Posts from - Замок (Castle)

I don't like Valesk either. After all, a stack of pikemen is awesome. But it should be noted that Valesk is very effective in competitive play!

You see the quantitative characteristics but don't see the qualitative ones – what is called the ability to play. Valeska might eventually come up with a tactic, but Turis already has one. Besides the cavalry bonus, which will be quite significant, there are at least 3 other tactical advantages in battle. For Valeska, these advantages turn into disadvantages. I decided to do a test: 6 Turis's horses (day 8 army) without any losses defeat 95 of Valeska's archers.:smile10:
I decided to check the battle using the Heroes III Combat Simulator – it works without taking into account the hero bonus (and tactical maneuvers, respectively). So, it shows that after the battle, 70% of the archers remain alive.

Although I didn't want to argue, you didn't convince me =) I haven't done such tests, but putting archers with a melee combat penalty, etc., against horses without cover, is nonsense (no offense, of course). Secondly, the stats that Valeska gives to the archers are not the main thing; the army itself that comes with her is more important. If Orion could bring 3 stacks of archers, then people would choose him instead of Valeska. Guys, I'm not talking about the player, and I won't argue with you, but I always try to take a "different" hero and don't leave Valeska or Turis. And if you take other heroes, the horses would still win against the archers, and it doesn't matter if it's Turis or Valeska, approximately with the same ratio, especially if they could reach them with the first move using tactics, and if not, then I think they would still defeat them on the second move with a wait. That is, they defeated them not because of Turis or Valeska, because these are level 2 heroes with a melee combat penalty without cover, but these are level 6 with a bonus, just getting started. And Turis's bonuses are ridiculous; you need to switch to any decent hero, Crag Hack, Kyrie (and there are many other logistics heroes), Tazara, Gundula, etc. And since you switch from the beginning, I like Valeska because I form my initial strike force from a stack of archers with a double shot, essentially, and not from spearmen or halberdiers. The fodder absorbs the damage, the archers do their job, and the horses will appear closer to the 7th day. And in Utopia, whether with a developed Valeska or Turis, the horses will essentially look the same. When starting, is it really impossible to protect the archers from ranged attacks without having tactics? Yes, such cases are rare, especially if you remember them. No one is arguing that tactics are a great skill, but you are talking as if you can't do anything at the start without it, but that's not true; everything is perfectly defeated even without starting tactics.
PS Regarding the ability to play, well, it's just another dick-measuring contest. Your experiment, rather, showed that I was right, not you... Swap Valeska and Turis, give the horses to Valeska, and the archers to Turis, and again, the horses will win, approximately with the same army. And I see the quality because an extra stack of archers (not to mention two) against neutrals (and at the start, there are only they) significantly increases the offensive power, and 160% fodder is enough without spearmen.
PS2 Suggest something interesting instead of trying to troll someone with "quality" and "quantity."

So, you still don't understand the point.

...And Turis's bonuses are laughable... Swap Valesk and Turis, give Valesk the cavalry, and Turis the archers, and again, the cavalry will win, with roughly the same army...

It's these seemingly insignificant bonuses that often make all the difference. An increase of just one point in a parameter can reduce the enemy's attack power by 4 (four!) times. If you swap the heroes, you'll likely get the result that the tool predicts - and considering Turis's skill, it could even be not 70%, but 95% (of the archers who will survive). But don't worry, I often play as Valesk, not Turis.

You still don't understand the point. It's these seemingly insignificant bonuses that often make all the difference. A single point increase in a parameter can reduce an enemy's attack power by 4 (four!) times. If you swap the heroes, you'll likely get the result that the tool shows – and considering Turis's skill, it could even be as high as 95% (of the archers who will survive). But don't worry, I often play as Valeska instead of Turis.

You are completely wrong; increasing a defense parameter by one point does not reduce an enemy's attack power by 4 times. Not even close. I don't know where you got these figures or how you calculated them, but it's nonsense. And I don't understand what kind of crazy program you have, or what you're smoking with it. Even if you give Turis a bonus of 10, it won't reduce the attack power by 4 times. :smile29: Therefore, there's no point in arguing further; study the physics of the game.

Young man, it seems you not only had problems with arithmetic in school but also struggle with common sense in life. I'll explain it step by step for those who need it. When a horse doesn't reach the archer by one square, it receives two full-strength arrows. However, if the horse gets right up close, it will only receive one hit, and even then, it will be half as powerful. By the way, I also posted a guide I wrote on this site, so believe me, I have studied what I wrote about in sufficient detail. Therefore, I remain at your service!:smile17:

Young man, it seems you not only had problems with arithmetic in school, but also with common sense in life. I'll explain it step by step for those who are slow on the uptake. When the horse doesn't reach the archer by 1 square, it receives 2 full-fledged arrows. If the horse gets close, it will receive only one hit, and even then, at half strength. By the way, I also posted a guide on this site, so believe me that I have studied what I wrote in sufficient detail. Therefore, I remain respectful!:smile17:

So, you need to express your thoughts more clearly (I'm not a telepath to understand that we are talking about an exclusive situation where exactly 1 square decides everything, and with it, it always reaches, and without it, it always doesn't reach; this is generally rare), well, maybe I misunderstood, sorry, I thought we were talking about defense and attack, and besides, why is that 1 square the distance that always reaches or always doesn't reach? The archer can stand in the corner, for example, or the horses can be at the top and the arrows at the bottom, and in general, it can be blocked. And the horse can be accelerated, etc.; there are many options. Why reduce everything to such a rare situation that 1 square either definitely reaches or definitely doesn't reach? It's clear that 1 turn isn't superfluous, but in practice, everything is much more complicated, and this square is unlikely to help.
In general, the argument is pointless. In practice, the horse will reach and bump into the defense. The comparison of a level 2 archer and a powerful level 6 unit is incorrect, regardless of which heroes are used. I remain with my opinion:smile17:

Added after 17 minutes
Okay, fine, maybe I don't understand something. A reasonable question: if Turis is such a great hero, then why every year in all the Tournaments (where the strongest play), is Valeska the most popular starting hero for the Castle? Or are those who play there just don't understand the game, and that's why they almost never take Turis? Turis is just an alternative if Valeska is taken, or you're just terribly tired of her... nothing more.

It's absurd to compare Valeska and Turis based on the matchup between cavalry and archers :D. Here, we need to evaluate who is more useful at the start. Obviously, Valeska will often have more archers at the beginning than any other hero. Since the early game revolves around archers, people choose Valeska (not to mention that ranged attacks are significantly stronger). That's the whole logic. Turis has her own advantages, as her tactics allow her to easily overcome ranged defenses, and a stack of spearmen also helps. There's also the hero Orrin, who shouldn't be forgotten. And of course, Caitlin.

It's nonsense to compare Valeska and Tur-Sar based on the matchup between cavalry and archers. You need to evaluate who is more useful at the start. Obviously, Valeska will often have more archers at the start than any other hero. Since the early game revolves around archers, people choose Valeska (and I'm not even mentioning that ranged attacks are significantly enhanced). That's the whole logic. Tur-Sar has his own advantages; his tactics allow him to easily overcome ranged defenses, and a stack of spearmen is also effective. There's also the hero Orrin, who shouldn't be forgotten. And of course, Caitlin.

That's exactly what I'm trying to convey to everyone; you just expressed it very concisely. It's all exactly as you said. And Valeska's bonuses from the Ranged skill are better, both in the first week (when there are no cavalry units) and in the second week, when you acquire dwarven outposts and other structures, or powerful slow units (cavalry are guarding the ranged stack anyway). And considering that in the first, and even more so in the second week, you should try to switch to a "great hero," the choice becomes obvious.

2 VladL
Don't worry so much. Remember your own experience. Do you recall those unpleasant ranged units standing between the mountains, and you had to wait until the fourth week to break through, and even then, you had to use angels to defeat them? Here, many people play online, and if you don't clear the paths to adjacent zones, the opponent will do it themselves and become very strong, eventually winning. So, to defeat these strong ranged units, you really need a good strategy. There are, of course, other methods, which you undoubtedly know: using quick combat, or a powerful army consisting of 5 Gogs from Octavia, etc. And Valeska is a good hero, especially for the start, no one disputes that.

I'm not upset, it's just that the conversation has taken a turn where, since I'm not taking Turis, I don't see anything good, blah blah blah, and it turns out I'm a noob. I also suggest we end this discussion, and if I offended anyone, I apologize.
By the way, during the discussion, another idea came up, I'll try it out and then share it.

Recently, I tried using the Castle faction with the Utopia build on week 3. As dragon fodder (to conserve Crusaders and Champions), I took 22 archers and 8 monks. In the end, the dragons ate the archers, the monks, 7 Crusaders, and almost all the spearmen. Do you think this tactic is viable in games against human players?

In my opinion, monks are completely useless, so I don't feel bad about losing them. The computer also easily defeats archers, so there's practically no way to use them against human players, and it's better to replace them with something more useful. Spearmen are useful depending on the situation; sometimes you can leave them, but it's better to replace them. As for cruisers, I feel bad about losing them, but I generally like cruisers. However, I haven't been able to come up with an effective tactic with them and Sorceress against humans, and they're not very effective against computers either.

And who doesn't love them? Strong, double attack. Everyone loves them.

Utopia is not a rigid strategy. There isn't a specific tactic; everything depends on the situation. There's too much emphasis on artifacts, magic, leveling up, and using Angels/Wyverns.

I took Utopia from Tiris, level 8 (Expert in Leadership and Earth, advanced Tactics, basic Wisdom and Logistics), 8/5/2/2, without artifacts. I cast Blessing twice (on Champions and Crusaders) and Shield once, plus Morale triggered twice. Regarding monks, I wouldn't be so categorical – yes, they aren't the best level 5 soldiers, but they are decent archers. And with a developed Orrin, they can cause a lot of trouble for any opponent. I think the best setup for Haven is to start with Valeska and have Orrin as the second hero – then it makes sense to give him all the archers and delay building horses until week 2. However, this has only happened to me twice (against Humans – never).