Posts from Orcs. Upgrade or alternative upgrade?

What upgrade do you choose for Centaurs and Shamans, and why? I choose War Centaurs because they have more armor and good melee attack. Centaurs are large creatures, so they are easy to protect, and the ability to escape doesn't always help. As for the Shaman Daughters of the Earth, their ability to attack a slowed enemy without retaliation seems better to me than shooting lightning. Which upgrade do you think is better?

Daughters of the Earth are clearly better, as Orcs are a warrior race. Chain Lightning consumes very little HP, and a counterattack can deal huge damage. And Fury is much more useful for a warrior than a mage.
And at the beginning, I still prefer Centaurs (forgot the name:o) – you can block them with goblins and it's unlikely anyone will get through. And later, you can switch to combat units.

At the third level of Fury, the Daughter of the Sky's creatures are like this. Their magic is multiplied by two (level 2 of Fury), and then by four.

try using them to complete those levels of Fury. Without cheats, it's almost impossible. Besides, where she deals *2 damage, she needs to eat a goblin, while the dwarven priests or mages are already shooting, so in reality, this twofold increase is useless.

If I'm using Cyclops, I choose them depending on who I'm fighting. If it's against Elves, I'll go with the alternate upgrade, because if I take the attack upgrade, the Dancing ones will damage them, and the counterattack upgrade will take out the Polarms.

try using them to build up those rage levels. without that, it's almost impossible. besides, when she deals *2 damage, she needs to eat a goblin, while dwarven priests or mages are already shooting, so in reality, this doubling is useless.

That's true. And their damage doesn't even double, only the spell damage is doubled. And in general, I think spending an entire turn on mana is nonsense. I'd rather do 2 slows/speeds than 1 lightning strike; the effect will be greater.

As for the Kentaur, I only take the combat ones. +1 to max damage for the nomadic ones isn't impressive; the lack of a penalty in melee combat is better than maneuvering. Sometimes you can even intentionally lead the combat ones into melee combat to deal full damage; with their speed of 6, this is quite possible.

And their defense is better too! And which goblins do you choose?

I like to use Goblin Shamans because of their extra point in speed, attack, and damage. They are also effective against not-too-strong hero-mages and neutral creatures that cast Chaos magic (of course, it all depends on the number of goblins).

if you still want to use Chain Lightning, then a Trapper will be more useful, as it has more health.
Although, I use them even without that, as Admins rarely provide any benefit, and their ability doesn't work well. Apparently, you need a huge number of them.

I prefer trappers; traps are evil... and if I remember correctly, they deal more damage, right?
And Shamans sometimes do such silly things with magic... it's just amusing to watch the progress of the AI's stupidity. I've never seen them do anything useful.
As for Cyclops, I take the Free ones; the Red Eyes are rather questionable...

Not too strong hero-mages.

The chance of success, in addition to the number of goblins, also depends on the level of the enemy hero, so comparing "strong/not strong mage" is inappropriate. Interrupting the cast of a foolish knight who barely knows dark magic is no easier than casting a spell on a powerful necromancer mage if their levels are the same.

I always recruit available Cyclops. If you strategically separate them from the main army and avoid getting too close, they are very effective.

Among the Cyclops, I prefer the Blood-Eyed ones. They have higher initiative and speed, plus they can be further accelerated by Shamans. As a result, with proper development, they are likely to reach the opponent, and they do so quite quickly, giving them a real chance to attack two units. Free creatures are, of course, quite wild, but their low speed doesn't help them reach the opposite side of the battlefield. With all creatures present (which is quite likely with Cyclops), it's quite difficult to arrange the troops so that they don't reach anyone, and there's also the possibility of unfavorable terrain. And potential suicide units are present in almost every army.

I like all the different upgrade options for the Orcs; basically, when I get tired of one upgrade, I just switch to another one. It doesn't cost too much anyway.

What about Orcs and Assassins? Contrary to the general opinion about the lack of versatility of Warmongers, I usually still take Orcish warriors because "I like to attack with Orcs!", rather than defend. Assassins with whips also don't impress much; they are not warriors at all...