Favourite faction in Disciples II - 2007
Favourite faction in Disciples II - 2007
Since I made HoMM polls, I don't see a reason why not make a D2 poll as well.
My vote goes to the Elven Alliance. I don't know why, but I just enjoj playing with this faction much, much more then I enjoj playing with other.
Also, I like the fact that elves in Disciples ain't goodies like in other games and are more vicious then the Clans and the Empire.
My vote goes to the Elven Alliance. I don't know why, but I just enjoj playing with this faction much, much more then I enjoj playing with other.
Also, I like the fact that elves in Disciples ain't goodies like in other games and are more vicious then the Clans and the Empire.
I am back and ready to... ready to... post things.
- TheUndeadKing
- Swordsman
- Posts: 588
- Joined: 04 Dec 2006
- Contact:
Elven alliance for me i love those frost archers I think they're called sentries and the oracle upgrades cant remember what they're called. Undead Hordes come in very close second and only because they lack dependable healing.
Corelanis used baton pass The Heroes Round Table sent out [the poster below me]
- Omega_Destroyer
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 6939
- Joined: 28 Feb 2006
- Location: Corner of your Eye
- TheUndeadKing
- Swordsman
- Posts: 588
- Joined: 04 Dec 2006
- Contact:
Paralyzing, poisoning & draining units make up for that. And if you can get him, the Elder Vampire is an excellent healer. He's even better if you level him up a bit.Corelanis wrote:Undead Hordes come in very close second and only because they lack dependable healing.
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free..." - Michelangelo
- ThunderTitan
- Perpetual Poster
- Posts: 23271
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- Location: Now/here
- Contact:
Empire... coz it's been a while since i saw a well made human faction... Mountain clans come next, some great dwarfs right there. The UH and LotD. The elves are good, but Elven Alliance is a weak name and Empire already had Healers.
And yes, the Elder Vamp is groovy...
And yes, the Elder Vamp is groovy...
Disclaimer: May contain sarcasm!
I have never faked a sarcasm in my entire life. - ???
"With ABC deleting dynamite gags from cartoons, do you find that your children are using explosives less frequently?" — Mark LoPresti
Alt-0128: €
I have never faked a sarcasm in my entire life. - ???
"With ABC deleting dynamite gags from cartoons, do you find that your children are using explosives less frequently?" — Mark LoPresti
Alt-0128: €
- The Mad Dragon
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 2179
- Joined: 06 Nov 2006
- Location: Chatham, Ontario, Canada
- Infiltrator
- CH Staff
- Posts: 1071
- Joined: 06 Jan 2006
- PhoenixReborn
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 2014
- Joined: 24 May 2006
- Location: US
Yep i read the death gate cycle. Well as for the eldar vampire as awesome as it is imo its still doenst rate as a dependable healer it requires to much xp and you have to give up wights/wraiths to use them. Also the healing done depends as far as i have seen on the amount of damage done which can be good or bad. However there are to many variables involved to make them dependable. That aside after playing a few games as them I changed my mind they are better than the elves. Does anyone actually like the legion? And if so how can you actually win as them?
Corelanis used baton pass The Heroes Round Table sent out [the poster below me]
- Omega_Destroyer
- Round Table Hero
- Posts: 6939
- Joined: 28 Feb 2006
- Location: Corner of your Eye
I love to play with the Legions.That aside after playing a few games as them I changed my mind they are better than the elves. Does anyone actually like the legion? And if so how can you actually win as them?
To win with theme, you need:
1. Lot of gold - since you don't have healers
2. Lot of mana - of all factions, Legions probably depend most on spells
3. Good planning - you must ALWAYS plan whom you will attack, when you will attack and SHOULD you attack. A bitter victory might be an end for you.
4. NEVER buy spells at markets. always send a thief to do the job, even if yout town is on another end of the map. You can't afford to lose a lot of gold and you do require spells, especialy blessings.
5. Be fast - since all your leaders are flying, that shoudn't be a problem. Still, be fast.
-also, using Sanctuera spell is required. It protects your Baroness, thieves and minor leaders from enemy units and spells.
-if you want to destroy a capital, you need an Abysal Devil OR Incubus in your army to paralyze the guardian. I would reccomend Incubus because other upgrades are useless against the Guardian and Incubus, against his stats, rarely fails to hit.
-if you have a low level leader who shall might get a new leadership skill, use Dopplegangers. They are good for leaders who got another Leadership skill on the map because use of new slot is better used by transforming into big beasts then by putting a low level unit in it.
-if you have a cultist and devil unit in your army: if you plan on getting Incubus or Sucubus, then plan on getting a Beast later. If you plan on getting a Modeus, then take Overlord or Abysal Devil.
Well, thiese are my strategies. Never failed me.
I am back and ready to... ready to... post things.
- TheUndeadKing
- Swordsman
- Posts: 588
- Joined: 04 Dec 2006
- Contact:
More tips for Capital capturing:
-capture theme before completing the mission and after exploring the whole map
-try not to use all your potions. They can get VERY handy when it comes to capturing
-first conquer Clans or Empire because you shall get many spells that shall reduce the need of potions
-buy/steal every spell you can. Also, let your thieves steal every scroll and potion they can find
-if you have a city near the enemy capital, let your thieves poison the capital as many times as possible in one turn
-always have an unit that hits everyone in the field so that you can get rid of those low level units. Also, give him Initiative potions so that it can get aturn as soon as possible. Don't use your meelee unit unless they can hit the Guardian.
