HoMM IV: Best level 1 creature

[Metathron]

All stats comply with Equilibris version 3.51, NOT the original game.

As an aside, also choose the best PAIR of creatures.

[TheUndeadKing]

Voted for the Bandit. High movement points, high speed, ok durability, and very useful on the adventure map. He may not be the strongest, but he is definitely the best, IMHO.

Best Pair (Same Faction): Bandit & Orc
Best Pair (Random Faction): Bandit & Centaur

(Aside from maybe the Berserker, I like all of the lvl1 creatures! They are generally *almost* perfectly balanced.)

[Humakt]

Voted Berserkers. They are easily the most devastating level 1 units. And with enough of them you can win battles that without them odds would be too imposing against you. Besides, Berserkers are one of the most tactical units in the game, as you CAN control them. You just need to know how.

Yeah, and they are my favourite too. Bandits may be useful for scouting purposes and stealing some easy pickings but generally you can beat guardians anyway from whom the bandits steal.

[Corelanis]

Crossbowman for me I dont know why but they always do well for me as for the best pair i would go for sprite and crossbowman.

[Meandor]

Bandit for two reasons. He is good to scout and collect resources at the start of the map. Later he is useful when scouting on your opponent because scouting is usually done with tier 1 creatures so your opponent`s scouts won`t know what you can and can`t see.

[Bandobras Took]

Went for Berserker as well. Double attack, but much more durable than wolves. Sprites are a close second with no retaliation and flight.

As for pairs, Crossbowmen+Squires are great in just about every situation.

[UndeadHalfOrc]

I don't play H4, but Orcs look like they are the most badass, so they got my vote.

[Metathron]

because scouting is usually done with tier 1 creatures so your opponent`s scouts won`t know what you can and can`t see.

Huh? I would understand that if instead of "tier 1 creatures" you had "bandits".

I don't play H4, but Orcs look like they are the most badass, so they got my vote.

First off: Why the hell not? :)

Second of all, they may look solid on paper, but their short range "special" is really crippling, which means that for the first round, at least, they'll be shooting at 1/4 or even 1/8 of their capacity. Most of the battle they'll be at 1/2.

[Cem]

Berseeeerkerrr

[Milla aka. the Slayer]

Voted halfling. They're real troopers, I never lose to many of them, they can beat the living daylights out of level 4 creatures with some precision, they're not too expensive and they come in reasonable numbers And ranged 1st level creatures are just better IMO..

[HodgePodge]

Voted for Sprite. This poll was a really hard choice for me. Centuars, Berserkers, Bandits & Crossbowmen are all really good. I picked the little Sprite because of her no retaliation, fairly good speed & low cost.

[Muszka]

I don't play H4, but Orcs look like they are the most badass, so they got my vote.

And they are so... almost. Centaurs a bit better, but they have weekly growt rate problems. Beserkers would be the best, but they die in a couple of bigfight easyly, as you just can't control them, at least not precizely.

So... Orcs!

[darknessfood]

The bandit is a really good one. Good for collecting resources and just a overall good fighing creature...

[Muszka]

I think the bandit is great for creep, but nothing more.

[Sir William S Titan]

The skeleton.

I won a battle that I thought I was going to lose because of them.

[MistWeaver]

Crossbowman. Long range is pretty cool.

[TheUndeadKing]

The Skeleton is my second favourite lvl1 creature, even in times when I don't use the Necromancy skill. I love skeletal creatures, as they're harder to kill with ranged weapon attacks. They're immune to some of the annoying spells (poison, plague, fear,... etc). And not to mention they're undead, which means -2 morale to all non-Death creatures. Overall, they seem to be extremely durable for being lvl1 creatures. The only thing I dislike about them (and also a major setback) is that they have low adventure map movement points, which significantly slows down your hero's army.

[Sir William S Titan]

I don't take skeletons with my heroes. They stay as one of the town's defenders.

[Metathron]

Good to see so many different opinions.

The berserkers are very strong, and they can be controlled to an extent (put them in the back row etc) but they are still just too unpredictable and will often die in droves because of that; which is why they're out for me.

Bandits are splendid for stealing resources and treasure chests, and this is especially outstanding for the Asylum on the higher difficulty levels. In battle, they are average, their best characteristic is that they get to act first in many cases.

The crossbowman is the best shooter of the bunch. I compared them to the halflings for a while, but giant slayer is just too situational to win over long range. However, you only get 16 crossbowmen a week.

The sprites are good due to their maneuverability and their main strength is as blockers/distractors. However, they are far too few in Equilibris, where their growth has been knocked to a mere 16, and that just isn't enough for such a weak creature.

The dwarves are the sturdiest defender of the bunch, but their low speed is crippling.

Wolves are the best melee unit, especially if you soak up the enemy's retaliation before striking with them.

So for me it boils down to wolves, crossbowmen and bandits. Aaaaand I'm going with...the bandits.

[wimfrits]

A toss up for me between berserkers, bandits, sprites and imps. Went with imps because they're excellent shooter-blockers, the best retaliation triggers in the game and are the only lvl1 unit that can nullify a lvl 4 units' special.