Posts from All castles in Heroes 3.

That's true. For example, I don't have a favorite castle; I can play with any, but I play with Inferno the least. There's something about it that I don't like, although I'm not saying it's bad. And in general, when playing on random maps, the main hero usually has at most half of their units from their home castle by the end of the game; the rest are either angels/wyverns or high-level units from other castles they've built. So, it turns out to be a kind of international team. By the way, a mixed army is the most effective because you take the best units based on a combination of factors, and the selection is made taking into account the enemy's army. This is what I mean: many people focus on the starting castle and don't build other castles, which is a big mistake.

Here are the prices of all built cities for buying units for a week without Grail:

all resources are approximately = 250 gold
1. Tower 31800 (30800 + 4 gems)
2. Castle 31080 (29580 + 6 gems)
3. Conflux 29500 (28500 + 4 mercury)
4. Inferno 29090 (28090 + 4 mercury)
5. Dungeon 28205 (27205 + 4 sulfur)
6. Rampart 27620 (26620 + 4 crystal)
7. Necropolis 27420 (26920 + 2 mercury)
8. Swamp 27160 (26660 + 2 sulfur)
Stronghold 25530 (24530 + 2 crystal)

I would like to draw attention to the Tower, Castle, Necropolis, Rampart, and Dungeon, as I think they are more interesting.

From this it follows that the Tower is the most expensive, and moreover, the Tower and Dungeon are the most expensive in terms of building units. The Tower requires a huge amount of gems and many other resources, such as crystals, mercury, and sulfur. The Dungeon requires a lot of sulfur.
The Stronghold also requires many resources for construction - a lot of wood, stones, and crystals for hippogryphs and cyclops. The Rampart requires a lot of wood and crystals. The Necropolis is relatively cheap in this regard, and the Castle is a little more expensive.

Castle - level 1 and 7 are the strongest. The Halberdier can only compete with the Centaur. The Champion is in 3rd place, the rest of the units are above average, the magic is above average, the stable is a good helper in scouting.
Tower - level 6, 2nd place. Many archers and magic. The vast majority are not contenders for the first ranks in combat, but there are no weak units.
Dungeon - a lot of magic and useful buildings (experience, portal, artifact merchant (as in the Tower), bombard 2nd level and 2 good archers), a strong 7th level.
Necropolis - undead! Levels 4 and 6 are the strongest, good magic, a good archer, the rest of the units are average.
Rampart - good defenders, unit 3 is an excellent archer, level 1 is fast and not weak, all other units are above average. Good magic, useful buildings for developing the city.
So, I would give first place to the Castle and Necropolis, second place to the Tower and Dungeon, and third place to the Rampart.
But, as they say, in good hands, each of these, and indeed all the other cities, will find its superiority, because the balance in Heroes is excellent.

My brother did something similar and concluded that Rampart is the most economically viable castle (some might disagree, as there are castles where wars are cheaper, but Rampart has a treasury) and can sustain itself, meaning you can stay put and not have to move around.

