Starting heroes

[godlyatheist]

I'm no expert in homm v, but i feel that some factions have more choices in "good" starting heroes.

Academy:
Havez, Jhora, Nathir

Haven:
Dougal, anyone else?

Dungeon:
Sinitar, Yrwanna

Inferno
Deleb, anyone else?

Necro:
Naadir, kaspar

Sylvan:
Ossir, anyone else?

Fortress:
Ingvar, anyone else?

The difference between the first and second choice for a faction can have a huge difference on that faction's early creeping. I play dungeon, necro, and inferno mostly. If i don't choose deleb, the game seems to be so slow... On the other hand, academy have a lot more choices because they can magic spam their way through creeping. Sure, a lot of secondary heroes can be good if they get the right skills. But if you don't, then... For example, i didn't get destructive until level 10 with Yrwanna once.

I think some heroes abilities needs a serious change, like Raven

[PhoenixReborn]

Perhaps so but it changes with every patch.

Dougal is no longer as good as he once was. Same for Vlaad, and Sinitar.

I like Karli for fortress and even Helmar (or rather I hate fighting against him.)

I take Ossir's hunters and give them Ylithin But i just have a prefernce for unicorns she probably isn't the best hero.

You missed Orson by the way.

[aaelgr]

You forgot Irina (stronger Griffins) and Vittorio (Super Triple Ballista) for Haven! Klaus is good as well (anything that helps Paladins is a plus).
I don't really play a lot as Dungeon, but if it's Vayshan, Eruina or Yrwanna (is that how you spell it? The Blood Maiden lady) then I feel that I actually have a chance of winning.
Deleb is one of the best Inferno heroes, especially once you control who you shoot at (though the fact that the Fireball only hurts your enemies is a bit strange as the spell would). I quite like Jezebeth and Grawl, though to be honest as long as it's not Nebiros I don't mind who it is!
For Fortress Karli has to be the best one. Skirmishers kick ass! Helmar can be useful too (I don't mind if he casts Righteous Might for free when I cast something like Mass Haste) as is Erling with his stronger Rune Priests. I don't think I've ever got Ingvar as a starting hero. Which one is he again?
Lucretia is one of the best Necromancers because she makes Vampires even stronger. Vladimir used to be the best, but now that Raise Dead's been fiddled with it's not the same (if only his speciality could reduce the %age of health lost...). Raven with her Weakness/Vulnerability is pretty handy too.
Slyvan has quite a few good heroes if you're not concerned with going for their Ultimate. Wyngaal is very good once he's gained a few levels and Ossir's Hunters can be deadly later on. The only one I find isn't as good is Talanar, as I don't really want to have to fall back on the Enraged ability to win (instead it's better not to lose m/any units).
Academy's got lots of good heroes. Nur's ability to regenerate mana in battle is always useful (especially if Imps and Familiars have stolen a chunk of it). Havez and Narxes are good, and Jhora can overwhelm opponents with spells once she's got to a higher level.

[godlyatheist]

haven:

Irina with one griffin isn't gonna do much in the beginning. I've tried Vittorio's ballista, it's not that effective in the beginning. Klaus in the beggining is bad imo

Dungeon

Vayshan's ability is useless, but he does have a lot of troops. Eruina's lightning bolt cost too much in relation to her starting mana.

Fortress

Never learned the town, but Ingvar is rediculous with his horde of defenders. Many ppl regard him as the best starting hero. Plus he can just mentor a second hero when his ability becomes less effective. I never had the resource to build rune priest dwelling so I never choose Erling.

Necro

Lucretia is good, but one vampire doesn't do much in the beginning. I only play with Naadir.

Sylvan

Isn't Wyngaal "banned" everywhere?

Academy

too many good heroes.

[PhoenixReborn]

Necro
Lucretia is good, but one vampire doesn't do much in the beginning. I only play with Naadir.

Playing the expansion eh? Well I still think Orson with a large stack of zombies is fun. Sure it might not be the best thing ever but it's fun.

And who cares about 1 vampire. Motn is enough.

[aaelgr]

Sorry, I thought you were talking about good heroes to start with, not ones that are good early game.

Vayshan's ability is useless, but he does have a lot of troops. Eruina's lightning bolt cost too much in relation to her mana.

Not sure I can agree with you here. Scouts/Assassins are useful throughout the game (seeing as they're pretty much your only shooter) so how can making them stronger every 2 levels be useless. Also he's only a couple of levels away from Warlock's Luck. Similarly, Eruina is a couple of levels away from Secrets of Destruction which boosts her Knowledge/mana (though I admit that Lightning Bolt takes too much of her mana).

Academy.

Too many good heroes.

That is why I hate playing against them. The only ones whose specialities aren't as good (in my opinion) are Faiz and Galib. Razzak isn't that good, as Golems are so slow.

[Elvin]

I liked Vayshan and Karli but eventually found out that you can creep better with other heroes.

More blood maidens with other dungeon hero means that the horde of squire you just attacked will be split in 3 and not 4 stacks(practically you have already lost) and so on but that gives more staying power vs archers. What do you fear more, archers or large quantities of slow walkers?

As for Karli he's good and starts with a most favourable skill path but shieldguards are more effective with creeping if you wish to push your luck.

[Bandobras Took]

Grok for the Inferno is a Logistics specialist who starts with Teleport. Definitely a strong choice.

[Mirez]

I love lethos, but that's cuz I switched summoning magic with dark magic

[godlyatheist]

Vayshan's ability is useless, but he does have a lot of troops. Eruina's lightning bolt cost too much in relation to her mana.

Not sure I can agree with you here. Scouts/Assassins are useful throughout the game (seeing as they're pretty much your only shooter) so how can making them stronger every 2 levels be useless. Also he's only a couple of levels away from Warlock's Luck.

Well, i'm a pure destruction warlock so creatures are more or less meatshields. Assassins are there to poison, or use meelee is they get the chance. Boosting their dmg is not useful as boosting the dmg of furies since furies can deal more faster.. Also, the hero is my ranged unit. Vayshan is a good troop supplier, but i would not make him the main hero.

They need to reuse the dungeon heros that specializes in spells, ie meteor shower (+1% dmg / lvl )

I love lethos, but that's cuz I switched summoning magic with dark magic

No dungeon hero should have dark to begin with, Nival needs to change that.

[Philoric]

I don't know what level of difficulty you are playing at but I strongly disagree with your opinion about Vittorio. I think he is one of best haven heroes early on and the only one with whom I can tackle most heroic maps. If you play him properly you should have triple ballista shot and first aid at about level 6 or 7.

[aaelgr]

They need to reuse the dungeon heros that specializes in spells, ie meteor shower (+1% dmg / lvl).

Too true, I miss H3 where I could use Deemer's extra-strong Meteor Shower right from the off. The only problem is that with the Warlock's very high spellpower it would be perhaps a little too powerful? There are a few heroes that specialise in spells, but out of them only Raven and possibly Nathir are any good.

No dungeon hero should have dark to begin with, Nival needs to change that.

Dark goes well with Lethos' special skill, but as to why Yrbeth has Dark Magic I have no idea. It'd be better if she started with Destructive, just so she could get Secrets of Destruction really early on when you really need mana (and spells).