Counter-heroes in duel mode (3.1).

So, we continue our broadcast... :) Last time I described two not-so-interesting battles - now I'm making up for it by covering battles that are far more interesting and tactically complex.

Yes, and now, to confirm the tactics I've described, I am posting replays of real battles I played on ubi.com.

(All replays are named in the format Xxxx-Yyyy - where Xxxx is the name of the hero I am playing, and Yyyy is my opponent)

11) Orson vs. Ravenna

I fought this battle against allbolabris - one of the strongest Western players on the duel server (the amount of WP he has earned is close to 6000).

A confrontation between two undead armies is no easy task, as Necromancers are rightfully considered some of the most dangerous duel heroes. Suffice it to say that I lost a similar battle in the past due to poor tactics :) .

Initially, setting aside player skill, the chances of winning for Ravenna and Orson are equal. The former has a larger mana pool (150) and powerful magic (+ expert wizardry allows her to cast more often), the latter has a huge army of skeletons and zombies.

When positioning troops, it is better for Orson to split the lich squad into two equal stacks and place them at opposite ends of the battlefield. Our army is quite slow, so I don't recommend rushing forward with, for example, ghosts or dragons. It is much more reasonable to slowly move all units as a single wall, without letting anyone run ahead. This will allow for a crushing response to any move by the opponent.

With the hero, we cast mines in front of the presumed location of the units, thereby immobilizing the enemy troops (mostly due to uncertainty - since the opponent doesn't know exactly where we placed them).

Obviously, it is impossible to reach the enemy in one turn. Therefore, we repeat the procedure described above, trying to get closer to Ravenna's liches. The latter will most likely cast debuffs on our troops. These can be ignored.

With your own liches, it's best to cast weakness once on the opponent's liches or vampires, and then methodically shoot the latter down.

So, the battle has begun. The most important thing here is to set the priorities correctly. Keep the dragons away from the opponent's melee fighters so that they can later be used to block the liches. Use the ghosts in the same way.

The hero can attack the dragons with direct attacks - his mana will still be useful at the end of the battle.

Our main strike forces - skeletons and zombies - must engage Ravenna's dragons, vampires, and skeletons in combat. Our undead will most likely serve as fodder for Ravenna's attack spells. Therefore, don't spare them too much and use the special ability to destroy the dragons. It is also desirable to kill the enemy ghosts.

Then, simply eliminate the enemy troops slowly and keep an eye on the number of skeletons. As soon as their number approaches a hundred, resurrect bone warriors with your liches.

One would think that's all... but not in this battle. As soon as Ravenna has almost no troops left, she usually abruptly changes tactics: specifically, she resurrects ghosts, and, by running away from your not-so-fast units, continues to crush them with her spells. Fortunately, her mana allows this.

The key here is to act in coordination. Move your troops so as to surround the maneuvering ghosts while simultaneously avoiding becoming victims of Ravenna's mass spells. In general, move them so that on the next turn, one or two stacks are guaranteed to reach the ghosts, wherever they may be.

With Orson, you can now cast haste on all, and then again use only direct attacks.

Two outcomes are possible after this:

a) Your fighters were lucky and they finally killed the ghosts. Congratulations - you have won!

b) You are pursued by terrible bad luck and regular misses against those vile incorporeal creatures. In this case, keep trying, continuing to save your troops and not exposing them to mass spells + try to kill the ghosts with direct attacks, waiting until Ravenna runs out of mana.

That is most likely what will happen, because Orson often has quite a few zombies left - underestimated by the opponent, but very tanky and capable of soaking up a lot of damage from spells.

As soon as the opponent's mana is gone, use resurrection and raise your own ghosts and/or dragons/liches. From there, numerical superiority should bring you victory.

By playing this tactic, you will achieve success in the absolute majority of cases, and you will have plenty of opportunities, as such games happen quite often in random play.

In fact, I have many more tactics I would like to describe and replays to illustrate them, but I looked at the "bedsheet" I've created and was horrified. :) Therefore, I'll take a break for now, and next time I'll try to keep it to a more modest size. :)

P.S. I would like to hear some feedback on the described tactics =) . So far, only Mr. chudo_ud0 has responded.

To be continued...