Posts from Discussion of the Academy faction (Mages and Wizards). Tactics and their specific features.

Well, I would take Oru, or Razzak, or that guy who specializes in fireballs. Oru's turn comes quickly, Razzak's golems become incredibly powerful, and the third one burns with chaos, which is quite good for the mid-game.

or that guy who specializes in fireballs

That's why I started playing as him... But then I changed my mind... I would really like it if there was a summoning ability, but I won't be able to get him on a medium-sized map in time... :(

Nazir is a pretty cool hero, especially on maps where there will be problems with spells. But the most versatile choice is Nura; Hafiza might even get banned. And Nurka has an excellent start and almost always has full mana, which is important, because you don't always know when you'll encounter problems. Obviously, you take the Fire Warriors, and you can go and do good.

But the most versatile choice is Nura; Hafiza might get banned. And Nyurka has an excellent start and almost always has full mana, which is important because you don't always know when you'll encounter problems. Obviously, you take the Fire Warriors, and you can go and do good.

I was thinking about this, but we're playing up to levels 15-20. And in that time frame, there's plenty of mana. Besides, there are wells on the map.

The point isn't how much mana there will be at levels 15-20, but how aggressively you can play throughout that period. Goblins are a good unit, but they lack the power to break through defenses under Hafiz. The Necromancer has more skeleton units and has Resistance to Death (RD). The Mage needs to constantly attack with the Archer (Minami) under the Sign, speeding up the creep and minimizing losses. In the second week, it would be good to have an Oracle in reserve. All of this requires a lot of mana, and almost every visit to the well is a loss of tempo. Sometimes, with Nürke, you prolong battles to accumulate mana, and with the others, you sometimes sit without magical support at all. IMHO, an excess of mana is rare, but a shortage is a constant occurrence.

The point isn't how much mana there will be at levels 15-20, but how aggressively you can play throughout the entire period leading up to that.

That's true, but in the endgame, Nura's ability is practically useless. I'd rather lose 10 gargoyles while clearing neutral creatures than have an ability that is unlikely to help me. And Nazir will have a good Fire Bolt that will deal decent damage. Plus, it will be difficult for the Necromancer to raise troops, as the Fireball often hits 2 or more stacks... (I mean, towards the end). But, as I wrote above, he won't be able to take the Summoning skill... I think that only the irreplaceable Ogre remains...
Fireball, I also wanted to ask for your opinion on the "Elemental Balance" perk, is it worth taking against Necromancers? The likely opponent is Vlad. I think that if you're playing as an Ogre, it's better to take the Earth Lord. They aren't very fast, so you can have time to place 2 groups of mines. But with Elemental Balance, there's a risk, because the opponent might not get a Phoenix in the guild... But again, he will most likely take Overlord... so Elemental Balance wouldn't hurt...
P.S., I think the Overlord perk is essential for mages on medium-sized maps, so I didn't mention it above.

Sincerely, Prizrak.

In my opinion, the average game length implies some development of your army, followed by a rush into resource-rich areas and, likely, an encounter "in the center," where, as the saying goes, players of equal skill meet. I will base my reasoning on this.

but in the endgame, Nura's ability is practically useless.

I believe this is a very common and dangerous misconception. An active playstyle for a mage involves constant and repeated spellcasting in battle; otherwise, either the monsters are too weak for the game, or you will hopelessly fall behind in development. Very often, by maintaining the right pace, you encounter an enemy with no mana, which is almost a guaranteed death against powerful units, and the Dark Elf mage almost always has full mana. How many games in all the installments have been lost because the enemy caught you with no mana (difficult battles, no spellbook, didn't reach the mana well, etc.)? Nura's special ability not only allows you to fight more often, more actively, and more effectively but also ensures that you are always ready for battle.

I prefer to lose 10 gargoyles while clearing neutral creatures.

Maybe I'm not playing the Hive correctly, but I have the impression that the difference is not just a few gargoyles, but in the levels of monsters that can be cleared without making loops.

