Posts from Tactics for playing as the Dwarves.

I thought that in 3.0, the maximum values for Luck and Defense were increased from 5 to 8! Isn't that right?

The values for Defense and Luck can be as high as 10, but the probability will never be more than 50%. This is done so that you can increase Luck and Defense with a "buffer," for example, you create a spirit with 7, a Necromancer lowers it by 2, and we still have the maximum probability. Basically, it works like that.

I thought that in 3.0, the maximum values for Luck and Defense were increased from 5 to 8! Isn't that right?

Even if it's more than 5, the probability of it happening still can't be more than 50%.

Added after 43 seconds
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Yes, empathy is a necessary quality, but it needs to be developed before education, and how do we solve the mana problem? I just had an idea.
After all, we will spend most of our mana on neutral creatures, and mana wells are not frequent, so we may run out of mana and lose many of our units, and what if an enemy hero appears?
Therefore, I think Protection would be a very useful skill in combination with Leadership + Light Magic (and to some extent, Chaos), if we quickly level it up to readiness (level 7), then there will be no problems with defeating neutral creatures, and the army enhancement skill will also go well with the direction of Light Magic. BUT then we must force the enemy to attack, and since we don't have Chaos magic, this will not be an easy task.
However, if we take two Priest upgrades at the same time, this problem is significantly reduced; we will use them not in the usual way (Mark + Fireball).
The main mass of Priests will use Fireballs, and the second upgrade is needed to create a wall behind the enemy, which will simply force them to attack. I think the strength of the Priests will be enough for the enemy to understand that they cannot sit in defense.

Yes, empathy is a necessary trait, but it needs to be developed before education, and how do you solve the problem with porridge?

I just noticed that empathy is quite difficult to develop for a dwarf, but there are skills that are not useless for him. +2 to spell power for a dwarf will definitely come in handy, and a scholar can also find a use for it (for example, to carry runes for the main hero as a secondary hero; I think it won't be a problem to level him up a couple of times). There is still room for magic attraction, which is also very useful for a dwarf.

Therefore, it seems to me that Protection would be a very useful skill in combination with leadership + light magic (and to some extent, chaos), if we quickly level it up to readiness (level 7), then there will be no problems with defeating neutrals, and the army enhancement skill will also be well combined with the direction of light magic. BUT then we have to force the enemy to attack, and since we don't have chaos magic, this will not be an easy task.

Yes, this is not a bad combination. I approve. But against a chaos warrior, and especially a Chaos Elemental, readiness is not very effective... If the enemy is some kind of light mage or, even better, an orc, then yes. We cast mass spells, the troops defend themselves. Therefore, the choice between protection and attack always turns out to be quite difficult and controversial. If you don't take protection and mechanics, it will be very difficult to get something with an 8% chance (like education). If you don't get stone skin in the guild, you can take it as a perk; it will be more useful than readiness against the same warlock.

Empathy is certainly important, but how do you acquire it before gaining education, and how do you solve the mana problem?

It would be very interesting to see how you acquire empathy before gaining education... :confused: Because without a secret keeper, you can't get it... And if you have education, it's not difficult to acquire magic. And there are no problems...

Added after 6 minutes

I just noticed that it's quite difficult for a dwarf to level up their education.

What's so difficult about it? It's 8%, not more difficult than leadership or attack luck (which are considered almost native to the dwarf); light magic has the same probability of appearing... Besides, you can take Inga - education and scholar from the start, which is what I do if I go to Dungeon. It's easy to get mana and +2 to spell power right away.

What's so complicated about it? 8% isn't harder than leadership or attack luck (which are practically inherent to dwarves); light magic drops with the same probability... Besides, you can take Inga – education and scholar from the start, which is what I do if I'm going for Chaos. It's easy to get mana and +2 to spell power right away...

I apologize for the mistake... Of course, I didn't mean education (because I occasionally check the wheel and know the probabilities). I meant the "empathy" perk (the mistake in the post has been corrected), which is not easy for dwarves to acquire because it requires education. In principle, you're right, it's much easier to get empathy with a hero who starts with education (i.e., Inga)...

I didn't mind taking the time to register and write this. So, dwarves are the strongest race in the game. Don't believe me? Alright, let me try to explain why these rugged bearded guys became my favorite race.
I should mention that I mainly play on large maps, so everything written below applies primarily to them.

Heroes:
Helmar - it's already been explained why he is good: at a high level, by casting Smite, you practically save a hero's turn in battle.
Ingvar - I often pick him because of the wild starting advantage. On the first turn, we upgrade warriors to defenders and clear all the stacks around, losing only 1-2 dwarves per fight. Against ranged units, a bit more (again, the energy rune is important). If there is even one warrior recruitment building on the map, the choice is obvious.

Forget about Carly and Ibba - harpooners and bears are useless without their abilities! Only take Ingu if you want to increase your chances of getting the energy rune.

Skills:
What the f... education with logistics? I read that and laughed for a long time... So:

Your biggest mistake could be thinking that dwarves are a magical race. Forget about offensive magic; without Sorcery (and consequently, without a lucky wizard), a dwarf will never catch up to a Warlock or a Wizard. One look at the runes makes it clear what this race was made for - melee. Accordingly, we will level up combat skills.

There are two true options:

1. Playing it safe.

Defense (Ingvar's starting skill) - Dwarves have good def, so why not improve it even more? Besides, we need the hearth.
As you level up, choose Fortitude - Defensive Hearth.
Then, depending on who you are playing against - Evasion / Readiness / Reflection.

Light (Helmar's starting skill) - The only necessary school for dwarves. From the perks, we take Bestower of Blessing and Righteous Wrath. Then, a choice: either Bestower of Protection if playing against ranged units, or Secrets of Light (priests have already been discussed).

Attack - in more detail here.
Tactics - a must-have; an extra tile for a slow army will be very useful. Also, if your opponent doesn't have AoE spells or a hundred or two paladins, the combination of defensive/offensive hearth and the extra tile allows you to arrange the dwarves in a "steel pig" formation, where all units strengthen each other several times over.
Offensive Hearth - an absolute must-have, just like the defensive one. Not taking hearths is complete stupidity; in the endgame, all your units should give +10 attack/defense to their neighbors.
Retribution - the sweetest of all dwarf perks; together with Runic Harmony and Leadership, it gives +25% attack. Add another +15% from expert attack. What's the total? Correct, 40%, without morale artifacts, without any stupid idols! Granted, this is when using a rune, but does it need to be said that in a serious battle, runes will be used every turn?

Leadership - here we only need Runic Harmony, and naturally, expert level in Leadership itself. In the final battle, +5 morale is already present.

Luck - +3 and that's it. Level up to expert.
Soldier's Luck - after retribution and hearths, it's the most needed perk for dwarves. Spear Throwers, so useless at the start, reveal their treacherous nature to enemies in all its glory. Bears offer the enemy a chance to "suck a paw" much more often than usual. Jarls launch walls of fire.
Magic Resistance + Dwarven Luck will also give the enemy an unpleasant surprise in the final battle (with these two perks, there's no need to rush).

2. If the map is huge, enemies are behind seven mountains, and the borders of the lands are guarded by legions of archangels, then our choice will be leveling up to Absolute Defense. In that case, instead of Light and Luck, we take:
Chaos Magic - Fire Lord - Pyrokinesis - Magic Drain.
Summoning Magic - Earth Master - Exorcism - Runic Shield. It's worth noting that Runic Shield is the only cool perk of all the above.
Defense, Attack, and Leadership are leveled exactly as in the previous option.

After obtaining Absolute Defense, the only threat could be armies of elves, dark elves, and Inferno that greatly outnumber you. Naturally, only if they also have their mega-ability leveled up.

