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ORCS
The developers decided against berserkers, and as in the past, goblins are the lowest creatures in the orc army. They appeared as a result of crossing imps and gremlins. They are vile, cowardly, and stupid creatures. When they are hit (even by a counterattack), they try to retreat within the range of their movement. And if their number drops to a quarter of the original, the survivors will defect to the enemy's side. A goblin shaman has a certain probability of disrupting an enemy hero's or mage unit's spell, or conversely, casting it upon his own foolish head, while a goblin hunter sets traps invisible to the enemy.
After long struggles from sorcerers to elves, centaurs ultimately remained with the barbarians. This crossbreed of humans and demonic nightmare horses, the fastest of all shooters in the game, has only one drawback – it occupies four cells on the battlefield instead of one, making it easier for the enemy to block them and deprive them of the ability to shoot. Nomad centaurs retreat from the enemy that hit them and shoot back at the offender, but twice as weakly, while marauder centaurs receive no penalty for point-blank shooting.
Orc warriors – unlike in all previous parts where they were shooters, are now sturdy and resilient infantry forming the backbone of the Barbarian army. They were bred from horned demons and humans. One of the upgrades can, with a certain probability, take a hit intended for a friendly squad upon itself if it is nearby, and its counterattack is 1.5 times stronger.
Shamans – orc women descended from humans and succubi. The only casters in the army, they use "Haste" and "Slow" spells and, if necessary, sacrifice goblins to replenish their own mana pool. One of the upgrades applies various curses (Curse, Slow, Weakness, Disrupting Ray) to the victim during a melee attack.
The largest and strongest orcs become chieftains, the elite of the orc army. They are distinguished by their giant stature and are armed with two-handed axes. The presence of a chieftain nearby increases the initiative of friendly squads by one unit.
Wyverns – large flying lizards hailing from the "swamp castle" of the third part. These are native inhabitants of Ranaar, the only creatures of the orc castle in whose veins demon blood does not flow, as well as the only flyers. One of the wyvern upgrades is the blind paokai, known to us from Dark Messiah, who is immune to the "Blind" spell. It devours corpses to restore health and covers all nearby enemies with an electrical attack, while the damage is divided equally among the targets.
The strongest creatures of the Barbarian castle are cyclopes. Very strong melee fighters who, as in the third part, can deal damage to city walls during a siege. They gladly devour goblins to restore health, and upgraded cyclopes can even throw them at the enemy, thereby becoming very powerful shooters. The second upgrade, just like in the second part, burns enemies with a beam from its eye, piercing several cells at once and reducing the victims' Luck.
Alternative Upgrades
Inferno
Imp. Imps gain the ability to drain mana from an enemy hero, which is distributed evenly among their own creatures.
Horned Demon. Makes a giant leap to a specified creature (if there is at least one free cell next to it) and deals damage equal to the base amount, increased by 10% for each cell crossed during the jump. It can even jump onto creatures that cannot be reached on foot.
Hell Hound. Possess the Fire Breath ability. They deal damage to a target standing in the cell immediately behind the attacked unit. This attack is not magical.
Succubus. Immunity to the Hypnotize spell. Once per battle, they use "Enemy Seduction." An enemy squad comes under your control. For the duration of the effect, Succubi do not increase initiative.
Hell Charger. "Fire Aura." When an enemy creature within a one-cell radius takes its turn, it takes fire damage of 10 hits for each hell charger in the squad.
Pit Fiend. Axe of Slaughter – an ability that adds two hits to damage for each creature in the attacked squad. They receive only half damage from enemy magic.
Devil. "Summon Another Demon" – any squad within movement range can be specified. The specified target is summoned next to the demon on the cell closest to its old position.
Dark Elves
Scout. "Invisibility." After use, the unit becomes completely invisible to the enemy until it attacks or stops in a cell adjacent to an enemy unit. When the enemy views the movement range of their squad, they cannot determine where the scout is located. At the moment of moving, if the invisible unit blocks the path, the unit stops and performs an attack on it. Invisibility works once per battle and lasts 3 rounds. The effect is not removed by standard means.
Blood Maiden. Immunity to the Curse spell, lower damage, more hits, wider damage spread.
Minotaur. "Aura of Fearlessness" – for all allied creatures in a one-cell radius around the Minotaur Captain (including the captain himself), Morale cannot be less than +1.
Dark Rider. "Rider's Attack" – a passive ability. If, while moving to a target, the Dark Rider passes next to enemy creatures, he deals damage equal to a quarter of the normal amount without receiving a counterattack and continues movement. This damage is not dealt to a creature located next to the rider's final cell of movement.
Hydra. Every time the hydra is hit, acid splashes out for 4 cells from the side of the attack. The damage caused by acid is physical and equal to a quarter of the hydra's own attack damage.
Shadow Witch. "Invisibility." Works the same as for scouts; it is not removed when casting spells.
Shadow Dragon. The dragon can fly up and attack an adjacent unit from above with 1.5x damage without receiving a counterattack, but Fire Breath does not trigger in this case.
