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I was wondering how to level up an **orcish warrior** if you know that you're facing another **orcish warrior**. I practiced fighting against the computer (a strong AI). In principle, there isn't much difference between a duel and a battle – the only thing is that in a battle, I take Education, Logistics, and Pathfinding, while in a duel, of course, this is unnecessary.
When fighting orcs against orcs, you need to consider the characteristics of the dynasty. **Bloodlust** accumulates when our units attack, and for the enemy – when their troops attack. When enough bloodlust points are accumulated, you can hit the enemy without a counterattack. Accordingly, whoever accumulates them faster starts the free beating first.
Therefore, in battle, I usually adhere to the following **tactic**:
1. Keep all 7 stacks in the game for as long as possible to accumulate Bloodlust 4 faster.
2. Periodically focus attacks on one enemy stack so that the opponent has fewer stacks than I do.
3. Prevent your ranged units from being blocked and, if possible, do this to the enemy's ranged units. Ranged unit attacks are an opportunity to gain Bloodlust points without a counterattack.
4. Destroy centaurs, furies, and panthers as quickly as possible if the conditions are right. These are initiative units that accumulate bloodlust points first. If they accumulate enough points, Crushers, Dreamcatchers, and Enraged Cyclops go before the enemy, hit without retaliation, and also with +10 damage.
Based on these considerations, for an **orcish warrior** vs. **orcish warrior** duel, I level up as follows.
**Troops** – panther warriors (56 units), not dreamcatchers (67 units). They are stronger, faster, and, due to Beastly Attack, can attack all adjacent enemy units every other turn without a counterattack.
**Reputation** – tears. I'll explain why later.
**Specialization** +40 to mana. A warrior only has 150 mana – this won't last long. But the ability to cast a couple of extra spells during a battle can be decisive.
**Retaliation 3** – the main reason to go for the tears reputation. Retaliation is 13% stronger. In addition, during the first 3 turns, there are now 2 retaliations, and they are preemptive. This means that if my panther warriors (56 units) are attacked by enemy warriors (56 units), they will first receive a retaliatory attack, and then, when there are approximately 8 fewer of them (48 units), they will attack. If the opponent does not have this skill, it means that I can throw a large number of units at one stack, and he cannot until he accumulates bloodlust points.
**Reinforcements 3** – the second argument in favor of tears. This skill can play the same role as healing and help keep a stack in the game, or it can summon an additional 4 Enraged Cyclops – depending on the situation.
**Protection, Endurance, Resilience 3, Guardian 3** – we increase the health of the troops and protect them. If you keep all your stacks until the end of the battle, Bloodlust will accumulate as quickly as possible. In addition, these are passive skills of the tears, so they give the maximum benefit.
**Stone Skin (general)** – almost all orc units attack with strength, except for Dreamcatchers and Enraged Cyclops when they shoot. Therefore, this spell is especially effective against orcs.
**Restoration (general)** – now that the troops are protected, this spell becomes more valuable. +195 health to all stacks each turn is good support. Restoration works especially well on Combat Centaurs: they shoot first, then move back – the spell works twice. Therefore, it is also good to cast single Restoration on them.
**Earth Magic 2** – we already have 4 earth spells in our arsenal (2 general and 2 single), so it makes sense to take it.
**Healing (general)** – allows you to raise units at the right moments so that they continue to accumulate bloodlust points and so that Restoration continues to affect them. Single Healing is sometimes especially effective for this.
**Tactics 2** – needed to protect Combat Centaurs; otherwise, they will simply be blocked by enemy melee units, and there will be little point in them.
**Ambush** – becomes more important due to the orc racial ability. Bloodlust 4 allows you to hit without a counterattack with increased strength. Therefore, when it is activated, it becomes very important who strikes first.
**Manners** – reduces any damage inflicted on us for 2 turns. If you are not playing against the computer, the battle may drag on, so you need to have at least one battle cry that does not consume mana. This one is the most suitable: it is massive, aimed at defense, and quite strong – reducing any damage by 22% or 25% is good. That is, in theory, the cry should also reduce magical damage. And it is definitely not worth forgetting about Dreamcatchers and the shots of Enraged Cyclops.
**Frenzy** – you just need to attack three times in a row, and the stack receives +5 to physical strength. And orcs only attack with magical damage with Dreamcatchers.
There are still **3 points** left for skills. And I'm not entirely sure where to put them. Here, I would be interested in reading other people's recommendations. If this were not a duel but a battle, I would level up the hero in exactly the same way, and I would spend 3 points on **Education, Logistics, and Pathfinding**. But since they are already there, my choice at the moment is as follows.
**Aggressor 3** – a +6 to strength will definitely not hurt. There is also another advantage of Aggressor: it increases the hero's strength, which in turn strengthens battle cries and path skills: Manners now reduces damage by another 3%, and strength against magic will reduce magical damage by another 6 units. It's a small thing, but it's nice. In addition, almost all orc units attack physically.
**Path skills** can also be useful – if the opponent suddenly decides to level up dark magic and cast Agony or a spell to weaken troops.
**Troop placement.** The main thing is to hide the Combat Centaurs so that they are not hit by Cyclops or Panthers. On one side, I put Cyclops on a cell forward, on the other side, Cyclops also on a cell forward, in front – Dreamcatchers, Goblins in the corner. Furies and Crushers can be placed in different ways – just don't line them all up next to each other so that the attacks of Cyclops and Panthers don't hit them all at once.
It is also very convenient to level up the hero for a battle because +40 mana, Restoration, Healing – and you can defeat many neutrals without losses.
That's basically it. I am interested in **how others level up their hero for such a duel or battle**. Just don't write about orcish mages – we'll make a separate topic later, or you can make one right away. :)
