Frequently Asked Questions
Version 0.5
Latest Update in January 6, 2000
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
By Joseph Andro Artanto
E-mail: arsin@indosat.net.id
Hi! I have decided to make a FAQ for Heroes 2. However, I cant take if you
rip off my work here or selling this walktrough for own profit, so if you
did, I'll found out and I will put you in the losers contents. This
walktrough and future revisions of it can be found at :
- http://www.gamefaqs.com/
- http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
or you can e-mail me at arsin@indosat.net.id
Unpublished work Copyright 1999-2000 Joseph Andro Artanto.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ia. VERSIONS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
-Version 0.1 (10/9/1999). Initial release.
-Version 0.2 (23/10/1999). Filled the Roland's and Archibald's campaign
strategy. Minor corrections.
-Version 0.3 (28/11/1999). Layout corrections, Minor corrections. You now
can contact me by ICQ (55139575).
-Version 0.4 (29/12/1999). A really, really big update. Added some more
sections (General Tips, Using certain hero types, and some more normal
strategies). The artifact list and spell list also have updated now.
-Version 0.5 (6/1/2000). Strategy Guides for normal maps section added.
Minor corrections.
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Ib. CONTENTS
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I. VERSIONS/CONTENTS
II. GAME SYSTEM
III. SPECIAL PLACES LIST
IV. BUILDING LIST
V. ARMY LIST
VI. SPELL LIST
VII. ARTIFACT LIST
VIII. GENERAL TIPS
IX. USING CERTAIN HERO TYPE
X. STRATEGY GUIDES (BEGINNER)
-Normal Strategies
-First Week Building
XI. STRATEGY GUIDES (Guides for Campaign Maps)
XII. STRATEGY GUIDES (Guides for Normal Maps)
XIII. DISCLAIMER
XIV. CREDITS
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Ic. DISCLAIMER
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Unpublished work Copyright 1999-2000 Joseph Andro Artanto.
This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced
in any way, shape or form (physical, electronical, or otherwise) aside
from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in
it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used
for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it)
or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial
transaction. It cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc.,
with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore
prohibited. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers,
editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business,
or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like.
It cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other
form of printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically
mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference
or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author,
myself. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, Joseph Andro Artanto
(arsin@indosat.net.id). All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged
and respected that are not specificially mentioned in this FAQ.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
II. GAME SYSTEM
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (HOMM2), is a strategy-adventure-RPG game
created by New World Computing and has been published in PC and Macintosh.
However, many beginners feels confused when they play it the first time.
Originally, you could choose your own map, you can just choose the campaign
(recommended) or just play a map created by you or other peoples. In the
first screen, you can choose New Game and choose what kind of game you want
to play (campaign, standard, multiplayer). Campaign leads you to a series
of scenarios. And standard will let you to play any map in your MAPS
directory. Finally Multiplayer will let you have a multiplayer battle
against your friend via modem, network, or seat-by-seat/Hotseat. Hotseat is
a multiplayer game in one Computer (max. 4 players).
Load game is used to load your previous game. You can see some preview of
some games created by NWC in the door (click the door on left area of the
main menu).
When you first enter a 'choosing maps' menu (by standard or multiplayer),
click the upright button to choose your map, the info of that map is below
the map name (like how many players, what type of heroes you want, it is
optional). Now you will enter the main game screen, which lead you to the
real game. Note, this game has experience status, this mean your level will
be increased when you have enough experience.
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III. SPECIAL PLACES LIST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This only apply in the world map screen, so take a note about that. If you
want to know about the buildings (inside a castle or town), armies, spells,
etc, see the contents.
As you know, special places are spreaded around the world, to know what the
use of certain places, see below.
There is a couple of mouse icon in this game. Sword means you need to fight
that special places (like castle,army camps,etc), horses means you can walk
to that place.
For easy references, use 'find' and write your desired special places.
* Castle
This is where you can rest, buy troops, learn new spells, or build your own
castle. If its flag isn't your own flag, it is enemy's castle.
* Town
Same as castle, but you cant build any buildings inside the town. You can
upgrade a town into a castle if allowed.
* Gazebo
A place that makes you meet an old man that teach you some skills, and this
means you get some experiences by his lesson. Note that one hero only can
get exp by this old man once.
* Obelisk
A place to get maps to reach the Ultimate Artifact (to dig the land, you
must have full 'yellow').
* Fountain
Your luck is increased until the next battle ends.
* Temple
Your moral is increased until the next battle ends.
* Mines
This where you get minerals like ore, crystal, gems, etc. you get some of
them per day if you have them.
* Woodfields (or something like that)
Like mines, but you get woods instead minerals.
* Alchemy Lab
You get mercury per day.
* Shrine of 1st circle, 2nd circle and 3rd circle
the place where you get certain magic of certain classes. the 1st circle
let you get a random magic from class 1 magic.
* Witch Hut
You can get certain skills from her (like navigation, wisdom, etc). Only
basic ones.
* Artifacts
An important thing in this game, Artifact can make your strength or magic
power increased, even some of them will protect you from some damaging
spells. See the Artifact list section for more info.
* Mineral/Wood/Gold/Mercury
These are all treasures scattered around the world, collect them to get
some small amount of them.
* Treasure Chest
This chest will lead you to 2 choices. The one will give you some gold, and
the other will give you some experiences.
* Army Camp
This where you mainly see the enemies. Go to them and you will enter a
battle. You may get certain events by touching them. Like the enemies want
to join you, etc.
* Heroes
I know you know it. But beware of the hero's flag, as it will be the sign
whose the ally and foe.
* Idol
Same as Fountain. Give you a luck until the next battle ends.
* Tree of Knowledge
This tree will give you a level if you have enough leadership. If not, he
will give you a fee to level up (around 10 gems).
* Fort
Give you 1+ defense skill. Once for a hero.
* Mercenary Camp
Give you 1+ attack skill. Once for a hero.
* Witch Doctor's Hut
Give you 1+ knowledge skill. Once for a hero.
* Stonehege
Give you 1+ spell power skill. Once for a hero.
* Ruins
You can buy some Medusas here.
* Genie Lamp
You can buy some Genie here.
* Peasant Hut
Some peasant will agree to join you.
* Archer's House
Some archer will agree to join you.
* Goblin's Hut
Some goblin will agree to join you.
* Centaur Cave
Some Centaur will agree to join you.
* Dwarf Cottage
Some Dwarf will agree to join you.
* Oasis
Give you a several 'yellow' points.
* Artesian Spring
Doubles your 'green' points (magic points,manna).
* City of the Death
Beat some undead units and you can buy some lich.
* Skeleton
You might found an artifact or treasure from the dead bodies.
* Wagon
Same as skeleton.
* Sign
Something written in there.
* Bottle
Something written in there.
* Magellan House (or something like that)
You can buy the map of the sea of the current map.
* Flotsam
You might found gold or woods from there.
* Treasure Chest (on the ocean)
You might found an artifact or gold.
* Tree House
Some sprites will join you.
* Tree City
You can buy some sprites in there.
* Pyramid
Fight some undead and take the treasures. If the undead have been defeated,
then you get bad luck instead.
* Demon's Cave
Fight the servants or face the demons, it your decisions.
* Factory
Upgrade your iron golem to steel golem.
* Hill Fort
Upgrade some of your troops to the upgraded type.
* Dragon's City
Fight some dragons and you will be able to buy some red dragons.
* Sphinx
Solve the riddle and get the prizes. If you fail, your heroes will be dead,
remember, not all prizes are good.
* Well
Fill up your 'green' points to full status.
* Buoy
Give a morale to your troops until the next battle ends.
* Graveyard
Fight some undead and take the treasures. If the undead have been defeated,
then you get bad morale instead.
* Lighthouse
Your ship yellow points is increased.
* Rogue's Camp
You can buy some rogues from there.
* Road
Used to make your hero's movement longer. Note that heroes always take the
shortest way.
* Abandoned Mine
Fight some ghost first, then the mine will be changed into a gold mine.
* Wrecked Ship (there are 2 type of them)
Fight some ghost first, then take the treasures. If the ghost have been
defeated, you get bad ones instead.
* Event
In certain cases, you may get an event.
* Whirlpool (sea only)
Teleport your ship to a different random whirlpool. Note that some weak
armies (like peasant) might be killed if they enter the whirlpool.
* Dimension Door (there are 3 types of them)
Teleport your hero to a different dimension door (the same type only).
* Watch Tower
Some orcs will join you.
* Halfling Hole
Some halfling will join you.
* Windmill
Give you some resources every week when visited.
* Water Wheel
Same as Windmill, but give you gold instead.
* Magic Garden
Same as Windmill
* Trading Post
Exchange some resources with another resources. Same as Marketplace in a
castle or town. If you have more marketplace, the exchange rate is better.
* Oracle
See opponent's status.
* Troll Bridge
You can buy some trolls here after you fight them.
* Desert Tent
You can buy some Nomads in there.
* Execution Site
Some Skeletons will join you.
* Xanadu
He will teach you some skills when you have enough diplomacy skill.
* Faerie Ring
Give you a luck until the next battle ends. Same as fountain.
* Lean-To
Get some resources here. One time only.
* ??? (maybe im missing something)
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IV.BUILDING LIST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is apply inside a castle or a town. Some of them will allow you to buy
some troops, give you a new spell, increases your moral, etc.
--Knight--
----------
* Peasant Hut -> Peasant
* Archery Range/(Upgraded)-> Archer/Ranger
* Armory /(Upgraded)-> Pikeman/Veteran Pikeman
* Blacksmith /(Upgraded)-> Swordman/Master Swordman
* JoustingArena/(Upgraded)-> ? /Champion
* Cathedral /(Upgraded)-> Paladin/Crusader
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* Farm -> Give you more Peasant every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Fortiffication -> Increases the toughness of the wall
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
--Wizard--
----------
* Halfling Hole -> Halfling
* Pen -> Boar
* Cliff Nest -> Roc
* Foundry /(Upgraded)-> Iron Golem/Steel Golem
* Ivory Tower /(Upgraded)-> Mage/Archmage
* Cloud Castle /(Upgraded)-> Giant/Titan
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* Orchard -> Give you more Halfling every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Library -> Give you more spells of every class
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
--Sorcerer--
------------
* Tree House -> Sprite
* Archery Range/(Upgraded)-> Elves/Grand Elves
* Cottage /(Upgraded)-> Dwarf/?
