Favorite Skill Combinations ...

[Spyne]

Here's an example of what I like with dungeon..

Leadership, Luck, Sorcery, Attack, and Destructive Magic. Taking tactics, power of speed, aura of swiftness, warlock's luck, arcane training, and retribution.

End result is a hero who shores up some weak points with mana cost, and capitalizes on dungeon's high intiative and speed creatures like raiders and blood furies, with a powerful synergy between Leadership and Luck. You're never going to be able to get every ability, but that's what I would shoot for.

[Thelonious]

Logistics is the best skill in this game.

Also, luck is good, but it's better with warlocks and rangers then the other factions.
If you go with Dark magic, and you don't go for an ultimate; go for master of pain. Great skill. Decay with area effect is a real killer in final battles where the battlefield is packed.
If you are a knight go for Light magic, and take master of blessings (good choise anyhow) and then Guardian angel. A free ressurection which can be the decicive factor in battle.

Anyways, I like to build my hero like this:

1. Logistics
2. either attack or defence
3. luck or leadership
4. one or two magic schools: depending on the faction (some can handle 2, whilest others just need 1 to get the job done)
5. if there is a left over skill slot, it is usually a magic boosting skill for warlocks and wizards or something that pops up. That can be anything; warmachines, another magic school, or the other skill from 2. or 3.

[Orfinn]

Nice thread

Hmm okay, lets see....

Sylvan: Preferred main hero: Wyngaal or Ylthin: Skills : Luck (what a surprise), Light Magic, Attack, Defense and Logistics.

Dungeon: Main Hero: Vayshan if against necros, if not Lethos is second but for both: Destruction, Leadership, Attack, Defence and Sorcery

Necropolis:Main Hero: Lucretia or Naadir: Dark Magic, Summoning Magic, Attack, Defense and Luck (May swap luck for sorcery and its very useful Boneward, 3rd circle ability if up against wizards and warlocks alike, even sylvan)

Academy: Main Hero: Faiz, Galib or Narxes: Light Magic, Leadership, Defense, Attack and Enlightment (may swap defense for luck in larger maps)

Inferno: Main Hero: Grawl, Grok or Marbas: Attack, Defense, Destruction Magic, Logistics and War Machines (may swap logistics with luck in smaller maps)

Haven: Main Hero: Laszlo, Irina or Dougal: Attack, Defense, War Machines, Luck, Logistics. May swap war machines with dark magic, if so I also swap Logistics with Leadership use to do this on medium to large maps.

[Cyrox]

Erm sorry if this post is a little irrelevant but why is it that so many of u skip enlightenment?

I find that it is a very useful skill since it adds +1 primary stat every 2 levels at expert level.

I know it has HORRIBLE sub skills BUT

I think its worth it to take enlightenment for Academy, Dungeon and Necropolis JUST for the extra stats because

Academy- You get increased knowledge which benefits the power of the artifacts you make, plus some spellpower

Dungeon- You get increased spellpower, and its the only skill in the game which makes your spell stronger (besides taking the individual spell schools) - plus Attack

Necropolis- Same as Dungeon, except they get minor boost to Defence

As for Haven, Sylvan and Inferno, I feel they can take other skills which provides more benefits than Enlightenment.

But for the 3 "magic" factions...Enlightenment is the only way they can make their spells more powerful plus give more mana to the Dungeon and Necropolis factions?

+ 15 stats at lvl 30 is ALOT!

Imagine 10 of these into spellpower for Dungeon and Necropolis?
Or 10 knowledge for Academy? => so much better items made

[Spyne]

Enlightenment is good, but I prefer to have skills with direct effects, such as luck or sorcery, not a stat boost. I guess it's just personal preference that way. I'll take logistics with inferno and if there's nothing better I'll take it for the others as well, but increased movement, to me, falls behind increased battle performance. When I go with necromancers, I like to max out their necromancy potential and dark magic, with attack. Obviously leadership is useless for them.

[Ketzal]

Obviously leadership is useless for them.

I don't know about useless. On a large enough map with alot of mid to high level neutral creature stacks, Leadership, diplomacy and herald of death can be very nice.

[DaemianLucifer]

Erm sorry if this post is a little irrelevant but why is it that so many of u skip enlightenment?

I find that it is a very useful skill since it adds +1 primary stat every 2 levels at expert level.

I know it has HORRIBLE sub skills BUT

I think its worth it to take enlightenment for Academy, Dungeon and Necropolis JUST for the extra stats because

Academy- You get increased knowledge which benefits the power of the artifacts you make, plus some spellpower

Dungeon- You get increased spellpower, and its the only skill in the game which makes your spell stronger (besides taking the individual spell schools) - plus Attack

Necropolis- Same as Dungeon, except they get minor boost to Defence

As for Haven, Sylvan and Inferno, I feel they can take other skills which provides more benefits than Enlightenment.

But for the 3 "magic" factions...Enlightenment is the only way they can make their spells more powerful plus give more mana to the Dungeon and Necropolis factions?

+ 15 stats at lvl 30 is ALOT!

