What do u always pick?

[Cyrox]

And why did you choose what u chose over what you did not choose?

[Jolly Joker]

Gee, that's difficult.
No fixed rule. Lucky adventurer makes things even more complicated.
I think I never take 500 experience.

[Qurqirish Dragon]

Can't vote on this one. It is too situational. Early or late game? resources abundant or scarce? Small map or large map (size meaning time needed to meet an opponent, not necessarily physical size)? Will my main hero gain a level from the xp? Will the extra cash allow me to build / buy a dwelling / creature? What day of the week is it?

There are way too many factors to answer this poll as stated.

[Angelspit]

I love experience (except, as Jolly Joker said, when it's limited to 500), but gold is often more useful in the first half of a game.

[Gaidal Cain]

My basic rule is that I take gold in chest which offers 1000 gold or 500 experience, and xp in the rest. Early on, if the extra gold will help me reach some goal (Capitol, Fort upgrade before next week), I can gold from other chests as well. Later, if I have plenty of gold, I pick XP from all chests.

[myythryyn]

it also depends on the style of map you are playing.

if its a HOMM campaign map, then i always pick gold. you reach the lvl caps so easy in the HOMMV campaing maps, some maps i wasnt even half way done and i would get that annoying message that ive reached the lvl cap. then have to read that message each and every battle afterwards.....

but for most single player maps ill pick XP unless im short and desperate for cash, like its teh beginning of the week and i really need to recruit.

even difficulty lvl of map affects what i choose.
Playing on hard lvl lately, ive learnt that a balance of gold and XP is needed, since you need gold to build and recruit armies fast to keep up...*laughs*...ok, "try" to keep up with the cheat funded AI.
if you take just xp on hard lvl, you fall behind. you may get a high lvl hero, but inadequitely developed city and armies.
so you should have a third choice, for choosing a balance of gold and XP.

[wayne]

Same as Gaidal Cain

[Panda Tar]

Same as Gaidal Cain

Yup.

[mr.hackcrag]

I always pick gold until I've built a capitol. After that, I always pick xp unless it's 500xp, which I never take. I Have no other choice really when playing at highest difficulty.

[Bonzer]

Money almost every time on H5. I sometimes check to see how close I am to a level up, but otherwise never enough money.

Just shows how we can change tactics - on H3 it was 500gp money, otherwise XP.

Haven't tried a patched version yet, perhaps I'll change again.

[dragonn]

Yeah, same as Gaidal Cain

It was my rule dating back from when I started to play HIII to this day forward...

[ThunderTitan]

This depends on the lvl of my hero and the resources at my disposal. But like GC for the 1k/500 combo usualy its money. Also in the very begining i usualy take XP to lvl up the hero a bit, and then money as i need it.

[NAG]

Can't vote on this one. It is too situational. Early or late game? resources abundant or scarce? Small map or large map (size meaning time needed to meet an opponent, not necessarily physical size)? Will my main hero gain a level from the xp? Will the extra cash allow me to build / buy a dwelling / creature? What day of the week is it?

There are way too many factors to answer this poll as stated.

I fully agree with Qurqirish Dragon

[dallasmavs41]

I've always taken and always will take the experience no matter what..I've always thought that experience was much more important..

[vhilhu]

i voted exp. but i do take gold if my city is gonna be sieged soon(in 2 days or so).

[alavris]

I see that I'm alone with my tactic... because I always take gold. I can simply explain it:

At the beginning of the game:
more money -> more creatures -> quicker captured mines and towns -> more money and more experience (from killing creatures) in shorter time -> advantage over the enemy

In the middle and at the end of the game:
Then I need only money to hire more creatures and make upgrades in towns because I have experience from battles I had, which my opponent didn't because I did.

I hope my thoughts were spoken clearly enough
.

[ThunderTitan]

more money -> more creatures

Well you can only build 1 structure per day, and there's a limit to the creatures you can buy in 1 week, so sometimes you have enough money even without the chests. So that's not always true.

[alavris]

more money -> more creatures

Well you can only build 1 structure per day, and there's a limit to the creatures you can buy in 1 week, so sometimes you have enough money even without the chests. So that's not always true.

Yes, but I also always hire 2 additional heroes ASAP to take creatures from them. And I have never had situation with too much money... There is always something you can spend your money on

Of course on easier difficulties you can take exp because you have a lot of gold at the beginning...

But I generally agree with you that depends on map which you are playing on.
.

[DaemianLucifer]

I didnt vote,because it depends.Most of the time,its 1000 gold,but exp others.However,if Im chasing a dwelling,or there are few resources,I go with gold.If its mid to late game,every xp counts.

[Sir_Toejam]

since the very first heroes game where the choice was offered, i use the general rule:

always take the gold unless the chest offers 1500/1000.

typically, chests offer 1000/500, 1500/1000, 2500/1500.

this gives me a good balance, and the middle exp value gives the most exp *bang* per "chest" say.

IOW, it takes two of the lesser chests to equal the experience of one middle chest, and two of the middle chests offer more than one of the highest level chests.

of course, it's just a general rule of thumb, all else being equal.

in some circumstances, gold is all important, and i will forego any experience garnering, and in others, it's critical to level up your hero quick.