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Heroes Community > Heroes 5 - Temple of Ashan > Thread: Artifacts Analysis
Thread: Artifacts Analysis This thread is 5 pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 · NEXT»
broadstrong
broadstrong


Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
posted August 12, 2008 03:41 PM
Edited by broadstrong at 15:01, 02 Oct 2008.

Artifacts Analysis

There are several aspects of Heroes 5 that talks about strategy, namely map types, town factions, heroes, skills/abilities, creatures/troops, spells and artifacts.  However, while the previous 6 aspects have been extensively discussed, it seems that artifacts are only discussed here and there, not on a comprehensive scale.  With this in mind, I hope that my long-awaited (?) artifacts analysis would help to give an insight into the use of artifacts, which imo is also a strategic aspect of Heroes 5 (granted not the most significant, but certainly not to be disregarded).

Since a comprehensive thread would become so long, I would split my analysis in a few posts:-
In this first part, I would be giving an introduction on the necessity of artifacts and their classification.
In the second part, I would be covering the minor artifacts and their usefulness (based on TotE version), both as a starting bonus and throughout the game, and also cover on the major and relic artifacts and their usefulness, so expect this post to be very lllllllloooooooonnnnnnnggggggg…
In the third part, I would be discussing on artifact sets, the new feature in TotE.
If possible, I also intend to cover things like nifty artifact combos.

I wish to acknowledge the fans’ manual, for without this manual, I would not be able to have any ideas or information to do all the analyses below (and to come).  Also, my experience of playing XL maps (RMG generated) would be quite different from multiplayer or campaign games, so my opinions may differ.  

Now, here goes:-

Part 1: Artifacts Introduction

Artifacts are items that can be equipped on your hero.  They are required for the following reasons:-

(1) To increase hero stats

It is quite impossible for the hero’s primary stats (Att, Def, SP, Know) to be well-balanced.  Well, except runemages in theory, but in practice I don’t see them having well-balanced stats either.  Hence the need for artifacts to boost the weaker stats (you don’t want your hero to go to important battles at 1 SP, do you?), or even to make the better stats even better (imagine 24 def).  

Many artifacts increase stats (which also include morale and luck), this partly explains the importance of needing artifacts to buff up your hero stats.

(2) To improve hero skills and abilities

A few artifacts help to improve skills and abilities.  Not useful?

How about this: Ultimate racial skill is ONLY available by equipping Pendant of Mastery (this I believe all HC people knew)

Also, some abilities give "fixed bonuses" whatever the hero level (yeah, I am referring to the Leadership perks...), so having the artifact makes the abilities a little better (ok, I know "a little" better is not good enough, but still...)

(3) To improve hero's spellcasting

Certain artifacts "add" spells to hero's spellbook, allowing you to cast these spells in combat (provided artifact is equipped), or help in hero spellcasting by reducing mana or increasing damage.  Considering that there are moments where you just cannot get certain spells somehow (Regeneration, DV, Frenzy, PM comes to mind), these artifacts give the hero another way to "equip" these spells (but spells "equipped" this way CANNOT be traded by scholar ability, otherwise...)

(4) To bless hero's troops during combat

These artifacts allow the troops (+ war machines) to be blessed in certain ways, such as increased initiative, damage or protection/immunity from certain spells.  Increased initiative and damage are generally good, as is spell protection/immunity, considering might factions are generally vulnerable to harmful magic (to the extent that Stronghold needs shatter magic skills).

Remember, your hero is not (and should not be) a one-man/one-woman army, he/she is the general of the troops and so blessing troops is important.

(5) To curse enemy hero's troops during combat

Opposite to (4) above, some artifacts affect the enemy's troops such as reducing morale or luck.  Generally, knowing that enemy heroes often have good morale and positive luck (+3 is common), these artifacts will help to counter those happening-too-often act-again-morale-moves and really-happening-often luck strikes.

(6) To aid the kingdom in adventuring and resources

Certain artifacts only work on the adventure map by allowing the heroes to travel further, scout further or to gain more resources per day (sadly, no more +1 sulphur/mercury/crystal/gems artifacts which were present in H3 and H4).  Do not underestimate such artifacts just because they are useless for combat.  A strong economy is the basis for a strong army and increasing travel distance can just work wonders in more ways than 1, such as capturing enemy capitol before enemy's day 1 or catching up/evading enemy's best hero.

(7) To provide some special advantages and surprise your enemy

Some artifacts prevent your enemy from fleeing, while some allow you to gain more experience overally; Some can even level your hero during combat or to increase your hero's line of sight. These artifacts can give your opponent a nasty surprise


All in all, artifacts are necessary because your hero just cannot have ALL possible skills/abilities (only six slots, with one of them the racial), so they help to buff or improve stats and abilities.

Artifacts and their Classification

There are three ways to classify artifacts.

The first is by which part of the “paper-doll inventory” the artifact goes to.  To help understand, the “paper-doll inventory” is displayed as below:-

Ring 1          Helm  Necklace  Spellbook
Ring 2  Cuirass  Shield          Pocket
Weapon          Boots  Cloak

The artifact must be equipped for its effects to be active (backpack artifacts only take up your space) .  The spellbook is a permanent “inventory” which cannot be moved.

The second is the “preciousness” (is there such a word?) of the artifacts, whether they are minor, major or relic artifacts.  “Preciousness” increases in that order.
(Non-trivial trivia: The names of minor, major and relic artifacts are shown in white, pale beige and violet red respectively.  Also, at every artifact merchant, at any time there would be 3 minor + 2 major + 1 relic artifact available, but in v3.1, it seemed that mask of equity is the only relic offered in artifact merchants; all other times, there would be simply an empty slot)

The third is the nature of benefits granted to the kingdom, namely combat benefits or non-combat benefits.  Combat benefits include increase of hero’s Att/Def/SP/Know/Morale/Luck, increase in capacity of troops/war machines, better spell-casting, penalizing enemy’s troops and so on.  Non-combat benefits include benefits to movement, gold and resources, and also added experience (of course, added experience can also be a combat benefit)

With the third classification, comes a strategy well-known in Heroes 3 --- switching of artifacts.  Basically, knowledge-, movement- and resource-granting artifacts need only be equipped at the beginning of the turn (so they must be equipped before you end your previous turn), when facing combats (esp enemy heroes or challenging/hard neutrals), equip combat-boosting ones instead.

(Example: Equip logistics enhancing boots for the start of the new day, but when facing tough enemy, change to, say, boots giving magical defence or +1 speed to troops)

In my next post I would be giving a rundown on ALL the artifacts, keep your fingers crossed...meanwhile feel free to add on or comment (not too harsh, please, I am a HC newbie) and give some QP if you find the post QP-worthy.

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Isabel
Isabel


Known Hero
Dragonblessed
posted August 13, 2008 09:03 AM

(7) To provide some special advantages and surprise your enemy

Some artifacts prevent your enemy from fleeing, while some allow you to gain more experience overally; Some can even level your hero during combat or to increase your hero's line of sight. These artifacts can give your opponent a nasty surprise .

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MysticPhoenix
MysticPhoenix


Adventuring Hero
posted August 13, 2008 11:43 AM

Quote:
With the third classification, comes a strategy well-known in Heroes 3 --- switching of artifacts.  Basically, movement- and resource-granting artifacts need only be equipped at the beginning of the turn, when facing combats (esp enemy heroes or challenging/hard neutrals), equip combat-boosting ones instead./quote]

Is it verified that movement arifacts have to be worn at the beginnig of a turn? In H3 you had to wear them at the end of your turn.

Seems to get an interesting topic, however. Thanks for your efforts in advance.


____________

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Vexon
Vexon


Adventuring Hero
posted August 13, 2008 01:03 PM
Edited by Vexon at 13:16, 13 Aug 2008.

Same thing, MP. 'Sfar as I know aside from Ghost Mode there's no way you can change the artifacts you have equipped at any moment between the end  of your current turn and the beginning of the next.

I would also like to note that most artifacts used to increase a hero's primary stats, even when used in different combinations, have to stand in awe over the overwhelming perk of Expert Enlightenment. Receiving 1 free Primary Point for every 2 Hero levels is something that, in my opinion, is hard to beat, as it effectively boosts your Hero's growth by 50%, not to mention the increase in experience is brings along with it which helps you level up sooner and thus harvest the primary quality of Expert Enlightenment more effectively, especially at higher levels (we all know that for a Level 40 Hero you need an EXP pool worth 2.2 billion EXP).

Using this skill, though, opens up the possibility to use lesser artifacts that do not necessarily boost the primary stats, but do offer a nice perk otherwise (as an example, Chain Mail of Enlightenment for another 20% extra EXP to complement EE, rather than a Breastplate granting +3 Spellpower).

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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted August 13, 2008 01:15 PM

Nice opening, looking forward to the rest. About your first one:

Balance of the stats is hardly important, I often find myself going ALL defensive with necro and vastly preferring power to knowledge. After some amount of mana you don't need more. With other factions such as academy it will depend on my opponents, vs necro I'd go on the offensive for instance but defensive vs haven. Stats can either boost areas you are lacking or strengthen your already considerable strengths that is often better.
____________
H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb

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broadstrong
broadstrong


Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
posted August 13, 2008 01:32 PM
Edited by broadstrong at 14:32, 30 Sep 2008.

Edited my first post to add on/clarify stuff (highlighted in blue).

Re-edited my first post to add on (in bold) a new discovery in v3.1

Edit: now that my long post is settled, let me try to re-enact this post according to the best of my memory...