I also wanted to ask for your opinion on the "Elemental Balance" perk: is it worth taking against necromancers? The likely opponent is Vlad.

Against Vlad, it's definitely worth it. He can't switch to another magic school, and he can't take Elemental Balance. The rest will be finished off by his Summon and Archer under the Sign. I believe that in most of these scenarios, Vlad is doomed.
However, if your opponent breaks away from the stereotypes of version 1.0 and takes Zoltan, that will be a problem. He may not only have Elemental Balance but also Darkness with Plague and Matyuk, and even Chaos (not all at once, of course). Considering Education and Attraction, his stats and mana will be in good shape, and he will also ban your Archer and any other low-level damage dealer you have. And he will start using his considerable Sorcery to its full extent, and his Defense parameter will also be decent. Here, you need to find a way out by taking several Chaos spells, building a Guild, and developing your army, which is not always possible to do simultaneously. If there is nothing to cast, almost all of the mage's primary parameters are useless, as is the Sorcery skill. It is not for nothing that Zoltan's biography explicitly states that he is an antimage.

No time to elaborate... So, everything briefly and clearly:). 1. Map - "Former Friends" 2. Starting color - yellow. 3. Castle - naturally, the Academy. 4. Starting hero - Hafiz (In my opinion, the most suitable hero for this map). 5. Difficulty - Veteran. 6. Opponents - a) Dungeon (Letos) b) Human (Vittorio) c) Sylvan (Ossir) d) Necromancer (Kaspar). One of them. In general, write what you think (when is the optimal time to go to the center, whether it is worth going into the dungeon, etc.)… I have a lot of thoughts on this matter, but I have to run now, so I will share them later.

I'll try to provide some insights on a couple of Kaspar (blue) vs. Hafiz (yellow) matchups and the map in general. If nothing too terrible happens to the Undead player, by the end of day 3, Kaspar will break through the bridge's defenses. He will often manage to destroy the guard protecting his own artifact as well. His army will consist of around 120 skeletons, zombies, ghosts, and meat from the left hero. For his first upgrades, he will prioritize Marksmanship and Machine skills. He will then focus on acquiring units for gathering and saving movement points. His tactic will be simple: kill as many monsters as possible for experience and grab at least 3 out of 4 artifacts. If he succeeds, things will look bad. Goblins and his own Machine units will clearly not be enough for a victory in open combat, and the hero's early-game units will likely fall to RD (Resurrection Domain) and the special ability in the Tent (in this case, the Undead hero will be stronger). Things will only get worse from there. In the center, monsters that raise vampires are almost always generated. The Necromancer will pay close attention to this. Either he will have 8 vampires by day 30, or there is a high probability that the mage will be captured after the potential bloodsuckers are killed. Therefore, all of the above must not be allowed to happen to Kaspar. To achieve this, you need to move into the center no later than day 4 (due to the lack of a penalty on the sand, there is a day to spare). You can try to keep up (or even overtake) Kaspar in terms of development, collect at least 2 artifacts, and not leave monster stacks for vampire raising. Alternatively, you can rush for a confrontation if your development and goblins are going well, and you have a comparable number of units to skeletons, plus a giant. The battle can go either way, depending on the same factors: development, artifacts, the amount of mana the Necromancer has (this and the number of skeletons can be reduced by early-game units like Ory and Nura, but not always), the presence of damage spells for Hafiz, etc. But the problem is also that, regardless of the winner, both rivals will very likely lose their combat effectiveness until the next growth. And who will fare better on wood and stone, and who will have 350 resources by day 8, is clear. As a conclusion: Hafiz is a strong rusher with a mobility advantage in the center, which can be exploited, but in a long series of games against equal opponents, I would bet on Kaspar, although this may be biased. In general, on the "Former Friends" map, you should go to the center as soon as you realize you can fight there; there is no question of going underground. I will leave the discussion of Leto and Vittorio to others, but Ossir, in my opinion, is not a match for Hafiz on this map.

and to rush Machines

Well, that's good, the gremlins will destroy the tent and Kaspar's ability will be gone...