Troops:
1. 90% of the time I take Mountain Defenders. They are good in both attack and defense, and while standing still (under Ingvar's careful guidance), they are practically invincible. Additionally, they are good for taking hits from the enemy's strong units; their wild defense allows losing 10-15 dwarves even when throwing them against level 7 creatures. Speed is compensated by the energy rune.
2. Spear Throwers + Soldier's Luck - they aren't capable of killing, but they can really mess things up for the enemy. Split them into several stacks if there are free slots.
3. Soldier's Luck works again. I like the first upgrade more, but if you've suddenly accumulated veeeery many bears (meaning the mythical "stack strength" parameter is large), then take Northern Riders.
4. Here it's 50/50. Berserkers are frail folk, so they should be used with great caution. However, their rage ability + area attack rune can wreak pure havoc in the enemy's defensive lines. Arkata warriors are much tougher and, additionally, good against large creatures (+4 / +4). The choice is yours.
5. Priests. Everything about priests has been written in this topic; I won't repeat it.
6. Again, 50/50. Earls are good in the endgame, but Soldier's Luck + the Jarls' wave of fire is not far behind. In small battles, the regeneration spell works well with Jarls.
7. This one is clear, we take the second upgrade, apply the speed rune, and the S-300 mobile missile system begins destroying the enemy. One downside - they cannot be resed.

Magic:
Mainly we cast Bless, Haste, Smite. If needed - Evasion, Regeneration, Protection. After which we start resurrecting Spear Throwers. :)

Runes.
1. The most important in the game - the energy rune. If you got it - there's a 60% chance victory is yours.
2. Res (Resurrection) Rune.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to finish writing about the runes; let's leave that for tomorrow.

Clans - for the win!

Skills:
What the heck... education with logistics? I read it and laughed for a long time...

You know, I'm a little embarrassed to explain here why education... You're so worried about stats, increasing them with artifacts, so in this regard, education is a great help, not to mention that without it, it's pointless for a gnome to pump Chaos. And... the spellpower of a gnome is leveled up just as well as a mage, so you're wrong about that. Of course, you won't be able to compete with a warlock, but it's not difficult to match a mage in spellpower.

As for logistics... Without it, it's very, very difficult to play in the late game, and I'm very concerned about the fact that it might not even drop for a gnome (although, in the late game, the chances increase)

And in general, if you combine everything you listed for Ingvar, it will be 32 (!) levels. You know how realistic it is to level up that much.

1. The most important thing in the game is the Rune of Energy. If you get it, there's a 60% chance that victory is yours.

Hmm... Where did you get these calculations from? :rolleyes: Although, in general, the rune really simplifies development, but it's a pity to spend a tree on it. And in the final stage, you can do without it.

In my opinion, it makes no sense to develop Chaos skills for a dwarf. His magic is meant to support troops. And spellpower will be very useful for Resurrection. I repeat, without magic, the dwarf will move too rarely to inflict serious damage with his fireball! Level 32 is not mandatory. You just need to prioritize, as I wrote. Magic Resistance is not something you absolutely need to take right away. Attached is a screenshot of a hero at level 18! Education will develop something unclear, while healing skills enhance attack and defense. Logistics is a much more useful skill, but there is simply no room for it in this build. The point is to strengthen the attack and defense of your troops in every possible way. With this build, combined with runes, only dark elves and demons (and maybe orcs) will be able to match our attack – but no one will be able to match our defense, and this advantage in these stats is guaranteed in the final battle. The Energy Rune is critical because: Mountain Guards – speed 4 Berserkers – speed 4 Arcata Dragons – speed 5 With the Energy Rune (and tactics!), these units can cross the entire battlefield in one turn.

Skills:
What the heck... education with logistics? I read it and laughed for a long time... So:

Your biggest mistake might be thinking that dwarves are a magical race. Forget about attack magic; without spellcasting (and, consequently, without a lucky sorcerer), a dwarf will never catch up to a necromancer or a mage. One look at the runes makes it clear what this race is for – melee combat. Accordingly, we will develop combat skills.

