Posts from Iris

Friends, I'm planning to play with a friend, and we'll be using Iris as our late-game hero – the one who trains griffons. I want to use a tactic with Battle Griffons, Defense, Readiness, Dark Magic, and Vampirism. I'll train Lancers into Inquisitors. We'll play defensively, meaning we'll shield a large stack of Inquisitors (the ones that negate positive effects from enemy units with their attack) with griffons, take a defensive stance (with Readiness, the griffons will attack any attacking unit twice, and each time with 1.5 times the strength until their turn comes (the Battle Fury skill), and they'll sustain themselves with Vampirism twice), and the Inquisitors will assist them.
From the skill branches, I'll take Light, Dark, Luck, Defense, and Leadership.
Is this a viable strategy, or are Laslo, Axel, or Miv still more impressive in the late game?

It depends on the opponent. An Elf, Mage, or Warlock can outperform a Human in positional combat. If the same-side armor-clad units partially cover the Elven archers, then you cannot protect yourself from magic so easily. Furthermore, there are various control spells; of course, there are shields, but there is also Sandro's cloak. And the Human's spellcasting is weak—it won't dispel it.
Also, I didn't notice any tactics, and for a defensive strategy, they are very important, IMHO.

The text raises more questions than it offers concrete advice. For example: who will be the opponent? (perhaps they are playing as a Necromancer, or as the Sword Coast faction). What does "late game" mean? (3 months, 6, 9?). How many castles are there? (this is not only about growth, but also about the probability of getting "vampirism"). Let's just say that with only one castle, Iris is not a viable option. Training troops in the castle will bring her minimal benefit compared to all other heroes of the Order faction. Regarding the hero's development: for Iris with "vampirism," leadership should be the last priority. The main combat stack won't be moving around frequently. Here, you either choose "light" leadership or "dark" and, for example, "education." Similarly, two schools of magic are too much for her. I would take attack with bonus instead of one of them, and the remaining perks in this branch will be derived from the chosen magical school. "Readiness" is a good choice when playing against the computer, but not very useful against a human player. Finally, choosing a main hero is not only about selecting the strongest for the final battle, but also about which one is more convenient for clearing the entire map. Myv is like a scalpel; with good skill, she is effective, otherwise, there will be nothing but disappointments.

Is such an option viable?

Not really.

Griffins will readily attack any attacking unit twice, and with each attack, their strength will be 1.5 times greater until their turn comes (Combat Fury skill).

The ability only triggers on the first attack on the stack. After that, there will only be one counterattack.
However, it's easier to shoot down or eliminate griffins with magic.

They will feed on vampirism twice.

Vampirism can be removed in various ways.

I will take the following from the branches: Light, Darkness, Luck, Defense, and Leadership.

Two magic skills for a Knight with 0 Knowledge and Spell Power?
Without Attack and free Retribution?
Without Education in the late game?

Or is the standard build for Laslo, Axel, or Mivex still a more impressive force in the late game?

In my opinion, a standard build is a standard build, especially since the variability against different races is already high. You can't build up a stack of griffins, but you can with armored units or horses.

Griffons with endless retaliation work very well with vampirism, especially for combat griffons, but will you find it in the Castle? Instead, you might get subjugation or unholy word. However, if you have more than one Castle or buildings for generating mana, the chances of getting a good skill are higher.
Taking leadership for vampirism doesn't make much sense. Yes, there's inspiration, but it's not worth leveling up just for that. It's better to take attack and increase the damage of the griffons. It's also not worth spending points on two schools of magic. You can take education to have more mana, as knights have big problems with it. However, education is rarely offered to knights.
Readiness doesn't allow you to attack twice, as mentioned above.

As for how effective it is, it depends on who you're playing against. Gnomes can steal vampirism if they have the magic ward rune. This won't save them much against combat magic either. Vampirism will protect against various dark control spells, although there are ways to remove it. And if the opponent also has vampirism and applies it to their stacks, the griffons won't be able to heal from them. In general, you need to see who the opponent is. But, of course, the fact that you can't retrain griffons is a disadvantage. This isn't so noticeable on a small map, but it will be noticeable in a long game.

