|
| Thread: Hero specialty analysis (The Light side) |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
posted March 25, 2007 11:52 PM |
|
Edited by Darkeye at 12:27, 02 Apr 2007.
|
Hero specialty analysis (The Light side)
Here comes the analysis of the specialties for Haven, Sylvan, Academy and Fortress, continued from the first one
All calculations are based on the latest manual and a hero level of 20.
Haven
---------------------
Archer Commander (Dougal, Lorenzo)
All Archers/Marksmen get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd level).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Dougieboy was a legend from the beginning, but now after some patches he’s nerfed down with the decreased training.
No longer you can mass produce huge stacks of marksmen dominating the battlefield. Still this ability is not bad as archers and markmen make up an important part of the haven army
Beloved by the People (Ellaine)
All Peasants/Conscripts get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd level). Peasants give an extra +1 gold/day
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Beloved by who? Not the game-developers I guess. The bonus for the weakest creature in the whole game is not much to talk about, and the money??? You’ll need over 250 peasants to make it better than the regular "Estates", not to mention the three weeks of “incubation”
Cavalry Commander(Klaus, Valeria, Giar)
All Cavaliers and Paladins (even those not in the army) do 7,1% damage extra per tile instead of 5% 5%x(1+((1+lvl)x2))
This ability also had to be seriously nerfed before balancing the game in later patches. The damage done is still raised conciderably and should of course be combined with all speed-boosters as Tactics, Aura of Swiftness, Familiar ground and Boots of Swiftness.
Griffin Trainer (Irina)
All /(Imperial) Griffins +10 attack/defence (+(+1 /2nd level). Griffins get "Battle dive" ability.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Not only does Irina boost the already offensive griffins, but she also makes the normal griffins much more useful from the start. With this ability you may even afford to postpone upgrading, as the battle dive can be done without.
Infantry Commander (Lazlo, Nicolai)
All Footmen/Squiredget +10 attack/defence (+(+1 /2nd level).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
A bit boring unit type to master, but "Soldiers luck" regarding the Bash ability is a must. All speed-boosters should be considered.
Pathfinder (Rutger, Duncan)
+10% movement (+1/2nd lvel)(like Basic Logistics)
Not a very powerful ability. Just like Grok, the Demon Lord, this ability never gets very much better than a single skill point. Makes the hero at most (without the boots) move up to 50% more with expert Logistics at level 30. This may give an edge to escape or chasing an army with expert logistics itself.
Siege Engineer (Vittorio, Glen, Andreas)
Ballista gets +20 attack (+1/lvl), and the chance of hitting the wall with catapult is increased by 40% (+2%/lvl)
With this hero and "Triple Ballista", both creeping and laying siege can get very fun. The ballista wrecks havoc and easily kills 75 marksmen per round at higher levels! Smashing down walls should be a game!
Windrider (Maeve, Freyda)
Expert Haste give all friendly units +60% iniative instead of +40% (+1%/lvl). This also affects the Inquisitors haste spell at advanced level (+50% iniative totally)
This can open up for blitz tactics as soon as you have cast Mass Haste. If playing against a human (even the AI) player, be prepared to get “Mass slow” thrown back. If you should even happen to have Expert dark magic and Master of mind (unlikely), this ability may toatally double the iniative of all your creatures (+60% haste 40% slow). All in all, a very useful ability as Mass haste is very common.
Campaign Abilities:
---------------------------
Paragon Knight (Godric) +2 Attack, Defence and +20% iniative for Benediction. Light magic spells gets one mana cheaper.Suzerain(Isabel, Ornella) Works as Estates (+250 gold/day) and gives 40% bonus for training.
Dragonblessed (Isabel – HoF) All creatures are blessed.
----------------------------------------
Vittorios ballista can work very well and doesn’t demand too many troops for creeping. Cavalry commander can still deal immense damage and kill whole stacks before the enemy can act.
Sylvan
---------------------
Battle Hardened (Vinrael)
Battle experience is raised by 40%.(+2%/lvl) On average the total bonus up to level 20 is around 20% (2+40/2)and equals approximately wearing the scale mail of enlightenment from the beginning (battle XP only).
With Expert Enlightenment at level 20 Vinrael gets astonishing 161% XP from battles, since the bonus is multiplicative. With the turban and scale mail, the bonus will be doubled to 203%. If gaining XP fast is your priority, this is the the one.
Blademaster (Gilraen)
All Blade and Wardancers get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Not the best creature to be attached to; Although Wardancers have an immense iniative and good speed, it doesn’t reach up to Ossirs “Master of the Hunt”. Boots of Swiftness, Initative arties, Mass Speed, Tactics and Familiar ground will all make sure this bonus is used to its best.
Elven Fury (Talanar, Alaron)
Blade and Wardancers, (Master) Hunters and (Elder) Druids get enraged ability.
This ability is flat (no increase per level) and not particular useful. That Talanar and Alaron starts with recruitment doesn't make it better. (Starting with the ballista on the other hand …)
Master of the Hunt (Ossir)
All (Master)Hunters get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
One of the better creature specializations in the game. The Hunters are always useful and a core part of a Sylvan army. Get of courrse the archery ability with this one. Unicorn Bow could be nasty. Ossir also starts with Luck, but is blocked from ever getting “Natures Luck”. Soldiers Luck will double the chance of casting “Warding arrow” with the Master Hunters.
Swarm Queen (Dirael)
ATB reduction is increased from 60 to 64%, and damage increased by 40% with the spell "Wasp swarm"
As rangers have bad spell power and the both damage and ATB-reduction is almost insignificant, you can say this ability is pretty much a waste. Dirael also have the disadvantage of starting with summoning magic which both requires spellpower and spells in the mage guild, something the rangers don’t have. If there had been a significant increase in the ATB penalty (say +2%/lvl), I could have seen the usefulness.
Swift Striker (Wyngaal)
Creatures starts beween 0.40 and 0.65 on the ATB bar (instead of 0.00-0.25) (+0.02/lvl)
This ability assures that most of the creatures will come before the enemy troops and can be used to really blitz before they can act. It should therefore be combined with high speed. Wyngaal starts with Tactics, and if he also gets Swift boots and Familiar ground, this can be very effective.
Sword of Sylanna (Anwen)
Sylvan creatures does 140% damage against favoured enemy. (+2%/lvl)
Considered to be a good ability by many. Can be used very effective if the choice of enemies is chosen strategically. Can be extremely useful on certain maps with high concentration of certain units. Should be combined with Expert Avenger of course, and perhaps even “Know you enemy” (Enlightenment ability, +10% chance of dealing double damge).
Unicorn Maiden (Ylthin)
All (silver)unicorns get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Again, decent creatures to master. Tactics and or Familiar ground will make the unicorns strike on first attack, and Soldiers luck (prerequisite for Elven luck) will double the chance of blinding the enemy. Ylthin starts with Master of Blessings (but unfortunelately no spell), and with Divine strength she can boost the Unicorns damage (10-20) with 33% at Expert level.
Campaign Abilities:
-------------------------
Storm of Arrows (Findan): (Master)Hunters and (Elder) Druids will deal 60% of normal damage against the lowest tier of enemy stacks.
----------------------------------------
The most effective among the normal abilities after my opinion are Swift Striker as it can reduce the enemy severly before he can act. Master of the hunt is always useful and may also cause more neutral hunters to join your army. Finally Sword of Sylanna can be extremely good on certain maps where you have multiple similar enemies.
Academy:
---------------------
Mystic (Nur, Mahiir)
Regains 7 mana/action (not only spells) (lvl/3 mana/round).
Shouln't need so much knowledge-based artifacts as other casters, or Arcane training for that sake. Can "load up" while using abilities/normal attack if you have time.
Spell Twister (Galib, Cyrus)
At lvl 20, 80% chance to redirect an already mirrored spell (50% chance) to the enemy. Totally the chances are 50& chance of no mirror, 40% chance of hitting enemy and 10% of own units if there are equal number of stacks on both sides
Any warlocks nightmare! At level 24 it is more than 50% chance of damaging own troops agains this hero, rendering destructive spells almost useless (and indestructible magic doesn't make it better)
Disrupter (Faiz)
Vulnerability spell does +70 dmg per unit (lvl/3x10 damage).
Faiz starts with Mass Vulnerability. At level 1 he does 10 dmg/unit in addition to lowering all defences by 4. At level 20 it would be 70&6 respectively at Expert level. Totally the damage is very weak and does not contribute much at all during gameplay.
Mentor (Narxes)
All (Arch)Mages get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Obivously the mages gets more powerful shooting than casting spells compared to other heroes. Get your mages in the best possible angles; Teleport assault might be used very effective here!
Gremlin Master (Havez)
All gremlins get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Upgrade gremlins asap to masters as they get +57% iniative. Havez also starts with ammocart and 74 gremlins on average, making it useful from the very start, but less important later on.
Golem Crafter (Razzack)
All (steel) golems get +10 attack/defence.
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Razzack start with 15 golems on average, Useful for a golem army, with the Logistic ability "March of the Golems" if you can getg it (2% chance for getting logistics). Could work with armageddon & Steel golems.
Flame Wielder (Nathir)
Fireball & Firewall have their Spellpower raised by 7 (not Armageddon)
Extra damage Fireball at Expert: +140 dmg
Extra damage Firewall at Expert: +95 dmg/turn
Not that much extra damage. Would certainly have been powerful if Armageddon was included (+210 dmg)
Windspeaker (Jhora)
Initative is raised from 10 to 11 (10% faster turns)(+0.05/lvl)
The difference is not very big. After 10 rounds a spellcaster with the same sorcery level as Jhora will only have cast one spell less. The effect at lvl 20 isn't much better than basic sorcery, except that it counts for all actions.
Campaign Abilities:
Master of Elemtents (Zehir): Dead frielndly units are replaced by elementals, (7 elementals + a number according to stack HP and elemental raised). "Summmon Elementals" gets +7 elementals, and Summon Phoenix gets +88 damage and 210HP on average.
----------------------------------------
Personally I would go for Galibs Spell Twister. For the enemy it is at lvl 24 over 50% of damaging its own troops, making destructive magic almost useless against this hero (unless own troops are immune)
Fortress
---------------------
Keeper of the Flame (Erling)
All Rune Priests/Patriarchs get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd lvl).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
In addition to regular bonus, this hero should get Archery and specialize in Fireballs and Ignite as "Mark of Dire" will double the damage dealt by the priests/patriarchs. Soldiers Luck will also double their chances and is therefore a must.
Master of the Runes (Inga)
25% chance of learning a new rune by levelling up. At level 20, that would be 5 new runes on average.
The genius of it, is that Inga starts with scholar, and runes, like regular spells are possible to learn to other rune mages. Perhaps not a great primary hero, but just the better secondary, Inga can contribute much to her dwarven fellows by teaching the runes not appearing in their local guild.
Protector (Ingvar)
All Defenders/Shield Guards get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd lvl).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
With “Guard Post” and “Shield Wall”, when defending during a siege, you may survive even when greatly overwhelmed having this ability, making this first but nevertheless important tier more potent.
Rider (Ebba)
All (Black) Bear Riders +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd lvl).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Now, even better than any other fortress creature speciality, this opens up for real havoc. Blackbear riders with both Tactics (starting ability), Soldiers Luck and Rune of charge are positive to attack very early without any chance of retaliation (Paw strike).
Rune Artist (Brand)
90% chance of not using resources with runes (20%+1/lvl)
5 more levels (lvl 25) and Brand gets all runes for free; not bad if you have limited resources.
Sacred Hammer (Helmar)
80% chance of casting “Righteous Might” on own units with other Light magic spells.
At higher levels, this ability practically obsoletes “Mass Righteous Might”. You will give most of the time your units +12 attack every time you cast a spell on them!
Sharp Blade (Karli)
All Spear Wielders/Skirmishes gets +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd lvl).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Concidered to be the best among fortress heroes by many. This ability (and the ammocart) will surely make creeping go smooth. Even better, Karli starts with Soldier Luck and doubles the crippling chance.
Stormcaller (Svea)
Lightning bolt and Chain lightning can’t be resisted (but immunities still apply)
Is this a joke? Even master of Storms is pretty much useless in the game (-0,3 iniative at most). This flat and very limited ability is not a dwarf worthy.
Campaign Abilities:
-------------------------
Border Guard (Wulfstan): +10 defence for fights within one day from an owned city(+1/lvl)Golden Tounge (Rolf): Neutral creatures more likely to join hero and victories will provide gold and resources (like spoils of battle)King of the Stone Halls (King Tolghar): All creatures haver “Rine of Thundercalp” permantenly
----------------------------------------
Perhaps not the ability that does most for the hero, but for the sake of the game, Ingas “Master of the Runes” combined with scholar can be extremely useful if there is only one Fortess town on the map, and half of the runes are otherwise unavailable.
|
|
dschingi
Famous Hero
the guy with the dragon golem
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 09:42 AM |
|
Edited by dschingi at 09:43, 26 Mar 2007.
|
Just a few comments:
Quote:
Archer Commander (Dougal, Lorenzo)
All Archers/Marksmen get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd level).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Dougieboy was a legend from the beginning, but now after some patches he’s nerfed down, as well as the training.
No longer you can mass produce huge stacks of marksmen dominating the battlefield. Still this ability is not bad as archers and markmen make up an important part of the haven army
Afair Dougal has never been weakened, only Training has.
Quote:
Beloved by the People (Ellaine)
All Peasants/Conscripts get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd level). Peasants give an extra +1 gold/day
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
Beloved by who? Not the game-developers I guess. The bonus for the waekest creature in the whole game is not much to talk about, and the money??? You’ll need over 250 peasants to make it better than the regular "Estates", not to mention the three weeks of “incubation”
She is an excellent secondary hero. Recruitment is very nice and with a little luck she can learn Estates with only two level-ups. Her special may not sound promising, but can still give a few gold coins more which is never wrong for haven.
Quote:
Windrider (Maeve, Freyda)
Expert Haste give all friendly units +60% iniative instead of +40% (+1%/lvl). This also affects the Inquisitors haste spell at advanced level (+50% iniative totally)
This can open up for blitz tactics as soon as you have cast Mass Haste. If playing against a human (even the AI) player, be prepared to get “Mass slow” thrown back. If you should even happen to have Expert dark magic and Master of mind (unlikely), this ability may totally double the initiative of all your creatures (+60% haste 40% slow). All in all, a very useful ability as Mass haste is very common.
In fact, with mass haste and mass slow your creatures' initiative would be increased by 1.6/0.6=2.667 compared to the enemy creatures'.
Quote:
Stormcaller (Svea)
Lightning bolt and Chain lightning can’t be resisted (but immunities still apply)
Is this a joke? Even master of Storms is pretty much useless in the game (-0,3 iniative at most). This flat and very limited ability is not a dwarf worthy.
She starts with Destructive. If that's what you want, she is a sure bet. Her special can still be useful, e.g. against Sylvan with Unicorns or Fortress with Dwarfen Luck
____________
open source for an open mind
|
|
executor
Famous Hero
Otherworldly Ambassador
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 03:17 PM |
|
Edited by executor at 19:31, 26 Mar 2007.
|
Quote:
Protector (Talanar, Alaron)
All Defenders/Shield Guards get +10 attack/defence (+1 /2nd lvl).
Chance of neutral troops of this type joining hero is raised by +20%.
With �Guard Post� and �Shield Wall�, when defending during a siege, you may survive even when greatly overwhelmed having this ability, making this first but nevertheless important tier more potent.
A tiny mistake, you included wrong heroes' names  . That happens. No other mistakes.
Edit: I forgot to tell you: Great work again, Darkeye.(perhaps a QP?  )
____________
Understanding is a three-edged sword.
|
|
Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 03:20 PM |
|
|
|
Quite interesting. Well after reading the spelltwister description I'm quite shocked: is it really 50% chance on level 20? Gh, thought it was a lot lower. So, against academy, it's pointless to use spells like implosion or chain lightning. Meteor shower, fireball or circle of winter can't be mirrored back, though
|
|
feluniozbunio
Promising
Supreme Hero
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 03:30 PM |
|
|
I never use any non-area spell against academy no matter what hero that is (except for matrons spells of course), this ability is very powerful if you ask me.
____________
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 06:06 PM |
|
Edited by Darkeye at 18:11, 26 Mar 2007.
|
Thanks for the replies 
It had to be some mistakes there and I'm glad you have corrected me.
Yes, Dougie was of course good because of unlimited training (Have changed this now).
And Haste vs Slow is of course 1.6-0.6 as theDeath mentions in GenieLords recent thread.
Stormcaller: I only had critism agains the speciality, not her skills. Master of storms still sucks and makes sure Svea never can get both Ignite and Master of Ice (which always give -0.3 on the ATB in total)
But still, Recruitment is one of the worst abilities in the game. Ellaines extra money for the peasants can work well if there's lots of free peasant huts around, but if you have to buy them, it's a long and not very rewarding investment.
I'll change the names Executor
Doomforge: Against all other lvl 20 Wizards than Galib or Cyrus, there is still only 25% chance of hitting own troops
|
|
Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 06:24 PM |
|
|
That's still too much. : (
Academy doesn't have "killer" stacks you want to implode immediately, anyway. AoE spells all the way..
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 06:25 PM |
|
|
|
So you mean Magic Mirror is overpowered then?
|
|
feluniozbunio
Promising
Supreme Hero
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 06:32 PM |
|
|
It is very good. Hard to say if it is overpowered.
____________
|
|
PhoenixReborn
Promising
Legendary Hero
Unicorn
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 07:04 PM |
|
|
Isn't there also a chance that the mirrored spell will deflect onto a different enemy target.
In other words, anything is a possible target. So when deflected from the mages instead of deflecting to your hunters it might hit rakshasa's instead.
____________
Bask in the light of my glorious shining unicorn.
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 09:07 PM |
|
|
|
That's right. The chance of hitting another enemy stack is the same unless fighting Galib or Cyrus.
|
|
dschingi
Famous Hero
the guy with the dragon golem
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 09:31 PM |
|
|
It also depends on how many stacks each side has. If the Wizard has only one left and the spell gets mirrored, it will hit his enemy for sure
If each side has seven stacks the Wizard is still slightly better off because the mirrored spell won't hit the creature that actually was its target...
____________
open source for an open mind
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 26, 2007 10:59 PM |
|
|
|
So you mean it is not 50-50, but rather an equal % per stack, minus the original target?
|
|
executor
Famous Hero
Otherworldly Ambassador
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 12:19 AM |
|
|
Quote:
So you mean it is not 50-50, but rather an equal % per stack, minus the original target?
Exactly. When there are 10 stacks except from the target, each has 10% chance of receiving the spell. If 6 of them are yours, then it's not very nice... However, a mirrored spell can be resisted, so if you have resistance, you have advantege over enemy - it will hurt you less. Same goes for protection, elemental resistances and so on.
____________
Understanding is a three-edged sword.
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 12:50 AM |
|
|
Ah, I saw it wrong first. Have to correct the errors then
Never mess with Galib, and especially if he has a single stack of titans
|
|
ZombieLord
Promising
Famous Hero
that wants your brainz...
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 01:20 PM |
|
|
Magic Mirror is overpowered IMHO
Too high chances, and that's because they raise with the hero level. I mean, why Magic Resistance/Estates/Recruitment and others don't improve with the level and overpowered Magic Mirror does? Also, I'm not considering only landing at my own units, but redirecting also can be a pain in the butt. 50% at level 20 with ONE ability? Too overpowered, if you ask me.
|
|
Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 01:41 PM |
|
|
|
hells, you're kinda right! Ok, it doesn't effect mass spells or AoE spells, but against some spells it some kind of a super-resistance skill: Not only gives 50% (compared to lousy 15% granted through luck's magic resistance perk), but also reflects the spells back!
|
|
Darkeye
Promising
Famous Hero
of the Deep
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 05:26 PM |
|
|
It is part of the Wizard "package". Gating can also be considered overpowered, and Rune magic might do wonders. Instead of looking at the single ability, we must consider all benifits given to a certain character class.
Now, are the Wizards overpowered; does Magic mirror make them so?
I am only asking?
|
|
ZombieLord
Promising
Famous Hero
that wants your brainz...
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 05:28 PM |
|
|
Well, for gating you need many skills/abilities to become overpowered
Magic Mirror is one ability... one overpowered ability
And the Wizards may not be overpowered, but that's no excuse to make such an ability
|
|
Yasmiel
Supreme Hero
Former Chessmaster
|
|
posted March 27, 2007 05:50 PM |
|
|
|
Its perfectly balanced (considering whole picture about each factions heroes).
|
| |
|
|
