Posts from Azure, rusty, and other super dragons: do they live up to the hype? Auto-translated

Esteemed professionals! Is it worthwhile to prefer Azure, Faerie, and other super dragons over a regular level 7 unit from a castle? Over a powerful stack of level 5-6 units? Over powerful archers? In my opinion, super dragons somehow justify their high cost and resource consumption in terms of health, but not in terms of damage, and even the abilities of regular level 7 units are more impressive. For example, 5 gold dragons cost as much as 1 crystal dragon, but they deal almost twice as much damage. As a result, you get mega-gnomes, an invulnerable but weak unit with no offensive power. I personally lost a couple of maps to the computer by betting on "supermen" instead of regular units from the castle. And it's also much harder to control their dwellings. I would like to hear the opinion of experienced players: are there any cases where you prefer them (super dragons) to regular stacks? How can they be tactically applied more effectively? What units and tactics are best for capturing and recapturing dwellings? I would be grateful for any comments regarding super dragons.

For example, 5 gold dragons cost the same as 1 crystal dragon, but they hit almost twice as hard.

Try wiping out 5 gold dragons and one crystal dragon with your level 0 heroes, and you'll see what a "mega-stack" is. You can also wipe out one azure dragon with 8 archdevils... the price is the same...

The combat emulator (a utility from the FIZMIG website) produces the following results: if Azure Dragons go first, they consistently survive with 3 units remaining. If Crimson Dragons go first, only 2 Azure Dragons survive, but with VERY good luck, 3 might remain. Against Lesser Dragons, Azure Dragons remain with 6, less often with 5. There is no chance of victory for the Super Dragons, as the sample size is 100 battles. This is also obvious to anyone who plays Heroes more or less, and can be calculated based on the parameter table (the same FIZMIG). By the way, there seems to be an error in the simulator – fear never occurs for the Azure Dragons. This allows you to reduce 8 Azure Dragons to 4, or even 3, but you still won't be able to win. And also: Lesser Dragons always defeat Azure Dragons 1/5, almost always 2/10 and 3/15, but they already lose in most cases at 4/20, and at 6/30 and beyond, they are almost always defeated. And yet, Lesser Dragons are one and a half times more expensive...

I used to use them, but there was a situation where I would win anyway. What can be said about them? They are good tanks; you can use one or two of them to absorb damage from a strong enemy stack without worrying about anyone in your army dying. And they have good speed, which gives an additional advantage. But I wouldn't use them instead of level 7 units; instead of archers, yes, they are a great replacement. Level 5-6... It depends on the specific creatures; instead of cyclops or manticores, yes; instead of nagas or ifrits, probably not. Instead of level 5 units, probably yes.

Okay, but let's say there are two Dungeons available. For 15,000, you can get 28 Eyeballs and 16 Medusas, and still have some resources left over. Or, you could get 1 Rusty Friend and also 14 (!) Sulfur (!). Which is better? Maybe the Rusty Friend is indeed a good choice... but... Sulfur isn't infinite either, and you might also encounter a Bog Fiend...

Well, if I were playing defensively, I would probably find the petrifying gaze of the Medusa useful. But if I were playing offensively, I think a tank would be better, in my humble opinion.

It all depends on the situation – for example, in the "Ice Blade" campaign from Chronicles, only Azure Dragons are used. They appear rarely on random maps. In my opinion, if there is an opportunity to use such dragons without risking ruining the economy, then why not?

Ranged damage will be 1.5-2.5 times stronger, but only on a direct shot, and the opponent will try to kill/block them... Rusty, on the other hand, will block the enemy's ranged units, survive a couple of turns, and even spit on whoever it can. On offense, they are indeed more useful + often get the first turn, while on defense — they only serve to block shooters (two hexes after all) and remove retaliation... the opponent, even a dumb AI, will ignore them and hit the units that deal damage. To GoedenDag: so the main drawback of the Superdragons is precisely their cost; I am specifically interested in cases where you have to forego some other troops for them + spend an astronomical amount of resources that might suddenly be needed later. On random, if McDonald's isn't on the native respawn, I don't even go there, unless the army is battered and the castle is far away. Getting at least five FDs there is not easy, the enemy can easily intercept them, and that's just extra trouble for me. It's better to not let the genie out of the bottle at all... If McDonald's is nearby, you can send a mosquito per week to clear it out, but that's IMO only on XL, where you have what it takes to offset 10000+ losses + gems...

I personally lost a couple of maps to the computer.

Perhaps it's worth considering more serious questions than which dragon is cooler.

I'd like to add one observation: It's very easy and without significant losses for 150 Minotaurs to defeat 10 Azure Dragons. Considering that 150 Minotaurs will cost us 90,000 gold, while 10 Azure Dragons cost 300,000 gold plus 200 Mercury, I haven't tested it, but I suspect that Minotaurs could defeat twenty or thirty dragons with the same ease. Given that on most classic maps, it's not that difficult to get 150 Minotaurs, while accumulating Azure Dragons is rarely necessary, and if it is, it's usually tedious, long, and inconvenient... so, perhaps it's better not to think about dragons at all).

It's not that difficult to get 150 bulls.

Yeah, it's just a minor thing!

it's very easy, and with minimal losses, 150 Bull Centaurs can defeat 10 Azure Dragons.

Nonsense, it's a matter of one round because of the Death Gaze ability...

Not nonsense, but rather stating the obvious. And in the previous answer – why so much irony? If you're playing as Sylvan and have at least two towns and two or three dwellings under your control, and if you focus on raising Bulls from the first week, ignoring the highly praised Wyverns, then indeed – the Bull stack grows quickly and easily. And it rarely shrinks – they're afraid to attack them, as they're hard to damage and they hit back hard. Ah yes, and this... The number 150 is by no means sacred; you can have fewer. I chose round, obvious numbers with an obvious price difference.

try playing Heroes 3 online and collect at least 50 bulls :D :D :D

But even 10 Azure Dragons aren't that easy to get in online play ;)