I will try to answer all questions as best as I can:
1. A map similar to the Dragon Pass, with two Castles for each player (one of which needs to be taken from the AI Hero), and two Dragon Caves. Under these conditions, the chance of gaining Vampirism is very high.
2. The opponent is most likely Laslo, any Orc (it would be bad if it's Haghesh) or a Demon (which would be bad because of the large number of Imps), or perhaps an Elf. Definitely not a Warlock, Mage, Necromancer, or Dwarf; my opponent doesn't like to play or is not good at playing them.
3. The game is in the late stage, 30+ levels. At these levels, I don't consider Chaos Magic to be a problem. By that time, I will have around 500 Inquisitors, which is 41k HP. So, who cares if someone hits me for 1k HP with Chaos Magic?
4. I take two magic skills for variety. Twilight + Fallen Knight already gives +8 to Spell Power. If necessary, I can control with Darkness and remove control with Light. Plus, mass spells are not very demanding in terms of Spell Power. Also, the weakening attack (preventing the hero from attacking) from Guardian.
Leadership, I also wanted to take, even though my main stack will not be undead, but I have two strong stacks, and Empathy and Inspiration for the Inquisitors won't hurt. Plus, if Readiness isn't useful, then it makes sense to take Battle Fury and go for the ultimate ability "Unrelenting Force." I wouldn't replace Leadership, as there is a Mentor on the map, and over time, I might replace Luck with Education or Attack.
5. Initially, I will fight offensively. I don't need "Tactics" for defense because, with this many Inquisitors and Griffins, I can easily defeat any ranged stack. And in the end, when there are still a lot of Inquisitors and Griffins left on the battlefield (it's not very pleasant to fight them, with Battle Fury, Endless Retribution, and Guardian with Weakness), I will take a defensive position.
6. I disagree with the opinion that Iris is less useful than Laslo with only one Castle. Under Laslo, the best stack in the game is the Armored with retraining, but there is only one of them, and they have low initiative. I will have two mobile, semi-strong stacks that can be considered as one strong stack (a lot of Inquisitors and a few, but strong in stats, Griffins). Axel + Paladins is a disaster for the economy; it's too expensive. Inquisitors are a great budget option; their HP is not inferior to Paladins, their damage is much lower, but they shoot, and they also remove positive effects from the attack (with this many Inquisitors, they will remove it with a probability of 60-90%). Iris easily gets Luck of the Draw and Treasures, and she has the least problems with gold compared to other human heroes. 40 Inquisitors will be enough without any loss to the economy.
7. Regarding magic control against the opponent, I believe that Haven is the most protected Castle against Dark Magic in the game. Paladins, Inquisitors (80% chance of removal), and the hero himself – that's already three stacks that can remove control!
8. Regarding Readiness, thank you, I didn't know that it only applies to one attack. Then, instead of it, it is worth taking "Battle Fury" and possibly going for the central Haven ability "Unrelenting Force" and applying it to Griffins or Inquisitors. That would be even better. With Dark Magic and a weakening attack, the effect will be excellent!
Perhaps the hero will not be as versatile as Laslo and Axel, but he can definitely compete with Dugald and Myv. If I missed something, I will add it later.

And one more question. Doesn't the removal of control with Cleansing or Antimagic depend on the difference in Spell Power? (Total dispel chance = base% + (Dispeller_Level - Caster_Level) * 3% Level of creatures is 1-7 for normal, and 2-8 for upgraded creatures.) And I thought that Spell Power affects the chance of removing, for example, Haste over Slow, etc. That is, I think that with a skilled Light Magic, I can remove control with 100% chance, regardless of the opponent's Spell Power.

