Posts from Haven vs. Fortress (how to play against dwarves?!)

Let's assume the difference between the defense of shooters and the attack of cavalry is 20 points.
The damage of 60 Isabel's knights is approximately 25*60=1500, and another *2, since the difference is 20, that is, 3000. About 200 spearman will die (I don't remember their hit points), and this doesn't take into account the spread. And if Axel is also present, my experience shows that the unit usually doesn't survive.
In any case, this is a good alternative to dwarven runes; I don't see any imbalance. Besides, dwarves have a very difficult start and city development. Well, maybe the resurrection rune combined with fighting to the last is a bit too much.

Added 8 minutes ago
I don't know, if the bears rush in on the first turn and attack the cavalry, they will probably die from the counterattack. Honestly, I haven't played in a while; it seems that the probability of fear or a claw attack depends on the soldiers' luck and the number of creatures in the enemy unit. And the number of cavalry is very large. Therefore, the cavalry can still gain momentum.
Besides, there is a chance to get teleport, as a guarantee that the cavalry won't be disabled during the battle.
You can also consider splitting the cavalry into 2 units (there will be no inquisitors left).

Nuance: regarding the spread, there may be obstacles on the territory where the battle can take place. And the difference in attack and defense, due to the skill (+1 and +1 for each level), let's say that both heroes will have the same defense and attack, which will be extremely small, only 6 units. And by the way, dwarves usually also apply armor to everyone, which is another +9 defense. And when properly positioning troops, you need to take into account the dwarves' healing. So, 200 spearman will definitely not be killed. And the cavalry can simply be blocked with a crystal. And regarding the slower development of dwarves, hmm... yes, there is such an effect, but only for large maps and the second-to-last difficulty level of creatures (patch 3.1). You can only reach the enemy's territory by the time the enemy has developed, and this is taking into account that the troops standing between the territories can be bypassed with astral gates. And regarding development, with proper leadership, you can play as dwarves without falling behind in development. And another point, let's say we got cavalry, attacked with it, and killed 200 spearman, but we won't have inquisitors, because we made cavalry, and the enemy has all levels of troops. By the way, there may be more spearman, because every week another hero with troops is bought, so there are already 700-800 dwarves with 450 spearman. The cavalry attacks with the etherealness rune on the first strike. The cavalry wastes the attack (well, with good luck, they will hit, but the rest of the cavalry will simply be cut down). Yes, about luck, in such battles, luck is usually very high for both opponents, around 6-7 (of course, in the game it is perceived as 50%, but honestly, this is not a small number, and I don't understand those who underestimate luck; if this number is large, and combined with soldiers' luck, this allows you to win the battle very well, even morale is not so effective). So, it is doubtful that you will succeed with your cavalry. And just for fun, you can play with us. And another nuance, about the balance of the game, even if it turns out that your tactic is really correct, it means that only a knight can counter the dwarves? This is not balanced. And for some reason, I think that you might even lose to necromancers with knights, simply because you won't have anyone else. And in my case, I had 200 vampires with characteristics (+1 attack and +1 defense for each hero level, i.e., +15 and +15). Thanks to the runes, I halved all their units in one turn. And this is even taking into account that the liches were also halved.

Dwarves can be successfully countered by Orcs (huge boost, rage, which many also consider to be a cheat). If you accept your approach (450 creatures of level 2), imagine the power of the "Rage of the Horde" spell; how many goblins do you think the Orcs will have?

Dwarves can be destroyed by Light Elves if you take the hero Winghael.

Dwarves can be destroyed by Mages if all creatures have level 3 miniatures (and they will, as we will play until there are 450 spear masters); the Mages will cast the Mage's Sign spell and place double stacks of mines and walls and simply shoot down the Dwarves with miniatures that have high initiative and luck.

Dwarves can be destroyed by Demons with the hero Nimue, if they are lucky with the Amulet of Mastery; on the battlefield, there can be 6 squads of Cave Lords.

Dwarves are simply killed by Dark Elves with a relentless rush. This happens on any map, as Dark Elves simply destroy neutral creatures very quickly. On the highest difficulty, their city development is not much different from the Veteran level; everything is very simple, but how are you going to find a huge number of crystals for the Dwarves? You might not be lucky with the mine.

In general, I don't see any imbalance with the Dwarves; yes, it is a very strong race, but it can be countered.

I have already tested the retraining option a long time ago; my friends don't let me play Humans on a large map; rather, training monks into Knights with Isabelle is a cheat; I advise you to try it at least once before arguing, because I am 95% sure of the Humans' victory

Orcs can effectively counter Gnomes (huge boost, rage, which many also consider to be an unfair advantage). If you adopt your approach (450 creatures of level 2), imagine the power of the "Rage of the Horde" spell. How many goblins do you think the Orcs will have?

Gnomes can be destroyed by the Light Elves, if you take the hero Wingael.

Gnomes can be destroyed by Mages, if all creatures have tier 3 miniatures (and they will, as we will play until there are 450 spear masters). The Mages will cast the Mage's Sign spell and place double stacks of mines and walls, and simply shoot down the Gnomes with miniatures that focus on initiative and luck.

Gnomes can be destroyed by Demons with the hero Nimue, if you are lucky with the Amulet of Mastery. On the battlefield, it is possible to have 6 squads of Cave Lords.

Gnomes are simply killed by Dark Elves with a relentless rush. This happens on any map, as the Dark Elves simply destroy neutral creatures very quickly. On the highest difficulty, their city development is not much different from the Veteran level; everything is very simple, but how are you going to find a huge number of crystals for the Gnomes? You might not be lucky with the mine.

In general, I don't see any imbalance with the Gnomes. Yes, it is a very strong race, but it can be countered.

I have already tested the retraining option many times. My friends don't let me play Humans on a large map. Rather, training monks into knights with Isabelle is an unfair advantage. I advise you to try it at least once before arguing, because I am 95% sure of the Humans' victory.

I have played as Wingael, and it was only possible to win if I could rush to the Gnomes as quickly as possible. Regarding crystals, there are usually enough of them, as there are many mills

hello
I only play in hotseat mode (there's a certain dynamic – they unexpectedly don't kill you =), and even then, not often.
But with Humans, I can do something incredible:
I play as Dugald, and I upgrade archers to level 4 or 5 in the city (as soon as possible) and equip them with red crossbows, and all melee creeps fall to their knees...
I cleared the gold mine on the 2nd week; its unupgraded guards were guarding it, but there was also another garrison for an army on the map – I just closed it off with slaves.
The only thing is, leveling up leadership to inspiration and frenzy in attack, and Dugald's shooting ability, retribution, and empathy are a given.
And once, I teamed up with a guy, and on the last difficulty, I took the Undead castle from the AI, and then I started converting the light creatures (squire to monk and onto the altar); the damage output was 100 per month, splash damage, it was amazing, everything died for my friend –)).
That's what I'm getting at: Humans consume all the gold on the map, it's unbearable to fight them.

Which hero is better to choose, Axel or Dugald?

Which hero is better to choose, Axel or Dugal?

I've been playing as dwarves for a while now! I can handle pretty much every faction except humans!
Of course, Axel!
If you've been playing for more than two or three months and develop to level 20-25, you'll win 100%. The tactic has been described for a long time - just churn out paladins! This is a fact, and unfortunately, it's a form of cheating!

With Dugal, you develop faster, but Axel is better in the endgame!

Mish-gan
What skills should I choose for Axel?

Mish-gan
And which skills should Axel take?

Axel the Anti-Gnome (level 25):
Master Counter-Strike, Supervision, Experienced Commander.
1. Masterful Offense: Tactics, Battle Frenzy, Impact.
2. Persistent Luck: Soldier's Luck.
3. Masterful Leadership: Rally Troops, Inspiration, Empathy.
4. Masterful Defense.
5. Dark or Light Magic - it doesn't matter, magic is just a bonus for Axel in this case.
Artifacts: preferably a ring for initiative, and artifacts for attack.

