Posts from Playing on L-shaped maps. Auto-translated

I believe that playing on L-sized maps greatly balances the game, especially because: On XL maps, Necromancers have clear advantages, such as large groups of skeletons and all the consequences that come with it. Tower also performs well on XL maps, so well that it can provide strong competition even to Necropolis, let alone all the other factions. Excluding Conflux, which crushes everyone in any situation. Therefore, I would like to know the tactics for playing specifically on L-sized maps, especially for Necropolis, as well as Tower and Dungeon (resource-intensive cities) against human players on a 200% difficulty level without using diplomacy. Assuming moderate luck for all players. Thank you in advance.

It depends on the rules you're playing by. If there are no restrictions: 1. Necropolis. Heroes: Galtran, Izra, Vidomina. Build order: first week - vampires in the Citadel (preferably in the castle), second week - Necromancy upgrade, Death Knights in the castle, if possible - dragons. Heroes at this time gather skeletons and level up. Third week - try to take the Utopian. If you get the Air magic book or wings, take them immediately, grab all the gold, and fly to your opponent. That's it. 2. Tower. Main hero - Kirr. Immediately buy several heroes, upgrade Goblins, and destroy everything. This tactic is called the "Goblin rush." If there's a building with the "War Machine" skill, Torosar can be very effective. In general, there are many native heroes with archers, plus there's a skilled archer who can train the others. By the second week, Giants should be available! Or, if you have a few Naga lairs, you can even try to do without Giants (but it's better with them). By the fourth week, you need to somehow take the Utopian. And make sure at least someone survives. After that, it will be much easier. Upgrade Titans, and then continue the fight using your main trump card - the powerful Magic Guild. 3. Dungeon. Starting hero - Shakti. Later, he will most likely be the main hero. You can also level up Gunnar and Jezhzhit with Alamar in parallel. An early upgrade of Trolls is desirable - and then go for it. Destroy all buildings, take money and resources. If you put Minotaurs in the castle early on, that's a good start. Next, a very important point. If you see a lair, think about it. Maybe a better one will appear. For example, if your opponent has a Dragon lair, they've almost lost. Take it in the first week. Buy a dragon. Build a portal. Buy a dragon there. By the beginning of the second week, with 4 dragons, you can cause some havoc. If the game drags on, it's not fatal for you - even in the third week, if you build dragons, you'll have a growth of 5 per week (1 lair, 1 from the portal, 3 in the castle thanks to the lair), and that's it. You understand that if there's also a Troll lair, then not always dragons will come out of the portal... Okay, let's continue. If there are no lairs, you have 1 strong stack of upgraded Trolls in Shakti's hands, and by the third week, a good Minotaur squad will also accumulate. Next. You'll put Dragons on the second or third week. Don't worry, you have other trump cards. On the third week (if you're lucky), and definitely on the fourth, you need to destroy the Utopian. Remember that red dragons are reborn, but black ones are not (taking into account heroes with specialization or the ability to learn the resurrection spell). Don't be afraid of anything after that. Your Minotaurs deal damage comparable to that of level 6 units, and the Trolls (if they survived after the Utopian) in Shakti's hands are a formidable weapon. Two excellent ranged units without a penalty in melee combat are also a good thing. Remember the following: 1. A normal player's army usually contains Angels from the Fortress and Wyverns from the Hive. Moreover, these are often some of the main attack stacks. 2. All kinds of buildings on the map are almost free experience and money. 3. The first week is for building an army. You'll get the money back. 4. Don't be afraid of anyone. Forget how you used to play. Use tactics.

2. Tower.
The main hero is Kirr. :eek:

Yeah... dreaming doesn't hurt! Or maybe Sir Mullich right away? Why be modest?

Kirr moves quickly and has good ranged attack. I think it's unnecessary to explain the importance of a fast hero on map L. And ranged attack will probably be useful for a castle with three ranged units...
Besides, if the rules allow, you can also use Tazar, Crag Hack, Sir Mullich, Galtaran, Dess, Gunnar, and others...

