Rean
Auto-translated
Author: Infiltrator
Original: Dungeon Guide from Celestial Heavens
Translator:deviant
taken from here: http://heroes.ag.ru/heroes5/advices/dungeon/
To anyone who has ever immersed themselves in the world of Might and Magic, the mention of Warlocks brings to mind evil wizards. But this simple association is only partially correct – within the walls of the Dungeon castles, numerous ingenious strategies are developed. So do not make a mistake: Dark Elves are one of the most difficult races to play, especially in the early stages of development due to the high cost of units. And the direction of development must be planned with particular care, as any error – even the most seemingly insignificant – threatens to turn into huge losses. But before moving on to specific strategies, a brief introduction to the Dungeon.
The concept of the Warlock stood out particularly in each part of "Heroes". The basis of the gameplay – essentially what distinguishes the Dungeon and Dark Elves from other races – is a significant orientation toward magic, a penchant for Destruction (Chaos) magic. The main asset of the Dungeon is the most powerful creature in the game – Black Dragons.
Among the numerous changes in part 5, the most important should be noted – Dark Elves are no longer an independent race, but part of an alliance of creatures. To be precise, Warlocks themselves belong to the Dark Elves, as do 4 out of 7 Dungeon units. Do not worry, Minotaurs have returned, as have Hydras. Like any hero, Warlocks have a specialization – something they already did better than anyone else – dealing damage. One of their special abilities is Irresistible Magic, which allows them to overcome the magic resistance and immunity of creatures and apply destructive spells to them. Another special ability is Elemental Chains, which allow one to identify whether each creature on the battlefield belongs to a particular Element, providing a certain advantage in battle. The mechanism of this ability will be explained further. And now let us begin...
A Warlock hero begins their journey with Attack equal to 1, Defense – 0, Knowledge – 3, Wisdom – 1. Consequently, the hero is focused on developing Knowledge and Attack. With increasing Wisdom, Warlocks have certain problems; however, there are some techniques that will be highlighted a bit later.
As with representatives of any other faction, Warlocks have a primary skill, 3 basic abilities associated with it, and a super-ability that requires specific hero development.
A Warlock starts the game with basic Irresistible Magic, which allows them to overcome 20% of an enemy creature's magic resistance or immunity to Destruction magic (that is, this skill does not suppress immunity to other types of magic – for example, Titans' immunity to mind-affecting effects). The percentage of own overcome resistance/immunity grows with level – developed Irresistible Magic gives 40%, expert – 50%, and master – 75%. Thus, when facing a mage who has reached Master level, a Black Dragon (being immune to any other magic) will avoid only 25% of destructive spells. In addition, Irresistible Magic provides a bonus to Elemental Chain damage of 5% for each level. Moving on to the next point.
Irresistible Magic allows the Warlock to develop the Dark Vision skill, which enables them to use their second specialty – Elemental Chains. Those who participated in beta testing probably remember that Elemental Chains were a rather complex tactical ability for the Warlock; in the final release, their mechanism was simplified, they are now easier to use and the inclusion of some random factors now requires fewer calculations. What exactly is this about? Each creature on the battlefield corresponds to one of 4 Elements – Fire, Ice, Air, and Earth. At the start of the game, they are not visible. Only upon obtaining the Dark Vision skill can you track the correspondence of creatures to these Elements, which allows for dealing additional elemental damage – you identify which element a unit belongs to (icon in the lower right corner on the tactical panel) and choose a spell of the opposite Element. Fire is opposite to Ice, Air to Earth, so casting Meteor Shower (an Earth spell) on a creature belonging to Air will deal additional damage depending on the strength of the base spell, the level of Irresistible Magic, and buildings in cities.
Each spell corresponds to a specific Element:
Eldritch Bolt – Fire (this is an error. in patch 1.2 the bolt no longer belongs to elements(editor's note))
Stone Spikes – Earth
Lightning – Air
Ice Arrow – Water
Fireball – Fire
Circle of Winter – Water
Chain Lightning – Air
Meteor Shower – Earth
Explosion – Earth
Armageddon – Fire
Fire Wall-Fire(editor's addition)
After successfully dealing additional damage using the Elemental Chain, the Element corresponding to the enemy unit changes randomly. When a Temple of Elements is built in the city (requires building the Mages' Guild), you will be able to see the Elements of creatures from your own army; they can now deal additional damage. At the start of battle, each creature is assigned correspondence to a random Element: if, for example, a unit of your army corresponding to Fire attacks an Ice creature, it will deal additional damage, and both creatures – attacking and attacked – will randomly change their corresponding Element. If the Altar of Primary Elements, which is an upgrade to the Temple of Elements, is built, elemental damage increases by 10%; if this building is constructed in several Dungeon cities, the bonus stacks. In the end, the basic formula for calculating the bonus is: 5*(Irresistible Magic level) + 10*(number of Altars built). The resulting figure is a percentage bonus to the base damage that the spell deals to the unit. For example, a player has developed Irresistible Magic and 1 Altar of Primary Elements built in their city. A Blood Hag (Air) deals 200 units of damage to a Zombie (Earth) in battle; Elemental Chains come into play: bonus damage will be 200*(2*5 + 1*10)/100 = 40 units, totaling 240. Not a bad increase, which will strengthen as the base damage of units/spells and the level of Irresistible Magic grow.
The second unique ability of Warlocks is Dark Wave. With its help, any Destruction magic spell (and Magic Fist) deals 50% more damage, but costs twice as much mana. At the same time, "normal" versions of spells remain in the book; they can be used when you need to save Mana or if there is simply not enough. Since Warlocks always feel a lack of mana, especially at the start of the game, this ability will be more effective in the mid and late game.
The 3rd unique basic ability of Warlocks is Dark Ritual. The mechanism of the ability is simple – it fully restores the character's mana for a day, but requires all movement points. Obviously, the ability will not be used very often – there are many other ways to regenerate Mana without standing still for an entire day. The only reason to take this ability as early as possible is that it is necessary to obtain Secrets of Chaos – an ability from the Chaos Magic line, which gives the hero +2 Knowledge and a random 1-3 level Chaos magic spell unknown to the hero. This ability significantly eases the game at initial levels due to the significant growth of the hero's mana pool and the possession of a high-level spell even without a built Mages' Guild, allowing them to deal with most enemies without much trouble.
Elemental Fury is a super-ability of the Warlock, and quite a powerful one. It is worth taking the "War Machines" skill for it. In addition to Machines, Luck, Logistics, and Military Education are needed to obtain this super-ability. These three skills will be useful to a Warlock anyway: Luck is an essential skill, even if Elemental Fury is not in the plans. Thus, we move on to skills and abilities.
The Dungeon is oriented more toward offense, which is partly due to the fact that besides Dragons, they have no other creatures with good defense (Hydras' defense is good, but their ability for a retaliatory strike makes them more attacking creatures than defenders). Thus, abilities must be chosen taking this circumstance into account.
Let us note critical skills, the choice of which would not leave a Warlock with regrets in any situation. They should strengthen the interaction between the hero, their troops, and abilities:
Offense is a key skill for the Warlock, even though at first glance it may seem not very attractive. Frenzy is not very effective as it is intended for armies with a large number of weak units, which the Dungeon does not have. Marksmanship is also not the best skill, since Assassins do not deal damage directly but poison opponents, and Matrons and Matriarchs use spells more often than shooting. So why take Offense? Because of Tactics. This skill will allow Blood Hags to reach the opponent at the very beginning of battle and will diversify the number of targets for Riders (tactics increases the troop reconnaissance space in width by 1 cell). After obtaining Tactics, you can take Acceleration, allowing you to cast the corresponding spell on units without spending mana, which is useful in case of its shortage. Furthermore, Acceleration together with Dark Wave unlocks Punishing Strike – an ability that allows your troops to deal additional damage depending on morale. Thus, Dungeon players should take Tactics, while leaving Frenzy and Marksmanship aside. Of course, increasing the level of Offense directly increases the Elemental Chain damage bonuses dealt in melee combat.
Chaos Magic – the name speaks for itself. The Warlock is a master of Destruction magic, Chaos magic; it affects half of their abilities in one way or another, so taking this skill is a no-brainer. Chaos Magic provides the ability to use more different spells, increasing their power; furthermore, it strengthens the Elemental Chain, unleashing its full power. Accompanying abilities include the previously mentioned Secrets of Chaos, 3 strengthening abilities for 3 of the 4 Elements (Fire, Ice, Lightning), and Mana Burst. Before choosing which Element to specialize in, you should build a Mages' Guild of at least level 3 – otherwise, a situation may arise where, for example, the "Ice Lord" ability is leveled up, but there are no proper spells of this Element in the Guild.
Fire Lord can reduce the defense of creatures on whom a fire Element spell was cast (Fireball and Armageddon) by half for 1 round. Cold Lord, attacking enemies with Ice Arrow or Circle of Winter, can freeze them – creatures shift right on the tactical panel for half a round (if their turn comes, they still shift 1 division to the right, skipping their turn until the freezing effect ends). Storm Lord can stun opponents with Lightning or Chain Lightning – the effect is similar to Freezing. Creatures hit by the first discharge of Chain Lightning shift right on the tactical panel depending on the turn order: units whose turn should come earlier shift more than those whose turn should have come later. Thus, only the first creature in the chain receives the stun effect; others are merely dealt damage.
Mana Burst deals damage to mages who subsequently cast spells on the field. Perhaps it is worth abandoning this ability in favor of a second Elemental mastery.
Preferable abilities that are not critical but will greatly ease the hero's development.
Luck can be very useful. By leveling it up, you can further strengthen offense and minimize losses from the enemy's retaliatory strike. Naturally, one should reach Expert level (Permanent Luck) as soon as possible.
