sir_moz
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It's been a while since I wrote anything here. I decided to share some thoughts.
Basically, the idea is this: to express what playing Heroes (practically any series) is all about in general and how, accordingly, one can learn to play it. Even if this seems silly..
So, as many have realized upon their first foray into Heroes, the game is divided into two roughly equal aspects: the strategic part and the tactical part. Accordingly, to learn to play Well (meaning winning more than 50% of played matches), you need to understand and master both parts.
0) To start, you need to choose a game plan and then try to implement it—what does the game plan depend on? a) your race and your opponent's b) the map or template (whether a long game is expected or if it will be relatively fast).
In principle, the combination of these two parameters provides the necessary game plan in 99% of cases, but it is important to learn how to choose it correctly.
A simple example: Our thoughts: "Okay—the opponent is a dwarf, I am Inferno, the map is small; most likely if I push forward and don't overthink it, I'll reach the opponent around the beginning or middle of the third week—meaning the GAME PLAN is RUSH (i.e., a fast attack while the opponent doesn't have the strength to fight back)," "or the map is huge, the opponent is Dungeon, I am an Elf—meaning the game plan is to eat up as much as possible and not throw away units in late-game combat (an elf kills a warlock without a chance), it's better to level up GG Wingael, because that's the remedy for the warlock's tricks," and so on. Of course, you can't describe every possible scenario immediately, but the general principle is clear:
Knowing the characteristics of the races and having a rough idea of the map (in the case of a fix-map, knowing it by heart), you can easily come up with a game plan for yourself.
In principle, 3 options are possible here: 1) a fast attack on one of the opponents (meaning either you have a rush setup or the opponent does) 2) mid-game (for example, when the setup isn't particularly rushy, it's not profitable for opponents to run quickly, but dragging it out isn't wise either, especially when we clearly suspect that one of the opponents has much more favorable chances in the late game) 3) when a long game is planned (meaning opponents won't be in any particular hurry to fight—in the late game, everything will be decided by leveling, found items, and the opponent's mistakes).
1) Strategy: this includes everything your heroes do, the construction of your castles, scouting, and game planning. Accordingly, it is necessary and important to learn to understand what each hero should do and how, so that they all act together as effectively as possible. It is important to remember a few key things here: A) If you have planned a one-hero game (meaning only one GG—main hero—is being leveled), then he must under no circumstances eat resources or engage in any side nonsense... his goal is to get as much experience as possible in the shortest possible time—this means you need to balance his leveling with the map and try to move across it, choosing a route that allows the GG to level up maximally). For example: we have a situation where we know there are many strong monsters further down the road and we can break through them; it's not worth getting distracted by fighting a weak monster for a couple of chests or a minor artifact, unless it is, of course, needed for the GG as magic buffs or boots of speed). B) If there will be several heroes who split the army and try to clear many spots on the map—then you should try to choose heroes so that they can break through on their own without losing too many troops— C) It's very good to have 8 heroes if money allows—because 8 heroes provide the ability to carry troops, collect resources, visit various remote objects on the map, venture into the dark with scouts, and so on.
A few techniques: it is very good to constantly keep one hero with the GG who will eat whatever the GG has cleared. Also, if necessary, he can be a "pocket" for the GG (for example, when you need to fight large monsters, it's useful to take part of the army from the GG) or a cockroach (a hero performing auxiliary functions) can check who is in the portal—so as not to run into mages, for instance. Also, try to build something like a chain from the castle to the places where the GG is roaming, so that you can deliver an army at the beginning of the week, or in case of danger, retreat to the castle (give the army to a side hero, while the GG attacks neutrals and, upon escaping, buys them back at the castle).
Regarding playing with multiple heroes: usually, a second or third hero is leveled when there is an opportunity for them to fight significantly (for example, as a mage or warlock) without losing troops (for instance, Nura with machines is very good—the tent heals, Nura deals). Necromancers are very good in this case: thanks to raising troops, they can sustain themselves, and the heroes are strong. In most cases, such a second or third hero handles clearing territory or those places where it's not profitable for the GG to go. Or if you manage to enter enemy territory—pressure them, take their mines, kill cockroaches, distract their heroes. To the point that if the enemy chose the wrong tactic, it forces the enemy GG to get distracted.
To summarize—the strategic part is the part of the game that determines the game overall. It is very important to learn to play strategically, rather than "well, I'll just run and we'll see." I think I'll write examples later and expand on the game even more.
2) Tactical part of the game: THIS IS COMBAT and everything associated with it (naturally, it affects and very strongly affects strategy, but still, it is a different part). The principle here is one—losses should be 0. Meaning ABSOLUTELY 0. Or at least that's what you should strive for. It helps a lot to use the editor to create heroes, place neutrals, and fight, fight, fight. You must learn to break through various neutrals by strength and learn to understand what leveling is needed for this, which spells or troops. Specifically, the ability to conduct battles against neutrals well strongly distinguishes a good player from a mediocre one. Because a good player knows exactly when and how they are capable of passing and which neutral.
It also helps very much if you ask a good player to record battles and then watch them.
Main techniques:
Separating ones (this should be done in almost every battle—even with shooters, even if they are shield ones) because they allow you to 1) block neutrals, absorb the counter-attack, run up and block shooters for a while. Neutrals will have to be distracted by them to reach the main stacks.
Leveling into skills that allow minimizing losses—for example, tactics + dogs give us the ability to separate ones of dogs and close off enemy neutrals. Again, tactics give us the ability to cover centaurs from an enemy strike at the start of the battle (we also include machines with their tent here, or defense with evasion).
Leveling into magic that allows killing neutrals while practically losing no troops—regen, resurrection, or dark magic; summoning is very good. This is harder because you'll have to build a tower, but it's better not to lose too many units on neutrals for 5 days and then pass them without losses than to crash immediately and spend the whole game struggling.
It also doesn't hurt to learn right away how to distinguish neutrals that the hero can currently kill without losses from those who can beat you up badly (the latter usually include all mages and very fast heavy troops like dragons). But this is only available after a large number of battles. As I wrote—editor and battles, battles are our way, or simply playing against players with your own skin in the game, sketching out a battle scheme for yourself.
Useful tricks: Wyverns give a lot when built; for example, I personally, as a level 1 hero thanks to wait, killed 74 shooters (alt-grade crossbowmen) with 3 non-upgraded wyverns—it's done like this: Fly forward to the shooters—stand so that you block 2 stacks and simply wait. Shooters just deal less damage and don't have time to kill our wyverns.
Bears with the energy rune allow passing almost all mages. In combination with soldier's luck, they work wonders. It's done like this: split into 2 stacks and move with a paw. It is important, however, to take all thick stacks into battle besides the bears, so that the mages get scared and stand in 1-2 stacks rather than 4.
Crossbowmen are very good with their ability that allows hitting melee neutrals by luring them with ones.
Upgraded griffins, because of their jump, also sometimes allow passing mages almost without losses. It's done like this—take 6 ones of peasants into battle so that the mages spend a turn on them instead of waiting—fly with a stack of griffins. Even if the griffins land unsuccessfully a couple of times, we have the ability to pass a very nasty passage, for example with 60 archmages, losing only about 10-15 griffins.
Dungeon has hydras (we constantly wait with them) which, in combination with the hero's powerful strike magic, allow passing many neutral mages without losses as well.
The elf has tricks with logs and flies; light magic is also very good. For example, horns with regen (because of their aura, if you also level up resistance from luck) allow significantly reducing losses in battles with mages
And so on). Venture out, search, and you will find your own techniques for successful battles with neutrals. It's very useful to chat with game aces even just on ICQ, for which of course you need to reach out to them; most good players are very loyal to requests to tell about the game and share mastery techniques.
And now what was basically expected by everyone: battle with an opponent. There is a huge sea of everything here. But there aren't many principles that, if followed, allow one to effectively oppose an opponent in combat:
1) Make a plan for the battle (unfortunately, this is impossible without combat experience, so try to play as much as possible things like "Bandit Arena" or "Bandit Tactical Map" (unfortunately, duels, due to their wild detachment from real games, do not provide the opportunity to fully emulate a battle, so they should be viewed as entertainment or a separate type of game). That is—what will we handle the opponent with, what will we use. It's important not to scatter everything at once. Knocking out—blocking (removing from the battle via locks)—it's important to target specifically the enemy's main stacks (those that will deal the most damage). It's better to act in accordance with the game plan; don't jump from one extreme to another: started hitting dogs, didn't finish them—jumped to hit horses and so on, while meanwhile the dogs blocked an important stack. Oh, by the way, planning your own leveling throughout the game should be based on two things: 1) battles with neutrals (so that clearing is effective) 2) battle with the enemy. Don't rush into one of the extremes. But leveling is a separate topic. In general, that's about everything I wanted to say for now. A bit later there will be a post about leveling and I'll go through all the races individually.
Basically, the idea is this: to express what playing Heroes (practically any series) is all about in general and how, accordingly, one can learn to play it. Even if this seems silly..
So, as many have realized upon their first foray into Heroes, the game is divided into two roughly equal aspects: the strategic part and the tactical part. Accordingly, to learn to play Well (meaning winning more than 50% of played matches), you need to understand and master both parts.
0) To start, you need to choose a game plan and then try to implement it—what does the game plan depend on? a) your race and your opponent's b) the map or template (whether a long game is expected or if it will be relatively fast).
In principle, the combination of these two parameters provides the necessary game plan in 99% of cases, but it is important to learn how to choose it correctly.
A simple example: Our thoughts: "Okay—the opponent is a dwarf, I am Inferno, the map is small; most likely if I push forward and don't overthink it, I'll reach the opponent around the beginning or middle of the third week—meaning the GAME PLAN is RUSH (i.e., a fast attack while the opponent doesn't have the strength to fight back)," "or the map is huge, the opponent is Dungeon, I am an Elf—meaning the game plan is to eat up as much as possible and not throw away units in late-game combat (an elf kills a warlock without a chance), it's better to level up GG Wingael, because that's the remedy for the warlock's tricks," and so on. Of course, you can't describe every possible scenario immediately, but the general principle is clear:
Knowing the characteristics of the races and having a rough idea of the map (in the case of a fix-map, knowing it by heart), you can easily come up with a game plan for yourself.
In principle, 3 options are possible here: 1) a fast attack on one of the opponents (meaning either you have a rush setup or the opponent does) 2) mid-game (for example, when the setup isn't particularly rushy, it's not profitable for opponents to run quickly, but dragging it out isn't wise either, especially when we clearly suspect that one of the opponents has much more favorable chances in the late game) 3) when a long game is planned (meaning opponents won't be in any particular hurry to fight—in the late game, everything will be decided by leveling, found items, and the opponent's mistakes).
1) Strategy: this includes everything your heroes do, the construction of your castles, scouting, and game planning. Accordingly, it is necessary and important to learn to understand what each hero should do and how, so that they all act together as effectively as possible. It is important to remember a few key things here: A) If you have planned a one-hero game (meaning only one GG—main hero—is being leveled), then he must under no circumstances eat resources or engage in any side nonsense... his goal is to get as much experience as possible in the shortest possible time—this means you need to balance his leveling with the map and try to move across it, choosing a route that allows the GG to level up maximally). For example: we have a situation where we know there are many strong monsters further down the road and we can break through them; it's not worth getting distracted by fighting a weak monster for a couple of chests or a minor artifact, unless it is, of course, needed for the GG as magic buffs or boots of speed). B) If there will be several heroes who split the army and try to clear many spots on the map—then you should try to choose heroes so that they can break through on their own without losing too many troops— C) It's very good to have 8 heroes if money allows—because 8 heroes provide the ability to carry troops, collect resources, visit various remote objects on the map, venture into the dark with scouts, and so on.
A few techniques: it is very good to constantly keep one hero with the GG who will eat whatever the GG has cleared. Also, if necessary, he can be a "pocket" for the GG (for example, when you need to fight large monsters, it's useful to take part of the army from the GG) or a cockroach (a hero performing auxiliary functions) can check who is in the portal—so as not to run into mages, for instance. Also, try to build something like a chain from the castle to the places where the GG is roaming, so that you can deliver an army at the beginning of the week, or in case of danger, retreat to the castle (give the army to a side hero, while the GG attacks neutrals and, upon escaping, buys them back at the castle).
Regarding playing with multiple heroes: usually, a second or third hero is leveled when there is an opportunity for them to fight significantly (for example, as a mage or warlock) without losing troops (for instance, Nura with machines is very good—the tent heals, Nura deals). Necromancers are very good in this case: thanks to raising troops, they can sustain themselves, and the heroes are strong. In most cases, such a second or third hero handles clearing territory or those places where it's not profitable for the GG to go. Or if you manage to enter enemy territory—pressure them, take their mines, kill cockroaches, distract their heroes. To the point that if the enemy chose the wrong tactic, it forces the enemy GG to get distracted.
To summarize—the strategic part is the part of the game that determines the game overall. It is very important to learn to play strategically, rather than "well, I'll just run and we'll see." I think I'll write examples later and expand on the game even more.