Key perks in the build are highlighted in bold!

The tactic is simple: a critical mass of at least 100 paladins - first, we eliminate the dragons (the paladins' attack destroys any stack), preferably taking out someone else as well. If anyone dares to attack them, they will also be completely wiped out! If Battle Frenzy triggers after the first attack, the game is practically won!
As an alternative, you can split the paladins into two stacks!
Force Majeure, may happen if the Gnome is properly built (but few know about such a build), then you'll have to work a bit harder, but the odds are still 70 to 30 in Axel's favor!

Dwarves can be successfully countered by Orcs (huge growth, rage, which many also consider to be a cheat). If you accept your approach (450 creatures of level 2), then imagine the power of the "orcish rage" spell, how many goblins do you think the Orcs will have?

Brand will fix everything against the Orcs, considering that at a high level he will have infinite rune magic, so those resources are practically not needed... I played one battle for fun for about 40 minutes... in short, I used rune magic about 35-40 times, and only 5 resources were spent in total :D
And blocking Orc infantry units is not a problem, especially since the Dwarves have everything for this.

Dwarves can be destroyed by the High Elves if you take the hero Wingael.

Hmm... here again is a controversial question, but what if the Dwarven leader manages to equip his army with a lot of initiative, and then what?

Dwarves can be destroyed by mages if all creatures have tier 3 miniatures (and they will, because we will play until there are 450 spear masters), the mages will cast the "mage's sign" spell and will place double stacks of mines and walls and simply shoot down the Dwarves with miniatures for initiative and luck.
Dwarves are simply killed by Dark Elves with relentless rushing. This happens on any map, because the Dark Elves simply destroy neutral creatures very quickly. At the highest difficulty, their city development is not much different from the veteran level, everything is very simple, but how are you going to find a huge number of crystals? You might not be lucky with the mine.

Let's assume that the Dwarven hero has increased magic resistance and Dwarven luck + elemental urns, etc. Although, the advantage of the Dwarves is that the start is fast, but considering the meager growth, alas, there is little point in their army :(

I have already tested the retraining option a long time ago, my friends don't let me play as Humans on a large map, rather, training monks into knights with Isabelle is a cheat, I advise you to try it at least once before arguing, because I am 95% sure of the victory of Humans.

:smile12: that's for sure, it's actually the best solution, in fact, the most unpleasant unit against Dwarves, with its damn tournament attack :smile41: + and there are many angels + seraphs, all this will greatly strengthen the Humans faction, and there is no point in relying on the others, for example, the same griffins are not very effective against Dwarves.

Dwarves can be destroyed by Demons with the hero Nimue, if you are lucky with the amulet of mastery, there can be 6 units of cave lords on the battlefield.

The Cave Dweller is a very unpleasant creature, specifically for groups of Dwarven creatures of levels 1-2. The damage, I'm sure, will please everyone, and with it, the effectiveness.

P.S.
Once I mastered playing as Dwarves, I wondered, after level 25-30, how to fight a good Dwarven opponent who also has a large army?!

