Posts from Dwarves versus Orcs.

Hello everyone,
I'm not a big fan of Heroes 5, as I grew up playing Heroes 3, but I often play it with a friend...
My friend has played Heroes 5 a bit, and when I tried it for the first time, I immediately beat him, even though I didn't really understand what was going on (thanks to my skills in Heroes 3).
We played a lot, and he tried all the factions (while I played as the Dwarves), until he started using Tel'Sakar (Orcs), and that's when problems started... Before that, I hadn't lost at all and didn't even have to try very hard...
When he assembles his army of 300-600 Warmongers, he completely crushes my army, and I don't know what to do...
Here are my assumptions about his build:
-Machine Management (this is given to the hero right away, so it's obvious)
-Attack
-Defense
-Dim Sight
-Luck or Leadership
These are just my thoughts; I can't say for sure.
This is how I build my hero (I'm attaching a screenshot of the skill tree).
Of course, this is what I'm aiming for, but we usually don't reach these levels...
Most of the battles happen around levels 20-25.
My troop upgrades:
Level 1 - 2nd upgrade
Level 2 - 1st upgrade when leveling up, and if I have enough money for a crucial battle, I retrain them to the 2nd upgrade.
Level 3 - 2nd upgrade
Level 4 - 1st upgrade
Level 5 - 1st upgrade
Level 6 - 1st upgrade when leveling up, and depending on the circumstances, I upgrade to the 2nd upgrade for PvP, although I often fight with the 1st upgrade.
Level 7 - 2nd upgrade
I'd appreciate some constructive criticism. Please suggest the best builds against Orcs, both for the troops and the hero...
And I'd be glad if you could suggest which factions are best to play with, so that they are more or less balanced... Because we always end up with a build where we get 2 lumber mills and 2 mines, and sometimes even other mines...
And 2 dwellings for creatures of levels 1-3... This is why my opponent has so many Warmongers...
Thank you in advance for your help!

and also
since I play defensively, focusing on healers, when the enemy gets close, is it better to attack with all warriors or continue to defend, thereby strengthening the defense and relying on the "Readiness" skill?

Why magical resistance against Orcs? Maybe it's better to take Chaos and a lucky Wizard? If you're lucky with the resurrection rune, "Battle to the Last" is very good. And on what day do you meet?
PS Warmongers usually don't cause me much trouble; the real problem is hordes of Assassins and Shamans.

well, there wasn't much left that was worthwhile relying on luck, so you have to level up something)).
and plus, with shamans, you can cast Chain Lightning, which isn't very pleasant either...
I don't even know, I don't really like Haven...
what do you think about templates?
are there any rules and restrictions for tournaments?
for the third game, I know, there's a whole treatise written!

Added 1 minute ago
meetings are usually the earliest, at the end of the 2nd month...
sometimes the game would drag on until the 4th month

Added 3 minutes ago
I mainly cast mass spells, such as Stone Skin, Haste, etc.
so I don't see much point in a lucky wizard, because it's not a hero or a mage
but in the last battle, I couldn't even cast mass spells, probably due to the Orcish Dampening...

and besides, you can cast Chain Lightning with shamans, which isn't very pleasant either... "THEY NEED TO KILL A GOBLIN FOR THAT FIRST"
are there any rules or restrictions in Tournaments at all?
I know about the 3rd one, there's a whole treatise written about it!

Added 1 minute ago
the matches are usually the earliest, at the end of the 2nd month...
sometimes the game would drag on until the 4th month

Added 3 minutes ago
I mainly cast mass spells, such as Stone Skin, Haste, etc.
so I don't really see the point in a Lucky Wizard, because my hero isn't a mage
but in the last battle, I couldn't even cast mass spells, probably due to the Orcish Dampening...

"IF GUILDS GET DARKNESS, WHY NOT SLOW DOWN/WEAKEN MASSIVELY, THEN THE OPPONENT WILL WASTE POINTS ON UPGRADING ANTI-LIGHT FOR NOTHING + IT WILL BE UNEXPECTED"

Added 8 minutes ago
all sorts of rings of cold + crippling wounds will hold back the Orcs and also reduce their Rage

Added 3 minutes ago
I don't really like fighting Dwarves, they either throw themselves forward with their Energy Rune, or they lock themselves in defense, a versatile hero, and the Castle creates a lot of trouble in the late game due to the Defenders

In the latest game, I didn't find the speed and resurrection runes.
Also, the dwellings were guarded because of the shifted neutral creatures, so his army had only a slight advantage...

it occurred to me that if you play defensively, hoping for "readiness," then leadership and morale aren't particularly important.

well, in principle, it's correct; I just didn't think about leadership... but at least the archers will shoot more often...
however, I don't see any point in attacking the Orcs... it's better to increase readiness than to level up leadership and retribution...
and what is the "Arcane Wave" skill in the Lucky Wizard? I'm still not very familiar with the names in Heroes 5; I don't remember it...

