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| Thread: Artifacts Analysis |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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Warmonger
Promising
Legendary Hero
fallen artist
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posted October 17, 2008 09:04 PM |
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Quote:
Ring of Machine Affinity doubles the effect, meaning that Kaspar's specialty is also taken into account
Yep, it pwnz all 
Still, it will never be any kind of implosion, but in pvp games may be crucial.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted October 18, 2008 12:01 AM |
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Never?  You wish.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Nebdar
Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
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posted October 18, 2008 02:03 PM |
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Edited by Nebdar at 21:58, 19 Oct 2008.
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Ok so I would take:
Weapon - Dragon Flame Tongue
Shield - Shield of Crystal Ice (Init is important when it is so low
Cuirass - Cuirass of the Dwarven Kings (Yes Implosion immunity)
Helm - Dragon Talon Crown (war machines!)
Boots - Dragon Bone Greaves
Cloak - Cloak of Death's Shadow
Rings - Ring of Machine Affinity (200 HP for healing or plague tent attack) and Ring of Lightning Protection
Necklace- Amulet of Necromancy (raise EVEN MORE undead)
Pocket - Skull of Markal (more spellpower and knowledge to raise undead)
Here How it looks:
Advanatges:
* +3 Attack, +6 Defense, +9 Spellpower, +9 Knowledge
* +50% Cold, Fire, Lightning Protection
* +10% Initiative to War Machines and Melee Walkers
* +10% to Necro Skill and -10% cost of raisinf
* -1 Speed to Enemy, -2 Morale to Heroes Army
* Banshee Howl effects Doubled
Thanks broadstrong & carcity for you great work
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Carcity
Supreme Hero
Blind Sage
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posted October 19, 2008 10:20 PM |
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no prob Nebdar and sorry for the delay.
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Why can't you save anybody?
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broadstrong
Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
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posted October 24, 2008 12:13 PM |
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My part 3 of the analysis may still take a while, so I just clear this hero's artifact set first.
Next hero: Ylthin (ranger with unicorn speciality + light magic + master of blessings)
Generally I try to go for attack and initiative (to make unicorns even more powerful and attack more often). The initiative increase also helps in more frequent regeneration (provided it comes out in the mage guild), and spellpower for regeneration matters by affecting the its percentage.
Weapon: Runic War Axe
Shield: Moonblade (if defence already good enough) OR Shield of the Dwarven Kings (if defence and good initiative matters)
Cuirass: Armor of the Forgotten Hero (added magic resistance with silver unicorns) / Dragon Scale Armor (faster-acting unicorns)
Helm: Lion Crown (lots of extra morale and luck, insane with avenger ability on targetted enemies)
Boots: Boots of Magical Defence (magic resistance) / Dragon Bone Greaves (faster-acting unicorns)
Cloak: imo, only Cape of the Lion's Mane seemed the better to equip
Rings: Ring of speed + Ring of vitality (their stacking should work), or Ring of Sar-Issus (cast light spells, especially regeneration, more often, useful with pristine unicorns)
Necklace: Necklace of Victory
Pocket: Golden Horseshoe, if not, then at least Tarot Deck or Four Leaf Clover
Feel free to comment, or even add on...
Anymore hero requests? Feel free to HCM Carcity or me.
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The queer part of the Carcity/Broadstrong/Zamfir[
/b] threeway, equipped with sailing, summon allies, spatial travel and supermover.
Many current projects on hand.
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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted October 24, 2008 01:22 PM |
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Nice artifact set
I have only one suggestion for the Cloak: How about Cloak of Death's Shadow? I just think it's pretty awesome to have your troops with so much luck/morale (from Lion Crown, etc) and reduce the enemy's, so that your troops will trigger a lot of Morale/Luck while the enemy can just watch his troops being massacred. I know, it's pretty evil 
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broadstrong
Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
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posted October 24, 2008 02:03 PM |
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@Asheera,
Yup, that's true, but because that is too evil, I find tat too imba to post Besides, with high-initiative troops, high morale could even make the faster units act again almost immediately after their previous turn!
If Ylthin has many emerald/crystal drags under her command, the dragon wind mantle would be even more imba, with even-faster dragons and MORE knowledge (and rangers generally have no problems with knowledge, it's only spellpower that is problematically low, making the phoenix feather cape really useless)
Bearhide wraps and cloak of sylanna can be important against destructive magic casters, considering sylvan troops are rather frail in HP, but then again, sylvan troops SHOULD fare well against dungeon troops, imagine the warlock's expression when the uber-powerful empowered spell is resisted
The treeborn quiver can be useful if Ylthin has the unicorn bow equipped as well. however, because of light magic (and chance of getting powerful regeneration), it is slightly more viable for Ylthin to not get the archers' dream set.
Since rangers hardly get dark magic, sandro's cloak is hardly effective.
The biggest issue with creature specialists is that, generally, they have a few artifact combinations depending on how they are going to use their speciality creature.
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The queer part of the Carcity/Broadstrong/Zamfir[
/b] threeway, equipped with sailing, summon allies, spatial travel and supermover.
Many current projects on hand.
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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted October 24, 2008 02:08 PM |
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Quote:
and rangers generally have no problems with knowledge, it's only spellpower that is problematically low, making the phoenix feather cape really useless
With the High Druids' ability, Sylvan benefits from having a huge Knowledge for both spell power and mana
Quote:
imagine the warlock's expression when the uber-powerful empowered spell is resisted
It will never be 100% resisted because of Irresistible Magic, but still it's pretty annoying to do only half damage with your spells.
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Nebdar
Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
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posted October 24, 2008 05:36 PM |
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Ok so I would take:
Weapon - Runic War Axe
Shield - Shield Of The Dwarven Kings
Cuirass - Armour of forgotten Hero
Helm - Lion Crown
Boots - Dragon Bone Greaves
Cloak - Cape of The Lion's Mane
Rings - Ring of Sar-Issus & Ring of Speed
Necklace - Amulet of Victory
Pocket - Golden Horseshoe
Here How it looks:
Advanatges:
* +6 Attack, +6 Defense, +9 Spellpower, +2 Knowledge
* +20% Magic Resistance
* +10% Initiative to Melee Walkers & +20% Initiative for All
* +4 to Morale & Luck
* -50% reduced cost of spells
* Immunity to Frenzy
Thanks broadstrong & carcity for you great work
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broadstrong
Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
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posted October 26, 2008 02:53 AM |
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Part 3: Artifact Sets Rundown
Now I shall talk about the 10 artifact sets included in the game and how useful their bonuses are for each step. Except for the dragon set and the enlightenment set, the other 8 sets give extra bonuses to a “home” faction and hence it also matters to see if the extra bonuses really help the “home” faction.
I would be listing down each artifact set by their components, home faction, different types of bonus (plus extra bonus to “home” faction) and also state the net gains/losses after equipping all the artifacts in that set (this is a sum of all the artifacts’ bonuses and will not include bonuses due to the artifact set itself). For each step of bonus (and also the final step with all components) I would also give a rating of S to D (same as that for part 2).
Without further ado, let’s begin!
Lion’s Spirit (“home faction”: haven)
Lion’s Crown (at Helm relic artifact; costs 12000)
Cape of the Lion’s Mane (Cloak major; 6000)
Necklace of the Lion (Necklace minor; 3000)
2 items bonus (only for knight):
Knight’s attack (includes retaliation strike) decreases enemy morale by 2
Sadly, retaliation strike is branded as a “useless” race-specific ability simply because there are too few chances to utilise it. While this bonus is not exactly a life-saver for retaliation strike, it at least gives more reason to use this ability; the decrease to morale does help in freezing enemy troops’ turns (or at least prevent them from having too good morale). If playing Klaus, it would be a good idea to aim for this bonus.
Rating: B to C
All items bonus:
Each positive (negative) morale effect with any creature moves hero 10% forward (backward) along ATB bar --- aka empathy
Total net bonus: +5 morale, +2 luck
With all three items equipped, the hero also gets the empathy perk together with the morale and luck bonuses. Considering that empathy is not so easy to obtain (besides diplomacy, some factions also require hero to have arcane exaltation, a one-time-bonus perk), this set allows the hero to have the empathy perk earlier, which works wonders in battles.