-Don't send a summon to do the job of spellcaster because low level units might level up
My parties with all races when capturing capitals (I am a mage lord):
Empire:
-Archmage (in first row because they usually have high armor)
-2*any meelee unit
-two Prophetess
-Imperial Assasin
Horde:
-Lich Queen
-3xPhantom Warrior (Parealyzer) OR 3xDark Lord (strong units on map)
-Spectre (not Shade) (Paralyzer) if I use Dark Lord, else 2xDeath (Poisoner)
-Elder Vampire if I don't use death (Healer and Damage Dealer)
Alliance:
-Drya (FR)
-2xCentaur (both are good)
-Slyph or Firedancer (Healers)
-2xSentry, Warden or Stinger (Poisoners) (if you got one of this on beginning, then let the second one be different because of diversity)
Legion:
-Archdevil
-Incubus (Paralyzer)
-Overlord (Damage Dealer) or Abysal Devil (Paralyzer)
-2xInfernal Knight
Clan:
-Loremaster
-Son of Ymyr (Poisoner)
-2xDwarf King
-Archdruidess (booster)
-capture theme before completing the mission and after exploring the whole map
-try not to use all your potions. They can get VERY handy when it comes to capturing
-first conquer Clans or Empire because you shall get many spells that shall reduce the need of potions
-buy/steal every spell you can. Also, let your thieves steal every scroll and potion they can find
-if you have a city near the enemy capital, let your thieves poison the capital as many times as possible in one turn
-always have an unit that hits everyone in the field so that you can get rid of those low level units. Also, give him Initiative potions so that it can get aturn as soon as possible. Don't use your meelee unit unless they can hit the Guardian.
-Don't send a summon to do the job of spellcaster because low level units might level up
My parties with all races when capturing capitals (I am a mage lord):
Empire:
-Archmage (in first row because they usually have high armor)
-2*any meelee unit
-two Prophetess
-Imperial Assasin
Horde:
-Lich Queen
-3xPhantom Warrior (Parealyzer) OR 3xDark Lord (strong units on map)
-Spectre (not Shade) (Paralyzer) if I use Dark Lord, else 2xDeath (Poisoner)
-Elder Vampire if I don't use death (Healer and Damage Dealer)
Alliance:
-Drya (FR)
-2xCentaur (both are good)
-Slyph or Firedancer (Healers)
-2xSentry, Warden or Stinger (Poisoners) (if you got one of this on beginning, then let the second one be different because of diversity)
Legion:
-Archdevil
-Incubus (Paralyzer)
-Overlord (Damage Dealer) or Abysal Devil (Paralyzer)
-2xInfernal Knight
Clan:
-Loremaster
-Son of Ymyr (Poisoner)
-2xDwarf King
-Archdruidess (booster)
I am back and ready to... ready to... post things.
- TheUndeadKing
- Swordsman
- Posts: 588
- Joined: 04 Dec 2006
- Contact:
Kinda bored, so I'm posting my mini-reviews on the factions in D2. Enjoy.
The Empire: The overall design of this faction is GREAT, but (considering their abilities) some of the units suck. I mean, come on; look at the Angel and the Titan, they're both melee fighters with no specialties. I honestly think they should play differently than the regular melee warriors. And even though the Elementalist looks great, he's pretty much worthless - possibly the worst alternative in the entire game. Thanks to its healers and the spell book, this faction is probably the easiest faction to play.
Undead Hordes: I love this faction, as it offers the most flexible gameplay experience. The creature designs and abilities are awesome, with the exception of the 2-spacers, namely the dragons/wyrms - their portraits look good, but they look awful on the battle map. Spell book is OK. Overall, my favourite faction in the game, as mentioned earlier.
The Elven Alliance: I quite like the new elves we see in this game, since they don't look like stereotypical elves. The rugged look is nice, especially the male units look cool. But I was totally pissed off when I first saw the Archon, Griffin, Centaur Lancer, the Elven Scout and the Oracle - what a lame copy/paste of neutral elves. And the spell book is weird too, it seems to be a mix of everything.
Mountain Clans: Excellent design! Definitely puts H5 Dwarves to shame. Combined with their spell book, this faction is easily one of the strongest factions. The units are hard to level up, but once they reach top levels, they become almost unstoppable. Those Sons of Ymir are a real nightmare!
Legions of the Damned: They have this sexy red color on the adventure map, which I like a lot. Their 2-spacers are incredibly cool! The new RotE Overlord is awesome. Not the easiest faction to play, but definitely one of the most fun. Melee warriors are bland though - only the Anti-Paladin looks good. Polymorphing units look great, but they are totally unreliable. They're useless against Capital Guardians. Adventure map spells are pretty good.
The Empire: The overall design of this faction is GREAT, but (considering their abilities) some of the units suck. I mean, come on; look at the Angel and the Titan, they're both melee fighters with no specialties. I honestly think they should play differently than the regular melee warriors. And even though the Elementalist looks great, he's pretty much worthless - possibly the worst alternative in the entire game. Thanks to its healers and the spell book, this faction is probably the easiest faction to play.
Undead Hordes: I love this faction, as it offers the most flexible gameplay experience. The creature designs and abilities are awesome, with the exception of the 2-spacers, namely the dragons/wyrms - their portraits look good, but they look awful on the battle map. Spell book is OK. Overall, my favourite faction in the game, as mentioned earlier.
The Elven Alliance: I quite like the new elves we see in this game, since they don't look like stereotypical elves. The rugged look is nice, especially the male units look cool. But I was totally pissed off when I first saw the Archon, Griffin, Centaur Lancer, the Elven Scout and the Oracle - what a lame copy/paste of neutral elves. And the spell book is weird too, it seems to be a mix of everything.
Mountain Clans: Excellent design! Definitely puts H5 Dwarves to shame. Combined with their spell book, this faction is easily one of the strongest factions. The units are hard to level up, but once they reach top levels, they become almost unstoppable. Those Sons of Ymir are a real nightmare!
Legions of the Damned: They have this sexy red color on the adventure map, which I like a lot. Their 2-spacers are incredibly cool! The new RotE Overlord is awesome. Not the easiest faction to play, but definitely one of the most fun. Melee warriors are bland though - only the Anti-Paladin looks good. Polymorphing units look great, but they are totally unreliable. They're useless against Capital Guardians. Adventure map spells are pretty good.
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free..." - Michelangelo
I see this topic died out a bit. Well, since I am playing this game again, mostly the campaign, here are some of my thoughts about the factions.
Wall of text incoming!
The Empire
The Empire is a very good faction, having some very good and balanced units out of all the factions.
