Is there a Faction that is good against Klaus, Haven Faction

[dralutz]

My buddy and I have an ongoing battle in Hero's. He thinks that Klaus is unstoppable in late game. I agree that he is good, but am curious if there is another hero late game that is more dominating. He typically used the train function to train up to paladins. So he usually attacks with two stacks of 20-35. It can be pretty devastating when he has tactics and can cast mass haste in addition to having swift mind and luck with soldier's luck. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

[Ya5MieL]

Training so many paladins is expensive. Don't let the game last that far so he wont be able to train that much.

In other words, there is no exact hero to stand against opponent. Any hero will do if you play fast.

[dralutz]

That is part of how we play, just for fun. We use the rise to power map, then each of us captures two towns each, then we meet for an epic battle. So in that scenario, what would be a good faction to counter with and which hero

[Ya5MieL]

That makes it slightly harder. Since you both agree to play the style of game that suits Haven and Klaus, you are in bad position to start from.

Perhaps try Wyngaal+Arcane archers (if you did not ban him in your games).

Also, you could try playing any stronghold hero. Since practically only stronghold weakness is dark magic (and its not likely your friend picks dark), you should be able to mop the floor with haven troops.

[parcaleste]

Get Barbarians with Kragh... if you are enough lucky to get that Weapons of Might and the Lion's Spirit sets... ooh mamma... + don't forget the (Ultimate) Bloodrage...

[dralutz]

you really think that stronghold is that good? I have played with them on my own against a mildly strong elve army, and my elve army mopped the floor with them. What kind of build would you do with a stronghold army, it just seems like they are so weak. And do you prefer the arcane archers to master hunters?

[dralutz]

also, would you pick wyngaal over ossir? and why?

[parcaleste]

Have to say it's my favorite faction. Dunno what the level of the barbarian hero you'd played against was, but with Kragh the Ultimate Bloodrage is on 90% sure, really easy to get! Remember: Kragh + Stunning Blow + Excruciating Strike + his Pounder Special = Total Disaster for the high level enemy units, Imagine like 8 or 10 Archangels go to heaven with just one strike + pushing them back few tiles on the ATB bar

[Ya5MieL]

I usually dont go for ultimate with orc.

First goal is tripple balista (it is pretty much all you need). After that go for flaming arrows to further improve it, then aim for battle elation.
(In early game, trippl ballista+flaming arrows will own everything, including Klaus

In the case you are playing Kragh, stunning blow+emphaty seems to be better choice.

Empathy + several unupgraded goblins as morale boosters make kragh act twice as often

[PhoenixReborn]

With Necro you can convert the two extra castles worth of troops into your own type and only pay for upgrades.

You should be able to amass much larger numbers than your opponent.

[dralutz]

I still feel that stronghold is a weak faction. I will test out your build for kragh, but i still feel that a sylvian faction would be stronger. And I am also playing with a build for a Necromancer build, but that one is more about trying to win with sheer numbers.

[danhvo]

I still feel that stronghold is a weak faction.

I agree. Stronghold is great against neutrals, but against other heroes, no ultimate rage is going to compensate for the lack of magic. If your friend plays smartly, he definitely would have Dark Magic, with high level spells, as it is one of Haven's preferred schools of magic.

I too, would probably go for Sylvan. If you use Wyngaal, your shooters will likely act before the paladins. If your Master Hunters get a chance to tear into the paladins and additionally trigger Warding Arrows (definitely get Soldier's Luck), you should be able to neutralize Klaus. And for the pesky, fast Battle Griffins that will probably dive for your Master Hunters, let your dragons take care of them. Again, with Wyngaal, the dragons will most likely act before the Battle Griffins.

[Akul]

Also, using Imbue Arrow, good choice of Favourite enemies and Expert Dark Magic or Destruction Magic is also a must have for Sylvan.

[dralutz]

yeah, the imbue arrow is great, also having the imbue ballista with the triple shot is pretty deadly. It just seems that he finds all the good artifacts to boost the initiative of his army. Damn AI putting the good artifacts close to his castle.

[Akul]

In that case take the hero who has initiative boost and teach him Aura of Swiftness or improve hero+s Defense skill so that first wawe ain't enough to beat you.

[dralutz]

But to get aura of swiftness, I have to take leadership skill. Don't really want to have to do that and then defense also. Between Attack, Luck, War Machines, and either dark or destructive, doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room to take on leadership or even defense. And if I want to be able to move around the map and collect artifacts, then logistics is nice to have. It is a tough one to figure out what the perfect build is.

