Sylvan Hero Choice

[gzork]

I've been wondering for a while, which hero to pick when I play Sylvan.

I used to play as Ossir, but I realized a bit ago that he can't get the Nature's Luck ability. I know it's not often that you can get it anyway, but I usually play pretty large maps, and if there's a chance to get a bonus like that, it's easily worth going for.

Only thing is he's the only one that ever struck me as at all useful. Wyngaal's kind of nice when he's higher leveled, but his bonus still stops mattering after the first turn of a a fight. Blade Dancers aren't typically a majorly useful unit, so i can't see using Gilraen. Anwen's certainly more viable now that you can cover all of a creature's upgrades with one slot, but still pretty situational. Vinrael's nice, but I can't see using a hero with no helpful combat perk as my main. Talanar's decent, but I don't like the idea of actually relying on having one of your stacks die to have your specialty come into play.

All I can really think of is Anwen, if you can see the enemy coming, Vinrael, if it's a really, really big map, or Dirael, if the Wasp Swarm boost is a lot better than I think it is.

[aaelgr]

I quite often start with Ylthin (or however you spell it). Light Magic is one of the main Sylvan schools, and I find that Unicorns are very useful (especially considering how easy it is to get Luck/Soldier's Luck). It'd be good if she started with Divine Strength instead of one Unicorn though, given that she has Master of Blessings. Vinrael can be quite good for larger maps, and although Talanar's special isn't fantastic the fact that he can get Battle Commander very quickly can be useful in smaller maps.
You say that Wyngaal isn't great as his special only helps at the beginning, but I thought that it changes the Initative throughout the battle. I could be wrong as I'm not 100% sure how Initative relates to rate of action, but at higher levels against him I have to cast Mass Slow/Haste to stop him from walking all over me. Perhaps I'm just a poor player...
Ossir and Gilraen are alright too, as their units are the ones that you tend to have lots of. I used to avoid Anwen due to her special, but with the altered Avenger I may have to rethink that.

[Akul]

I always choose random hero. Since, in my free time, I made skill schoice for EVERY hero in-game using skill wheel, no matter which one I choose I always end up beating crap out of the enemy.

[Mirez]

it depends your playstyle really
I like to go uber-archer turtle with ossir
or unichorn-light-magic-abuse with Ylthin
I used to abuse Talanar's Elven Fury but since enraged depends on how big the stack was (compared with the total army) it's not that good anymore
ofcourse you can always go with the tripple implode ballista

anyways don't pick Dirael, the bonus damage is low and summoning isn't one of sylvan's magic schools
I also don't really like anwen because the avenger ability never really impressed me

[Metathron]

I also don't really like anwen because the avenger ability never really impressed me

Me neither. It seems complicated to the point of uselessness.

[Akul]

When you git three units with implosion in just one turn, it ain't useless.
4 if you have Pendant of Mastery.

[Mirez]

When you git three units with implosion in just one turn, it ain't useless.
4 if you have Pendant of Mastery.

yes I'm not saying it can't be usefull (especially since you select 1 type of unit instead of 1 specific unit (hellhound + firehound + cereberus instead of or firehound or cerebrus or hellhoud)) but most of the it isn't really usefull since the units you selected are probably low levels who die in 1 or 2 implosions

[yuritch]

Well, that depends. If you somehow happen to have developed some Dark magics with your Ranger, you can cause 3 x (Mass Decay OR Mass Vulnerability OR Berserk Or Blindness). Keep in mind the fact Vulnerability casts stack with themselves, so you can drop entire enemy's army Defence very low (because area effects on 3 units will cover most of his side of battlefield).
Another good use - Fire Trap. One turn of your hero and half the battlefield is covered in mines. Isn't that great?
Dirael is good because she can get Fire Warriors fast, and that makes creeping easy - Rangers tend to have enough mana for a few Summon Elementals per battle, and Fire Elementals do good damage (although they are somewhat slow).

[tb5841]

I think Sylvan have probably the best hero lineup of any team.

Dirael is brilliant. The damage is pathetic, but at high levels she can almost stop 3 enemy units from ever acting. Vinrael is brilliant now he can get Mentoring, he can level up faster than any other hero in the game, then pass on experience to all your other heros. I find Wyngaal pretty good, since dragons/arcane archers/wind dancers all moving before any opponent creatures usually means the battle is almost won already.

But I usually choose Ossir, just because the few extra archers make the first two weeks much easier, and against AI players this seems to be the most important bit.

[Akul]

yes I'm not saying it can't be usefull (especially since you select 1 type of unit instead of 1 specific unit (hellhound + firehound + cereberus instead of or firehound or cerebrus or hellhoud)) but most of the it isn't really usefull since the units you selected are probably low levels who die in 1 or 2 implosions

Liches, Vampires and Wraiths ain't cosidered low-level units.