* Stonehege /(Upgraded)-> Druid/Greater Druid
* Fenced Meadow/(Upgraded)-> Unicorn
* Red Tower -> Phoenix
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* Crystal Garden -> Give you more sprites every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Rainbow -> Give the defending armies more luck
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
--Necromancer--
* Execution Site -> Skeleton
* Graveyard /Upg-> Zombie/Mutant Zombie
* Pyramid /Upg-> Mummy/Royal Mummy
* Mansion /Upg-> Vampire/Vampire Lord
* ? /Upg-> Lich/Power Lich
* Laboratory -> Bone Dragon
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* ? -> Give you more skeletons every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Storm -> Give the defending armies more spell power
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
--Barbarian--
* Goblin's Hut -> Goblin
* Stick Hut /Upg-> Orc/Orc Chief
* Cave -> Wolf
* Adobe /Upg-> Ogre/Ogre Lord
* Bridge /Upg-> Troll/War Troll
* Pyramid -> Cyclops
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* Garbage Heap -> Give you more goblins every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Colosseum -> Give the defending armies more moral
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
--Warlock--
* Cave -> Centaur
* Crypt -> Gargoyle
* Nest -> Griffin
* Maze /Upg-> Minatour/Minatour King
* Swamp -> Hydra
* Green/Red/Black Tower -> Green Dragon/Red Dragon/Black Dragon
* Well -> Give you 2 more units every dwelling
* Statue -> Give you 250 gold every days
* Waterfall -> Give you more centaurs every dwelling
* Tavern -> Increases your defending troops moral
* Moat -> Hold enemy's fighter
* Mage Guild 1-5 -> Provides spells for your heroes
* Right Turret -> Attack opponent's army every turn in castle
* Left Turret (battle)
* Dungeon -> Give you 500 gold every day
* Captain's Quarters -> Acts as a hero inside a castle
* Shipyard -> Used to create a ship
* Thieves Guild -> Provides info about your opponents
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
V. ARMY LIST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As you know, I will only give description for some powerfull and usefull
troops, as it will take years to describe all of them one by one. (Long)
means that unit attack with long range attack. (Fly) means it is a flying
type troops. (Fight) means it is a fighter unit. You CAN split your army,
here is the way: press shift, drag a unit you want to split to an empty
box, a menu will appear and ask you how many units you want to split.
--Knight--
* Peasant (Fight)
* Archer/Ranger (Long)
* Pikeman/Veteran Pikeman (Fight)
* Swordman/Master Swordman (Fight)
* Paladin/Crusader (Fight) -> Attack 2 times on a unit
--Wizard--
* Halfling (Long)
* Boar (Fight)
* Roc (Fly)
* Iron Golem/Steel Golem (Fight)
* Mage/Archmage (Long) -> Sometimes causes Dispel
* Giant(Fight)/Titan(Long) -> Titan is 1/2 strongest unit
--Sorcerer--
* Sprite (Fly)
* Elves/Grand Elves (Long)
* Dwarf/? (Fight) -> Sometimes deflect spells
* Druid/Greater Druid (Long)
* Unicorn (Fight) -> Sometimes causes blind
* Phoenix (Fly)
--Necromancer--
* Skeleton (Fight)
* Zombie/Mutant Zombie (Fight)
* Mummy/Royal Mummy (Fight) -> Sometimes causes curse
* Vampire/Vampire Lord (Fly) -> Live again if kills some units
* Lich/Power Lich (Long)
* Bone Dragon (Fly)
--Barbarian--
* Goblin (Fight)
* Orc/Orc Chief (Long)
* Wolf (Fight)
* Ogre/Ogre Lord (Fight)
* Troll/War Troll (Long)
* Cyclops (Fight)
--Warlock--
* Centaur (Long)
* Gargoyle (Fly)
* Griffin (Fly)
* Minatour/Minatour King (Fight)
* Hydra (Fight) -> Attack all nearest enemies
* Green/Red/Black Dragon (Fly)
--Other--
* Medusa (Fight) -> Sometimes causes Petrify
* Genie (Fly) -> Sometimes attack 'half'
* Nomad (Fight)
* Rogue (Fight)
* Fire Elemental
* Air Elemental
* Water Elemental
* Earth Elemental
* Ghost -> Increased if kills some units
* ???
--Army's Strength Table--
-------------------------
===============================================================
| Knight troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit |Atk |Def | HP | Dmg | Spd | Cost |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Peasant | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Archer | 3 | 5 | 10 | 2-3 | 2 | 150 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Ranger | 4 | 5 | 10 | 2-3 | 4 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Pikeman | 5 | 9 | 20 | 3-4 | 4 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Veteran Pikeman | 5 | 9 | 25 | 3-4 | 5 | 250 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Swordsman | 7 | 9 | 25 | 4-6 | 4 | 250 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Master Swordsman | 7 | 9 | 30 | 4-6 | 5 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Cavalry | 10 | 9 | 30 | 5-10 | 6 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Champion | 10 | 9 | 40 | 5-10 | 7 | 375 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Paladin | 11 | 12 | 50 | 10-20 | 5 | 600 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Crusader | 11 | 12 | 65 | 10-20 | 6 | 1000 |
===============================================================
| Barbarian troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Goblin | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1-2 | 4 | 40 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Orc | 3 | 4 | 10 | 2-3 | 2 | 140 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Orc Chief | 3 | 4 | 15 | 3-4 | 3 | 175 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Wolf | 6 | 2 | 20 | 3-5 | 6 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Ogre | 9 | 5 | 40 | 4-6 | 2 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Ogre Lord | 9 | 5 | 60 | 5-7 | 4 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Troll | 10 | 5 | 40 | 5-7 | 4 | 600 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| War Troll | 10 | 5 | 40 | 7-9 | 5 | 700 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Cyclope | 12 | 9 | 80 | 12-24 | 5 | 750+ 1cr |
===============================================================
| Sorceress troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Sprite | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1-2 | 4 | 50 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Dwarf | 6 | 5 | 20 | 2-4 | 2 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Battle Dwarf | 6 | 6 | 20 | 2-4 | 4 | 250 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Elf | 4 | 3 | 15 | 2-3 | 4 | 250 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Grand Elf | 5 | 5 | 15 | 2-3 | 6 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Druid | 7 | 5 | 20 | 5-8 | 4 | 350 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Greater Druid | 7 | 7 | 25 | 5-8 | 6 | 400 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Unicorn | 10 | 9 | 40 | 7-14 | 5 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Phoenix | 12 | 10 | 100 | 20-40 | 7 | 1500+1m |
===============================================================
| Warlock troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Centaur | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1-2 | 4 | 60 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Gargoyle | 4 | 7 | 15 | 2-3 | 6 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Griffin | 6 | 6 | 25 | 3-5 | 4 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Minotaur | 9 | 8 | 40 | 5-10 | 4 | 400 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Minotaur King | 9 | 8 | 45 | 5-10 | 6 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Hydra | 8 | 9 | 75 | 6-12 | 2 | 800 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Green Dragon | 12 | 12 | 200 | 25-50 | 4 | 3000+1s |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Red Dragon | 13 | 13 | 250 | 25-50 | 5 | 3500+1s |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Black Dragon | 14 | 14 | 300 | 25-50 | 6 | 4000+2s |
===============================================================
| Wizard troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Halfling | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1-3 | 3 | 50 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Boar | 5 | 4 | 15 | 2-3 | 6 | 150 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Iron Golem | 5 | 10 | 30 | 4-5 | 2 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Steel Golem | 7 | 10 | 35 | 4-5 | 3 | 350 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Roc | 7 | 7 | 40 | 5-8 | 4 | 400 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Mage | 11 | 7 | 30 | 7-9 | 5 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Archmage | 12 | 8 | 35 | 7-9 | 6 | 700 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Giant | 13 | 10 | 150 | 20-30 | 4 | 2000+1g |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Titan | 15 | 15 | 300 | 20-30 | 6 | 5000+2g |
===============================================================
| Necromancer | | | | | | |
| troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Skeleton | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2-3 | 4 | 75 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Zombie | 5 | 2 | 15 | 2-3 | 2 | 150 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Mutant Zombie | 5 | 2 | 20 | 2-3 | 4 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Mummy | 6 | 6 | 25 | 3-4 | 4 | 250 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Royal Mummy | 6 | 6 | 30 | 3-4 | 5 | 300 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Vampire | 8 | 6 | 35 | 5-7 | 4 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Vampire Lord | 8 | 6 | 40 | 5-7 | 5 | 650 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Lich | 7 | 12 | 25 | 8-10 | 5 | 750 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Power Lich | 7 | 13 | 35 | 8-10 | 6 | 900 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Bone Dragon | 11 | 9 | 150 | 25-45 | 4 | 1500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
===============================================================
| Neutral troops | | | | | | |
===============================================================
| Unit | A: | D: | HP: | Dmg: | Spd: | Cost: |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Rogue | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1-2 | 5 | 50 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Nomad | 7 | 5 | 20 | 2-5 | 6 | 200 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Ghost | 8 | 6 | 20 | 4-6 | 5 | 1000 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Medusa | 8 | 9 | 35 | 6-10 | 4 | 350 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Genie | 10 | 9 | 50 | 20-30 | 6 | 750+1g |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Earth Elemental | 8 | 8 | 50 | 4-5 | 3 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Water Elemental | 6 | 8 | 45 | 3-7 | 4 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Fire Elemental | 8 | 6 | 40 | 4-5 | 5 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Air Elemental | 7 | 7 | 35 | 2-8 | 6 | 500 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
VI. SPELL LIST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
--Level 1 Magic--
-----------------
HASTE
Most useful 1st level spell.. since it can turn otherwise deficient monster
stacks in killer armies. Examples.. a big stack of Steel Golems can now
reach the opposing army in 2 turns. Your big stack of slow or average
shooter troops can now shoot before the enemy flyers or shooters. The
Hydras become very, very dangerous. A huge stack of skeletons can reach the
other side in 2 turns while your cheap sacrificial stack of shooters draws
the fire... In general, it can give you the very important first attack.
SLOW
Opposite of Haste... almost as useful but less versatile since if you cast
it too soon the enemy spellcaster will probably dispel it. Can save your
butt against fast flyers since this will give your shooters time to destroy
them. Also useful combined with Blind to stop the enemy from fleeing before
you have a chance to destroy him. Timing is foremost when using this potent
spell. Either use it after the enemy casted his own spell or on the fast
troop going up next which you want to attack first.
BLESS
Very good on certain troops that have a large range of damage. Also assures
you of inflicting maximum damage. For example, Bless used on crusaders and
phoenix double up their damage inflicting points permitting you, under
ideal conditions, to kill double the monsters you would usually have
destroyed with an unblessed stack doing minimum damage. Of course, doing
minimum damage with an unblessed unit is very unlikely since the damage
done by any stack is an average.
CURSE
Opposite of Bless. Very good also but more "passive" than his counterpart
since you can't always control which of your stacks, the enemy stack will
attack first (unless you have shooters). The enemy will rarely dispel this
spell. Use it against the monster stack that scares you the most : the fast
flyer troops or the big stack of enemy shooters.
SHIELD
Extremely nice to have when you go up against big shooter armies. Use it on
your strongest shooter stack who will draw the majority of attacks from the
AI. Unfortunately, the usefulness of Shield is limited because it does not
protect against ballista and turret fire.
DISPEL MAGIC
One of the tough spells to use well. More useful in the later parts of the
game. Try to use this spell against an enemy stack having multiple positive
spells. I typically use it against the most dangerous enemy stack,
especially if it already has bless and steelskin. I use Cure instead of
Dispel Magic when I want to remove negative spells from one of my stacks.
MAGIC ARROW
The first *direct* offensive spell. Good against low-level troops and very
good when you have a high spell rating but no lightning or not enough
spells points left to cast it. Also good when you don't want the enemy to
flee, which it will usually do, when it only has a couple of monster
stacks left.
CURE
Did you know that this spell not only cures your hit points but also
removes all negative spells ? Making this almost the equal of Dispel Magic.
I rated it so low because the number of hit points gained when casting it
is much too minimal. I mostly use it on my high-level monster stacks (like
Phoenix or Bone Dragons).
BLOODLUST
Attack +3. In concrete terms, what this means is that, under ideal
conditions, you could get a 30 % damage bonus. I cast it when I have
nothing else better to cast.
STONESKIN
Defense + 3. In concrete terms, this means that, under ideal conditions,
you could get 30 % less damage (if the difference between his attack and
your defense skill were 3 points or higher before you casted) from an enemy
attack on the stack that is stoneskinned. I cast it when I have nothing
else better to cast.
VIEW MINES
I only use it in the beginning game to check out where the *necessary*
mines are hidden. By *necessary* mine, I mean the mine that produces the
resource you need most to build the advanced-level structures. For example,
sulfur for Warlocks, wood for knights, ore for barbarians, gems for
wizards, etc.
VIEW RESOURCES
I will use it if I have it.. but I prefer getting the other spells. Can be
useful if there are no nearby mines of the type you desire.
--Level 2 Magic--
-----------------
BLIND
One of the most underestimated spells out there. What good is the killer
monster stack of the enemy if it cannot move or attack due to the Blind
spell ? Timing is very important for this spell : either cast it on the
fastest troop of the enemy, wait until he has already cast his own spell,
or time it so that the blinded stack is the one going up next. If the enemy
dispels it after his unit has already lost his turn then it's too late for
the current turn. If he dispels it before that blinded stack would have
normally gotten its turn, then the stack will attack normally. Generally
cast Blind on the most dangerous monsters... faster units first. Also
useful in keeping the enemy from fleeing. A sure way to insure that an
enemy stack will lose the current turn is by attacking it before the
computer opponent has a chance to dispell it. Something we rarely, if ever,
think about is that a blinded creature retaliates with half-damage unless
you shoot it from afar with missiles or offensive spells in which case the
enemy gets no retaliation at all. Finally, keep in mind that this spell
doesn't work on undeads and Titans.
LIGHTNING BOLT
The best "direct" offensive spell that damages a single stack. I use it all
the time. Its use is pretty straightforward : point and shoot. Useful for
destroying remaining enemy units you don't want to see fleeing. As always,
cast Lightning on the most dangerous unit that can attack you right away
(that means walker troops are the last target choice).
VISIONS
One of the best spells if you manage to get it. It's one of the rarer
spells because of it's great usefulness. If New World Computing did not
want us to have it very often, they should have given it a higher-level
spell rating. Visions tells you how a nearby wandering monster stack will
react when you encounter it (join, flee, attack). It also gives you the
number of units present. From intuition and experience, I can usually tell
if an enemy stack will join me or not, but having this great spell makes my
job easier. Don't cast Visions on everything though, cast it on stacks that
you must absolutely pass or that you suspect might join you.
STEELSKIN
+6 on Defense. Quite good when you want to protect one of your important
stacks. I usually cast it on my best shooters or the flyers who are
attacking deep in enemy territory. In concrete terms, this spell can lower
the damage received by about 40 % on the steelskinned unit, under ideal
conditions (if the attacker's attack rating is 5 points or higher than the
defender's defense rating.. before you cast the spell).
COLD RAY
Not a bad spell similar to Lightning Bolt but less powerful. I never cast
it if I already have Lightning unless I have the cold icicle item. It's a
point-and-shoot offensive spell.
DISRUPTING RAY
-3 on Defense each time you cast it. Some people like this spell because
it's permanent and cumulative. Well, I rarely use it because I think it
costs too much. I guess you could use this instead of Curse if you're
really scared of the offensive power of a given enemy stack. The enemy
can't dispel it.. so that's good. I still think the AI uses this spell too
often.
DRAGON SLAYER
+5 attack against Dragons. This is a must against Dragons. It also works
against Bone Dragons. Cast it on your highest-level stack (Titans, Phoenix,
etc). Can possibly inflict 50% more damage on any Dragon stack. Dragon
slayer combined with Bless makes your attacking unit quite dangerous. If
you don't know what to cast against Dragons, which are immune to all magic,
this one is a good bet...
DEATH RIPPLE
Another very specialized spell only useful if you army is entirely composed
of undead troops. Don't cast it unless your hero has a high spell power
rating. The power of this spell is not strong enough imho (only x5 Power),
but it's a 2nd level spell so that's too be expected. The good point is
that it affects all living troops equally. Can serve as a weak mini-
armageddon spell. Possibly useful combined with Anti-magic.
SUMMON BOAT
Summons any nearby boat that you "control" or that has never been
previously controlled by anyone. Can be quite good in water-based
scenarios... For example, you disembark on one side of the desert island,
explore it, reach the other side, cast Summon Boat and board the boat. This
spell can save you a lot of exploring time.
HAUNT
Renders a mine useless for all players until the protecting ghosts are
defeated. In the rare times, I got it, I barely used it. Of course, don't
use this on your own nearby mines :-) Can be useful if a spellcasting scout
hero goes deep into enemy territory and casts it on essential mines of the
enemy (ex : Haunt on the sulfur mines of the enemy warlock).
VIEW ARTIFACTS
I almost never use this because I usually have a lot of scouting heroes
showing me exactly what nearby items are good enough to risk my valuable
troops. If I get it, I will cast it one time just to see if there might not
be a "clump" of items close by. The funny part is : that they are usually
guarded by a very strong army...
--Level 3 Magic--
-----------------
MASS HASTE
Makes all your own monster stacks quicker. I gave Haste the first place in
the first part of my spellcasting guide therefore it's only fair that I
give it the same "honor" in the 3rd part ;-) All that I said for Haste
applies here too but on a larger and better scale. If you play well, and
because most of your troops will attack before your enemies, you can really
devastate the opposition. Extremely useful when you have a fast army or
better (think Sorceress). Your opponent cannot dispel all those hastes,
even if he has Mass Dispel, because he may not even have the chance to get
his turn :-) Watch out for the remaining couple of enemy troops, they could
flee.
TELEPORT
A very rare spell but very good when you manage to find it. This can
teleport any one of your ground troops on the other side of the map
therefore providing you with a quicker attack. Use it on tough very slow,
slow or average troops (Hydras are the best) when it is their turn. Expect
this teleporting stack to suffer some heavy casualties. Useful for
teleporting ground troops inside or outside castles. I also teleport my
ground troops next to the enemy's shooters most of the time (between 2
stacks of shooters if I can).
PARALYZE
A better version of the already nice Blind spell. You use it the same way
as Blind (see part 2) except you don't have to worry about retaliation so
much anymore. Therefore faster and weaker creatures that would die from a
retaliation (against a blinded enemy) can give the first strike (against a
paralysed enemy). It's a little more expensive than Blind but most of the
time it's worth it.
ANTI-MAGIC
This is a must-have spell if you go up against powerful spellcasters. In
general, I cast it on my strongest highest-level or more damaging stack. If
you have shooters in your army that you want to keep, then it's a good idea
to cast Anti-Magic on them before your best stack since the AI will almost
always attack the shooters first. If you also have an all-damaging spell
(like Elemental Storm or Armageddon) then you can attack with only one
tough monster stack... casting Anti-Magic on the first turn and the all-
damaging spell on the second turn. If you see that a spellcaster is
constantly casting negative spells on the same unit stack, by all means
cast Anti-Magic to protect this valuable stack.
MASS BLESS
The spell to use if you want to beef up your offensive potential. Most of
the tips for the simple Bless (see part 1) also apply here. Very good if
your stacks have a big "range" of damage (ex: Phoenix with 20-40 points or
Nomads with 2-5 points each).
MASS CURSE
The spell to use when the enemy has a lot of very damaging units. Most of
the tips for the simple Curse (see part 1) also apply here. Very good if
the enemy's stacks have a big "range" of damage.
ANIMATE DEAD
The resurrect spell for the Necromancer hero ! Only a 3rd level instead of
5th level therefore providing a certain advantage to the Necromancer player
if he manages to get it. You have a better chance of getting it than the
resurrect spell but it's mostly useless for the other types of heroes. A
specialized spell that should be rated much higher if you play the
Necromancer and lower if you play any other kind. I usually cast it on my
Vampire Lords or Bone Dragons...
MASS DISPEL
The spell to use when a lot of your stacks have negative spells on them. It
won't happen very often though since the AI seems to prefer casting many
different negative spells on the same unit (most of the time : your best
shooter stack). The Dispel is useless against Disrupting Ray. Most of the
tips for the simple Dispel Magic (see part 1) also apply here.
EARTHQUAKE
An underestimated spell... Destroys the castle walls sooner therefore
making the castle ballistas destroyed sooner. Castle ballistas destroyed
sooner means a lot less casualties for your shooters. A lot less casualties
for your shooters means a stronger army. A stronger army means a quicker
victory ! Particularly good if you cast it 2 consecutive times at the
beginning of the battle. Less useful if you attack a new lightly-built
castle with only one ballista.
DEATH WAVE
Stronger version of Death Ripple. Cool spell effect that damages all living
troops. Only useful for Necromancer players. Can serve as a mini-armageddon
spell. If your Necromanger gets this spell, the Death Ripple spell will
almost never be used anymore. Having a good spell rating for the hero
casting it is a "must". Death Wave is rated higher for Necromancer players
and much lower for all the other types of players.
HOLY WORD
Very good if you go up against a Necromancer player that doesn't have the
item countering it. Specialized spell only useful against undead. Useless
for the necromancer army and of limited use for the other hero types if
there is no Necromancer present on the map. Can be used to kill wandering
undead troops
FIREBALL
First general area-damaging offensive spell. Because of its lack of
"destroying" punch, I prefer to use the good old Lightning spell. This
spell should be given a power boost. Useful if you have a high spell-rating
and/or when you attack low-level stacks (like halflings or goblins). Also
good for stopping the enemy from fleeing if he only has a couple of stacks
left.
COLD RING
Similar to Fireball but with a slight twist. It creates a "ring" of
damaging ice around one of your units not killing your own stack. Not bad
if one of your good units is surrounded. Good against low-level troops,
useless against high-level troops. Also nice to have when you go up against
wandering low-level shooter stacks (cast it between the 2 enemy stacks).
Like Fireball, it badly needs a power boost.
VIEW HEROES
Not bad but not extremely good either. Can show the exact number and
location of heroes that each of your opponents has. Frequent use of this
spell can save your scouting heroes from ambush. Useless when you have
explored most of the map.
VIEW TOWNS
Only useful to give you a general attack direction. I will cast it once or
twice and forget about it. Can also show you if your enemies have captured
any new towns or built up castles.
IDENTIFY HERO
Most useless 3rd level spell since I generally have enough thieves guilds
by then to know the size of the opposing army. My agressive tactics also
mean that the first defended castle I take will be lightly-defended by a
beginner or intermediate hero. BTW, it may not be pretty, but if you attack
an enemy army and you find out too late it's too strong for you, there's
always retreating and surrendering ;-)
--Level 4 Magic--
CHAIN LIGHTNING
My personal favorite spell. It may not be the strongest or most versatile
spell but it packs a lot of offensive punch anyway. When I have the good
fortune to find it, I use it almost exclusively along with my best
spellcaster and army. No other offensive spell (that does not kill your
troops too) is this damaging to your enemies with the exception of
Armageddon and Dragons. Of course, you have to watch out, when you cast
this potent spell, about not zapping your own troops. I usually cast Chain
Lightning on my first turn while all the opponent stacks are on the other
side of the map close together. My first target will be the most dangerous
and immediately damaging unit. Therefore, I will usually shoot the bolt at
a big stack of shooters close to flying troops or vice-versa. You can still
cast the spell when you go up against only 3 enemy stacks since the 4th
victim (one of your stacks) will suffer practically no damage. I almost
never cast it against an army of only 2 units. If you cast the spell on the
second or third turn, watch out for your own flyers who may already have
engaged the enemy. Never cast it on a enemy unit close to yours unless you
don't care about killing your own unit too. This spell is usually better
in the early and midgame. In the endgame, Mass Slow is better.
MASS SLOW
Ever wonder why this spell is rated a 4th-level spell while his opposite
counterpart Mass Haste is only a 3rd-level spell? It's in part because this
great underestimated spell will give you first strike against the majority
of the opposing stacks. But the real reason is that it will stop all enemy
flyers from reaching your shooters in only one turn ! The enemy shooters
will also fire last giving you a chance to devastate them with your own
army. Some ground enemy troops will arrive to your side sooner than others.
That way, you can concentrate on usually 1 or 2 walker stacks instead of 4
at the same time. Fleeing, for the enemy, is also rendered more difficult.
A well-cast Mass Slow combined with good tactics can give you the victory
before your opponent even has a chance to take one turn ! Most of the tips
for Slow (see part 1) also apply for Mass Slow.
BERSERK
I consider this spell better than the 5th-level spell Hypnotize. Why ?
Because even though you cannot control the actions of the berserked unit,
you can decide to berserk almost any kind of enemy stack with no regard to
its strength. The berserk spell will dissipate after one attack so make it
count. Imagine you're going up against a superhero with 8 Red dragons and
50 Minotaur Kings next to each other. You know that your spells cannot
affect the dragons so you cast Berserk on the Minotaur Kings who go up
next. If you're lucky, the Minotaur kings will attack the dragons (or the
nearby gargoyles) and get attacked in return ! Presto : the MK stack has
lost its turn, the attacked unit has lost the ability to retaliate for the
rest of the turn (unless it has unlimited retaliation) and both stacks are
decimated :-) The best part is that Berserk doesn't cost a lot to cast
(only 12 points). Casting it at the correct time is very important since
you don't want to see it dispelled. In any given turn, either cast it at
the enemy unit that will go next, the fastest enemy stack or when the enemy
has already cast his own spell. A secondary usage of this spell would be to
stop a single unit army from fleeing. Sometimes, you will also want to stop
a particular enemy stack from getting his turn until you are ready to
attack it. Blind and Paralyse are better in that respect, but sometimes you
won't have them. Last warning : do not attack a berserked unit until it has
already attacked one of his own.
METEOR SHOWER
A very nice offensive spell that usually damages 2 units but can sometimes
damage more (if they're all close together). A clever use of this spell is
to send a flyer stack next to an enemy shooter stack without attacking. All
the close enemy walkers and flyers (if you have no shooter troops) will
then proceed to attack this lone flyer stack. Cast Meteor Shower when
they're all clumped together. You will lose your own flying stack but will
have done a lot of damage to the majority of his units. A variation on this
tactic is the sacrificial shooter unit which will attract all enemy flying
troops. On the first turn of a combat, I usually cast Meteor Shower between
a shooter stack and flying stack since they're the most likely to damage me
right away. On the next combat turns, if I see no enemy "clumps" then I
will proceed to cast it again on the shooters if they're close to any other
significant enemy unit. If the shooter stack is alone, then cast Lightning.
Another likely target for Meteor Shower is a group of walkers slowly coming
towards me. The power and range of this spell makes it more useful than
Fireball, Cold Ring and Fireblast imho.
TOWN GATE
Finally a good useful adventure spell :-) It is very rare. Probably because
of its effectiveness. It will transport the hero casting it to your nearest
town. What this means is that you can afford to be more reckless. Even
attacking sooner than would be prudent will not be a problem, since if you
have enough spell points, you can "gate" back to your town for
reinforcements. Extremely useful for strong heroes with depleted armies
that have done a lot of battles deep in enemy territory or weak midlevel
scouts who stumble upon a stronger enemy hero. After coming to a deadend
while exploring, you can teleport back to avoid losing precious travel
time.
HOLY SHOUT
A very specialized spell that only damages undead creatures. Can be quite
useful against Necromancer troops if you have a high-level spellcaster. The
power is good and it kills only undead troops not your precious living
troops. Therefore if you have a knight, barbarian or wizard army, you can
use this as your own little Armageddon without killing your own troops too
(see Storm for Sorceress and Armageddon for Warlock). Mostly useless for
Necromancer heroes unless they are lucky enough to find the magic item
making them immune. On maps with no Necromancer opponents, Holy Shout can
still serve to kill wandering undead armies. If you get this spell, you
will most likely forget about Holy Word.
STORM
A little more powerful than Holy Shout but it also kills all troops, making
no discrimination between dead and living. If you play anything other than
a sorceress or a warlock, then this spell only serves when you want to
weaken a powerful enemy army approaching your castle. You hire a wizard (or
any hero with advanced wisdom), make sure he has a very fast unit and
attack the enemy. You cast Storm on your first turn. You will die right
away but will have weakened the enemy a bit. Try to redo this as long as
you have enough money and/or wizards. This spell could also be useful for
high-level spellcasters with Anti-Magic. They should stomp around with one
very tough single stack, cast Anti-Magic on the first turn and Storm on the
second. Storm with Phoenix is a killer-combination since Phoenix are immune
to all elemental spells and almost always strike first :-) It gives a
needed little secret weapon to the sorceress player.
RESURRECTION
Well.. what can I say about this one. If you have a sufficiently strong
army combined with an adept spellcaster hero, you can win almost any single
combat against any army whatsoever (except Dragons of course ;-). But it
can save your butt in only one combat since the resurrected troops will
dissapear at the end... If the fight was the least bit close-matched, then
you will have very few surviving troops left and no more spell points. Make
sure you have at least ONE non-resurrected troop still surviving by the end
of the tough battle or you will eliminated along with your opponent.
FIREBLAST
I almost never use it because the great area of effect is upset too much by
the low power of the spell. I prefer using Meteor Shower, Chain Lightning
and Lightning. The only real use I see for it.. is if you go up against a
lot of similar low-level troops. That means that Fireblast will be mostly
used against wandering monster stacks and NOT against an enemy hero army
(unless his army really sucks :-). Could possibly be useful as a way to
avoid enemy fleeing if the enemy has 2,3 or 4 low-numbered low-level stacks
remaining.
MASS SHIELD
Halves the damage from enemy shooters for all your troops. Most of the
time, I have better spells to cast than this. Since the all enemy shooters
will usually concentrate their fire on your best shooter stack, why not
cast a single Shield and a Steelskin on your victimized shooter stack ? Use
your precious spell points for something better. Of course, there are
always exceptions... Against wandering armies of mid or highlevel shooters
and against heroes with lots of different shooter troops, this spell can
literally save your life. I still think this should have been a 3rd-level
spell. The tips for the simple Shield (see part 1) also apply for Mass
Shield.
MASS CURE
Mostly useless since the power of the curing spell power is not powerful
enough (only 5x spell power). If you use it, cast it as a Mass Dispel on
your own troops. It won't happen very often anyway except in very big
battles at the end of the game. The tips for the simple Cure (see part 1)
also apply for Mass Cure.
VIEW ALL
By the time I get this, I usually have explored most of the map. So I am
very disappointed when one of my two precious 4th-level spots is filled by
this "dud". Could be useful in large or extra-large maps if only to keep
track of the moving heroes and by showing you where the towns are located.
By knowing where the towns are, you then have a better chance of guessing
from where the enemy armies will come. It also gives you a better general
sense of direction :-) All the tips for all the other View Spells apply
for View All.
SET AIR/EARTH/FIRE/WATER GUARDIAN
What a coincidence... number 13 :-) As it stands now this spell is more of
a liability than something helpful. With the current bug (hopefully fixed
by the 1.2. patch), you cast this to protect your mines, the enemy hero
comes along with his big army, captures the mine and your own Elementals
now guard the mine against you. How nice ;-) I will probably rate it higher
when the patch comes out but not a LOT higher.
Update : The terrible bug exposed in the previous paragraph has been fixed
by the latest patch. Unfortunately, I still don't like or cast those kind
of spells very much. The cost is too high (15 spell points !) and the
results are not that great. As for Haunt, it can be useful if you really
want to stop a certain opponent from getting resources from a certain type
of mine (ex : sulfur for a Warlock). Contrary to Haunt, the mine will stay
in your possession but defended by Elementals against any opponent who
would dare to take it. If you're being invaded or suspect you'll get
invaded by strong attackers, Set Elemental Guardian is a nice way to keep
your mines. Of course, you would have to setup those protections BEFORE the
enemies steal your mines and forces you to flee or stay in your castle.