@Isabel,

Yes, a low-level hero can just stay hidden away from sight of enemy hero, when the enemy hero comes by, out comes the novice hero (with super-buffed stats), such surprise attacks may work wonders...

@MysticPhoenix,

Thanks for pointing out my unclear explaining.

@Vexon,

Exp-gaining skill + exp-gaining artifact is great, good idea for my future post on nifty artifact combos...

@Elvin,
Guess I previously played too much H3, where I like to see my hero get primary stats like 15-17-12-14, to me that is "complete-ness and great balance"

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Doomforge
Doomforge


Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
posted August 13, 2008 07:39 PM

in H3 it was hardly a good thing either.

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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted August 25, 2008 01:50 PM

I thought you planned to continue this
____________
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broadstrong
broadstrong


Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
posted August 25, 2008 04:17 PM bonus applied by alcibiades on 29 Sep 2008.
Edited by broadstrong at 12:14, 29 Oct 2008.

Part 2.1: Artifacts Rundown

Finally, the much-awaited (hopefully) article arrives!

I shall give a rundown of the artifacts (based on v3.1 as far as I can tell so far), according to their positions in the inventory (If the fan’s manual is downloaded, open it also; it helps to refer to it now and then).  I will then give each artifact a rating as below:-

S (almost essential),
A (very useful),
B (quite useful in certain situations),
C (useful in only a few situations) and finally
D (not very useful generally).

For the minor artifacts, since they are likely to be the starting bonus also, I will also give a rating on how useful they are as starting artifacts, and also their usefulness as the game progresses.

Though there are certainly powerful artifacts, I believe the artifacts system is designed such that every artifact is useful in some way, so even a D does not mean useless.  Of course, my evaluation and rating may not be fully agreeable as yours (since I mainly play XL maps with Haven as starting faction) and also, due to the sheer length of the article I just cannot cover all cases, so feel free to give your own thoughts.

Weapon

A mixed group of artifacts, with most of them adding attack, naturally (what does a weapon do anyway?).  A few of them are not weapons, but instead have nifty abilities.

Beginner’s Magic Wand (Minor artifact; costs 5000)
Effect: +2 spellpower

As the name implies, it is for beginners…nope, beginning heroes.  For high-attack heroes with very low spellpower (barbarians, demonlords), it may balance the primary stats a little, but otherwise, it is sacrificing attack for (imo rather miniscule) spellpower, especially late in the game. It is alright as a starting bonus as more SP = better creeping, especially for magic factions.  As Carcity has mentioned (and I agree), the price is somewhat steep.

Rating: B as starting, C or D in game

Sword of Might (Minor; 5000)
Effect: +2 attack

A basic weapon that increases attack by 2, not the best weapon to have, but still, a weapon nonetheless.  For low-attack heroes (ranger, necromancer) it may be necessary in the early game, and extra attack (+10% damage) can be helpful at times.  As a starting bonus?  Quite ordinary, more viable for might factions.    

Rating: B as starting, C in game

Edge of Balance (Minor; 5500)
Effect: +3 attack, -1 defence to “good” heroes; +3 defence, -1 attack to “evil” heroes

A double-edged sword that affects attack and defence in opposite directions.  Good or not as starting bonus or in-game?  Depend on hero type!

Knight: even better in defence, attack, the small dip in defence should not hurt too much
Ranger: increases defence, but attack gets even lower attack, which is quite necessary since their attacks are often low.
Wizard: helps in offensive capability, but the -1 defence hurts, esp. to academy troops  
Runemage: quite alright since attack and defence are quite balanced
Demonlord: quite necessary, esp. for inferno troops with low defence
Warlock: can also be helpful, esp. as dungeon troops are expensive and so needs to be kept alive for as long as possible.
Necromancer: tougher units, but poor attack…at least troops are tougher.
Barbarian: could help in preserving troops with low blood rage counter, because low rage = less damage absorbed = more losses

Rating: B to C as starting and in-game

Trident of Titans (Minor; 6000)
Effect: +50% to lightning spells

Lightning spells are weakened in H5 especially early lightning bolt where spellpower is low and there is hardly destructive magic expertise, so starting with the trident does not seem optimal.  Even throughout the game it is not so useful, but if you play Svea or a warlock hero it could be another thing entirely.  And one more thing, it sells for a better price than other minor artifacts (oh well…)

Rating: D as starting, C to D in game

Wand (Major; 6700)
Effect: 3 to 10 charges for a specific spell at advanced level and spellpower 8

In a way, the wand gives further options to the hero, such as casting commonly-used spells for no mana (when mana is in shortage), having spells when the spell is just not available anywhere…well there could be others.  Note that if the hero has learnt the spell through mage guilds/shrines/scholar transfers, there will be two versions (one showing mana cost, one showing number of uses left.  Such versatility means even warlocks and necromancers can equip the wands, to save mana from time to time.  

The recharging requirement though, does make it difficult for heroes venturing out to fight neutrals for long durations, but otherwise it is not too bad (unless most of the other towns are stronghold…).

Typically the more-used spells like haste, ice bolt and slow gets fewer than 6 charges, while vulnerability gets 10 charges (wonder why, vulnerability is not a poor spell and at times it is better than decay)!  Except for barbarians, other heroes can find use for these wands, though might heroes like knights or rangers may feel hard-pressed to use wands to replace swords.

Rating: B to C

Ogre Club (Major; 8500)
Effect: +5 attack, -5% initiative

Adding so much to attack is great, but imo, a drop in initiative, though small, may have negative effects, particularly facing ranged or spellcasting neutrals.  By acting first, they inflict casualties in the beginning, that are hard to reverse even with resurrection or raise dead. Maybe barbarians are more suited for this item due to its potential of artifact set and also the higher chance to kill enemy stack and increase rage points, but otherwise, be cautious when equipping this item.

Rating: B (barbarians), C (others)

Dwarven Smithy Hammer (Major; 9500)
Effect: +3 attack, +25% protection from fire spells

Its increase to attack is decent, but it is the protection that stands out.  Useful against the lowly Eldritch Arrow or the mighty Armageddon (the magic part), though a 50% protection would be much preferred.  But anyway, for a weapon to have some protection abilities it is already quite sought after, particularly when facing warlocks, runemages or Nathir (or even enemy/neutral archmages, pit lords or rune patriarchs/keepers)

Rating: B

Axe of the Mountain Lords (Major; 10000)
Effect: +4 attack

It gives the second largest increase in attack (after the Ogre Club), perhaps it explains why it has such a high price tag attached to it.  It does not give other effects; on one hand this seems to overprice the axe, but imo this makes the axe readily handy for magic heroes also, though it would be particularly useful for rangers due to their natural ineptness to gain attack.  It is also enticing for heroes with ballista speciality.

Rating: A to B

Runic War Axe (Major; 10000)
Effect: +2 attack, +2 spellpower

It basically combines the effects of the beginner’s magic wand and the sword of might, with the cost being same as their total cost.  Two-in-one, you might say, so the best-of-both worlds?  Imo, for might heroes, this is like losing attack especially when there are better swords in the backpack (though I cannot deny that extra spellpower could come in handy).  For magic heroes…ok, the addition to attack and SP may be more welcome, and if you have guessed it, this artifact (and the Runic Harness) seems custom-made for dungeon warlocks, as this makes their attack and spellpower even better.

Rating: A (warlocks), B to C (others)

Unicorn Horn Bow (Major; 12000)
Effect: Negates all ranged penalties in army

With the unicorn horn bow, your shooters will be able to fire at long range with no penalty.  This ability alone is enough reason to equip (means +100% damage for all shooter stacks when firing at long range), and gets very potent with might heroes or heroes with archery ability, and gives many ranged units that were thought to be inferior (marksman, master hunter) more marketability (though I know most players would use crossbowman and AA anyday).  Its drawbacks?  Does not work for non-ranged troops (which I feel is the ultimate core of the army; ranged units are more as support troops generally) and does not remove the wall penalty during sieges.

Rating: A to B depending on army type

Dragon Flame Tongue (Major; 14000)
Effect: +2 attack, +2 defence, +50% protection from cold-based spells

+2 to attack and defence is not the main point, it is the 50% protection that stands out, and is a good weapon to counter the imo imba ice-bolts and CoW, and also offsets somewhat against deep freeze (the damage, not the duration) and I believe cold death as well.  Not many artifacts have this protection ability, so suffice to say that it is at least worth the price tag, though the increase to attack and defence could have been slightly better.

Rating: B

Staff of the Netherworld (Relic; 17000)
Effect: -20% initiative of enemy creatures

A very “dark” artifact indeed.  By reducing the initiative, it not only means that enemy troops take longer to act, it also means that at the start, your troops can take advantage by either decimating the enemy troops or counter accordingly to how enemy troops are arranged (for example, position large creatures away such that fast enemy fliers (dragons, thunder thanes/warlords) can’t attack in first turn.  Combined with slow spell and the much improved storm wind ability, the effects can be pretty devastating.  Does not increase hero’s attack, but with such an advantage, would this be required?  Certainly deserves an S rating, especially since relics seem easier to obtain in v3.1.  

Rating: S

Staff of Sar-Issus (Relic; 20000)
Effect: Negates enemy magic resistance

This staff negates magic resistance, so that makes it useful against heroes with magic resistance perk, heroes with magical-resistance artifacts or armies with unicorns/silver unicorns, but apart from that, that is it. It does not negate the more common magic protection (which is a perk under defence, or can be obtained through equipping artifacts) or even magic immunity (which would have made it very good against black dragons), so the chances of negation is fewer, imo, except perhaps against sylvan (where luck and unicorns are a must).  Not to mention its exorbitant cost.

Rating: B (against sylvans), C to D otherwise

Shield

In H3 and H4, shields mainly increase defence, but in H5, surprisingly there are not that many shields, instead there are other types of artifacts, most noticeably a group of magical artifacts (that’s odd…).  Also the only section without minor artifacts.

Magic Scroll (Major; 5000)
Effect: Allows casting of specific spell at advanced mastery

With a scroll equipped, the hero (except barbarians) can cast that spell as if you have learnt it, may be useful for the level 3 or 4 spells that could be difficult to get if your map does not allow for it.  Sounds useless?  Not really, advanced mastery is not a bad thing, and I can easily think of instances where players want certain spells, only to find that no place in immediate vicinity offers them.  However once you got the tomes, perhaps the scroll shall take a backseat (into the backpack).

Rating: B (non-barbarians) to D (barbarians)

Moonblade (Major; 7500)
Effect: +3 attack

Huh?  A weapon on the left-hand?  Anyway, it IS a weapon, increasing attack by 3.  It is cheaper than the dwarven hammer by 2000 gold (albeit without the protection).  This sword can be used as a second sword to increase attack further (for heroes who like to attack first, fast and furious), or in compensation to a non-sword artifact in weapon slot.  Has some versatility, though certain factions (inferno, dungeon) may prefer shields for this slot.

Rating: B A (knights, barbarians) to C (demonlords, warlocks, maybe wizards)

Ogre Shield (Major; 8500)
Effect: +5 defence, -5% initiative

Just like the ogre club, decreases initiative, but the defence increase it gives is also the highest.  Imo this helps somewhat to offset the initiative decrease, since your troops would be attacked earlier and extra defence helps (especially stronghold units).  While there are many swords, there just aren’t that many shields (though there are artifacts elsewhere for increasing defence), so this item can get a higher rating than the club.

Rating: A to B (barbarians), B to C (others)

Book of Power (Major; 9000)
Effect: +1/+1/+2/+3 spellpower and knowledge based on nil/basic/advanced/expert enlightenment; magic insight allows learning 4th circle spells also

The usefulness of this artifact really depends on the hero’s level of enlightenment, but for good effect, give this to a hero with at least advanced enlightenment; the +1 spellpower, +1 knowledge at lower levels is just below par for a major artifact, unless there are really no other spellpower- or knowledge-gaining artifacts available.  As for magic insight, it merely makes this ability a bit more worthwhile, allowing hero to learn spells like magic immunity, teleportation and blindness, but frankly, level 4 spells at no expertise are not really powerful, apart from hero having more spells at their disposal.

Rating: A to C

Shield of Crystal Ice (Major; 9000)
Effect: +2 defence, +50% protection from fire-based spells

Shouldn’t an ice sword shield protect against cold-based spells instead?  Anyway, the added protection against spells like Armageddon and firewall makes it useful to have (comments about the dwarven smithy hammer applies here), and is the main focus of this shield.  The +2 defence ……for a major artifact you would expect better, wouldn’t you?

Rating: A to B

Dragon Scale Shield (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 defence, +5% initiative to small creatures

The increase in defence is decent, the increase in initiative can be crucial in allowing the small creatures (typically ranged units like crossbowman, AA, shadow witches and the upgrades, as well as their guards like squires) to act slightly earlier, and that can make ranged troops very deadly, particularly with some other “dragon” artifacts.  However, in itself it is just decent, it needs certain other artifacts (you know what, don’t you?) to really shine.

Rating: A (with other suitable artifacts) to B (in itself)

Shield of the Dwarven Kings (Relic; 17000)
Effect: +4 defence, immunity to frenzy

High defence rating, protects troops against one of the nastier dark magic spells, need I say any more?  For haven players, it also means that they have one more incentive reason to use champions instead of paladins.  But since frenzy can be cast on your own troops to increase damage, users of such tactics may need to re-think.  Even then, this is still a very good artifact to equip.

Rating: S to A

Tome of Dark/Destruction/Light/Summoning Magic (Relic; 20000 each)
Effect: Allows casting of all dark/destruction/light/summoning spells without mastery

Nope, I am not lazy, since these tomes are all about one of the magic schools I might as well discuss them altogether.

While the idea of having every spell in that school sounds great, it is important to note that spells only available through the tome does not benefit from any Master of... abilities (except for MoF/MoI/MoL burning/freezing/stunning effects), no empowered versions even.  Ultimately, hero’s mastery is the deciding factor on the power of the spells.  There are several situations on the usage of the tomes:-
(1) Hero has no mastery and equips one tome.  The hero can now cast all the spells of that school, but all at no expertise.  This is not very useful imo, unless the hero desperately needs spells like haste, slow or endurance.
(2) Hero has some mastery in a school and equips the related tome.  This is more helpful in that it fills the “gaps” from unlearnt spells (for example, it is possible that all the towns offer cleansing and endurance when hero really needs regeneration) and the “tome-only” spells has at least some mastery.
(3) Hero has some mastery in a school and equips tome of another school.  This may seem to widen the hero’s spell-casting arsenal, but imo I consider this unnecessary; usually it is the same spells that are repeatedly cast and others hardly used (if ice bolt can be cast, not likely for hero to cast lightning bolt equally often, is it?), so why waste time flipping the spellbook pages?

Also, the usefulness of the tomes depend on the hero faction --- a necromancer would not be very keen on the tome of light magic, I guessfor example.  Just because they are relics does not mean they are all good, it really depends on hero's magic mastery, but suffice to say, it is never a bad idea to have these tomes in hand, but not really essential (unless playing magic heroes, perhaps)

Rating: A to C

Cuirass

Like shield artifacts, only a few of them increases hero’s spellpower (unlike in H3).  Quite a number of them increases defence (surprising?).  In all, these artifacts mostly increase hero stats, which is a boon (or a bane, depending how you see it).  For some reason, I have big dilemmas on which cuirass to equip at certain moments...

Tunic of the Carved Flesh (Minor; 4700)
Effect: +3 spellpower, -1 morale

Good addition to spellpower for a minor artifact (especially important in that it can be your starting bonus!).  For necromancers, the morale reduction is nothing (at least in the beginning when there are only undead creatures to lead).  For other factions, just be sure not to mix the troops too much and you should be fine.  Despite the morale penalty, one of the better minor artifacts (especially for knights, rangers and demonlords who start with low spellpower) in early game, but as the game goes, the morale penalty could matter when you need to mix troops, and more cuirasses should come your way, so assess and equip accordingly.

Rating: A as starting, A to C in game

Breastplate of Eldritch Might (Minor; 5000)
Effect: +2 spellpower

Compared to the tunic, costs 300 gold more, gives smaller increase in spellpower but has no morale penalty.  This is mainly a preference of taste, I feel, though certain factions (those where gaining leadership is difficult) would prefer this over the tunic.  Other comments (and rating) about the same as for the tunic.

Rating: A as starting, A to C in game

Armor of Valor (Minor; 5500)
Effect: +1 defence, +1 morale

A small increase in defence and morale, not the best cuirass to have, but still alright as a starting bonus, plus you can get more money back when selling it.  If spellpower is already high enough (yes, I am referring to magic heroes), perhaps it is more worthwhile to equip this artifact until better shields and cuirasses come along.  The morale boost is always welcome, though (except for necromancers).

Rating: B as starting, B to C in game

Runic War Harness (Major; 10000)
Effect: +2 defence, +2 knowledge

The bonuses it gives are quite decent, however it seems to be custom-made for warlocks (just like the runic axe).  Any hero would welcome the extra defence and knowledge, more so for warlocks, whose biggest problems lie in poor defence and insufficient mana (they already have high enough spellpower).  For non-warlocks, just take note that by equipping this artifact, they will require other artifacts elsewhere to beef up their spellpower.  Not a big issue per se, but having 1 or 2 spellpower in mid-game may hurt.

Rating: A (warlocks), A to B (other heroes)

Scale Mail of Enlightenment (Major; 10000)
Effect: +20% experience

Does not increase stats, but the +20% experience can come in very handy, especially when coupled with the enlightenment skill.  Imo, I see this artifact as more useful in early game (to quickly level-up) or in late game with level 20+ heroes (where levelling-up becomes very difficult and hero’s stats are already buffed sufficiently), otherwise you can still give this to a secondary hero to help the hero level-up.  This is a versatile artifact to use, though I can see some players prefer to have otherstat-gaining cuirasses when fighting battles.  

Rating: A (enlightenment heroes, Vinrael, level 20+ heroes), B (otherwise)

Dragon Scale Armor (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 attack, +5% initiative to large creatures

Its effects are in contrast to the dragon scale shield, increasing attack (rare for a cuirass, and the value is decent) and adds initiative to large creatures.  Some large creatures are good, but they really need to increase initiative to be more effective (such as fire/magma/lava drags, treants, hydras and even shadow/black drags).  For other large units whose initiative is high enough, the increase is still worthwhile, especially with other initiative-boosting artifacts.  

Rating: A to B

Robe of Sar-Issus(Relic; 15000)
Effect: +6 spellpower

The biggest increase to spellpower for any artifact, no wonder it is so expensive.  There is nothing much to comment, except that any hero can benefit from the effects (sometimes, artifacts just need to give a big boost in hero stats in order to be highly-rated, no need for all those miscellaneous abilities).  Destructive-magic wizards (such as Nathir) should try and get this item asap.

Rating: A

Cuirass of the Dwarven Kings (Relic; 17500)
Effect: +4 defence, immunity to implosion

The +4 defence is good, even better than that, its ability makes this artifact VERY useful against those too-happily-casting warlocks who likes to cast implosion (easily the nastiest spell after armageddon).  Combine with other damage-reducing artifacts for all-rounded protection against other elemental damage.