2) Tactical part of the game: THIS IS COMBAT and everything associated with it (naturally, it affects and very strongly affects strategy, but still, it is a different part). The principle here is one—losses should be 0. Meaning ABSOLUTELY 0. Or at least that's what you should strive for. It helps a lot to use the editor to create heroes, place neutrals, and fight, fight, fight. You must learn to break through various neutrals by strength and learn to understand what leveling is needed for this, which spells or troops. Specifically, the ability to conduct battles against neutrals well strongly distinguishes a good player from a mediocre one. Because a good player knows exactly when and how they are capable of passing and which neutral.
It also helps very much if you ask a good player to record battles and then watch them.
Main techniques:
Separating ones (this should be done in almost every battle—even with shooters, even if they are shield ones) because they allow you to 1) block neutrals, absorb the counter-attack, run up and block shooters for a while. Neutrals will have to be distracted by them to reach the main stacks.
Leveling into skills that allow minimizing losses—for example, tactics + dogs give us the ability to separate ones of dogs and close off enemy neutrals. Again, tactics give us the ability to cover centaurs from an enemy strike at the start of the battle (we also include machines with their tent here, or defense with evasion).
Leveling into magic that allows killing neutrals while practically losing no troops—regen, resurrection, or dark magic; summoning is very good. This is harder because you'll have to build a tower, but it's better not to lose too many units on neutrals for 5 days and then pass them without losses than to crash immediately and spend the whole game struggling.
It also doesn't hurt to learn right away how to distinguish neutrals that the hero can currently kill without losses from those who can beat you up badly (the latter usually include all mages and very fast heavy troops like dragons). But this is only available after a large number of battles. As I wrote—editor and battles, battles are our way, or simply playing against players with your own skin in the game, sketching out a battle scheme for yourself.
Useful tricks: Wyverns give a lot when built; for example, I personally, as a level 1 hero thanks to wait, killed 74 shooters (alt-grade crossbowmen) with 3 non-upgraded wyverns—it's done like this: Fly forward to the shooters—stand so that you block 2 stacks and simply wait. Shooters just deal less damage and don't have time to kill our wyverns.
Bears with the energy rune allow passing almost all mages. In combination with soldier's luck, they work wonders. It's done like this: split into 2 stacks and move with a paw. It is important, however, to take all thick stacks into battle besides the bears, so that the mages get scared and stand in 1-2 stacks rather than 4.
Crossbowmen are very good with their ability that allows hitting melee neutrals by luring them with ones.
Upgraded griffins, because of their jump, also sometimes allow passing mages almost without losses. It's done like this—take 6 ones of peasants into battle so that the mages spend a turn on them instead of waiting—fly with a stack of griffins. Even if the griffins land unsuccessfully a couple of times, we have the ability to pass a very nasty passage, for example with 60 archmages, losing only about 10-15 griffins.
Dungeon has hydras (we constantly wait with them) which, in combination with the hero's powerful strike magic, allow passing many neutral mages without losses as well.
The elf has tricks with logs and flies; light magic is also very good. For example, horns with regen (because of their aura, if you also level up resistance from luck) allow significantly reducing losses in battles with mages
And so on). Venture out, search, and you will find your own techniques for successful battles with neutrals. It's very useful to chat with game aces even just on ICQ, for which of course you need to reach out to them; most good players are very loyal to requests to tell about the game and share mastery techniques.
And now what was basically expected by everyone: battle with an opponent. There is a huge sea of everything here. But there aren't many principles that, if followed, allow one to effectively oppose an opponent in combat:
1) Make a plan for the battle (unfortunately, this is impossible without combat experience, so try to play as much as possible things like "Bandit Arena" or "Bandit Tactical Map" (unfortunately, duels, due to their wild detachment from real games, do not provide the opportunity to fully emulate a battle, so they should be viewed as entertainment or a separate type of game). That is—what will we handle the opponent with, what will we use. It's important not to scatter everything at once. Knocking out—blocking (removing from the battle via locks)—it's important to target specifically the enemy's main stacks (those that will deal the most damage). It's better to act in accordance with the game plan; don't jump from one extreme to another: started hitting dogs, didn't finish them—jumped to hit horses and so on, while meanwhile the dogs blocked an important stack. Oh, by the way, planning your own leveling throughout the game should be based on two things: 1) battles with neutrals (so that clearing is effective) 2) battle with the enemy. Don't rush into one of the extremes. But leveling is a separate topic. In general, that's about everything I wanted to say for now. A bit later there will be a post about leveling and I'll go through all the races individually.