Those spells are more rare than others of the same level.
--Level 5--
-----------
TOWN PORTAL
Imho, the best spell in the HOMM 2 game. It will teleport you to *ANY* of
your own towns. This spell is so powerful that when you get it, the game
is pratically finished for your adversaries. The designers probably know
this too because they made this spell so rare. In all the games I've
played, I've gotten Town Portal a grand total of only 2 times! With a high-
level spellcasting hero you teleport from one castle to the next, taking
the best troops in each. You're almost dead and deep in enemy territory,
you cast Town Portal and your hero is saved. You have your killer army
exploring far away from the front and one of your weaker castles there is
about to be captured ? Simple, you teleport inside the attacked town at the
last possible moment and trounce the surprised enemy. You need to get a
particular spell from one of your faraway castles ? Again you're only a
little Town Portal away. You need to get from one point of an extra large
map to another in a hurry ? Chances are that you have a nearby castle that
can save you days or weeks of slow ground travel. This spell eliminates
distances and permits you to leave almost of your castles practically
undefended. The only thing to watch for is the number of spell points you
currently have. Of course, you also need to have scouted the map
beforehand and control more than 1 castle for Town Portal to be useful ;-)
DIMENSION DOOR
The 5th-level spell that costs the least. You also need a hero with a very
high knowledge rating to make the most of it. Dimension Door can serve most
of the same kinds of functions than Town Portal but with a little more
difficulty. Any hero in trouble can teleport himself away from danger.
Your best army can still reach the undersieged castle in good time (not
true if it's too far away). Dimension Door can sometimes teleport you in
treasure-rich areas protected by monsters otherwise too strong for you. It
can also make you reach otherwise inaccessible parts of the maps. You don't
have to take the big detour anymore to pass the great chain of mountains.
You can pass it easily by teleporting. This spell generally saves you a lot
of travel time. Teleporting next to wells is really a "must" when using
Dimension Door. When there are no wells present and you are almost out of
spell points, go to your nearest castle and stay the night. A high
Logistics skill and items that increase your movement (like Boots) permit
you to cast Dimension Door more often. In theory, if you found a well each
time you were almost out of spell points, you could traverse the length of
the map in a matter of days.
RESURRECT TRUE
This is the best combat "defensive" spell you can get... since the best
protection is not dying permanently :-) I usually cast it on my best and/or
most useful stack (4th-level monsters or higher). Since the computer enemy
really likes to attack your shooters, you will probably end up
"resurrecting" those kind of stacks more often. Calcutate the numbers of
possible resurrected troops before casting it by multiplying the Spell
Power rating of your hero by 50x. For example, a Warlock with 20 spell
points will resurrect for 1000 hit points of dead troops. In other words,
it could be 3 Titans, 16 Ogre Lords or 100 Rangers. This spell, possibly
combined with Mirror Image, makes your Titans better than Dragons. Please
note that Dragons (unfortunately) cannot benefit from any spells because
they are immune to all magic. Remember also that the Necromancer can also
create more skeletons with his necromancy skill and that Vampire Lords in
sufficient numbers can regenerate their numbers while in combat. Animate
Dead costs 5 points less to cast than Resurrect True but only works on
undead troops. On the other hand, Resurrect and Resurrect True work on all
living creatures except Dragons but not on undead.
ARMAGEDDON
Extremely useful with Dragons.. much less useful when you have other
troops. The Dragon-Armageddon combo is something all advanced HOMM 2
players should know about. For those who are in the dark about this
excellent strategy, here's how it works: You give only Dragons (preferably
Blacks) to your hero who has expert wisdom and lots of spell points. Since
the Dragons are immune to magic, your super-spellcaster can cast Armageddon
to his heart's content (at least until you run out of spell points) without
losing any troops ! The only way you can lose a few of your Dragons is if
the opponent has a much, much bigger and better army than yours, if he has
Dragons too or if he casts Anti-Magic on his highest-level monster stack.
This won't happen very often (if ever) against computer opponents but watch
out against sneaky human adversaries :-) The 2 other uses for this spell
are good if you don't have Dragons in your army. In the first HOMM 1 game,
you could hire a lot of Warlocks and make them do kamikaze attacks (with
one very fast unit) on the huge enemy army approaching your castle. It was
a great way to weaken an otherwise invincible army into more manageable
numbers if you had lots of gold. Well in HOMM 2, it's not so easy
anymore... The best you can hire as a starting spellcaster is a hero with
advanced wisdom which is not enough to cast Armageddon. There's always the
option of kamikazing a mid-level hero with expert wisdom but I consider
this a waste. Don't despair, there is still hope. You can use Elemental
Storm as a substitute if you're lucky enough to get it :-) There's also the
option of casting Anti-Magic on your best stack and Armageddon on the
second turn. See part 4 of this guide for the Phoenix-Storm combo and the
Holy Shout-Living Troops combo.
SUMMON ELEMENTAL
Quite a good spell but also the most expensive one to cast. Getting the
Elemental-friendly items are a great help. As for most of the level-5
spells, the effectiveness of Summon Elemental is directly related to the
Spell Power rating of your hero. This spell is almost as rare as Town
Portal. I won't go into all the different immunities and weaknesses of the
different elementals but be aware of them. With luck, you can use a mass-
destruction spell combo or get a much-needed spell immunity with the kind
of elementals you manage to get. Examples of Elemental-Destructive Spell
combos are : Air-Meteor Shower (you keep your Elemental stack close to a
majority of enemy stacks), Earth-Chain Lightning, Fire-Fireblast (not very
good) and Water-Cold Ring (just a joke :-). Keep in mind that ALL
Elementals are immune to ALL mind spells. I'm not sure about this but I
think the AI has a tendancy to attack the Elemental stacks first (after
your shooters). Casting 2 or more Summon Elementals in the same combat can
definitely "stack" the odds in your favor. Here is a handy little chart for
determining which elemental is immune to which spell :
ELEMENTAL TYPE = SPELL IMMUNITIES
EARTH = Lightning, Chain Lightning, Meteor Shower
AIR = Meteor Shower
FIRE = Fireball, Fireblast
WATER = Cold Ray, Cold Ring
MIRROR IMAGE
Also a very good spell which could have been rated much higher. Level-5
spells ratings are mostly a matter of personal preference so please don't
flame me too much :-). I use Mirror-Image on my best and/or highest level
creature stack (usually Titans, Phoenix or Bone Dragons) with the possible
exception of sometimes casting it on a huge stack of shooters or flyers
which are fast and can attack first. Timing is everything on this spell,
because you don't want the enemy to dispel it with one lousy shot or spell
:-) Raymond Bingham explains the issues of Mirror-Image timing better than
I do.. so please read his comments. Another less-well known usage of this
spell is as an enemy attack "magnet". The AI will usually attack the
mirror-imaged stack before the real one. This is especially useful on the
first turn of a battle, casted on your best shooter stack which will
receive most of the attacks. At the very least, it could save you from the
attack of 1 big enemy stack. Of course, this little tip doesn't work so
well against human opponents.
HYPNOTIZE
This one wins The Quebec Dragon Most Useless and Overrated Spell Award !
When I get Hypnotize in my only 5th-level spot after all the time and
resources it took to get to the 5th-level mage guild... I cringe in disgust
:-) In fact, I prefer Berserk over Hypnotize. Berserk will work on almost
every unit, Hypnotize will work only on the "lesser" units of the opponent.
Berserk is a 4th-level rare spell.. Hypnotize is a 5th-level frequent
spell. Berserk usually lasts one turn, Hypnotize unfortunately lasts only
one turn too. By the time I get Hypnotize, almost all monster stacks of
the enemy are rendered immune because of their high numbers. The fact that
I'm controlling the enemy stack for one turn doesn't make Hytpotize any
much better imho. Besides, I will always have a better spell to cast than
the "crappy" Hypnotize. The designers should really consider giving this
spell a lower-spell rating (4th level perhaps ?) or boosting its power
considerably. As it stands now, the only 2 uses I see for it are : 1)
Eliminating the turn of a stack that scares you (better left to Blind or
Paralyse) or 2) Lowering the numbers of two stacks by attack and
retaliation (better left to a good area-effect offensive spell). If you
would like to prove me wrong about the uselessness of Hypnotize, go ahead,
I would like to hear from you...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
VII. ARTIFACT LIST
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It takes a really long time, but it is finally finished. Thanks to Rob
Merrit for these.
-Ammo Cart: endless ammunition for troops that shoot.
-Ankh: doubles effectiveness of resurrect and animate spells.
-Arcane Necklace of Magic: increases spell power +4.
-Armored Gauntlets of Protection: increase defense skill +1.
-Ballista of Quickness: catapult fires twice per turn.
-Black Pearl: increases spell power and knowledge +2.
-Book of Elements: doubles effectiveness of summoning spells.
-Caster's Bracelet of Magic: increases spell power +2.
-Defender Helm of Protection: increases defense skill +1.
-Divine Breastplate of Protection: increases defense skill +3.
-Dragon Sword of Dominion: increases attack skill +3.
-Elemental Ring: halves casting cost summoning spells.
-Enchanted Hourglass: extends duration spells by 2 turns.
-Endless Bag of Gold: 750 gold every day.
-Endless Cart of Ore: 1 unit of ore every day.
-Endless Cord of Wood: 1 unit of wood every day.
-Endless Pouch of Crystal: 1 unit of crystal every day.
-Endless Pouch of Gems: 1 unit of gems per day.
-Endless Pouch of Sulfur: 1 unit of sulfur every day.
-Endless Purse of Gold: 500 gold every day.
-Endless Sack of Gold: 1000 gold every day.
-Endless Vial of Mercury: 1 unit of mercury every day.
-Evercold Icicle: cold spells do 50% more damage.
-Everhot Lava Rock: fire spells do 50% more damage.
-Evil Eye: reduces casting cost of curse spells by half.
-Fire Cloak: halves damage troops take from fire spells.
-Fizbin of Misfortune: Greatly decreases morale.
-Foremost Scroll of Knowledge: increases knowledge +5.
-Four-Leaf Clover: increases luck in combat.
-Gamblers Luck Coin: Increases luck during combat.
-Giant Flail of Dominion: Increases attack skill +1
-Golden Bow: halves penalty shooting past obstacles.
-Golden Goose: 10,000 gold every day.
-Golden Horseshoe: increases luck in combat.
-Gold Watch: doubles the effectiveness of hypnotize spells.
-Hideous Mask: No wandering troops will join you.
-Holy Pendant: troops immune to curse spells.
-Ice Cloak: halves damage troops take from cold spells.
-Kinetic Pendant: troops immune to paralyze spells.
-Lighting Helm: Halves the damage done by lighting spells.
-Lightning Rod: lightning spells do 50% more damage.
-Lucky Rabbit's Foot: increases luck in combat.
-Mage's Ring of Power: increases spell power +2.
-Magic Book: allows the casting of spells.
-Major Scroll of Knowledge: increases knowledge +3.
-Medal of Courage: increases morale.
-Medal of Distinction: increases morale.
-Medal of Honor: increases morale.
-Medal of Valor: Increases morale.
-Minor Scroll of Knowledge: increases knowledge +2.
-Nomad boots of Mobility:Increases movement on land.
-Pendant of Death: troops immune to holy spells.
-Pendant of Free Will: troops immune to hypnotize spells.
-Pendant of Life: troops immune to death spells.
-Power Axe of Dominion: increases attack skill +2.
-Power Ring: returns 2 extra power points to your hero.
-Sailors' Astrolabe of Mobility: increases movement on sea.
-Skullcap: halves casting cost of mind influencing spells.
-Seeing Eye Pendant: Troops are immune to blindness spells.
-Serenity Pendant: troops immune to berserk spells.
-Snake ring: Halves the cost to case bless spells.
-Spike Helm: Increases attack and defense +1 each.
-Spike Shield: increases attack and defense skills +2.
-Statesman's Quill: reduces cost of surrender to 10% of the total
cost of troops you have in your army.
-Stealth Shield of Protection: increases defense skill +2.
-Superior Scroll of Knowledge: increases knowledge +4.
-Tax Lien costs you 250 gold pieces per day.
-Telescope: increases terrain hero reveals by 1 extra square.
-Thunder Mace of Dominion: increases attack skill +1.
-Traveler's Boots of Mobility: increase your movement on land.
-True Compass of Mobility: increases movement on land and sea.
-Ultimate Book of Knowledge: increases knowledge +12.
-Ultimate Cloak of Protection: increases defense skill +12.
-Ultimate Crown: increases all basic skills +4.
-Ultimate Shield: increases attack and defense skills +6.
-Ultimate Staff: increases spell power and knowledge +6.
-Ultimate Sword of Dominion: increases attack skill +12.
-Ultimate Wand of Magic: increases spell power +12.
-Wand of Negation: protects troops from Dispel Magic spell.
-White Pearl: increases spell power and knowledge +1.
-Witch's Broach of Magic: increases spell power +3.
-Wizard's Hat: increases duration of spells by 10 turns.
--Artifact Classification--
---------------------------
by: Astral Wizard
Artifacts are man-made (more accurately magic-wielder-made) items that have
a particular effect or function. Artifacts can turn a barbarian into a
high-level magic-user or a sorceress into a powerful fighting unit.
Artifacts can make the most craven of hero troops gallant warriors.
Unfortunately, the wrong artifact can also drain a kingdom of gold, turn
the populace against the heros, and demoralize the best. Artifacts can be
broken down into nine basic groups...
Skill Boosters. Skill boosters come in the forms of swords, shields,
crowns, rods, scrolls, broaches, and basically just about any form you can
imagine. The lesser of these artifacts might raise one of your basic skills
(offense, defense, power, and knowledge) by one point. The larger ones can
increase one of your basic skills by up to twelve points or multiple skills
by up to six points. Possession of such artifacts can be crucial in the
first part of the game where all heroes are starting off with a lack of
specific skills. By the time the game has progressed half way, the value of
these artifacts can decrease as heroes gain high skill levels through
experience and visiting skill enhancing structures. Grab all the skill
boosters you can get, but at mid-game start trading them for protective
artifacts when you can on your more buff heroes.
Protection. Protective artifacts come in the form of amulets, rods, cloaks,
and so on; and can save you from missiles, lightning, heat, and other forms
of physical attack or magical bespellment. It never hurts to have
protection. Protective artifacts are a boon during all phases of the game
but especially so towards the end when the fire balls are big, the
lightning bolts bad, and longe-range troops are massive.
Movement Enducers. Speed Baubles (as I like to call them) give you a
greater movement each day either on land or sea or both and can be found in
form both as various footware and medallions. Do NOT sell these apparantly
low-effect items short -- they can save your hero's life or help bring aid
to an unprotected castle under siege. All terrain movement enducers are a
value through the entire game -- in the beginning they help you to "Hoover"
up the resources laying around before your opponent does; and during the
middle and end parts of the game they allow you to run away from too-tough
opponents or to get back to your castle before an opponent can attack it.
Speed baubles are a great item to have when you don't have Town Portal or
Dimension Door!
Spell Cost Reducers. Artifacts that reduce the cost of spells come in a
myriad of oddly shaped items. They allow you to cast spells using much less
spell power. So you can cast more spells before having to rest and
regenerate your mana. Since they only usually help decrease the cost of a
particular spell or spell type (ie, Bless) they are of dubious value. By
mid-game, usually your spell casters have more than enough mana to perform.
Spell Cast Enhancers. Artifacts that make your spells more destructive or
longer in duration (like the Spell Cost Reducers) come in a myriad of oddly
shaped items. They can make your lightning bolts more butch or make your
troop stopper spells (blind, paralyze, slow, etc.) last longer. Again,
spell duration enhanncers are of more benefit at the start of a game then
they are later when the spell caster's abilities automatically increase the
duration of spells. But the enhancers that make a damage spell stronger are
very important are of great value to all spell caster types.
Luck And Morale Generators. Coins, medallions, clovers, and the like make
up this group of artifacts. They counter the ill effects of having undead
in your troops or having troops of more than two alignments. You should try
to equip each of your heroes with one of each (luck and morale) whenever
possible. Don't be fooled by the whimsy of these items: They give your
troops double attacks and maximum damage... they win battles!
Resource Generators. MarketPlace In a Pouch! Resource generators provide
you with one or two units of a particular resource every day or from 500 to
10,000 gold pieces if it's a gold generating artifact. So which would you
pick up if you had a choice: Endless Pouch Of Gems or Ultimate Crown? If
you control one or more wizard castles believe it or not, you would want
the pouch. Resource generators are a big ticket item at the start of the
game when resource piles are rare and at the middle of the game when you
are building the more costlier structures. But wizard castles, warlock
castles, sorceress castles, and barbarian castles all need a constant and
large source of gems, sulfer, mercury, and crystals respectively. And the
control of these sacks, pouches, carts, and cages can be a huge factor in
the outcome of the game.
Cursed Artifacts. Luckily, these are few and far between. Basically cursed
artifacts provide you with something you DON'T want. Coming in ANY form
conceiveable, they can do anything from draining your gold on a daily basis
to preventing you from recruiting troops from home-bases. With the advent
of the expansion pak, we now have a new quasi-form of cursed artifacts --
artifacts that provide a benefit with an equal and opposite bad affect (see
the expansion pak page for details). While you will never want a truely
cursed artifact, the benefits of the quasi-cursed artifacts that provide a
blessing and a curse will have to be experienced to be rated.
Miscellaneous Artifacts. These are special artifacts that provide a unique
function that can't be included in one of the other categories. The
Statesman's Quill which allows you to surrender with a discount, the Golden
Bow which halves the penalty your long-range troops have shooting past
obstacles, and the Crystal Ball which allows you to scrye information on
nearby sites, troops, and opponents are examples of this type of non-
classed artifact. There is no blanket value on this group of artifacts.
Each artifact has a particular, unique value depending on the hero type and
circumstances.
--Rating Artifacts By Hero Type--
---------------------------------
by: Astral Wizard
The level of value that an artifact provides any particular hero not only
varies by the usual map size, terrain, type of opponents, and so on; it
also varies specially based on the hero type. Given the exact same map,
starting point, and even troops; each hero type will still require a
different set of artifacts to enhance their activity. Non-spellcaster types
such as Knights and Barbarians would require a different set of artifacts
than spellcaster types such as Wizard, Warlock, Sorceress, and Necromancer;
and the Necromancer would even require a different set of artifacts than
the other spellcaster types. This is based on the inherit difference in
skill sets of the hero types and also in the logical recruiting and
deployment of troop types. Let's look at the three basic types of heroes:
non-spellcasters, spellcasters, and necromancers (spellcasters but handled
separately due to their unique aspect).
For Any And All Heroes. Some artifacts will provide maximum benefit
regardless of which hero type is in possession of them. You can NEVER go
wrong by acquiring these artifacts!
Ultimate Crown :
Increases ALL primary skills +4 but only takes 1 slot.
Breastplate,Helm,And Sword Of Anduran :
Combined, these three artifacts provide a single hero with +5 to
attack, defense, and power as well as maximum luck and morale and the
town gate spell while only taking up one slot!!!
Legendary Scepter:
Increases ALL primary skills by +2 but only takes one slot.
Ultimate Shield :
Increase both your attack and defense by +6 but only takes one slot!
Ultimate Staff :
Increases both your spell power AND your knowledge greatly while only
taking up one slot!
Lightning Helm :
Halves your damage from lightning.
True Compass Of Mobility :
Gives you extra movement everywhere.
Non-SpellCasters. Barbarians and Knights are basically non-spellcasters.
They are hired without spellbooks which is your first major clue that
spellcasting is not their forte`. Oh, sure: you can buy them books and send
them to school, but they will always be behind true spellcasters... unless
you buff them up with spell enhancing artifacts! Indeed, with the advent of
the expansion pak, we now have two methods of equalizing the spell power
difference between non-spellcasters and spellcasters.
Method Number One. Three Words: Sphere Of Negation! This one little
artifact truely makes the combat totally fair between Barbarian and
Necromancer... between Knight and Warlock! It prevents all use of magic
spells during combat. I believe this artifact will become the "Holy Grail"
for all Barbarian and Knight hero types in any map from now on. No longer
will the Barbarian or Knight need to worry about Armaggedon, Elemental
Storm, or Chained Lightning taking out the majority of their troops. Now
(pardon the expression, Ladies) it's a real man's fight with sword and
arrow, tooth and claw. With magic out of the picture, the Barbarian's and
Knight's troops can leverage their natural offensive and defensive
attributes into a powerhouse army. In fact, if you have the Sphere Of
Negation, then you don't need to pick up ANY spell enhancing artifacts for
that particular hero. Indeed, you want to avoid them and go for the offense
and defense enhancing artifacts. Magic is now a non-issue and it comes down
to sheer phsyical strength and numbers. Load such a hero up with offense
and defense artifacts, mobility artifacts, and luck and morale artifacts!
