Posts from Tactics for the Swamp (Fortress).

You're both arguing for no reason, and neither of you is right :o. Warlock, please be more polite. Also, the question was initially formulated imprecisely:

By the way, here's the question: there's a stack of 100 zombies, and 5 tiles away from them is a dragonfly, and 8-10 tiles away are 100 gnolls and 15 lizardmen. What is the probability that the zombies will not go for the gnolls?

The zombies' speed is 4. If the lizardmen are exactly 8 tiles away, then they will naturally rush towards them, because they will reach both the dragonfly and the lizardmen in the same number of rounds. And it's more pleasant for them to attack and block the lizardmen than to attack the dragonfly. The same applies to the gnolls. If the lizardmen are 10 tiles away (i.e., 3 rounds to reach them), then they will go for the dragonfly, trying not to enter the direct line of fire.

Exactly! Kash, thank you, I noticed that neutral creatures target based on rounds and direct attacks, as well as a large group of weak Warriors and Archers, but I didn't connect the two myself.

1. What is the probability that Bronze will start without Basilisks?
I started a map, and he only has Goblins... not very good.

Technical Support:
2. Can the "Eagle Eye" spell be learned and used on enemy units (e.g., the "Curse" spell on Necropolis Knights)?
3. And can he learn a spell when he is blocked by a secondary skill, such as resistance?

1. There's a chance that Bronze might start without Warlocks; you need to calculate it. His Warlocks are placed in the second stack, and there are hands dealt per stack – 123, 12, 13, 1. The probabilities are different for each, with 13 being the rarest, in my opinion. All the others are likely equally probable, so calculate what the probability is that he will have Warlocks, which is somewhere around 60-70%, and the rest is the probability that he won't.

2. It definitely doesn't teach.
3. I just tested it, and it teaches Eagle Eye when there's resistance, just like Imps drain mana when there's resistance.

What skills should be prioritized for heroes? (Tezar, Bron, Lizardman... I like the one with the attack against Gorgons and the Armorer skill).
Armorer, Wisdom, Water Magic, Logistics, Resistance... maybe Earth Magic, Intelligence?
I've never leveled up Eagle Eye, but I think it would be useful for the Swamp.
Scout... Attack...

bww, Eagle Eye is garbage; it's useless in 99.9% of cases. Here's an approximate ranking of skills by usefulness, according to the SOD community (for any faction):
- Logistics;
- Defense, Attack, and IMHO Tactics;
- Earth, Ranged, Pathfinding, Air;
- Wisdom, Water;
- Fire, Leadership;
- everything else is only useful depending on the circumstances (I don't think I forgot anything important...).

- Logistics;
- Defense, Attack and IMHO Tactics;
- Earth, Archery, Pathfinding, Air;
- Wisdom, Water;
- Fire, Leadership;
- everything else only depending on the circumstances (think I haven't forgotten anything important...).

Almost correct =). Only that Earth in SoD is often more important than attack and defense, and sometimes even logistics. And wisdom is generally often not needed at all, while other times it's essential. I wouldn't put it next to water. But otherwise, everything depends heavily on the circumstances of course..

1. Logistics
2. Defense
3. Tactics
Everything is clear here...

And here, I might be misunderstanding, please correct me:
4. Pathfinding, again, depending on the situation, if there are few roads on the map.
5. Ranged attacks... for these lizards or a combined army?
6. Water, I assume, is for healing, mass weakness, blessing, prayer, teleport, and counterattack?
7. Earth is for stone skin and teleport.
8. Air... acceleration?

I would replace 4 or 5 with wisdom... and what about magic resistance and intelligence, ballistics? :)

And here, I might be misunderstanding, please correct me:
4. Pathfinding, again, depends on the situation; if there are few roads on the map.
5. Shooting... is it for these lizardmen or for a combined army?
6. Water, as I understand it, is for healing, weakness, blessing, prayer, teleport, and counterattack?
7. Earth is for stone skin and teleport?
8. Air... is it for speed?

I would replace 4 or 5 with wisdom... and what about magic resistance and intelligence, ballistics? :)

Pathfinding is needed on large maps with varied terrain. It's not needed on medium or smaller maps.

Shooting for swamp... only for the lizardmen?! It depends on the person, but I wouldn't take it even if it were free. It's better to take resistance instead.

Earth is primarily for slowing and resurrection.

Air - speed and counterattack. Expert accuracy for lizardmen with ballistae.

Artillery is very useful for swamp. Ballistics - swamp has many infantry units, so it's actually quite necessary.

Wisdom is desirable. On large maps, when there is an opportunity to capture and develop castles with a 5-level mage guild, it must be taken. On small maps, it is almost useless.

Water. Forgetfulness, weakness, healing, blessing, teleport, clone, prayer. Removing obstacles removes minefields, quicksand, force fields, and mines at mage walls. Water is the most useful magic for swamp. :)

You're wrong to think so poorly of the lizards ;) ... With roughly equal proportional growth, in the hands of a decent hero, they can beat both enemy marksmen and even grands (Vistan, well, and Tazar primarily) during weeks 1-2 — an excellent shock stack; with poor templates, it sometimes happens even later...

