Freikors
Auto-translated
I've been reading this forum for a long time, but I've never written anything. Inferno is my favorite faction in HoMM5, so even if it's a bit slow, I'll throw in a few thoughts. I've been playing them for a long time, and not just against the AI; I play Multiplayer (by the way, it was funny reading this thread — it's immediately obvious who is a practitioner and who is "just arguing for the sake of it," I won't mention nicknames).
Preamble over. Regarding skills.
1. I agree that there are 2 choices — rush (almost always siege engines via Delab) and late game (variation: super-late). I can't stand engines; Delab has always made me sick, so I'll write about the late game.
The skills I chose in the poll and consider priorities are Logistics, Attack, Luck, Defense, and Magic (usually Dark, possibly Light, or in the case of Grol and playing against dogs — Chaos).
For the late game (for me, level 20-23 in a real game), I consider the following build mandatory.
Expert Dimensional Door - Soul Eater.
Expert (Advanced) Logistics - Pathfinding - Fast Dimensional Door - (Surprise Attack).
Expert (Advanced) Attack - Battle Frenzy - Mass Haste - (Tactics).
Constant (High) Luck - Soldier's Luck - Wide Gates.
Expert (Advanced) Defense - Endurance - Mass Stone Skin - (Evasion).
Expert Dark Magic - Mind Control - (Pain Master).
This is realistically achievable by level 23; without Dark Magic and the perks in quotes, by level 18. The priority is specifically Logistics, plus Attack and Defense with Haste and Stone Skin, and Luck with Gates for a 100 percent chance of a gate.
Logistics is important not only for fast gating and occasionally Surprise Attack, but also for efficient map clearing (which means good artifacts and a couple of extra levels) and battlefield control (catch and kill — run and escape).
Attack is important not for its 15 percent damage, but for Battle Frenzy, which increases damage for the same devils by almost 1.5 times, plus the 30 percent initiative (the person who suggested taking more Luck instead of Haste apparently has no idea about DPS; by the way, moving more often means hitting more often).
Luck - double damage, a higher chance of fear from Nightmares, and most importantly — a chance to double the summon.
Defense - a very important skill for a demon, although some doubt it. For races with low base defense (Demons, TE), it saves more damage than it would for Dwarves, Knights, or Necromancers. Stone Skin was mentioned dismissively, but it provides a full 9 stats. In a real game without relic artifacts, a demon will have 5-6 defense at most. With Stone Skin, it's already 14-15, comparable to an unbuffed Knight.
Dark Magic - surprisingly, I take this as a filler because, in practice, parties often end before I have time to level it up and build guilds. Undeniably a weighty skill, but only after the first four.
In super-late game (levels 25+), which is usually played with a friend or munchkins, it's realistic to max out these skills.
This is practically the ideal build. A demon with these perks is fast, deadly, and can take a hit. Just try playing this way, and you won't need any engines. Grol fits here perfectly, but isn't as indispensable as the notorious Delab.
Now a few words about the other skills I find debatable — engines, Education, Sorcery, and especially Leadership (I won't consider magic, I'll leave the eternal Dark vs Chaos debate aside; most would agree that Dark is preferable for a long game).
Engines - the skill is good for a short game, but useless in a long one due to quite low damage against crowds of meat and the enemy's ability to wipe out 1100 ballista HP in one hit/cast. Distracting the enemy for one hit at the cost of 5 level-ups isn't worth it. I've never taken it and don't take it due to a purely personal dislike for engine-users (I consider it a bit of a cheat to pass neutrals so easily), so I admit I'm biased.
Sorcery - it was already mentioned above that a demon is primarily a warrior. Sorcery just wastes a slot, as it doesn't affect mass spells, and taking it in hopes of casting level 4-5 spells more often is wasteful. A demon's fight should end sooner. There are no useful perks except Wisdom for the Phantom. Distraction costs a whole 6 level-ups.
Education - someone wrote here that it's foolish to neglect Education in a long game. I disagree, and here's why.
The demon is a power-based unit, so one should use Education to increase Attack or Defense (we aren't betting on Spell Power, and Knowledge is already high enough + devils will steal mana).
But of all the stats from Education, 30 percent will go into Knowledge and 15 into Spell Power. Every second stat will go into Attack. At level 20, the bonus from Education = 10. 4-5 will go to Attack, 1 to Defense. Sometimes it's even worse. Taking the skill just for the basic level of Punishing Strike is a questionable pleasure.
The funniest thing is that among power-based units, Education is good for Knights (75 percent into combat stats) and ideal for Barbarians (85 percent). I often take it for them when possible.
Leadership - I simply don't understand this one. Taking it for itself is wasteful — army morale is already high in the game; for heroes with 0 morale, creature morale = 2, why do you need another 3? Regarding perks — Empathy and Inspiration from 2-percent Leadership go through questionable 2-percent Education, so forget it. Aura of Speed is not bad, but there is Tactics (and speed boots).
Gate Master - loses miserably to Wide Gates of Hell. The latter double the gate with a decent chance from 50 to 100 percent, while the former only increases it by 20 (though stably).
Of course, one could argue that there is the Sorrow spell, Necromancers with Banshee screams, etc. But I still believe that by the finale, positive morale will be far beyond 3-4.
Something like that.
Everything said above, despite some absolute tone, is the author's heavy IMHO. Good luck to everyone and wide gates (if anyone is still reading this forum). ^_&
Preamble over. Regarding skills.
1. I agree that there are 2 choices — rush (almost always siege engines via Delab) and late game (variation: super-late). I can't stand engines; Delab has always made me sick, so I'll write about the late game.
The skills I chose in the poll and consider priorities are Logistics, Attack, Luck, Defense, and Magic (usually Dark, possibly Light, or in the case of Grol and playing against dogs — Chaos).
For the late game (for me, level 20-23 in a real game), I consider the following build mandatory.
Expert Dimensional Door - Soul Eater.
Expert (Advanced) Logistics - Pathfinding - Fast Dimensional Door - (Surprise Attack).
Expert (Advanced) Attack - Battle Frenzy - Mass Haste - (Tactics).
Constant (High) Luck - Soldier's Luck - Wide Gates.
Expert (Advanced) Defense - Endurance - Mass Stone Skin - (Evasion).
Expert Dark Magic - Mind Control - (Pain Master).
This is realistically achievable by level 23; without Dark Magic and the perks in quotes, by level 18. The priority is specifically Logistics, plus Attack and Defense with Haste and Stone Skin, and Luck with Gates for a 100 percent chance of a gate.
Logistics is important not only for fast gating and occasionally Surprise Attack, but also for efficient map clearing (which means good artifacts and a couple of extra levels) and battlefield control (catch and kill — run and escape).
Attack is important not for its 15 percent damage, but for Battle Frenzy, which increases damage for the same devils by almost 1.5 times, plus the 30 percent initiative (the person who suggested taking more Luck instead of Haste apparently has no idea about DPS; by the way, moving more often means hitting more often).
Luck - double damage, a higher chance of fear from Nightmares, and most importantly — a chance to double the summon.
Defense - a very important skill for a demon, although some doubt it. For races with low base defense (Demons, TE), it saves more damage than it would for Dwarves, Knights, or Necromancers. Stone Skin was mentioned dismissively, but it provides a full 9 stats. In a real game without relic artifacts, a demon will have 5-6 defense at most. With Stone Skin, it's already 14-15, comparable to an unbuffed Knight.
Dark Magic - surprisingly, I take this as a filler because, in practice, parties often end before I have time to level it up and build guilds. Undeniably a weighty skill, but only after the first four.
In super-late game (levels 25+), which is usually played with a friend or munchkins, it's realistic to max out these skills.
This is practically the ideal build. A demon with these perks is fast, deadly, and can take a hit. Just try playing this way, and you won't need any engines. Grol fits here perfectly, but isn't as indispensable as the notorious Delab.
Now a few words about the other skills I find debatable — engines, Education, Sorcery, and especially Leadership (I won't consider magic, I'll leave the eternal Dark vs Chaos debate aside; most would agree that Dark is preferable for a long game).
Engines - the skill is good for a short game, but useless in a long one due to quite low damage against crowds of meat and the enemy's ability to wipe out 1100 ballista HP in one hit/cast. Distracting the enemy for one hit at the cost of 5 level-ups isn't worth it. I've never taken it and don't take it due to a purely personal dislike for engine-users (I consider it a bit of a cheat to pass neutrals so easily), so I admit I'm biased.
Sorcery - it was already mentioned above that a demon is primarily a warrior. Sorcery just wastes a slot, as it doesn't affect mass spells, and taking it in hopes of casting level 4-5 spells more often is wasteful. A demon's fight should end sooner. There are no useful perks except Wisdom for the Phantom. Distraction costs a whole 6 level-ups.
Education - someone wrote here that it's foolish to neglect Education in a long game. I disagree, and here's why.
The demon is a power-based unit, so one should use Education to increase Attack or Defense (we aren't betting on Spell Power, and Knowledge is already high enough + devils will steal mana).
But of all the stats from Education, 30 percent will go into Knowledge and 15 into Spell Power. Every second stat will go into Attack. At level 20, the bonus from Education = 10. 4-5 will go to Attack, 1 to Defense. Sometimes it's even worse. Taking the skill just for the basic level of Punishing Strike is a questionable pleasure.
The funniest thing is that among power-based units, Education is good for Knights (75 percent into combat stats) and ideal for Barbarians (85 percent). I often take it for them when possible.
Leadership - I simply don't understand this one. Taking it for itself is wasteful — army morale is already high in the game; for heroes with 0 morale, creature morale = 2, why do you need another 3? Regarding perks — Empathy and Inspiration from 2-percent Leadership go through questionable 2-percent Education, so forget it. Aura of Speed is not bad, but there is Tactics (and speed boots).
Gate Master - loses miserably to Wide Gates of Hell. The latter double the gate with a decent chance from 50 to 100 percent, while the former only increases it by 20 (though stably).
Of course, one could argue that there is the Sorrow spell, Necromancers with Banshee screams, etc. But I still believe that by the finale, positive morale will be far beyond 3-4.
Something like that.
Everything said above, despite some absolute tone, is the author's heavy IMHO. Good luck to everyone and wide gates (if anyone is still reading this forum). ^_&