Method Number Two: But if the Sphere Of Negation is not to be found for a
particular Barbarian or Knight hero, then what? Then you need to get four
things: elevated spell power, elevated knowledge, expert Wisdom (a
secondary skill), and... spells! And you need to get them fast! Wisdom
comes from experience. Spells come from mage guilds, shrines, and (thanks
to the expansion pak) singleton scrolls. No problem. But where does the
elevated spell power and knowledge come from? A little from experience and
training. A lot from artifacts. And as the Barbarian or Knight hero roams
the land, they should be concentrating on finding spell enhancing
artifacts. Don't worry that much about offense and defense: those are
natural skills that increase rapidly in Barbarian and Knight hero types and
are abundantly enhanced by the natural attributes of the type of troops
these hero types usually command.
Go for spell power and knowledge enhancing artifacts first. Once your
Barbarian and Knight heroes have achieved a certain level of spell power
and knowledge, they should then begin concentrating on getting their wisdom
increased so that they can use the medium and high-level spells. Protection
and luck/morale are of equal benefit and should be concentrated on at mid-
game as the action gets hot and the combat gets tough.
What artifacts would particularly suit a Barbarian or Knight hero (if they
don't have the Sphere Of Negation)? For spell power and knowledge... It is
best to boost your spell knowledge first so any artifact that increases
spell knowledge is of major benefit since it keeps you from having to
return to a castle or magic well repeatedly.
Any knowledge scroll -- they increase your knowledge from +2 to +5 so you
can cast more spells.
The Pearls -- they each increase both your spell power and your knowledge
but only take up one slot each.
Enchanted Hourglass -- it increases the duration of your spells.
For protection... All protection artifacts are of sound benefit with the
exception of the Pendant Of Death. Picking up ANY protection artifact is
going to help you. But these four I think provide the most aid to
Barbarians and Knights.
Holy Pendant -- protects you from curse spells so that your bless spells
can boost you to victory!
Serenity Pendant -- makes you immune to bezerk spells.
Pendant Of Life -- makes you immune to death spells.
Miscellaneous enhancements that will help the Knight or Barbarian hero once
he or she has built up their spell power, knowledge, and protection provide
an almost equally important boost to the hero's personae.
Snake Ring -- halves the cost of Bless spells... a blessed Crusader stack
is a serious thing!
Any luck artifact -- gives you extra damage on your attacks.
Any morale artifact -- gives your troops extra turns.
Masthead -- gives you both luck and morale benefits at sea and is great for
maps that have large water terrain areas.
True-SpellCasters. Sorceresses, Wizards, Warlocks, and Necromancers make up
the category of spellcasters. You won't find a true spellcaster without his
or her spellbook. Why not? Because without spells, the true spellcaster is
a feeb! Oh, sure: you can send them to boot camp and make them watch Jake;
but point for point, they will always be behind the Barbarians and Knights
when it comes to attack and defense. Unless you pump up their physical
skills by training, experience, AND...? Right! And artifacts!
But not just any artifacts! Spellcasters need defense more than any thing
else! The very first thing that spellcasters should begin to do as they
seek out training structures to increase ALL their skills is to find
defense artifacts to increase their immunity to physical attacks. Dull the
edge of sword and arrow, blunt the point of tooth and claw. You are already
ahead of the non-spellcasters in spell power and knowledge; but that does
you no good if you get few chances to cast your spells. At mid-game, seek
spell power and knowledge boosters as well as luck and morale boosters. The
spells you are acquiring at this point are greatly enhanced by spell power
(Chained Lightning and Fireblast) and knowledge lets you make longer
forays. The luck and morale boosters now start to increase your attack
capabilities by giving you extra turns and full damage. In the final
stages, seek real attack artifacts so that on the final big battles you are
insured of making your physical attacks do as much damage as your heavy
spells.
What artifacts would particularly suit a Sorceress, Wizard, or Warlock
(I'll leave Necromancers for their own section)?
For defense... It is best to boost your defense first so any artifact that
increases defense is of major benefit since it keeps your troops alive
longer in battle.
Spiked Shield -- increases both your defense and attack by +2 and only
takes one slot.
Sword Breaker -- increases your defense by +4 and your attack by +1.
Divine Breastplate of Protection -- increases your defense by +3.
For spell power and knowledge... Any booster of this type picked up by a
spellcaster will turn them from a dangerous spellcaster into a deadly
spellcaster. But these listed here provide the best overall benefit to the
spellcaster.
Any knowledge scroll -- they increase your knowledge from +2 to +5 so you
can cast more spells.
The Pearls -- they each increase both your spell power and your knowledge
but only take up one slot each.
For attack... All attack artifacts are of sound benefit. Picking up ANY
attack artifact is going to help you. But these four I think provide the
most aid to spellcasters.
Holy Hammer -- increases your attack by +5.
Sword Of Anduran -- increases your attack by +5.
Dragon Sword Of Dominion -- increases your attack by +3.
Power Axe Of Dominion -- increases your attack by +2.
For protection... The same artifacts that provide the best benefit to
Barbarians and Knights also provide the best protection to Sorceresses,
Wizards, and Warlocks.
Holy Pendant -- protects you from curse spells so that your bless spells
can boost you to victory!
Serenity Pendant -- makes you immune to bezerk spells.
Pendant Of Life -- makes you immune to death spells.
Miscellaneous enhancements that will help the true spellcaster differ
slightly from those that help the non-spellcaster.
Power Ring -- restores +2 spell points per turn.
Any luck artifact -- gives you extra damage on your attacks.
Any morale artifact -- gives your troops extra turns.
Masthead -- gives you both luck and morale benefits at sea and is great for
maps that have large water terrain areas.
Necromancers. The Necromancer is basically an aggressive spell-caster --
aggressive meaning that the normal Necromancer starts out with one attack
point whereas the other spell-casters don't. This means very little in the
over all game.
However, the Necromancer has special skill that needs to be cultivated and
exploited. This skill is the Necromancy skill. This skill allows the
Necromantic Hero to turn the combat dead into skeletons. This is no small
thing -- although skeletons are the least of the minions of the Necromantic
Hero, in hordes they are quite deadly.
The Necromancer will want to acquire the same artifacts that the normal
spell-casters do for the same reason. In addition, two artifacts that are a
must have (when available) for the Necromancer are:
Arm of The Martyr (+3 to spell power, and the necromancer laughs at the
undead morale penalty)
Gravedigger's Shovel (increases the necromancy skill by 10%)
Evaluating the Worthiness of an Artifact
Now having listed out what I consider to be some "must have" artifacts for
each hero type, I'd like to challenge my own statement: "Must have"?
Really??? A Player asked this question last week: "I came across an
artifact that I could purchase for 3,000 gold pieces and five gems. I
didn't take it. Should I have?" The answer to that question is a resounding
and definite "Maybe!... Maybe not...!"
Normally, you acquire an artifact by just "finding" it, fighting a guardian
or a pack of scalywags for it, winning it off a defeated opponent, or
through an event. But sometimes one of these annoying little leprechauns
goes retail and tries to sell you an artifact. Whether you should purchase
it or not depends on the artifact AND the situation.
First of all, if the artifact offered is a relatively useless artifact then
skip it? What constitutes a useless artifact? A morale booster is useless
if your heroes all have expert leadership and are already carrying morale
boosting artifacts. An endless pouch or sack of anything is useless if all
of your castles are completely built and you don't need the particular
resouce (for instance, it's the Endless Pouch Of Gems and you only control
totally completed Knight's castles). Statesman's Quill is useless if you
never surrender. I'm sure you'll find other situations where an evaluation
of the state of the union tells you that you don't really need this
particular artifact at this particular time for this particular map
scenario.
But what if the artifact is extremely good and you really need it for a
hero? Evaluate that need with the needs of your current castles'
development and your control of resources. Do you still have critical
castle structures to build? For instance, are you only at Level 3 on your
Mage Guilds and you have only one or none of the mines that produce the
resource that is required to purchase the artifact? Don't do it. Do you
have no control of any mines that will replenish the resource cost used to
purchase the artifact? Don't do it. Is it asking for gems, sulfur, mercury,
or crystals and you control a wizard's castle, warlock's castle, sorceress'
castle, or barbarian's castle, respectively? Don't do it. Did one of the
opponent's heroes just waltz into your view with a few dragons in his
troops while you're still excited over having just built your basic ivory
tower? You're in trouble! Forget the silly artifact and get that castle
built!!
And the final consideration (for now) in determining whether to acquire an
artifact whether you purchase it or just pick it up is this: You can't drop
artifacts. You are limited to the number of artifacts your heroes can hold.
It doesn't matter if the artifact is free, if it takes up a crucial slot
that a better artifact could have taken. Consider this: would you rather
have the Ultimate Crown or the Endless Cord Of Wood? As your heroes'
artifact slots begin to fill up, begin getting more picky about what
artifacts you acquire and ignore the lessor ones. Shop smart!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
VIII. GENERAL TIPS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
* Exploring your vicinity
In most cases it is very wise to purchase at least one more hero to
your starting one. Of course, if you have an observation tower in front of
your castle and can see from there that all ways out are blocked by some
stronger armies and you only have a little space to explore, a second hero
won't be needed... yet.
* Main advantages of two-heroes exploration:
-In early stage - that 'round the castle' exploration - you will
usually profit from having two heroes by having more goodies gathered
quicker. Applies to mines, resources, artifacts and even the fact of
uncovering the map. [More heroes can be used, if your financial
situation seems good and exploration is possible. These guys usually
pay back quite soon.]
-Further in the game, when you assemble a task force strong enough to
go after your enemy, a second guy in backup can be used for several
things:
1.takes care of resources, mines and full exploration of conquered
land (here I often purchase new heroes at conquered castles,
because within a few days the money is back in resources from
taken mines.)
2.holds backup armies for your main hero
3.can build up quite solid experience
4.can take out some of the wandering armies
5.can take care of some minor enemy heroes/towns
* How to select your primary/secondary hero?
With the exception of necromancer, there's no need at all to use a hero
corresponding with the castle class (and even with the necro castle, you
should consider buying another type if there's not any large quantities
of skeleton reserves scattered around the map). How to make your choice?
-Primary hero:
* Knight
for both quick and long tasks. Should be definitely chosen in cases
where magic resources are very scarce. In later phases the knights
develop significant skills in magic, too, but their main advantage is
very strong defense, closely followed by attack. Very good for
walker-based armies due to Ballistics and Leadership, but since they
get archery pretty often, even shooter-based task forces will be glad
to be under a knight's command.
* Barbarian
for both quick and long tasks. Should be definitely chosen in cases
where magic resources are very scarce. The barbarian's magic skills
will remain puny without artifacts. Their main advantage is
definitely attack. The defense can remain surprisingly low for Might
class hero. Excellent in rough terrain, they guarantee quick
exploration and also outrunning your enemies (both offensive and
defensive ;-)).
* Sorceress
For quick and mid-term games. Their Navigation makes them a must for
water-based maps. With excellent knowledge and fair spell power
they're good ones to rely on Summon Elemental spells in battle. If
you manage to get some direct damage spells, they can gain quick
victories on their Might opponents, but in the long term, they lose
to their strength, unless they happen to get high-tech spells. (This
is common for all magic heroes - and the high-tech spells are
berzerker, mirror image and ressurecting, possibly global damage
spells - but at those the sorceress isn't that good due to lower
spell power.) The remarkably high knowledge is very important in
longer journeys in unexplored lands.
* Warlock
If you're gonna to gain access to your opponents quickly and if
their forces are weak, you can take a warlock and bet on spells. His
early Spell Power dominance with slight positive inclination to
attack skill gives opportunity to teach enemies lessons in direct
damage spells from 2nd level Mage guild, which can be built easily in
most cases. In the long term, they lose to strong Might heroes with
strong magic troops ;-)
* Wizard
Being a good compromise between Sorceress and Warlock, their magic
abilities are quite reliable, with little inclination to defense.
Combine comments on those classes and bear in mind that the wizard is
worse than them in their primary positive, yet better in their
negative ;-). In the long term, they lose to strong Might heroes.
* Necromancer
They are of little use as main heroes with living armies. However,
if there are significant numbers of skeleton-providing low-level
armies, it might pay back well to pick a necromancer. Within a few
levels gained from chests and gazebos, his Necromancy skill should
improve to Expert and then it's time to get some armies. Gaining more
levels to A/D than other spell casters, necros aren't that vulnerable
in battles, while still profit from quite strong spells. In the long
term, they lose to strong Might heroes, unless their skeleton hordes
are in four-digit values - this depends strongly on the particular
map.
To sum and extend those comments on heroes, a few notes of my personal
experience follow:
If you plan using high-end magic, make your main hero a spellcaster.
However, if you plan a long-term campaign with huge armies involved,
you'd better choose a knight or barbarian, depending on the chosen
strategy, terrain, number of castles and available troop types. Maps
with easy terrain, close strong opponents (and therefore defensive
strategy), lots of castles and scarce resources (and therefore weaker
armies in low counts) a knight is better, while distant enemies, rough
terrain and numerous armies suit the barbarian.)
Having a sorceress in sea-rich scenarios gives you great advantage -
gathering resources, artifacts and events before the enemy may well
help you win a map.
Wizard's wisdom may be useful with some potent spells like Berzerker,
which is the best way using enemies' own power against them.
Necromancer may be worth it if large amounts of skeleton producing
wandering armies are located nearby - the recruited skeletons make
excellent garrison troops.
My usual practice is to hire a Barbarian (unless I'm sure I'll need a
knight to defend frontier castles) and concentrate the experience with
him. In many cases I manage to get Wisdom, so I can use some good
spells from captured castles. However, Knight heroes have greater
probability of acquiring wisdom, spell power and, which is the most
important, knowledge.
The barbarian should also try hard to get Archery and possibly
Ballistics, as the shooters aren't strong enough to rely exclusively on
them, especially against shooter based opponents as Wizard or
Sorceress).
This concept of relying on the Might in the Long Run has only a few
holes, but those do NOT apply to games against AI. The holes are
Paralyze and especially Berzerker. With those spells, a good
spellcaster can kick your butt. You'll need to be careful with casting.
The only good remedy is those pendants that protect against these.
Oh,well,if the opponent makes a mistake and gives you an opportunity to
dispel those spells, DO that! (Best by using AntiMagic.)
Direct damage spells (maybe except Armageddon) aren't a big threat,
because with large armies the damage caused by those can be compensated
by supportive spells on your troops - I.e. Bless on 30 crusaders gives
an average of +300 damage - equal to Spell Power 12 Lightning Bolt,
Mass Bless on whole army giving even better results compared to
ChainLightning.
The only things that I miss when playing Might heroes is making long
journeys using Dimension Door, but a) even that sometimes gets
possible, b) anyway, after some tens of games won by DDing around, this
thing becomes boring, as it spoils most of the challenge.
Note that in Ways of ... particular hero classes, there are common
strategies to use when fighting other heroes. Those of course mean fighting
armies belonging to that particular hero type. All those strategies assume
all those armies included in the battle (for nit-pickers: five out of six
possible, by best choice under particular circumstances...). If there's any
army missing, the strategies must be reworked to reflect that. If there's
any army added (from other castle types or neutral troops), the strategies
must be reworked. Since there are way too many combinations, I'm not gonna
do that.
Getting secondary skills:
Check Way of particular class to see which skills suit the best your troops
and strategies. There are some general rules to follow. See description of
advanced skills below for most of them. Many of the skills are just
generally good (Luck,Leadership) while others are case-specific (Mysticism,
Wisdom, Logistics, Ballistics) where the conditions cover anything from Map
size, number of castles, type of main hero, type of most used troops,
amounts of resources available and all other things up to terrain types. Of
course, the hero class is very important. I.e. Leadership and Luck provide
much better advantage to Might Heroes, whose troop damage ratings (that
profit from their skills) are generally high. On the other hand, for a
spell caster skills like Mysticism and Expert Wisdom are a must, because
those expand his strong features.
-Secondary hero:
* Knight
Used mainly for defensive purpose - if you need a hero to command
the garisson of a beseieged castle (and don't have any strong spells
in there), use a knight. For active usage there's about nothing
significantly good.
* Barbarian
Can be as well used for defense instead of knight, but in rough
terrain makes an excellent resource gatherer - the kind that runs
between all the weekly-available sources of anything. If your main
guy is a barbarian, try to get another one to accompany him on the
long journeys, picking up all the resources etc. (If your backup guy
doesn't keep the pace up with the main one, he kinda loses his
importance in the two-hero strategy.)
* Sorceress
Use whenever high seas are close - try to improve navigation quickly
in gazebos etc. and rush out to pick up all that floats on the high
waters before your enemies can do so. No other real use.
* Warlock
Use in very early stages as explorer. Leave him only his gargoyles
and let him to help reveal the map. Try to get Expert scouting ASAP
to improve his performance.
* Wizard
Of no much use. The only good thing is that the hero comes bundled
with a few boars and therefore can reach good speed simply by
dismissing the halflings.
* Necromancer
Of almost no use. Comes with slow units and no particular good
skill. However, if you have tons of peasants and other low-level
skeleton-providing scum in vicinity, you can take a necro, get a few
levels to improve necromany, then, before shuttling one or two weeks
of castle production to your main hero, wipe out these armies and
use the skeletons - either with the necro as his main troops or with
the main hero as an improvement to his strike force (if he has some
leadership)).
I personally prefer to take warlocks as secondary, unless I need
barbarian (due to terrain) or unless I need to get more troops for the
primary hero, in which case I take the same class (which is always
offered in first week). Why warlock? Ideal for exploration - has
Scouting and Very fast units at start - can even share the gargoyles
with the main hero, thus giving me two swift explorers at the very
start.
When your secondary heroes happen to gain levels, bear in mind that
really important among secondary skills are movement skills -
Logistics, Pathfinding and Navigation (only when can be applied,
though), Scouting and Estates.
Also remember that the two-hero strategy doesn't implicate use of ONLY
two heroes, but AT LEAST two heroes. The larger the map, the more
heroes may be used.
The so-called backup guy should be taking his share of experience.
Especially later, when the main hero will need large amounts of
experience to advance, it's usually better to let the chests to the
backup guy, because he'll profit them much more. The only exception
should be the case when the main guy desperately NEEDS to upgrade some
advanced skills.)
The main purposes of the backup guy are carrying reinforcements,
killing minor enemies and wandering armies and sometimes possibly
softening up enemy resistance, even at the cost of sacrificing himself.
If the secondary hero survives, he might often 'inherit' all the main
hero's armies - especially if you happen to capture enemy castle with
some 6th level troops left inside unpurchased. In that case the main
hero buys all the big guys and those often carry more firepower that
his entire regular army. In this moment, the backup guy becomes sort of
another main hero and at those moments you really appreciate that
you've already let him to get some levels.)
[Or, if he's still pretty weak, you might consider giving HIM the
dragons, who tend to take minimal losses, grab some quick experience by
defeating wandering armies etc. - and later switch the armies. This
applies in cases where the main hero's army relies very much on his
skills and with the weak secondary guy would suffer many losses.]
There might be a bunch of 'tertiary' heroes that can take care of
collecting resources, gold and armies from self-refilling sources
(usually one hero can do that easily) and for shuttling reinforcements
to the front lines. Those guys need no experience, but should (if that
doesn't mean BIG delays) visit gazebos and possibly trees of knowledge
(if they're for free) to try and get scouting, logistics or estates).
* Task sharing between the heroes:
The main hero should spend his time doing only things that number two
cannot do himself. The former are usually battling armies, getting
artifacts and treasure chests, while the latter are usually occupying
mines, picking up resources and exploring Witch huts. Of course, things
like visiting gazebos and other skill increasing facilities are common.
One more thing should the second guy do - probe trees of knowledge,
because they're more valuable later in the game and you don't want to
waste their potential in the beginning.
* Experience and advancement handling:
-In witch huts you can get random Basic skill. [Random in sense that
level creator cannot affect which skill will it be, but every time the
level is started, the skill is set and remains the same for the single
playtime.] So, the backup hero has one important role: If your main
guy still has some secondary skill slots free, his friend will check
every witch hut and sacrifice his free slots to learn, what the hut
has to offer.
-Treasure chests and other sources of experience. As the experience
needed to gain a level rises with levels already gained, it is pretty
obvious, that if you have a hero with some 40000 exp. and his backup
guy has some 3000 from temples only, then when ever you run into a
treasure chest, you'd better take it by the second guy... Coz getting
another +1 skill for your main guy is usually not as good, as getting
some +6 for the same price... Okay, sometimes you take them with the
main guy, because you desperately need some advanced skill to be
upgraded... [Here I strongly recommend checking every now and then,
how much the hero needs to advance to next level. Even with 100000+
experience points, the hero sometimes is just a 'chest-far' from next
level.
-The same thing comes with wandering armies... If the backup guy can
take them out, let him do it and leave only hard targets to your main
guy. There is one exception... If the main guy has a strong army, it
is a good strategy to leave him one empty stack when touring the
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