Several quite valuable abilities are linked to Luck, one of which is Magic Resistance, increasing by 15% the chance to reflect an opponent's spells, which is especially valuable in struggle against Dark and Chaos mages. Luck on the Road increases the chance to get more resources from bandit camps and resource depots, as well as the amount of gold and experience from chests, but there are better abilities worth developing.
Soldier's Luck increases the chance of friendly creatures using specific abilities. However, in the Dungeon only Matriarchs possess such a specific ability – in melee combat they can additionally cast a spell on enemies. Thus, this ability by itself is not very effective, but it unlocks Sorcerous Luck. Under the influence of Sorcerous Luck, damage from Warlock spells can be doubled.
The fifth ability unlocked by Soldier's Luck is Ashan's Patronage. It will help the hero dig up a Tear of own same even if the hero is not exactly over it, but nearby. If not for Elemental Fury, taking this ability would make no sense – in most cases, a supporting hero will dig up the Tear; the main hero has other things to do.
Leadership is another useful skill, combining very effectively with Punishing Strike from the Offense line – with every increase in Leadership, the damage dealt by troops also grows. As for abilities, Treasury Management brings an additional 250 gold to the treasury – but this is not a skill that the main hero should spend points on.
Diplomacy reduces the cost of surrender and, more importantly, increases the chance of joining neutral armies. Joined creatures can be sacrificed in the Sacrifice Pit, which can increase the growth of much-needed Blood Hags.
Army Recruitment is a great ability for the Dungeon, but not for the main hero – it's quite problematic to return the hero to the castle at the end of every week. But if you are taking Leadership anyway, it' same worth upgrading Army Recruitment to unlock Aura of Speed, a very important ability that increases unit speed by 1.
Logistics is always welcome, especially on large maps with different terrain types. Thus, it has certain advantages – you can catch up to a fleeing enemy or, conversely, escape right from under their nose. The 30% movement bonus obtained at the expert level (Expert Logistics) is not redundant at all. One of its abilities – Pathfinding – reduces the penalty for moving through wild territories by 50%. Scouting has now become even more useful – in addition to increasing the vision radius, it shows the exact number of creatures in a neutral army or an enemy army.
Scouting unlocks one of the most useful abilities – Sudden Attack. This ability significantly advances teleporting creatures on the tactical panel. An ideal target for such a spell would be the Hydra. Previously, this unit remained in reserve almost until the end of the fight due to its low movement speed. Now, thanks to Teleportation, it will find itself in the thick of the fight much sooner than your opponent expects.
Sudden Attack unlocks Death's Tread; this ability adds 4 points to unit speed when besieging an enemy castle – now Dragons will be able to fly to any point on the field in one turn.
The last ability in the Logistics line – Navigation – is only needed on maps with a large amount of water space.
Sorcery, while providing no bonuses to troops, makes the hero even more terrifying and solves the Warlock's mana shortage problem. Sorcery reduces the interval between hero turns by 10/20/30% per level – this allows spells to be used more frequently, which is quite valuable.
Wisdom allows for the learning of any 3rd-circle spells regardless of magic skills – this is useful when obtaining the "Phantom" spell from the Guild (Dungeon uses not only destructive magic but also summoning) – if you cast this spell on Blood Hags, it will not only increase their survivability but also significantly strengthen the army's attacking power.
Arcane Knowledge is a simple ability – it reduces the cost of spells by 20%, which is undoubtedly useful.
Mana Regeneration doubles the base mana recovery rate (base rate equals the number of Knowledge points; with Knowledge equal to 5, 10 mana points will be restored per day instead of 5) – this is more suitable for the early stages of the game, as toward the end, Knowledge will already be sufficient for fast mana regeneration.
Nevertheless, Regeneration unlocks a very interesting ability – Variable Mana. It randomly reduces the cost of casting a spell (up to 50%). The spell is cast at normal cost, and some amount of mana is returned afterward. Still, this ability combined with Arcane Knowledge significantly reduces mana consumption.
Anti-Spell – unlocked by Variable Mana – frankly speaking, is not the most useful skill. For it, you need to level up the Defense line and take Mana Burst. Anti-Spell neutralizes the opponent's next spell but takes double the cost of that spell from the hero. This is exactly the kind of unnecessary mana expenditure that should be avoided in most cases.
Summoning Magic is a good choice for improving the Warlock's viability, as it is one of the two magic schools to which the Dungeon belongs (along with Chaos Magic). The power of summoning spells depends heavily on Sorcery – something the Warlock has plenty of.
Abilities obtained after upgrading Summoning Magic: Mastery of Life – when calculating the effect of "Magic Fist" and "Raise Dead," Sorcery is increased by 4.
Lord of the Land – a similar effect when casting "Earthquake" and "Fire Trap," as well as upon obtaining the Master of Elements ability – +4 to Sorcery when summoning Elementals and Phoenixes.
Additionally, Master of Elements unlocks Exorcism – now Chaos school spells deal double damage to summoned creatures, which is most effective in fighting the forces of Inferno that use Gates.
Among other things, Summoning Magic will allow you to preserve your army in most cases – Phantoms and summoned Elementals will take the main hit. Mystic Armor will allow troops to successfully withstand physical attacks.
Education was slightly buffed in the fifth part and can be effectively used by almost any hero. At maximum level, it adds +30% experience and an additional point that can be spent on developing primary skills once every 2 levels – this allows for a significant advantage in level and abilities over other heroes.
Mana Attraction is an absolutely necessary ability for Warlocks: it increases the mana pool by one and a half times.
Scholar – even in the fifth part, this ability remained as useless as in previous ones. It does not block other abilities, so it's not worth taking except in some specific situations.
Unraveling Secrets – a reincarnation of Eagle Eye from previous parts – it is useful, for example, in fighting Arch Devils if the hero doesn't have the Meteor Shower spell – he can learn it when the Devils cast it. Additionally, Unraveling opens Dark Revelation, giving the hero an additional level – but it still occupies an ability slot, so it's better to take it toward the end of the game when gaining a level is no longer such an easy task.
Dark Revelation provides the opportunity to learn Sorcerer's Reward – a rather mediocre ability that increases Sorcery by 2 points and gives a one-time 1,000 gold. Nevertheless, this ability must be taken to obtain Elemental Fury.
That is essentially all about useful skills. There are also several skills that should not be taken:
Defense – 30% protection from melee attacks and 20% from ranged – sounds good, but the Dungeon is focused on offense; the main goal is to kill the enemy before they can deal damage. That's why Defense is not suitable for Warlocks; it's not worth taking.
War Machines – not bad, but there are many better skills; if you aren't striving for Elemental Fury, War Machines can be skipped.
Dark and Light Magic – spells of these schools will appear in the Mages Guild at level 4; until then, only 1-2 can be obtained. So it's unlikely there is an opportunity to derive real benefit from these schools, as there is simply nowhere to learn the spells until a castle of the corresponding races is captured.
So, the basic overview of hero abilities has been given. Depending on the playstyle, map, and opponent, you should choose your alter-ego. For roleplay, 8 heroes are at the player's disposal; let's briefly consider each of them:
Irvanna – Blood Lady. A viable hero, especially for long games – she starts the game with Basic Education and the "Scholar" ability. Therefore, every 2 levels, she adds one point to Attack/Defense for the key Dungeon unit – Furies. Additionally, she is a very good secondary hero – upon recruitment, she joins the army with 9 Beasts, significantly strengthening the main hero at the very beginning of the game.
Vaishan – Black Hand. Specializes in Scouts and Assassins, adding one point of Attack/Defense to them every 2 levels. Starting skills: Ghost Luck and Soldier's Luck – upgrading the Luck line is easier and faster for her than anyone else. Unlike Irvanna, she is recruited with 21 Scouts but without Beasts.
Kitra – Slave Owner. A poor choice for a main hero: her specialization – Minotaurs – is not the most active Dungeon unit. Additionally, she starts the game with the Leadership skill – not bad – and Treasury Management, which is not as good, since you won't be able to upgrade the most important abilities from the Leadership branch – Diplomacy and Aura of Speed. And her army upon recruitment is quite useless – only Minotaurs.
Sinitar – Catalyst. A very good hero for small maps. He starts the game with Basic Chaos Magic, Arcane Wave, and Magic Arrow. His specialization allows reducing mana costs for empowered spells with each level; at level 15, the cost of empowered spells equals the cost of normal ones – therefore, on small maps, the player becomes walking death. However, on large maps, it's better to take another hero, as mana does not become a problem at high levels.
Sorgal – Lizard Breeder, an average hero, starts the game with Basic Defense and Battle Frenzy – he will no longer be able to upgrade Punishing Strike. If you don't take the Leadership skill, the hero will fit well into the Dungeon ranks. His specific ability is increasing damage from Lizard Bite.
Eruina – Witches' Coven, a very good heroine for medium and large maps. Her starting skills are Basic Chaos Magic and Basic Attack; additionally, she starts the game with a Supply Wagon. Her unique specialty allows Twilight Hags and Shadow Matriarchs to make an additional shot at an enemy squad that the heroine attacks with a spell. Area-of-Effect (AoE) spells are also "supported" – in this case, the hags shoot at the "center" point of the spell area. Hags and Matriarchs fire even if they have no shots remaining.
Letos – Poisoner. This hero will be an excellent choice against any opponent except a Necromancer, as his ability allows poisoning an enemy squad; the probability depends on the hero's level. However, the hero starts the game with Basic Dark Magic – a wasted skill slot, since the Dungeon does not belong to this school of spells and Dark spells do not depend on Sorcery – unlike Chaos and Summoning spells.
Irbet – Dark Mystic. This heroine specializes in the Dark Ritual – making it more effective, so the amount of mana during the Ritual exceeds the maximum amount (the hero must spend a whole day). Additionally, she starts the game with Basic Dark magic, which makes this heroine completely unattractive as a choice.
So, a certain understanding of skills, abilities, and heroes has been created. But the core of Heroes has always been the troops under the hero's command. The Dungeon has a unique arsenal, and to win with it, every unit must be considered from all sides – this will allow the troops to interact as effectively as possible and deliver deadly attacks against opponents. An unprepared attack leads to defeat.
Let's try to give a brief characteristic of the units, considering their weak and strong points. At the same time, keep in mind that squads do not act on their own but together – specific interaction tactics will be considered later.
The first Dungeon unit – if you look at its stats, it's easy to notice that this is the weakest level 1 unit. However, its high cost and low growth are compensated by quality. Yes, its growth is small and cost is high, but it is extremely useful, especially at the start of the game. This unit has a ranged attack but has a distance penalty: this means that at long distances it deals a quarter of the damage, and when shooting at an adjacent enemy – half. However, it has no penalty in melee combat, so it can often be used specifically as a melee fighter (ctrl + LMB), especially to finish off an enemy squad or when the opponent's counterattack hit another squad. Thus, Scouts should be placed on the first line, attack the approaching enemy with ranged weapons, and deliver the finishing blow. Using them as melee fighters will have to be abandoned when it comes to high-level neutrals – their counterattacks are too strong.
At this point, Assassins come into play. They do not greatly exceed Scouts in terms of stats but possess the ability to poison the enemy during both ranged and melee attacks. Poison hits the opponent in 100% of attacks, but some creatures – undead and constructs – are immune to it. Poison damage is dealt depending on the number of Assassins in the squad and lasts 3 rounds, dealing damage before the opponent's turn. Poisoning cannot be strengthened, so after shooting one unit, you should switch to another. The fact that an Assassin can poison from a safe distance makes them an excellent squad for reducing the number of high-level monsters, as poison damage does not depend on the opponent's level or defense.
Thus, Scouts are good at the start of the game for weakening the enemy from a distance and for finishing off in melee, while Assassins will be useful slightly later, mainly as "remote poisoners."
Level 2 monsters – similar to Harpies from the 3rd part of Heroes, differing only in appearance (slightly) and unable to fly. These are key Dungeon units; almost all attacks will have to be built around them. Like Scouts/Assassins, they are quite expensive and their weekly growth is small. Beasts are a rather weak unit; they can only withstand Peasants and Militia, and even then, it's difficult to avoid losses. They attack, the opponent responds with a counterattack, and the Beasts retreat. The main problem is exactly the counterattack, which is lethal for Beasts, especially due to their low health and small growth.
Fortunately, Furies correct this unfortunate misunderstanding – they have the ability of an unopposed strike. With its help, they dominate in combat with melee fighters; high initiative and speed, own-strike, and a high attack level allow them to quickly deal with melee fighters. Fighting ranged units is certainly risky, as Furies usually become their target number 1, plus this circumstance is complicated by the low defense of Furies.
It's no secret that attacks through Beasts and Furies should be built extremely carefully: one wrong step – and you can lose their 2-3 week growth. A more detailed strategy for using these units is described below.
In the 5th part, Minotaurs are no longer as strong as before (mainly because they are now level 3 units), nevertheless, they are still combat-effective. Ordinary Minotaurs are slow, but at the same time quite well-balanced in terms of Defense/Attack. Thanks to the Bravery ability, their morale does not drop below 1 regardless of the circumstances. And although their speed is low, this special ability not only prevents them from skipping a turn due to low morale, but sometimes even grants an additional one. They can be used in the early game so that opponents spend their counterattack on them and do not enter melee combat with Scouts or Assassins.
Guardian Minotaurs receive a significant bonus to their attacking capabilities – after upgrading, they strike twice. This bonus is especially effective against shooters and opponents with high Defense but low Attack.
Minotaurs can be used in any conditions, but they do not stand out much against the general background. They can deal quite serious damage, but one should not be mistaken about their high viability – despite a large number of hit points, low defense does not allow them to withstand physical damage well. In the early stages of the game, they easily avoid losses, but in later stages, throwing them into attack must be done with greater caution, as their low defense stat makes them quite vulnerable in battles with high-level monsters.
A reinforcement in the ranks of the Dungeon – Riders possess excellent Attack and average Defense. Unlike Paladins, whose same damage increases with the distance traveled before the hit, Riders reduce the target's Defense by 20% for each square traveled – eventually down to zero. This makes Riders very useful in fighting high-level opponents with high Defense: at a distance of more than 5 squares, Riders reduce their Defense to zero. However, the speed of Riders is quite low compared to other "cavalry" units, so before upgrading, it is better to use them to intercept an advancing enemy rather than for crossing the entire battlefield.
The upgraded version – Dark Riders – surpasses their "younger brothers" in stats. The most important stats for the Dungeon – Speed and Initiative – are significantly increased, giving them the ability to easily cross the entire battlefield in one turn. Additionally, they gain the Lizard Bite ability: it allows dealing half damage to a nearby enemy squad if it is attacked by an allied unit in melee. This technique is especially effective when paired with Furies, who will not be counterattacked anyway, and with Guardian Minotaurs, whose double-strike ability allows lizards to bite twice.
In general, Riders are a superior "cavalry" unit that ignores enemy defense at long distances – this makes them simply killers for high-level opponents. When fighting other players, it is not worth attacking low-level squads or those with low defense – reducing their already low defense to zero does not provide a significant advantage. As good as Riders are when striking from a charge, so bad they are in contact combat – one should retreat in time to avoid losing the maneuverability advantage.
Most Dungeon units deal quite substantial damage, but are not very well protected themselves. To balance this situation, the Hydra was introduced to the ranks of the Dungeon. Towering over any squad on the battlefield, the Hydra is slow and clumsy – therefore it may miss a large part of the battle. It has three heads – this allows it to attack 3 targets in front of it simultaneously. Furthermore, as in previous parts, the Hydra delivers an unanswered strike, but fortunately for opponents, the initiative of Hydras is quite low, so they are often used for defense.
The Cave Hydra is better in this regard – its already high hit point level increases further, as does the damage dealt. It gains 3 more heads, allowing it to attack any enemy around it; a new ability is added – Regeneration – restoring 33-50 hit points before each turn. If the number of restored hit points exceeds the maximum, one Hydra returns to life.
Thus, the Hydra and Cave Hydra are the most defense-oriented units due to low initiative and high Defense level. But when surrounded by enemies, it shows all its inherent attacking potential. Therefore, most neutrals and players do not attack it or attack with no more than one unit. The ability for an unanswered strike and regeneration help keep Hydras intact – this advantage should be used together with Sudden Attack (from the Logistics line). A Hydra can be turned into a "fortress of death": simply by teleporting it into the enemy ranks – plus it will shift to the left on the tactical panel, allowing it to attack stationary opponents sooner. Now the opponent will not be able to ignore it.
These priestesses are exactly what the Dungeon needs – high-level shooters and sorceresses. Since they only have 4 shots, the ability to cast spells acts as a compensation. Unlike other casters, Witches cannot deal damage with spells – they can cast Slow, Punishing Strike, and Destructive Beam. All these spells are advanced level – quite strong blessings/curses. On the other hand, Witches have rather low stats (especially hit points) and are quite expensive.
Shadow Mistresses receive an additional spell – Forgetfulness. It reduces the damage dealt by the target during a counterattack and ranged attack, so it is quite effective against high-level opponents (reducing counterattack damage by 2 times) or for temporarily disabling enemy shooters. Forgetfulness is cast at the most basic level, so it should not be given exclusive preference over other spells. An additional ability – whip strike, which sometimes allows casting Slow, Weakness, or Battle Frenzy on opponents attacking her in melee. The strongest spell from this list is berserk (Frenzy), but it is not very effective since you must be in direct contact with the opponent to cast it. Like the Witch, the Mistress has 4 shooting charges and rather low stats, but the hiring cost rises sharply.
The main role of Witches and Mistresses is support for the Dungeon's main forces; they can shoot and cast spells. And while they are poor shooters, the army needs them because most Dungeon units are melee fighters. They are more useful as sorceresses, weakening the enemy and strengthening allies. The Whip Strike is not bad, but one should still avoid close combat with Mistresses due to low hit points and stats – in a melee fight, their viability is no better than that of a fly.
Once again we note – the most powerful squad of the Dungeon – Dragons. Twilight ones are strong flying units that can cross the battlefield in one turn and attack 2 cells with fire breath. When attacking large creatures, it is worth flying in from the right – this way the Dragon can reach an enemy squad standing behind the target. The only drawback of Twilight Dragons is a rather low Attack and Defense stat for a level 7 creature.
The mighty Black Dragon is the "brand" of the Dungeon – and with good reason. Once these creatures are hired, the advantage of the hero's army in battles with neutrals and other players will become simply overwhelming. Their gift and curse is complete immunity to magic; a Black Dragon is immune to any spells, except for area-of-effect spells cast by the hero himself (currently Irresistible Magic also affects the hero's own army) and Chaos spells from other Warlocks. In all stats, except initiative, they surpass Twilight Dragons; they easily withstand serious attacks and deal crushing damage.
After Dragons join the army, a significant increase in the overall defense and attack rating awaits. The advantages of fire breath should be used, but one should carefully place own troops around Dragons, as the opponent can also use this ability and part of the counterattack will hit a unit standing behind the enemy. Black Dragons are extremely effective against Druids and Cave Lords; you can simply wipe all other army units off the field – and the opponent's spells will be ineffective. But one should be careful with Lords – they can always kill one Dragon with a Slicing Sword, and Mages can strike with a Magic Fist, which is equivalent to a physical attack.
Now we have a certain basic idea of the Dungeon army. Next, the general game strategy for this castle will be described. This is not a universal strategy – depending on the map and other conditions for victory, it will have to be adapted slightly.
If there is no tavern in the castle – first of all, build it and hire a hero from the Dungeon. He will supply the main hero with troops and capture resources and mines. With several Beasts and Scouts, you can easily clear the nearby territory of only peasants and militiamen. Once the Tavern is built, immediately build the Blood Arena for Beasts and on the very next day build the Blood Memorial for Furies. The reason is simple – Beasts are only suitable for fighting weak level 1 creatures, while Furies handle any melee fighters excellently and crush melee units with low initiative.
After building these structures, you should build the Military School for Scouts (if it wasn't provided from the start) – and continue further to build buildings necessary for creating troops. As soon as conditions allow, build the Town Hall and Magistrate – Dungeon cities are quite costly; a lot of money is needed for buildings and hiring troops. Until the hero obtains Tactics (which should be done as soon as possible), do not touch Archers or Elven Archers (or their advanced versions) guarding mines.
Dealing with Zombies can be quite easy, problems will start with Golems, Swordsmen, and Minotaurs – don't forget to pull back Scouts and Furies if enemies can reach them on the next turn. The combat algorithm using Furies is as follows:
Wait (button "W") until the opponent is within reach.
Attack him – often the next turn will come to the Furies sooner than to the opponents.
If the opponent cannot reach the Furies during the next turn – attack again (you can see the enemy's movement range by hovering over them with the mouse).
If he can reach them on the next turn – retreat beyond the enemy's movement range.
The opponent makes a move, but since the Furies are outside his movement range – he does not attack.
Attack the opponent.
Retreat beyond his movement range.
Repeat the previous 2 steps until the opponent is weakened enough to be finished off by a melee attack from Scouts (ctrl+LMB) or the Furies themselves.
Such "retreat" tactics also work for Scouts, but they will lack the initiative to attack as often – just save them for the finishing blow on a weakened opponent. Do not waste mana on neutral melee fighters unnecessarily; save it for Spirits and shooters.
You can attack Gremlins and Archer-Shooters even without upgraded Tactics, but only if their number is no more than an "Horde". Perhaps one or two Furies will die (depending on the army's morale level), but leaving an "Horde" of shooters in the rear while waiting for Tactics is not recommended – later it may grow and become even harder to defeat.
Fighting neutral Scouts is not too difficult due to their range penalty. However, Assassins will take a couple of Furies with them, so be careful with them.
If you encounter a mine guarded by Dryads – do not touch them under any circumstances. Their "Wasp Swarm" spell, cast by 15 Dryads for example, kills 2 Furies. Until the Furies reach them – they can cast it twice. This circumstance, along with one of the highest initiative levels in the game, makes them the most difficult opponents in the early game. On low or medium difficulty, you can hire 3 heroes from another faction just for such cases; you won't need their troops anyway. Pixies, a simplified version of Dryads, do not have this spell, so dealing with them will not be difficult.
By the end of the week, your castle should already have a Tavern, Military School, Blood Arena, Forge, Labyrinth (Minotaurs), Town Hall, and level 1 Mages Guild. Depending on the difficulty and number of starting (already built) buildings, you can choose to build either the Dark Pasture (Lizard Riders) or the Hydra Cave – depending on the neutrals: if there are more shooters – then Pasture, if melee fighters – then Cave.
By the end of the week, the hero should have upgraded Chaos Magic with Chaos Secrets (Dark Ritual is needed to unlock them) and/or Offense + Tactics.
Now you should clear all nearby mines guarded by neutral melee fighters. If tactics are upgraded – then also those guarded by strong neutral shooters – Archers, Elven Archers, Succubi, and Monks. Again – depending on the game difficulty, you will be able to reach them slightly earlier or later. The key to victory is positioning the Furies correctly: if the entire enemy army is in one or two slots, then place the Furies on the 4th square from the left. If there are obstacles in the way, the main forces of the army should be positioned opposite the opponent. If the opponent tried to flee before the start of the battle, you have superior forces – the enemy army will be in one slot. Otherwise, they will be split into 2-3 slots, so place Furies accordingly. If there is a choice between two opponents – attack the one who stands closer on the tactical panel – the second can be finished off by the hero with a spell. If the Logistics line is upgraded to Sudden Attack – cast Teleport on Hydras, teleport them between two shooters and enjoy.
Mages and Druids are the most difficult opponents at this stage. If they guard a necessary mine, prepare for trouble. The combat tactics against them do not differ from those used against ordinary ranged units, except in situations where you face Archmages or High Druids. In that case, it is worth removing Minotaurs and Hydras from the battlefield, as the enemy deals area-of-effect damage; it is better to place units as far apart as possible so that a strike hits only one unit.
Attacking high-level melee units will be significantly easier if you have managed to preserve a sufficiently large number of Furies. The combat strategy remains the same: hit and run. However, keep in mind that units with high initiative—Unicorns, Nightmares, and Paladins—can reach the Furies in one turn; for this reason, place them in the rear ranks. If the Furies move first, you should wait and then attack the opponent who has already used their turn.
The hero should upgrade Advanced Chaos Magic and Storm Master or Ice Master (depending on the spells available in the Guild)—both of these masteries will significantly ease combat, as their use stuns the enemy or freezes them, forcing them to skip a turn. Other useful skills for upgrading are described in the previous part.
At this stage of the game, by the end of the week, you should build a Stronghold rather than a Magistrate, as it will increase the growth of Furies. By this time, you should have built buildings for level 5 units and a level 2 Mages' Guild, and on easy and normal difficulty—buildings for level 6 units plus a Magistrate. The Chambers of Intrigue—necessary for constructing the Hall of Twilight—will increase the Knowledge of all Warlocks by 1.
Several Twilight Dragons will significantly increase the chances of success. Now you can easily defeat not only Druids, Mages, and Cave Lords, who were previously difficult opponents, but also melee units such as Angels, Colossi, Devils, and Bone Dragons. Units should be placed in the rear ranks; if there are additional slots in the squad, it is worth splitting Witches or Matriarchs into 2 slots to cast slow spells on enemies. Dragons and Riders are suitable for the finishing blow.
The tactic for fighting Druids is simple: attack with all your might. Dragons should block one Druid, Furies—the second. To achieve this, place Furies on the 4th square to the right, and Dragons on the 7th-8th, with Riders in the middle. Attack them with your spells; they must perish before their turn begins.
If you encounter a large number of Druids or Lords, and you have enough Black Dragons in your army, other troops can be removed from the battlefield and the enemy dealt with using only Dragons and spells. A high amount of hit points and high stats will prevent Druids from killing any of them, while Lords, who lack ranged attacks, will waste their turn casting spells in vain—this will give you the opportunity to calmly cast at least a couple of spells. Due to low speed, Dragons simply won't have time to enter combat—which is good, as Lords possess the "Vorpal Blade" ability.
On the other hand, against Mages, you should act with your entire army; sending only Dragons would be a mistake—Mages have Magic Fist and will manage to use it a couple of times before the Dragons fly in. Therefore, throw all troops at them, but distribute them across the battlefield to avoid multiple casualties from Fireball.
Fast flyers—such as Black, Emerald, Gold, and Twilight Dragons—present a certain problem, as they can fly across the entire field in one turn. If there are few of them (1-4), you can deploy only Black Dragons against them, positioning them in a corner. Since there are few enemies, they will deal little damage; they can be finished off with spells or by effectively using the same fire breath as the Dragons. If there are many of them (20-49)—such opponents should be avoided. If avoiding the encounter is impossible, place Dragons and Hydras on the front edge, with other units behind them. Riders should be placed on the very edge so that only one enemy squad can attack them at a time. When arranging the army, remember about fire breath and leave no gaps between units so that the enemy cannot reach Matriarchs, Furies, and Assassins.
Dealing with Titans is quite simple (in moderate numbers)—just attack them with all units; their number will be significantly reduced even before it becomes their turn.
A Warlock must dominate the battlefield with his spells—Meteor Shower should sow death among the enemies. If this spell is not in the Mages' Guild, you can loot the Dragon Lair; in Heroes V, it provides a high-level spell missing from the hero's spellbook. The Lair should be captured regardless of the guards—this can save significant time and resources.
Do not assume that you now know all the secrets of the Dungeon. This is only a small introductory course for Warlocks and their fans. It was written solely to provide a basic idea of the strategy and tactics of playing this faction; hero and city development depend more on personal preferences and playstyle—as does the result of the game. Keep in mind: the Dungeon is a difficult castle, it does not give second chances; if you make no mistakes, you will be fully rewarded with an enjoyable and exciting game.
As they say—"Hide, listen, observe, remember... And when the time comes - strike from the shadows."
original here: http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=550
and now my additions :)
castle build-up for Sinitar (he doesn't need to build a mages guild at first—the arrow is already there)
if you have a level 3 city—build the town hall, no matter what. The hero needs a lot of money
build beasts and scouts
build fury and assassin upgrades (if playing as Sinitar, only upgrade furies...)
market--it's cheap and helps reach the city level for the magistrate and fort
if you see that you can build both a magistrate and a fort, build the magistrate first, then the fort (or the fort if the week is ending, then the magistrate)
if money is lacking—check if there are chests nearby. Better to take money than experience... if there are no chests—build the fort. Fury growth is extremely important at the start as it will make life much easier in the future
after building the town hall and magistrate, build hydras and the structure that increases knowledge.
everything else depends on your priorities.
that's all for now :)
write your ideas in this thread. I think refinements to such a guide will be useful for Heroes 5 beginners starting to play as the Dungeon!
An offline version of the guide is now available!
Original: Dungeon Guide from Celestial Heavens
Translator:deviant
taken from here: http://heroes.ag.ru/heroes5/advices/dungeon/
Guide to playing as Dark Elves
Prologue
To anyone who has ever immersed themselves in the world of Might and Magic, the mention of Warlocks brings to mind evil wizards. But this simple association is only partially correct – within the walls of the Dungeon castles, numerous ingenious strategies are developed. So do not make a mistake: Dark Elves are one of the most difficult races to play, especially in the early stages of development due to the high cost of units. And the direction of development must be planned with particular care, as any error – even the most seemingly insignificant – threatens to turn into huge losses. But before moving on to specific strategies, a brief introduction to the Dungeon.
The concept of the Warlock stood out particularly in each part of "Heroes". The basis of the gameplay – essentially what distinguishes the Dungeon and Dark Elves from other races – is a significant orientation toward magic, a penchant for Destruction (Chaos) magic. The main asset of the Dungeon is the most powerful creature in the game – Black Dragons.
Among the numerous changes in part 5, the most important should be noted – Dark Elves are no longer an independent race, but part of an alliance of creatures. To be precise, Warlocks themselves belong to the Dark Elves, as do 4 out of 7 Dungeon units. Do not worry, Minotaurs have returned, as have Hydras. Like any hero, Warlocks have a specialization – something they already did better than anyone else – dealing damage. One of their special abilities is Irresistible Magic, which allows them to overcome the magic resistance and immunity of creatures and apply destructive spells to them. Another special ability is Elemental Chains, which allow one to identify whether each creature on the battlefield belongs to a particular Element, providing a certain advantage in battle. The mechanism of this ability will be explained further. And now let us begin...
Basics
A Warlock hero begins their journey with Attack equal to 1, Defense – 0, Knowledge – 3, Wisdom – 1. Consequently, the hero is focused on developing Knowledge and Attack. With increasing Wisdom, Warlocks have certain problems; however, there are some techniques that will be highlighted a bit later.
As with representatives of any other faction, Warlocks have a primary skill, 3 basic abilities associated with it, and a super-ability that requires specific hero development.
A Warlock starts the game with basic Irresistible Magic, which allows them to overcome 20% of an enemy creature's magic resistance or immunity to Destruction magic (that is, this skill does not suppress immunity to other types of magic – for example, Titans' immunity to mind-affecting effects). The percentage of own overcome resistance/immunity grows with level – developed Irresistible Magic gives 40%, expert – 50%, and master – 75%. Thus, when facing a mage who has reached Master level, a Black Dragon (being immune to any other magic) will avoid only 25% of destructive spells. In addition, Irresistible Magic provides a bonus to Elemental Chain damage of 5% for each level. Moving on to the next point.
Irresistible Magic allows the Warlock to develop the Dark Vision skill, which enables them to use their second specialty – Elemental Chains. Those who participated in beta testing probably remember that Elemental Chains were a rather complex tactical ability for the Warlock; in the final release, their mechanism was simplified, they are now easier to use and the inclusion of some random factors now requires fewer calculations. What exactly is this about? Each creature on the battlefield corresponds to one of 4 Elements – Fire, Ice, Air, and Earth. At the start of the game, they are not visible. Only upon obtaining the Dark Vision skill can you track the correspondence of creatures to these Elements, which allows for dealing additional elemental damage – you identify which element a unit belongs to (icon in the lower right corner on the tactical panel) and choose a spell of the opposite Element. Fire is opposite to Ice, Air to Earth, so casting Meteor Shower (an Earth spell) on a creature belonging to Air will deal additional damage depending on the strength of the base spell, the level of Irresistible Magic, and buildings in cities.
Each spell corresponds to a specific Element:
Eldritch Bolt – Fire (this is an error. in patch 1.2 the bolt no longer belongs to elements(editor's note))
Stone Spikes – Earth
Lightning – Air
Ice Arrow – Water
Fireball – Fire
Circle of Winter – Water
Chain Lightning – Air
Meteor Shower – Earth
Explosion – Earth
Armageddon – Fire
Fire Wall-Fire(editor's addition)
After successfully dealing additional damage using the Elemental Chain, the Element corresponding to the enemy unit changes randomly. When a Temple of Elements is built in the city (requires building the Mages' Guild), you will be able to see the Elements of creatures from your own army; they can now deal additional damage. At the start of battle, each creature is assigned correspondence to a random Element: if, for example, a unit of your army corresponding to Fire attacks an Ice creature, it will deal additional damage, and both creatures – attacking and attacked – will randomly change their corresponding Element. If the Altar of Primary Elements, which is an upgrade to the Temple of Elements, is built, elemental damage increases by 10%; if this building is constructed in several Dungeon cities, the bonus stacks. In the end, the basic formula for calculating the bonus is: 5*(Irresistible Magic level) + 10*(number of Altars built). The resulting figure is a percentage bonus to the base damage that the spell deals to the unit. For example, a player has developed Irresistible Magic and 1 Altar of Primary Elements built in their city. A Blood Hag (Air) deals 200 units of damage to a Zombie (Earth) in battle; Elemental Chains come into play: bonus damage will be 200*(2*5 + 1*10)/100 = 40 units, totaling 240. Not a bad increase, which will strengthen as the base damage of units/spells and the level of Irresistible Magic grow.
The second unique ability of Warlocks is Dark Wave. With its help, any Destruction magic spell (and Magic Fist) deals 50% more damage, but costs twice as much mana. At the same time, "normal" versions of spells remain in the book; they can be used when you need to save Mana or if there is simply not enough. Since Warlocks always feel a lack of mana, especially at the start of the game, this ability will be more effective in the mid and late game.
The 3rd unique basic ability of Warlocks is Dark Ritual. The mechanism of the ability is simple – it fully restores the character's mana for a day, but requires all movement points. Obviously, the ability will not be used very often – there are many other ways to regenerate Mana without standing still for an entire day. The only reason to take this ability as early as possible is that it is necessary to obtain Secrets of Chaos – an ability from the Chaos Magic line, which gives the hero +2 Knowledge and a random 1-3 level Chaos magic spell unknown to the hero. This ability significantly eases the game at initial levels due to the significant growth of the hero's mana pool and the possession of a high-level spell even without a built Mages' Guild, allowing them to deal with most enemies without much trouble.
Elemental Fury is a super-ability of the Warlock, and quite a powerful one. It is worth taking the "War Machines" skill for it. In addition to Machines, Luck, Logistics, and Military Education are needed to obtain this super-ability. These three skills will be useful to a Warlock anyway: Luck is an essential skill, even if Elemental Fury is not in the plans. Thus, we move on to skills and abilities.
Skills and Abilities
The Dungeon is oriented more toward offense, which is partly due to the fact that besides Dragons, they have no other creatures with good defense (Hydras' defense is good, but their ability for a retaliatory strike makes them more attacking creatures than defenders). Thus, abilities must be chosen taking this circumstance into account.
Let us note critical skills, the choice of which would not leave a Warlock with regrets in any situation. They should strengthen the interaction between the hero, their troops, and abilities:
Offense is a key skill for the Warlock, even though at first glance it may seem not very attractive. Frenzy is not very effective as it is intended for armies with a large number of weak units, which the Dungeon does not have. Marksmanship is also not the best skill, since Assassins do not deal damage directly but poison opponents, and Matrons and Matriarchs use spells more often than shooting. So why take Offense? Because of Tactics. This skill will allow Blood Hags to reach the opponent at the very beginning of battle and will diversify the number of targets for Riders (tactics increases the troop reconnaissance space in width by 1 cell). After obtaining Tactics, you can take Acceleration, allowing you to cast the corresponding spell on units without spending mana, which is useful in case of its shortage. Furthermore, Acceleration together with Dark Wave unlocks Punishing Strike – an ability that allows your troops to deal additional damage depending on morale. Thus, Dungeon players should take Tactics, while leaving Frenzy and Marksmanship aside. Of course, increasing the level of Offense directly increases the Elemental Chain damage bonuses dealt in melee combat.
Chaos Magic – the name speaks for itself. The Warlock is a master of Destruction magic, Chaos magic; it affects half of their abilities in one way or another, so taking this skill is a no-brainer. Chaos Magic provides the ability to use more different spells, increasing their power; furthermore, it strengthens the Elemental Chain, unleashing its full power. Accompanying abilities include the previously mentioned Secrets of Chaos, 3 strengthening abilities for 3 of the 4 Elements (Fire, Ice, Lightning), and Mana Burst. Before choosing which Element to specialize in, you should build a Mages' Guild of at least level 3 – otherwise, a situation may arise where, for example, the "Ice Lord" ability is leveled up, but there are no proper spells of this Element in the Guild.
Fire Lord can reduce the defense of creatures on whom a fire Element spell was cast (Fireball and Armageddon) by half for 1 round. Cold Lord, attacking enemies with Ice Arrow or Circle of Winter, can freeze them – creatures shift right on the tactical panel for half a round (if their turn comes, they still shift 1 division to the right, skipping their turn until the freezing effect ends). Storm Lord can stun opponents with Lightning or Chain Lightning – the effect is similar to Freezing. Creatures hit by the first discharge of Chain Lightning shift right on the tactical panel depending on the turn order: units whose turn should come earlier shift more than those whose turn should have come later. Thus, only the first creature in the chain receives the stun effect; others are merely dealt damage.
Mana Burst deals damage to mages who subsequently cast spells on the field. Perhaps it is worth abandoning this ability in favor of a second Elemental mastery.
Preferable abilities that are not critical but will greatly ease the hero's development.
Luck can be very useful. By leveling it up, you can further strengthen offense and minimize losses from the enemy's retaliatory strike. Naturally, one should reach Expert level (Permanent Luck) as soon as possible.
Several quite valuable abilities are linked to Luck, one of which is Magic Resistance, increasing by 15% the chance to reflect an opponent's spells, which is especially valuable in struggle against Dark and Chaos mages. Luck on the Road increases the chance to get more resources from bandit camps and resource depots, as well as the amount of gold and experience from chests, but there are better abilities worth developing.
Soldier's Luck increases the chance of friendly creatures using specific abilities. However, in the Dungeon only Matriarchs possess such a specific ability – in melee combat they can additionally cast a spell on enemies. Thus, this ability by itself is not very effective, but it unlocks Sorcerous Luck. Under the influence of Sorcerous Luck, damage from Warlock spells can be doubled.
The fifth ability unlocked by Soldier's Luck is Ashan's Patronage. It will help the hero dig up a Tear of own same even if the hero is not exactly over it, but nearby. If not for Elemental Fury, taking this ability would make no sense – in most cases, a supporting hero will dig up the Tear; the main hero has other things to do.
Leadership is another useful skill, combining very effectively with Punishing Strike from the Offense line – with every increase in Leadership, the damage dealt by troops also grows. As for abilities, Treasury Management brings an additional 250 gold to the treasury – but this is not a skill that the main hero should spend points on.
Diplomacy reduces the cost of surrender and, more importantly, increases the chance of joining neutral armies. Joined creatures can be sacrificed in the Sacrifice Pit, which can increase the growth of much-needed Blood Hags.
Army Recruitment is a great ability for the Dungeon, but not for the main hero – it's quite problematic to return the hero to the castle at the end of every week. But if you are taking Leadership anyway, it' same worth upgrading Army Recruitment to unlock Aura of Speed, a very important ability that increases unit speed by 1.
Logistics is always welcome, especially on large maps with different terrain types. Thus, it has certain advantages – you can catch up to a fleeing enemy or, conversely, escape right from under their nose. The 30% movement bonus obtained at the expert level (Expert Logistics) is not redundant at all. One of its abilities – Pathfinding – reduces the penalty for moving through wild territories by 50%. Scouting has now become even more useful – in addition to increasing the vision radius, it shows the exact number of creatures in a neutral army or an enemy army.
Scouting unlocks one of the most useful abilities – Sudden Attack. This ability significantly advances teleporting creatures on the tactical panel. An ideal target for such a spell would be the Hydra. Previously, this unit remained in reserve almost until the end of the fight due to its low movement speed. Now, thanks to Teleportation, it will find itself in the thick of the fight much sooner than your opponent expects.
Sudden Attack unlocks Death's Tread; this ability adds 4 points to unit speed when besieging an enemy castle – now Dragons will be able to fly to any point on the field in one turn.
The last ability in the Logistics line – Navigation – is only needed on maps with a large amount of water space.
Sorcery, while providing no bonuses to troops, makes the hero even more terrifying and solves the Warlock's mana shortage problem. Sorcery reduces the interval between hero turns by 10/20/30% per level – this allows spells to be used more frequently, which is quite valuable.
Wisdom allows for the learning of any 3rd-circle spells regardless of magic skills – this is useful when obtaining the "Phantom" spell from the Guild (Dungeon uses not only destructive magic but also summoning) – if you cast this spell on Blood Hags, it will not only increase their survivability but also significantly strengthen the army's attacking power.
Arcane Knowledge is a simple ability – it reduces the cost of spells by 20%, which is undoubtedly useful.
Mana Regeneration doubles the base mana recovery rate (base rate equals the number of Knowledge points; with Knowledge equal to 5, 10 mana points will be restored per day instead of 5) – this is more suitable for the early stages of the game, as toward the end, Knowledge will already be sufficient for fast mana regeneration.
Nevertheless, Regeneration unlocks a very interesting ability – Variable Mana. It randomly reduces the cost of casting a spell (up to 50%). The spell is cast at normal cost, and some amount of mana is returned afterward. Still, this ability combined with Arcane Knowledge significantly reduces mana consumption.
Anti-Spell – unlocked by Variable Mana – frankly speaking, is not the most useful skill. For it, you need to level up the Defense line and take Mana Burst. Anti-Spell neutralizes the opponent's next spell but takes double the cost of that spell from the hero. This is exactly the kind of unnecessary mana expenditure that should be avoided in most cases.
Summoning Magic is a good choice for improving the Warlock's viability, as it is one of the two magic schools to which the Dungeon belongs (along with Chaos Magic). The power of summoning spells depends heavily on Sorcery – something the Warlock has plenty of.
Abilities obtained after upgrading Summoning Magic: Mastery of Life – when calculating the effect of "Magic Fist" and "Raise Dead," Sorcery is increased by 4.
Lord of the Land – a similar effect when casting "Earthquake" and "Fire Trap," as well as upon obtaining the Master of Elements ability – +4 to Sorcery when summoning Elementals and Phoenixes.
Additionally, Master of Elements unlocks Exorcism – now Chaos school spells deal double damage to summoned creatures, which is most effective in fighting the forces of Inferno that use Gates.
Among other things, Summoning Magic will allow you to preserve your army in most cases – Phantoms and summoned Elementals will take the main hit. Mystic Armor will allow troops to successfully withstand physical attacks.
Education was slightly buffed in the fifth part and can be effectively used by almost any hero. At maximum level, it adds +30% experience and an additional point that can be spent on developing primary skills once every 2 levels – this allows for a significant advantage in level and abilities over other heroes.
Mana Attraction is an absolutely necessary ability for Warlocks: it increases the mana pool by one and a half times.
Scholar – even in the fifth part, this ability remained as useless as in previous ones. It does not block other abilities, so it's not worth taking except in some specific situations.
Unraveling Secrets – a reincarnation of Eagle Eye from previous parts – it is useful, for example, in fighting Arch Devils if the hero doesn't have the Meteor Shower spell – he can learn it when the Devils cast it. Additionally, Unraveling opens Dark Revelation, giving the hero an additional level – but it still occupies an ability slot, so it's better to take it toward the end of the game when gaining a level is no longer such an easy task.
Dark Revelation provides the opportunity to learn Sorcerer's Reward – a rather mediocre ability that increases Sorcery by 2 points and gives a one-time 1,000 gold. Nevertheless, this ability must be taken to obtain Elemental Fury.
That is essentially all about useful skills. There are also several skills that should not be taken:
Defense – 30% protection from melee attacks and 20% from ranged – sounds good, but the Dungeon is focused on offense; the main goal is to kill the enemy before they can deal damage. That's why Defense is not suitable for Warlocks; it's not worth taking.
War Machines – not bad, but there are many better skills; if you aren't striving for Elemental Fury, War Machines can be skipped.
Dark and Light Magic – spells of these schools will appear in the Mages Guild at level 4; until then, only 1-2 can be obtained. So it's unlikely there is an opportunity to derive real benefit from these schools, as there is simply nowhere to learn the spells until a castle of the corresponding races is captured.
Heroes
So, the basic overview of hero abilities has been given. Depending on the playstyle, map, and opponent, you should choose your alter-ego. For roleplay, 8 heroes are at the player's disposal; let's briefly consider each of them:
Irvanna – Blood Lady. A viable hero, especially for long games – she starts the game with Basic Education and the "Scholar" ability. Therefore, every 2 levels, she adds one point to Attack/Defense for the key Dungeon unit – Furies. Additionally, she is a very good secondary hero – upon recruitment, she joins the army with 9 Beasts, significantly strengthening the main hero at the very beginning of the game.
Vaishan – Black Hand. Specializes in Scouts and Assassins, adding one point of Attack/Defense to them every 2 levels. Starting skills: Ghost Luck and Soldier's Luck – upgrading the Luck line is easier and faster for her than anyone else. Unlike Irvanna, she is recruited with 21 Scouts but without Beasts.
Kitra – Slave Owner. A poor choice for a main hero: her specialization – Minotaurs – is not the most active Dungeon unit. Additionally, she starts the game with the Leadership skill – not bad – and Treasury Management, which is not as good, since you won't be able to upgrade the most important abilities from the Leadership branch – Diplomacy and Aura of Speed. And her army upon recruitment is quite useless – only Minotaurs.
Sinitar – Catalyst. A very good hero for small maps. He starts the game with Basic Chaos Magic, Arcane Wave, and Magic Arrow. His specialization allows reducing mana costs for empowered spells with each level; at level 15, the cost of empowered spells equals the cost of normal ones – therefore, on small maps, the player becomes walking death. However, on large maps, it's better to take another hero, as mana does not become a problem at high levels.
Sorgal – Lizard Breeder, an average hero, starts the game with Basic Defense and Battle Frenzy – he will no longer be able to upgrade Punishing Strike. If you don't take the Leadership skill, the hero will fit well into the Dungeon ranks. His specific ability is increasing damage from Lizard Bite.
Eruina – Witches' Coven, a very good heroine for medium and large maps. Her starting skills are Basic Chaos Magic and Basic Attack; additionally, she starts the game with a Supply Wagon. Her unique specialty allows Twilight Hags and Shadow Matriarchs to make an additional shot at an enemy squad that the heroine attacks with a spell. Area-of-Effect (AoE) spells are also "supported" – in this case, the hags shoot at the "center" point of the spell area. Hags and Matriarchs fire even if they have no shots remaining.
Letos – Poisoner. This hero will be an excellent choice against any opponent except a Necromancer, as his ability allows poisoning an enemy squad; the probability depends on the hero's level. However, the hero starts the game with Basic Dark Magic – a wasted skill slot, since the Dungeon does not belong to this school of spells and Dark spells do not depend on Sorcery – unlike Chaos and Summoning spells.
Irbet – Dark Mystic. This heroine specializes in the Dark Ritual – making it more effective, so the amount of mana during the Ritual exceeds the maximum amount (the hero must spend a whole day). Additionally, she starts the game with Basic Dark magic, which makes this heroine completely unattractive as a choice.
Creatures
So, a certain understanding of skills, abilities, and heroes has been created. But the core of Heroes has always been the troops under the hero's command. The Dungeon has a unique arsenal, and to win with it, every unit must be considered from all sides – this will allow the troops to interact as effectively as possible and deliver deadly attacks against opponents. An unprepared attack leads to defeat.
Let's try to give a brief characteristic of the units, considering their weak and strong points. At the same time, keep in mind that squads do not act on their own but together – specific interaction tactics will be considered later.
Scouts and Assassins
The first Dungeon unit – if you look at its stats, it's easy to notice that this is the weakest level 1 unit. However, its high cost and low growth are compensated by quality. Yes, its growth is small and cost is high, but it is extremely useful, especially at the start of the game. This unit has a ranged attack but has a distance penalty: this means that at long distances it deals a quarter of the damage, and when shooting at an adjacent enemy – half. However, it has no penalty in melee combat, so it can often be used specifically as a melee fighter (ctrl + LMB), especially to finish off an enemy squad or when the opponent's counterattack hit another squad. Thus, Scouts should be placed on the first line, attack the approaching enemy with ranged weapons, and deliver the finishing blow. Using them as melee fighters will have to be abandoned when it comes to high-level neutrals – their counterattacks are too strong.
At this point, Assassins come into play. They do not greatly exceed Scouts in terms of stats but possess the ability to poison the enemy during both ranged and melee attacks. Poison hits the opponent in 100% of attacks, but some creatures – undead and constructs – are immune to it. Poison damage is dealt depending on the number of Assassins in the squad and lasts 3 rounds, dealing damage before the opponent's turn. Poisoning cannot be strengthened, so after shooting one unit, you should switch to another. The fact that an Assassin can poison from a safe distance makes them an excellent squad for reducing the number of high-level monsters, as poison damage does not depend on the opponent's level or defense.
Thus, Scouts are good at the start of the game for weakening the enemy from a distance and for finishing off in melee, while Assassins will be useful slightly later, mainly as "remote poisoners."
Beasts and Furies
Level 2 monsters – similar to Harpies from the 3rd part of Heroes, differing only in appearance (slightly) and unable to fly. These are key Dungeon units; almost all attacks will have to be built around them. Like Scouts/Assassins, they are quite expensive and their weekly growth is small. Beasts are a rather weak unit; they can only withstand Peasants and Militia, and even then, it's difficult to avoid losses. They attack, the opponent responds with a counterattack, and the Beasts retreat. The main problem is exactly the counterattack, which is lethal for Beasts, especially due to their low health and small growth.
Fortunately, Furies correct this unfortunate misunderstanding – they have the ability of an unopposed strike. With its help, they dominate in combat with melee fighters; high initiative and speed, own-strike, and a high attack level allow them to quickly deal with melee fighters. Fighting ranged units is certainly risky, as Furies usually become their target number 1, plus this circumstance is complicated by the low defense of Furies.
It's no secret that attacks through Beasts and Furies should be built extremely carefully: one wrong step – and you can lose their 2-3 week growth. A more detailed strategy for using these units is described below.
Minotaurs and Minotaur Guards
In the 5th part, Minotaurs are no longer as strong as before (mainly because they are now level 3 units), nevertheless, they are still combat-effective. Ordinary Minotaurs are slow, but at the same time quite well-balanced in terms of Defense/Attack. Thanks to the Bravery ability, their morale does not drop below 1 regardless of the circumstances. And although their speed is low, this special ability not only prevents them from skipping a turn due to low morale, but sometimes even grants an additional one. They can be used in the early game so that opponents spend their counterattack on them and do not enter melee combat with Scouts or Assassins.
Guardian Minotaurs receive a significant bonus to their attacking capabilities – after upgrading, they strike twice. This bonus is especially effective against shooters and opponents with high Defense but low Attack.
Minotaurs can be used in any conditions, but they do not stand out much against the general background. They can deal quite serious damage, but one should not be mistaken about their high viability – despite a large number of hit points, low defense does not allow them to withstand physical damage well. In the early stages of the game, they easily avoid losses, but in later stages, throwing them into attack must be done with greater caution, as their low defense stat makes them quite vulnerable in battles with high-level monsters.
Lizard Riders / Dark Riders
A reinforcement in the ranks of the Dungeon – Riders possess excellent Attack and average Defense. Unlike Paladins, whose same damage increases with the distance traveled before the hit, Riders reduce the target's Defense by 20% for each square traveled – eventually down to zero. This makes Riders very useful in fighting high-level opponents with high Defense: at a distance of more than 5 squares, Riders reduce their Defense to zero. However, the speed of Riders is quite low compared to other "cavalry" units, so before upgrading, it is better to use them to intercept an advancing enemy rather than for crossing the entire battlefield.
The upgraded version – Dark Riders – surpasses their "younger brothers" in stats. The most important stats for the Dungeon – Speed and Initiative – are significantly increased, giving them the ability to easily cross the entire battlefield in one turn. Additionally, they gain the Lizard Bite ability: it allows dealing half damage to a nearby enemy squad if it is attacked by an allied unit in melee. This technique is especially effective when paired with Furies, who will not be counterattacked anyway, and with Guardian Minotaurs, whose double-strike ability allows lizards to bite twice.
In general, Riders are a superior "cavalry" unit that ignores enemy defense at long distances – this makes them simply killers for high-level opponents. When fighting other players, it is not worth attacking low-level squads or those with low defense – reducing their already low defense to zero does not provide a significant advantage. As good as Riders are when striking from a charge, so bad they are in contact combat – one should retreat in time to avoid losing the maneuverability advantage.
Hydras / Cave Hydras
Most Dungeon units deal quite substantial damage, but are not very well protected themselves. To balance this situation, the Hydra was introduced to the ranks of the Dungeon. Towering over any squad on the battlefield, the Hydra is slow and clumsy – therefore it may miss a large part of the battle. It has three heads – this allows it to attack 3 targets in front of it simultaneously. Furthermore, as in previous parts, the Hydra delivers an unanswered strike, but fortunately for opponents, the initiative of Hydras is quite low, so they are often used for defense.
The Cave Hydra is better in this regard – its already high hit point level increases further, as does the damage dealt. It gains 3 more heads, allowing it to attack any enemy around it; a new ability is added – Regeneration – restoring 33-50 hit points before each turn. If the number of restored hit points exceeds the maximum, one Hydra returns to life.
Thus, the Hydra and Cave Hydra are the most defense-oriented units due to low initiative and high Defense level. But when surrounded by enemies, it shows all its inherent attacking potential. Therefore, most neutrals and players do not attack it or attack with no more than one unit. The ability for an unanswered strike and regeneration help keep Hydras intact – this advantage should be used together with Sudden Attack (from the Logistics line). A Hydra can be turned into a "fortress of death": simply by teleporting it into the enemy ranks – plus it will shift to the left on the tactical panel, allowing it to attack stationary opponents sooner. Now the opponent will not be able to ignore it.
Twilight Witches / Shadow Mistresses
These priestesses are exactly what the Dungeon needs – high-level shooters and sorceresses. Since they only have 4 shots, the ability to cast spells acts as a compensation. Unlike other casters, Witches cannot deal damage with spells – they can cast Slow, Punishing Strike, and Destructive Beam. All these spells are advanced level – quite strong blessings/curses. On the other hand, Witches have rather low stats (especially hit points) and are quite expensive.
Shadow Mistresses receive an additional spell – Forgetfulness. It reduces the damage dealt by the target during a counterattack and ranged attack, so it is quite effective against high-level opponents (reducing counterattack damage by 2 times) or for temporarily disabling enemy shooters. Forgetfulness is cast at the most basic level, so it should not be given exclusive preference over other spells. An additional ability – whip strike, which sometimes allows casting Slow, Weakness, or Battle Frenzy on opponents attacking her in melee. The strongest spell from this list is berserk (Frenzy), but it is not very effective since you must be in direct contact with the opponent to cast it. Like the Witch, the Mistress has 4 shooting charges and rather low stats, but the hiring cost rises sharply.
The main role of Witches and Mistresses is support for the Dungeon's main forces; they can shoot and cast spells. And while they are poor shooters, the army needs them because most Dungeon units are melee fighters. They are more useful as sorceresses, weakening the enemy and strengthening allies. The Whip Strike is not bad, but one should still avoid close combat with Mistresses due to low hit points and stats – in a melee fight, their viability is no better than that of a fly.
Twilight Dragons / Black Dragons
Once again we note – the most powerful squad of the Dungeon – Dragons. Twilight ones are strong flying units that can cross the battlefield in one turn and attack 2 cells with fire breath. When attacking large creatures, it is worth flying in from the right – this way the Dragon can reach an enemy squad standing behind the target. The only drawback of Twilight Dragons is a rather low Attack and Defense stat for a level 7 creature.
The mighty Black Dragon is the "brand" of the Dungeon – and with good reason. Once these creatures are hired, the advantage of the hero's army in battles with neutrals and other players will become simply overwhelming. Their gift and curse is complete immunity to magic; a Black Dragon is immune to any spells, except for area-of-effect spells cast by the hero himself (currently Irresistible Magic also affects the hero's own army) and Chaos spells from other Warlocks. In all stats, except initiative, they surpass Twilight Dragons; they easily withstand serious attacks and deal crushing damage.
After Dragons join the army, a significant increase in the overall defense and attack rating awaits. The advantages of fire breath should be used, but one should carefully place own troops around Dragons, as the opponent can also use this ability and part of the counterattack will hit a unit standing behind the enemy. Black Dragons are extremely effective against Druids and Cave Lords; you can simply wipe all other army units off the field – and the opponent's spells will be ineffective. But one should be careful with Lords – they can always kill one Dragon with a Slicing Sword, and Mages can strike with a Magic Fist, which is equivalent to a physical attack.