It's good to have your own ideas that don't align with the general direction. You need to try them out. Practice is the criterion of truth. While the matter is still in the theoretical realm, I would like to add a little about the possibilities of magic against griffons. The most effective spell against them will be "Divine Retribution," not chaos magic. "Wrath of the Horde" will also work well, especially at the beginning, when several thousand goblins are still intact. For griffons to fully recover from "Vampirism," a certain critical mass of them is needed. With the help of the spells mentioned, griffons will quickly be rendered combat-ineffective. Against the Archmage (especially Wing), there will be very little chance of survival – the elven units will all fall before the spell can be cast, and there will be no one to cast "Vampirism" on. Against the demon, the situation will be better in terms of numbers, but there may not be enough mana for more than a couple of mass spells, and the choice will be: cast "Vampirism" or not. (Here, the question of the usefulness of two schools of magic arises again.)

And another question. Doesn't removing control with purification or antimagic depend on the difference in spellcasting skill? (Total dispel chance = base% + (Dispeller_Level - Caster_Level) * 3%
Level of creatures is 1-7 for normal, and 2-8 for upgraded creatures.) And I thought that spellcasting skill affects the chance of removing, for example, acceleration on top of slowing, and so on. That is, I think that with skilled light magic, a "Cleansing" spell (sorry, I have the English version of the game), I can remove control with a 100% chance, regardless of the opponent's spellcasting skill.

"Slowing" on top of "acceleration," or vice versa, is always applied, regardless of the spellcasting level. Variations are possible due to the presence of magic resistance. "Dispel" depends and is calculated according to the formula.

2. The opponent is most likely Laslo, any Orc (it's bad if it's Haghesh), or a Demon (bad because of the many Imps), possibly an Elf. Definitely not a Warlock, Mage, Necromancer, or Dwarf; my opponent doesn't like or know how to play them.

Perhaps this strategy is most suitable against Orcs. They have many melee units and no way to remove Vampirism. There's essentially only one ranged unit, not counting the Cyclops Goblin Throwers, but he's not very durable. The only way to control a Barbarian – the Frightful Howl ability – won't work on a target with Vampirism. However, Goblins with Magic Resistance and the Horde Frenzy ability are still dangerous if they get the chance.
Humans have the same Adepts who can dispel the spell.
With Elves, the main thing is to deal with the ranged units, but Unicorns won't blind Griffons.
Against Demons, there will be problems with mana, so you need as much as possible.

I also wanted to take Leadership, even though my main force will be Undead, but I have two strong stacks, and Empathy and Inspiration for the Inquisitors won't hurt, plus if there's no point in Readiness, then take Battle to the Last and go for the ultimate ability "Relentless Force".

In the late game, the Knight's absolute defense is almost useless. You might destroy even 5 units of level 7, but I don't remember the exact calculation formula, and there are more than a hundred of them. And it's completely useless against smaller units.

7. Regarding magic control against the opponent, I believe that Haven is the most protected Castle against Dark Magic in the game. Paladins, Inquisitors (80% chance of removal), and the hero himself – that's already three stacks that can remove control!

Generally, that's true, but if the opponent is a Demon, there will be problems. The hero can quickly run out of mana, and only the units will remain as a hope. And if it's also Alastor, then the units will also run out of mana, and in the end, only the Paladins will be able to remove the effects.

And another question. Doesn't the removal of control with Purification or Antimagic depend on the difference in spell power?

The chance of successfully removing a spell depends on the level of Light Magic and the difference in levels between your hero and the enemy hero. It seems that if you have Expert Light and there is no difference in level, it should always work. This has even less effect on Antimagic. With developed Light, it protects against all spells of the first four levels, and with Expert Light – even against the fifth level.

Iris - the strongest hero among humans

Iris

Iris's earliest memories are of griffins, which is not surprising, as she was born into a family of griffin breeders. Iris grew up knowing everything about these proud creatures, and when the Empire called to arms, she gladly offered her knowledge and skills wherever they were needed. The griffins fighting alongside Iris are always healthy and obey commands well.

Griffin Trainer All regular and royal griffins in the hero's army receive +1 to defense and attack for every two levels of the hero, starting from the first. Regular griffins gain the ability "Sky Strike."