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BASICS
With a fully built town and all upgrades, you receive 2650 HP per week, which is more than in any other town. For this, you will pay 26620 gold + 4 Crystals, so on average, 1 HP costs 10.05 gold, which is cheaper than anywhere else. To build and upgrade all dwellings, including the Fort, Tavern, and Capitol, you need 90500 gold (this is neither much nor little, averaging between the Dungeon and Tower), but you need 65 Crystals, more than other precious resources, while Wood and Ore consumption is also average. To fully build the town, with all additional structures, you need 106000 gold (also an average figure). Of all resources, Crystals require the highest expenditure - 95, which is the highest indicator for a primary resource among all towns. HEROES Your heroes are the Ranger (strength) and Druid (magic). Both types of heroes are typical for their class. A level 19 Ranger looks like 7 10 3 4, and a Druid - 3 5 7 8 (without artifacts and visiting map objects). The Ranger has no skill that must necessarily be present upon hire, while Druids always have Wisdom. Rangers rarely obtain Air Magic, Eagle Eye, own Logistics, Scholar, Sorcery, or Water Magic (the latter is still more frequent than Air Magic). There are high chances to learn Ballistics, Diplomacy, Earth Magic, First Aid, Training, Mysticism, Navigation, and Wisdom, with Resistance being the most likely. Druids reluctantly study Air Magic, Artillery, Fire Magic, Leadership, Navigation, Offense, Resistance, Pathfinding, and Tactics, while there are high chances to get Armorer, Ballistics, Diplomacy, Earth Magic, Logistics, Training, and Water Magic. The most likely skill is Luck. Remember that both types of heroes are the first candidates for learning Archery and Logistics (as well as Luck and Pathfinder). Usually, a Ranger from the magic schools has only Earth Magic, while a Druid most often has Earth and Water. It follows that even a well-developed Ranger is a stranger in the world of magic. This is somewhat compensated by the fact that every Ranger is capable of learning Resistance, and the forest creatures they control have special abilities that enhance your magic resistance. The above is also true for Druids, as they are far from the strongest wizards among magic-oriented heroes. Resistance is a necessary skill for any hero, but in combination with the special abilities of Dwarves, Unicorns, and Dragons, its value is even more significant. Druids study Resistance less frequently (the probability is lower than for Artillery, Fire Magic, Tactics, and Offense), however, Rangers usually either have it upon hire or learn it later. In general, it should be noted that Druids upon hire and development usually do not have the most necessary skills. The situation is different with Rangers. Ivor has Archery and Offense upon hire, and his specialty is Elves. Enova brings you a daily income of 350 gold. Kirri comes with Archery and Logistics skills, which he also has as a special ability. Mephala has Leadership and Armorer, and also specializes as an armorer, so when developed to level 12, she reduces damage dealt to her troops in melee by 24%. Riland has Leadership and Diplomacy upon hire (note that wandering monsters of various types will join him more often, and at the same time he will maintain their morale), and his specialty - Dendroids - allows your slowest unit to move faster. Thorgrim has Resistance at an advanced level and this same specialty, so if he is developed to a high level, he may prove quite invulnerable to enemy magic. Clancy and Ufretin are not as good as those mentioned above, but Ufretin's specialty - Dwarves - can be useful in the early stages of the game, as his Dwarves' speed will be higher. However, there is one more advantage Rangers have over Druids. One of the key skills - Tactics - is rarely found in a Druid, while Rangers receive it much more often. Tactics allows you to properly position your troops before the start of battle, protect Elves, or reduce the distance to the enemy so as to bring Dendroids into combat as early as possible. However, if you have no Ranger at your disposal at the start, you will have to choose a Druid as your main hero. This can have far-reaching consequences. It is unlikely that you will manage to learn Resistance and Tactics; moreover, your hero will not reach a high level of Attack and Defense. On the other hand, Druids are stronger in magic and have higher Knowledge stats (Elleshar is a good choice). Having a Druid as your main hero, you must build all 5 levels of the Mages' Guild before upgrading the Dragon Roosts! Keep in mind that if you have the Resurrection spell, it makes sense not to rush the upgrade of the Roosts (Resurrection works on Green Dragons, but not on Gold ones!), or to do it later, much later, when you have built the entire Mages' Guild and accumulated enough Crystals for the upgrade. Such a delay will save you a lot of money and resources; moreover, you can cast Resurrection, Prayer, and Clone on Green Dragons! Unfortunately, they are vulnerable to Berserk and Armageddon, so keep the situation under control and beware of heroes from Inferno (they tend toward expert-level Fire Magic). Since Druids have greater magic power than Rangers, the destructive effect of their spells will be stronger, allowing them to deal more damage to the opponent and, as a result, suffer fewer losses themselves. Everyone knows how important it is to increase a hero's primary skills. Another important thing: until you have the advanced Town Portal spell, you need to have AT LEAST TWO GOOD HEROES. One for exploration and capturing objects, another for defending the starting town. One of the problems when playing on impossible level is that you cannot afford to take experience from found treasure chests in the first week, as you need gold. This leaves your hero without secondary skills and without growth in primary ones. Therefore, you must use every opportunity to train the hero. FIGHT ALL WANDERING MONSTERS that you can defeat, even for 100 - 200 experience points. Visit every object. Capture any mine encountered on the way, even at the cost of most of your meager army (especially the Crystal Cave). This will pay off. Take every artifact, but only if it is free of charge, that is, for nothing. SPELLS You can fully build the Mages' Guild, but if your main hero is a Ranger, high-level combat magic is not the priority for you. Since you need many Crystals to build dwellings, you will have difficulties erecting the 4th and 5th levels of the Guild. The Forest Mages' Guild cannot have Bloodlust, Curse, Necro-spells, Armageddon, Sacrifice, or Summon Air and Fire Elementals. In principle, this is not so bad, since you do not study Fire Magic anyway. For a number of reasons, first-level Earth spells and mass Water spells are the most important for you. Four 4th-level spells are especially good: Town Portal, Resurrection, Prayer, and Clone. If at least two of them are at your disposal - that is good. In some cases, with an expert in Water Magic, Mass Bless is useful. Shown below is how much on average Mass Bless increases damage dealt by your upgraded creatures (amount produced per week, against a monster with attack and defense 10). The first number is the average damage without Bless, in parentheses - with Bless and the percentage improvement. 1. Centaur Captains 63 (100; 58.7%) 2. Combat Dwarves 55 (92; 67.3%) 3. Grand Elves 109 (163; 50%) 4. Silver Pegasi 68 (97; 42.6) 5. Dendroid Soldiers 93 (117; 25%) 6. Combat Unicorns 100 (115; 15%) On average, the increase in damage dealt is 35%, which is quite good, especially considering that for lower-level creatures (including Elves), this indicator is even higher. CREATURES Below is a list of all creatures from the Forest outpost compared with creatures of similar levels from other towns (excluding Conflux), with three indicators: X/Y/Z, where X is the absolute strength of this monster compared to others (1-strongest, 8-weakest); Y is its cost (1-most expensive, 8-cheapest); Z is the price/quality ratio, where 1 is the best ratio and 8 is the worst. 1. Centaur 1/1/3 2. Centaur Captain 1/1/2 3. Dwarf 1/4/1 4. Combat Dwarf 5/4-5/2 5. Wood Elf 6/3-6/6 6. Grand Elf 3/6/4 7. Pegasus 3/7-8/1 8. Silver Pegasus 4/7/1 9. Dendroid Guardian 7/8/2 10. Dendroid Soldier 7/8/5 11. Unicorn 5/5-6/2 12. Combat Unicorn 5/8/2 13. Green Dragon 4/4/3 14. Gold Dragon 3/4-5/2 When determining the relative cost of Dragons, only Gold was taken into account (without Crystals). From this table, it is evident that although forest dwellers are not the strongest warriors, in terms of price/quality ratio they are very successful, and this is a strategically advantageous factor. Centaurs/Centaur Captains The best among first-level creatures. Even a simple Centaur is better than all, even upgraded, 1st-level creatures (except Halberdiers), and a Centaur Captain is as strong as most non-upgraded 2nd-level creatures (and even stronger than the Archer, Lizardman, and Undead). Thus, their relatively high cost is fully justified. Upgrading the Centaur Dwelling costs 1000 gold and 5 Wood. Since the costs are relatively low, you can upgrade quite early. Centaur Captains have decent speed (8) and deal a fair amount of damage, making their use appropriate even in later stages of the game. In large numbers, they are capable of destroying enemy lower-level creatures on their own, and can also attack stronger monsters when the latter no longer have a counterattack. Dwarves/Combat Dwarves Tough creatures with a high HP indicator, which combined with 20% - 40% magic resistance provides them with a solid durability reserve. With a Miners' Guild in town, the weekly growth of Dwarves is 20, which is 400 HP. In large numbers, Dwarves are not very dangerous in melee, but because of their resistance, they are simply indispensable in ramming attacks to absorb enemy counterattacks. On the other hand, neither Dwarves nor Combat Dwarves play an important role in the early stages of the game, as they are slow and will reduce the hero's ability to move across the terrain. Therefore, leave all Dwarves that appear with hired heroes in the town. Upgrade them after Centaurs and buy only Combat Dwarves. Note how resistant Dwarves actually are. Suppose 60 Dwarves led by a Ranger encounter 54 Wolf Riders led by a Battle Mage. Differences between hero Attack/Defense are reduced to zero. Wolves are faster, so they wait for the Dwarves' turn and attack. With the first strike, they deal 162-216 damage and kill an average of 9 Dwarves. 51 Dwarves survive, and with an Attack/Defense difference of +2, they counterattack with a force of 112-224, destroying an average of 16 Wolves. The remaining Wolves deal a second strike of 114-152 damage, killing another 7 Dwarves. Result: after the first round, 44 Dwarves and 38 Wolves remain alive, which is not very good for the latter. Using Dwarves as Let's show this with an example: 90 Combat Gnomes attack 14 Monarch Wyverns. The Attack/Defense ratio is -7, and considering that the Beastmaster's defense is usually higher than the Ranger's attack, this ratio can reach as low as -10. In this case, 90 Combat Gnomes will deal 135-270 damage, killing 3 Wyverns, which is not impressive. But since we are using Gnomes to absorb the counterattack, what matters is not how many Wyverns are killed, but how many Gnomes remain alive. The Ranger's defense is usually slightly higher than the Beastmaster's attack, so the Attack/Defense ratio of Wyverns and Gnomes will decrease from +7 to, say, +4. In this scenario, 12 Monarch Wyverns will deal 239-316 damage, killing only 13 Gnomes. As we can see, your losses are also not too great. Due to their defensive resilience, Combat Gnomes are an indispensable screen for your Elves, especially in the early stages of the game. Later on, their sphere of application expands. Elves/Grand Elves Grand Elves are very impressive creatures. Their strength comes from a combination of double shot (making them similar to 4th-level shooters) and high growth (14 per week). Compare the average damage dealt by various shooters in the amount of weekly growth to monsters with defense strengths of 4/12/20: own same as source - Improved Archer - 99/76/58, Fanatic - 92/66/52, Evil Eye - 72/53/42, Queen Medusa - 72/53/42, Lizard Warrior - 42/33/25, Magog - 73/56/43, Powerful Lich - 150/109/86, Master Gremlin - 48/38/28, Archmage - 89/64/51, Titan - 200/160/120, Storm Elemental - 75/55/43, Ice Elemental - 72/54/42. And finally Grand Elves - 140/104/81. With the Sniper skill at expert level, which both types of forest heroes can easily achieve, the figures are even higher - 196/155/121, which is comparable in effectiveness to Titans! So, as long as Grand Elves are shooting, they are very dangerous for the enemy, but as soon as the enemy reaches them in melee, they perish extremely quickly. The damage they deal decreases almost 4 times (the Sniper skill no longer helps), and with only 15 HP, they are dangerously vulnerable even to low-level enemy units. Therefore, it is very important to provide them with maximum protection in battle, shielding them like a wall with your other creatures. Regardless of the difficulty level, you need to build the Manor in the first week and upgrade it on the 8th day (this is for impossible level; on easier levels, this can be done sooner). Then you buy all the Grand Elves, form 2 or 3 stacks of Centaurs to protect them, and set off to capture mines. Later, your tactics will depend on how well the Elves handle enemy shooters, so they are certainly among your most valuable creatures. Pegasi/Silver Pegasi One of the most unusual monsters in the game. Firstly, their growth is 10 per week, unlike the usual 8 for this level. The price difference between them is small. Since you cannot get Unicorns and Dragons in the city without building the Enchanted Spring, you need to invest 10 Crystals into it as early as the second week, but it will be difficult to find another 5 for the upgrade, as Crystals are needed for constructing the Magic Guild and Dragon Crags. If there is still an opportunity to upgrade, it's better to postpone the construction of Dragon Crags for a whole week. It is worth it. But even simple Pegasi are a good addition to your army, so they should be hired immediately after building the Enchanted Spring. Their special abilities are very useful, especially in a clash with a Might hero who has a low Knowledge level, as they force the enemy hero to spend 2 more mana points when casting a spell. This is not as relevant in the late stages of the game, but in the mid-game it can play an important role, as even simple, low-level spells cost the enemy quite dearly. In addition to everything, Pegasi and Silver Pegasi are fast creatures; they can be used as flying cavalry to destroy low-level creatures or can protect Elves by blocking 2 cells. When they accumulate in sufficient numbers, they can threaten any monsters, and their relatively low HP level (30) is not so terrible, so the use of Pegasi in your army is quite diverse. Guardian Treants/Soldier Treants With Branching Trees in the city (which increase Treant growth), they are born 8 per week, which amounts to 520 HP. This figure is very high and is surpassed only by the weekly HP production of Ancient Behemoths, Black Dragons, Titans, and Firebirds/Phoenixes. Even on impossible level, you have a good chance of building Treant Arbors in the first week, so it's possible that your stack of Treants will have the highest HP value in the entire area. Unfortunately, it will likely also be the slowest stack. Since constructing and upgrading Arbors requires only Gold and no resources, it makes sense to build them quite early. Because Guardian Treants are even slower than Soldier Treants, and you need to erect more important buildings than upgrade Arbors, it is advisable to leave Treants in the city at first. They slow down your hero's movement across the map too much. Later, you will need a lot of HP. The best role for Treants is to serve as a screen for Elves, but without the Tactics skill, they might not manage to do this in time. In any case, whether the enemy moves toward you or you actively attack, your goal is to bring the Treants into battle as quickly as possible. They have relatively low Attack, but this is compensated by their number. Their special ability - to root any attacked creature in place - is very useful. With roughly equal hero strengths, it's unlikely that the enemy will be able to deal with Treants using a single stack; they will have to bring others here, leaving other parts of the front unprotected. Severe damage can be dealt to them by Ancient Behemoths and Archangels, as described below. Starting from the seventh week, you may have 46 Soldier Treants in your army. You might have to face 9 Archangels or 11 Ancient Behemoths. So, 9 Archangels attack your 46 Treants. The Attack/Defense difference is 18, it could be less - 16 when meeting a Knight and 12 against a Cleric, due to the Ranger's high defense level. Therefore, the Knight's Archangels will deal 810 damage, and the Cleric's - 720, destroying 11-12 Treants with the first attack, which is a quarter of their total number. The Ancient Behemoths' attack reduces the enemy's defense, so the Attack/Defense difference will be +24 or thereabouts. 11 Ancient Behemoths will deal 726-1210 damage, killing 11-18 Treants. A word about magic. Fireball is cool, isn't it? You might meet an enemy with Might 15, expert Earth Magic, expert Sorcery, and the Fireball spell. If he tries to use it on Treants (and it can be reflected), he will deal 1638 damage, destroying 25 Soldier Treants, but 20 will still remain! When Treants participate in battle, remember the following: they are capable of holding all attacked enemies in place. The primary candidates for this are high-speed high-level creatures like Dragons, Angels, Devils, Efreets, and even Thunderbirds and Phoenixes. It is especially useful to root Champions (depriving them of their tournament bonus). Root Supergorgons so they cannot use their abilities on your 7th-level creatures. All those who do not encounter a counterattack (Vampires, Nagas, etc.) can also be successfully attacked by Treants. Multi-headed Hydras should also be included in the list of potential targets for Treants. Once attacked by them, they are practically out of action until the Treants retreat or die. Therefore, the choice of target for Treants must be very well thought out. Unicorns/Combat Unicorns Since ordinary Unicorns have the same unique features as Combat ones, it would not be a mistake to hire simple Unicorns if an upgrade is impossible. You need them. This unit is average: 90 HP, average attack and defense, average speed, average price. Not the strongest, but not weak either. However, special features make them better. A 20% chance to blind the enemy upon attack means a 20% chance of not receiving a counterattack; furthermore, a blinded unit is out of action for 3 rounds. The second property - a 20% chance to reflect enemy magic for your nearby creatures, which is added on top of the hero's existing Resistance and the Gnomes' own resistance. The upgrade adds 2 speed and 20 HP to Unicorns, and the price increases insignificantly, so the upgrade is useful. Unicorns and Combat Unicorns deal serious damage to the enemy, so do not hesitate to attack with them; moreover, this can lead to blinding an enemy stack. However, keep in mind that the Unicorns' special ability does not work on some monsters (specifically, all types of undead). If you position your troops near Unicorns (for magic protection), beware of those monsters in the enemy army that can perform multi-headed attacks (Hydras, Cerberi, Magic Elementals). Additionally, the attack of these creatures meets no counterattack. Green Dragons/Gold Dragons Upgrading Green Dragons to Gold is the second most effective upgrade in the game (the first being the upgrade from Giants to Titans). It is not recommended to buy and fight with Green Dragons. Of course, Green Dragons are not the worst fighters, but Gold ones are more than twice as effective, so do not delay the upgrade. Dragons can hold their own and can effectively attack any monsters except Supergorgons (the latter's deadly gaze can kill even the strongest creatures - see article(Fortress). But this, of course, does not mean that they can fight other creatures on their own without backup. The support of Dragons and their coordination with other forest creatures are described in the section dedicated to combat tactics. CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT As before, advice is given relative to large and huge maps on very hard and impossible difficulty levels. When playing on impossible, you have neither money nor resources at the start (except for cases where you receive a bonus). Therefore, to build something on the first day, you must immediately move your hero to collect money and resources. If you find a treasure chest, take gold rather than experience. When you discover a Crystal Cave, Sawmill, or Mine, capture them immediately if there is even the slightest chance. You need Crystals, Wood in the early game, Ore, and Crystals once again! On very hard (but not impossible) level, you should hire another hero and equip him with a Spellbook (if he doesn't have one). Try to find and capture a second Crystal Cave as soon as possible. If you start with two towns, focus all your attention on one of them. Build the Town Hall (Prefecture) in the second town as quickly as possible, but then ignore it until you have enough Wood. Then build a Mages' Guild, Market, Blacksmith, and City Hall (Municipality) there. Further development of the second town can begin once you have managed to capture the first enemy town, but in this case, it is important to decide if it isn't better to upgrade the captured one, as there are usually already many buildings there and they are quite advanced. First week 1. Tower of Magic (buy a Book for the Ranger) 2. Town Hall 3. Market 4. Blacksmith 5. City Hall 6. Manor 7. Citadel/Treant Arches/Enchanted Brook/Dwarf Cottage In principle, it is not very important whether there is already a built Cottage at the start of the scenario or not, as this building stands alone and is not a prerequisite for constructing any other dwelling. The first 6 buildings will cost you 12500 gold, 25 Wood, and 5 Ore. On impossible, you probably won't be able to build every day; it is also possible that the construction order will change depending on the availability of money and a particular resource. However, in any case, it is necessary to build the Manor during the first week. To upgrade the Manor, you need 10 Wood, so building the Cottage can wait. By building the Citadel, you increase the growth of Elves and take an important step toward constructing the Capitol. If you have 10 Crystals available, build the Enchanted Brook rather than the Treant Arches, as Pegasi are mobile given sufficient strength, while Treants will significantly slow down your hero's movement. On most maps, it makes sense to acquire a second hero, especially if he is one of the 6 Rangers or has the +350 gold per day ability. Second week 1. Manor Upgrade This is mandatory. Hire all Grand Elves plus, if possible, several Pegasi, equip your most advanced Ranger with them and set out to capture mines. Pegasi and Centaurs will cover the Elves in battle. If you have the Tactics skill, two covering stacks will be quite sufficient. If you don't have Tactics and the speed of enemy monsters is 7 or higher, three such stacks are necessary. Divide the Elves into 2 stacks, one of which contains only 1 unit, and place them at the edges of the battlefield. In a battle with shooting monsters, the Elves must be divided into 3 stacks. What you build during the second week depends on resource availability and what was built on the 7th day. The Capitol needs to be built as soon as possible, so constructing the Citadel and Castle is advisable. Sometimes it makes sense not to build for 1-2 days in order to save gold and quickly erect the Capitol. Remember: building the Capitol is same only when you see that you will be able to accumulate resources to build Dragon Rocks by the end of the third week. Otherwise, it is better to create a Unicorn Glade. Next, it is possible to build the Cottage, Treant Arches, and Miners' Guild. Forget about the Treasury, as you have no gold for its construction. Forget about the Mystic Pond, as you cannot spend resources on it now, and the return from it will come very late. Do not make mistakes in construction, otherwise you may never build the Capitol. Third week If you still haven't built the Capitol, build it immediately. Save money if necessary. Once you have the Capitol, you can build the Resource Storehouse. You need it. Build everything described for the second week that you haven't managed to build yet. Build the second level of the Mages' Guild, as it is required for constructing Dragon Rocks. It doesn't matter whether you can build the Rocks immediately after this or not. In general, you will have serious problems with resources for Dragon Rocks, so it may be necessary to exchange your Mercury and Sulfur for Crystals and Ore at the Market. Again, forget about the Treasury. Build it only if your daily income is at least 7000 gold (1 Capitol, 1 City Hall, 1 gold mine). Fourth week Dragon Rocks must definitely be built. The 7th day of the fourth week is the deadline for their construction. It would be great if there is a Hill Fort nearby, as you will upgrade Green Dragons to Gold ones right there and save a lot of money and resources on upgrading the Rocks. This will allow you to continue building new levels of the Mages' Guild. If not, you have a difficult choice—whether to build the Mages' Guild or save funds for the Dragon Rocks upgrade. In any case, you need at least the third level of the Guild, so build it. Further choice depends on the characteristics of your main hero. Is his Spell Power 4 or more? Knowledge 6 or more? Does he have Wisdom at an advanced level? Is there a skill in Earth Magic at least at the advanced level for Resurrection and Town Portal spells to work successfully? Are there any other magic skills, especially in Water Magic, even at expert level? If you answer yes to most of these questions, build the Guild (especially if your main hero is a Druid). If not, why do you need high levels of magic when you are resistant to it yourself? Save funds and buy all emerging creatures so that an accidental epidemic doesn't destroy them. FORCES Consider several simple points. 1. You are strong in Tactics, have expert Water Magic and the Prayer spell (even Druids far from always have Air Magic in their arsenal, and Haste does not play a big role. Without Air Magic at least at advanced level, Haste will give Treants only +3 speed bonus (and soldier-Treants will not have speed 7 on grass), and they can cover the distance to the opponent in one turn only if there is full tactical superiority (you are an expert, and the enemy has no Tactics), but even then your Dwarves will remain far behind, and the enemy hero can cast any spells after you have cast Haste). No problem. Position troops wisely (against Castle and Inferno so that Archangels and Archdevils cannot attack Elves, however, position your cover such that it is also possible to attack), after this, when the turn passes to your Dragons, cast Mass Prayer and first attack those enemy units that possess higher speed, trying to destroy all of them before the turn passes to the opponent. If the battle continues, then in the second round cast Mass Bless and finish off the enemy. 2. If the enemy has no strong shooters and good magic, everything is simple. Let the enemy come closer, shoot with Elves and finish off the rest using your high attack power and casting one or two spells at the right moment. However, it may happen that the enemy has good spells they can use against Elves. Or you have no advantage in Tactics, and the enemy can direct their strong and fast flying units toward them, such as Archangels, Efreet Sultans, Black Dragons, after which the Elves will not be able to shoot and will quickly perish. Additionally, it is dangerous to place cover near Elves in battles with the following towns: Dungeon (extended fire attack of Dragons), Conflux (extended fire attack of Phoenixes), Necropolis (death cloud of Liches), Inferno (ball lightning of Magogs). Moreover, Fortress (Hydras), Inferno (Cerberi) and Conflux (Magic Elementals) can perform multi-headed attacks. The remaining towns—Castle, Stronghold and Tower—have good shooters (at least two types), and their heroes often study Air magic and can cast Mass Haste. Summing up, it should be noted that every advantage of yours has a flip side; strength and weakness are equally inherent to forest troops: 1. Magic resistance. Your great advantage. This quality is fully applicable only to Rangers, and they in turn cannot be strong wizards themselves. Gold dragons are resistant to most enemy negative spells, but they are also immune to all your positive ones. 2. Grand Elves. Truly strong shooters, but they are strong only as a single large stack, and thus they are easy to attack. Protect Grand Elves by all possible means. 3. Attack points. You produce more attack power than in any other town, but 35% of them are so slow that it is difficult to carry out an attack with their help. Summing up the second and third points, note that if Elves are eliminated as a threat, your army loses very serious support and may lose the battle, but while Elves deal significant damage to the enemy, you can fully use the superiority in attack power. If you are fighting against a large army led by a strong hero, it would be a big mistake to divide your troops by attacking with fast units and covering Elves with slow ones. In this case, you must attack with ALL forces, as 35% of your attack points are slow. So, without strong magic support (Prayer), your goal is to keep the Elves untouched and take out enemy shooters. On the other hand, if the enemy has taken out the Elves and you want to approach and attack him, do not rush! Your fast units may not cope without the support of slow and sturdy ones. Thereby you will give the enemy a chance to destroy your monsters one by one. When you have Dragons in your army, keep the following in mind: It is a well-known fact that Dragons can destroy their own troops with fire as well as enemy ones, so be careful when positioning your units. If you have neither Mass Haste nor Mass Prayer, or if the enemy has units faster than your Dragons, you need to position troops wisely before battle. This is relevant even if your hero has Tactics, as the enemy may possess Tactics too. Rule A: place Dragons in the center slot. In this case, they will not burn their own troops if they are immediately attacked. Rule B: during your attack, NEVER place your unit such that there is one unoccupied cell between it and the Dragons. Position them either next to the Dragons or at a distance of at least two cells. Following this rule, you will not always be able to effectively attack the enemy, but there is no alternative: otherwise your unit will be burned by its own Dragons when they counterattack. On the other hand, wisely use the Dragons' ability to perform an extended attack. It is preferable that they do not receive a powerful counterattack from the enemy during this. It is best to attack weak enemy units with Dragons, next to which stronger ones stand within the zone of extended fire attack. When you have Dragons, Mass Slow is very useful, as the enemy's ability to move is reduced and he cannot always move his units out of the extended attack. Gold dragons are immune to all spells except 5th-level spells. This means that you will not be able to cast Prayer, Clone, or Resurrection on them, but then again, Armageddon, Berserk, and Chain Lightning do not affect them. However, the enemy can use Explosion against them. Sacrifice is a useful spell and capable of reviving some killed Gold dragons, but you cannot get it in the Forest Enclave (and no other town except Dungeon, Inferno, and Necropolis). Furthermore, your heroes cannot have Fire Magic skill, so the enemy will be able to use Explosion much more often and effectively to destroy Dragons than you can use Sacrifice to restore them. The essence of this spell is that it is better to sacrifice a large number of creatures with low attack power than a small number of monsters with high attack power. Example: having a hero with Spell Power 6 and no Fire Magic, you need to sacrifice 11 soldier-Treants (715 AP), 20 Pegasi (600 AP), 26 Dwarves (520 AP) or 40 Centaur Captains (400 AP) to revive 3 Gold dragons. Remember that you only need 75 PEASANTS (75 AP!) or 58 Master Gremlins or Imps/Suckers (232 AP) to get the same effect. Interesting observation: the immune properties of Gold dragons allow for high efficiency in using the Magic Mirror spell on them. This, firstly, means that you need to quickly build the Mages' Guild up to the fifth level; secondly, the enemy is unlikely to dare use Explosion against them. On the other hand, your heroes have a number of more successful spells at their disposal than Magic Mirror. Using it makes sense when you have a clear superiority in army strength, your hero is a Ranger, and the enemy hero is strong in magic, while you cannot destroy his army immediately. Then, by applying Magic Mirror, you will protect Gold dragons from enemy magic. On the other hand, in such a situation, it might be better to cast Anti-Magic on Grand Elves. Another interesting spell is Cloning (at the right moment). Despite the fact that you cannot clone Gold dragons, you can do this with Elves, Unicorns and even Treants! A Treant clone can attack and immobilize a second enemy stack, but only if it has already used its attack and counterattack. Two words about Teleportation. The first candidate for this is Treants, and in some cases the effect can be very good. On the other hand, it's better to do this in the middle of the round, as if the enemy has already used a spell, Mass Slow or Mass Bless may prove more useful. If not, then don't do this against fans of Air Magic—Castle, Stronghold and Tower. You cannot allow the enemy to cast Mass Haste with impunity
With a fully built town and all upgrades, you receive 2650 HP per week, which is more than in any other town. For this, you will pay 26620 gold + 4 Crystals, so on average, 1 HP costs 10.05 gold, which is cheaper than anywhere else. To build and upgrade all dwellings, including the Fort, Tavern, and Capitol, you need 90500 gold (this is neither much nor little, averaging between the Dungeon and Tower), but you need 65 Crystals, more than other precious resources, while Wood and Ore consumption is also average. To fully build the town, with all additional structures, you need 106000 gold (also an average figure). Of all resources, Crystals require the highest expenditure - 95, which is the highest indicator for a primary resource among all towns. HEROES Your heroes are the Ranger (strength) and Druid (magic). Both types of heroes are typical for their class. A level 19 Ranger looks like 7 10 3 4, and a Druid - 3 5 7 8 (without artifacts and visiting map objects). The Ranger has no skill that must necessarily be present upon hire, while Druids always have Wisdom. Rangers rarely obtain Air Magic, Eagle Eye, own Logistics, Scholar, Sorcery, or Water Magic (the latter is still more frequent than Air Magic). There are high chances to learn Ballistics, Diplomacy, Earth Magic, First Aid, Training, Mysticism, Navigation, and Wisdom, with Resistance being the most likely. Druids reluctantly study Air Magic, Artillery, Fire Magic, Leadership, Navigation, Offense, Resistance, Pathfinding, and Tactics, while there are high chances to get Armorer, Ballistics, Diplomacy, Earth Magic, Logistics, Training, and Water Magic. The most likely skill is Luck. Remember that both types of heroes are the first candidates for learning Archery and Logistics (as well as Luck and Pathfinder). Usually, a Ranger from the magic schools has only Earth Magic, while a Druid most often has Earth and Water. It follows that even a well-developed Ranger is a stranger in the world of magic. This is somewhat compensated by the fact that every Ranger is capable of learning Resistance, and the forest creatures they control have special abilities that enhance your magic resistance. The above is also true for Druids, as they are far from the strongest wizards among magic-oriented heroes. Resistance is a necessary skill for any hero, but in combination with the special abilities of Dwarves, Unicorns, and Dragons, its value is even more significant. Druids study Resistance less frequently (the probability is lower than for Artillery, Fire Magic, Tactics, and Offense), however, Rangers usually either have it upon hire or learn it later. In general, it should be noted that Druids upon hire and development usually do not have the most necessary skills. The situation is different with Rangers. Ivor has Archery and Offense upon hire, and his specialty is Elves. Enova brings you a daily income of 350 gold. Kirri comes with Archery and Logistics skills, which he also has as a special ability. Mephala has Leadership and Armorer, and also specializes as an armorer, so when developed to level 12, she reduces damage dealt to her troops in melee by 24%. Riland has Leadership and Diplomacy upon hire (note that wandering monsters of various types will join him more often, and at the same time he will maintain their morale), and his specialty - Dendroids - allows your slowest unit to move faster. Thorgrim has Resistance at an advanced level and this same specialty, so if he is developed to a high level, he may prove quite invulnerable to enemy magic. Clancy and Ufretin are not as good as those mentioned above, but Ufretin's specialty - Dwarves - can be useful in the early stages of the game, as his Dwarves' speed will be higher. However, there is one more advantage Rangers have over Druids. One of the key skills - Tactics - is rarely found in a Druid, while Rangers receive it much more often. Tactics allows you to properly position your troops before the start of battle, protect Elves, or reduce the distance to the enemy so as to bring Dendroids into combat as early as possible. However, if you have no Ranger at your disposal at the start, you will have to choose a Druid as your main hero. This can have far-reaching consequences. It is unlikely that you will manage to learn Resistance and Tactics; moreover, your hero will not reach a high level of Attack and Defense. On the other hand, Druids are stronger in magic and have higher Knowledge stats (Elleshar is a good choice). Having a Druid as your main hero, you must build all 5 levels of the Mages' Guild before upgrading the Dragon Roosts! Keep in mind that if you have the Resurrection spell, it makes sense not to rush the upgrade of the Roosts (Resurrection works on Green Dragons, but not on Gold ones!), or to do it later, much later, when you have built the entire Mages' Guild and accumulated enough Crystals for the upgrade. Such a delay will save you a lot of money and resources; moreover, you can cast Resurrection, Prayer, and Clone on Green Dragons! Unfortunately, they are vulnerable to Berserk and Armageddon, so keep the situation under control and beware of heroes from Inferno (they tend toward expert-level Fire Magic). Since Druids have greater magic power than Rangers, the destructive effect of their spells will be stronger, allowing them to deal more damage to the opponent and, as a result, suffer fewer losses themselves. Everyone knows how important it is to increase a hero's primary skills. Another important thing: until you have the advanced Town Portal spell, you need to have AT LEAST TWO GOOD HEROES. One for exploration and capturing objects, another for defending the starting town. One of the problems when playing on impossible level is that you cannot afford to take experience from found treasure chests in the first week, as you need gold. This leaves your hero without secondary skills and without growth in primary ones. Therefore, you must use every opportunity to train the hero. FIGHT ALL WANDERING MONSTERS that you can defeat, even for 100 - 200 experience points. Visit every object. Capture any mine encountered on the way, even at the cost of most of your meager army (especially the Crystal Cave). This will pay off. Take every artifact, but only if it is free of charge, that is, for nothing. SPELLS You can fully build the Mages' Guild, but if your main hero is a Ranger, high-level combat magic is not the priority for you. Since you need many Crystals to build dwellings, you will have difficulties erecting the 4th and 5th levels of the Guild. The Forest Mages' Guild cannot have Bloodlust, Curse, Necro-spells, Armageddon, Sacrifice, or Summon Air and Fire Elementals. In principle, this is not so bad, since you do not study Fire Magic anyway. For a number of reasons, first-level Earth spells and mass Water spells are the most important for you. Four 4th-level spells are especially good: Town Portal, Resurrection, Prayer, and Clone. If at least two of them are at your disposal - that is good. In some cases, with an expert in Water Magic, Mass Bless is useful. Shown below is how much on average Mass Bless increases damage dealt by your upgraded creatures (amount produced per week, against a monster with attack and defense 10). The first number is the average damage without Bless, in parentheses - with Bless and the percentage improvement. 1. Centaur Captains 63 (100; 58.7%) 2. Combat Dwarves 55 (92; 67.3%) 3. Grand Elves 109 (163; 50%) 4. Silver Pegasi 68 (97; 42.6) 5. Dendroid Soldiers 93 (117; 25%) 6. Combat Unicorns 100 (115; 15%) On average, the increase in damage dealt is 35%, which is quite good, especially considering that for lower-level creatures (including Elves), this indicator is even higher. CREATURES Below is a list of all creatures from the Forest outpost compared with creatures of similar levels from other towns (excluding Conflux), with three indicators: X/Y/Z, where X is the absolute strength of this monster compared to others (1-strongest, 8-weakest); Y is its cost (1-most expensive, 8-cheapest); Z is the price/quality ratio, where 1 is the best ratio and 8 is the worst. 1. Centaur 1/1/3 2. Centaur Captain 1/1/2 3. Dwarf 1/4/1 4. Combat Dwarf 5/4-5/2 5. Wood Elf 6/3-6/6 6. Grand Elf 3/6/4 7. Pegasus 3/7-8/1 8. Silver Pegasus 4/7/1 9. Dendroid Guardian 7/8/2 10. Dendroid Soldier 7/8/5 11. Unicorn 5/5-6/2 12. Combat Unicorn 5/8/2 13. Green Dragon 4/4/3 14. Gold Dragon 3/4-5/2 When determining the relative cost of Dragons, only Gold was taken into account (without Crystals). From this table, it is evident that although forest dwellers are not the strongest warriors, in terms of price/quality ratio they are very successful, and this is a strategically advantageous factor. Centaurs/Centaur Captains The best among first-level creatures. Even a simple Centaur is better than all, even upgraded, 1st-level creatures (except Halberdiers), and a Centaur Captain is as strong as most non-upgraded 2nd-level creatures (and even stronger than the Archer, Lizardman, and Undead). Thus, their relatively high cost is fully justified. Upgrading the Centaur Dwelling costs 1000 gold and 5 Wood. Since the costs are relatively low, you can upgrade quite early. Centaur Captains have decent speed (8) and deal a fair amount of damage, making their use appropriate even in later stages of the game. In large numbers, they are capable of destroying enemy lower-level creatures on their own, and can also attack stronger monsters when the latter no longer have a counterattack. Dwarves/Combat Dwarves Tough creatures with a high HP indicator, which combined with 20% - 40% magic resistance provides them with a solid durability reserve. With a Miners' Guild in town, the weekly growth of Dwarves is 20, which is 400 HP. In large numbers, Dwarves are not very dangerous in melee, but because of their resistance, they are simply indispensable in ramming attacks to absorb enemy counterattacks. On the other hand, neither Dwarves nor Combat Dwarves play an important role in the early stages of the game, as they are slow and will reduce the hero's ability to move across the terrain. Therefore, leave all Dwarves that appear with hired heroes in the town. Upgrade them after Centaurs and buy only Combat Dwarves. Note how resistant Dwarves actually are. Suppose 60 Dwarves led by a Ranger encounter 54 Wolf Riders led by a Battle Mage. Differences between hero Attack/Defense are reduced to zero. Wolves are faster, so they wait for the Dwarves' turn and attack. With the first strike, they deal 162-216 damage and kill an average of 9 Dwarves. 51 Dwarves survive, and with an Attack/Defense difference of +2, they counterattack with a force of 112-224, destroying an average of 16 Wolves. The remaining Wolves deal a second strike of 114-152 damage, killing another 7 Dwarves. Result: after the first round, 44 Dwarves and 38 Wolves remain alive, which is not very good for the latter. Using Dwarves as Let's show this with an example: 90 Combat Gnomes attack 14 Monarch Wyverns. The Attack/Defense ratio is -7, and considering that the Beastmaster's defense is usually higher than the Ranger's attack, this ratio can reach as low as -10. In this case, 90 Combat Gnomes will deal 135-270 damage, killing 3 Wyverns, which is not impressive. But since we are using Gnomes to absorb the counterattack, what matters is not how many Wyverns are killed, but how many Gnomes remain alive. The Ranger's defense is usually slightly higher than the Beastmaster's attack, so the Attack/Defense ratio of Wyverns and Gnomes will decrease from +7 to, say, +4. In this scenario, 12 Monarch Wyverns will deal 239-316 damage, killing only 13 Gnomes. As we can see, your losses are also not too great. Due to their defensive resilience, Combat Gnomes are an indispensable screen for your Elves, especially in the early stages of the game. Later on, their sphere of application expands. Elves/Grand Elves Grand Elves are very impressive creatures. Their strength comes from a combination of double shot (making them similar to 4th-level shooters) and high growth (14 per week). Compare the average damage dealt by various shooters in the amount of weekly growth to monsters with defense strengths of 4/12/20: own same as source - Improved Archer - 99/76/58, Fanatic - 92/66/52, Evil Eye - 72/53/42, Queen Medusa - 72/53/42, Lizard Warrior - 42/33/25, Magog - 73/56/43, Powerful Lich - 150/109/86, Master Gremlin - 48/38/28, Archmage - 89/64/51, Titan - 200/160/120, Storm Elemental - 75/55/43, Ice Elemental - 72/54/42. And finally Grand Elves - 140/104/81. With the Sniper skill at expert level, which both types of forest heroes can easily achieve, the figures are even higher - 196/155/121, which is comparable in effectiveness to Titans! So, as long as Grand Elves are shooting, they are very dangerous for the enemy, but as soon as the enemy reaches them in melee, they perish extremely quickly. The damage they deal decreases almost 4 times (the Sniper skill no longer helps), and with only 15 HP, they are dangerously vulnerable even to low-level enemy units. Therefore, it is very important to provide them with maximum protection in battle, shielding them like a wall with your other creatures. Regardless of the difficulty level, you need to build the Manor in the first week and upgrade it on the 8th day (this is for impossible level; on easier levels, this can be done sooner). Then you buy all the Grand Elves, form 2 or 3 stacks of Centaurs to protect them, and set off to capture mines. Later, your tactics will depend on how well the Elves handle enemy shooters, so they are certainly among your most valuable creatures. Pegasi/Silver Pegasi One of the most unusual monsters in the game. Firstly, their growth is 10 per week, unlike the usual 8 for this level. The price difference between them is small. Since you cannot get Unicorns and Dragons in the city without building the Enchanted Spring, you need to invest 10 Crystals into it as early as the second week, but it will be difficult to find another 5 for the upgrade, as Crystals are needed for constructing the Magic Guild and Dragon Crags. If there is still an opportunity to upgrade, it's better to postpone the construction of Dragon Crags for a whole week. It is worth it. But even simple Pegasi are a good addition to your army, so they should be hired immediately after building the Enchanted Spring. Their special abilities are very useful, especially in a clash with a Might hero who has a low Knowledge level, as they force the enemy hero to spend 2 more mana points when casting a spell. This is not as relevant in the late stages of the game, but in the mid-game it can play an important role, as even simple, low-level spells cost the enemy quite dearly. In addition to everything, Pegasi and Silver Pegasi are fast creatures; they can be used as flying cavalry to destroy low-level creatures or can protect Elves by blocking 2 cells. When they accumulate in sufficient numbers, they can threaten any monsters, and their relatively low HP level (30) is not so terrible, so the use of Pegasi in your army is quite diverse. Guardian Treants/Soldier Treants With Branching Trees in the city (which increase Treant growth), they are born 8 per week, which amounts to 520 HP. This figure is very high and is surpassed only by the weekly HP production of Ancient Behemoths, Black Dragons, Titans, and Firebirds/Phoenixes. Even on impossible level, you have a good chance of building Treant Arbors in the first week, so it's possible that your stack of Treants will have the highest HP value in the entire area. Unfortunately, it will likely also be the slowest stack. Since constructing and upgrading Arbors requires only Gold and no resources, it makes sense to build them quite early. Because Guardian Treants are even slower than Soldier Treants, and you need to erect more important buildings than upgrade Arbors, it is advisable to leave Treants in the city at first. They slow down your hero's movement across the map too much. Later, you will need a lot of HP. The best role for Treants is to serve as a screen for Elves, but without the Tactics skill, they might not manage to do this in time. In any case, whether the enemy moves toward you or you actively attack, your goal is to bring the Treants into battle as quickly as possible. They have relatively low Attack, but this is compensated by their number. Their special ability - to root any attacked creature in place - is very useful. With roughly equal hero strengths, it's unlikely that the enemy will be able to deal with Treants using a single stack; they will have to bring others here, leaving other parts of the front unprotected. Severe damage can be dealt to them by Ancient Behemoths and Archangels, as described below. Starting from the seventh week, you may have 46 Soldier Treants in your army. You might have to face 9 Archangels or 11 Ancient Behemoths. So, 9 Archangels attack your 46 Treants. The Attack/Defense difference is 18, it could be less - 16 when meeting a Knight and 12 against a Cleric, due to the Ranger's high defense level. Therefore, the Knight's Archangels will deal 810 damage, and the Cleric's - 720, destroying 11-12 Treants with the first attack, which is a quarter of their total number. The Ancient Behemoths' attack reduces the enemy's defense, so the Attack/Defense difference will be +24 or thereabouts. 11 Ancient Behemoths will deal 726-1210 damage, killing 11-18 Treants. A word about magic. Fireball is cool, isn't it? You might meet an enemy with Might 15, expert Earth Magic, expert Sorcery, and the Fireball spell. If he tries to use it on Treants (and it can be reflected), he will deal 1638 damage, destroying 25 Soldier Treants, but 20 will still remain! When Treants participate in battle, remember the following: they are capable of holding all attacked enemies in place. The primary candidates for this are high-speed high-level creatures like Dragons, Angels, Devils, Efreets, and even Thunderbirds and Phoenixes. It is especially useful to root Champions (depriving them of their tournament bonus). Root Supergorgons so they cannot use their abilities on your 7th-level creatures. All those who do not encounter a counterattack (Vampires, Nagas, etc.) can also be successfully attacked by Treants. Multi-headed Hydras should also be included in the list of potential targets for Treants. Once attacked by them, they are practically out of action until the Treants retreat or die. Therefore, the choice of target for Treants must be very well thought out. Unicorns/Combat Unicorns Since ordinary Unicorns have the same unique features as Combat ones, it would not be a mistake to hire simple Unicorns if an upgrade is impossible. You need them. This unit is average: 90 HP, average attack and defense, average speed, average price. Not the strongest, but not weak either. However, special features make them better. A 20% chance to blind the enemy upon attack means a 20% chance of not receiving a counterattack; furthermore, a blinded unit is out of action for 3 rounds. The second property - a 20% chance to reflect enemy magic for your nearby creatures, which is added on top of the hero's existing Resistance and the Gnomes' own resistance. The upgrade adds 2 speed and 20 HP to Unicorns, and the price increases insignificantly, so the upgrade is useful. Unicorns and Combat Unicorns deal serious damage to the enemy, so do not hesitate to attack with them; moreover, this can lead to blinding an enemy stack. However, keep in mind that the Unicorns' special ability does not work on some monsters (specifically, all types of undead). If you position your troops near Unicorns (for magic protection), beware of those monsters in the enemy army that can perform multi-headed attacks (Hydras, Cerberi, Magic Elementals). Additionally, the attack of these creatures meets no counterattack. Green Dragons/Gold Dragons Upgrading Green Dragons to Gold is the second most effective upgrade in the game (the first being the upgrade from Giants to Titans). It is not recommended to buy and fight with Green Dragons. Of course, Green Dragons are not the worst fighters, but Gold ones are more than twice as effective, so do not delay the upgrade. Dragons can hold their own and can effectively attack any monsters except Supergorgons (the latter's deadly gaze can kill even the strongest creatures - see article(Fortress). But this, of course, does not mean that they can fight other creatures on their own without backup. The support of Dragons and their coordination with other forest creatures are described in the section dedicated to combat tactics. CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT As before, advice is given relative to large and huge maps on very hard and impossible difficulty levels. When playing on impossible, you have neither money nor resources at the start (except for cases where you receive a bonus). Therefore, to build something on the first day, you must immediately move your hero to collect money and resources. If you find a treasure chest, take gold rather than experience. When you discover a Crystal Cave, Sawmill, or Mine, capture them immediately if there is even the slightest chance. You need Crystals, Wood in the early game, Ore, and Crystals once again! On very hard (but not impossible) level, you should hire another hero and equip him with a Spellbook (if he doesn't have one). Try to find and capture a second Crystal Cave as soon as possible. If you start with two towns, focus all your attention on one of them. Build the Town Hall (Prefecture) in the second town as quickly as possible, but then ignore it until you have enough Wood. Then build a Mages' Guild, Market, Blacksmith, and City Hall (Municipality) there. Further development of the second town can begin once you have managed to capture the first enemy town, but in this case, it is important to decide if it isn't better to upgrade the captured one, as there are usually already many buildings there and they are quite advanced. First week 1. Tower of Magic (buy a Book for the Ranger) 2. Town Hall 3. Market 4. Blacksmith 5. City Hall 6. Manor 7. Citadel/Treant Arches/Enchanted Brook/Dwarf Cottage In principle, it is not very important whether there is already a built Cottage at the start of the scenario or not, as this building stands alone and is not a prerequisite for constructing any other dwelling. The first 6 buildings will cost you 12500 gold, 25 Wood, and 5 Ore. On impossible, you probably won't be able to build every day; it is also possible that the construction order will change depending on the availability of money and a particular resource. However, in any case, it is necessary to build the Manor during the first week. To upgrade the Manor, you need 10 Wood, so building the Cottage can wait. By building the Citadel, you increase the growth of Elves and take an important step toward constructing the Capitol. If you have 10 Crystals available, build the Enchanted Brook rather than the Treant Arches, as Pegasi are mobile given sufficient strength, while Treants will significantly slow down your hero's movement. On most maps, it makes sense to acquire a second hero, especially if he is one of the 6 Rangers or has the +350 gold per day ability. Second week 1. Manor Upgrade This is mandatory. Hire all Grand Elves plus, if possible, several Pegasi, equip your most advanced Ranger with them and set out to capture mines. Pegasi and Centaurs will cover the Elves in battle. If you have the Tactics skill, two covering stacks will be quite sufficient. If you don't have Tactics and the speed of enemy monsters is 7 or higher, three such stacks are necessary. Divide the Elves into 2 stacks, one of which contains only 1 unit, and place them at the edges of the battlefield. In a battle with shooting monsters, the Elves must be divided into 3 stacks. What you build during the second week depends on resource availability and what was built on the 7th day. The Capitol needs to be built as soon as possible, so constructing the Citadel and Castle is advisable. Sometimes it makes sense not to build for 1-2 days in order to save gold and quickly erect the Capitol. Remember: building the Capitol is same only when you see that you will be able to accumulate resources to build Dragon Rocks by the end of the third week. Otherwise, it is better to create a Unicorn Glade. Next, it is possible to build the Cottage, Treant Arches, and Miners' Guild. Forget about the Treasury, as you have no gold for its construction. Forget about the Mystic Pond, as you cannot spend resources on it now, and the return from it will come very late. Do not make mistakes in construction, otherwise you may never build the Capitol. Third week If you still haven't built the Capitol, build it immediately. Save money if necessary. Once you have the Capitol, you can build the Resource Storehouse. You need it. Build everything described for the second week that you haven't managed to build yet. Build the second level of the Mages' Guild, as it is required for constructing Dragon Rocks. It doesn't matter whether you can build the Rocks immediately after this or not. In general, you will have serious problems with resources for Dragon Rocks, so it may be necessary to exchange your Mercury and Sulfur for Crystals and Ore at the Market. Again, forget about the Treasury. Build it only if your daily income is at least 7000 gold (1 Capitol, 1 City Hall, 1 gold mine). Fourth week Dragon Rocks must definitely be built. The 7th day of the fourth week is the deadline for their construction. It would be great if there is a Hill Fort nearby, as you will upgrade Green Dragons to Gold ones right there and save a lot of money and resources on upgrading the Rocks. This will allow you to continue building new levels of the Mages' Guild. If not, you have a difficult choice—whether to build the Mages' Guild or save funds for the Dragon Rocks upgrade. In any case, you need at least the third level of the Guild, so build it. Further choice depends on the characteristics of your main hero. Is his Spell Power 4 or more? Knowledge 6 or more? Does he have Wisdom at an advanced level? Is there a skill in Earth Magic at least at the advanced level for Resurrection and Town Portal spells to work successfully? Are there any other magic skills, especially in Water Magic, even at expert level? If you answer yes to most of these questions, build the Guild (especially if your main hero is a Druid). If not, why do you need high levels of magic when you are resistant to it yourself? Save funds and buy all emerging creatures so that an accidental epidemic doesn't destroy them. FORCES Consider several simple points. 1. You are strong in Tactics, have expert Water Magic and the Prayer spell (even Druids far from always have Air Magic in their arsenal, and Haste does not play a big role. Without Air Magic at least at advanced level, Haste will give Treants only +3 speed bonus (and soldier-Treants will not have speed 7 on grass), and they can cover the distance to the opponent in one turn only if there is full tactical superiority (you are an expert, and the enemy has no Tactics), but even then your Dwarves will remain far behind, and the enemy hero can cast any spells after you have cast Haste). No problem. Position troops wisely (against Castle and Inferno so that Archangels and Archdevils cannot attack Elves, however, position your cover such that it is also possible to attack), after this, when the turn passes to your Dragons, cast Mass Prayer and first attack those enemy units that possess higher speed, trying to destroy all of them before the turn passes to the opponent. If the battle continues, then in the second round cast Mass Bless and finish off the enemy. 2. If the enemy has no strong shooters and good magic, everything is simple. Let the enemy come closer, shoot with Elves and finish off the rest using your high attack power and casting one or two spells at the right moment. However, it may happen that the enemy has good spells they can use against Elves. Or you have no advantage in Tactics, and the enemy can direct their strong and fast flying units toward them, such as Archangels, Efreet Sultans, Black Dragons, after which the Elves will not be able to shoot and will quickly perish. Additionally, it is dangerous to place cover near Elves in battles with the following towns: Dungeon (extended fire attack of Dragons), Conflux (extended fire attack of Phoenixes), Necropolis (death cloud of Liches), Inferno (ball lightning of Magogs). Moreover, Fortress (Hydras), Inferno (Cerberi) and Conflux (Magic Elementals) can perform multi-headed attacks. The remaining towns—Castle, Stronghold and Tower—have good shooters (at least two types), and their heroes often study Air magic and can cast Mass Haste. Summing up, it should be noted that every advantage of yours has a flip side; strength and weakness are equally inherent to forest troops: 1. Magic resistance. Your great advantage. This quality is fully applicable only to Rangers, and they in turn cannot be strong wizards themselves. Gold dragons are resistant to most enemy negative spells, but they are also immune to all your positive ones. 2. Grand Elves. Truly strong shooters, but they are strong only as a single large stack, and thus they are easy to attack. Protect Grand Elves by all possible means. 3. Attack points. You produce more attack power than in any other town, but 35% of them are so slow that it is difficult to carry out an attack with their help. Summing up the second and third points, note that if Elves are eliminated as a threat, your army loses very serious support and may lose the battle, but while Elves deal significant damage to the enemy, you can fully use the superiority in attack power. If you are fighting against a large army led by a strong hero, it would be a big mistake to divide your troops by attacking with fast units and covering Elves with slow ones. In this case, you must attack with ALL forces, as 35% of your attack points are slow. So, without strong magic support (Prayer), your goal is to keep the Elves untouched and take out enemy shooters. On the other hand, if the enemy has taken out the Elves and you want to approach and attack him, do not rush! Your fast units may not cope without the support of slow and sturdy ones. Thereby you will give the enemy a chance to destroy your monsters one by one. When you have Dragons in your army, keep the following in mind: It is a well-known fact that Dragons can destroy their own troops with fire as well as enemy ones, so be careful when positioning your units. If you have neither Mass Haste nor Mass Prayer, or if the enemy has units faster than your Dragons, you need to position troops wisely before battle. This is relevant even if your hero has Tactics, as the enemy may possess Tactics too. Rule A: place Dragons in the center slot. In this case, they will not burn their own troops if they are immediately attacked. Rule B: during your attack, NEVER place your unit such that there is one unoccupied cell between it and the Dragons. Position them either next to the Dragons or at a distance of at least two cells. Following this rule, you will not always be able to effectively attack the enemy, but there is no alternative: otherwise your unit will be burned by its own Dragons when they counterattack. On the other hand, wisely use the Dragons' ability to perform an extended attack. It is preferable that they do not receive a powerful counterattack from the enemy during this. It is best to attack weak enemy units with Dragons, next to which stronger ones stand within the zone of extended fire attack. When you have Dragons, Mass Slow is very useful, as the enemy's ability to move is reduced and he cannot always move his units out of the extended attack. Gold dragons are immune to all spells except 5th-level spells. This means that you will not be able to cast Prayer, Clone, or Resurrection on them, but then again, Armageddon, Berserk, and Chain Lightning do not affect them. However, the enemy can use Explosion against them. Sacrifice is a useful spell and capable of reviving some killed Gold dragons, but you cannot get it in the Forest Enclave (and no other town except Dungeon, Inferno, and Necropolis). Furthermore, your heroes cannot have Fire Magic skill, so the enemy will be able to use Explosion much more often and effectively to destroy Dragons than you can use Sacrifice to restore them. The essence of this spell is that it is better to sacrifice a large number of creatures with low attack power than a small number of monsters with high attack power. Example: having a hero with Spell Power 6 and no Fire Magic, you need to sacrifice 11 soldier-Treants (715 AP), 20 Pegasi (600 AP), 26 Dwarves (520 AP) or 40 Centaur Captains (400 AP) to revive 3 Gold dragons. Remember that you only need 75 PEASANTS (75 AP!) or 58 Master Gremlins or Imps/Suckers (232 AP) to get the same effect. Interesting observation: the immune properties of Gold dragons allow for high efficiency in using the Magic Mirror spell on them. This, firstly, means that you need to quickly build the Mages' Guild up to the fifth level; secondly, the enemy is unlikely to dare use Explosion against them. On the other hand, your heroes have a number of more successful spells at their disposal than Magic Mirror. Using it makes sense when you have a clear superiority in army strength, your hero is a Ranger, and the enemy hero is strong in magic, while you cannot destroy his army immediately. Then, by applying Magic Mirror, you will protect Gold dragons from enemy magic. On the other hand, in such a situation, it might be better to cast Anti-Magic on Grand Elves. Another interesting spell is Cloning (at the right moment). Despite the fact that you cannot clone Gold dragons, you can do this with Elves, Unicorns and even Treants! A Treant clone can attack and immobilize a second enemy stack, but only if it has already used its attack and counterattack. Two words about Teleportation. The first candidate for this is Treants, and in some cases the effect can be very good. On the other hand, it's better to do this in the middle of the round, as if the enemy has already used a spell, Mass Slow or Mass Bless may prove more useful. If not, then don't do this against fans of Air Magic—Castle, Stronghold and Tower. You cannot allow the enemy to cast Mass Haste with impunity