For this, you need to reach the center no later than day 4.

I understand reaching the center with Necropolis (there's resurrection and a tent), but for a Mage, that's tough...

there's no talk of an underground base

That's obvious, but once I went down there, simply because I had no choice; Mages and scubas were guarding it, if I remember correctly...

Well, if the gremlins destroy the tent, Kaspar's ability will be useless...

No, they won't destroy it. On expert difficulty, the tent will have 800 HP, which means you need 134 gremlins. This is only if there are 2 native heroes in the tavern, and they will also be targeted by ranged attacks.

I understand going for the Necropolis center (with resurrection and a tent), but for the Mage, that's tough...

If you quickly level up the tent yourself, it's possible (+ you have a day in reserve), and there's no other option. Kaspar simply does it more effectively due to his specialization and RD.
But even a few days of delay in going for the center is fatal against Kaspar, because with his vision, he spots 3 artifacts and plans his resource gathering perfectly. With a bit of luck, he can even conquer Utopia in a week, and there's no way to out-level him in the center afterwards.
If you both go for the center at the same time, an interesting race begins, but the problem is that Kaspar goes there more consistently, which is why I think he's more likely to win in this series.

That's obvious, but once I went there because I had no choice; there were mages and scubas guarding it, if I remember correctly...

Yes, mages and an older grade of succubi are a problem, but sometimes Kaspar can break through, while archmages and druids are almost a guaranteed loss, although this is true for any hero and any race.

No, they won't. On expert difficulty, the tent will have 800 HP, which means you need 134 Gremlins. This is only with 2 native heroes in the tavern, and they will also be shot at.

Hmm... That's strange... I played on this map against Deleb, and she had machines on expert difficulty. I destroyed her ballista with 111 Gremlins. As far as I know, the ability affects the ballista in the same way as it affects the tent... Is this a bug?

If you quickly level up the Tent yourself.

Well, that's not a problem... On the first level, there's a high chance of getting a tent/ballista, so you need everything, and there are no problems with that. + There's a house on the yellow territory where machines are sold, and the tent is cheap there... + The main hero already has a cart, so we can heal as much as we want.;)..

P.S. I read in the manual about the Gremlins' ability, but they really did destroy Deleb's ballista.

Hmm... That's strange... I played on this map against Deleb, she had machines on Expert level, and I defeated her Ballista with 111 Gremlins. As far as I know, the ability affects the Ballista in the same way as it affects the Tent... Is this a bug?

It might be a bug, but most likely Deleb didn't have the Ballista skill, only the Expert Machines skill. In that case, the Gremlins have 666 HP, which is more than the Ballista's 550 HP (with the corresponding skill, it would be 1100, and then they wouldn't have been defeated).

Well, that's not a big problem... On the first level, there's a high chance of getting a Tent/Ballista, so you need to take everything, and there are no problems with that.

The Tent is needed for the first or second upgrade (probability 1/3), and if you take the Ballista right away, you might have problems with quickly getting the Tent later, because you'll need to level up to Advanced Machines. They will actively offer racial perks and upgrades, and the chance of getting a Rapid-Fire Ballista (like any perk of the 2nd circle) is significantly higher than getting a Tent. So, there are problems, and they are significant.

+ the hero already has a cart, so we can heal as much as we want.

Don't mislead the public; the cart doesn't affect the Tent's shots; there are still only 3 of them.

Don't mislead the public; the cart doesn't affect the tent's shots; there are still only 3 of them.

My apologies... I made a mistake...

So, you can only level up by using machines... there's simply no time for anything else...

P.S. Thanks, I've understood everything for myself.

Sincerely.

Hmm... That's strange... I played on this map against Daleb, and she had machines on expert difficulty. I defeated her ballista with 111 gremlins. As far as I know, the ability affects the ballista in the same way as it affects a tent... Is this a bug?

Maybe the hero had "Endurance" (+2 to hp) skill upgraded?
And also, you can reduce the hit points of war machines (for example, by "accidentally" hitting them with an area-of-effect spell). This is also taken into account.:smile19: