Posts from Play as Inferno.

Yes, everything is exactly as Skull said.

In what order should I build a Castle, capture mines, which creatures should I buy, which heroes should I use to defeat neutral creatures, and how should this happen? Which skills should I develop for each hero, which schools of magic, and why? I want to understand not just follow a certain scheme, but also understand why I am developing skills in this way, for this hero, and in this situation.

You'll have to write a novel for that, for each hero, for each city, on each map.
Moreover, you need to understand the principle - and this can only be done through experience (play more). For starters, here is an article about developing Necropolis (to understand the essence - it should help)
http://heroes.ag.ru/heroes5/advices/11/
And then, by analogy, taking into account the features of the map (sometimes you need to take money instead of experience for someone)

Added 1 minute ago
And in general, read the forum of this site

Added 56 seconds ago
And in general, read the forum of this site

Thank you, of course, but I probably didn't express myself quite correctly. Just tell me the building construction order (specifically for Inferno) and which mines need to be captured first, and ideally, how quickly you need to complete this/defeat the neutrals (all questions are specifically about Inferno).
P.S.

about Necromancer development

Unfortunately, it's my least favorite faction, no offense.

Just tell me the building order (specifically for INFOS).

Here's how to develop your city:
/topic/698/

There is no build order for the "veteran" difficulty, which is used for most games. The Rift and stables can only be built before the Capitol under certain circumstances; otherwise, you will either run out of money or, more likely, mercury/sulfur.

To be honest, I haven't played as Inferno for a long time, so there might be inaccuracies in the build order; I've already forgotten some details: tavern-cauldron-magistrate-tower-guild of mages-market-kennel. If possible, upgrade the kennel on the very next day; before the castle, it is advisable to build Halls of Temptation. After that, do as you wish.

I've always been interested in how dogs can be used to take down mages, archers, or strong melee units. The "Tactics" skill doesn't always appear, and the "Boots" artifact are also rare, and dogs tend to get killed pretty easily. Now, I've adopted this strategy: I buy random heroes in the tavern, use the main hero's meat to feed them, and try to reduce the number of difficult neutral creatures using magic and single-target attacks. It does cost a lot of money, so I have to take gold instead of experience and sell artifacts. And I also need a guild of at least level 2.

Regardless, hounds are the main force for clearing your territory. This is what makes playing as the Dungeon faction challenging: the nearest and only ranged unit in the castle is on level 4, and all early melee units are very weak. It's best not to focus on mages until later in the game. So, you have to make do with units that have only one attack.

Guys, no offense, but if "Haven" is your favorite faction, you can spend some time – maybe five games – to figure out the optimal city development order. I didn't provide a link with a ready-made answer, but rather as an example to understand the principle, etc. (you need to teach a person to think and figure things out on their own, rather than giving them ready-made answers).
And if a person wants to understand why something is done one way and not another, they need to figure it out themselves.
There's nothing complicated about it: take a piece of paper, a pencil, and play, recording all the construction costs (you can use Art-Money or codes to add resources and gold and build the city). This way, you'll learn what and how much you need (similarly, you can determine at what point you'll need a rare resource). It's unlikely that you'll be able to conquer mercury, sulfur, etc., on Veteran difficulty in the first week playing as "Haven," so you need to determine how much of them you need to gather by a certain day of construction.
I can't say anything more specific right now – it's been a while since I played as them.

Inferno is a faction that defines the player's skill level. It's only for hardcore players (I'm not considering noobs who rely on ballista tactics, as demons can still play well without them). But you need to know how to play them. It's not like picking a fun hero like Hafiz or someone else that people like, may he rest in peace - Vittorio (not only do they have machines, but their shots also hit directly) - Kaspar or Tilseck/Hagesh. In my opinion, machines are made for noobs who want to dominate. Although, even here, demons are unlucky, as they have fewer creatures compared to other factions. Unfortunately. It would be great if there was a creature with an ability like "Great Shield," but as it is, it's not very fun (especially if the opponent decides to block the ranged units, and you can't counterattack with a surprise attack. It's amusing when you pick a demon (not Deleb) on a medium-sized map just for fun, and immediately one of those "skilled" players appears. The build is always the same: ballista, fire arrows, and whatever else you want (mages don't need much, but they don't need it). (Necropolis is also not quite the same). Only masochists or very hardcore players play as demons, because the faction is very difficult and depends a lot on luck (whether you get druids or forest archers in the mines, whether you get the right skill, etc. - this is if you play without machines). Of course, enduring melee damage and healing two units with a gate is not as fun as running around giggling and shooting everything. Here, it's a constant source of stress, losses are frequent, and even a small mistake (especially when playing Utopia) leads to defeat. So, I strongly advise all beginners and those who like easy games (and winning) not to choose this faction. Your destiny is the ballista, so accept it. (Well, maybe someone will eventually learn to run around with invisible hunters and cast spells from behind, but there aren't many of them). P.S. For the local "imbas," the "Deadly Cold" ability kills a ballista with one hit when used on it with any ice spell (even if it's only level 1 magic). I suggest you brush up on the theory. (P.P.S. I'm just venting). Responding to a private message: the argument that the ballista is designed for a demon with its stats, and therefore machines are a must-have. In principle, I can't disagree that machines are extremely important for demons to get a good start (but I repeat, you can still play normally without them). And if we're being honest, the developers clearly don't like Inferno. So, to get "Fire Arrows" (a skill that is extremely necessary for the ballista, as it ignores defense, and also adds a small amount of damage - 50), you have to take too many skills (which other fun factions don't have; they just need shooting skills, and that's it). But demons also need "Hellfire" (the usefulness of which is debatable) to get "Triple Shot," then "Curse," (which is a must-have for demons anyway), but to get those "Fire Arrows," you also need "Berserk" and "Devil's Strike." In general, to fully develop machines with a fast-firing ballista/tent (by the way, for me, the tent is more important than the ballista, as it minimizes losses) and "Fire Arrows" (and to have a fully developed gate), you need to reach level 17. That's only two branches developed. On short maps, this is very unhealthy. And then (Curse is slightly weaker than "Barbarian Might" because it doesn't have a chance to deal double damage. But a barbarian (Kragg in particular) with "Barbarian Might," his ability (+100% damage at level 20), and "Devil's Strike" (also double damage) deals about 800 damage to archdevils in one attack (with all procs). That is, if you have 10 of them, you immediately lose 3. I'm saying this because it would be much more effective and easier to play as a demon if "Curse" had that ability, as this ability greatly simplifies their lives (by the way, few "true players" take it. Why, it remains a mystery to me. Maybe I just don't know the techniques for playing as demons)

(by the way, few "hardcore players" choose it =) why, remains a mystery to me. Maybe I just don't understand the techniques of playing with demons=)

I don't know what "hardcore players" are, but I consider this skill to be one of the priorities and try to take it as soon as possible - I even posted a replay where it clearly demonstrates its power (see details in the topic "Weak Demons", message #124).

I don't visit here often, but I decided to share my thoughts.
I confidently state that in the late game, Demons beat EVERYONE, except for the overpowered Winged Azrael.

Justification: gating and monstrous initiative.

Formula:
1. Grak. No alternatives.
2. Forget magic schools. Seriously, forget them. Everything is decided in the first 2-3 turns of the hero, during which he must cast mass Stone Skin and Haste, and then the Bard is unnecessary.
3. For the final battle: Fast Gating, Wide Gate to Hell.
4. For neutral creatures, and also useful in the end: General Stone Skin, then General Haste, Tactics (if there are no Boots of Swiftness +1).
5. Thus, we prioritize Logistics and Luck, then Defense.
With Expert Gate, that's 14 levels – not that much.
With Attack and General Haste, that's 18. We can add another 2-3 levels for reserve.
If the game drags on, you can, of course, also level up Darkness, depending on who you're playing against; an alternative is Leadership.
I've never played with the Super Ability, but that's just cheating.
6. If there are alternative artifacts, merchants, etc., the main thing is initiative. The main artifacts are the Amulet of Mastery and the Ring of Swiftness (+20%).
7. Unit upgrade choices:
- Old Imps (automatic mana drain, otherwise they might get taken out quickly)
- New Demons
- New Cerberi
- New Succubi (even if the opponent has antimagic for 1 turn, a key enemy unit is disabled. It's fun against Orcs – you charm the Executioners, and that's it, they're done...)
- Old Pegasi (very often, their Fright ability helps to reduce the initiative of a key unit)
- New Horrors (more initiative and speed, the rest doesn't matter)
- Old Devils (also more initiative and speed, the rest doesn't matter)
8. In the first 2 weeks, we only make one upgrade in the buildings – for Cerberi. We save money, sulfur, and sometimes wood.
In the second week, we only buy upgraded Cerberi and don't buy anyone else – we save money. In the third week, we can buy upgraded Demons (level 2) and 1 Horror – to sometimes reduce the defense of neutral creatures. We don't rush to buy the rest. We develop.
9. In the final battle, we gate everyone except the Succubi, with which we charm the approaching key unit.
If there is an Amulet of Mastery, that's it – the opponent is doomed. Devils also gate, and the speed of the entire gating is monstrous.

Those who don't believe, take any hero except Winged Azrael, get a crate of beer, and let's go to a club (Minsk). Load, for example, Armageddon's Blade. So that they don't talk about "masses" of Dwarves and Necromancers – they can't do ANYTHING...