[danhvo]

But to get aura of swiftness, I have to take leadership skill. Don't really want to have to do that and then defense also. Between Attack, Luck, War Machines, and either dark or destructive, doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room to take on leadership or even defense. And if I want to be able to move around the map and collect artifacts, then logistics is nice to have. It is a tough one to figure out what the perfect build is.

Don't go for Aura of Swiftness. Look for the Boots of Striding instead. Your dragons has enough speed to reach the enemy in one turn anyway. Empathy is much, much better.

Also, don't go for Attack. In an epic battle, Luck is much better. If the map has a memory mentor, take Logistic to move around, then change to Luck before the battle. If the battle is really big, with a lot of troops, then War Machines may be a little useless. Unless your hero is Vittorio, what's one ballista compared to that huge stack of paladins/champions? And how much good does 100 points of healing from the Healing tent do when each stack does 1000 points of damage in one attack. You can keep Logistic with Swift Mind and forego War Machines.

Dark Magic is good, but may be a little tough for Rangers, since Sylvan magic guilds don't have high level Dark Magic spells. Hope that a Dragon Utopia will grant you Frenzy/Puppet Master.

[Banedon]

With Necro you can convert the two extra castles worth of troops into your own type and only pay for upgrades.

You should be able to amass much larger numbers than your opponent.

I think this is the best suggestion. Inferno and Gating is another option (rush all the Gating skills), but with two extra castles at your disposal it won't be as powerful as Necropolis.

I too, would probably go for Sylvan. If you use Wyngaal, your shooters will likely act before the paladins. If your Master Hunters get a chance to tear into the paladins and additionally trigger Warding Arrows (definitely get Soldier's Luck), you should be able to neutralize Klaus. And for the pesky, fast Battle Griffins that will probably dive for your Master Hunters, let your dragons take care of them. Again, with Wyngaal, the dragons will most likely act before the Battle Griffins.

The problems with that are:

1. Your Master Hunters might very well get destroyed by the Seraph's Divine Vengeance.
2. Imperial Griffins have very high initiative and so may act before your Dragons.
3. If you fly your Dragons over early, they can and are going to get ganged.
4. Champions break through barricades with relative ease. You'll need to bind them down with Ancient Treants.

[dralutz]

on rise to power map, there is not a mentor building, and you are basing your build on a lot of what ifs? I don't think that dark magic is a good skill to choose, destructive is more affective with imbue ballista and ballista 3x shot. I would be redundant to continue to hit the same stack with 3x slow or decay. As far as I know, they do not build on each other and make them more powerful. Correct me if I am wrong on that note

[danhvo]

1. Your Master Hunters might very well get destroyed by the Seraph's Divine Vengeance.

Seraph's Divine Vengeance will work on anything, not just Master Hunters. There's not much you can do about it, other than Puppet Mastering the Seraphs and have them waste the Divine Vengeance on their own units.

2. Imperial Griffins have very high initiative and so may act before your Dragons.

I don't think so. Initiative boosting artifacts aside, the Imperial Griffins' initiative is 15. The Emerald Dragons' initiative is 14. With Wyngaal, even at a lowly level 10, the dragons will likely act first.

3. If you fly your Dragons over early, they can and are going to get ganged.

You're no worse off. The only two units that cannot damage your troops anyway on the first turn are the peasants and squires. I assume that your opponent doesn't have them, since the original post infers that he trained them to shooters and cavaliers. I would, if I have the resource. In fact, if your dragons fly over and somehow block the champions, the champions will do a lot less damage than if they attack your dragons from across the board.

4. Champions break through barricades with relative ease. You'll need to bind them down with Ancient Treants.

Agreed, if you can manage this. The champions will act before the treants, and with champion charge, it will be tough to protect your shooters.

In general, with the Favored Enemies skill, I think playing Sylvan will give you a slight edge IF you know ahead of time what faction you'd be fighting and select your favored enemies appropriately. At expert Avenger, 40% to inflict critical hits is no laughing matter. Under this condition, I would even choose Sylvan over Necro.

My suggestions aside, I tend to feel that the factions are fairly balanced, with differences among them small enough to be offset by smart plays and/or your luck with artifacts. It might all come down to who has the better artifacts. Feel free to share how you fare with Klaus, what faction you use, and what your strategies are.