Posts from Development of a Wizard hero from the Haven faction. Auto-translated

Klivren, I would appreciate it if you could share your strategy for playing the Cleric in duels. Based on the screenshots from the current competition, it seems you were playing as him, with the Tears reputation. I'm curious to know how you dealt with heroes from the Stronghold faction and what you did against mage heroes.

Klivren, I would be grateful for a story about the cleric strategy in duels.

Judging by the screenshots from the current Competitive event, you played exactly as one, with the reputation of Tears.

I'm interested in how you fought heroes from Strength- and what you did with mage heroes.

The most important thing in the entire strategy is leveling up the right and necessary skills—nothing extra, so to speak. I will post the build I had during the tournament duel (only one player remains, but he doesn't announce himself, and reports from other players are no longer visible), so it's not a pity anymore. And honestly, I have already been defeated, not in a tournament duel but in a private battle; the winner is well known on the forum, if they want to, they can post their build :)

I'll start with Light magic.

Healing - excellent damage against "dark" opponents, and healing itself is a good thing. But its mass counterpart is useless.
Aura of Retribution. - max this to level 3, especially good against warrior heroes with high damage. Essentially, we cast it directly on the Seraph before the strike and attack the opponent's highest-damage stack (the main thing is that they retaliate).
Light Elemental - blocks enemy shooters, high magic damage, mass retaliation strike, and mass heal upon retaliation (following paths like a flash).
General Purity - rarely used, but still sometimes useful skill against various curses; it removes negative effects from all units and prevents them from being applied for 4 turns.
Light Magic - max this, light skills are necessary for us.

Arcane Magic

Ward of Secrets (aka magic defense) - max this, saves from enemy magical units, especially good to use in the struggle against Necropolis and in mirror matches.
Keeper of Secrets (aka magic power) - max this; since it's a mage hero, magic power is as necessary to us as air. Also, it strengthens the attack of our combat power, the Radiant Beams.
Meditation - an extremely necessary skill in long bouts with strong opponents; the main thing is to use it when mana is at 40-50+%, then the recovery will be significant.
Mana Drain. - ensures an easy victory against opponents who do not use meditation on time.
Dispel Magic - necessary for removing dangerous effects like Aura of Retribution or Subjugation when it's impossible to do so with beams.

Art of War

Level up according to the picture :) The abilities are passive, and there is no need to explain how to use them correctly. We don't level up Shooting because crossbowmen are far from the primary combat unit for a mage hero.

Tactics

Essentially, we level up tactics to level II, and the Ambush ability which increases initiative by 5 units on the first 3 turns.

Personal Qualities
Everyone has their own :)

And for our hero, we level up defense and aggressor :)
That's where the skill points end.

Tactical Placement of Stacks.

People might throw tomatoes at me here, but this is how I placed my stacks.
It's important that a unit stands behind the guards; it saves from the tidal wave of Nagas (doesn't leave the beams defenseless), and it's good when the beams are "supported" on the sides by large units (this prevents cyclopses from pushing them away from the guards). We place troops in the center, as we never know where the opponent will position their forces, and we need to constantly "bite" and provoke them with beams. If the opponent doesn't come to you, send the Seraph tank into battle; he has a huge defense stat and a decent amount of HP—don't forget to cast Aura of Retribution on him (which will significantly thin the enemy ranks).

Reputation

We follow the path of tears, which gives us excellent resurrection with protection for the resurrected stack, and healing that significantly increases initiative (and extra heal is never too much :) ).

Tactics against warriors and mages are absolutely identical; only warriors die faster due to a low magic defense stat. :)

P.S.: This noobguide is based solely on my modest experience.

You will have to start the campaign again and then choose a mage hero.
Step 1:

Step 2:

I can't edit the hero, the button is not active :smile45:
This is the very beginning of the game, there is only Vladislav from the heroes...
I've been playing for half an hour, so if I just haven't reached the right place, please don't be too harsh.

I can't seem to edit the hero; the button is inactive. :smile45:
This is at the very beginning of the game, and only Vladislav from the heroes is available...
I've only been playing for half an hour, so please don't be too harsh if I just haven't reached the right place yet.

In the campaigns, the main heroes already have a choice made between mage or warrior.

sad:(
but what is that screenshot from Klivren then?

Sadness:(
But what about the screenshot from Klivren?

This is a screenshot for a hero created by the player himself for duels, battles (single maps), or for completing the campaign with a non-main hero.

First, I recommend completing the campaigns – their basic heroes will go to your Dynasty, and you can use them in duels more successfully than a specially created hero, as all the upgrades they gain in the campaigns will remain with them after the game.

To create your own hero for the campaigns, go into the campaign and click on the plus sign under the portrait of the basic hero.

To create a duel hero, go to your dynasty, to the section where your heroes are shown (it seems to be the second tab), click on the plus sign, and create a hero, choosing whether he will be a mage or a warrior, as well as the path of blood or tears, then under his portrait, click the Skills button and choose the skills you like, just like Klivren.

PS: In general, it is worth reading the forum first, and then asking questions, as all this has already been discussed here.

In the campaigns, the main heroes already have a choice made between mage or warrior.

Actually, you can choose between a mage or a warrior. However, you cannot change the specialization.

so, how can Vyacheslav be made a Mage?
or is it about creating your own hero?

So, how can Vyacheslav be made a Mage?
Or are we talking about creating a custom hero?

Vyacheslav cannot be. But Anton can, or you can create your own hero.

Thank you for your answers!

Eileen, Mage, Alliance of Light, Master of "Healing". Completed the "Broken Alliance" battle on "Hard" difficulty against 5 "Strong" AI opponents.
Eileen, level 30. Physical Strength 15, Physical Defense 15, Magical Strength 30, Magical Defense 24, Mana 430, Leadership 14, Luck 10. 26 artifacts, mostly useless, only good ones are: Chest of Endless Gold, Amulet of Endless Gold, Robe of Sar-Iss, Four-Leaf Clover, Scroll (or something like that) with Chain Lightning, and all the fragments of the Moon Disc for the Tears of Ashi (collected them at the very end). Leveled up 1 level of Blood Magic, "Sacred Blades".

Skills in approximate chronological order:

0) Healing (specialization)
1) Education
2) Fireball
3) Logistics
4) Reinforcements 1
5) Lightning
6) Protector 1
7) Find Path
8) Restoration
9) Steal
10) Training
11) General Healing
12) Primary Magic 1
13) Magic Affinity 1
14) Secret Keeper 1
15) Stop Time
16) Summon Earth Elementals
17) Protector 2
18) Aggressor 1
19) Secret Keeper 2
20) Secret Keeper 3
21) Counter Strike 1
22) Primary Magic 2
23) Aggressor 2
24) General Restoration
25) Luck 1
26) Luck 2
27) Cloud of Poison
28) Blindness
29) Reinforcements 2
30) Counter Strike 2.
Mistakes in leveling up, in my opinion (relevant only for playing against AI):
1. Used Reinforcements only at the end of the game (and then I realized that I should have taken them from the very beginning).
2. Wasted points on Primary Magic 1 and 2. It doesn't increase the duration of Stop Time at all. It was 2 turns, and it remained 2 turns, and sometimes even 1 turn.
3. Took Counter Strike 1 and 2 too late.
4. Took Magic Affinity 1 too late (I really needed magic at the beginning of the game, the first time).
5. Shouldn't have taken Cloud of Poison (I've taken it 7 times already, but I don't use it at all).
6. Instead of Blindness (it's completely useless), it would have been better to take Summon Light Elementals.

I'm waiting for critical comments and advice:)

This is how I imagine a Mage of the Alliance of Light for playing against AI.

Eileen, Mage, Alliance of Light, Master of "Healing".

Leveling up the Mage with skills for playing against AI in chronological order.

0) Healing (specialization)
1) Education
2) Fireball
3) Magic Affinity 1
4) Logistics
5) Lightning
6) Reinforcements 1
7) Protector 1
8) Reinforcements 2
9) Protector 2
10) Find Path
11) General Healing
12) Counter Strike 1
13) Counter Strike 2
14) Secret Keeper 1
15) Stop Time
16) Summon Earth Elementals
17) Aggressor 1
18) Aggressor 2
19) Secret Keeper 2
20) Explosion
21) Secret Keeper 3
22) Training
23) Summon Light Elementals
24) Restoration
25) General Restoration
26) Luck 1
27) Steal
28) Luck 2
29) Petrification
30) Dispel Magic (Primary Magic).

I'm waiting for critical comments and advice;)

IMHO, it's better to specialize warriors in dealing damage to enemy units with archers, rather than preventing them from damaging your own units.

In my opinion, it's better to choose a specialization for the warrior that prevents their own units from taking damage from archers.

I didn't have time to think it through. I spontaneously uploaded a battle due to the failure of the Inferno mission. And I deliberately didn't upgrade archers throughout the game, knowing their armor-piercing abilities. Then I had Martin, a Master Archer, a KNIGHT, i.e., a warrior, but I needed a mage. Although now I understand that you can also play as a warrior. It might even be more interesting, or even better, I need to try playing as a warrior.
It's time to discuss Mage or Warrior for playing against a HUMAN. Soon.

For duels, and generally, I use the following spells for a mage:
1. Guardian 1, 2
2. Ambush
3. Tactics 1, 2
4. Fiery Determination, and general spells
5. Restoration, and general spells
6. Petrification
7. Celestial Armor, and general spells
8. Summon Elemental of Light
9. Purity, general spell
10. Aura of Vengeance 1, 2, 3
11. Magic of Light 1, 2, 3
12. Blindness
13. Ward of Secrets 1, 2, 3
14. Stop Time
15. Keeper of Secrets 1, 2, 3
16. Affinity for Magic 1
17. Meditation

These are general spells against all factions; against a Necromancer, you need a slightly different approach.

Actually, you can choose between a mage or a warrior. But you can't change the specialization.

And how can Anton change his preference to mage in offline mode?