Earth is for mass Slow. And less frequently for everything else (like mass shield, skin, TP, Resurrection). A good stack of shooters with mass slow and Tactics is a guarantee of pleasant map clearing, and in the finale, it can really make a difference:smile20: ! Air is for mass Haste, but primarily for map control (Fly and DD); sometimes enhanced lightning spells can decide things in the finale... Counter-strike is generally very good for the swamp with hydras too, but in actual practice, it's not used that often... By the way, own same Destructive Ray is more useful than Counter-strike. Water is also not bad, but slightly inferior to Earth and Air.

Artillery for the Swamp is 99% useless due to the low Attack of the main heroes; they aren't Barbarians after all :D . Ballistics for the main hero is extremely doubtful, unless it's the last slot left, the hero is facing the final assault and ballistics are granted then — that might work, although if something like Defense, Attack, Earth, etc. isn't maxed out, I'd probably max those instead of ballistics anyway :) .

Wisdom and other mage bells and whistles for the swamp are usually a big question mark, especially if the Red Orb was found. Such a Castle is better off excluding magic in the finale and relying on the strength of fat meat rather than weak magic. Wisdom can be taken in principle, but everything else (Sorcery, Intelligence, Eagle Eye, Literacy, what else is there?..) would be a move in the wrong direction. Now, Resist — sometimes it's very good to have.

Regarding artillery, that might be true, but at the beginning, a ballista is very useful. Although you are right – even without any skills, it will be useful as a way to weaken neutral creatures. :D As for ballistics... I recently had a very interesting experience. I came to besiege an enemy castle, and instead of attacking head-on with his main army, he hid inside the castle. He had level 3 artillery and Earth magic. In the very first turn, the castle towers and Heavy Crossbowmen, along with Fanatics, after a mass slow spell, almost completely wiped out a stack of Monk Wyverns (Golden Bow). It was already too late to dispel the spells (Dragonflies and 2.5 Monarchs behind the walls wouldn't have lasted long), and speeding up wouldn't have helped either (what's the point of just running headfirst into the castle wall?). Only teleporting Chaos Hydras (of which I had twice as many as the opponent had Archangels) behind the city walls helped. At the same time, Gorgons and Basilisks were still milling around near the walls for another 6 turns, and I had to use countermeasures against the enemy's magic (the opponent was casting Berserk on a sizable stack of my lizardmen, and I had to constantly dispel it, although I might have been wrong about that). In the end, I lost much more than I had planned, and I didn't have enough strength left to storm the last castle. With Ballistics, it would have been easier – a catapult would have immediately created a breach in the walls or destroyed the gates (or at least the towers, which were really bothering me at the time), and the Basilisks and Gorgon-Naphthas would have entered the battle earlier, significantly reducing my losses in the end.

Interestingly, on the fixed maps, the Swamp was one of the weakest castles, alongside the Stronghold. It had decent units (mages and warriors) and relatively tough creatures. But it was easily defeated. Here's the statistics from tournaments in St. Petersburg and Michurinsk from 2000-2003. Up to level 6, everyone built all the cities and castles. By the 2nd or 3rd week, a level 6 stack was quite effective, but wyverns were very weak, and hives were rare on most maps. The first turn in battle was crucial. For most castles, the strongest unit was also the fastest, but the Swamp's fast snakes died very quickly. And the hydra was useless... I can't remember any battles where it dominated like a dragon or a behemoth. It took quite a few random tournaments for the Swamp to show its strength. At first, most players focused on wyverns, as it was very tempting to get two level 6 units on the 2nd turn. Only later did players from Moscow show how quickly a herd of cows could become dominant.

And the hydra is also not very effective... I can't remember any battles where it dominated like a dragon or a behemoth.

It took quite a few random tournaments for the Swamp faction to show its strength. At first, most players chose the Wyvern, as it was very tempting to get two level 6 units on turn 2. And only later did players realize how quickly a herd of cows can become powerful.

Yes, however... I described it in the post above.

And in general, with the increase in flies and lizards, capturing the map is faster than with humans and their crosses. Wyverns don't dominate. Gorgonaphs and hydras do. You are right about that. BUT. No one has canceled the "canned goods" (referring to canned food, a common strategy in the game), and angels can also be used by the Swamp faction, and it's easier to get them for the Swamp. :smile19:

The Swamp is a very complex and very specific castle; not everyone can master it, only the most skilled tacticians. I really like this castle, but there is one BUT: the guild of mages, level 3, is not very good, but I handle it well (although I am a beginner). I advise you to just play it more, and everything will work out. GOOD LUCK!!!

Added after 3 minutes
Why can Wyverns be on the first turn? You just need a level 2 building and resources.

I recently started playing Heroes 3 (I played it about 6-7 years ago).
I read the entire thread about this faction, but I must have missed something:
It is often mentioned that on random maps, hives (neutral) are placed in swampy areas, and in them, they recruit wyverns...
Aren't snakes recruited in hives?
I play on 160%, and I usually place a hydra lair towards the end of the week, only if I'm very lucky, and even then, I can't always build a stronghold...
I enjoy playing as Fortress, but I don't consider swampy terrain to be a plus. It's difficult to recruit troops of other factions at the beginning of the game (they can only be recruited when hiring heroes in the tavern), and if the opponent does run towards the castle, they will go along the road and not deviate to mines, etc.