I decided to share my experience playing on huge maps against a late-game Dwarf player on the highest difficulty, on randomly generated maps. The troops are upgraded to the second-to-last level. In general, my friend and I enjoy playing on long maps because they fully reveal each other's skills and a certain strategy. In general, the task of developing the Dwarves is known in advance: 1) get all the runes (when you finally reach the opponent at the end of the game, the opponent has a lot of resources, and the hero is usually level 30). 2) the opponent's hero is definitely Karl. Since there are quite a few level 2 units, about 700, +1 to attack and +1 to defense is quite a lot. 3) how the hero is developed: - Expert Luck 100% - Higher Education, and with a bit of luck, Mentor in 80-90% of cases; - Logistics - questionable, but the probability is about 60%; - definitely Magic Resistance and Acceleration and Defense for all units; - Expert Defense; - other magic factions are usually not developed. In practice, it has been shown that there is not much point in them, because I have learned how to fight them effectively. 4) the runes are usually all obtained, even if the opponent has not captured the second castle of his race. This is achieved by buying the hero Inga, who, when leveled up, gains the ability to learn additional runes. This is a brief overview of how the opponent develops. Orcs: 1) The hero is definitely Haggle, and no one else, because +1 and +1 to attack and defense for Centaurs, and also increases the starting initiative for each hero level. 2) how the hero is developed: - At the beginning, we definitely learn Logistics. Finding the path and +350 points for each won battle is required for the rapid development of the hero and maximum experience gain. - Expert Luck, in it, the subsection with the probability of deflecting spells (to be the least vulnerable to magic). - Attack, in it: Shooting, the rest is up to you, I try to take the skill that, together with Leadership, adds 5% damage per unit of morale. - Higher Education - definitely Mentor. It is desirable to buy secondary heroes of your own, and after accumulating a large number of Orcish warriors (300-400), we level up the skill in these secondary heroes in defense, "Protect Us All," and get a very noticeable increase in the army of Goblins, about 200-300 Goblins from one hero. A mandatory condition when obtaining the skill is that Orcish warriors must be in the army of the hero being leveled up. - Leadership, it is desirable to take Empathy, because when gaining morale, the hero moves 0.1 on the AT scale. Inspiration is, of course, a good thing, but it is better to use spells. 3) Troops: - Goblins must be upgraded to Shamans - this is a mandatory condition, because their number exceeds 1000, or even 2000, taking into account those gathered from leveled-up secondary heroes. In battle, apply the "Curse" spell to the hero, so that Karl cannot cast "Haste" or use other types of magic, for example, Berserk, if the opponent decides that he can be a mage. It works quite well. - the rest of the troops are up to you, except for the 5th level, there you need units that can boost other warriors with a whip, killing a small part of them. But as a result, the Centaurs of Haggle can go 3 times before the first turn of Karl's archers, and in general, before the first turn of Karl's troops. - 1st turn according to his initiative, 2nd turn according to the initiative from the whip, 3rd turn according to the initiative of the spell in the form of a whip. And given that it is not too difficult to find an artifact on the map that allows you to shoot a direct arrow, this is almost a guarantee of success. With Shamans, we apply either Acceleration to our own or Slowdown to the enemy. This is the key to confrontation and quite successful. Elves: I have not yet found a tactic against a late-game Dwarf. The choice of Arrow Rain with Enchanted Arrow and Sworn Enemy does not help much, because if Magic Resistance works, all efforts are reduced to nothing. And the Elven troops die very quickly. There is an idea with Mentorship and getting a large number of Blade Dancers from secondary heroes, but it has not yet been tested. I tried what Avenger described about the Knights and Isabel. Honestly, it doesn't work very well against a late-game Dwarf. That's it. Although I accumulated more than a hundred of them against 35 Trolls of the opponent. *do not get off topic*

Unfortunately, this topic is for discussing the conflict between Haven and the Stronghold. So, it's probably better to write about other factions in the corresponding topics. Regarding this topic: elaborate on the Haven's upgrade path. You mentioned the skills for the Dwarf, but what about the abilities?

Don't forget that every self-respecting Dwarf buffs their attack and tactics. Accordingly, archers can be easily protected from this horde of Paladins. And even if they manage to get close and kill someone, they'll immediately face a barrage of arrows from priests and ranged attackers.

And players will also take the tactic with + speed boots, and paladins will definitely outrun them.

Personally, I think Haven has no chance against the Dwarves. Haven's only unit that can stand against the Dwarves is the Knight. But they will fall immediately after the first attack. Darkness is also not all-powerful against the Dwarves. Destroying Dragons is very tedious, especially with the resurrection rune.

Yes, darkness isn't very effective against a dwarf. Light will be more useful: mass buffs, "fire protection," beggar's revenge, etc. It works better here... And there's a chance if the dwarf doesn't have armor...