Development Strategy
Now we have a certain basic idea of the Dungeon army. Next, the general game strategy for this castle will be described. This is not a universal strategy – depending on the map and other conditions for victory, it will have to be adapted slightly.
Opening
If there is no tavern in the castle – first of all, build it and hire a hero from the Dungeon. He will supply the main hero with troops and capture resources and mines. With several Beasts and Scouts, you can easily clear the nearby territory of only peasants and militiamen. Once the Tavern is built, immediately build the Blood Arena for Beasts and on the very next day build the Blood Memorial for Furies. The reason is simple – Beasts are only suitable for fighting weak level 1 creatures, while Furies handle any melee fighters excellently and crush melee units with low initiative.
After building these structures, you should build the Military School for Scouts (if it wasn't provided from the start) – and continue further to build buildings necessary for creating troops. As soon as conditions allow, build the Town Hall and Magistrate – Dungeon cities are quite costly; a lot of money is needed for buildings and hiring troops. Until the hero obtains Tactics (which should be done as soon as possible), do not touch Archers or Elven Archers (or their advanced versions) guarding mines.
Dealing with Zombies can be quite easy, problems will start with Golems, Swordsmen, and Minotaurs – don't forget to pull back Scouts and Furies if enemies can reach them on the next turn. The combat algorithm using Furies is as follows:
Wait (button "W") until the opponent is within reach.
Attack him – often the next turn will come to the Furies sooner than to the opponents.
If the opponent cannot reach the Furies during the next turn – attack again (you can see the enemy's movement range by hovering over them with the mouse).
If he can reach them on the next turn – retreat beyond the enemy's movement range.
The opponent makes a move, but since the Furies are outside his movement range – he does not attack.
Attack the opponent.
Retreat beyond his movement range.
Repeat the previous 2 steps until the opponent is weakened enough to be finished off by a melee attack from Scouts (ctrl+LMB) or the Furies themselves.
Such "retreat" tactics also work for Scouts, but they will lack the initiative to attack as often – just save them for the finishing blow on a weakened opponent. Do not waste mana on neutral melee fighters unnecessarily; save it for Spirits and shooters.
You can attack Gremlins and Archer-Shooters even without upgraded Tactics, but only if their number is no more than an "Horde". Perhaps one or two Furies will die (depending on the army's morale level), but leaving an "Horde" of shooters in the rear while waiting for Tactics is not recommended – later it may grow and become even harder to defeat.
Fighting neutral Scouts is not too difficult due to their range penalty. However, Assassins will take a couple of Furies with them, so be careful with them.
If you encounter a mine guarded by Dryads – do not touch them under any circumstances. Their "Wasp Swarm" spell, cast by 15 Dryads for example, kills 2 Furies. Until the Furies reach them – they can cast it twice. This circumstance, along with one of the highest initiative levels in the game, makes them the most difficult opponents in the early game. On low or medium difficulty, you can hire 3 heroes from another faction just for such cases; you won't need their troops anyway. Pixies, a simplified version of Dryads, do not have this spell, so dealing with them will not be difficult.
By the end of the week, your castle should already have a Tavern, Military School, Blood Arena, Forge, Labyrinth (Minotaurs), Town Hall, and level 1 Mages Guild. Depending on the difficulty and number of starting (already built) buildings, you can choose to build either the Dark Pasture (Lizard Riders) or the Hydra Cave – depending on the neutrals: if there are more shooters – then Pasture, if melee fighters – then Cave.
By the end of the week, the hero should have upgraded Chaos Magic with Chaos Secrets (Dark Ritual is needed to unlock them) and/or Offense + Tactics.
Mittelspiel
Now you should clear all nearby mines guarded by neutral melee fighters. If tactics are upgraded – then also those guarded by strong neutral shooters – Archers, Elven Archers, Succubi, and Monks. Again – depending on the game difficulty, you will be able to reach them slightly earlier or later. The key to victory is positioning the Furies correctly: if the entire enemy army is in one or two slots, then place the Furies on the 4th square from the left. If there are obstacles in the way, the main forces of the army should be positioned opposite the opponent. If the opponent tried to flee before the start of the battle, you have superior forces – the enemy army will be in one slot. Otherwise, they will be split into 2-3 slots, so place Furies accordingly. If there is a choice between two opponents – attack the one who stands closer on the tactical panel – the second can be finished off by the hero with a spell. If the Logistics line is upgraded to Sudden Attack – cast Teleport on Hydras, teleport them between two shooters and enjoy.
Mages and Druids are the most difficult opponents at this stage. If they guard a necessary mine, prepare for trouble. The combat tactics against them do not differ from those used against ordinary ranged units, except in situations where you face Archmages or High Druids. In that case, it is worth removing Minotaurs and Hydras from the battlefield, as the enemy deals area-of-effect damage; it is better to place units as far apart as possible so that a strike hits only one unit.
Attacking high-level melee units will be significantly easier if you have managed to preserve a sufficiently large number of Furies. The combat strategy remains the same: hit and run. However, keep in mind that units with high initiative—Unicorns, Nightmares, and Paladins—can reach the Furies in one turn; for this reason, place them in the rear ranks. If the Furies move first, you should wait and then attack the opponent who has already used their turn.
The hero should upgrade Advanced Chaos Magic and Storm Master or Ice Master (depending on the spells available in the Guild)—both of these masteries will significantly ease combat, as their use stuns the enemy or freezes them, forcing them to skip a turn. Other useful skills for upgrading are described in the previous part.
At this stage of the game, by the end of the week, you should build a Stronghold rather than a Magistrate, as it will increase the growth of Furies. By this time, you should have built buildings for level 5 units and a level 2 Mages' Guild, and on easy and normal difficulty—buildings for level 6 units plus a Magistrate. The Chambers of Intrigue—necessary for constructing the Hall of Twilight—will increase the Knowledge of all Warlocks by 1.
Endgame
Several Twilight Dragons will significantly increase the chances of success. Now you can easily defeat not only Druids, Mages, and Cave Lords, who were previously difficult opponents, but also melee units such as Angels, Colossi, Devils, and Bone Dragons. Units should be placed in the rear ranks; if there are additional slots in the squad, it is worth splitting Witches or Matriarchs into 2 slots to cast slow spells on enemies. Dragons and Riders are suitable for the finishing blow.
The tactic for fighting Druids is simple: attack with all your might. Dragons should block one Druid, Furies—the second. To achieve this, place Furies on the 4th square to the right, and Dragons on the 7th-8th, with Riders in the middle. Attack them with your spells; they must perish before their turn begins.
If you encounter a large number of Druids or Lords, and you have enough Black Dragons in your army, other troops can be removed from the battlefield and the enemy dealt with using only Dragons and spells. A high amount of hit points and high stats will prevent Druids from killing any of them, while Lords, who lack ranged attacks, will waste their turn casting spells in vain—this will give you the opportunity to calmly cast at least a couple of spells. Due to low speed, Dragons simply won't have time to enter combat—which is good, as Lords possess the "Vorpal Blade" ability.
On the other hand, against Mages, you should act with your entire army; sending only Dragons would be a mistake—Mages have Magic Fist and will manage to use it a couple of times before the Dragons fly in. Therefore, throw all troops at them, but distribute them across the battlefield to avoid multiple casualties from Fireball.
Fast flyers—such as Black, Emerald, Gold, and Twilight Dragons—present a certain problem, as they can fly across the entire field in one turn. If there are few of them (1-4), you can deploy only Black Dragons against them, positioning them in a corner. Since there are few enemies, they will deal little damage; they can be finished off with spells or by effectively using the same fire breath as the Dragons. If there are many of them (20-49)—such opponents should be avoided. If avoiding the encounter is impossible, place Dragons and Hydras on the front edge, with other units behind them. Riders should be placed on the very edge so that only one enemy squad can attack them at a time. When arranging the army, remember about fire breath and leave no gaps between units so that the enemy cannot reach Matriarchs, Furies, and Assassins.
Dealing with Titans is quite simple (in moderate numbers)—just attack them with all units; their number will be significantly reduced even before it becomes their turn.
A Warlock must dominate the battlefield with his spells—Meteor Shower should sow death among the enemies. If this spell is not in the Mages' Guild, you can loot the Dragon Lair; in Heroes V, it provides a high-level spell missing from the hero's spellbook. The Lair should be captured regardless of the guards—this can save significant time and resources.
Epilogue
Do not assume that you now know all the secrets of the Dungeon. This is only a small introductory course for Warlocks and their fans. It was written solely to provide a basic idea of the strategy and tactics of playing this faction; hero and city development depend more on personal preferences and playstyle—as does the result of the game. Keep in mind: the Dungeon is a difficult castle, it does not give second chances; if you make no mistakes, you will be fully rewarded with an enjoyable and exciting game.
As they say—"Hide, listen, observe, remember... And when the time comes - strike from the shadows."
original here: http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=550
and now my additions :)
Castle Build-up
By Rean
castle build-up for Sinitar (he doesn't need to build a mages guild at first—the arrow is already there)
if you have a level 3 city—build the town hall, no matter what. The hero needs a lot of money
build beasts and scouts
build fury and assassin upgrades (if playing as Sinitar, only upgrade furies...)
market--it's cheap and helps reach the city level for the magistrate and fort
if you see that you can build both a magistrate and a fort, build the magistrate first, then the fort (or the fort if the week is ending, then the magistrate)
if money is lacking—check if there are chests nearby. Better to take money than experience... if there are no chests—build the fort. Fury growth is extremely important at the start as it will make life much easier in the future
after building the town hall and magistrate, build hydras and the structure that increases knowledge.
everything else depends on your priorities.
that's all for now :)
write your ideas in this thread. I think refinements to such a guide will be useful for Heroes 5 beginners starting to play as the Dungeon!
An offline version of the guide is now available!
Rean's Ghost :smile24:
