All castles in Heroes 3.

Regarding the Barbarians: 1. Birds in the first week are a quite formidable force. 2. In the second week, creatures with a Castle MUST be present. On most maps. Ancient creatures are an excellent unit, especially in field battles. In battles in the Conservatory, and especially in Utopia, the creatures are very effective. And, as recent trends show, it is precisely the Hive, Conservatory, and especially Utopia that are the key to victory on large and very large maps. Regarding Necropolis. Yes, vampires are strong. Yes, Death Knights are strong. And skeletons in large numbers are strong. And the "Raise Dead" spell is very powerful. And the heroes are good. Moreover, there is a large selection of good heroes. These include Isra, Vidomina, and Tant. Tamika and Vokial are also quite capable. However, at the moment, it seems to me (and not only me) that Galtran is the strongest hero of the Necropolis. And also, many races are strong; I can immediately list the obvious advantages of each Castle (Barbarians, Necropolis - see above; Tower - "rush with Gremlins," Nagas, magic, fast construction of Giants, Leprechaun's gardens; Elves - Elves, Dryads, magic, Centaurs; Swamp - fast construction of Wyverns, Tazar, Bron, upgraded Gorgons; Inferno - Pit Lords, Devils, transition from Castle to Castle; Castle - Angels, free upgrade of Knights; Conflux - Phoenixes, magic, upgraded Fairies, Storm Elementals; Black Dragons - Shakti, Black Dragons, Minotaurs, magic), but it all depends on the specific map!