As for the first point, I'm all for logistics (if it's available) =)).
And I completely agree with the second point! Going into magic only works if you're going for a Sovereign Airship, and everything else isn't very impressive... This is my opinion, but in general, it's dictated by my love of solving problems with hands and buffs, rather than damage magic =)).

Added after 4 minutes

The energy rune is critical because:
Mountain Guards - speed 4
Berserkers - speed 4
Arcata Dragons - speed 5

With the energy rune (and tactics!), these units can cross the entire map in one turn.

You know, I would honestly replace light with logistics (if it were available), but only if we get the energy rune, which we can find out about at the latest in the second week =))). So there's time to reconsider =))

Not taking Hirday is complete nonsense; in the endgame, all your units should provide +10 attack/defense to their neighbors.

Question:
How should you position the Dwarf units so that the Hirday provides a +10 bonus to each unit?
It seems impossible to me...

Question:
How should I position the Dwarf units so that the Hierophant gives each unit a +10 bonus?
It seems impossible to me...

To get the +10 bonus, all adjacent stacks must have a combined strength that is 10 times greater. This is unlikely, and even if it happens, the unit probably won't be very useful... And it's not always beneficial to group troops, because there's Fireball, which halves defense, and there's an area-of-effect destructive beam, etc. And if we consider that we are the attackers, then it will be difficult to group the troops properly... Hierophants are designed for defensive tactics, both for the attacker and the defender.

Yes, it's true that staying on the defensive with a Hirdu isn't advantageous and only works against Orcs, but that doesn't diminish their usefulness; you just need to try to group up during the battle, but strategically. Often, the focus is on a single unit, and Hirdu help with that.
And even if we're focusing on attack/damage, there aren't any particularly important reasons that would prevent us from leveling up Hirdu; if there are, please name them.

thoughts on Hirdu:

1. You can arrange units of equal strength in a square. Then each unit will have neighbors that are three times stronger than itself. And each unit will receive a +4 bonus. If you arrange them in a triangle, each unit will receive a +3 bonus.

2. You can create an interesting strategy with Ingvar.
Place a hundred Warriors in a corner of the arena and place 10 Mountain Guards diagonally in front of them.
Have them retreat into a strong defense, and cast Stone Skin on them.
By level 11, you can have Mountain Guards with 17 HP and about 70 defense :)
For example, if a single Champion Dwarf attacks them, it will deal about 14 damage, not killing even one :)

Ingvar is quite strict in this regard. Readiness and a high-level hero allow you to easily defeat neutral creatures up to level 4-5 with Guardians. Let's break down the troop combinations on the battlefield in more detail so we don't get stuck on one thing. I think 2 squads of Priests is a good starting point. First, you need both a wall and a Fireball spell. The wall forces the enemy to attack, and the Fireball deals damage. After the wall, the spellcaster should cast a Fire Sign to increase the Fireball's effectiveness. The correct positioning of Mountain Guardians plays a big role, because we don't necessarily need to move them. However, placing them in front of the Priests is a good idea, because they will most likely be the target of attacks, while the Pikemen can hold their own in close combat. The flanks will be covered by Jarls and Dragons. I think Jarls are preferable to the upgraded version, I don't understand why everyone is so crazy about the upgraded version. In my opinion, a strong single attack is more important than a chain lightning spell, because we're not going to cast it in the very back of the enemy formation. Since we will force the enemy to attack, it's better to take Dragons with Napalm, because Napalm has proven its effectiveness even during the Vietnam War and can turn the area in front of the defensive line into a single, continuous fire. Bears play the role of light cavalry in our army, and their effective use can significantly affect the course of the battle. So, I've tried to put together a general overview, but the tactic has many flaws. For example, it won't work at all against a Necromancer or a Dark Knight, and not just against them.