The weakest castle in Heroes of Might and Magic IV! — General

Ларс

12 years ago

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souls mutation marauders

Good lord, what are these names! Just install the official version. And yes, the poisonous creature (also known as Venom Spawn) can be poisoned, strangely enough.

In reply to ColdWarrior

xTrishax

12 years ago

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nikitos palisos

The topic is called "the weakest castle in HOMM4," not "the weakest castle against Life in HOMM4." If you're looking at it from the perspective of a specific castle, then you shouldn't focus solely on Life.

Well, if you look at it that way, then the topic doesn't really make any sense. Because there is a balance. Each city has many strengths and weaknesses against certain opponents.

Силос Занж

12 years ago

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xTrishax

Look.
Death can fully utilize its potential, for example, against Chaos and almost 100% against Nature.
Against Life, Death is effective by about 40%.
Here.
But, as I've repeated, this is said from the perspective of Life.
And so, it's optimal for Death to build its army in this way against Life.
Skeletons (effective), Imps (effective (because they disrupt Angels by draining mana)), Cerberi (moderately effective), Souls (effective (they constantly age soldiers, and you need to periodically remove the aging effect, but the hero can be killed)), Vampires are not effective, Bone Dragon (not effective (no one will focus fire on it; they will simply attack with Crusaders and Marauders)).
As you can see, Death's potential against Life is very low.

You can build a quality and effective attack based on Vampires, Bone Dragons, and Devils. Skeletons and Imps are mostly cannon fodder. It's not very effective to use them. Ghosts - yes, they can weaken enemy warriors. Cerberi - effective if you can quickly get them to a group of units. Vampires - not only do they fly and are invulnerable, but they also regenerate health by draining others! Moreover, a Grand Master of Necromancy is useful on large maps in large numbers. Devils - they can kill the enemy hero or at least remove their Immortality. They can also target archers, etc. Bone Dragon - hits living units without retaliation and also frightens them. It has very high protection against ranged attacks.
I don't know why you started considering the best Necropolis units as ineffective. But still, they have quite good chances against Life, at least.

xTrishax

12 years ago

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If we compare heroes in castles, I think that against Life, the weakest Barbarian is the best choice. Since Life's magic mainly enhances, and its defense against magic will be weakened.

dnaop-wr

12 years ago

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With good hero development, the Barbarian will be weak against any other faction; he has an advantage on small maps, as long as the enemy doesn't have a strong army and powerful magic. And even a good luck roll won't save the Barbarian from dying after a strong double attack, so a hit-and-run tactic might not work.

Heisenberg

11 years ago

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There are no inherently weak or strong castles. Each castle in the game is strong against a specific enemy. Essentially, every castle is both weak and strong.

Mashina-Kintavr

11 years ago

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I don't play the 4th installment very much, but it seems to me that Haven is the weakest faction; its units aren't impressive, and they're weak, with Squires and Ballistas being the weakest. Off-topic, but Chaos is the strongest faction, and the Chaos Devils are simply amazing in the 4th installment.

Azmadon

11 years ago

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devils are their dream unit... teleport across the entire map...

Hikari

10 years ago

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I don't understand the people who voted Life as the worst faction. It has simply excellent heroes that emerge from the Seminary Castle. And their magic is a perfect match. Life magic is the best support for a warrior hero (magic resistance makes it impossible to affect the opponent's hero with curses, but a good blessing can easily give even a Barbarian a hard time), and Order is the strongest school in the game, and doesn't need any further explanation. Of course, the troops don't bring much joy, but they're not completely weak either. And with the support of Tactics, Life, and Order, they become quite decent. The Priest eventually becomes a Paladin and goes to war alone, like a Barbarian (and he actually does it even better). Meanwhile, the Knight learns Order magic and remains with his troops, strengthening them and helping in battle with control spells. If I had to choose an underdog, I would name Strength (and this is paradoxical). Its troops are only noticeably better than the competition at the beginning, and you have to look for magic elsewhere. Its only real strength is the Barbarian hero, which is unique to this Castle. Indeed, 3 skills instead of two and the starting melee skill are pleasing, but the Nature Ranger, who also has Warfare, is only slightly behind, but the Castle itself offers many more opportunities. Strength is a game about blitzkrieg, which can be ruined by an inconvenient group of neutral creatures standing in the wrong place. And the further Strength gets from the beginning of the game, the more its lag behind other Castles increases.

In reply to Hikari

CTPAHHuK

10 years ago

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Hikari

I don't understand the perverts who voted Life as the worst faction. It has simply magnificent heroes emerging from the Seminary! And their magic is equally impressive. Life magic is the best support for a warrior hero (magic resistance makes it impossible to affect the opponent's hero with curses, but a good blessing can easily give you an edge even against a Barbarian), and Order is the strongest school in the game, it doesn't need any further explanation. Of course, the troops don't bring much joy, but they can't be called completely weak either. And with the support of Tactics, Life, and Order, they become quite decent. The Priest eventually becomes a Paladin and goes to war alone, like a Barbarian (and he does it even better), while the Knight learns Order magic and remains with his army, strengthening it and helping in battle with control.

