Posts from Tactics for the Swamp (Fortress).

Even for a warrior, a mass curse spell is useful.

Mass curse is so powerful, it's amazing! Great spell! It helps a lot in confrontations and hives. Neutrals become much weaker!

In PhysMig, there seems to be an inaccuracy regarding the mass curse: "
"all enemy units deal 80% of their min. damage -1"
What does the -1 mean here? How do units with min. damage = 1, like Pokémon or gremlins, deal damage then?

There seems to be an inaccuracy regarding mass curse in PhizMig.
"All enemy units deal 80% of their min. damage -1"
What does the -1 mean here? How do units with min. damage=1, like Pikemen or Goblins, deal damage?

That's correct. Damage is not reduced below 1.

I only played the Swamp faction with one strategy: through Vistan, upgrading lizards, nymphs, and dryads, and if possible, building a Castle on week 1, and Hydras on week 2. With Vistan, it's very easy to clear any crypts on week 1, and on week 2, you can even take on Gnomish and Impish units... I also heard about another interesting tactic: You take Verdish (with the healing specialization), with his own tent, and give him nymphs and a few basic snakes. With this stack of nymphs supported by enhanced healing, you can clear out a lot of interesting and useful things... You can use this as a second, weaker hero: Verdish with nymphs, while Vistan with lizards, and another weak hero with Hydras destroys more serious structures...

This is my first castle in Heroes...
The Dragon is my first hero. Yesterday, I decided to "return to the roots" and try it out. In defense, it's simply amazing. With a level 3 hero, I managed to fend off the AI with stats around ~15 in everything. The troops are roughly equal. I haven't seen anything like this in a long time (lately, I've been playing Inferno). He's out of mana, but my hero opened a book for the first time in his life. And the terrain helps – there's no arguing with that. Enemies get bogged down, and there are few unexpected surprises from them.
But what if you level up a mage? Maybe something worthwhile will come of it?
For example: We take Andra (or whoever has high intelligence). When leveling up, they will definitely get good defense, we increase strength as much as possible, and intelligence compensates for knowledge. Does anyone have similar experience?

That's correct. And the damage doesn't go below 1.

Yes, it doesn't go below 1 if there's only 1 creature in the attacking stack.

However, if there are 10 creatures in the stack, the damage of one of those 10 will definitely be less than 1, because the total damage, for example, of 10 Pikemen against 1 Gold Dragon will be approximately 5 damage.

The main hero is Tazar, Crag Hack, Gundula, Dessa, Kirr, Zil, Galtran, Vidomina, Izra, Sir Mullich, or Bron, if he comes with enough basilisks. If none of these are available, Mephala, Neela, Gunnar, Kirr, or a specialist in ballista will do.
In the first week, it is MANDATORY to build wyverns. After that, depending on the situation: either switch to another castle or continue building your own.

Tazar is strong) the armor is great... the swamp is blessed with protection. We increase the attack and damage skills:rolleyes: Wyverns are good, for a start. Then, not so much. I try to keep gorgons in the castle for the first month... as soon as the opponent has monsters of level 6-7, I keep the gorgons with me.:rolleyes:

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm curious, what's better to build in the Fortress (Swamp) on week 1: 1-6 level creatures in the Castle without a level 5 creature, or 1-6 level creatures with a level 5 creature, but in the Stronghold? Could you please advise for future reference (if possible, with justification):smile32: Thank you!

There are the following points of view on this matter:
1. With a virtuoso mastery of quick-combat, in certain cases, hydras in the fort deserve attention overall.
2. The presence of a Dragon Utopia on the horizon or highly relevant level 7 guards (except for bone dragons) makes the gorgon option quite interesting.
3. 7 gorgons (490 health) vs 1 wyvern + 2 basilisks + 4 snakes + 5 lizards + gnolls. This depends on the objectives and the presence of external dwellings. If there is a gorgon external dwelling, they are likely preferable. Although strengthening the other stacks might still be more desirable.
4. Money for redemption. The question is when it will come time to redeem the gorgons. Strengthening the basilisk or gorgon stack may be more relevant at the start of the second week ...

Please advise for the future.