I may really love Dungeon, but I don't think it's the strongest town, because there isn't a single strongest town in the game! Castle is a town with a strong army and mediocre magic, but it has a lot of morale, which is what matters! Archangels are the strongest in the game in terms of damage, but they are also incredibly expensive! All units in the Castle have a lot of hit points, good defense, excellent attack, and many great bonuses, like the Crusader's double strike! This is a town where there's no weak unit. In my opinion, the weakest unit is the Monk! They have a good attack, decent damage, and they shoot! But with their growth rate, hit points, and defense, they are a weak unit compared to other units in the Castle! In conclusion, Castle is the best town for beginners and a very strong town in the game! But I don't really enjoy playing as Castle. Rampart is a town with a strong army, or rather, with heavily armored units, and decent magic! Plus, a lot of luck! The best first-level units in the game, with the most hit points, good damage, defense, and attack, and they move quickly, it's a shame they can't fly! In my opinion, the best second-level units are Gnomes! With their defense and hit points, they are unmatched at level two, except perhaps by Water Elementals. I would even give this spot to Water Elementals, but magic resistance is a powerful ability! The strongest third-level units, and some of the best archers in the game! And of course, the Logs. I often won battles thanks to Gnomes and Logs! Their downside is their slowness, but teleportation solves that! They are a threat to all archers and similar units. No one will immediately destroy Logs or Gnomes (and no one will destroy them quickly), because there are weak archers with high damage, Unicorns, and Dragons that a smart opponent will destroy first! In short, Rampart is a very strong town that is quite easy to play, just like Castle! Tower is a town that is both incredibly expensive and incredibly strong! But this town's potential can only be realized on large maps! First, you need to play as a mage, and you can't really play as a mage on small maps! Second, to build Titans, you need a lot of resources and money! But in principle, if you quickly build Nagas, which is unlikely, then there is potential even on small maps! Also, don't forget about Golems, they are as tough and useful as Gnomes from Rampart! In conclusion, this is the most expensive town in the game, but also a very strong one! Titans, Nagas, Golems + a lot of knowledge, and many useful spells, of course, it depends on luck, but you'll have more luck with the library than in any other town! You need to know how to play as Tower. Necropolis - I used to think it was the most expensive town, because I never built Dragons, and building an army from level 1 to 6 requires the most money compared to other towns, and the buildings are not cheap either! So, the situation is the same as with Tower! On a large map, it's a very powerful town, on a small map, it's powerful if you manage to build up to the Riders, I usually manage, but still, Stronghold or Swamp usually decide the outcome on small maps. The magic is so-so, but Enchantment is powerful (of course, forget about the Necromancer's Cloak, this is clearly a balance issue, I always disable this artifact from the map). As a result, we get a sea of skeletons, not the weakest, not the slowest, and not the most useless. We get real cannon fodder in the form of Zombies! Quite useful Spirits! And of course, the evil trio - Vampires, Liches, and Riders! Necropolis is simultaneously a difficult town, simultaneously unpredictable, and simultaneously very interesting! Battles involving Necropolis units are some of the most tactical and interesting! I love this town, but since I like to play as mages on large maps (and you can't go far with this town on small maps), I prefer Dungeon. I'll write more later, I want to sleep

I'm all for the Swamp faction! I used to prefer playing as Necropolis (Vampire Lords were unbeatable). Then I tried the Swamp, and then another game with it. And now, for several years, I've preferred the Swamp faction over other castles.
It's just a great faction. You can build Wyverns in one day, capture mines, and summon Hydras... Everything happens quickly, cheaply, and reliably. Leveling up goes faster than with other factions. If the game takes place on a Medium map, you're unmatched. But if the map is larger, you have to put in more effort...

I like Rampart. The tactics for it should be cautious; you can’t afford to lose a single unit, but by the end of the game, these concerns pay off, and these units, which are weak in health and don’t stand out in terms of hit points or damage, led by elves, tear apart even the highly praised Necropolis, binding vampires with dendroids, killing a bunch of skeletons with a horde of dwarves, and shooting a crowd of preserved elves at liches, finishing off the pitiful remnants. The only ones who can stand up to the elves with good gameplay are Fortress and Dungeon, which are also my favorite cities, and which very (very, very) effectively counter Rampart!

who thinks what
which race is the strongest
it doesn't depend on the level.

Why argue? Personally, I think ifrits are great! They have pretty good stats, plus the fire shield deals additional damage. It's a shame you don't always have time to build them...

And have you tried going into the tower?! The master djinns in there are exactly the same (although they are a lower level):smile43:

Added 7 minutes later

That's true, I don't have a favorite castle, I can play with any, but I play with Inferno the least. I don't know why, but it doesn't appeal to me, although I'm not saying it's bad. And in general, when playing on random maps, the main hero usually has a maximum of half of the units from their home castle by the end of the game, the rest are either angels/wyverns or high-level units from other castles they've built. So, it turns out to be a kind of international team. By the way, a mixed army is the most effective, as it takes the best units based on a combination of factors and takes into account the enemy's army when making the selection. I'm saying this because many people get fixated on the starting castle and don't build other castles, which is a big mistake.

And what about morale?! Just a reminder: 3 worldviews -1 to morale! 4 - -2 to morale! 5 - -3 to morale!

