Morale or Speed?

[Mighty Imp]

What is more important during combat, morale or speed?

Hit ‘em first? Or hit em twice?
I’m leaning towards morale. It seems like with high morale you have the possibility of 3 attacks, 1. retaliation, 2. first attack, 3. morale enabled attack.

Opinions?

[Metathron]

I'm assuming HoMM IV is excluded from this discussion, since morale functions on different principles.

It's of course best to have good morale coupled with great speed.

Seriously, though, I think they are pretty much equally important, and it's difficult to separate one from the other.

[Mighty Imp]

Ah!
My lack of expertise with H4 is evident here. I was not aware of the differences with morale.
So be it...H4 is excluded, thanks Metathron

[Gaidal Cain]

As H4 is exluded, there's no point in keeping this thread in the Equilibris forum. It's been moved to the Heroes I-IV one instead.

In H1 to H3, speed is superior to morale, as it's far more dependable and gives you the imporatnt advantage of casting spells first or last in a round. In H5, I have not yet made up my mind as they're very close in terms of effect...

[Metathron]

In H1 to H3, speed is superior to morale, as it's far more dependable and gives you the imporatnt advantage of casting spells first or last in a round.

I'm not sure I agree. Speed certainly is the deciding factor in who gets to cast spells first. But when we're speaking of morale, we're not only discussing good morale, which lets one or more of your troops act again (depending of just how high the morale is), but also of bad morale, which makes one or more of your troops skip their turn (same condition). The (dis)advantage of (bad) morale can be ranked just as high as the (dis)advantage of casting spells first (last), I'd say.

[Gaidal Cain]

Just because bad morale is a worse penalty is worse than not having the fastest unit, having good morale isn't necessarily better than being fastest. Speed is an elegant weapon, not as random or clumsy as morale.

[kitcat0]

In H1 to H3, speed is superior to morale, as it's far more dependable and gives you the imporatnt advantage of casting spells first or last in a round.

Totally agree.

[Metathron]

So, what would you rather have - a fast but mixed army, or one of average speed but good morale?

Like I said, I think speed and morale are very much interwoven and interdependent. For example, your ultra-fast phoenixes and champions will be to little, or even no, avail if they are struck by very bad morale. Not only will they lose their turn, but your hero may not have the upper hand in casting spells after all.

[Paulus1]

At least in HeroesIII speed is everything.
Morale is a nice bonus, but way to random to be counted on.

Speed gives you first spell (or last, if you want to wait for your opponents spell to counter it), and you can decide wether to have first attack or wait out your opponents turn before you move.
And of course your units have larger operating area.

[Mighty Imp]

So am I mistaken about the chance for 3 attacks? Or perhaps I'm right but, the likelyhood of this actually happening is far too small to be of value?
If two opponents have the same speed how is initiative determined? Assuming speed ratings are the same, does the army that initiates battle always attack first in the opening round?

[Metathron]

If two opponents have the same speed how is initiative determined? Assuming speed ratings are the same, does the army that initiates battle always attack first in the opening round?

Yeah, the one who is attacking gets to act first.

[DaemianLucifer]

Morale seems like a more important factor than luck.But of course,speed is of the essence.

[Gaidal Cain]

So, what would you rather have - a fast but mixed army, or one of average speed but good morale?

I'd have one without any morale at all and as fast as it could be from that point, if I could choose. As I said, bad morale is worse than going last. Good morale is often not very useful, as you can't plan for it and therefore might be forced to just skip the action.

[dallasmavs41]

Morale is awesome when you get it, but you can't depend on it for every battle like you can with speed. So, I'd have to go with speed as the more important factor..

[kitcat0]

Morale seems like a more important factor than luck.But of course,speed is of the essence.

About morale and luck. Morale is better in that sence that it lets you vary your gameplan more. Especially good if you othervise cant reach enemy. And luck can often mean "overkill". But in some situations luck can be much better than morale. Mainly against big stacks. Luck eliminates a big part of retaliation damage.

[Banedon]

Speed's better than morale, though bad morale is not good at all in Heroes 3 (bad morale on a level 7 stack can easily turn the tides of battle). If possible I'd go for speed without sacrificing morale.

In Heroes 4 things change. Morale here can be manipulated at will, and good morale grants big boosts to damage. Speed's still important of course, but morale (and especially Mass Fervor) becomes much more important. I'd take morale over speed here, especially since good morale automatically means you move first (unless the other side gets good morale too).

[iKossu]

What is more important during combat, morale or speed?

Tough question. I really don't know, but it does depend on the battle in case. I usually simply choose the unit with ranged attack without looking at the difference in speed between units. That way I only have to worry about speed if enemy has units with ranged attack or spellcasting ability.