Sylvan
Pixie. Once per battle, they can heal (with resurrection) ents, and ents (simultaneously) can heal dryads. Healing efficiency depends on the number of creatures in the squad. Each dryad heals 4 hits; each treant heals 20 hits.
Blade Dancer. Receives +2 to defense for every cell traversed. The bonus is granted immediately after movement and lasts until the next turn. On the very first turn, the creature's defense is as if it had already moved as far as it could.
Hunter. "Sharpshooter" – a passive ability; the shot ignores 75% of the target's defense. Additionally, this shot can knock the opponent back one cell.
Druid. Druids begin a special ritual, transferring magical power to the hero and adding their own Spell Power to him. The effect lasts as long as at least one druid in the squad is alive.
Unicorn. Any Light Magic spell (except those dealing damage) used by anyone on the battlefield will also be cast on the unicorn.
Treant. "Forest Fury." Once used, it lasts until the end of the battle. Half of the defense is converted into attack. For example, if we had a treant with Attack/Defense (already including hero stat bonuses) of 22/40, it becomes 44/20. Additionally, the treant receives +2 to initiative and loses the ability to entangle enemies with roots. The effect is not removed by standard means.
Green Dragon. The rainbow dragon covers one to five cells with fire in random order. The direction and number of cells are chosen randomly. The number is also influenced by the dragon's luck (which can be positive or negative). One cell is always covered; more depends on luck.
Necromancer
Skeleton. Receive only a quarter of the damage from enemy magic.
Zombie – all creatures except undead adjacent to this zombie receive -2 to Attack/Defense and -1 to Morale.
Ghost. Ammo Steal – used once per battle. Several units of ammunition (Ammo) are taken from a selected squad of shooters within the poltergeist's movement range. The number of stolen charges equals the amount of weekly growth for poltergeists; any non-integer amount is converted into luck percentages.
Vampire. When attacking, has a chance to put an enemy squad to sleep for 3 turns.
Lich. An ability that deals damage to all creatures except undead and constructs located within a three-cell radius of the banshee.
Wight. All enemy creatures receive -1 to morale.
Bone Dragon. When attacking, the Sorrow spell is cast on the target at Basic expert level.
Academy
Gremlin. "Sabotage." A gremlin can "paralyze" any mechanical object (Golem, Ammo Cart, Ballista, First Aid Tent, Catapult, Town Tower) with a total hit point sum lower than that of the gremlin squad. The effect lasts one turn and is not removed by standard means.
Stone Gargoyle. The gargoyle and all creatures (including allies) standing nearby receive 1.5x damage from spells dealing fire, water, or air damage.
Iron Golem. Obsidian golems are immune to any magic except that which deals direct damage. Any spell dealing magical damage heals (with resurrection) the golems by half of the same amount of damage. At the start of the battle, an Obsidian Sphere effect is placed on the golems, which nullifies damage from Destruction school spells. If the golem squad was somehow damaged, the next magical strike hitting them will not only be nullified but will also heal the squad (with resurrection of the fallen) by a number of hits equal to the spell's damage. If obsidian golems along with other units are hit by an area-of-effect Destruction school spell (excluding "Armageddon" but including "Chain Lightning"), they absorb part of the damage themselves.
Mage. All creatures standing in the line of fire receive no damage from the mage's ranged attack, but they know fewer spells than an archmage.
Djinn. Three times per battle, a djinn vizier can increase luck for allies and decrease it for enemies. It cannot be applied multiple times to one unit; a negative effect placed over a positive one cancels it, and vice versa. Duration is one round multiplied by the djinns' Spell Power.
Rakshasa Rani. Attacks six cells in front of herself.
Colossus. Summons a 3x3 cell cloud for 3 turns over any location on the battlefield. All creatures standing under it receive damage every turn equal to 10 units for each colossus in the squad. All archers inside this zone receive a penalty to ranged attacks of one percent for each colossus.
Dwarves
Defender. As long as he has not moved from the spot where he stood at the start of the battle, his defense is 5 points higher.
Spearwielder. A harpooner can throw a harpoon on a rope instead of an ordinary spear. It deals standard damage and pulls the attacked creature one cell toward the harpooner (if that cell is unoccupied).
Bear Rider. When attacking, may frighten the opponent and its neighbors. The bear receives +1 to morale and +10% health for two turns.
Brawler. Every time he takes damage, his initiative increases by 2 and Attack by 5 points. This lasts for two turns; if the dwarf is hit on the second turn, he does not receive the bonus again. The dwarf receives +4 to Attack/Defense when fighting large creatures.
Rune Priest. After death, their inner flame bursts outward, dealing fire damage to all enemies in adjacent cells. The damage dealt depends on the number of priests in the squad at the start of the battle.
Thane. Once per battle, a lord can specify any enemy creature on the battlefield and deal standard damage multiplied by 1.2, and apply the Mark of Fire effect to it.
Fire Dragon. A "Fire Wall" remains at the site of the attack, lasting two turns and dealing 10 hits for each dragon in the squad.
