Posts from Mages – their development.

Against darkness, humans have antimagic. It both removes spells and grants immunity.

What do you suggest? Chaos or light? It's better to hope that the opponent won't have anti-magic spells...

For mages, the coolest thing is empathy, if you manage to acquire leadership. An Ogre with empathy and loyalty will crush anyone. Everything else is less important. However, it's much easier for a knight to gain empathy. I usually level up the relevant magic skills. I always try to get Counterspell. An Ogre, even without empathy, will usually move before the enemy and, if desired, can prevent them from casting any spells with Counterspell. Thanks to its initiative, it will be able to cast its own spells and prevent the enemy from doing so. However, it probably doesn't make sense to use Counterspell against non-magical creatures. But it's quite useful against Chaos and Summoners. If you have a mentor, you can reach a sufficient level and re-specialize to gain Special Ability (SA). If you manage to get Armageddon quickly, you can immediately start leveling up Chaos. Then SA is not needed. In version 3.0, you can get spells in advance in the treasure chamber, pyramid, or utopia, without knowing the corresponding school. There are many options. Especially in version 3.0. However, this applies to all races.

I was thinking about cross-faction play, but I had to give up on the idea... 2% isn't very good.

In my opinion, one of the most important skills, especially for mages, is Defense. The skill is good in itself, and it also fits very well with the mage's playstyle (defense, as it provides 3 ranged attacks, and with Fire Warriors, even 4). Moreover, Expert Defense reduces damage by 30%, which, if I'm not mistaken, means that the lower the Defense stat of the hero and troops, the MORE USEFUL the Defense skill is (because with low defense, units take more damage, and these -30% provide significant help). This is especially true for mages. Of course, the 2% chance of Defense appearing is a problem, but this problem is easily solved by choosing Razazak. Following the same logic, it probably isn't worth taking Attack (if it happens to appear), although Battle Fury and, especially, Ranged Attack look very appealing. Spell Power is a must-have skill, but I would like to ask about this: what is the point of leveling up Counterspell? After all, if you use it, that turn will be counted as a regular hero attack, meaning that the Spell Power skill doesn't work at all. Therefore, after using Counterspell, a Necromancer with Expert Spell Power will first dispel the Counterspell with a cheap ranged attack, and then manage to attack again before the mage's turn.

I only level up the counterspell if I manage to level up empathy as well. My favorite mage is Orah. Even without empathy, she casts spells more often than any other wizard. Moreover, I also level up wizardry for her.

The most annoying thing is when a counterspell is dispelled not by the hero with a cheap arrow, but by some spellcasting unit. If the enemy uses a counterspell, I dispel it either with a unit or with the most expensive spell.

I always choose the artifact as a bonus; it helps me a lot, and I completely rebuild the town in 4 weeks. But on the second week, I am attacked very often. Help me if you can.

I rarely give mages the Light or Darkness skill... it just doesn't seem to work...
The Library provides an additional spell. At level 5, Chaos is granted, so almost all my mages are Chaos mages.

Hey everyone... I've gotten really into Heroes 5, and especially the Academy faction. However, I don't quite understand some aspects. I wanted to ask about the real benefit of the Initiative skill... For example, I created a minor artifact for a Djinn, and its Initiative increased from 12 to 15... What's the real effect against a creature with an Initiative of, say, 11? I understand that the creatures will act in this order: first the Djinn, then another creature... but when will the Djinn get to act consecutively? :confused:
And also: how is damage calculated based on the attack and defense of a creature? Are there any formulas?
Right now, I'm playing against an Orc, and my hero is an Orc. I'm focusing on Initiative and Chaos magic with summons... And where can I get the "Hypnosis" spell, and what school does it belong to?
The Academy rocks!:smile41:

1 turn equals 10 initiative. 15 initiative = 3 actions in 2 turns. And so on...

Where can I get "Hypnosis" and what school does it belong to?

Darkness - Subjugation

Thank you! That was helpful! So, another question regarding the hero Ora... As I understand it, her initiative increases with each turn... But by how much? I just want to be able to place the Mage's Mark and cast a spell before the opponent's turn (Orcs) begins.
Can the Mage's Mark be placed on multiple opponents?

Regarding Ory, I don't know, I don't even notice her ability working...

The mark is placed on one enemy; if you try to place it on another, the previous one will be erased.
By the way, it's not worth trying to control two enemies at once using the mark.

Thank you! That was helpful! So, another question regarding the hero, Orra... As I understand it, her initiative increases with each turn... But by how much? I just want to be able to place the Mage Mark and cast a spell before the enemy (Orcs) takes their turn.
Can the Mage Mark be placed on multiple enemies?

What does Orra have to do with it? Take "Keen Mind" with any mage, and I think you'll definitely have enough time on the first turn.

I don't know about Orra; I don't even notice her ability working...

There's a clear example on this topic. In one of the league tournaments, a player named Psihhh developed an 18th-level Orra on the arena. The army was almost non-existent, just a small force. There was only a large stack of 480 peasants, which didn't really attack anyone. He was playing against Naadir, level 22, with an army more than 2.5 times larger. Hundreds of ghosts, skeletons, zombies, liches, vampires, heralds... After 5-7 meteor showers, the entire army was wiped out... Orra cast the spell 2-3 times for every one cast by Naadir. Only that large stack of peasants remained for Orra.

The mark is placed on one enemy; if you try to place it on another, the previous one will be removed.
By the way, it's not worth trying to control two units at once using the mark.

Well, yes, only one unit can be controlled on the field, but you can really have some fun with a berserker

Perhaps in the example above, Naadir didn't have the Wizard skill developed at all, because this is beyond my understanding (that the specialization of the Order faction gives such huge advantages).

Yes, Aura is powerful, and I simply don't understand how one can so ineptly utilize her abilities. It's an absolutely incompetent move! Reducing the number of mages in the early stages of development means rare instances of the hero taking a turn, because for a mage, the weather effects and spells are more important than the troops.
In the case of Aura, especially at level 18, I simply can't imagine what could have caused such an effect. I won't even mention Counterspell and Reflection. It feels like Aura was developed as a warrior with terrible troops. What's the point of her in that case?! Either the guy is just not very bright, or he decided to play a prank.