Starting with the fighter units like Inquisitor tree for mind immunity against paralyze attacks and fire ward (on Grand Inquisitor) against those pesky Legions - combined with an attack of 100, 210Hp and only 900 Exp needed for a level up, they make excellent melee fighters. Other upgrades are ok, but you have to consider how much Exp you need for some. Angel is a good choice since he has solid initiative of 50, 125 damage attack (primary reason to have him) and a good chunk of 225 Hp means he can tank quite good. The other two choices, Defender of the Faith and Holy Avenger are good but it takes really long time to get to them, with Defender winning in my opinion, because of 70 Initiative and 30 armor, meaning that combining this with an attack of 125, two of them will most likely destroy at least one of the opponents melee fighters.
Holy Aveneger is only good because he has 2x (75) damage, meaning if you kill someone with one hit, the other can be expended to hit someone else or if you miss one of the attacks, there is always a chance the second one will hit.
Moving on to magic units, there is really no choice but to go with a Wizard/Archmage tree. Elementalist just plain sucks and the Air Ward does little to help you unless you are fighting neutral monsters from Empire faction, and even then, it is a poor choice. Normal initiative for mages (40) means that you may not even make a single summon before you die, and summon disappears anyway as soon as the Elementalist dies.. Titans are good for secondary heroes and town defense, but not much else.
Ranged units consist of just Marksman/Assassin and one assassin is absolutely necessary for your success, especially if your hero is not a Ranger. You need to have the ability to target any unit to take down enemy mages/healers/buffers quickly. Great initiative and poison means you will have no problem on that front and if I may add, Assassin is the only unit that actually moves and attacks in the entire game.
Support is also mandatory here as healers will sustain you, make you lose a great deal less gold and are just plain awesome. People tend to go with the Prophetess tree (heals everyone) just because it helps more and she has an inbuilt cure to boost her ability of healing, meaning that poison and paralysis is less pf an issue if she lasts long enough, which is why it is recommended to have two of them, if you have the leadership. Hierophant is little less useful most of the time, but I just go for him sometimes, especially if I go with leader in front during some scenarios/missions where leadership is not high or you want to spare your fighters just to level up your back row etc. Revive helps this a lot if someone does die, saving a lot of gold, especially if it is a higher level unit.
Magic is great for the Empire. Great buffs, healing spell, haste spell, wards...what more to say about it. Probably one of the most useful spellbook out there. If you're playing a Mage Lord, even more so.
Elven Alliance
Let's start by saying that this faction is probably my second favorite in a close tie with the Undead. That doesn't mean it is without it's problems, though.
Fighter units consist of only two possible upgrades, one being Centaur Savage and the other Centaur Charger. Both have their pros and cons. Pros for the Savage tree is more damage, but less initiative and more exp to level up, being a two structure tree. Centaur Charger is the other option and for me (most of the time), a better one. Charger deals considerably less damage, but is quicker to level up, has 20 armor and a initiative of 40 opposed to 35 of Savage. But, again, everything depends on the map and what are you facing. If you go against someone like Mountain Clans for example, you might be better off with Savage as he has more raw power and clans are extremely tough, but lack initiative, so it's less of a problem. Also, the crit ability really rocks, especially with levels. Charger is good against someone like the Empire, where you can more easily withstand the blows to your front ranks and get rid off their back row thanks to higher initiative.
Elves, strangely enough for some, do not have great diversity in mage units (if seen through standard fantasy). Only two choices of upgrade for your aoe spellcaster and Griffins which are useless bar town defense or secondary heroes to kill rod planters and such. So, here we have a choice for your Channeler to go into Theurgist or Archon via Elementarium and High Council, respectively. Both have the same initiative, but both aren't the same in their ability to do and/or take damage. Theurgist has 10 more hp, 5 less dmg (45) and a shatter attack. Shatter brakes opponents armor value, if he has some, by a certain percentage (about 20ish percent, not sure though). Archon on the other hand deals 50 damage and that's about it. Now, I know people will say that 10 hp isn't that big of a deal and that 5 more damage is superior, but hear me out. I cannot tell you how many times (during the campaign at least) I wished for that 10 hp Theurgist offered. Of course you can nullify that with potions etc, but I dunno, maybe it's just me, but it seems that my Theurgist dies a little less than Archon does. Btw, all capital guardians are immune to shatter.
Ranged units...well, this is where the Elves really shine, as indeed they should. Alot of options here. Let's start with the longest upgrade path, one that leads to Marauder. Marauder is a real powerhouse. Having 2x (70) damage is absolutely brutal, not least by the fact that he can target any unit and has a great initiative of 60. The downside is, as you can probably guess, the time and effort needed to get to this guy. It takes a lot of time, money and experience to get to him, but it can pay off for you, if you are playing a map where there is enough Exp to farm.
Second is the shortest upgrade which grants you the Stinger. This guy, in my opinion, is awesome. 60 damage and a possible 15 from poison just makes him all the better. Chance of poisoning is highest in the game, at 90% chance of success. When in doubt, go with the Stinger.
Last possible path is probably the one that people use most of the time, and probably with a good reason to do so. First thing to note is that Watchman - Sentry - Warden upgrades all have 85% chance to hit and an initiative of 65 (Watchman) or 70 (Sentry/Warden). That alone makes them awesome as going first is probably the most important thing for elves. In addition to these awesome stats, they also have a ward which will cancel one single elemental based attack, depending which upgrade you have at the moment. Watchman has Air Ward, Warden Fire Ward and Sentry has the Water Ward. Oh yes, and Warden/Sentry have poisoned like attacks that correspond to their ward types. Depending on what you face should be your choice between those two guys. If you are not facing fire/water based attacks and go this upgrade path, Warden is probably better just because of higher base damage, while Sentry needs for frostbite to kick in if he wants to capitalize fully on damage.
Support is also good since it is yet another source of wards for your troops, not to mention healing. Grovemaiden gives you all four basic elemental wards (fire, water, air, earth) but she heals a single unit, while the last two upgrades give Fire Ward (Sun Dancer) or Air Ward (Sylph) to everyone, healing them as well. Sun Dancer has 20 more hp, while Sylph heals for 5 more (55). No better choice, it's really situational, but if no Air/Fire attacks, Sun Dancer is better because of durability imo.