For the future? :)
If they ever remove the clues or make the bonus in them not in the form of ducks, then cows in the citadel will definitely look better than without them in the castle... and another option is how to use it as a dungeon (minotaurs are cooler than manticores, just as gorgons are cooler than wyverns, but this is dictated by the conditions of the hives, and also by the fact that the main part of the battles is against neutrals - and there, of course, wyverns will be a little more effective, while against a human opponent, gorgons (upgraded) are in charge... everyone is always afraid of them.
P.S. For example, on Panic, I would sometimes put cows, maybe even without wyverns.
by the way, the data confirms this:
..............................damage....At...Def....hp...speed...growth......price
Gorgon (ordinary)....12-16...10....14....70.....5.........3............525
Mighty gorgon ......12-16...11....16....70.....6.........3............600
Wyvern (ordinary)....14-18...14....14....70.....7.........2............800
Wyvern-monarch .......18-22...14....14....70....11........2...........1 100

It's interesting how to (not) use the main weakness of the swamp – its low attack. After all, you still have to kill neutral creatures, and increased patience won't get you very far (meaning, I can't seem to do it). Even Tazr, to get a more or less noticeable 30% damage reduction, has to reach level 20, and I don't even consider 15% in battle, because the damage range is much larger.
And a request to the experts: please comment on the following:

You can buy a built Hydra and immediately defend yourself (a maxed-out Crypt and a 15th-level Gnomish Mine can be taken by a level 1 mage without mana and without any tricks).

Not only because you can take Gnomish Mines with one Hydra.

??
The Hydra kills 3 creatures in a stack, and each stack deals 35 damage, x5 = goodbye, Hydra.

On the topic: the best thing about this game is the soundtrack, and also its low price. I've always been bothered by the fact that you can't use the units of the second hero in the tavern – they significantly strengthen the army; I can't figure out a tactic against neutral forces that vastly outnumber you (it's easy and without losses at a Castle/Rampart/Dungeon/Tower/easy, and somewhat manageable at a War Camp/Infirmary); and the damn terrain – it further weakens enemy units. In my opinion, the ridiculously increased defense at the expense of attack only works in treasure rooms.

I'll add: the gaze of a group of Gorgons doesn't work according to simple statistics, but according to Murphy's Law, i.e., 90% of the time it's not in our favor. For neutral creatures, 10% means 50%+, but for me (several times – a small sample, but still), I sometimes had to hit 6-10 times for it to work. After that, I'll never rely on it, and if I don't rely on it, what's the point of spending precious money/resources/mana?
Maybe we really need to calculate the "Ethereal Phase" (x, y, z - coordinates) before each battle?

2 Tootsie Pie
When playing as the Swamp faction with Hydras, it's crucial to master quick-beat tactics. This allows you to achieve truly remarkable results.
Regarding the difficulties in breaking through neutral creatures during the first week, this is due to the lack of a powerful stack in the traditional sense. There are several solutions: Bron (an outdated option, popular when playing with 200% growth); Dragon (rarely chosen as a starting hero, but readily used when appearing in the tavern); Wistan (a popular hero in the 2009 season, a kind of swampy Valesk).
Or another option: the "shockwave" tactic, where instead of 1 strong stack, there are fast flanking and luring units and 2-3 medium-strength stacks. With careful play with the snakes, the losses (of course, taking into account super defense) are not that great...

It's interesting how one can (or cannot) exploit the main weakness of the Swamp – its low attack power. After all, you still have to kill neutral creatures; increased patience won’t get you very far (meaning, I personally don’t manage to do it).

It’s better to see 1 race than hear about 100 races. Go to the topic /topic/5953/; there are many useful videos for different Castles. The video by SEM-56 on the Swamp will show how even maxed Gigants can be taken down in level 1

The same Tazr needs to reach level 20 to get a more or less noticeable 30% damage reduction, and I don't even take 15% into account in battle because the damage range is much larger.

It’s a serious mistake to think that 15% is insignificant. Even 15% makes armor one of the most important skills in the game. The point is that these 15% save units during the game: somewhere they will kill off opponents for longer, somewhere someone with several hit points will survive, etc. And I won't even mention Dragon Utopia and Ulki, where many enemies attack us at once.
By the way, armor also works well in combination with the Shield spell, and the difference (Attack (enemy) minus Defense (ours)) plays a significant role.

Hydra kills 3 in a stack, and each stack deals 35 damage, x5 = hello Hydra?

I hope it doesn't need to be explained that the hydra's enemy cannot retaliate, and gnomes with speed 3 still have to catch it.

Yes, using a hydra as a fairy requires incredible skill!:smile41: I was sure they would corner it after 1-2 hit-and-run attacks, and it would be RIP, but these dwarves turned out to be so gentlemanly)).
I'm not saying that armor is a weak skill; I take it as a priority after logistics, earth magic, tactics, offense, and archery, plus the advantage is that it always works, and the disadvantage is that it almost doesn't work if it's not a specific situation. I also never (and I can't) focus on dealing and controlling damage; instead, I focus on breaking through with minimal losses, killing everyone on the first contact, and not leaving (almost) anyone for a counterattack – that's what I understand.
Perhaps the trick is that to really increase damage, you need to level up (and find) a total of 2 skills, while to reduce damage, you only need 1...