So, who is stronger? I think it's the Castle. Griffons are so-so, but have you ever tried going into the special tower (it's only in Heroes of Might and Magic, but you can enable it in the settings for Might & Magic: Heroes) and giving the griffons additional abilities like: hitting everyone around, hitting twice, and not taking damage in return (for mithril, which is also only in Heroes of Might and Magic, and a portion of these griffons in the army)? My friend didn't know about this tower at first, but when we played together online, he was very surprised why the griffon was hitting everyone around and twice! Archangels are awesome, Knights are also good, archers (level 2) shoot twice and reduce defense, spearmen aren't very good, but Crusaders are very effective because of their double attack! And in general, the Castle is the best:smile02:

I don't know who is stronger... it's objectively very difficult to say.
I'll say that I've always liked Nighon.
Minotaurs (the best), Black Dragons (maybe Archangels are better in some ways, but the immunity puts Black Dragons ahead)
Portal of Summoning (often useful in campaigns), Mana Vortex... and it's aesthetically pleasing.

I apologize in advance if I offend anyone, though I'm not trying to, and I might just "ramble" on about some things ))) Let's begin... :)

I'll write a few lines to the players who are still trying to figure out which castle is better, or which hero is more interesting... There is simply no such thing ))).... Honestly... Well, after that phrase, I'll be a bit more constructive...

There are several "imbalanced" heroes... (I'm talking about pure 3x heroes... 3.5 is completely different...) I won't describe them all... I'll give examples...
1. Roland - the hero for Dwarves... Rampart... His "unfairness" comes from a bug in the Heroes of Might and Magic scripts themselves... knowing a few simple game mechanics, or rather, let's call them "keys" (these aren't cheats!... they're a game mechanic)... in the first week, with almost no army, this hero can recruit massive non-castle armies..., and starting from the second week... Angels... Devils... etc. Additionally, this hero's first "perk" should be Leadership... and then the number of castle creature types doesn't matter... the army will always move...
2. I'm a randomizer... I always play on random and always at 200%... except for: random map size and random mob difficulty - I always set those to max...
So... I'll repeat once more: there are no bad heroes and no bad units... there are only clumsy hands... let's take, for example, a very prosaic hero: monk Leonis... with his prayer. This hero is considered one of the strongest heroes of the Castle, but the problem is that he levels up the wrong "stats", + his Prayer at final levels is worth nothing, because by the end of the game, it only brings him up to the level of an average semi-mage. (The best combination: Crag Hack with mass prayer... or Tzar...) Here, I'll highlight the two mentioned heroes. Crag Hack is a damage dealer, but if you get his castle, he won't help much... This hero should be taken for Dungeon with its Minotaurs or for Castle with its cavalry and best unit - Knights... It's just that the chance of getting Water magic is negligible... A pity... ))) Starting at 200% is best with heroes for gold or resources, which increases the chance of building the necessary units... Any hero at level 5, with proper skill builds, becomes equal to all other level 5 heroes with proper skill builds... For example: the Elemental castle plays with fairies and storms, and the best hero - Grindan - has slow at the start... + fairies ))... I read that someone described a tactic of "clearing the crypt in the first week", well, Grindan clears any crypt on the third day (you just need to collect 1000 gold for fairy upgrades - if there are no finances on the map, then wait 2 days for profit of 500 + 350 from Grindan - there are upgrades for the fairies themselves and additional purchases... then you can open chests under guard) ..., but generally, any castle clears a crypt with 10 vamps in the first week... Vamps are weak without upgrades.

In this same letter, I'll address Dmitry_A_S.
I liked your work, but you shouldn't look for the "average warrior". I played Conflux very often in the past. There are only 4 combat units there... and the other three defend the city... But to be honest:
The game is ALWAYS played with 2 heroes:

1. Any hero + fairies and air elementals...
1.1. Battles do not occur until the fairies change into blue evening gowns with a deep neckline ))))
1.2. Any archers and dragons are left for dessert...
1.3. While there are few fairies (less than 100), it's better not to attack serious clusters (say, 20 Minotaurs)...
2. A second hero is built (I'll skip the part about city development)...
2.1. The second hero dumps their entire army onto the first and collects ALL resources and levels up in all locations... The main hero collects nothing - he has no time for that...
2.2. As soon as Water Elementals are built, the second hero grabs them and, splitting the fairies (of which the first hero hasn't lost a single one), splitting the fairies 2 to 3... the first gets the smaller part....
3. Phoenixes appear - these are just overgrown fairies ))))
3.1. The first hero transfers fairies (all of them...) to the second main hero via the 2nd, 3rd, or 10th hero...
3.2. Army of the first: (peacetime) Storms + Fens + Magic Elementals
in wartime, the second hero dumps their army onto the first (wartime is when a hero arrives with ten weeks of purchases against your five weeks)
3.3. Army of the second: (always wartime) Fairies + Ice Elementals + Fire Elementals

In this tactic, the main thing is not to lose a single fairy!... - the key to success... This tactic is good for beginners, because fairies have low HP, and losing them at the start of the game is lethal... It increases control... :smile30:

Regarding which city is better than another:
In every city, there are units that inherently provide tactics against certain other units. There are no unique units against everything... there are only unkillable packs...