Imagine 10 of these into spellpower for Dungeon and Necropolis?
Or 10 knowledge for Academy? => so much better items made

Necro doesnt need lots of knowledge because of the mark of the necromancer,and it doesnt need a lot of spellpower either,because master of life is much better.As for the dungeon,id rather go with lucky spells+secrets of destruction.

[Orfinn]

Dont forget the dark revelation and the awards, aint bad that. I have often chosen enlightment for academy and sometimes for dungeon and sylvan, pretty helpful with those factions, but it also depends which heroes you start with.

[Lady Farquad]

Maltz made a wonderful analysis on Isabel ultima for campaign.

I think one can do that for every single hero... so I agree that different factions need to be treated in different ways.

I dare to say one MUST: Destructive Magic for Dungeon
(... and perhaps leadership for Haven)

[Caradoc]

Orffin (and others), when and why would I take Defense rather than Luck?
Isn't offense still the best defense?

[BoardGuest808888]

Don't have any single combo for everyone, but I like combinations like these :

Knight : Attack, Defense, Logistic, Enlightnment, War Machine/Light Magic

In case the knight should lead troops other than Haven, Enlightnment can be changed for Leadership.

Ranger : Luck, Defense, Logistic, Light Magic, Attack/Enlightnment/Destructive Magic

In case the ranger should lead troops other than Sylvan, Logistic can be changed for Summoning Magic/Leadership.

Wizard : Sorcery, Light Magic, Summoning Magic, Defense, Logistic/Enlightnment

In case the wizard should lead troops other than Academy, Defense can be changed for Attack.

Demon Lord : Attack, Luck, Logistic, War Machine, Dark Magic/Destructive Magic

In case the demon lord should lead troops other than Inferno, War Machine can be changed for Sorcery/Enlightnment/Summoning Magic

Necromancer : Enlightnment, Dark Magic, Sorcery, Logistic, Attack/Summoning Magic/Destructive Magic

In case the necromancer should lead troops other than Undeads, Sorcery can be changed for Leadership/Light Magic/Defense

Warlock : Destructive Magic, Sorcery, Attack, Logistic, Enlightnment/Summoning Magic/Defense

In case the warlock should lead troops other than Dungeon, Attack can be changed for Leadership/Luck/Dark Magic

[sylvanllewelyn]

Obvious combination for warlocks will be sorcery and destructive magic. For them, the best defense is really the best offense, because a dead unit can't hurt your own guys (girls, in their case), and reducing their numbers quickly helps preserving yours.

About knights: I'd take enlightenment for Knights anyday, because witl attack and defense skills, it takes a higher level before it starts to kick into effect, whereas with magic, a stronger ice bolt is immediately noticable. Have you tried fighting a level 15 knight with expert enlightenment with a wizard? It's about 7 more attack and 10 more defense, and your titans sometimes don't even kill one paladin in a ranged attack.

Also, although knights get to cast light and dark spells with mass effect, you really have to only specialize in one, because you don't have the spell power to make the spells last, nor the knowledge to keep casting them. Therefore, you really need to get at least one of luck or offense (since you're a might hero, you want to charge and end the fight asap). Defense is ok, but not necessary.

My favourite choice for knights: logistics, enlightenment, offense, luck, dark magic. I choose dark magic for the pariah skill that increases spell power by 5, making your mass slows and mass sufferings more lasting. Also allows non-spellpower-dependent spells like blind and frenzy. Of course, light magic's just fine as well, but personally not ideal.

[Bike_Ninja]

I play Inferno so much I instinctively reach for Logistics when I see it. I almost always play Grok.

I mostly stay away from the voodoo stuff with my Demon Lord, but I never pass up the opportunity to get Light Magic (yes, its really out of character). I never take Destructive magic, since Demon Lords lacks Spellpower. Feels like a waste of slots. I like to take Sorcery though, since Teleport Assault is Infernos best friend.

Attack and Defense are both good, attack helps improve something the Demons are already good at, and Defense makes your troops more durable

I don´t have a skill set I always go for, still trying different combinations. Logistics is a must-have for me though.

[londerwost]

Seems like Attack and Defence are a must have. I noticed it big time when comparing heroes that have it and don't. Magic also makes a big difference which is the same with previous HoMM. Leadership is also very nice and is comparable from previous games. However, I was very suprised by how useful luck is now. I never saw that great a benifit before, but in HoMMV it makes a huge difference in combat against the odds. I've gone into situations I just knew I was going to lose and ended up kicking the bigger army's rear end because I had high luck going.

The power I find most interesting when going against the AI is Gating. I am able to save most of my troops when going from battle to battle as long as there aren't a lot of ranged attackers.

[Orfinn]

Heey welcome back Board Guest 808888

[mysticon]

inferno (my main class):

Luck, attack, Dark magic, logisics and leadership for the Gate master:D

perfeckt whit Urgash's Call:D

never tested Hellfire mutch, how good is this??


eidt: Orfinn where in norway do you live? molde here^^

[asandir]

very, very good

get it as fast as possible, then add soldiers luck if you can, adding 100 damage to a small stack of imps can add havoc to the enemy's troops, especially in the early game, succubus mistress like it too, chance on each of the four hits for extra 100 damage!!

[DaemianLucifer]

Isnt it every three hits,not four?