Playing as Demons on medium-sized maps – that's Mastery! I'm learning.

I don't visit here often, but I decided to share my thoughts.
I confidently state that in the late game, Demons beat EVERYONE, except for a ridiculously overpowered Winghorn.

Justification: gating and monstrous initiative.

Formula:
1. Grak. No alternatives.
2. Forget magic schools. Completely forget them. Everything is decided in the first 2-3 turns of the hero, during which he must cast mass Stone Skin and Haste, and then a bard is not needed.
3. For the final battle: Fast gating, Wide Gate to Hell.
4. For neutral creatures, and also useful in the end: General Stone Skin, then General Haste, Tactics (if there are no +1 Speed Boots).
5. Thus, we get Logistics and Luck as the main skills, then Defense.
With Expert Gate, this is 14 levels – not that much.
With Attack and General Haste – 18. Well, we put another 2-3 levels as a reserve.
If the game drags on, you can, of course, also level up Darkness, depending on who you are playing against; an alternative is Leadership.
I've never played with the super ability, but it's cheating anyway.
6. If there is an alternative in terms of artifacts, merchants, etc., the main thing is initiative. The main artifacts are the Amulet of Mastery and a +20% Speed Ring.
7. Upgrade choices:
- old Imps (automatic mana drain, otherwise they might get damaged)
- new Demons
- new Dogs
- new Succubi (even if the opponent has antimagic for 1 turn, the opponent's key unit is taken out of action. It's fun against Orcs – you seduce the Executioners, and that's it, they're done...)
- old Horses (very often their Fear helps to reduce the initiative of the key unit)
- new Fiends (more initiative and speed, the rest doesn't matter)
- old Devils (also more initiative and speed, the rest doesn't matter)
8. In the first 2 weeks, we only make one upgrade in the buildings – for Dogs. We save money, sulfur, and sometimes wood.
In the second week, we only buy upgraded Dogs and don't buy anyone else – we save money. In the third week, we can buy upgraded Demons (level 2) and 1 Fiend – to sometimes reduce the defense of neutral creatures. We don't rush to buy the rest. We develop.
9. In the final battle, we gate everyone, except for the Succubi, with which we seduce the nearby key unit.
If there is an Amulet of Mastery, then the opponent is doomed. Devils also gate, and the speed of the entire gating is monstrous.

Those who don't believe, take any hero except Winghorn, put a crate of beer, and let's go to a club (Minsk). Load, for example, Armageddon's Blade. So that they don't talk about "masses" of Gnomes and Necromancers – they simply CAN'T do anything...

Playing as Demons on medium-sized maps is a true skill! I'm learning.

1) Nimue and Deleb are bitterly crying in the corner.
2) A Demon without magic will be crushed by everyone, except for the Tower. There is simply nothing to counter enemy magic with, except to rely on magic resistance (and even then, it won't help against Light magic).
3) No questions.
4) Well, good luck getting the Defense skill, which drops in 2% of cases.
5) Again, good luck getting the Leadership skill...
6) The opponent can also put on a bunch of artifacts for initiative, and all your overwhelming advantage will disappear.
7) The choice of upgrades depends on the stage of the game (early/mid/late) and the opponent's race.
8) No questions.
9) The Amulet does not give any guarantee that you will WIN.

1. I'm telling you, let's play. I'm just not very good at playing online.
2. Defense works great.
3. Deleб for LATE game? You're kidding.
4. Nimues doesn't handle neutrals well; his skills are only useful in the final stages.
5. Leadership is a nice bonus – I wrote down the number of levels needed for the essential abilities.
Therefore, it's better not to take anything extra besides what's necessary.
If there are extra levels at the end, you can try to get a couple of levels in Darkness – for Blind or Mass Dispel.
But Stone Skin and Haste are still the most important.
6. Regarding initiative against the opponent: +20% to high initiative gives a better boost than +20 to low initiative.

In short, only Elves are decent opponents, and that's it. But this is for a specific late game. It's more difficult in the mid-game.

That's why Demons are considered a weak race because they don't take into account what I've written.
Grok develops quickly and handles neutrals very well.
In the late game, you can easily wait for defense.
You need to focus on the army (which is doubled with fast gating) and not waste slots on magic.
That's exactly how it should be done

I'm telling you – let's play. I just don't know how to play online.

Are you telling me to go to Minsk and buy you beer?

Ganseng: Your post actually surprised me in a negative way. You usually write sensible things. But this is just ridiculous: "4) Well, good luck trying to get the defense item that drops in 2% of cases." It's always been 8%, and it drops normally. Roty: I don't want to offend you, but it seems like your experience is based solely on playing against the computer.