And now the game itself:
1. Utopias - cheating!!!
2. Pandoras - cheating!!!
No matter how much I play, I always agree with the opponent to play without these 2 paths, if he's not a PK, of course. Why: there are very interesting Pandoras that give "Jump" - the fifth-level spell Dimension Door. Usually, such Pandoras are guarded by packs that can be destroyed in the first week with some losses and a strategy... (a horde of pegasi or a horde of nagas), and then - you jump right next to 100 Titans and take a hat +6 to all stats... etc))) then the game becomes meaningless...

Thank you in advance for the criticism :smile23:
Respectfully.....

1) If you ban Utopias and Pandoras, I believe the game will lose all interest. Perhaps in that case, it would be worth introducing restrictions, for example, on the conditions for using certain spells, etc., as is done when creating general rules for online games. Here, please follow the link and familiarize yourself with the rules. You can see that there are serious restrictions on the use of spells (for example, Dimension Door only once a day, collecting artifacts with "Teleport" is prohibited until the guards are defeated), and other limitations. But to globally prohibit Utopias and Pandoras means hopelessly reducing interest in the game.

2) Destroy an army of Nagas with overwhelming force on week 1 at 200%? I don't think this is realistic in an online game, even if you level up a hero with diplomacy skills. In general, on our portal, and not only here, due to compelling reasons, there is a practice of playing at 160% (the main argument is that development speeds up and, consequently, the real time spent online decreases). There are also restrictions on diplomacy. Join us!

Sorry, would you be able to host a workshop on how to effectively defeat an army (50-99) of Pegasi or an army of Nagas (50-99) during the first week?

2 VBN

Thank you for the suggestion))...
I'm not saying or suggesting to remove anything....))) I'm just stating a fact... + I suggest you try playing at 200 difficulty without Pandora and Utopia against the AI... you won't find a more challenging opponent))... and this will show you the imbalance... possibly... In tournaments... 160... is fine... although if you play on Medium (not Small!!!) then 200 will be more interesting......

2 qwerty

I apologize, it was a typo....
up to 20... (groups, few....)

Try this: grind 200% rating 20 nag... (arrangement - a lot...) is achieved by arranging your army....
your army without growth - ~100 fairies, 4-10 air elementals... in reserve 4-6 casts of Slowdown with 3-5 turns duration... i.e. 12-30 pure turns /2 = 6-15 bites from fairies... then it gets more complicated....)))

Here, I will highlight the two mentioned heroes. Crag Hack is a damage dealer, but if you get his Castle, he won't be of much help...

He-he. Well, if Crag Hack doesn't help the Stronghold, then I don't know. In my opinion, Crag Hack mainly helps the Stronghold. With experience from air units and the first attack of all his creatures. That's his specialty (and considering the Stronghold creatures' tendency to attack), this tactic is the main source of victory and the reason for choosing this city with Crag Hack as its leader.

Any hero at level 5, with proper skill allocation, becomes equal to all other level 5 heroes with proper skill allocation...

But why compare two level 5 heroes? Let's compare Loian and Tazar (both level 15).

you just need to collect 1000 gold for the upgrade of fairies...

Guys! If you've decided to play on HotA and participate in the life of this forum, then at least write your Articles according to the rules - fairy upgrade is prohibited, which, by the way, balances Sovra very well in relation to other Castles.

Well, to be honest: You ALWAYS play with 2 heroes:

1. Any hero + fairies and air units...
2. A second hero is built (I'm not going to talk about the development of the city itself)...
2.1. The second hero transfers all the army to the first and collects ALL resources and levels up in all places... The main hero doesn't collect anything - he has no time for that...

By stating "ALWAYS", aren't you afraid of appearing like a noob? ))) No matter how much I play with strong players (I can't include myself, and probably you, in this group), I have never had more heroes in the first week than they do, although I build 5-6 (sometimes 7) heroes. I would advise you to play online first (believe me, it's much more interesting than playing against the computer, even on 200% difficulty). And why claim that something should always be done, and something else sometimes?