Posts from General discussion about Heroes of Might and Magic II. Auto-translated

You know, the captain never helped me. Because if the computer attacked my town, it was 99% sure of its victory. Usually, these were heroes who could compete with my main hero. "Noobs" didn't attack the castle because they were usually destroyed on their way there. So, the captain might be useful, but very rarely.

There were also some cool artifacts with negative properties (like a tax or an iron mask) that couldn't be removed. But hiring a weak unit, giving them those artifacts, and then letting them be defeated was quite amusing.

There were also cool artifacts with negative properties (like a tax or an iron mask) that couldn't be removed. But hiring a weak hero, giving them those artifacts, and then letting them be defeated was fun.

That was terrible! I especially "liked" the artifact that took away 250 gold each turn!!!!

There were also cool artifacts with negative properties (like a tax or an iron mask) that couldn't be removed. But hiring a weak unit, giving them those artifacts, and then letting them be defeated was fun.

Yeah, it was a very interesting idea! :) It's a shame they removed it in the later installments! :(

Once, these artifacts simply passed from one player to another. First, they were with me, then I passed them to one computer-controlled opponent, who was defeated by another, and I ended up with the artifacts again. Fortunately, it was already the end of the game, so they didn't significantly affect the outcome.
Also, in "The Price of Loyalty," a composite artifact appeared for the first time, which provided a very large bonus.

And the riddle from the Sphinx, if answered correctly, can also remove gold and resources.

Yes, by the way, the Sphinxes were a cool feature. And the caves with monsters. It's a shame they removed all of that later. But I like the campaigns in the second game the most.

But in Heroes of Might and Magic III, there are sphinxes. At least in WOG.

This is only in *World of Xeen*. In the original version, they were removed. And they also removed a feature like the non-linearity of the campaign. In the second game, it was great when you could choose your own mission variant for the campaign.

In Heroes of Might and Magic, I didn't find Sphinxes to be very useful. I remember once not guessing a riddle, and a curse fell upon me – I was forbidden from collecting resources. And the hero ended up trapped amidst a pile of resources! :D They became an impassable barrier.

In the second game, the only thing I didn't like about the campaign was that the maps were often terrible. And sometimes the bonuses offered were strange. In The Succession Wars, before the final mission, you had to choose one of the "harmful" artifacts.

On the contrary, it was more interesting. And I really liked one hero in the second game – Lord Corlaghon. He had leadership and necromancy – a deadly combination.

A homemade Death Knight :) I don't remember the name of the hero in the "Journey Home" campaign, but if you play the last mission on the side of his necromancer sister, you can also create a "Death Knight" from him. They offer a choice of necromantic spells.

What a great hero he was; it’s a pity he died later on. And it was in the second game that Sandro’s true nature was revealed. Oh, why don’t they borrow the best ideas from the second game?

Regarding the captain.
The main feature of the captain is that he starts each battle with a full mana pool. Therefore, when two or more heroes attack a castle at night, the captain fights each of them with a full mana pool! Given the cost of 500, this can be a very significant advantage in some cases.

And also, the AI isn't always confident in its victory when it attacks. Sometimes it makes fantastic blunders, like sending golems to storm a castle without archers or combat magic.