Rating: S (against warlocks), A (otherwise)

Armor of the Forgotten Hero (Relic; 28000)
Effect: +2 attack, defence, spellpower, knowledge; +20% magic resistance

Equipping this cuirass is just like having visited two arenas (getting attack once, defence the other) and the library of enlightenment, with magic resistance to boot.  For units besides unicorns/silver unicorns, that is already +50% resistance, and still not considering boots of magic resistance or the magic resistance perk…..enough said, another effective counter (even without unicorns) against enemy spellcasters who like to inflict destructive or dark magic.  But the price?  The second most expensive and is more expensive than even the skull of markal (what do you expect?  There is no free lunch in this world…the world of Ashan).

Rating: S

Helm

Typically, the helm artifacts increase knowledge, though there are others with other abilities.

All-Seeing Crown(Minor; 4000)
Effect: +4 scouting radius

The name is misleading, it does not let you see everything…Anyway, at the beginning of the game, apart from removing neutrals, it is also important to remove shrouds to reveal the surrounding areas.  However with the introduction of redwood observatories…still you can use the crown when going into unchartered areas.  Combined with scouting and silent stalker perks, that is a +20(!!!) scouting radius…… nothing can hide….  In some aspects, this artifact is a must, especially for your main hero (but remember to change into something else for combat).  Once you have scouted most of the map however (especially late game), it marks the end of the crown.

Rating: A as starting, S to D in game (depending on % of map uncovered)

Necromancer’s Helm (Minor; 5000)
Effect: +2 knowledge

It gives a small increase in knowledge, but nonetheless still good to get as a starting bonus, especially for warlocks, necromancers and knights.  However, once other helm artifacts come along, it may have to make way…

Rating: A (warlocks, necromancers) or B(others) as starting, B to C in game

Helm of Chaos (Minor; 5500)
Effect: +3 knowledge, -1 defence

For an extra 500 gold, it gives an extra stat in knowledge at the expense of defence.  As a starting bonus, it is good to get (+3 knowledge at the start is valuable), but the penalty in defence may be too much for demonlords and warlocks throughout the game (considering that inferno troops are fragile and dungeon troops have slow growth rate).  Well if defence is a problem you can simply un-equip it during the current turn; it won't affect mana as yet.  Yet this artifact has added uses for demonlords, who, imo, needs this the least, so demonlords should also try to get ring of the broken will.

Rating: A as starting, B to C in game

Turban of Enlightenment (Major; 6000)
Effect: +10% experience  

It works just like the chain mail, granting extra experience (though not as much).  If your hero has high enough knowledge (such as wizards), it is not a bad deal to equip this on, considering helm artifacts generally do not buff hero stats as much as cuirass artifacts and so the loss of stats is not that great.  A turban-chain mail combination, though, can be very scary, especially for those big battles (not the combat, but the eventual experience obtained).

Rating: A to B

Crown of Leadership (Major; 7000)
Effect: +1 morale, doubles “estates”, “recruitment” and “diplomacy” effects  

+1 morale seems minimal though it does have its uses (except for necromancers).  The artifact becomes more striking when the hero already has the 3 abilities mentioned above.  Estates become +500 gold per day (equip this on Ellaine and her horde of peasants/conscripts/brutes and you have a walking gold mine), recruitment becomes +6/+4/+2 for tiers 1 to 3 (some factions need this increase, most noticeably dungeon), and the diplomacy bonuses are doubled as stated in manual (and diplomacy now works when facing mixed neutral armies) plus neutrals join for normal price instead of double cost.  All these boosts make these normally not-too-useful perks suddenly better (in some cases even very valuable), so leadership-intensive factions (such as haven, sylvan, dungeon) benefit much more from this.  

Rating: A (factions likely to get leadership) to D (necromancers)

Dragon Talon Crown (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 knowledge, +10% initiative to war machines  

+3 knowledge is good, especially since ballista’s power depend on hero knowledge.  Even better is that it allows catapults, ballistas and (to a smaller extent) first aid tents to act faster, so this item is a definite boon for war machines heroes (especially Deleb and Vittorio).  Otherwise it simply adds to the potency of the dragons set artifact (which is still useful).

Rating: A (war machine heroes/specialists) to B

Lion Crown (Relic; 12000)
Effect: +2 morale and luck  

If you think +2 morale is good, then +2 luck is even better as it greatly improves the chances of double damage, even though there is no knowledge increase it is not missed, the modifiers mean your might hero can end battles earlier, and often with fewer losses.  Even necromancers can equip this, so that their undead troops can at least inflict more damage (not A LOT more, though)  

Rating: S (might heroes) to C (necromancers)

Crown of Sar-Issus (Relic; 15000)
Effect: +6 knowledge  

This artifact gives the highest increase to knowledge, and just like other knowledge-boosting artifacts, also increases regenerated mana per turn.  For warlocks, necromancers and wizards this item is valuable, the former two for having more mana to inflict more damage, the latter to have even more mana and boost the effects of mini-artifacts.  For low-knowledge might heroes, it means they need not worry about mana deficiency especially after major battles or instant travel/town portal casts.  This artifact is useful anyway that I see it, imo, though there is always the issue of many good artifacts fighting for that one slot.

Rating: S (warlocks, necromancers, wizards) to B

Helm of the Dwarven Kings (Relic; 17000)
Effect: +4 knowledge, immunity to blind spell  

Like its previous dwarven artifact counterparts, this one gives a good bonus to a main stat (knowledge in this case) and grants immunity to blind spell, which dark casters like to use to disable powerful ranged troops/casters.  Though blind is not as good as frenzy, PM or CotN, it is still a powerful spell in the hands of a dark magic caster and so the immunity is still welcome as it also protects your troops against unicorns' blind.

Rating: S (against dark magic casters) to B

Mask of Equity (Relic; 20000)
Effect: During combat, increases hero’s primary stats to reach enemy hero’s level

I have not really used this item, but I guess that this mask can be useful in helping low-level heroes gain many levels fast, or in pre-attacks by scouts/new heroes (to knock away morale/luck bonuses) to whittle enemy troops a bit before the bigger army attacks.  However, note that it only increases primary stats; sometimes stats mean nothing when hero has no abilities to boost the army (like vitality) or weaken enemy ranks (like fog veil/storm wind). Surprisingly, it CAN be bought at artifact merchants when no other relics seem to be able to be obtained that way.  

However, one thing to note: after equipping this, compare the difference in hero's primary stats before entering a combat with enemy hero and after.  The stats differences would be the exact stats that hero would gain on levelling up to the current nemy hero's level!  This means you can more or less gauge how your hero is going to develop later on, useful for you to decide what stats the hero should get when visiting places like war academy, arena or school of magic (and you think levelling up is TOTALLY random?  Maybe not).

Rating: B

Boots

This group of artifacts give a mixed-bag of bonuses, including the ever-present movement bonus and no terrain penalty.  Most of them do not increase hero stats, but then again, artifacts from other slots can normally do the job, so other boosts may not be a bad idea.

Boots of Magical Defense (Minor; 4000)
Effect: +10% magic resistance

With these boots on, hero’s troops can have a small chance to resist enemy spells.  Not many artifacts can boast about having magic resistance, so these boots are as good as any.  Besides, magic resisted at the right time may just…change the tide of battle.  Useful in early game when troop conservation is important (especially stronghold) and destructive spells can really decimate armies, but in late games…it may not matter so much.

Rating: B as starting, B to C in game

Emerald Slippers (Minor; 6000)
Effect: +50% damage to earth spells

Boosts the power of stone spikes, meteor shower, implosion and decay (yes, decay) cast by the hero (sadly, not the casters like druid elders, pit lords or archliches).  In the early game, it does make decay and stone spikes more likely to be cast, but its true power is in the other two heavy-duty spells, which warlocks and destructive magic heroes would like to learn in their spellbooks for some heavy damage.  

Rating: C as starting, A to C in game

Windstrider Boots (Minor; 7000)
Effect: +1 speed to hero’s units

+1 speed is minimal?  No!  This +1 speed means that your units can reach enemy units and decimate them (especially dangerous ranged units like crossbowman, MH, AA, all magi, rune priests and their upgrades).  By wiping them out earlier, your troops in turn suffer fewer losses, which is especially important in the early game.  Even later on, the +1 speed is always welcome (though not always necessary), and it offsets the speed penalty due to equipping ring of caution or enemy’s death embrace set.  This is certainly one of the most awesome (and most expensive) minor artifact, why else do you think it costs more than even some major artifacts?

Rating: S as starting, S to B in game

Dragon Bone Greaves (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 spellpower, +10% initiative to melee, non-flying units

From the previous artifact, a whooping 50% increase in price for the greaves.  +3 spellpower is useful (especially for knights, rangers and barbarians), but the initiative bonus is even better, either speeding up the tank units (squires/vindicators, minotaurs, treants, hydras) or making powerful melee troops (cavs/champs, unicorns, executioners/chieftains, rakshasas) move faster.  Ultimately, melee troops (walking or not) form the backbone of the army, especially during major battles, so the walking units’ initiative can always take a boost.  

Rating: A

Boots of the Open Road (Major; 11000)
Effect: Removes all terrain penalties for hero

This pair of boots work like ultimate pathfinding (if there is such ability), allowing the hero to move across all terrain without penalty.  Obviously the usefuless of the boots depend on the extent of non-friendly terrain in the map, but suffice to say, unless the whole map has only grass, water and/or dwarven subterranean, these boots will come in handy for the hero to move more steps during their turns.  For maximum effect, put it on a hero with expert logistics (and visited stables) and other perks like warpath or death march.  However, change to something else during battles.

Rating: A to C (depending on extent of non-friendly terrain)

Boots of the Swift Journey (Major; 15000)
Effect: Increases hero’s movement points over land by 25%

This pair of boots work like a midpoint between advanced and expert logistics, giving hero more movement points.  On most heroes, it is already very good as the hero can move more (and thus do more things like capturing resources, mines or artifacts), but on heroes with logistics (especially Rutger, Grok or Urghat) the boots become scary by allowing heroes to make lightning attacks on enemy heroes and towns (expert logistics + boots make heroes move 60% more than normal, not considering other bonuses or hero specializations), taking enemies by total surprise.  

On large maps and above, these boots become almost a must to try and get (for at least the main hero), though the computation of movement points mean that these boots need only be equipped just before the end of the turn.  During the turn, change into other boots for combat, if possible even change into boots of the open road for adventure map movement.  

Rating: S to B (depending on map size)

Sandals of the Blessed (Relic; 16000)
Effect: +1 attack, defence, spellpower, knowledge, morale and luck

This pair of boots give +1 to every hero stat including morale and luck, perhaps that is why it is so pricey.  It is certainly a blessing on your hero, though I can think of other combinations giving roughly the same buff and costs less.  Still, this is not a bad artifact to obtain.

Rating: A to B

Greaves of the Dwarven Kings (Relic; 17000)
Effect: +4 attack, immunity to slow spell

The last of the dwarven kings artifacts increases attack and protects hero’s troops against slow.  This is especially useful for runemages since opponents would try to slow (or even mass slow) fortress units, making them even slower.  Even then, other heroes can still use this to counter dark magic heroes and armies with shamans/sky or earth daughters or shadow witches/matriarchs/mistresses.

Rating: A to B

Boots of Levitation(Relic; 20000)
Effect: Allows hero to move over the sea

The boots work like water walk in heroes 3, allowing heroes to “fly” over the sea.  However, since water maps are few and far between, I doubt if the boots are really useful, particularly since it does not seem to work for “water lakes” on the map (if that works, it means less detours so it can be handy at times).  Unless there are more and better pre-made island maps (heroes 3 has quite a few), I cannot really give a good rating for this artifact.  

Rating: C to D

Cloak

This group of artifacts are mostly like robes or capes worn over the shoulders (though the two gold-granting artifacts and the quiver do not look like robes at all).  They give a mixture of benefits, such as spell-enhancement, spell-protection and even changes to morale and luck.

Sack of Endless Gold (Minor; 3000)
Effect: +250 gold every day

Simply put, it is like giving your hero the estates ability.  In this game (and in fact ALL heroes games), gold is always important because it is needed for so many things from hiring heroes, hiring creatures, developing your towns and even buying over neutral creatures to join your army (in fact the word “important” is an understatement).  

Though the sack only gives a small increase, any increase is welcome (especially for haven or dungeon), even if you are playing a tiny map.  In large maps, there can never be enough money so this artifact is indeed “as good as gold, around the world (of Ashan)” (no copyright infringement I hope).  It is also rather inexpensive, and pays for itself (break-even) after 12 days (if bought, that is).  On the 13th day, it will start giving net profit.  

However, during combat, no amount of gold can help you, so change to another artifact.  Also, as carcity has stated, it may be more advisable to give this to secondary heroes (especially mid-game onwards).

Rating: S as starting, S to B in game

Cloak of Sylanna (Minor; 4000)
Effect: -50% damage from earth damage spells

Most players would probably not object that implosion and meteor showers are really nasty spells, for me, I also consider stone spikes (especially from big group of druid elders) and decay (especially from expert dark magic casters with master of pain) very irritating.  This is where this cloak comes to the rescue (partially) by reducing damage.  In the early game, it may not be valuable, but as the game progresses, if you expect to encounter heroes capable of mass-earth-magic-destruction, do get this cloak since earth spells are equally scary, if not more, than water spells (in terms of raw spell damage)

Rating: C as starting, A to C in game

Bearhide Wraps (Minor; 4500)
Effect: +1 defence, +25% protection from cold-based spells

The +1 defence is quite alright in the early game, especially for warlocks and demonlords (who can’t seem to get enough defence).  The protection is not a lot but at least it is still some protection against ice bolts, CoW and deep freeze (though water elemental spell damage is now greatly nerfed).  It also seems to slightly protect against cold death (which is meant for killing tier 6, 7 units and phoenixes).  Since cold-based spells are scary in damage, this item is always good to get just in case.

Rating: B as starting, B to C in game

Phoenix Feather Cape (Minor; 6000)
Effect: +50% to fire-based spells

This cape simply makes fire-based spells (cast by the hero, not caster units) more powerful, though oddly it does not enhance eldritch arrow or word of light (which are supposedly fire spells) and it does not boost caster units’ fire spells (like archmage’s fireball).  Its use seems somewhat limited (considering fire spells only cover wide areas and do not deal much damage), so not very useful throughout the game, though it has a good selling price for minor artifacts and should be sought after by master-of-fire heroes.  However, if your hero uses the armageddon tactic, this item becomes very, very scary…  

Rating: C as starting, S (armageddon casters) to C

Cape of the Lion’s Mane (Major; 6000)
Effect: +2 morale

What?  +2 morale for 6000 gold?  Seems overpriced?  Not really, think of it as either a way to get your units to strike more often or as a safeguard to eliminate (or at least reduce) turn-missing due to bad morale.  This artifact would be a good counter against heroes with morale-decreasing artifacts or necromancers (who cast banshee howl like no control) and it would be very valuable to knights (high morale + retribution ability is scary, despite the 25% cap…).  

Rating: A (knights) to C

Treeborn Quiver (Major; 7000)
Effect: +4 attack and unlimited ammunition to all shooters

The +4 attack for shooters can make shooters very deadly in attack, especially when combined with expert war machines (that is +7 attack total!).  As for the unlimited ammo…well there is no reason not to buy an ammo cart, since they do not seem to be favourites for area spells now (unlike heroes 3).  Obviously more useful for some factions (haven, sylvan, academy) than others (inferno).  

Rating: A to C depending on faction

Bag of Endless Gold (Major; 10000)
Effect: +1000 gold every day

Simply put, it is like giving your hero the role of a walking gold mine.  In this game (and in fact ALL heroes games), gold is always important because it is needed for so many things from hiring heroes, hiring creatures, developing your towns and even buying over neutral creatures to join your army (in fact the word “important” is an understatement).  The bag gives a substantial increase, haven or dungeon especially would like to get their hand on this artifact as soon as possible, particularly on large maps where there can never be enough money. The bag is indeed “as good as gold, around the world (of Ashan)” (still no copyright infringement I hope).  Its cost is rather steep, but at least it breaks even on the 10th day, and gives net profit from the 11th day onwards.  

However, during combat, no amount of gold can help you, so change to another artifact, or give to a secondary hero (Eh…why is the description so similar to that of the sack of endless gold? Because they are just different packaging of the same thing, that is why).

Rating: S (especially haven or dungeon) to A

Dragon Wing Mantle (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 knowledge, +10% initiative to flying units

The increase in knowledge is not bad (especially for might factions, warlocks and necromancers), it is the initiative increase to flying units that makes this artifact very good to have, and the already-scary flying units even deadlier (such as the hit-many-enemies crystal dragon, super-damage seraph and the all-favourite black dragons) or at least better in tying up enemy ranged units (such as gargoyles and wyverns).  I guess this applies to summoned phoenixes as well (as if the phoenix isn’t already fast enough).  It also helps slightly against enemy heroes with storm wind perk (with its penalties increased, it is more likely to be sought after).  For armies with many flying units (such as combining haven and sylvan flying units) this artifact is a must-get item.

Rating: S to A

Cloak of Death’s Shadow(Relic; 13000)
Effect: -2 morale and luck to enemy troops

This is like a combined effect of ring of the broken will and cursed ring, and it is 1000 cheaper than the combined price of those two rings, and it takes up a cloak slot, leaving the hero to equip other rings (which imo lies the real art of artifact equipping, more on that when I talk about the ring artifacts).  This is a top-notch artifact to equip, whether hero is necromancer or not.  Remember that positive luck (and imo morale also) effects trigger much more frequently now, having artifacts to counter enemy’s insane luck bonus is always a plus, and if enemy luck is negative all the better, they hit for less damage, thus conserving your troops.  By lowering morale, enemy units may even freeze, so your units survive a few more rounds.

Rating: S

Sandro’s Cloak (Relic; 20000)
Effect: Negates enemy Mind Affect immunity

The description simply means that troops normally immune to mind spells, such as undead troops, titans and battleragers can now be afflicted with those nasty mind control spells like frenzy or PM.  Not much to say except that this item should come in very handy against undead troops (who also cannot be poisoned or blinded and thus many dark magic spells are ineffective against them).

Rating: A to B

Wings of the Angel (Relic; 40000)
Effect: Grants hero the ability to fly over terrain

Fly over terrain?  And we thought that flying over terrain is no more possible in H5…  With this artifact, I have to frankly say that winning the map is 50% guaranteed.  Use it to enter enemy territory to grab mines (and thus deprive enemy players from needed resources) or grab towns (especially capitols), even on a hit-and-run basis so that enemy loses precious time (and troops) to build up army (and not to mention that more money is needed to rebuild capitols).

In my XL maps, there are many map obstacles, sometimes making certain locations almost inaccessible (such as the dwellings and those spell shrines) unless hero takes days to slowly trudge through.  With these wings, the hero can overcome these obstacles (and most likely terrain penalties as well).

With these benefits, it is thus not surprising that it costs twice as much as most relics and about 50% more than the armor of the forgotten hero.  It is certainly a “uber-relic” if there is such a classification, and I will not be surprised if it is banned on most maps (I never get to see this artifact on my XL maps, even now as relics are much easier to obtain).

Rating: S

Ring

This slot is special in that heroes can have 2 rings equipped anytime (while having only one shield, weapon, cuirass etc), and also it has a family of 13 artifacts, the biggest family which only the weapons are on par with (which is expected since heroes can have 2 rings).  I will also discuss on whether the rings can be “stacked” (meaning hero has two rings of vitality, two rings of celerity, and so on, giving additive effects).

This slot, imo, is where the real art of artifact equipping comes.  The rings come with  varied benefits, so it is up to the hero to decide which are the best rings to equip, and while this is quite obvious for other slots, it is not always obvious for the rings.  You may want a –2 morale and –2 luck to enemy troops, but that could be at the expense of allowing your undead or infernal troops to be affected by Word of Light spell or badly hit by powerful lightning.  

To add to this, most rings do not even boost hero stats, but they boost other abilities, which prompts players to think if they want to boost their perks further (such as ring of vitality + vitality perk giving +4 to hit points) or have several abilities from different  artifacts and abilities.  Suffice to say, I have the biggest dilemma when it comes to equipping rings for my heroes.

After reading, you decide who is the “lord of the rings” then…

Ring of Lightning Protection (Minor; 4000)
Effect: +50% protection from lightning-based spells

While lightning spell is now much weakened, there are still uses of this ring, such as against druids or druid elders, sky daughters, titans or heroes like Eruina or Svea (both start with lightning bolt in their spellbook), especially in the early game where there aren’t many spells available in spellbook.  Sadly, equipping two rings is useless, since the magic protection applies only once (and only 50%, not 25%, someone correct me if not so)  

Rating: C as starting, B to C in game
Stacking: No


Ring of Caution (Minor; 4500)
Effect: +2 attack and defence, -1 speed to creatures in army

For a small increase (especially mid-game onwards) to attack and defence, the speed of creatures is reduced, which is too crippling (and certainly requires a caution).  Most flying units would not be able to reach enemy ranged units in one turn, which makes the army more prone to ranged fire.  The +2 defence is even less useful if enemy chargers (nightmares for example) attack first and decimate one-third of the target unit; the units are already lost.  

Despite the gain to attack and defence, this ring is not for might heroes since their troops need to strike first, and hard.  Imo only wizards can find any real benefit for this item since their attack and defence hardly increase anyway.  Unless the hero has windstrider boots, it may be a better idea to un-equip this item.

Having 2 rings will have double the attack boost, double the defence boost and double the speed penalty.  Then again, if your flyers already cannot reach enemy shooters in a turn, another –1 speed does not matter much, which in that case the extra defence seems necessary…

Rating: D as starting, B to D in game
Stacking: Yes, could be useful for wizards and warlocks


Ring of Banishment (Minor; 4800)
Effect: Reduces enemy’s summon elemental, phoenix, blade barrier and summon hive spells efficiency by half, grants “banish” ability to hero

For a minor artifact, it does not have as wide a usage compared to others (summoning magic is quite useless in early game), not to mention that this ring does not reduce the damage potential of enemy arcane crystals (which imo saves summoning magic somewhat and is a good spell to have).  Against necromancers it may be very useful, but then again, necromancers should not solely depend on summoning magic to win battles.  The banish ability is a bigger joke, only really powerful when cost by summoners or high-level heroes, and I believe that barbarians cannot get this ability.  Afaik, stacking does not apply either.    

Rating: D as starting, B(against summoners) to D in game
Stacking: No


Elemental Waistband (Minor; 6400)
Effect: Gives hero summon elemental spell (with +4 spellpower when casting)

As if the ring of banishment is not already usage-limited enough, now comes a ring with even more limited usage for the following reasons.
(a) Summon Elemental formula is only decent (decent, not even powerful) for heroes with high spellpower or summoning magic mastery, and summoning one stack automatically destroys another elemental stack (so no stacking like in H4)
(b) The elementals summoned can be either one or another since each terrain has two native “elements”, so if you do not get your preferred elemental you are stuck.
(c) Air elementals are speedy and useful in tying up shooters, but despite their no-retaliation their hit points are too low for a tier 4.
(d) Earth elementals are durable but they are just too slow, with the lowest initiative among all creatutes (even steel golems seem better in this aspect)
(e) Fire elementals have many shots, deals good damage and its fire shield does make enemy units think twice before attacking, it is the more desired elemental but their initiative is somewhat slow.
(f) Water elementals only have 12 mana for casting (and their spells are now seriously weakened since v3.1), after that they are sitting ducks… eh…elementals waiting to be slaughtered.

The only real use I can think of for this ring is that summoners cannot get this spell in mage guilds or map shrines and they need this spell to bolster their armies a bit, and nope, 2 rings will not increase the spellpower by 8, so consider selling extra waistbands (and the selling price is not bad).

Rating: D as starting, C to D in game
Stacking: No


Ring of the Unrepentant (Minor; 7000)
Effect: Immunity to Word of Light spell

This ring is quite highly-priced, but perhaps only demonlords and necromancers will find other values of this ring.  They are more inclined to equip this ring to completely protect their troops from Word of Light spell.  Obviously there is no stacking to mention, no “further equipping to absorb damage” or such.

Rating: B (demonlords, necromancers) to D as starting, B to D in game
Stacking: N/A


Cursed Ring (Major; 7000)
Effect: -2 to luck of enemy creatures

This ring is as expensive as the ring of the unrepentant, but its usage is way more commonplace, reducing enemy luck by 2.  This is useful whether you are thinking of making your enemies (especially sylvans) deal reduced damge or countering enemy hero with high luck.  To make things better, stacking works, so enemies (or your troops) with –4 luck become…less scary.

Rating: A to B
Stacking: Yes (-4 luck is no joke)


Ring of the Broken Will (Major; 7000)
Effect: -2 to morale of enemy creatures

Just like its cursed ring counterpart, this ring gives a –2 reduction, but this time to morale.  Good in countering those high-morale knights or barbarians who seem to have +5 leadership everytime, or to make your enemies freeze in fear.  Of course, don’t use this ring against undead troops.  Yes, stacking also works for this ring, so expect to see lots of missing of turns when that happens.

Rating: A to B
Stacking: Yes (-4 morale is even scarier)


Ring of Vitality (Major; 8000)
Effect: -2 to maximum hit points of all creatures

As the name (and function) indicates, this ring acts just like the vitality perk under defence skill, so just like the perk, this ring is more useful for armies with many low-level creatures, particularly for conscripts, squires or skeleton warriors (where their chances to bash their targets increases quite a bit).  However, with this increase in hit points, creature-restoring spells and abilities (such as resurrection, raise dead, repair of golems, first aid) become slightly less effective, restoring fewer units.  In late-games, often armies consist of high-tier troops, which are often difficult to get in big numbers, so this ring can only slighty increase the troops' durability.  Oh, and stacking also works, though having two rings of vitality is not exactly the best combination (there are better choices).

Rating: A to C
Stacking: Yes (though not too useful)


Ring of Celerity (Major; 8700)
Effect: +10% initiative to units

The first ring that gives an increase in initiative.  Considering that initiative is an important attribute of creatures, increasing initiative is always good, allowing units to act before enemy units.  Even if hero also has the ogre club and ogre shield equipped, the ring can nullify the negative effect to initiative.  The hero can also have 2 rings to bring the initiative increase to 20% (only for creatures, not the hero)  

Rating: A to B
Stacking: Yes (+20% can be quite powerful)


Dragon Eye Ring (Major; 13000)
Ring of the Shadowbrand (campaign artifact) (Relic; 12000)
Effect: +1 attack/defence/spellpower/knowledge, +10% initiative to shooters

The ring of shadowbrand is included here because it has the same appearance and the same effects stat increase, though it has no initiative-boosting effect , as for why it is a relic and cost less, I have no answer…

Another component of the dragon group of artifacts, adding +1 to each of the primary stats is alright, increasing initiative of shooters is great, considering that shooters, though not the mainstay of the army, can be very potent support troops (such as crossbowman, AA, rune keepers, titans!).  What’s more, having two rings increase all stats AND initiative as well, that will make shooters act earlier, attack harder and receive less damage.  Sounds imba to me…

Rating: S(with lots of shooters) to B
Stacking: Yes (makes poor shooters okay and good shooters even better…)


Ring of Speed (Relic; 17000)
Effect: +20% initiative to units

A ring that has twice as much benefits as the ring of celerity, costing about twice as much (though this ring is slightly cheaper ratio-wise).  It is indeed a very good artifact worth searching for, considering that the effects of such an initiative increase can be immense, even to the extent of “scary” for fast troops like blood furies and imperial griffins.  If the troops are mainly fast troops, this ring becomes almost a uber-artifact, perhaps that is a reason why stacking, surprisingly, does not work for this relic (and like the ring of celerity, does not boost hero’s initiative either).

Rating: S to A
Stacking: No (so no +40% initiative from this ring alone…)


Ring of Machine Affinity (Relic; 20000)
Effect: +1 defence, additional shot for catapult and ballista, first aid tent heals double hit points, ammo cart increases shooter’s attack by +4

This ring improves the efficiency of the war machines, so its usefulness is very dependent on the power of hero’s war machine skill, the higher the better.  On normal heroes, there is some increase in war machine efficiency, but this ring really shines when equipped on heroes with war machine skill, especially with the ballista and catapult ability (the extra shot granted can make a difference in battles, whereas +4 attack to shooters and extra healing for 3 rounds are comparatively less useful).  Imagine this ring on Deleb, Vittorio or a ballista hero with triple ballista and flaming arrows abilities……this means the 8th unit (the ballista) becomes so powerful that the hero can afford to buy slightly fewer troops, saving a bit of money.

With such a potent ability, it is little wonder that stacking does not work, though two such rings do give a total of +2 defence.    

Rating: S (ballista heroes esp Deleb and Vittorio) to C
Stacking: Only defence (so no 4-shot catapults, 5-shot ballistae, 400-hp healing first aid tents or +8 ammo carts)  


Ring of Sar-Issus (Relic; 20000)
Effect: Reduce mana cost of all hero’s spells (new mana cost is 50% rounded down)

This ring allows for more frequent casting of spells and reduces mana consumption, which makes it useful especially for spells like summon phoenix, puppet master or armageddon, or when adventure map has few towns or magic wells.  Even better, this spell also works for adventure spells, so instant travel would cost only 7 mana (50% rounded DOWN).  This is very useful when hero needs to repeatedly move across impassable terrain.  In either way, this ring benefits both might heroes (who often have insufficient mana and low mana regeneration) and magic heroes (who casts spells often).  I guess this ring also benefits barbarians also in their use of warcries, but correct me if not so.  

However, by being part of an artifact set for wizards (and supposedly benefits wizards the most), it is actually the wizards who have the least urgency for this ring (since they usually have lots of mana reserves and hence mana regeneration rate is high), somewhat ironic imo.  Of course, just like other artifacts granting magic-related abilities, stacking does not work (though one ring + arcane training perk does allow casting at 30% of original mana cost, but interestingly it seems that the ring's effect is calculated first, BEFORE arcane training's effect),so forget about casting spells at 25% of original mana cost.

Rating: S to B
Stacking: No  


Dear all,
As this post is very long (to the extent that it becomes truncated), I have no choice but to continue the analysis in the very next post, at the expense of no post addition.

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broadstrong
broadstrong


Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
posted September 29, 2008 06:01 PM
Edited by broadstrong at 12:36, 24 Oct 2008.

Part 2.2: Artifacts Rundown

continued from previous post 2.1...

Necklace

These artifacts are, well, necklaces, giving a mixed group of benefits, ranging from increasing hero stats to enhancing cold-based spells.  Interestingly, the three relic artifacts all grant unique abilities.

Necklace of the Lion (Minor; 3000)
Effect: +1 morale

To most players,+1 morale seemed minimal, but considering that good morale allows creatures to act more often (and way more often for the faster units since their ATB bar fills up very quickly), this artifact is as good as any starting minor artifact to get (unless you are playing necropolis).  Throughout the game, it does have its uses still, especially if the hero is going for maximum morale (and even for necromancers if they need to lead troops from other factions).

Rating: A to D (necromancers) as starting, A to D in game

Evercold Icicle (Minor; 6000)
Effect: +50% to cold-based spells

The cold-based spells are generally more powerful in terms of raw damage, so this artifact is also good to equip (especially for master of ice destructive casters or in early game).  This does not increase spell damage cast by water elementals though (which is more necessary now that their spell damage has been seriously weakened), nor does it increase the damage of Curse of the Netherworld spell (which supposedly deals water element damage).  Imo, more importantly, casting of spells alone (however powerful) do not win you battles (unless playing dungeon, necropolis or academy), and other necklace artifacts often prove to be better in the long run.  

Rating: A to B as starting, B to C in game

Necklace of the Bloody Claw (Major; 8000)
Effect: +1 damage to all creatures in hero’s army

Simply put, the necklace acts as “battle frenzy” to hero’s troops, increasing +1 to minimum and maximum damage.  For might heroes, this item can be useful, especially when combined with the battle frenzy perk (under attack skill) to give a +2 increase (that can be scary).  For added effect, have the hero get expert light magic skill and cast divine strength (even better with master of blessings for mass effect).  However, just like the ring of vitality, it becomes less useful for armies with high-tier units since their numbers usually cannot be a lot.  For magic heroes, maybe there are instances where it is necessary, but since the hero is doing most of the work (especially in casting destructive spells), it is not so important for troops to have increased damage.

Rating: A (might heroes) to C (magic heroes)

Necklace of Victory (Major; 10000)
Effect: +2 attack, +2 spellpower

This artifact is like the necklace version of the runic axe, which costs the same and gives exactly the same benefits.  Like the axe, this necklace would be most ideal for warlocks (and to some extent demonlords also because their spellpower is just too atrociously low).  However, while the war axe has its fair share of competitors (even the trident can be useful at times), the necklace of victory has comparatively fewer competitors, and imo it is one of the better necklaces to equip for most heroes even though it gives only stat increases.  

Rating: A (warlocks, maybe demonlords too), B to C (others)

Dragon Teeth Necklace (Major; 10500)
Effect: +3 spellpower, +10% initiative to casters

Another very good necklace artifact to equip, not just because of the increase in spellpower (which is good and perhaps even necessary for both might and magic factions alike), but more importantly, it increases the initiative of casters, such that they can get into the fray earlier by casting buffing/debuffing/destructive spells.  Some of these casters are shooters as well (such as inquisitors/zealots, all sylvan druids, all academy magi, rune priests/patriarchs/keepers, shadow witches/matriarchs), so having the ring of the dragon eye will increase the initiative of these units by a total of 20% (isn’t that scary?)!  Even the less-used casters (like pit lords) can find use for this item.

Rating: A to C (depending on potency of casters in army)

Amulet of Necromancy(Relic; 7000)
Effect: Decrease undead raising cost by 10% (or and +10% to necromancy skill

In the map, the effect is stated as increasing necromancy skill, but in the fanmanual it states that it decreases raising cost, I think I will take the latter, though I need more testing to find out what this artifact actually doesafter some testing, it is confirmed that this amulet has BOTH effects.  Note that it is even cheaper than most major artifacts, despite it being a relic.

Considering that the DE pool of necromancers is shared, highly limiting and highly dependent on the number of necropolis towns with the pillar of bones, any reduction in the raising cost (even if small) would be helpful.  For example, a wraith would cost only 93 DE to raise, which is 10 DE less than the original; that can be helpful in raising a few more (but just a few more) wraiths after battles with large groups of titans and rakshasas.  

While this artifact is handy for necromancers, it is not THAT powerful because the DE reduction still needs to be compared with the original DE (in some form of ratio) to determine how many more creatures can be raised.  After some calculations (which you can easily do in MS Excel since the formulae are all provided), it seems that the amulet is generally (but there are exceptions) more beneficial for low-tier creatures (a return of the legion of skellie archers?) than the higher-tier creatures.  It is up to you necropolis players to decide if this amulet serves its purpose well.  However, with the death embrace set, the extra reduction in DE becomes VERY appreciable, especially for the high- tiered units.

For other factions, it is totally useless except for selling at marketplaces to earn money (which is pitiful for a relic).    

Rating: A or B (necromancers) to D (others)

Pendant of Conflux (Relic; 15000)
Effect: +1 mana to hero for every 2 mana points spent by enemy hero

This pendant acts as a mana leech, absorbing mana from enemy heroes whenever they cast spells.  In terms of efficiency, it is at least better than imps (every 4 imps absorb 1 mana to give to hero once per battle), but in terms of effectiveness, consider the following cases which I feel is not friendly to the pendant-wearer.
(1) Enemy hero is might user who hardly casts spells, but instead casts the free-of-charge abilities (such as retaliation strike) and divine guidance, or refuses to cast more spells once knowing that opponent has this item, or lets the casters troops do the casting
(2) Enemy hero uses less mana to cast spells (archmagi in army or ring of Sar-Issus)
(3) Enemy hero decides to let troops charge at first-sight, or even casts highly-damaging area spells (like armageddon) to try to wipe out hero’s troops quickly so that the hero has no chance to take advantage of the mana gain

In other words, while this pendant has its uses (excellent against wizards, warlocks and necromancers), it can be easily countered.

Rating: A (against wizards, warlocks, necromancers) to C (might heroes)

Pendant of Mastery (Relic; 20000)
Effect: Grants free level up of hero’s racial skill, even if already on expert level

This pendant seems useless, but it is the only way the hero can get their ultimate racial ability.  The usefulness of ultimate racial ability differs; some of them (like avenger and irresistible magic) are not as useful, some others (like artificer and runelore) are simply practical in reducing resource consumption.  It seems that this pendant works best for counterstrike and gating.  For the former, it gives increased retaliation damage and cheap trained troops (80% price reduction means it is even cheaper to train units than buy the desired ranks of troops).  For the latter, it means all devils can also be gated (can be scary if used well).

A note of caution, do not equip this pendant while leveling up, because if the racial is at expert level after equipping this item, the leveling-up procedure seems to somehow “miss” this racial (it is expert, cannot go up further) and will not be considered during leveling.

Rating: A (knights and demonlords with devils) to C (rangers and warlocks)

Pocket

Last (but certainly not the least) we look at the artifacts to be equipped (or stuffed) in pockets.  Interestingly, there are three artifacts that give luck increases, two others that aids in adventuring (on the right maps, that is), and none of them increase attack, defence and morale (in fact the better relic artifact decreases morale).  And of course, there is also the scary shackles that eliminate any retreating.

Four Leaf Clover (Minor; 3000)
Effect: +1 luck

The clover is one of the artifacts that occurs very commonly in the game (at least for my maps), and it is also my personal favourite (obvious from my avatar).

Since luck triggering occurs much more frequently now, even a small positive luck can work wonders, especially in the early game where money can be limiting and there aren’t many troops to hire either.  Combined with the lion’s crown and visiting of locations like faerie’s ring and tattered flag, the boost in luck can decide battles.  However, once the tarot deck and the golden horseshoe comes, the clover can be substituted, or given to secondary heroes.

Rating: A to B as starting, A to C in game

Sextant of the Sea Elves (Minor; 5000)
Effect: Increases hero’s movement points over sea by 25%

This is the sea counterpart for the boots of the swift journey, but sadly speaking, since there are very few water maps in heroes 5, the usefulness of this artifact is much reduced (imagine getting this as the starting bonus on land maps…well at least it can be sold for some money).  

However, a hero with this artifact and navigation ability (plus a few lighthouses) will become even scarier than another hero with the boots, logistics, pathfinding and other movement bonuses, simply because the disparity in traveling distance becomes more pronounced on the sea.  On water maps this may matter as this means your hero can grab those flotsams of wood (especially for sylvan) and gold earlier, or explore more ruined sites on the sea and get more resources.

Rating: C (water maps) to D (land maps) as starting, C to D in game

Tarot Deck (Minor; 5500)
Effect: +1 knowledge, +1 luck

The tarot deck is slightly than the clover in that it also gives a slight increase in knowledge (and also mana regeneration).  At the end of a turn, it can be equipped just to get the hero start the next turn with more mana (this trick also works for all artifacts increasing knowledge).  However, compared with the clover, it costs 2500 more gold, which seems disproportionate for the slight knowledge gain (especially miniscule for wizards though they can still need it to increase the effects of the mini-artifacts).  I would rather get it as a starting bonus or after defeating their neutral guards, than to buy it.  

Rating: A to B as starting, A to B in game

Golden Horseshoe (Major; 6000)
Effect: +2 luck

The horseshoe does not cost much more than the tarot deck, in exchange for the knowledge gain it boosts luck further.  As expected, it costs twice as much as the clover leaf, but the high tendency of good luck to trigger means that the net gain is in fact more than double.  Good luck means inflicting more damage on your enemy troops, which indirectly means less damage to your own troops and ending battles earlier.  In this aspect, the horseshoe earns a higher rating than the clover or the deck, and factions like haven or sylvan would do well (even consider it necessary) in getting this item early.  

Rating: S (haven and sylvan) to B

Rune of Flame (Major; 6500)
Effect: +1 spellpower, grants random runic spell

The runic counterpart to wands and magic scrolls (sorry, no adventure map talismans for barbarians to equip and get extra warcries) also boosts spellpower a bit (though spellpower does not impact runes in any way).  However, due to the nature of runic spells, only runemages benefit from this item, and they may have learnt that rune already.  For other factions, the spellpower gain may be much needed, but surely there are better ways to effect that?  

Rating: B (runemages) to C or D

Horn of Plenty (Major; 10000)
Effect: Grants random resources each day, type of resource depends on day of week

Like the bag of endless gold, it costs a massive 10000 gold, but unlike the bag, it mainly provides resources, giving some gold (not a lot but still respectable) on day 7.  Even if your kingdom has 9 marketplaces, the resources (to be sold for gold) and gold gained during the week means that the break-even occurs on the 20th day at best (assuming maximum number of resources gained per day, which seems quite improbable).  But I guess not many people would think of using this item as a secondary gold generator, surely.  The resources are the main focus of this artifact, allowing some self-sufficiency (albeit limited) of all resources, which is important on resource-poor maps.

Like the gold-giving artifacts, this item should be changed to something else during battle (the luck artifacts or even the relic pocket artifacts)  

Rating: B to C

Shackles of the Last Man (Relic; 20000)
Effect: Prevents both sides from retreating from combat

The scary shackles (in heroes 3 and 4 they are indeed scary) make a comeback.  On lower difficulty settings, it would be useless (apart from selling for money) since enemy heroes do not retreat, but on high difficulty settings, this would ensure that the enemy is defeated and all artifacts go to you (of course provided that you win), and save yourself from the utter agony of enemy heroes retreating when their troops are about to be decimated.  In those settings, it can even be true to say that the shackles is required for obtaining other artifacts.  

Rating: B (high difficulty settings) to D (low difficulty settings)

Skull of Markal (Relic; 22000)
Effect: +5 spellpower, +5 knowledge, -2 morale

If the shackles are not scary enough, have a look at this artifact.  It gives a combined +10 increase to stats (the highest for any stat-giving artifact), which makes even the Sar-Issue robe and helm (that gives the biggest increase to spellpower and knowledge, respectively) pale in comparison.  Good artifact for all types of heroes (even barbarians), no wonder it is the third most expensive artifact.

However, it also gives a –2 reduction to morale, which can be crippling for heroes having hard time in getting leadership (wizards and demonlords) or heroes with mixed troops of different factions (typical of late-game armies, in such a case, it is even possible that only the hero can act regularly!).  For knights and heroes with high morale, this is not so much of a problem.  Otherwise, take extra caution when equipping this item, which seems to be custom-made for necromancers, who do not care at all about morale.

Rating: S (necromancers, knights, heroes with high morale) to B (wizards, demonlords, heroes with mixed troops)

Inventory

Actually, still got one more item below.

Tears of Asha (Grail; 20000)
Effect: Allows building of grail structure in selected city

If the map allows and set it as a victory condition, the tears of Asha would be buried in one spot waiting for a hero to unearth it.  Note that during transportation, the hero cannot retreat or flee from battle or the grail would be lost permanently.

The grail buildings generally grant powerful bonuses, so it is a good idea to get the grail especially if it is a game-winning condition.  This is where the tears of Asha vision perk helps.

Rating: S to B depending on game conditions


I hope these two rundowns can be helpful to all H5 players, newbies and veterans alike.  As I probably do some minor changes, feel free to comment/correct.

Keep your fingers crossed for my next post on artifact sets and their usefulness.

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Asheera
Asheera


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
posted September 29, 2008 06:12 PM

Excellent
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Nebdar
Nebdar


Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
posted September 29, 2008 06:45 PM
Edited by Nebdar at 18:50, 29 Sep 2008.

Whoow that a lot of reading and a lot of writting(typing)but it is worth the time.
Very good post but
Ring of Sar Issus 50% mana reduction stacks with arcane training and Energy Channel ability(Archmage) so you can have Eldrith Arrow or Lighting Bolt for 1 Mana.
You can sell Artifacts for gold. i thought that they can only be sacrified for some exp with some factions.
Edit: It look like i can sell the at the marketplace LOL i didn't know that. or forget that

Enlightme from when you could actually sell them

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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted September 29, 2008 06:49 PM

Great work. Didn't even know there was an upper limit for post length. Well, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, I don't see a problem with it being two posts.

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Asheera
Asheera


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
posted September 29, 2008 06:51 PM

Quote:
Enlightme from when you could actually sell them
From TotE... it has always been like that from 3.0
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Nebdar
Nebdar


Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
posted September 29, 2008 07:06 PM
Edited by Nebdar at 19:07, 29 Sep 2008.

Then have forgotten that one.Thnx Asheera.
Quote:
Dragon Eye Ring (Major; 13000)

@broadstrong move this a little lower.

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zamfir
zamfir


Promising
Supreme Hero
Allez allez allez
posted September 29, 2008 07:56 PM

Great job, Broadstrong.
Well done, team mate.
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broadstrong
broadstrong


Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
posted September 30, 2008 02:41 AM
Edited by broadstrong at 04:57, 01 Oct 2008.

@Alc,

Thanks for the award.
Is there any way to request Valeriy or somebody else to lengthen the maximum post length?  While I have no problem in two separate posts, they are meant to be one post actually, and whoever updating the thread on list of QP posts would have a problem because the bonus is actually applicable for both portions, not only the first one.

@Nebdar,

I am not sure what you really mean.  What I can say is that the eye of the dragon and ring and the ring of the shadowbrand look the same and give the same buffs to hero, just that the dragon ring is available normally while the ring of the shadowbrand only appears in campaigns (anyone can enlighten me which campaign?  I don't really play campaigns)

Also, thanks for pointing out about the ring of Sar-Issus.  I forgot about arcane training, I believe the total effects would be a 75% decrease in mana cost (50% x 50% = 25%), will update in analysis.

Also to announce that for 2.1 and 2.2, my changes would be in green (except for typo errors or removing redundant stuff) to aid in my administration.

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adon
adon


Known Hero
posted September 30, 2008 06:15 AM

Good post! Worth the long wait

Didn't know about the Earth Magic Boots affecting decay.

Does that affect the decay that Lethos cast before battles too? Anyone know?

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Nebdar
Nebdar


Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
posted September 30, 2008 08:16 AM
Edited by Nebdar at 10:11, 30 Sep 2008.

Quote:
Good post! Worth the long wait

Didn't know about the Earth Magic Boots affecting decay.

Does that affect the decay that Lethos cast before battles too? Anyone know?

Yes every hero Decay in the spellbook that i am sure.
What i'am not sure is this boosting the creatures Decay spellWill check this.
EDIT: Checked and Nope for creatures

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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted September 30, 2008 09:52 AM

Quote:

Is there any way to request Valeriy or somebody else to lengthen the maximum post length?


Make an enquiry in one of the community change threads in the Turban Tribunal, or write him a private message asking it, it might well be possible.

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