With the +5 morale, it is indeed quite unlikely for your troops to have negative morale, and there is also some increase in luck (which the necromancers won’t mind having it even though they do not enjoy the high morale when leading an army of undead troops)
Rating: S (knights) to D (necromancers)
Archer’s Dream (sylvan)
Unicorn Horn Bow (Weapon major; 12000)
Treeborn Quiver (Cloak major; 7000)
All items bonus:
All shooters move backward along the ATB bar 30% less than usual while shooting. Rangers will also have this same bonus (and also works after deadeye shot and rain of arrows)
Total net bonus: +4 attack, no range penalty, unlimited ammo (all for shooters only)
This is the typical artifact set for boosting your shooters, especially the slower ones. Though the net bonus granted increases the attack, initiative (indirectly) and also gives a safety net in the event of a damaged ammo cart, it still does not make shooters super powerful (except perhaps the arcane archers). Besides, there are certain combinations of armies without/with minimal ranged support, such as the dungeon army with alternative upgrades or the typical inferno army, and they still do well in general. While this artifact set is not bad, perhaps only rangers (and maybe the “good” heroes with their respective “good” armies) would really want to equip this set.
Rating: A (rangers) to C
Sar-Issus Regalia (academy)
Staff of Sar-Issus (Weapon relic; 20000)
Ring of Sar-Issus (Ring relic; 20000)
Robe of Sar-Issus (Cuirass relic; 15000)
Crown of Sar-Issus (Helm relic; 15000)
2 items bonus:
Doubles mana and spellpower of all casters in hero’s army.
In addition, wizards move backward along the ATB bar 10% less than usual while casting any spell.
For just equipping 2 of the items, your casters would have more mana and spellpower to cast spells, which means that they become more effective (such as inquisitors being able to cast more blessings on allied units) or their spells become more effective or damaging (such as druid elders’ stone spikes and lightning bolts being more powerful). For wizards, they become even more potent at spell-casting (especially if they have the sorcery skill).
Rating: S (wizards) to B
All items bonus:
Hero moves backward along the ATB bar 10% less than usual while casting any spell
Total net bonus: +6 spellpower, +6 knowledge, mana cost of hero’s spells halved, negates enemy magic resistance
Once all the items are available, other heroes would be able to cast spells as though they have basic sorcery. This works very well for those mass spells that only waste half of hero’s initiative (such as mass haste, mass slow etc). For the might heroes, it also partially makes up for their low mana by allowing them to cast combat and adventure spells at reduced cost (and imo the latter is more important at certain times).
Considering that not all factions’ heroes can easily get sorcery, this ability becomes useful, especially for might heroes whose next turn take too long after casting a spell.
However, sad to say, it is the wizards who need this artifact set the least, since they generally have little problems with mana reserves (at least from mid-game onwards), though the +6 knowledge is important in that it indirectly increases the potency of the mini-artifacts
Rating: S (wizards) to A
Armor of Dwarven Kings (fortress)
Cuirass of the Dwarven Kings (Cuirass relic; 17500)
Greaves of the Dwarven Kings (Boots relic; 17000)
Helm of the Dwarven Kings (Helm relic; 17000)
Shield of the Dwarven Kings (Shield relic; 17000)
2 items bonus:
Grants additional 40% magic protection to all creatures.
In addition, runemages get 10% increase to spellpower (at least +1, applied last)
The magic protection is quite superb in that troops would receive another 60% multiplier to magical damage (remember that magic protection are multiplicative, not additive), which is crucial when facing heroes who like to cast word of light, curse of the netherworld or the high-level (and maybe empowered) destructive spells. Factions whose troops have no inherent magical resistance (such as haven) should aim for this bonus if possible if expected to face warlocks, wizards or necromancers.
The (absolute) increase in spellpower, however, seems minimal to me, even though runemages do have a tendency to develop spellpower (I don’t see a +1 to spellpower making a major difference). However, this does imply that they are well-poised to equip artifacts that increase spellpower, in a bid to get spellpower up to 20 and above.
Rating: S to A
All items bonus:
Casts “endurance” and “deflect missile” at expert level to all friendly creatures at the start of combat, spells lasting 10 turns.
Total net bonus: +4 attack, +8 defence, +4 knowledge, immunity to “implosion”, “slow”, “blind” and “frenzy” spells
If you think 40% magic proof is imba, wait till you see this; the spells “endurance” and “deflect missile” cast at expert level at the start of combat (works like master of abjuration with 10 spellpower), that amounts to combined magical protection AND physical protection. The magical protection aside, +12 defence and 70% reduction to ranged attacks mean that enemy melee troops are less menacing and ranged troops virtually (sort of) harmless. The defensive bonuses get even better for dwarven units, who already have good defences generally. Unless the enemy has vastly superior troops, it can forget about winning (unless they wait after 10 turns or cleanse/purge these two spells, which I hope it is possible, otherwise it gets totally broken).
Combined with the net bonus of the 4 relics, this artifact set seems to do well in countering destructive magic spellcasters, dark magic spellcasters and high-attack heroes, which means…warlocks and demonlords, and to a lesser extent, necromancers and other runemages. Unfortunately, it is not as effective against wizards (because generally wizards are better off NOT relying on dark or destructive magic), but still, this artifact set certainly deserves a very top-notch rating.
Rating: S
Will of Urgash (inferno)
Ring of the Broken Will (Ring major; 7000)
Helm of Chaos (Helm minor; 5500)
All items bonus:
Increases hero’s attack by +5.
For demonlords, gated troops summon 25% more creatures.
Total net bonus: +3 knowledge, -1 defence, -2 to enemy morale
Considering that the helm of chaos can be your starting bonus, it is not too difficult to get this set. With other artifacts in hand, the reduction in defence is not hard to overcome, and extra knowledge is not a bad thing. What’s more, reduction in enemy morale is a very helpful ability to get since you can hope for enemy troops to lose their turns and your troops strike harder later on.
The main issue arises when the set is equipped on the native demonlord. Sure attack and knowledge gets better (as if demonlords aren’t already good enough in these stats), but the already low defence takes another hit, meaning that the inferno troops are even more fragile. While the increased number of gated troops help to offset their defence reduction (and are better at the front lines), there is no such luxury for the real troops, which is what AI, and you the human player, goes after. Hoping for enemy troops freezing? If it occurs it is good, but there are many ways to counter a –2 morale on troops.
Henceforth, while this artifact set is alright for other heroes, it is surprisingly not as ideal for the native demonlords.
Rating: A to B or C (demonlords, depends on dependence on gating)
Runeforce (dungeon)
Runic War Axe (Weapon major; 10000)
Runic War Harness (Cuirass major; 10000)
All items bonus:
+1 attack, +1 defence, +1 spellpower, +1 knowledge.
Warlock’s “elemental vision” effect doubles.
Total net bonus: +2 attack, +2 defence, +2 spellpower, +2 knowledge (+3 to all with the set bonus included)
As I had mentioned before, both artifacts seem to be custom-made for dungeon warlocks, but even other heroes can make use of this set to buff up their stats (which is important, at least in early game). For warlocks, besides improving their somewhat-weak defence and knowledge, the set also allows their spells to inflict more elemental damage, which can be devastating with empowered spells.
This is a simple artifact set with not much frills, so I have not much to say as well, except that this set is decent to have, at least up to mid-game.
Rating: A (warlocks) to B
Death’s Embrace (necromancy)
Staff of the Netherworld (Weapon relic; 17000)
Cloak of Death’s Shadow (Cloak relic; 13000)
Amulet of Necromancy (Necklace relic; 7000)
Ring of the Unrepentant (Ring minor; 7000)
2 items bonus:
Decreases speed of all enemy creatures by 1.
In addition, necromancer’s ‘banshee howl” ability reduces enemy morale and luck by 2 and initiative by 20% and only move the hero 50% backwards along the ATB bar.
For just equipping 2 of the items, your enemy troops have less mobility, especially crucial against flyers/fast walkers who can reach your large creatures (liches, wights and upgrades, bone/spectral/ghost dragons) in one turn and weakening them. If your hero has the storm wind ability, it gets even better.
For necromancers, it also their banshee howl ability to be more powerful (or rather more cursing) and also removes the long-waiting (some racial skills like retaliation strike already only waste half of hero initiative) which is probably the main weakness of banshee howl. At least Deirdre is slightly more useful now (previously her speciality seemed like a joke as there is hardly any increase in effectiveness of the howl).
In all, this is a very good partial set to go for regardless of hero faction, especially when the ring of the unrepentant can be your starting bonus!
Rating: A
All items bonus:
Enemy creatures failing morale check have their attack and defence reduced by 20% until their next turn.
For necromancers, raising cost of undead creatures decreases by 25% (and cumulative with the amulet’s bonus)
Total net bonus: -2 morale, -2 luck, -20% initiative to enemy troops, -10% raising cost, immunity to “word of light” spell
If there is a title for “the darkest artifact combo”, this is it (almost hands down). It gives detrimental effects to enemy troops, and that is not even including the 2-item and all-item set bonuses (which includes ill effects to most aspects of creature fighting abilities). Better still, word of light (which is meant to combat undead and infernal creatures) becomes ineffective at all and the raising cost of undead creatures can be up to 35% lower (though this effect is only more obvious for high-tiered troops, you can calculate by yourselves). The morale check penalty, with some luck, could even TOTALLY disable the troops (they keep missing turns and having poor defence, so more easily eliminated). In the hands of a necromancer, this set becomes deadly.
Rating: S (necromancers) to A
Weapons of Might (stronghold)
Ogre Club (Weapon major; 85000)
Ogre Shield (Cuirass major; 85000)
All items bonus:
+3 attack, +2 hit-points (aka vitality ability)
Barbarian moves backward along the ATB bar 30% less than usual while attacking (including the use of powerful blow)
Total net bonus: +5 attack, +5 defence, -10% initiative
While the increase to attack and defence is awesome, it is the initiative drop that could be worrying. Since stronghold troops and their blood rage system are heavily based on attack, the inability to attack earlier (especially your strongest troop to crucially kill or weaken the enemy’s strongest troop) would mean a delay in gaining rage points and, more importantly, defence. The set bonus of attack and hit-points, though decent, seemed too miniscule to make up for this initiative deficit. It is only the barbarian’s sorcery-like bonus that helps somewhat, by getting the hero to act earlier and kill some troops, or use some warcries to increase rage points of troops.
If getting this set (barbarian or otherwise), it is advisable to get some initiative-increasing artifacts to at least nullify the initiative drop.
Rating: A (barbarians) to B
Vestment of Enlightenment
Scale Mail of Enlightenment (Cuirass major; 10000)
Turban of Enlightenment (Helm major; 6000)
All items bonus:
Increases hero’s gained experience (anywhere) by 15%
Total net bonus: +30% to experience gained (45% with the set bonus included)
Gaining experience is about the most crucial thing for your hero (apart from fighting enemies and neutrals and scouting) in order to develop him/her. This is where this artifact set becomes very handy. Even though they give no direct bonuses or abilities, the extra experience points, when accumulated, can be scary enough for the hero to gain levels faster than their peers or enemies, and I am not even mentioning Vinrael or other enlightenment heroes. Good in the early game for new heroes to quickly gain levels, or in the late game with high-level heroes who seem to take forever to gain a level (extra 45% experience from fighting enemy heroes or high-level guards is a lot), but I guess there will be detractors who scorn at such artifacts, since they do not directly help in adventuring or combat.
Rating: A to B
Power of Dragons
Before continuing, why do I put this at the last? Simply because it is the complicated (a whopping 8 artifacts required) and comprehensive artifact set (with bonuses for every even number of set components), with enough substance to generate an analysis of its own, so this portion will be quite lengthy. Be warned and be ready...
Dragon Flame Tongue (Weapon major; 14000)
Dragon Eye Ring (Ring major; 13000)
Dragon Scale Armor (Cuirass major; 10500)
Dragon Scale Shield (Shield major; 10500)
Dragon Bone Greaves (Boots major; 10500)
Dragon Wing Mantle (Cloak major; 10500)
Dragon Teeth Necklace (Necklace major; 10500)
Dragon Talon Crown (Helm major; 10500)
2 items bonus:
+1 attack, +1 defence, +1 spellpower, +1 knowledge
A simple gaining of stats, but nevertheless it is useful in the early game where heroes tend to have only 1 in their main stat (typically the stat that hardly increases with level-ups). If the dragon eye ring happened to be one of the items, it means at least a +2 increase for all four stats. If the map is artifact rich, try and go for this bonus in the early game.
Rating: A
4 items bonus:
+5 attack, +5 defence, +20 HP to tier-7 troops in hero’s army
In the early game, while tier-7 units are generally not in big numbers, this bonus helps to make them a bit stronger and more durable, and it is important, since AI does have a tendency to target small stacks of tier-6 or tier-7 troops, be it by troops or by casting nasty spells. As the game goes on, this bonus also becomes more pronounced for large stacks of tier-7 creatures, particularly for attack and defence, which allows the tier-7 units to go to the front-lines and really slaughter the enemy troops. Good to have (unless hero’s army has no tier-7 troops)
Rating: A
6 items bonus:
+3 attack, +3 defence, +3 spellpower, +3 knowledge (cumulative with the 2-item bonus to give +4 to all!)
This is where the set starts to show its true power, by buffing hero’s primary stats by a whooping +4. That allows creatures to deal more damage and be more durable, and hero’s spells become more powerful/damaging, in addition to extra 40 mana and +4 mana regeneration. This set bonus is not only good, it also gives rise to another equipping strategy. With the right artifacts for the two slots not taken up by the dragon artifacts, the hero’s primary stats can be buffed even further (more on that in my part 4, if I ever have the time to write).
Rating: S
All items bonus:
Reinforces hero’s army with one tier-7 unit per day (native town of hero, classical upgrade, then alternate upgrade, then base creature)
Total net bonus: +6 attack, +6 defence, +7 spellpower, +7 knowledge (with the set bonus it is +10, +10, +11, +11), +50% protection to cold-based spells, +10% initiative to war machines, +15% to 25% initiative to creatures depending on size and nature
If the +4 to all stats is powerful (and the net bonus of the artifacts is even more powerful), then the creature-giving bonus is where the dragon set rules, virtually giving a +7 growth to the tier-7 unit of the hero’s native town. The priority goes to classic upgrades, which for me is even better because I generally feel that for all tier-7 creatures, the alternate upgrades are generally not as useful as the classic upgrades, as I give my reasons below.
Haven: I prefer archangel’s resurrection and their immunity to weakness (ok, they can’t benefit from divine strength, but their immunity to weakness makes them better at fighting earth daughters)
Sylvan: A lot of people say crystal dragons are much better with their prismatic breath, which I do not fully agree. The ability is too chaotic, too luck-dependent (against sylvans, it is almost a given to equip luck-reducing artifacts, since rangers should get luck anyway) and can be “countered” by luring them to attack one of your lone units (which reduces effectiveness of prismatic breath)
Academy: How often will you face an enemy with a lot of ranged troops? While the storm titan’s ability can be useful at times (such as town defending), it has too many parameters to govern its effectiveness. Titan’s ability is simpler, more damaging and negates lightning protection.
Fortress: Their tier-7 unit is more like a tank, and it cannot be resurrected normally, so it needs all the defence and HP, though this is one town where I admit at both tier-7 upgrades are comparably good in different ways.
Inferno: Frankly, I don’t see the archdemon as good, for better defence, more HP and the teleport other ability it gives up initiative, speed and summon pit lords (which I find it nasty since it is possible to treat large stacks of imps and demons as cannon fodder and get them killed, and afaik the summoned pit lords stay after the battle).
Dungeon: How often does “incinerate” come into effect? For me it hardly happens since enemies should be smart enough to keep clear of the red dragons. Black dragons are better.
Necropolis: Both are weak creatures, with situations where their abilities can be useful. Sorrow is more potent, but cursing attack works more often.
Stronghold: I would go for bloodeyed cyclops, since I can’t really use the untamed cyclops well without hitting my own troops.
What is even more scary is that all the 8 artifacts are major artifacts, which means they can be bought at artifact merchants (literally buying your way to success) and it is entirely possible to get 2 dragon sets (on larger maps, that is)!
However, to allow the extra tier-7 creature, all 8 artifacts need to be equipped at the end of the previous day. This means that the hero cannot equip the boots of the swift journey (for more movement next turn) or more powerful helms that gives more knowledge (to get more mana when resting in a town with mage guild). Luckily pocket artifacts (which mostly give luck or adds resources) are not affected, so the skull of markal can still be equipped. Despite this shortcoming, it does not take away the fact that the dragon set (especially the complete set) is the most powerful.
Rating: S
I have come to the end of part 3 (as I had said, it won't be as long as part 2). I hope all of you like this analysis. Feel free to discuss, correct, add on as I find time to do my part 4.
____________
The queer part of the Carcity/Broadstrong/Zamfir[
/b] threeway, equipped with sailing, summon allies, spatial travel and supermover.
Many current projects on hand.
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Nebdar
Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
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posted October 26, 2008 09:20 AM |
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Edited by Nebdar at 09:22, 26 Oct 2008.
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Read all and like it
Oh and i didn't know of thta bonus to Necromancers for fully equpied Artifact Set:
Quote:
For necromancers, raising cost of undead creatures decreases by 25% (and cumulative with the amulets bonus)
I still mostly relay on informations from www.heroesofmightandmagic.com site then the fan manual, so thanks for info, if i knew that earlier i would always equpied all for 4 Artifacts then 2 of them.
Great work
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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted October 26, 2008 01:37 PM |
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I have a question about "Death’s Embrace".
It says the hero uses only 50% of his ATB when using it when having 2 items from this set.
However, I remember playing a duel with Deirdre in 3.0 and it used a FULL turn. I don't know if it got fixed in 3.1 or if it's just a duel bug, but can somebody please confirm if it uses 50% or 100% ATB?
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted October 26, 2008 01:45 PM |
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Lion’s Spirit is highly unlikely to gather before you get empathy However the most important question is if it stacks with empathy. If not then I'd rather only equip the helm, not that the others are bad when using retribution(which gets bonuses for above 5 morale) but there are a lot better artifacts out there. -2 morale isn't so important for me either.
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Archer’s Dream (sylvan)
This isn't for boosting the slower ones, quite the opposite. It's created to help with the quick ones with high morale, lightning fast volleys. For the record I'd say that academy benefits from it a lot more than sylvan. However it rocks with sylvan if you aim for a destructive build with imbue, it's like expert sorcery.
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Sar-Issus Regalia (academy)
Excellent just because 2 pieces give a hefty bonus. However does the 10% bonus for wizard and 4 pieces stack? Or the wizards just get the bonus earlier? And on the contrary, I'd say that it's the wizards that benefit most. +6 spellpower/knowledge is an insane boost and so is ignoring enemy resistance - if you have a dark build in any case. Also necros and warlocks for obvious reasons.
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Armor of Dwarven Kings (fortress)
Where did you get 60% multiplier?  And who cares about the spellpower considering the other things it gives you - though to gather this the map must be of epic side or overstuffed with utopias.
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Will of Urgash (inferno)
It's pretty good for a poor map give me 5 attack at the cost of 1 defense anyday. But in maps with more arties you usually have better things to do.
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Runeforce (dungeon)
Like the above really. I often use the axe, cool weapon
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Death’s Embrace (necromancy)
I don't know, I never saw banshee howl act faster with it. Best set against sylvan and secondarily orcs
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Weapons of Might (stronghold)
Only with Kragh and not necessarily for endgame. Not that I'd use it if I had enlightenment and sick stats but I'd rather have some init boost to be sure. Only native set that can prove more trouble than it is worth, at least it's relatively easy to get.
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Vestment of Enlightenment
Excellent You reap the benefits then sell it, thing is how early you get it. If you manage to have it in your first utopia week 2-3 then you rock 
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Power of Dragons
Not much to say, great at 4 pieces, certain victory at 8.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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broadstrong
Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
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posted October 26, 2008 03:43 PM |
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Finally, the overpowered (and under-rated) Elvin speaks...even the artifact-merchant-cum-craftsman seemed so ordinary ...looks like you can take over this title as well.
Lion's Spirit
Need somebody to test this out, though my guess is that there is no stacking (empathy is already powerful enough, no more need for "empowered" empathy).
Archer's Dream
Well said, especially on the part on expert sorcery.
Sar-Issus Regalia
I believe the wizard simply gets it earlier, though the manual description seems to indicate otherwise. Anyway, the thought of a wizard with expert sorcery and the full set moving 50% less along the ATB bar after casting spell is scary...not to mention it could be mass spells that only take half the initiative. I take it that such balance (or unbalance) issues are considered beforehand (though it is very unlikely so, see the AA).
Armor of Dwarven Kings
Protection is given by (100%-magic proof percentage), so 40% magic proof means a 60% (or 0.6) multiplier in the spell damage (thus reducing its damage further)
Yes, I am trying to imply that the extra spellpower is not useful, looks like my attempt at indirectness has failed terribly.
Will of Urgash
For most factions this is good, but demonlords do not need more attack, they need some defence for their (real) troops to stay longer...I would rather have a slower victory with fewer losses (then again, maybe this is not the way to play inferno troops).
Runeforce
At least the stats increase are more balanced, with some increase in defence and knowledge (which warlocks need, at least in early game).
Death's Embrace
No faster banshee howl...is it a bug then? If Yes, this is another change for the next version of the manual (and more bad news for Deirdre fans).
Weapons of Might
Don't see a reason to include the initiative penalty in the two items, which is damaging for stronghold troops, partly due to their blood rage system.
Vestment of Enlightenment
Why sell? Transfer to your next-in-line hero to help him/her level up quickly, and repeat, and repeat...
Power of Dragons
The top artifact set, without a doubt. With lots of money and lots of artifact merchants, it is even possible to buy the missing parts to get the set.
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The queer part of the Carcity/Broadstrong/Zamfir[
/b] threeway, equipped with sailing, summon allies, spatial travel and supermover.
Many current projects on hand.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted October 26, 2008 04:11 PM |
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Lol
Yeah I misunderstood your 60% reference, silly of me.
I'll have to disagree on the demonlords preferring defense, not when at least 2 units can attack first maybe with luck. Time runs against demonlords and your best bet is a swift overwhelming attack, unless the opponent is slow in killing you in which case you can swarm the battlefield with gates.
About weapons of might yes I hate it..
I don't use secondary heroes in other than scouting, picking things so Vestment of Enlightenment isn't that important after my hero has done his leveling. Btw.. I wonder if that boosts the experience you get from mentoring.
About the rest I'll probably have to look into it.
____________
H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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broadstrong
Promising
Known Hero
Level 20 Vassal of Light
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posted October 26, 2008 04:33 PM |
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@Elvin,
Indeed I was a bit jealous when I know that inferno has two fast-attack units, but cerberi/firehounds and nightmares/hell stallions seemed more like shock troops to me, to either weaken a stack or take up its retaliation. Then again, I am a haven player, so I will probably do badly when taking inferno...and don't forget I play XL maps (I am even thinking that XL maps are not large enough), so I need at least 3 to 4 high-lvl heroes.
I hope the mentoring experience does not increase, or it gets imba. Anyway mentoring experience gained is fixed, capped at 25% of the mentoring hero's total experience (though the enlightenment artifacts on teaching hero will increase his experience somewhat, which translates to more experience for the new hero also).
As I had promised, part 3 is not long (maybe too short for you?), so I hope you do not find it unreadable.
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The queer part of the Carcity/Broadstrong/Zamfir[
/b] threeway, equipped with sailing, summon allies, spatial travel and supermover.
Many current projects on hand.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted October 26, 2008 04:59 PM |
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Short for your standards I'd say It was easy to read since it's divided amongst the sets, long analyses tend to lose my interest after a while.
____________
H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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ebbafan
Promising
Famous Hero
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posted October 26, 2008 05:21 PM |
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good analysis although i wish you would add more situational info to it
empathy does not chain with lion's spirit(tested)
runeforce set bonus does not chain with warlock's "rage of the elements"(tested)
archer's dream set turns the ranger into a mass spell casting machine when combined with rain of arrows/imbued ballista and pendant of mastery
dwarven set: is it any surprise that this set is so awesome?
btw try this with helmar: he can cast mass haste and get mass righteous might, then can cast mass divine strength to have all 5 light buffs along with the eternal light perk in just 2 casts!
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Nebdar
Promising
Supreme Hero
Generation N
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posted October 26, 2008 05:35 PM |
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Quote:
I have a question about "Death�s Embrace".
It says the hero uses only 50% of his ATB when using it when having 2 items from this set.
However, I remember playing a duel with Deirdre in 3.0 and it used a FULL turn. I don't know if it got fixed in 3.1 or if it's just a duel bug, but can somebody please confirm if it uses 50% or 100% ATB?
Checked It uses 100% with 2 and 4 artifacts equiped
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Asheera
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Elite Assassin
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posted October 26, 2008 05:38 PM |
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Too bad. With that artifact set and Deirdre's specialty, Banshee's Howl would be better than a Mass spell like Mass Slow and it uses no mana
But now because of using 100% ATB things change.
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