If I had to choose an outsider, I would name (paradoxically), Might. The troops are only noticeably better than the competition at the beginning, the magic has to be found elsewhere, and the only strong point is the Barbarian hero, unique to this Castle. Indeed, 3 skills instead of two and the starting melee skill are pleasing, but the Nature Ranger, who also has Warfare, is only slightly behind, but the Castle itself offers many more opportunities. Might is a game of blitzkrieg, which can be ruined by an inconvenient group of neutral creatures standing in the wrong place. And the further Might gets from the beginning of the game, the more its lag behind other Castles increases.

:smile54:

Граф Орлов

10 years ago

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Life is good due to its versatility; it is approximately equally strong at all stages of the game, and there are probably no particularly unfavorable opponents for it. However, it is not easy to choose the weakest faction in the fourth game. The developers maintained balance. Perhaps the "fans" of this game will throw rotten vegetables, rotten eggs, and negative reviews at me for such words, but I still believe that Chaos is the weakest. The starting units are weak; well, the Bandit can still be useful at higher difficulty levels, as a couple of stolen resource piles are really noticeable there, and it also moves quickly, making it a good scout... But who will fight? The hero? He is much weaker than the Barbarian at level 1. The Barbarian hits harder, takes less damage, and doesn't run out of mana. There are also not many special prospects for magical development; they are all just hit-point attackers. As a result, any Priest in combination with a Knight will have twice as strong an army with the same number of units. By the way, the second level doesn't cause much delight either, although it is better than the first. But the Nightmare is good, but you have to survive until then... And the Rogue... Unlike the Mage, he needs at least 3 levels: one for advanced scouting, and the second for advanced stealth. Only then will he be able to deceive at least someone. And he is even weaker in battle than the Mage. Unless on gigantic maps with very strong guards, he has a chance, and experience from stealth will start to accumulate more or less.

In reply to Граф Орлов

CTPAHHuK

10 years ago

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Alexeagle

Life is good because of its versatility; it is approximately equally strong at all stages of the game, and perhaps there are no particularly unfavorable opponents for it.
It is not easy to choose the weakest faction in the fourth game. The developers maintained the balance. Perhaps the "fans" of this game will throw rotten vegetables, rotten eggs, and negative reviews at me for such words, but I still believe that Chaos is the weakest. The starting units are weak; well, the Bandit can still be useful at higher difficulty levels; a couple of stolen resource piles really make a difference, and he runs fast, making him a good scout... But who will fight? The hero? He is much weaker than the Barbarian at level 1. He hits harder, takes less damage, and doesn't run out of mana. There are also not many prospects for magical development; they are all just hit-and-run units. As a result, a Priest in combination with a Knight will have twice as strong an army with the same number of units. By the way, the second level doesn't cause much delight either, although it is better than the first. But the Nightmare is good, but you have to survive until then...
And the Rogue... Unlike the Mage, he needs at least 3 levels: one for advanced scouting, and the second for advanced stealth. Only then will he be able to deceive at least someone. And he is even weaker in battle than the Mage. Unless on gigantic maps with very strong guards, he has a chance; experience from stealth will start to accumulate more or less.

At the start, Chaos is considered the favorite, while Life is the underdog. Chaos deals damage with magic; the benefits of the 2nd and 3rd level Fire Bolt and Lightning spells are too strong. But it is difficult to play as Life without losses; all units except Angels have little health, and healing barely keeps up...

Hikari

10 years ago

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I can't boast of having extensive and successful experience playing the fourth installment (since I do it at home and alone, far from the enlightened public), but I want to add that, in addition to the obvious early success of powerful magic, the Chaos school itself can boast excellent mass weakening in the form of misfortune, very interesting buffing spells (feline grace, killer), and... if my memory serves me right, the only "disabling" spell that affects more than one target (cloud of confusion). But that's not all. Of course, there are Nightmares and Black Dragons (and even Ifrits are good if Nightmares are found in a nearby dwelling. Horses are still not genies, and their quantity doesn't play a significant role). And in addition to this, there are interesting combinations with allied heroes:
1) Black Knights can be easily purchased in the Chaos castle with the aim of fighting Dragons, since the latter are not immune to passive bonuses. On large maps, this can be supplemented, for example, with Nature for increased bonuses (and spells can be found in the spellbook). The only drawback is that it is not so easy for a Death hero to obtain it, but if a way is found...
2) Archers are quite good warrior heroes who, of course, don't "outshine the Barbarians," but they can certainly keep up with them.
3) And also in terms of magic. Suspiciously reminiscent of the system and philosophy of one card game, it (anticipating events) is created in three colors: the main color and two adjacent ones. And although the range of "neighbors" will not be as rich, in theory, Chaos is an interesting candidate for creating Demonologists, as it provides them with spells from both the black and green halves of the table. And for summoned demons, feline grace and the killer spell of a "specialized" Chaos mage will be very useful.
As a result, the castle has something to offer at any stage of the game, and the range of available development paths allows you to adapt to the features of the map and opponents.

However, there is also a fly in the ointment: Chaos cannot remove negative effects (just as Nature cannot remove "positive" effects), since both Life and Order are "hostile schools" for it.

ferfera

9 years ago

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Barbarians, because they have no magic.
The number of monsters is certainly good, but it doesn't compensate for the lack of magic. (you need to find a wizard).

Fasandr

7 years ago

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Life is quite a strong and versatile skill, considering it can be used for a tactical hero or a hero that buffs allies. It's very strong, and the champions are strong in numbers; they multiply quickly and are cheap (like ogre mages). I don't particularly like it, but it's quite decent.