Magic is a mixed bag for Elves. They do have some solid debuffs, good damaging potential and some useful utility spells like 30% haste and heal. But really, it isn't anything special that someone else doesn't have better or equally good.
Mountain Clans
Couple of things distinguishes the Dwarfs: high damage, high hit points, great magic, high Exp cap and terrible initiative. Initiative is probably the biggest downfall. But, let's see how to compensate if this is so terrible.
Their biggest and most diverse tree is the fighter units tree. Here you have so many options that it's mind boggling. It totally depends on what's your preference since you can have some really whacky combo's. If you go melee fighter route you will pay some hefty price in gold to get to the end, but it will pay itself up for what it offers. The other option of this tree are aoe water attacks...if you are laughing, you will stop, when I explain the upgrades. Now, which of the two upgrades is better can probably be discussed a great deal, let's just start with plain melee fighter part of upgrades. Is it better to go Dwarf King or Runemaster? For me, it's probably Dwarf King. Water Ward is mostly useless, unless you are playing a campaign, since there aren't that many water based attacks, and those that do exist belong to Mountain Clans themselves anyway. But, Mind Ward is the other one he has, and this, especially if you face Undead, is a Votan sent. One other plus is 30 armor which improves his already great durability. Now, don't think that Rune Master has no uses, on the contrary, if you face someone like Empire or Elves, you can bet I would go with him, since Dwarf Kings wards do really nothing against them (okay, maybe against the Elves if they have Sentry with them). Rune Masters deal 2x (65) damage, have 300 hp and initiative of 40, which, considering your low initiative, is actually quite good (dwarf king has 35 btw) and can be buffed to go even higher. Rune Master really shines when buffed by Arch Druidess for that 'modest' 2x (130) attacks with just basic unbuffed party taking apart almost anything.
Now that we've covered melee party, let's talk about the other melee party. If you upgrade your Dwarven Warrior to Mountaineer you will have some interesting choices for your party. Mainly, you can have the Wolf Lord or Hermit in your little band of beardlings. And, if you like to power game alot, you will go with the Hermit. This guy has 250 hp, does 55 damage to everyone and has a 33% chance to lower opponents initiative. Considering your guys don't go first very often, this is freakin' awesome. They can be at the back or at the front depending on do you need for someone to tank. And one more nifty detail, they need only 1000 exp to level up, which is ridiculously low for level 4 unit, especially if you compare him to his counter part, the Wolf Lord, who needs 2025 exp to level up. This has to be an oversight on game designers part. And yeah, lets say something about the Wolf Lord. Well, he sucks. Less hp, less damage (40), more exp to level up...One thing that makes him unique is the fact he can shapeshift into a werewolf, but considering his initiative of 40 and the fact he must expend his turn shifting then doing nothing, makes him a bad choice imo. Too many better choices for what he does instead.
Mage units, yay! Dwarves have a great mages tree. Novice/Druidess upgrades is really awesome, since it not only boosts your damage, but it also cures when you have a level 3 - Druidess - upgrade. Druidess has initiative of 70, meaning she will act at least once to help out one of your damage dealers. The other upgrade is Alchemist and she's terrible. Yes, extra attack sounds good on paper, but initiative of 10 means she may never get the chance to grant one. Little exp to level up, but really, is 10 extra hp per level really worth it? I say no. The other building here is Mountain Lair which grants you the ability to hire Yeti's. Yeti's are good town defenders, since they deal 30 damage to every unit on the battlefield.
Now we are getting to another interesting part, dwarven ranged units. And they are surprisingly solid. Well, one of them at least. Forge Guardian deals 70 damage to a single unit and Flame Caster deals 30 damage to everyone, having a Fire Ward also. These guys can work, depending on what kind of party you are building. Forge Guardian is good with a Warrior Lord if you lack someone who can snipe individual units. Flame Caster is less useful but he makes it up by having cool goggles and a flame thrower.
Lastly, we have support units. They consist of Giants, one that deal massive single target damage, and the other which deals massive aoe damage. Main drawbacks are that they take up two spaces in your army and require great deal of experience. Also, their initiative is terrible (unless you have Son of Ymir) and it's more than certain they will act last, especially with no buffs. Personally, I do not prefer to go with giants until I get my first leadership ability. Still, a good choice if facing weapon immune units from the Undead since they have elemental sources of damage and can tank a lot of damage. Elder Ones deal aoe air damage based attacks (80) and Sons of Ymir deal 150 water damage plus potentially 30 from frostbite (poison like attack).
Mountain Clans probably have the best selection of spells of all the factions. Great deal of extremely useful buffs for damage and armor early on can make a big difference, healing spell is also rather useful, especially if you you are mage or guildmaster and rely on resting in cities for healing. They have the spell to renew 100% of your movement points and for a small casting fee of runestone mana to ignore forest and water movement penalties. All in all, great magic that is always helpful.
Legions of the Damned
My least favorite faction of all. Way too expensive and relying too much on magic. Still, everyone can be played effectively and I will give them a fair analysis.
Fighter tree consists of a Infernal Knight and Pit Fiend. Infernal Knights aren't that bad and are pretty good investment. They take some time to level up, but it's quite fast considering the melee alternatives. Solid health and damage, mediocre exp to level up and average initiative means they can withstand some blows and deal damage effectively. However, they do not have any kind of special attack or ward to make them more interesting. They do heal more quickly, though. Pit Fiends are not that good imo. You are better off hiring a devil to protect your city for 200 less gold. Granted, poison proc and more health is good, but paying 750 for the building and then 300 for a single pit fiend is just a money sink and you need every bit of gold badly.
Mage upgrades are good. This is the place where Legions do have some space to manoeuvre and do something differently. You have the classic upgrade to Modeus, who deals 70 damage to everyone, has a fire ward and hood hp. Alternative is to lose the damage and go Incubus or Doppelganger. Incubus is just pure win. Petrify can give you a chance to even destroy enemies capitol, and at 65 % chance isn't anything to sniff about (earth based attack). Doppelganger is also nice. He is always first (well, unless you attack the capitol) and can transform to a single unit on the battlefield. Note that it can only transform into a one space unit and you are always the lowest level possible for that unit (ie, if you transform into your hero or enemy hero, you will be level 1). Good tactic is to attack opponents parties with healers so you can patch up your own damaged troops. Last option is to go with Witch/Succubus. They polymorph enemies into imps/fat imps removing all their special abilities, damage, armor, initiative...not a bad upgrade, but Succubus has only 40% to hit, granted it affects every enemy unit, but it's maybe better to stick with the Hag, one upgrade before if you plan to go down this route. Only affects one unit, but has 80% chance to hit.
Ranged tree is simple, short and effective. Gargoyle is the only available unit, but is one of the most effective out there. Gargoyles are immune to poison, have a mind ward and source of their attack is earth, which makes them excellent against the Undead. Also, they do have some serious armor value, so if you put them in a town to defend...yeah, about 9 damage from everyone. One more cool thing is that they can reach any unit and their damage is pretty high. The bane of all healers and buffers, great choice despite using 2 spaces in your army.
Lastly, let's talk about the legions support tree. It consists of big demons that hit hard, but not fast. Yes, they have many hitpoints and low initiatives, but main drawback is that they are exp hungry, so much that unless you are playing a campaign, there are really a small number of custom maps where you can utilize them properly. When chances do arise, use Tiamath or Abyssal Devil. Tiamath deals towering 100 damage to everyone and lowers opponents own damage. Abyssal Devils deal 140 damage to a target and have a chance to petrify them also. Overlord is okay, he deals most single damage of any unit in the game (170) and has a chance to cause blister (poison like fire attack), but if faced against similar power level parties, petrify or lower damage is far more useful.
Legions magic is good for dealing damage and debuffing enemies so you can more easily destroy them, and quite frankly, is absolutely necessary in the early stages. Invisibility until you perform action and the ability to be untargetable by replenishing fog of war are the only defensive spells you have. Paraseus is great for immobilizing enemy to stop chasing you or to root him for the kill. Summons are also solid for softening the enemy and illusions to block the ai from attacking you.
Undead Hordes
Last but not least, are the Undead Hordes. As far as I can see, the most popular faction. They do deserve their reputation for having some great upgrades rivaled by few other factions.
Beginning with fighter upgrades, one can start to see immediately great potential that Undead have. One tree leads to Phantom Warrior and the other to Dark Lord. What makes them different depends on what you need most in a given situation. Templar/Dark Lord has elemental wards, which makes them excellent against those kind of attacks from enemy casters and anyone with a elemental based attack. They do lack damage, but upgrade much quickly. If you go Zombie route to the phantom warrior, basically you will have very durable troops with good damage potential, but with no abilities until you get to Phantom Warrior itself. This guy has powerful attack and a chance to paralyze his target. Having dragon problems? Ice Giants in opponents party? Ogres terrorizing you? No more.
Mage units is where it becomes interesting. Basically, you have two paths, one is aoe path and the other one is single unit damage. Both of these offer some unique advantages. If you go the aoe path, you can choose between Vampires and Liches. Vampires do less damage, but they can heal themselves, or your other units if you have an Elder Vampire. Liches on the other hand deal ridiculous amounts of damage. Archlich deals 90 damage to everyone. Of course, going on any of this upgrade paths costs a lot of money and requires tons of exp to pull off. Going single target route gets you Wratihs who are immune to weapon based attacks. Meaning, that most of the time you can put them in front and they will ignore enemy attackers. Having high initiative and low hp means your primary targets are enemy aoe damage dealers. Wratih can be upgraded to Death or Wight. Both of those units are cool and have something to offer. Wight can drain levels from enemies, while Death has more damage and has a chance to poison the target.
As far as range goes, there is only Spectre/Shade here. Spectre can paralyze a single unit, while Shade can paralyze potentially every single unit. The difference consists of Spectre having 70% chance to paralyze single target, while Shade has 50% for all. You decide what is more useful to you. Greater chance to paralyze maximizing usefulness, or lesser chance to paralyze but potentially getting more out of it. I used to go for Shade, but it's not always the best option.
Support consists of dead dragons and a Werewolf. Dragons are cool but people rarely use them due to them taking that vital extra spot. They can be good if you have higher level heroes, but usually you won't bother. Lots of xp, solid damage and great toughness makes them okay, especially if you can get to Dracolich or Dread Wyrm. One has a lot of damage, while the other one can potentially poison the enemy. Expensive and time consuming, better skip it. Werewolf on the other hand is quite useful if you have the gold to spare. This little guy takes only one space and is immune to weapon based attacks. Pretty nifty for town defense, since most attacks are weapon based. Very useful.
Concerning magic, it's not bad. Some debuffs, solid damaging spells and good summons, particularly the Nightmare. Nightmare can help you a great deal when facing powerful parties, 'softening' them a bit. No special spell that I can think off, but better than some.
This is it...in short . Just some info about factions. There is still more to cover about lord and hero choices, combinations etc. Hope someone reads this
Wall of text incoming!
The Empire
The Empire is a very good faction, having some very good and balanced units out of all the factions.
Starting with the fighter units like Inquisitor tree for mind immunity against paralyze attacks and fire ward (on Grand Inquisitor) against those pesky Legions - combined with an attack of 100, 210Hp and only 900 Exp needed for a level up, they make excellent melee fighters. Other upgrades are ok, but you have to consider how much Exp you need for some. Angel is a good choice since he has solid initiative of 50, 125 damage attack (primary reason to have him) and a good chunk of 225 Hp means he can tank quite good. The other two choices, Defender of the Faith and Holy Avenger are good but it takes really long time to get to them, with Defender winning in my opinion, because of 70 Initiative and 30 armor, meaning that combining this with an attack of 125, two of them will most likely destroy at least one of the opponents melee fighters.
Holy Aveneger is only good because he has 2x (75) damage, meaning if you kill someone with one hit, the other can be expended to hit someone else or if you miss one of the attacks, there is always a chance the second one will hit.
Moving on to magic units, there is really no choice but to go with a Wizard/Archmage tree. Elementalist just plain sucks and the Air Ward does little to help you unless you are fighting neutral monsters from Empire faction, and even then, it is a poor choice. Normal initiative for mages (40) means that you may not even make a single summon before you die, and summon disappears anyway as soon as the Elementalist dies.. Titans are good for secondary heroes and town defense, but not much else.