Added after 17 minutes
by the way, my friend just told me that it's his shamans (level 1) that interrupt my spells...
maybe it doesn't make sense to develop any school of magic at all? and it's better to level up logistics instead?
I think the same about Inferno, because their imps drain mana...
against these races, maybe it's only worth making the updated rune for the hero and that's it.

this ability is only given to Warlocks, i.e., heroes from the Dungeon faction; the spell deals 50% more damage and consumes twice as much mana.

Added 10 minutes later
regarding Goblin Shamans, it all depends on the ratio of the number of goblins to the sum of the hero's level plus the spell level. For comparison, if a level 25 hero casts Shock Earth (a level 5 spell), the spell needs to have a 25% chance of not working, which requires 725 goblins in the squad. Consequently, the more goblins there are, the higher the probability of interrupting the spell.
I think if your archers damage them well with the first shot, you can cast spells more freely afterward.

I usually direct all my ranged units against the enemy archers at the beginning, because to play defensively, you need the enemy to lose in ranged combat and decide to attack...
But if his centaurs deal more damage than mine, then there's no point in this defensive setup...

Well, Goblins have an initiative of 9, so there's a chance that a hero with an initiative of 10 will go first and can hit them with Chaos magic. In general, when it comes to magic, it's better to fully build up a guild and then level up the most suitable schools, otherwise, you might take "Blessing," but if you don't have Divine magic in the guild, it's not a given that you'll find it on the map, and you might not have time to look for it.

First of all: don't choose Chaos against Orcs. If it has a non-zero starting Rage, it will absorb a lot of damage. Again, Goblin Shamans. Light and Darkness don't necessarily need to be cast often, but Chaos does, but Goblins won't allow that: something tells me that your hero won't survive the first attack.
What hero do you have? I would choose Ibbu or Ingvar, the latter is even preferable if you're focusing on Readiness. Or, if you have problems with learning good runes, then Ingu: you can almost guarantee getting the entire necessary set with her.
Regarding the second level: I would keep the Maiming units even in the final stages. Their damage isn't high enough to base your decisions on that, and slowing down the Orc is very useful.
I agree that you need to choose Light, the rest is risky.
Leadership isn't very good if you're playing defensively. Although, you don't want to give up Retribution either... But it's still better to choose Education or Logistics (the former if you're not lucky enough to get the latter): these skills will create a "rough" advantage in strength, due to the greater development of your hero, which is quite useful against Orcs.
Regarding the dragons: I prefer the first upgrade, it's tougher and the fire shield will slightly reduce its Rage.
Well, overall it looks good. Of course, if there is an opportunity to choose a template without a third-level creature (I'm used to playing on templates where external dwellings are generated randomly), then definitely do it, because 300-600 is a lot. However, if you have the same number of Bears (a little less due to the growth), then it's worth choosing Ibbu and going for it.

First of all: don't use Chaos against Orcs... If they have a non-zero initial Fury, it will absorb a lot of damage.

Here, the question becomes more interesting: what is more important, 1) preventing the Orcs from accumulating Fury and becoming killing machines, which would require your units to focus on reducing their Fury, or 2) strengthening your own units so they can fight equally well in melee combat? The first can be achieved with area-of-effect spells from Chaos (since there's plenty of magic available), and the second can be achieved by buffing your own units.

I'm taking Ingvar as a base.
I was also considering Inga, but I'm a bit hesitant about the training and the rather difficult start...
Did you mean to level up both training and logistics, or just one of them?
There simply won't be enough space for combat skills...
What I've put in the build is, for me, the ideal option, and I'm not sure I want to sacrifice anything for logistics and training, although I understand that if I travel more, I'll level up faster...

Did you mean downloading and training, and logistics, or just one of these?

If you're focusing on luck, then it's one thing. And luck is useful for an alternate bear build.

Don't let the Orcs accumulate rage and become killing machines, and your own troops won't have to waste time reducing their rage.

I don't really believe in that scenario. Unless you arrive very early, although, maybe that's an option, I don't know. But I would choose Haven; it will definitely help in reducing rage by simply increasing the damage of those who can do it well: your own troops.