Posts from Gameplay tactics on the S map. Auto-translated

Have you ever tried playing on 200% difficulty on a small map? Where the nearest castle is only 1-2 days away? Where it takes a month and a half to determine who is the strongest? I suggest we discuss tactics, castle and hero choices when playing under these conditions.

Have you tried playing on 200% difficulty on a small map? When the nearest castle is 1-2 days away? When it takes a month and a half to determine who is the strongest? I suggest we discuss tactics, castle and hero choices when playing under these conditions.

I think this is one of the most challenging aspects of Heroes 3. Yes, I have played with 3 castles (at different times and in different scenarios, of course :)) on an S map with dungeons (for Conflux, Necropolis, and Tower), but I still managed to achieve victory. By the way, the time frame you specified doesn't seem quite accurate to me – if you win, it will be faster than a month... but to win, you have to try hard ;)

Several times, just for fun, I played on a 200% random difficulty on an S-map without a dungeon, with islands and 7 computer opponents, all in one team :D. Imagine, your castle is located on the central island, and starting from the 2nd week, computer opponents start attacking you from all the islands. And I won these maps, even with the condition that the castle can only be reached by water (without portals). I wonder how? ;)

It turns out to be a rather dynamic game, and of course, it's challenging – one mistake, and you lose. I rarely won when playing as the Necromancer. Otherwise, I try not to build anything in my castle at all, or if the map is rich, I only build creatures and try to capture the opponent's castle. If it's against the AI, it's easy, but if it's against a human player, I have to figure out how to force them out. If it's a mixed game (AI and human), it's better to take an easy target (a castle with weak defenses). I develop secondary skills based on the principle that it's better to be an expert in one skill than to have a basic level in three.

Several times, just for fun, I played on a 200% random difficulty on an S-map without a Dungeon.

It will be more difficult with a Dungeon ;), but with this setup, you can destroy 3-4 computer opponents on the first day!

Imagine, your Castle is located on the central island,
and starting from the 2nd week, computer opponents start attacking you from all islands.

But what an adrenaline rush... :) - sometimes it can be fun...

And I won these maps, under the condition that the Castle can only be reached by water (without portals).

Interesting, how? ;)

Well, it happened to me too... ;)

I wonder how? ;)

Yes, it would be interesting to read. I hadn't thought about the water.

Yes, it would be interesting to read about it. I hadn't thought about the water aspect.

There are plenty of options... The main thing is to have an Expert of Water.

Played. Important aspects: 1. A hero who guards the castle with artillery. 2. A successful selection of starting heroes is extremely important. The best hero for most of these maps is Zil. Shachti is also good, as are heroes with the "war machine" specialization (if they have it). 3. The starting castle also plays an important role. Rampart, Castle, and Tower look good on some maps. Perhaps Swamp, Barbarian, Conflux, or Inferno. Dragons are difficult. If there is an opportunity to build and upgrade vampires, it's great; if not, it's difficult (they don't have ranged units). 4. It's best to forget about the last tier of troops right away.

Qwerty, are you able to hold castles? I've tried several times, but the AI always overpowers me. The towers deal weak damage because there aren't enough buildings. Or rather, there's only one tower, because I often don't survive long enough to build the castle.

Hero activity, selecting heroes based on starting troops and STARTING MAGIC, defending castles with heroes possessing the "war machine" skill, the "scouting" skill, and, most importantly, competent turn management (without this, there's absolutely nothing to do on such maps).

Hero activity, selecting heroes based on starting troops and STARTING MAGIC, defending castles with heroes possessing the "war machine" skill, the "scouting" skill, and, most importantly, competent turn management (without this, it's absolutely impossible to succeed on such maps).

As for scouting, I'm not sure..., but artillery is definitely a must-have for a guardian hero – that's a fact. The main hero should generally have starting magic that deals damage, for example, archery.

I've also tried playing without choosing any specific faction at the beginning – they gave me Necropolis, and I won against 8 AI opponents solely due to the vampires, although they weren't even upgraded..., but retaliation is also a powerful ability.

The Literacy skill (in the absence of magic) can actually be useful on such maps – buy one unit with Literacy, and all your units will learn the spells.

Of course, we played those maps... sometimes I would get distracted, and the castle would be overrun, but if you reloaded a couple of times, everything would be fixed... I just didn't have the patience to sit and calculate every move like in the official games, so starting from the second or third week, I would just sit in the castle and gather experience, getting 1 to 5 attacks per night :D :D :D
When the hero was already level 15 or higher, and the armies were being wiped out without losses, it became less interesting to play... and regarding the AI, in such a chaotic situation, the most dangerous one was the Conflux. It often caused the most problems... once, it even defeated me (I was obviously just clicking through the moves, but I remember it gathered an army of about 20 Phoenixes and probably grabbed a Utopia... that's what happens sometimes :smile30:).

I used to play that kind of game... Back when there was no internet, I would entertain myself by setting up a small map without a Dungeon or water, with 200% (sometimes a little less) difficulty, strong monsters, and so on...

Let's just say that playing against the computer this way isn't very interesting (what a horror!), it always loses... :lol:
However, in my opinion, it's useful because it helps develop the habit of doing everything as quickly as possible and with maximum efficiency.

In my opinion, with this setup, the following Castles are the best:
-Dungeon (very strong monsters of levels 1-4), 2 types of archers, and neither has a penalty in melee combat. If you take Shakti, it becomes very brutal. :) I haven't tried the hero-artilleryman option, but in my opinion, with such close proximity to the enemy, troglodytes are still stronger than a ballista.

-Swamp, mainly because of the fast wyverns, which, together with basilisks, quickly decide the outcome... The high speed of the Hydras often gives the right to the first move - very convenient.
I usually take Rosic (mysticism + the "Magic Arrow" spell, 30 damage) - it often helps to destroy enemy archers.
I also tried a hero-healer option (I don't remember the name) - we heal the wyverns, thereby reducing possible losses...
Sometimes I took Brokhild (specializes in basilisks) - his army usually has them initially (a few, but again, if the map is small, this is very beneficial).

-Stronghold, Heroes: Gundula, Krag Hack, or Gurnisson.
The Rocs and Ogres are very helpful - they are among the "healthiest" level 4 monsters. Gundula has "Magic Arrow", so I usually take her. In fact, I don't like the Castle because the first and second levels die in the first melee combat... And although tricks like various lone goblin kamikazes help, if something goes wrong, they still die like flies.

-Castle...
I usually take Adelaide (has "Blessing") or Caitlin (+350 gold per day).
Well, humans are standard... a strong first level, the second, in general, is also not bad if upgraded, and swordsmen are useful. :)

Sometimes I would take Brokhild (specialist in basilisks) - his army usually has them initially (a few, but again, if the map is small, it's very advantageous).

-Castle...
I usually take Adelaide (has "Blessing") or Caitlin (+350 gold per day).
Well, humans are standard... a strong first tier, the second tier is also decent, especially with upgrades, and swordsmen are useful. :)

Apologies - but the specialist in basilisks is Bron ;) That's one. Second - does Adelaide start with "Blessing"? I thought the Ring of Cold is what she specializes in. And Blessing is with Adel.