Ranged units consist of just Marksman/Assassin and one assassin is absolutely necessary for your success, especially if your hero is not a Ranger. You need to have the ability to target any unit to take down enemy mages/healers/buffers quickly. Great initiative and poison means you will have no problem on that front and if I may add, Assassin is the only unit that actually moves and attacks in the entire game.
Support is also mandatory here as healers will sustain you, make you lose a great deal less gold and are just plain awesome. People tend to go with the Prophetess tree (heals everyone) just because it helps more and she has an inbuilt cure to boost her ability of healing, meaning that poison and paralysis is less pf an issue if she lasts long enough, which is why it is recommended to have two of them, if you have the leadership. Hierophant is little less useful most of the time, but I just go for him sometimes, especially if I go with leader in front during some scenarios/missions where leadership is not high or you want to spare your fighters just to level up your back row etc. Revive helps this a lot if someone does die, saving a lot of gold, especially if it is a higher level unit.
Magic is great for the Empire. Great buffs, healing spell, haste spell, wards...what more to say about it. Probably one of the most useful spellbook out there. If you're playing a Mage Lord, even more so.
Elven Alliance
Let's start by saying that this faction is probably my second favorite in a close tie with the Undead. That doesn't mean it is without it's problems, though.
Fighter units consist of only two possible upgrades, one being Centaur Savage and the other Centaur Charger. Both have their pros and cons. Pros for the Savage tree is more damage, but less initiative and more exp to level up, being a two structure tree. Centaur Charger is the other option and for me (most of the time), a better one. Charger deals considerably less damage, but is quicker to level up, has 20 armor and a initiative of 40 opposed to 35 of Savage. But, again, everything depends on the map and what are you facing. If you go against someone like Mountain Clans for example, you might be better off with Savage as he has more raw power and clans are extremely tough, but lack initiative, so it's less of a problem. Also, the crit ability really rocks, especially with levels. Charger is good against someone like the Empire, where you can more easily withstand the blows to your front ranks and get rid off their back row thanks to higher initiative.
Elves, strangely enough for some, do not have great diversity in mage units (if seen through standard fantasy). Only two choices of upgrade for your aoe spellcaster and Griffins which are useless bar town defense or secondary heroes to kill rod planters and such. So, here we have a choice for your Channeler to go into Theurgist or Archon via Elementarium and High Council, respectively. Both have the same initiative, but both aren't the same in their ability to do and/or take damage. Theurgist has 10 more hp, 5 less dmg (45) and a shatter attack. Shatter brakes opponents armor value, if he has some, by a certain percentage (about 20ish percent, not sure though). Archon on the other hand deals 50 damage and that's about it. Now, I know people will say that 10 hp isn't that big of a deal and that 5 more damage is superior, but hear me out. I cannot tell you how many times (during the campaign at least) I wished for that 10 hp Theurgist offered. Of course you can nullify that with potions etc, but I dunno, maybe it's just me, but it seems that my Theurgist dies a little less than Archon does. Btw, all capital guardians are immune to shatter.
Ranged units...well, this is where the Elves really shine, as indeed they should. Alot of options here. Let's start with the longest upgrade path, one that leads to Marauder. Marauder is a real powerhouse. Having 2x (70) damage is absolutely brutal, not least by the fact that he can target any unit and has a great initiative of 60. The downside is, as you can probably guess, the time and effort needed to get to this guy. It takes a lot of time, money and experience to get to him, but it can pay off for you, if you are playing a map where there is enough Exp to farm.
Second is the shortest upgrade which grants you the Stinger. This guy, in my opinion, is awesome. 60 damage and a possible 15 from poison just makes him all the better. Chance of poisoning is highest in the game, at 90% chance of success. When in doubt, go with the Stinger.
Last possible path is probably the one that people use most of the time, and probably with a good reason to do so. First thing to note is that Watchman - Sentry - Warden upgrades all have 85% chance to hit and an initiative of 65 (Watchman) or 70 (Sentry/Warden). That alone makes them awesome as going first is probably the most important thing for elves. In addition to these awesome stats, they also have a ward which will cancel one single elemental based attack, depending which upgrade you have at the moment. Watchman has Air Ward, Warden Fire Ward and Sentry has the Water Ward. Oh yes, and Warden/Sentry have poisoned like attacks that correspond to their ward types. Depending on what you face should be your choice between those two guys. If you are not facing fire/water based attacks and go this upgrade path, Warden is probably better just because of higher base damage, while Sentry needs for frostbite to kick in if he wants to capitalize fully on damage.
Support is also good since it is yet another source of wards for your troops, not to mention healing. Grovemaiden gives you all four basic elemental wards (fire, water, air, earth) but she heals a single unit, while the last two upgrades give Fire Ward (Sun Dancer) or Air Ward (Sylph) to everyone, healing them as well. Sun Dancer has 20 more hp, while Sylph heals for 5 more (55). No better choice, it's really situational, but if no Air/Fire attacks, Sun Dancer is better because of durability imo.
Magic is a mixed bag for Elves. They do have some solid debuffs, good damaging potential and some useful utility spells like 30% haste and heal. But really, it isn't anything special that someone else doesn't have better or equally good.
Mountain Clans
Couple of things distinguishes the Dwarfs: high damage, high hit points, great magic, high Exp cap and terrible initiative. Initiative is probably the biggest downfall. But, let's see how to compensate if this is so terrible.