Dirty_Player, it seems, meant that the chance of the ranger Kirr appearing in the Fortress tavern is too low, and therefore you are unlikely to be able to make him your main hero.

I think Dirty Player was hinting at the fact that finding a strong hero isn't that easy due to their large number. The lack of a decent starting hero is a significant drawback of the Stronghold.

Heroes: Galtran, Izra, Vidomina.
Build order: first week - vampires in the Stronghold (better in the Castle)

Allow me to make a small remark about the Necropolis build order. On any reasonably decent map, I almost always prefer the Transmuter-Enhancer-Zombie-Guild-Vampires-Stronghold-Castle build order.
The first two buildings are cheap (meaning we can buy many heroes) and very useful for the starting army and the speed of recruiting skeletons. If zombies are available at the start, Liches are also a good option. There are also cases where the Enhancer is not effective in the first week, but, in my opinion, this is less common than the opposite, and there is not always enough money for knights, because on day 8 you need to upgrade vampires, buy forces, and almost always explore revealed Hive and resource locations, which will provide high-level units for recruiting skeletons with several Necromancer heroes.

Yeah, but we're talking about a difficulty of 200% plus not the most optimal game level yet... If you manage to place an enhancer in the castle along with the vampires during the first week, that's great, I agree.

Dirty_Player seems to have meant that the chance of the ranger Kirr appearing in the Tower's tavern is too low,
and therefore you are unlikely to be able to make him your main hero.

Exactly!!!

I think Dirty Player was hinting at the fact that it's not that easy to find a strong hero because there are so many of them. The lack of a decent starting hero is a major drawback of the Tower.

Although you can definitely play as Nella!

No, this is starting to "smoothly" turn into a discussion about tactics for the Wizard.
The author's question is more important than discussing which heroes are best to play...?

But still, this question isn't entirely objective... To answer it, we need more details, as each castle and faction has its own tactics for playing on an L map. Since the speed of victory on the map plays a significant role, let's talk about Online play... And here, there's nothing particularly unusual... - the only thing is that there's a real opportunity to let Necromancers "have fun" collecting skeletons...

The tactic is always the same: act according to the situation. For heroes, I choose mages. Tower: Solmyr, Halon Necropolis: Sandro, Nimbus Dungeon: Jaeghar, Geon

The tactic is always the same: act according to the situation.
I choose mages as heroes.
Tower: Solmyr, Halon
Necropolis: Sandro, Nimbus
Dungeon: Jaeghar, Geon

You usually can't play with Solmyr, Sandro is for those who like him, and the rest are just a joke!!! :D
Damacon, it's better to choose Damacon! :D

I use it too. I didn't notice that it's being discussed in the context of online battles. In general, I can play as any faction, there's not much difference, but I prefer magic.

Yes, yes, you're absolutely right, don't take Shakti at all, he's a LOSER!!!
And you shouldn't make Gunnar your main hero either! He's a loser too!!!

But Damacon is a real pro :D

Damacon, I completely agree with you! For me, true skill lies in a player's ability to win while playing with any faction and using the heroes available at the beginning of the game. After all, it's interesting: in each situation, there's a unique path of development and a unique tactic! Acting according to a template is boring for me! :( "Give me a fulcrum" (a favorite faction, a favorite hero, favorite creatures, a spellbook with favorite spells...), and I will crush everyone! :D But what if they don't? :)

Colleagues, I might be repeating myself... But I get sad when your entire strategy revolves around eliminating Vivs/Gnomes/Conflux/Sylvan, etc.
Let's imagine for a moment a fix that removes these units – where are your supposed skills then? You need to think in new ways, but that's not something online players are used to.

Added 7 minutes later
In short, to all online and offline players:
I offer a bonus of 50 bucks to whoever is the first to complete mission 3 and submit the save files.
I'm not rich, but I stand by my word.