hero.
Here is an example battle. I had a high level magic hero (Expert Dark, Expert Summoning, Expert Destructive, Expert Sorcery), facing a might hero (Expert Offense, Expert Defense, Expert Luck, Expert Leadership) of similar level with an absolutely HUGE army. I did not even bring my entire army on the field, because I knew there would be high casualties if I did. So I just brought on my Obsidian Gargoyles equiped with a level 20 artifact to raise Health, Defense, and Magic Resistance, leave them cowering in a corner and defend at every action.
I cast expert slow. Nobody reaches the Gargoyles. A bit of range damage and Hero damage. I summon a Phoenix, and park it in front of the Gargoyles. Now no large creature can even get to the Gargoyles, and only 1 small one can. (I know I can win the battle, but I need for at least one Gargoyle to remain alive to avoid mutual loss.) Next I cast Puppet Master on his most dangerous stack, which fortunately has a no retaliation attack. I use it to pound on another stack, and keep control since it received no damage. Next I cast Puppet Master on his second most powerful stack. It does not have a no retaliation attack, so I use it to attack his stacks that it will completely kill. In no time, my enemy has nothing left but the two stacks under my control. Yes, his hero tried to cleanse, but with no profiency and my having much higher spellpower, he failed. Next I put an arcane shield on my Gargoyles, to reduce heo and ballista damage, and wipe out the ballista.
It is now time for the finish. I summon elementals, getting a pile of water elementals, and move both enemies, the Phoenix and the elementals to the back corner. I have the enemies attack each other, then hit them with the Elementals and Phoenix, and finish them off with a couple of implosions.
Net results: I lost 93 Gargoyles. They lost an army with 20 level 7, 40 level 6, 120 level 5, 200 level 4, etc. creatures.
Tell me again how there is no more magic in HOMM5??
Academy Strategy
Were you playing the dumb bass CPU, or an actual opponent? Because I cant imagine how a well developed hero could lose to just an army of gagoyles with his full army. Seriously. Your spellpower stat couldnt have been that high which means a 500-800 hp phoenix at best. A might oriented hero with the army you stated should have been able to build a new castle with all the gargoyle pieces lying around.
Academy Strategy
I...dont believe that crap either lol sry...theres juss no way an army of gargoyles...oh and A Phoenix could take on a full built army...even on easy...if the CPU has a full built army like that it would kno what to do...you're probably playing by yourself and didnt even kno it...
Academy Strategy
Has anyone tried Obsidian Gargoyle + Armageddon?
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