Their biggest and most diverse tree is the fighter units tree. Here you have so many options that it's mind boggling. It totally depends on what's your preference since you can have some really whacky combo's. If you go melee fighter route you will pay some hefty price in gold to get to the end, but it will pay itself up for what it offers. The other option of this tree are aoe water attacks...if you are laughing, you will stop, when I explain the upgrades. Now, which of the two upgrades is better can probably be discussed a great deal, let's just start with plain melee fighter part of upgrades. Is it better to go Dwarf King or Runemaster? For me, it's probably Dwarf King. Water Ward is mostly useless, unless you are playing a campaign, since there aren't that many water based attacks, and those that do exist belong to Mountain Clans themselves anyway. But, Mind Ward is the other one he has, and this, especially if you face Undead, is a Votan sent. One other plus is 30 armor which improves his already great durability. Now, don't think that Rune Master has no uses, on the contrary, if you face someone like Empire or Elves, you can bet I would go with him, since Dwarf Kings wards do really nothing against them (okay, maybe against the Elves if they have Sentry with them). Rune Masters deal 2x (65) damage, have 300 hp and initiative of 40, which, considering your low initiative, is actually quite good (dwarf king has 35 btw) and can be buffed to go even higher. Rune Master really shines when buffed by Arch Druidess for that 'modest' 2x (130) attacks with just basic unbuffed party taking apart almost anything.
Now that we've covered melee party, let's talk about the other melee party. If you upgrade your Dwarven Warrior to Mountaineer you will have some interesting choices for your party. Mainly, you can have the Wolf Lord or Hermit in your little band of beardlings. And, if you like to power game alot, you will go with the Hermit. This guy has 250 hp, does 55 damage to everyone and has a 33% chance to lower opponents initiative. Considering your guys don't go first very often, this is freakin' awesome. They can be at the back or at the front depending on do you need for someone to tank. And one more nifty detail, they need only 1000 exp to level up, which is ridiculously low for level 4 unit, especially if you compare him to his counter part, the Wolf Lord, who needs 2025 exp to level up. This has to be an oversight on game designers part. And yeah, lets say something about the Wolf Lord. Well, he sucks. Less hp, less damage (40), more exp to level up...One thing that makes him unique is the fact he can shapeshift into a werewolf, but considering his initiative of 40 and the fact he must expend his turn shifting then doing nothing, makes him a bad choice imo. Too many better choices for what he does instead.
Mage units, yay! Dwarves have a great mages tree. Novice/Druidess upgrades is really awesome, since it not only boosts your damage, but it also cures when you have a level 3 - Druidess - upgrade. Druidess has initiative of 70, meaning she will act at least once to help out one of your damage dealers. The other upgrade is Alchemist and she's terrible. Yes, extra attack sounds good on paper, but initiative of 10 means she may never get the chance to grant one. Little exp to level up, but really, is 10 extra hp per level really worth it? I say no. The other building here is Mountain Lair which grants you the ability to hire Yeti's. Yeti's are good town defenders, since they deal 30 damage to every unit on the battlefield.
Now we are getting to another interesting part, dwarven ranged units. And they are surprisingly solid. Well, one of them at least. Forge Guardian deals 70 damage to a single unit and Flame Caster deals 30 damage to everyone, having a Fire Ward also. These guys can work, depending on what kind of party you are building. Forge Guardian is good with a Warrior Lord if you lack someone who can snipe individual units. Flame Caster is less useful but he makes it up by having cool goggles and a flame thrower.
Lastly, we have support units. They consist of Giants, one that deal massive single target damage, and the other which deals massive aoe damage. Main drawbacks are that they take up two spaces in your army and require great deal of experience. Also, their initiative is terrible (unless you have Son of Ymir) and it's more than certain they will act last, especially with no buffs. Personally, I do not prefer to go with giants until I get my first leadership ability. Still, a good choice if facing weapon immune units from the Undead since they have elemental sources of damage and can tank a lot of damage. Elder Ones deal aoe air damage based attacks (80) and Sons of Ymir deal 150 water damage plus potentially 30 from frostbite (poison like attack).
Mountain Clans probably have the best selection of spells of all the factions. Great deal of extremely useful buffs for damage and armor early on can make a big difference, healing spell is also rather useful, especially if you you are mage or guildmaster and rely on resting in cities for healing. They have the spell to renew 100% of your movement points and for a small casting fee of runestone mana to ignore forest and water movement penalties. All in all, great magic that is always helpful.
Legions of the Damned
My least favorite faction of all. Way too expensive and relying too much on magic. Still, everyone can be played effectively and I will give them a fair analysis.
Fighter tree consists of a Infernal Knight and Pit Fiend. Infernal Knights aren't that bad and are pretty good investment. They take some time to level up, but it's quite fast considering the melee alternatives. Solid health and damage, mediocre exp to level up and average initiative means they can withstand some blows and deal damage effectively. However, they do not have any kind of special attack or ward to make them more interesting. They do heal more quickly, though. Pit Fiends are not that good imo. You are better off hiring a devil to protect your city for 200 less gold. Granted, poison proc and more health is good, but paying 750 for the building and then 300 for a single pit fiend is just a money sink and you need every bit of gold badly.
Mage upgrades are good. This is the place where Legions do have some space to manoeuvre and do something differently. You have the classic upgrade to Modeus, who deals 70 damage to everyone, has a fire ward and hood hp. Alternative is to lose the damage and go Incubus or Doppelganger. Incubus is just pure win. Petrify can give you a chance to even destroy enemies capitol, and at 65 % chance isn't anything to sniff about (earth based attack). Doppelganger is also nice. He is always first (well, unless you attack the capitol) and can transform to a single unit on the battlefield. Note that it can only transform into a one space unit and you are always the lowest level possible for that unit (ie, if you transform into your hero or enemy hero, you will be level 1). Good tactic is to attack opponents parties with healers so you can patch up your own damaged troops. Last option is to go with Witch/Succubus. They polymorph enemies into imps/fat imps removing all their special abilities, damage, armor, initiative...not a bad upgrade, but Succubus has only 40% to hit, granted it affects every enemy unit, but it's maybe better to stick with the Hag, one upgrade before if you plan to go down this route. Only affects one unit, but has 80% chance to hit.
Ranged tree is simple, short and effective. Gargoyle is the only available unit, but is one of the most effective out there. Gargoyles are immune to poison, have a mind ward and source of their attack is earth, which makes them excellent against the Undead. Also, they do have some serious armor value, so if you put them in a town to defend...yeah, about 9 damage from everyone. One more cool thing is that they can reach any unit and their damage is pretty high. The bane of all healers and buffers, great choice despite using 2 spaces in your army.
