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Heroes Community > Heroes 5 - Temple of Ashan > Thread: Spell School Selection
Thread: Spell School Selection
Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted November 12, 2007 10:19 PM bonus applied.
Edited by Elvin at 22:58, 12 Nov 2007.

Spell School Selection

I have often seen people confused about what spell schools to get. No surprise there as there are many parameters to take into account plus a good dose of luck In the end it comes down to the use you have for each school, how you want it to affect your units, what you want to counter and the chances to get the 'right spells'.
Other such factors would be:  Your hero class, your opponent, length of map, your units and spell availabily. ((That one needs an update sometime ))


Light Magic



They are a school with the following main functions: Increase damage output through improving initiative, min-max damage and attack, preserve by improving defense and protecting against ranged attacks, dispell with cleansing and making units immune to magic, heal through regeneration and resurrection. As of tribes of the east it can also take a destructive role with word of light affecting undead and infernal units and divine vengeance as huge destructive asset that can win you battles. I never really understood what teleport is doing in there but it can be good to have

It is obvious that is the mirror opposite of dark so when facing a dark caster it is a must. Do not fool yourself, no matter how mighty you are you cannot easily deal with a continued barrage of mass spells and frenzy or puppet master. Even with good magic resistance it can be a major annoyance and units with cleansing can easily fail especially against a powerful hero.

Light is not an earlygame school as its effectiveness is tied to your army strength. However factions such as inferno, haven and sylvan will benefit much from a good divine strength early. Ironically light is one of the best schools for demonlords both for the protection/blessing but also because they have no counter whatsoever to dark. Shrug darkness can only aid you so much.
Generally light works best for factions that are swift/have good attack and/or can cause combo attacks. While dwarves are not THAT swift, light can complement their weaknesses and multiply the benefirs they gain from runes.

Spellpower friendly


Dark Magic



Here the main usage involves weakening one's defense/attack, damage output, disabling as with confusion, blind/frenzy/puppet and damaging as with decay and curse of the netherworld. As an extra boon you get vampirism which can be considered a blessing of sorts

Apart from that spell dark magic is more tied on the opponent's strength rather than your own and for that reason it can aid you greatly both in creeping and in lategame. Yes it can be pretty abusive too It has but one one weakness, magic resistance and can be dispelled so you must always have a backup plan. Dark will try to stall a battle bringing you closer to your goal little by little so a swift army with dark counters or a pure destructive hero that casts like mad can prove a tough cookie.

Obviously the best time to get dark is against one who will probably not have counters such as inferno and dungeon. But not that much against academy whose army is kinda weak, has dark immune units and more than one counters. Unfortunately it doesn't have many direct uses: Puppet will decrease initiative so it can be cleansed, frenzy can be bypassed by moving/teleport assaulting, slow will be effective but you'll still get hit etc. Just be prepared to weather the storm.

Spellpower friendly but higher level spells benefit a lot from high spellpower.


Destructive Magic



This school's utility is a lot more complex than the aforementioned: It involves damaging, damaging and some more damaging.
Ok not exactly but that's the basic idea It is the most direct of the four but not of the mindless blasting I implied It can be used to freeze, stun(weaker effect but let's face it, air spells are more damaging than ice) and armour breaking. The latter by halving armour through master of fire and deep freeze that causes physical attack vulnerability.

It's a fine line between casting and taking advantage of the effects to delay an enemy blow or hit harder and naturally the aim is to finish a battle fast. The school's blessing and curse is the elemental artifacts combo. Your potential may be greatly improved or decreased so you can never tell if your opponent will take half damage or his destructive will be boosted until the last moment. Also it is the type of magic most affected by week effects such as week of flame/magic or unfortunately ether Add the factor of magic resistance and you get an unpredictable set of spells

By its nature it can be a primary school to be focused on by your hero but only IF:
You have great spellpower or means to boost it -say motw or an imbued ballista
Your class can get enough mana in one way or another. If mana is gone before you have done enough damage it's gg.
You can easily get enlightenment, sorcery and maybe warlock's luck.

Because spellpower does not scale as the enemy armies after sometime it's best to use it to your advantage by earlygame to midgame, later you will be forced into hit&runs.

Spellpower intensive.


Summoning Magic



The most complicated and indirect of the schools. Main functions are summoning/copying units and holding back attacks but it can also raise dead, attack castle walls and protect. The basic idea is to create diversions and buy enough time until you get in a position where you have the advantage. Core spells are firetrap, phantom forces, blade barrier and phoenix. Arcane armour is one of the best destructive counters.

Summoning I consider a support school therefore I always get a second type of magic with it. While it can be most effective it has a strict usage and the spells you will miss out in the guild may be the ones you would want making it a hit&miss. Exactly because not all summoning spells are effective at all times you need the occasional curse/buff or destructive spell to make the best of your predicament. In much the same way dark alone misses a good summon/or destructive spell to make things easier.

Amazing school for creeping and rushing but may not be enough in lategame. Works well with destructive or dark early but for later it is advised that you get light or dark. Unfortunately your summons can be cursed or turned against you and undead are immune against some of your spells so it's not the best necropolis counter but on the other hand you'll want to have it against enemy summoners. It can be a little slow as summoned units don't get to act so fast and fast enemy units are bound to get the first attack, only phantom forces  can act immediately - if you have a high level that is.

Really mana intensive and high on spellpower needs. It can work with a mediocre spellpower but can perform outstandingly with a good one
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Homer171
Homer171


Promising
Supreme Hero
posted November 12, 2007 10:50 PM

I personally like Light and Dark schools over other mainly because aim might player. Now whit TotE i will take Dark more often whit Haven if opponents plays Orc's for instance. Other what i like about it, is that you have now better change of getting good lv5 magic! Curse of Netherworld, Vampirism, Puppet Master it's 66% change of getting good spell. In the other hand i haven't fitness the power of Divine Vengeance yet.

Destructive is nice as always but Warlock vs Barbarians whit shatter magic and might over magic is devastating. But then again nothing stops you taking Summoning Phantoms on riders and Chaaarge! Phoenix wouldn't be bad either (if you had mana to cast it )
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ismail222
ismail222


Known Hero
The Cataclysm
posted November 13, 2007 01:11 AM

nice work as always

i've a feeling that u'll be granted a QP for this xD
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phoenixreborn
phoenixreborn


Promising
Legendary Hero
Unicorn
posted November 13, 2007 06:20 AM

Methinks someone is fishing for QP's.

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roy-algriffin
roy-algriffin


Supreme Hero
Chocolate ice cream zealot
posted November 13, 2007 06:21 AM
Edited by roy-algriffin at 06:23, 13 Nov 2007.

its a very nice thread but.
Kind of anticlimatic that ive never found a thread like this for heroes 3 spell schools which are complicated and cant be understood at first but the heroes 5 ones are as simple as can be but heres a thread for them
about divine vengeance people will just have to get used to it. Keep at least one unit in reserve and try to make sure he doesnt attack or get attacked at all.All that aside its a really overpowered spell . But it can be got around.
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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted November 13, 2007 09:43 AM

H3 system was even simpler, get air for expert haste/fly/dimension door, maybe chain lightning(ah good times ) and earth for...well all the rest Meteor/antimagic/expert shield/expert slow/resurrection/town portal are definite possibilities. These were the obvious picks. Then water vs a cursing caster for expert dispel/cure, bless was nice and clone/mass prayer even better. Last came fire with mass curse/frenzy/berserk/sacrifice. Meh it was only good for expert berserk and curse.

At one time I even remembered what spells were possible to find in each town. Anyway my point is that there were no complexities for H3, you knew which were good and you could just go for them. Back then you could pick man skills something I kinda miss...
Now the serious spell imbalances are gone so you would not pick one over the others so easily and you simply cannot get high level spells from your native guild. It takes some planning and believe me it took me more time to judge H5 magic types than their H3 variant. By playing academy mostly, imagine

Now in regards to fishing I just like to post as should be evident by now I'll occasionally make a thread to test my writing skills, I liked writing essays when still studying English. That said I won't deny that I like recognition if I have done something good.
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Duncan
Duncan


Famous Hero
The Pathfinder
posted November 13, 2007 11:35 AM

Someone's fishing? Nah, at the rate of his current reputation, he doesn't need to. He's more "go with the flow" type of person - expressing ideas and opinions as he sees fit. Way to go, mate

And it's a good thread indeed. I just think that perks analyis would complement what's been written.
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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted November 13, 2007 12:01 PM
Edited by Elvin at 12:02, 13 Nov 2007.

Thanks Duncan About perks there is not much to say as they don't determining the school you will get that often. There are a few of course:

Destructive->Cold Death against ballista abusers,

Dark->Seal of/Shrug Darkness and Light->Eternal Light against Dark casters,

Light->Suppress Light against knights due to low mana,

Light->Fire Resistance against armageddonists,

Light->Stormwind against factions with powerful fliers that cross battlefield at once(haven, sylvan or even inferno with windstrider boots),

Destructive->Sap Magic vs Destructive casters,

Summoning->Elemental Balance and Banish against summoners,

Summoning->Fire warriors for a rush,

Summoning->Fog Veil against factions with good shooters.


Some of them are good enough reason to get a magic type but for the most part they are just a bonus to the school's spells.
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Legendary_hero
Legendary_hero


Known Hero
Stronghold Warchief
posted November 13, 2007 02:39 PM

Nice hints for people who don't know the game very much
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ismail222
ismail222


Known Hero
The Cataclysm
posted November 13, 2007 05:34 PM

u got the QP gratzy mate ^.^

and i just wanna add that cold death is also amazing for early game,high lvled units creeping ^.^
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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted November 13, 2007 07:12 PM
Edited by Elvin at 19:13, 13 Nov 2007.

I have yet to try it with motw but I have a good feeling about it. Thanks btw
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ismail222
ismail222


Known Hero
The Cataclysm
posted November 13, 2007 07:42 PM

np np ^.^
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Deceving,Ppl lying,Ppl dying
One Word : Life

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guarder
guarder


Supreme Hero
posted November 13, 2007 09:15 PM

This is great. You really deserved the QP. And mow i'm have thinked out a new strategy, but i couĝdn't try it now, unfortanely. I post here if it works when i have tried
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grow
grow


Adventuring Hero
posted November 13, 2007 09:36 PM

summoning is favorite for me because it has ability to compliment all other schools while still being highly effective itself
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JoonasTo
JoonasTo


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
posted November 14, 2007 05:55 PM

Quote:
H3 system was even simpler, get air for expert haste/fly/dimension door, maybe chain lightning(ah good times ) and earth for...well all the rest Meteor/antimagic/expert shield/expert slow/resurrection/town portal are definite possibilities. These were the obvious picks. Then water vs a cursing caster for expert dispel/cure, bless was nice and clone/mass prayer even better. Last came fire with mass curse/frenzy/berserk/sacrifice. Meh it was only good for expert berserk and curse.


So blind is useless you say
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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted November 14, 2007 08:07 PM

Haha forgot that one It was great to have in expert, no retaliation - which is pretty much as it is now. Though 2 levels higher
Still you could cast that without fire mastery which was good enough.
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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted November 14, 2007 08:09 PM

Quote:
So blind is useless you say


Blind was not useless, but added benefit of having it on Expert level was relatively small, which did not justify spending a skill slot for this spell. Actually, the one Firespell that most justified the skill would be Berzerk.
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