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This material was written specifically for the "Heroes' Herald" magazine, No. 5 (April 2011) - http://www.woggrad.ru/ru/vestnik-heroes.html.
Heroes II: Is there life without Titans?
or
an analysis of the early game for mages.
The wizard castle, home to white mages, is one of the most popular in Heroes II. This is primarily due to the Titans themselves. These magnificent ranged units have no penalty in melee, 300 HP, and the highest attack and defense stats in the game (15), making them capable of winning many battles single-handedly. Furthermore, if you consider that troops sharing an army with Titans are usually not targeted (everyone hits the Titans) and therefore do not die (while the Titans hold on thanks to 300 HP and 15 Defense!), it becomes clear why their popularity is well-deserved. And the phrase "Titans are cool," which has become a symbol of some forums, also says a lot...
But today we will talk about something else. About how to start the game, and how to play during the first week. Or put another way: what needs to be done in the first week so that Titans appear as early as possible, and how to achieve this. Or perhaps try it differently: could we actually play a map without building Titans at all?
Troops from the Mage Castle
or
How we lived without Titans.
First, let's analyze in detail the troops that will be available to us during the first week.
Halflings. Ranged, 12 shots, Attack 2, Defense 1, ranged damage 1-3, half as much in melee. Speed slow (3), 3 HP. Cost 50 gold. Rating 4.0605. Growth 8, with a well 10, with the special building 18.
Let's draw some conclusions from this information. Defense 1. Combined with halved damage in melee, it becomes clear: Halflings must not be allowed into close-quarters combat. They take a lot of damage (1 Defense), die quickly (3 HP), and deal too little damage themselves (melee penalty). On the other hand, they have as many as 12 shots, which is not few—most battles with neutrals end much sooner. Next. Halflings have an unusually wide damage range (1-3), which suggests using the Blessing spell. Also, we should calculate that the total ranged damage a Halfling can deal to a unit with Defense 2 (for example, zombies) is 12-36. One more thing: a Halfling moves after ANY immediate flying troops in Heroes II (minimum speed for flyers is medium—4). This means enemies will immediately swoop down on an unprotected squad of Halflings...
Pigs. Two-cell units. Speed very fast (6), Attack 5, Defense 4, damage 2-3, 15 HP. Cost 150 gold. Rating 14.939. Growth 6, with a well 8. What can we get from this information? First, their two-cell nature allows us to screen our ranged units with two squads of pigs (rather than three, which is required for ordinary single-cell units), and that's good. Second, the modest damage parameters combined with unremarkable attack and defense stats make Pigs a not-so-serious unit. Pigs lose a fight against any non-ranged unit of their level except unupgraded zombies. Although in melee they confidently deal with upgraded ranged units (but they have to reach them first).
Iron Golems. Speed very slow (2), Attack 5, Defense 10, damage 4-5, 30 HP. Cost 300 gold. Rating 28.818. Growth 4, with a well 6. Half damage from magic: Ice Ray, Lightning, Rings of Frost, Fireball, Fire Blast, Elemental Storm, Armageddon. The defense stat immediately draws attention. For comparison: the Bone Dragon has 9 Defense. 30 HP is an excellent figure for the third level (for example, both mages and unupgraded cavalry from the Knight castle have 30 HP). On the other hand, it's still 300 gold and very low speed... Unfortunately, while the damage dealt is quite decent for its level, it is not high enough to wipe out serious troops with a small number of Iron Golems. Conclusion: Iron Golems are good as screens for ranged units. Also, in certain cases, as a means of fighting flyers.
Steel Golems. Speed slow (3), Attack 7, Defense 10, damage 4-5, 35 HP. Rating 40.121. Cost 350 gold, other stats same as the Iron Golem. Here we primarily note the possibility of free conversion from Iron Golems to Steel Golems in the Foundry building on the map. In this case, for 300 gold, we get a unit with the same speed as Halflings, but with a larger (and for its level simply huge) amount of HP and excellent combat characteristics.
Rocs. Flying, two-cell units. Speed medium (4). Attack 7. Defense 7, damage 4-8, 40 HP. Rating 52.6965. Growth 3, with a well 5. Cost 400 gold. For its level, considering flight—a very good cost. The only flying unit in the castle. A fairly substantial damage range makes "Blessing" magic interesting. Rocs are simply indispensable for conducting a number of battles in the first week, but we will talk about that later.
Mages. Ranged, 12 shots. Speed fast (5), Attack 11, Defense 7, damage 7-9, 30 HP. Rating 58.636. Growth 2, with a well 4, cost 600 gold. No penalty in melee. What characterizes mages? A high attack stat and a small amount of health, both for their level and for their cost. The lack of a melee penalty is certainly pleasing, however, 7 Defense combined with 30 HP prevents them from being used widely in close combat.
Archmages. Archmages can appear in the army on the second week, but some maps have non-standard starting conditions, so we'll say a few words about them too. Ranged units with 24 shots, speed very fast (6), Attack 12, Defense 8, damage 7-9, 35 HP. Rating 74.818. Cost 700 gold. No penalty in melee; in 20% of cases upon hitting, they remove all spells from the enemy unit. Archmages, like most ranged units, are expensive, but 12 Attack along with other stats commands respect.
What are these numbers for?
or
Why do you need to know the rating?
First, I'll give an example I saw in one of the videos dedicated to Heroes II. A wizard hero attacks ranged units; he has 6 mages and several dozen halflings in his army. He casts Stone Skin on the halflings. The ranged units shoot at the mages. 3 mana points are wasted, not to mention a certain risk of losing a mage.
By calculating the rating (even approximately), we can determine in advance the priority target for computer troops (except for witches, liches/archliches, and the use of magic).
So: 1 Archmage is heavier than 18 Halflings, but less than 19. 4 Archmages are heavier than 5 Mages, but 4 Mages are heavier than 3 Archmages. 1 Mage is heavier than 14 Halflings, but less than 15.
Rocs are attacked if there is no possibility to attack ranged units, so there is no point in comparing them with other troops.
2 Steel Golems are heavier than 5 Pigs, but 4 Steel Golems are less than 11 Pigs. 3 Steel Golems are heavier than 4 Iron Golems, but 7 Iron Golems are heavier than 5 Steel Golems. 2 Pigs are heavier than 1 Iron Golem, but 10 Iron Golems are heavier than 19 Pigs.
Now that we know this, it will be easier to model the battle in advance (we'll know who the computer will hit) and also use the Stone Skin magic available in the wizard hero's spellbook effectively.
Use what is at hand
or
Heroes of the Wizard Castle.
First, let's talk not about wizard heroes, but about all other possible heroes when playing this castle during the first week.
Above all, I want to note that wizards are the only castle for which I personally have played with every possible hero. The thing is, for this specific castle, each type of hero brings its own benefit.
First, an option that has become a kind of template for many strong players: the Barbarian hero. A Barbarian hero possesses a number of undeniable advantages, specifically high attack, which also grows quickly. In practice, this means that Halflings, who are the core of the wizard's army in the first week, will deal, for example, 1.5 times more damage with a level 3 Barbarian than with a level 3 Wizard.
Now another option, slightly less popular, but one I personally liked very much: the Knight hero. The thing is, the Knight hero has good defense along with decent attack. Moreover, during leveling, he has good chances of obtaining both Logistics with Wisdom and Finance. You're wondering what Finance has to do with this? Well, it does. A hero who has fought 4-5 battles in the first week isn't necessarily the main hero, and if he was given Finance—he can become an excellent, useful sidekick.
Necromancer heroes need no recommendation; with Haste in the book and Necromancy, they have a chance to become a terrifying force, especially on a large map. If anyone approaches our ranged units—the skeletons will do their job.
Warlock hero. At first glance, it seems the author of the article has started raving. But in fact, this happened several times. It is necessary on the second day to break through 20-49 Halflings or 10-19 Orcs (ranged). Rocs are not yet available. But a brave Warlock with 9 Centaurs and 4 Gargoyles is available for hire in the castle. Buy him and go forward. The battle is fought, and the fast Warlock moves on. At some point, he learns an interesting spell + something was given in the magic guild at home... Magic power grows rapidly, and then Logistics was granted early... That's how my main hero grew from a Warlock, using his primary advantages in the first week of the game: scouting, excellent starting troops, and speed; if magic is found—a powerful striking effect (Magic Power 3!).
And one more option that is quite interesting. 20 Halflings deal 20-60 damage, averaging 40. And under Blessing, 60! Therefore, a Sorceress hero with the Blessing spell has often performed excellently in the first week.
Now let's stop in detail on the native Wizard hero (white mage).
First, hiring own heroes as second and third leads to an increase in squad strength: the number of Halflings and often Pigs increases. And this is very important.
Second, one of the heroes conducting battles will almost certainly be a Wizard.
So, the white mage has stats 0-1-2-2, advanced Wisdom, and a magic book with the Stone Skin spell. Magic and Knowledge are prioritized for leveling. Among secondary skills, Necromancy is unavailable (besides Necromancers themselves, it's only available to Warlocks), and there aren't very high chances for Archery (which is sad). However, having 7 empty slots for secondary skills, with the necessary Wisdom in the eighth—is very good. You can take Logistics, Archery (if offered), Ballistics, and other useful skills! For now, we'll note the following aspect important for first battles: 1 Defense + 3 gained from using Stone Skin (in the book) = 4 Defense. This is not bad. A Knight has only 2 Defense.
What you sow...
or
Building up the Wizard Castle.
First of all, it's necessary to understand what kind of map we are playing. What its size is, how many opponents there are. Roughly how long the game will last. Based on this, we will adopt one of the game strategies, and based on the strategy, we will build up the castle.
On a small map with a likely quick encounter with an opponent, you can do the following: Build only birds, buy out as much as possible, hire as many native heroes as possible, combine troops, and storm the enemy castle. And once inside, either buy more or act according to circumstances. This is the so-called "rush" strategy.
On a map with less rapid contact, you can try the following strategy: In the first week, build up to Mages; on the first day of the second week, buy everything you can and wipe everyone out.
On a slightly larger map, an option is possible involving building the Library and Archmages; then, by the first day of the third week, we will have a very capable army that, with clever management, can achieve great things.
If the game promises to be long, we will build Giants, later turning them into Titans (honestly, capturing a built-up castle with Green Dragons is much more interesting).
In all cases except the "rush" strategy, our task in the first week consists of building Mages with a well, and preferably with a statue as well (less relevant for an attack at the start of the second week).
Castle build order: Pigs (often already built) – Rocs. Golems (can be placed without building Pigs and Rocs) – Mage Guild – Mages. That is, there are two paths.
We want to place (assuming Pigs are built from the start): Statue (1250 gold + 5 stone) – Rocs (3000 gold + 5 wood) – Well (500 gold) – Golems (1500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone) – Mage Guild (2000 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone) – Mages (3500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond). Total of 6 buildings. One day in reserve; Pigs might not be there from the start, or if necessary, a Fruit Orchard can be placed to increase the Halfling population by 8, although this is a questionable investment.
What follows from this? That you need to build almost every turn. That we will need at least 10500 gold + 20 wood + 15 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond; and if placing the statue, another 1250 gold and 5 stone are needed. The castle will bring us 6000 gold by the seventh day. The castle in Heroes II does not provide resources. This means we need to play as actively as possible, interacting with several heroes.
Based on the plan for further play (whether we build Titans or not), we choose priority targets for capture in the first week. For Giants, besides everything mentioned before, 12500 gold, 5 wood, 5 ore, and 20 diamonds are needed. The same for Titans. Plus, hiring a Titan requires 5000 gold and 2 diamonds. If we choose the "Titanic" line, we need to capture a gold mine, as many Leprechaun gardens as possible, and a diamond mine as early as possible.
If we decide to definitely build Archmages, then we'll have to build a Library (which also adds one spell for each level of the magic guild). The Library will cost us 1500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond; after that, Archmages can be built for 4000 + 5 wood + 5 stone. Here, besides gold, either mines or resource piles are needed.
It is not hard to see that with such a variety of required resources, the external market is also one of the priority objects.
continued in the next post
Heroes II: Is there life without Titans?
or
an analysis of the early game for mages.
The wizard castle, home to white mages, is one of the most popular in Heroes II. This is primarily due to the Titans themselves. These magnificent ranged units have no penalty in melee, 300 HP, and the highest attack and defense stats in the game (15), making them capable of winning many battles single-handedly. Furthermore, if you consider that troops sharing an army with Titans are usually not targeted (everyone hits the Titans) and therefore do not die (while the Titans hold on thanks to 300 HP and 15 Defense!), it becomes clear why their popularity is well-deserved. And the phrase "Titans are cool," which has become a symbol of some forums, also says a lot...
But today we will talk about something else. About how to start the game, and how to play during the first week. Or put another way: what needs to be done in the first week so that Titans appear as early as possible, and how to achieve this. Or perhaps try it differently: could we actually play a map without building Titans at all?
Troops from the Mage Castle
or
How we lived without Titans.
First, let's analyze in detail the troops that will be available to us during the first week.
Halflings. Ranged, 12 shots, Attack 2, Defense 1, ranged damage 1-3, half as much in melee. Speed slow (3), 3 HP. Cost 50 gold. Rating 4.0605. Growth 8, with a well 10, with the special building 18.
Let's draw some conclusions from this information. Defense 1. Combined with halved damage in melee, it becomes clear: Halflings must not be allowed into close-quarters combat. They take a lot of damage (1 Defense), die quickly (3 HP), and deal too little damage themselves (melee penalty). On the other hand, they have as many as 12 shots, which is not few—most battles with neutrals end much sooner. Next. Halflings have an unusually wide damage range (1-3), which suggests using the Blessing spell. Also, we should calculate that the total ranged damage a Halfling can deal to a unit with Defense 2 (for example, zombies) is 12-36. One more thing: a Halfling moves after ANY immediate flying troops in Heroes II (minimum speed for flyers is medium—4). This means enemies will immediately swoop down on an unprotected squad of Halflings...
Pigs. Two-cell units. Speed very fast (6), Attack 5, Defense 4, damage 2-3, 15 HP. Cost 150 gold. Rating 14.939. Growth 6, with a well 8. What can we get from this information? First, their two-cell nature allows us to screen our ranged units with two squads of pigs (rather than three, which is required for ordinary single-cell units), and that's good. Second, the modest damage parameters combined with unremarkable attack and defense stats make Pigs a not-so-serious unit. Pigs lose a fight against any non-ranged unit of their level except unupgraded zombies. Although in melee they confidently deal with upgraded ranged units (but they have to reach them first).
Iron Golems. Speed very slow (2), Attack 5, Defense 10, damage 4-5, 30 HP. Cost 300 gold. Rating 28.818. Growth 4, with a well 6. Half damage from magic: Ice Ray, Lightning, Rings of Frost, Fireball, Fire Blast, Elemental Storm, Armageddon. The defense stat immediately draws attention. For comparison: the Bone Dragon has 9 Defense. 30 HP is an excellent figure for the third level (for example, both mages and unupgraded cavalry from the Knight castle have 30 HP). On the other hand, it's still 300 gold and very low speed... Unfortunately, while the damage dealt is quite decent for its level, it is not high enough to wipe out serious troops with a small number of Iron Golems. Conclusion: Iron Golems are good as screens for ranged units. Also, in certain cases, as a means of fighting flyers.
Steel Golems. Speed slow (3), Attack 7, Defense 10, damage 4-5, 35 HP. Rating 40.121. Cost 350 gold, other stats same as the Iron Golem. Here we primarily note the possibility of free conversion from Iron Golems to Steel Golems in the Foundry building on the map. In this case, for 300 gold, we get a unit with the same speed as Halflings, but with a larger (and for its level simply huge) amount of HP and excellent combat characteristics.
Rocs. Flying, two-cell units. Speed medium (4). Attack 7. Defense 7, damage 4-8, 40 HP. Rating 52.6965. Growth 3, with a well 5. Cost 400 gold. For its level, considering flight—a very good cost. The only flying unit in the castle. A fairly substantial damage range makes "Blessing" magic interesting. Rocs are simply indispensable for conducting a number of battles in the first week, but we will talk about that later.
Mages. Ranged, 12 shots. Speed fast (5), Attack 11, Defense 7, damage 7-9, 30 HP. Rating 58.636. Growth 2, with a well 4, cost 600 gold. No penalty in melee. What characterizes mages? A high attack stat and a small amount of health, both for their level and for their cost. The lack of a melee penalty is certainly pleasing, however, 7 Defense combined with 30 HP prevents them from being used widely in close combat.
Archmages. Archmages can appear in the army on the second week, but some maps have non-standard starting conditions, so we'll say a few words about them too. Ranged units with 24 shots, speed very fast (6), Attack 12, Defense 8, damage 7-9, 35 HP. Rating 74.818. Cost 700 gold. No penalty in melee; in 20% of cases upon hitting, they remove all spells from the enemy unit. Archmages, like most ranged units, are expensive, but 12 Attack along with other stats commands respect.
What are these numbers for?
or
Why do you need to know the rating?
First, I'll give an example I saw in one of the videos dedicated to Heroes II. A wizard hero attacks ranged units; he has 6 mages and several dozen halflings in his army. He casts Stone Skin on the halflings. The ranged units shoot at the mages. 3 mana points are wasted, not to mention a certain risk of losing a mage.
By calculating the rating (even approximately), we can determine in advance the priority target for computer troops (except for witches, liches/archliches, and the use of magic).
So: 1 Archmage is heavier than 18 Halflings, but less than 19. 4 Archmages are heavier than 5 Mages, but 4 Mages are heavier than 3 Archmages. 1 Mage is heavier than 14 Halflings, but less than 15.
Rocs are attacked if there is no possibility to attack ranged units, so there is no point in comparing them with other troops.
2 Steel Golems are heavier than 5 Pigs, but 4 Steel Golems are less than 11 Pigs. 3 Steel Golems are heavier than 4 Iron Golems, but 7 Iron Golems are heavier than 5 Steel Golems. 2 Pigs are heavier than 1 Iron Golem, but 10 Iron Golems are heavier than 19 Pigs.
Now that we know this, it will be easier to model the battle in advance (we'll know who the computer will hit) and also use the Stone Skin magic available in the wizard hero's spellbook effectively.
Use what is at hand
or
Heroes of the Wizard Castle.
First, let's talk not about wizard heroes, but about all other possible heroes when playing this castle during the first week.
Above all, I want to note that wizards are the only castle for which I personally have played with every possible hero. The thing is, for this specific castle, each type of hero brings its own benefit.
First, an option that has become a kind of template for many strong players: the Barbarian hero. A Barbarian hero possesses a number of undeniable advantages, specifically high attack, which also grows quickly. In practice, this means that Halflings, who are the core of the wizard's army in the first week, will deal, for example, 1.5 times more damage with a level 3 Barbarian than with a level 3 Wizard.
Now another option, slightly less popular, but one I personally liked very much: the Knight hero. The thing is, the Knight hero has good defense along with decent attack. Moreover, during leveling, he has good chances of obtaining both Logistics with Wisdom and Finance. You're wondering what Finance has to do with this? Well, it does. A hero who has fought 4-5 battles in the first week isn't necessarily the main hero, and if he was given Finance—he can become an excellent, useful sidekick.
Necromancer heroes need no recommendation; with Haste in the book and Necromancy, they have a chance to become a terrifying force, especially on a large map. If anyone approaches our ranged units—the skeletons will do their job.
Warlock hero. At first glance, it seems the author of the article has started raving. But in fact, this happened several times. It is necessary on the second day to break through 20-49 Halflings or 10-19 Orcs (ranged). Rocs are not yet available. But a brave Warlock with 9 Centaurs and 4 Gargoyles is available for hire in the castle. Buy him and go forward. The battle is fought, and the fast Warlock moves on. At some point, he learns an interesting spell + something was given in the magic guild at home... Magic power grows rapidly, and then Logistics was granted early... That's how my main hero grew from a Warlock, using his primary advantages in the first week of the game: scouting, excellent starting troops, and speed; if magic is found—a powerful striking effect (Magic Power 3!).
And one more option that is quite interesting. 20 Halflings deal 20-60 damage, averaging 40. And under Blessing, 60! Therefore, a Sorceress hero with the Blessing spell has often performed excellently in the first week.
Now let's stop in detail on the native Wizard hero (white mage).
First, hiring own heroes as second and third leads to an increase in squad strength: the number of Halflings and often Pigs increases. And this is very important.
Second, one of the heroes conducting battles will almost certainly be a Wizard.
So, the white mage has stats 0-1-2-2, advanced Wisdom, and a magic book with the Stone Skin spell. Magic and Knowledge are prioritized for leveling. Among secondary skills, Necromancy is unavailable (besides Necromancers themselves, it's only available to Warlocks), and there aren't very high chances for Archery (which is sad). However, having 7 empty slots for secondary skills, with the necessary Wisdom in the eighth—is very good. You can take Logistics, Archery (if offered), Ballistics, and other useful skills! For now, we'll note the following aspect important for first battles: 1 Defense + 3 gained from using Stone Skin (in the book) = 4 Defense. This is not bad. A Knight has only 2 Defense.
What you sow...
or
Building up the Wizard Castle.
First of all, it's necessary to understand what kind of map we are playing. What its size is, how many opponents there are. Roughly how long the game will last. Based on this, we will adopt one of the game strategies, and based on the strategy, we will build up the castle.
On a small map with a likely quick encounter with an opponent, you can do the following: Build only birds, buy out as much as possible, hire as many native heroes as possible, combine troops, and storm the enemy castle. And once inside, either buy more or act according to circumstances. This is the so-called "rush" strategy.
On a map with less rapid contact, you can try the following strategy: In the first week, build up to Mages; on the first day of the second week, buy everything you can and wipe everyone out.
On a slightly larger map, an option is possible involving building the Library and Archmages; then, by the first day of the third week, we will have a very capable army that, with clever management, can achieve great things.
If the game promises to be long, we will build Giants, later turning them into Titans (honestly, capturing a built-up castle with Green Dragons is much more interesting).
In all cases except the "rush" strategy, our task in the first week consists of building Mages with a well, and preferably with a statue as well (less relevant for an attack at the start of the second week).
Castle build order: Pigs (often already built) – Rocs. Golems (can be placed without building Pigs and Rocs) – Mage Guild – Mages. That is, there are two paths.
We want to place (assuming Pigs are built from the start): Statue (1250 gold + 5 stone) – Rocs (3000 gold + 5 wood) – Well (500 gold) – Golems (1500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone) – Mage Guild (2000 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone) – Mages (3500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond). Total of 6 buildings. One day in reserve; Pigs might not be there from the start, or if necessary, a Fruit Orchard can be placed to increase the Halfling population by 8, although this is a questionable investment.
What follows from this? That you need to build almost every turn. That we will need at least 10500 gold + 20 wood + 15 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond; and if placing the statue, another 1250 gold and 5 stone are needed. The castle will bring us 6000 gold by the seventh day. The castle in Heroes II does not provide resources. This means we need to play as actively as possible, interacting with several heroes.
Based on the plan for further play (whether we build Titans or not), we choose priority targets for capture in the first week. For Giants, besides everything mentioned before, 12500 gold, 5 wood, 5 ore, and 20 diamonds are needed. The same for Titans. Plus, hiring a Titan requires 5000 gold and 2 diamonds. If we choose the "Titanic" line, we need to capture a gold mine, as many Leprechaun gardens as possible, and a diamond mine as early as possible.
If we decide to definitely build Archmages, then we'll have to build a Library (which also adds one spell for each level of the magic guild). The Library will cost us 1500 gold + 5 wood + 5 stone + 5 crystal + 5 mercury + 5 sulfur + 5 diamond; after that, Archmages can be built for 4000 + 5 wood + 5 stone. Here, besides gold, either mines or resource piles are needed.
It is not hard to see that with such a variety of required resources, the external market is also one of the priority objects.
continued in the next post
Орден Феникса – харизматический :) лидер