Lastly, let's talk about the legions support tree. It consists of big demons that hit hard, but not fast. Yes, they have many hitpoints and low initiatives, but main drawback is that they are exp hungry, so much that unless you are playing a campaign, there are really a small number of custom maps where you can utilize them properly. When chances do arise, use Tiamath or Abyssal Devil. Tiamath deals towering 100 damage to everyone and lowers opponents own damage. Abyssal Devils deal 140 damage to a target and have a chance to petrify them also. Overlord is okay, he deals most single damage of any unit in the game (170) and has a chance to cause blister (poison like fire attack), but if faced against similar power level parties, petrify or lower damage is far more useful.
Legions magic is good for dealing damage and debuffing enemies so you can more easily destroy them, and quite frankly, is absolutely necessary in the early stages. Invisibility until you perform action and the ability to be untargetable by replenishing fog of war are the only defensive spells you have. Paraseus is great for immobilizing enemy to stop chasing you or to root him for the kill. Summons are also solid for softening the enemy and illusions to block the ai from attacking you.
Undead Hordes
Last but not least, are the Undead Hordes. As far as I can see, the most popular faction. They do deserve their reputation for having some great upgrades rivaled by few other factions.
Beginning with fighter upgrades, one can start to see immediately great potential that Undead have. One tree leads to Phantom Warrior and the other to Dark Lord. What makes them different depends on what you need most in a given situation. Templar/Dark Lord has elemental wards, which makes them excellent against those kind of attacks from enemy casters and anyone with a elemental based attack. They do lack damage, but upgrade much quickly. If you go Zombie route to the phantom warrior, basically you will have very durable troops with good damage potential, but with no abilities until you get to Phantom Warrior itself. This guy has powerful attack and a chance to paralyze his target. Having dragon problems? Ice Giants in opponents party? Ogres terrorizing you? No more.
Mage units is where it becomes interesting. Basically, you have two paths, one is aoe path and the other one is single unit damage. Both of these offer some unique advantages. If you go the aoe path, you can choose between Vampires and Liches. Vampires do less damage, but they can heal themselves, or your other units if you have an Elder Vampire. Liches on the other hand deal ridiculous amounts of damage. Archlich deals 90 damage to everyone. Of course, going on any of this upgrade paths costs a lot of money and requires tons of exp to pull off. Going single target route gets you Wratihs who are immune to weapon based attacks. Meaning, that most of the time you can put them in front and they will ignore enemy attackers. Having high initiative and low hp means your primary targets are enemy aoe damage dealers. Wratih can be upgraded to Death or Wight. Both of those units are cool and have something to offer. Wight can drain levels from enemies, while Death has more damage and has a chance to poison the target.
As far as range goes, there is only Spectre/Shade here. Spectre can paralyze a single unit, while Shade can paralyze potentially every single unit. The difference consists of Spectre having 70% chance to paralyze single target, while Shade has 50% for all. You decide what is more useful to you. Greater chance to paralyze maximizing usefulness, or lesser chance to paralyze but potentially getting more out of it. I used to go for Shade, but it's not always the best option.
Support consists of dead dragons and a Werewolf. Dragons are cool but people rarely use them due to them taking that vital extra spot. They can be good if you have higher level heroes, but usually you won't bother. Lots of xp, solid damage and great toughness makes them okay, especially if you can get to Dracolich or Dread Wyrm. One has a lot of damage, while the other one can potentially poison the enemy. Expensive and time consuming, better skip it. Werewolf on the other hand is quite useful if you have the gold to spare. This little guy takes only one space and is immune to weapon based attacks. Pretty nifty for town defense, since most attacks are weapon based. Very useful.
Concerning magic, it's not bad. Some debuffs, solid damaging spells and good summons, particularly the Nightmare. Nightmare can help you a great deal when facing powerful parties, 'softening' them a bit. No special spell that I can think off, but better than some.
This is it...in short . Just some info about factions. There is still more to cover about lord and hero choices, combinations etc. Hope someone reads this
Last edited by Holly on 26 Jan 2012, 01:17, edited 4 times in total.
- parcaleste
- Pit Lord
- Posts: 1207
- Joined: 06 Nov 2007
- Location: Sofia - Vulgaria
I "PFFFFFFF!!!"-ed so loud here that I woke my cat.Holly wrote:... Pit Fiends are not that good imo. You are better off hiring a devil to protect your city for 200 less gold. Granted, poison proc and more health is good, but paying 750 for the building and then 300 for a single pit fiend is just a money sink and you need every bit of gold badly.
Why you forgot to write it levels up in just 475 (!!!) XP, making that Poison Damage go up and strikes like crazy (and with their 50 initiative - it's pretty decent, no?). One of the best units for any kind of maps (well, maybe not so much for really large, but still, what's bad with ending with several Pit Fiends doing 300 POISON damage) with the Legions.
One thing you need to mention here - Petrify is pure Earth Magic, meaning Mind Immune units (Bosses) die like flies as well.Holly wrote:... Incubus...
... and no word about Blister? +30 Poison like Fire Damage? Two words - IT'S SICK!Holly wrote:... Overlord is okay, he deals most single damage of any unit in the game (170), but if faced against similar power level parties, petrify or lower damage is far more useful...
Not saying the other ones don't suck, but the amount of choices of big units the Legions are just amazing and this is why I love them so much - with Gargoyle and Pit Fiend/Tiamat/Overlord/Abyssal + Incubus and whatever hero and having in mind the XP split between these guys... OUCH!
... but with HUGE downfall - at level 99 they do 254 Damage and have 635 HP. OK, let's tune it down even though they level up pretty fast (600 XP) - lvl 30 - 116 dmg and 290 HP. And their cost for this? INSANE! 1000 gold to build them (add +250 for the Doomdrake as well, I think) and 700 per each Wolfie... with what they have to offer afterwards... thanks but no thanks.Holly wrote:... Werewolf on the other hand is quite useful if you have the gold to spare. This little guy takes only one space and is immune to weapon based attacks. Pretty nifty for town defense, since most attacks are weapon based. Very useful...
Waiting for the other stuff you'll write, it's interesting and me fingers are scratchy
Return to “Hall of the Heretics”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests