Posts from Tactics for playing as the Dwarves.

The chance of a spell dropping is 2%. So, perhaps it's worth taking Erling for all these options (specializes in priests - not bad, and initially gets a spell. IMHO - the best option for a gnome mage).

KonServator, it's exactly this map. I completed it on Recruit difficulty as Neutral, on Warrior difficulty as Haven, and on Veteran difficulty as Dungeon. Now I'm trying to complete it on Hero difficulty as Haven. I declined Chaos at the start. With huge armies of neutrals, it's not very effective.

I'm leveling up the Gnome with Education, Leadership with Empathy, Light with Storm, Summoning, and Luck. Defense and Combat skills are not very useful on this map. At least on Veteran difficulty, I had almost no melee battles. Everything was decided by ranged units and the hero's magic. Sometimes they were helped by Berserkers. Occasionally, bears joined the battle.

Storm is very helpful against ghosts. They don't even reach the thickest units until the 3rd turn. And Utopia is easily taken with it.

As I understand it, the Dwarves rely heavily on fire magic – their priests with their fireballs, and the way heroes are developed to have powerful fire spells combined with runes. But what do you do if the opponent is playing Humans, with a hero specializing in Paladins and taking fire resistance as a skill? (endgame, level 20)

Don't use fire; just shoot with priests. Replace Chaos with Light, for example: :smile16:

Yes, for the Dwarves, light is a much more fitting element than chaos.

It's difficult for them to use magic, which is why the hero's chaos attacks are less effective.

Otherwise, they have rune cooldown (if they have few knowledge points) and general light spells.

So, how do you play against human players using the Fortress faction? We have a duel coming up soon, and I think he'll take an offensive unit set. If I defend, it won't be pleasant when the Knights of Isabel charge in and deal 2 hits to 2 units (1 archer unit), and the griffins will also take out 2 units each (flying... or maybe just hitting 1 unit)... And I have no idea what to do about it (I don't even know how to kill the Knights and their upgrades. Before, they were the ones deciding the outcome, and I couldn't do anything... although that was with Necropolis). ... Give me some tactical advice... If I take the Rune of Recall, I'll take Inga... and what should I choose: Battle to the Last (killing units with one hit, I think these damn paladins will do that very often, and also with Overlord...) or Readiness? Also, is it worth taking the Amulet of Light? After all, the opponent will be a warrior hero with boosted light magic... I'm really lost in my thoughts...

It's a difficult situation, as a large number of monks can indeed be transformed into Isabel's knights (if you collect artifacts and sell them, it's actually possible to turn all monks into cavalry). And if that happens, the battle is lost.

The only option is to make his life difficult. I would advise rushing, but dwarves aren't built for that. Maybe it's better to try another race?

If you still want to play as dwarves, then defense is key – fight to the last, use the resurrection rune, and rely on luck (maybe the harpooners will get lucky and deal significant damage to the horses without a luck penalty, and if you also have Carli). Use light magic and leadership – runic harmony.
Try to develop as quickly as possible (this is helped by the starting hero Carli with soldier's luck, archers, crippling strike, and a purchased cart). And use the speed rune. Fight somewhere around week 7.

In general, fighting to the last + the resurrection rune can really save you.

As I understand it, there are two main build paths for Dwarves due to their specific characteristics: focusing on "light" and "chaos" magic. In the latest expansion, a build focused on "summoning" looks good, but what is the better choice overall? With decent mana, it's good to sit back and bombard the opponent with "meteor shower," "fireball," or something similar. However, with large armies, I think it's more convenient to play with "light" magic; the buffs will provide a greater positive effect – Dwarves will become tougher, faster, and stronger, and the opponent can try to reduce magic damage in various ways, such as using "ice shield," but it's unlikely they can block light magic.
I haven't played as Dwarves much; I'm just starting – I've played against them in 3 games and won twice, so I'm looking for advice.

I'm definitely going with Haven. Gnomes rarely get spellcasting skills.
Chaos without spellcasting?

I was talking specifically about the unique characteristics of dwarf heroes, who receive approximately the same percentage increase in stats when leveling up. If you see that magical power is increasing normally, then you can confidently choose Chaos – it will provide more advantages at the beginning than Light. Moreover, it’s not at all necessary for dwarves to focus on wizardry – it’s an unclear dogma:confused:, perhaps you’re playing according to standard builds. For Chaos, a dwarf has a fairly large army, which a warlock doesn’t have; the warlock is forced to move faster, otherwise his army will be depleted. A dwarf can calmly hold out.
Logistics, Defense, Machinery, Chaos, Education – this is the optimal option for a dwarf chaos hero, in my opinion.
Logistics – it goes without saying.
Machinery – Rune Golems + Rapid-Fire Ballista. In 2.1, this is only available to dwarves, and it will make it much easier to level up.
Defense – Hired Help and Readiness.
Chaos – Pyromancy.
Education – will give additional stats to the hero.
I would like to know your opinion.

What does dogma have to do with it? What about standards? A hero-gnome with Chaos and Sorcery will always be more effective at casting spells than a hero-gnome without Sorcery.

And what about siege engines? Perhaps only on small maps. Gnomes have the lowest damage from a ballista.

Why not defense with a strategy of fighting to the last - in my opinion, this is the foundation of victories for the Fortress faction, along with the resurrection rune.

And what about leadership? Rune Harmony is a very effective skill.

Are you playing with other players?
Magic is definitely effective with Chaos, but the same can be said about Light; the more often we cast spells, the more buffs we apply. I think education would be more effective in this case.
Now about siege engines – on large maps, there's not much point in taking them, as their effectiveness decreases, but the damage of the dwarven ballista is far from minimal. The effect depends on the hero's level, related attack parameters, which are moderately increased, and the siege engine skill. Only the dwarven ballista fires three times in World vs. World; with runic siege engines, it fires one-third more often than other races, resulting in a faster start, fewer early losses, and clearing everything faster than without siege engines. For example, there's a 5-player tournament on this forum that's currently running.
Battle to the Last is a good option, but only if you have such a rune; otherwise, you can put yourself at a disadvantage. Also, I was talking about version 2.1, and they hadn't invented that yet.
The Runic Harmony option is indeed a worthwhile suggestion; I'll have to try it sometime, thanks for the advice.

Specifically for light magic, spellcasting isn't essential, as mass buffs are cast for half the initiative, removing enchantments from a group also costs half the initiative, and resurrection or divine retribution will only be needed towards the end of the battle. Mana problems can be solved through education.

I play as Dwarves for 4 reasons: 1) It's an excellent hero with a great specialization (Ingvar:)) and excellent units (warriors!!!) 2) It has a decent Haven - Rune Magic (it's true that it's not as good as the Academy's Haven, but it's still good!) 3) It has Jarls and Lava Dragons!!! 4) In the Academy, most of the spells are for Light and Chaos (2 of my favorite magic types!!!))) Regarding Sorcery, it's more in the realm of fantasy, although you need to get some for Chaos, and you're right about that Avenger! But if you're going for LIGHT, you won't need Sorcery as much; it's better to take Machines!!! p.s. I used to play as Necropolis for about a year (then they nerfed it:(), then 6 months as Humans and Mages, now I play as all races (except Necropolis), but Dwarves are the most interesting, it's just a shame they're so predictable :(

I think that for proper development, a lot depends on the choice of hero: if you go through Chaos, you can choose Erling (my favorite hero) with the starting skill of Wizardry, or Helmar with Light... BUT, of course, there are other heroes with their own advantages, such as Carli, Ibba, and Ingvar – they all enhance a specific unit that can crush many in the final stages.
Svea is not the best option, but if you get the Trident of Titans at the beginning, you can clear the nearby territory of normal mobs faster than others. However, when playing as Svea, you need to get the Education skill with the Artifact skill as quickly as possible, and try to find Wizardry.
It would be better to give them a profession that enhances Fire instead of Lightning; that way, we could have a Pyromancer.
Fortunately, it's not difficult for Dwarves to get Light, Chaos, and Defense with Education:smile44:
Two more good heroes are Inga and Brand, with their special abilities, you can defeat strong mobs without losses without going to the city (Inga), and after visiting the city, you don't have to spend resources (Brand). When playing on Veteran or Hero difficulty as Brand, I usually risk using the Berserk Rune or the Energy Rune.
At the start, I always try to build a Magic School level 1. With a good spellcaster, you can kill everyone with one magic arrow. Usually, by the second week, I have Magic Schools level 2-3, and Stones and Fireballs will come in handy.
Everything (especially building) depends on what level the city starts at.
Once, I learned Summoning for Erling, developed it to Expert, and on the map, I learned the Trap spell – what luck! And then I barely managed to get Rune Shield. I regret that there are no normal summoning spells in Magic Schools 3-5. Well, in short, it's all luck and something unusual:smile20:
Comment to Ingvar the Tall: if you think about it, almost all races are predictable. The key to victory with an experienced player is to surprise the opponent (with summoning, for example, or something else) – this is when playing as Dwarves; although they can surprise you too... but if you're playing against the computer or an inexperienced player, there's no need to surprise anyone:smile47:
Has anyone tried developing Combat skills for Dwarves? It's two types of magic... unless it's around level 30. Has anyone tried developing Combat skills earlier???
Sorry if I went off-topic in some places:smile27: