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HHH HHH O F M I G H T A N D M A G I C I I I
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Heroes of Might and Magic III
Frequently Asked Questions
Version 1.3
Last Updated in 28/7/2003
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By Joseph Andro Artanto
E-Mail : [email protected]
Site : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
Special Thanks :
----------------
Note that all part of this faq are simply a part of a website:
http://www.astralwizard.com/
And I, admit and give my very special thanks to the webmaster:
Julia Skipper, AKA AngelA ([email protected])
Astral Wizard Website Ambassador
And their contributors in the respective website:
Sebastien Patenaude
Eonoak ([email protected])
Maneater ([email protected])
Etc.
Please visit http://www.astralwizard.com/ for more complete info about
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
This walktrough and future revisions of it can be found at :
- http://www.gamefaqs.com/
- http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
This document copyrighted 2000-2003 J. Andro Artanto
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Ia. DISCLAIMER
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Unpublished Work Copyright Joseph Andro Artanto 2000-2003.
This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced
in any way, shape or form (physical, electronically, or otherwise) aside
from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in
it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used
for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it)
or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial
transaction. It cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc.,
with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore
prohibited. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers,
editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business,
or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like. It
cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form of
printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically
mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference
or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author,
myself. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, Joseph Andro Artanto
([email protected]). All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged
and respected that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ.
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Ib. VERSION
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*Version 0.1 (12 October 1999)
The Initial release.
*Version 0.2 (21 October 1999)
Layout correction, the strategy guides for beginner and expert have
been there and many more minor corrections.
*Version 0.3 (23 October 1999)
A big update, completed all of the strategy guides for basic campaigns.
And an update in the beginner strategy guides. Minor corrections.
*Version 0.4 (29 October 1999)
Layout correction, some new strategy guides for beginner.
*Version 0.5 (28 November 1999)
Minor corrections. I have ICQ now, contact me in 55139575.
*Version 0.6 (26 December 1999)
The spell list is finally there now! Also, the logo has been created,
although it is pretty weird. More minor corrections.
*Version 0.7 (28 January 2000)
Updated the Expert Strategy Guides section (added the strategies for
Seeds of Discontents and Song for the Father scenarios). Minor
corrections. Layout corrections.
*Version 0.8 (15 April 2000)
Major layout corrections. Minor corrections.
*Version 0.9 (27 May 2000)
Creates the Skills section. Minor corrections.
*Version 1.0 (27 June 2000)
Expanding the Strategy Guides(Beginner) section. Minor corrections.
Creates the Author's Info section.
*Version 1.1 (26 Nov 2000)
Nothing. A complain reached me and I have given my special thanks!
Please visit http://www.astralwizard.com/ for more info about the
game!
*Version 1.2 (7 July 2002)
Nothing. Honest :)
*Version 1.3 (28/7/2003)
E-mail changed.
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Ic. CONTENTS
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I. VERSIONS/CONTENTS
II. GAME SYSTEM
III. SPECIAL PLACES LIST
IV. BUILDING LIST
V. ARMY LIST
VI. SPELL LIST
VII. ARTIFACT LIST
VIII. SKILL LIST
IX. STRATEGY GUIDES (BEGINNER)
a. Hints and Tips
b. Adventuring Advices
c. Guide for beginner
X. STRATEGY GUIDES (EXPERT) -} Guides for campaigns
1.Liberation
2.Long Live the Queen
3.Dungeons and Devils
4.Spoils of War
5.Long Live the King
6.Seeds of Discontent
7.Song for the Father
XI. DISCLAIMER
XII. AUTHOR'S INFO
XIII. CREDITS
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II. GAME SYSTEM
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There are not many changes in Heroes III, compared with Heroes II, this
game provides seems to be unlimited variations. The win or lose system
is changed slightly, you not only have to do some artifact hunting, but
you also must do some creatures obtain or defeat mission. You also can
bring some artifact to a town for a victory. There, you have unlimited
things on your mind to make a great map. Well, its true in Heroes III
you can edit your map, as usual. The campaigns also has changed, it is
consist a lot of campaigns, from the knight style mission to some
devilish plan. Heroes III also have multiplayer type, same as Heroes II,
some hot seat and internet/modem/network multiplayer type is also there.
Also, the ultimate artifact things has been deleted, exchanged with the
Grail event, it is different, it is not an artifact, but seems to be
some material needed to create a building that give you awesome
advantage.
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III. SPECIAL PLACES LIST
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This list is only available in the world map of Heroes III, for troops
or town buildings info, see below. Some objects are only in certain
terrains (although if the creator want it that way, it can be) and some
can be placed in any terrain.
--Dirt Objects--
*Abandoned Mines: Fight a horde of Troglodytes to get a gold mine.
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Water Wheel: Week1 gives 500 gold,each subsequent week gives 1000 gold.
*Colosseum: Give you a choice to +2 defense or attack skill.
*Lake of Scarlet Swan: +2 luck until the next battle, lose movement.
*Fountain of Fortune: -1 to +3 luck until next battle.
*Faerie Ring: +1 luck until next battle.
*Mystical Garden: 50-50 to get 500 gold or 5 gems,recovered each week.
*Fountain of Youth: +1 morale until next battle, +4 movement.
*Crypt: Random fight monster to get gold or/and artifact. -1 morale if
the guardians already defeated.
*Hill Fort: Upgrade base grade creatures.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Trading Post: Trade resources in the rate of 3 marketplaces.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
*Stables: +6 movement and upgrade cavaliers to champions.
*Tree of Knowledge: pay/not gold/gems to earn a level.
*Magic Well: Replenishes spell points.
--Sand Objects--
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Campfire: +400-600 gold, +4-6 resource other than gold.
*Crypt: Random fight monster to get gold or/and artifact. -1 morale if
the guardians already defeated.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Oasis: +1 morale until the next battle, +8 movement.
*Pyramid: Defeat 40 gold golems and 20 diamond golems to get random 5th
level spell. If the guardians have been defeated, luck -2.
*Skeleton: Sometimes (20%) get random artifact.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
--Grass Objects--
*Abandoned Mines: Fight a horde of Troglodytes to get a gold mine.
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Water Wheel: Week1 gives 500 gold,each subsequent week gives 1000 gold.
*Colosseum: Give you a choice to +2 defense or attack skill.
*Lake of Scarlet Swan: +2 luck until the next battle, lose movement.
*Fountain of Fortune: -1 to +3 luck until next battle.
*Faerie Ring: +1 luck until next battle.
*Mystical Garden: 50-50 to get 500 gold or 5 gems,recovered each week.
*Fountain of Youth: +1 morale until next battle, +4 movement.
*Crypt: Random fight monster to get gold or/and artifact. -1 morale if
the guardians already defeated.
*Hill Fort: Upgrade base grade creatures.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Trading Post: Trade resources in the rate of 3 marketplaces.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
*Stables: +6 movement and upgrade cavaliers to champions.
*Tree of Knowledge: pay/not gold/gems to earn a level.
*Magic Well: Replenishes spell points.
--Snow Objects--
*Lean-To: +1-4 resources other than gold.
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Windmill: +3-6 resources other than wood and gold.
*Water Wheel: Week1 gives 500 gold,each subsequent week gives 1000 gold.
*Campfire: +400-600 gold, +4-6 resource other than gold.
*Crypt: Random fight monster to get gold or/and artifact. -1 morale if
the guardians already defeated.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Redwood Observatory: Reveals unmapped area 20 tiles from the
observatory.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
*Magic Well: Replenishes spell points.
--Swamp Objects--
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Water Wheel: Week1 gives 500 gold,each subsequent week gives 1000 gold.
*Lake of Scarlet Swan: +2 luck until the next battle, lose movement.
*Fountain of Fortune: -1 to +3 luck until next battle.
*Faerie Ring: +1 luck until next battle.
*Mystical Garden: 50-50 to get 500 gold or 5 gems,recovered each week.
*Fountain of Youth: +1 morale until next battle, +4 movement.
*Crypt: Random fight monster to get gold or/and artifact. -1 morale if
the guardians already defeated.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
*Magic Well: Replenishes spell points.
--Rough Objects--
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Wagon: Sometimes give you an artifact or gold.
*Magic Spring: Doubles and replenishes your spell points.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of grail map.
*Trading Post: Trade resources in the rate of 3 marketplaces.
*Skeleton: Sometimes (20%) get random artifact.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
*Stables: +6 movement and upgrade cavaliers to champions.
*Watering Hole: +1 Morale until next battle, +4 movement.
--Subterranean Objects--
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Campfire: +400-600 gold, +4-6 resource other than gold.
*Cartographer: Your choice to reveal all unmapped area of land or ocean
or the underworld.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of puzzle map.
*Pillar of Fire: Reveals unmapped area 20tiles from the pillar.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
--Lava Objects--
*Alchemist Lab: Give you 1 mercury/day
*Crystal Cave: Give you 1 crystal/day
*Gem Pond: Provides 1 gem/day
*Gold Mine: Provides 1000 gold/day
*Ore Pit: Provides 2 ore/day
*Sawmill: Provides 2 wood/day
*Sulfur Dune: Provides 1 sulfur/day
*Campfire: +400-600 gold, +4-6 resource other than gold.
*Obelisk: Reveals portion of puzzle map.
*Sign: Display a customizable message.
--Water Objects--
*Derelict Ship: Fight some water elementals for gold /and artifact.
*Flotsam: Sometimes give you woods and gold.
*Shipwreck Survivor: Give you 1 random artifact.
*Shipwreck: Fight some Wights to get gold /and artifact.
*Buoy: +1 morale until the next battle.
*Boat: used as a transport over the water.
*Ocean Bottle: same as sign, but on water.
*Sea Chest: Give you some gold /and artifact if your backpack isnt full.
*Cartographer: Your choice to reveal all unmapped area of land or ocean
or the underworld.
*Mermaids: +1 luck until the next battle.
*Sirens: Lose 30% of each army,gain 1 exp per hp for the lost creatures.
*Whirlpool: teleport the hero to another whirlpool with the cost of 50%
of the weakest army of the hero.
--All Terrain Objects--
*Guardhouse
Pikeman dwelling.
*Archers Tower
Archer dwelling.
*Griffin Tower
Griffin dwelling.
*Barrack
Swordman dwelling.
*Monastery
Monk dwelling.
*Training Ground
Cavalier dwelling.
*Portal of Glory
Angel dwelling.
*Centaur Stable
Centaur dwelling.
*Dwarf Cottage
Dwarf dwelling.
*Homestead
Wood Elf Dwelling.
*Enchanted Spring
Pegasus dwelling.
*Dendroid Arches
Dendroid Guard dwelling.
*Unicorn Glade
Unicorn dwelling.
*Dragon Cliffs
Green Dragon dwelling.
*Workshop
Gremlin dwelling.
*Parapet
Stone Gargoyle dwelling.
*Golem Factory
Stone, Iron, Gold, and Diamond Golem dwelling.
Flag for +1 Stone/Iron Golem generation in Tower towns.
*Mage Tower
Mage dwelling.
*Altar of Wishes
Genie dwelling.
*Golden Pavillion
Naga dwelling.
*Cloud Temple
Giant dwelling.
*Imp Crucible
Imp dwelling.
*Hall of Sins
Gog dwelling.
*Kennels
Hell Hound dwelling.
*Demon Gate
Demon dwelling.
*Hell Hole
Pit Fiend dwelling.
*Fire Lake
Efreet dwelling.
*Forsaken Palace
Devil dwelling.
*Cursed Temple
Skeleton dwelling.
*Graveyard
Walking Dead dwelling.
*Tomb of Souls
Wight dwelling.
*Estate
Vampire dwelling.
*Mausoleum
Lich dwelling.
*Hall of Darkness
Black Knight dwelling.
*Dragon Vault
Bone Dragon dwelling.
*Warren
Troglodyte dwelling.
*Harpy Loft
Harpy dwelling.
*Pillar of Eyes
Beholder dwelling.
*Chapel of Stilled Voices
Medusa dwelling.
*Labyrinth
Minotaur dwelling.
*Manticore Lair
Manticore dwelling.
*Dragon Cave
Red Dragon dwelling.
*Goblin Barracks
Goblin dwelling.
*Wolf Pen
Wolf Rider dwelling.
*Orc Tower
Orc dwelling.
*Ogre Fort
Ogre dwelling.
*Cliff Nest
Roc dwelling.
*Cyclops Cave
Cyclops dwellling.
*Behemoth Crag
Behemoth dwelling.
*Gnoll Hut
Gnoll dwelling.
*Lizard Den
Lizardman dwelling.
*Serpent Fly Hive
Serpent Fly dwelling.
*Basilisk Pit
Basilisk dwellling.
*Gorgon Lair
Gorgon dwelling.
*Wyvern Nest
Wyvern dwelling.
*Hydra Pond
Hydra dwelling.
*Elemental Conflux
Dwelling for Air, Earth, Fire and Water elementals.
*Air Elemental Conflux
Air Elemental dwelling.
*Earth Elemental Conflux
Earth Elemental dwelling.
*Fire Elemental Conflux
Fire Elemental dwelling.
*Water Elemental Conflux
Water Elemental dwelling.
*War Machine Factory
Purchase any of the three war machines.
*Refugee Camp
Random creature type available for recruiting every 7 days.
*Windmill
+03-06 of any random resource other than Wood or Gold.
*Star Axis
Hero receives +1 Power.
*Garden of Revelation
+1 Knowledge
*Learning Stone
+1000 experience points.
*Idol of Fortune
+1 Luck until the next battle, on odd days of the week not Day7.
+1 Morale until next battle, on even days of the week.
+1 Luck and Morale until next battle, on Day7.
*Library of Enlightenment
Possibly gives visiting hero +2 Attack, +2 Defense, +2 Power, +2
Knowledge.
*Marletto Tower
+1 Defense
*Mercenary Camp
Hero receives +1 Attack.
*School of Magic
Pay 1000 gold to increase the Power or Knowledge of your hero by +1.
*University
Pay 2000g for a 'new' Secondary Skill.
*Temple
+1 Morale until next battle.
+2 Morale until next battle, on Day 7.
*Dragon Utopia
30% Fight 8 Green Dragons, 5 Red Dragons, 2 Gold Dragons, and 1 Black
Dragons for 20kgold and 1 Treasure Artifact, 1 Minor Artifact,1
Major Artifact, and 1 Relic Artifact.
30% Fight 8 Green Dragons, 6 Red Dragons, 3 Gold Dragons, and 2 Black
Dragons for 30kgold and 1 Minor Artifact, 1 Major Artifact, and 2 Relic
Artifacts.
30% Fight 8 Green Dragons, 6 Red Dragons, 4 Gold Dragons, and 3 Black
Dragons for 40kgold and 1 Major Artifact, and 3 Relic Artifacts.
10% Fight 8 Green Dragons, 7 Red Dragons, 6 Gold Dragons, and 5 Black
Dragons for 50kgold and 4 Relic Artifacts.
*School of War
Pay 1000 gold to increase the Attack or Defense of the hero by 1.
*Witch Hut
Random Secondary Skill other than Leadership or Necromancy.
*Subterranean Gate
Entering the Subterranean Gate leads to the Underground Map, if any.
*Altar of Sacrifice
Castle,Rampart,and Tower heroes may sacrifice artifacts for exp.
Inferno,Necropolis,and Dungeon heroes may sacrifice creatures for exp.
Stronghold,Fortress heroes may sacrifice art/creatures for exp.
*Cyclops Stockpile
30% Fight 20 Cyclops for 4 of each resource.
30% Fight 30 Cyclops for 6 of each resource.
30% Fight 40 Cyclops for 8 of each resource.
10% Fight 50 Cyclops for 10 of each resource.
*Dwarven Treasury
30% Fight 50 Dwarves for 2500 gold and 2 Crystal.
30% Fight 75 Dwarves for 4000 gold and 3 Crystal.
30% Fight 100 Dwarves for 5000 gold and 5 Crystal.
10% Fight 150 Dwarves for 7500 gold and 10 Crystal.
*Griffin Conservatory
30% Fight 40 Griffins to receive 2 Angel into your army's ranks.
30% Fight 60 Griffins to receive 3 Angel into your army's ranks.
30% Fight 80 Griffins to receive 4 Angel into your army's ranks.
10% Fight 100 Griffins to receive 5 Angel into your army's ranks.
*Imp Cache
30% Fight 100 Imps for 1000 gold and 2 mercury.
30% Fight 150 Imps for 1500 gold and 3 mercury.
30% Fight 200 Imps for 2000 gold and 4 mercury.
10% Fight 300 Imps for 5000 gold and 6 mercury.
*Medusa Stores
30% Fight 20 Medusa for 2kgold and 5 sulfur.
30% Fight 30 Medusa for 3kgold and 6 sulfur.
30% Fight 40 Medusa for 4kgold and 8 sulfur.
10% Fight 50 Medusa for 5kgold and 10 sulfur.
*Naga Bank
30% Fight 10 Nagas for 4kgold and 8 gems.
30% Fight 15 Nagas for 6kgold and 12 gems.
30% Fight 20 Nagas for 8kgold and 16 gems.
10% Fight 30 Nagas for 12kgold and 24 gems.
*Dragon Fly Hive
30% Fight 30 Dragonflies to receive 4 Wvyerns into your army's ranks.
30% Fight 45 Dragonflies to receive 6 Wvyerns into your army's ranks.
30% Fight 60 Dragonflies to receive 8 Wvyerns into your army's ranks.
10% Fight 90 Dragonflies to receive 12 Wvyerns into your army's ranks.
*Campfire
+400-600 gold. +4-6 random resource other than gold.
*Cover of Darkness
Regenerates the shroud for enemy heroes, for a 20 tile radius.
*Den of Thieves
Gives complete thieves guild information.
*Eye of the Magi
Not interactive, Eyes of the Magi illuminate shrouded areas when a hero
visits a Hut of the Magi.
*Hut of the Magi
Visiting a Hut of the Magi illuminates locations around an Eye.
*Shrine of Magic Incantation
Learn level 1 spell.
*Shrine of Magic Gesture
Learn level 2 spell.
*Shrine of Magic Thought
Learn random level 3 spell.
*Lighthouse
+5 Sea mobility for your ships for each lighthouse you own.
*Cartographer
There are three different cartographers: land, ocean, or underworld.
A Hero pays 1000 gold to remove the shroud from the land, ocean, or
underworld.
*Black Market
Artifacts may be purchased at the Black Market.
*Monolith One Way Entrance
Teleports hero one way to a specific map location.
*Monolith One Way Exit
Exit point for a hero teleporting through a one way entrance.
*Monolith Two Way
Teleports a hero to another two way monolith, with the ability to
return to the gate of origin.
*Garrison
Location for storing troops at a choke point.
*Anti-magic Garrison
Location for storing troops at a choke point.
Spells cannot be cast in combat.
*Border Guard
Usually placed at choke points, a hero must visit a Keymaster's tent of
associated color for the password.
*Keymaster's Tent
For a hero to pass a Border Guard, the hero must visit the Keymaster's
tent of the associated color.
*Cursed Ground
No spells can be cast while on Cursed Ground.
In combat native terrain, luck, and morale have no effect.
*Magic Plains
All Adventure and Combat spells are cast at Expert proficiency.
*Prison
Free a specific hero. Joins you for free.
*Redwood Observatory
Shroud is removed from all tiles within 20 tiles of the Observatory.
*Rally Flag
+1 Luck. +1 Morale until the next battle.
+4 adventure movement until the end of the day.
*Sanctuary
Hero residing here cannot be attacked.
*Scholar
Learn 1 spell, one secondary skill, or one primary skill.
*Scholar then disappears.
Seer's Hut
*Heroes may complete a Seer's Quest for a reward.
Map Makers must specify the quest.
*Shipyard
Purchase a ship.
*Warrior's Tomb
Ransack grave for 1 random artifact and -3 morale.
30% Treasure Artifact.
50% Minor Artifact
15% Major Artifact
05% Relic Artifact
*Tavern
Recruit heroes. Listen to rumors.
*Magic Well
Replenishes spell points.
*Event
Events are user created experiences. Events placed on the map can only
be triggered by heroes.
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IV. BUILDING LIST
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--Castle--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides ballistas.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Shipyard: Allow you to purchases ship.
*Colossus (Grail building): +50% generation, +5000/day, +2 morale to
all friendly heroes.
*Guardhouse: Pikemen/Halberdier dwelling.
*Archer Tower: Archer/Marksman dwelling.
*Griffin Tower: Griffin/Royal Griffin dwelling.
*Monastery: Monk/Zealot dwelling.
*Training Ground: Cavalier/Champion dwelling.
*Portal of Glory: Angel/Archangel dwelling.
--Rampart--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides First Aid Tents.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4,5): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Spirit Guardian (Grail building): +50% generation, +5000 gold/day,
+2 luck to all friendly heroes.
*Mystic Pond: Produces a small number of random resources/week.
*Centaur Stables: Centaur/Centaur Captain dwelling.
*Dwarf Cottage: Dwarf/Battle Dwarf dwelling.
*Homestead: Wood Elf/Grand Elf dwelling.
*Enchanted Spring: Pegasi/Silver Pegasus dwelling.
*Dendroid Arches: Dendroid Guards dwelling.
*Dragon Cliff: Green Dragon/Gold Dragon dwelling.
--Tower--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides Ammo Cart.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4,5): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Skyship (Grail Building): +50% generation, +5000 gold/day, reveals
entire world map, +15 knowledge to any hero in town only(temporary)
*Workshop: Gremlin/Master Gremlin dwelling.
*Parapet: Stone Gargoyle/Obsidian Gargoyle dwelling.
*Golem Factory: Golems dwelling.
*Mage Tower: Mage/Archmage dwelling.
*Altar of Wishes: Genie/Master Genie dwelling.
*Golden Pavilion: Naga/Naga Queen dwelling.
*Cloud Temple: Giant/Titan dwelling.
--Dungeon--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides Ballistas.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4,5): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Guardian of Earth (GB): +50% generation,+5000 gold/day,+12 spell power
to hero in town only (temporary).
*Portal of Summoning: Recruit creatures from an externally flagged
dwelling.
*Battle Scholar Academy: +1000 exp to any visiting hero once.
*Warren: Troglodytes dwelling.
*Harpy Loft: Harpy/Harpy Hag dwelling.
*Pillar of Eyes: Beholders dwelling.
*Chapel of Stilled Voices: Medusa/Medusa Queen dwelling.
*Labyrinth: Minatour/Minatour King dwelling.
*Manticore Lair: Manticore/Scorpicore dwelling.
*Dragon Cave: Red Dragon/Black Dragon.
--Inferno--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides Ammo Cart.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4,5): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Deity of Fire (GB): +50% generation,+5000 gold/day,every week hereafter
will be a week of Imp.
*Imp Crucible: Imp dwelling.
*Hall of Sins: Gog/Magog dwelling.
*Kennels: Hell Hound/Cerberi dwelling.
*Demon Gate: Demon/Horned Demon dwelling.
*Hell Hole: Pit Fiend/Pit Lord dwelling.
*Fire Lake: Efreet/Efreet Sultan dwelling.
*Forsaken Palace: Devil/Archdevil dwelling.
--Stronghold--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides Ammo Cart.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Warlord's Monument(GB): +50% generation, +5000 gold/day, +20 attack
power to any hero in the town (temporary).
*Hall of Valhalla: Increases attack by 1 once to a hero.
*Goblin Barracks: Goblin dwelling.
*Orc Tower: Orc/Orc Chief dwelling.
*Ogre Fort: Ogre/Ogre Mage dwelling.
*Cliff Nest: Roc/Thunderbird dwelling.
*Cyclops Cave: Cyclops dwelling.
*Behemoth Lair: Behemoth dwelling.
--Necropolis--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides First Aid Tent.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4,5): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Shipyard: Purchases ship.
*Soul Prison(GB): +50%generation,+5000 gold/day,+20% necromancy skill of
all friendly heroes.
*Cursed Temple: Skeleton dwelling.
*Graveyard: Walking Dead dwelling.
*Tomb of Souls: Wight dwelling.
*Estate: Vampire dwelling.
*Hall of Darkness: Black Knight/Dread Knight dwelling.
*Dragon Vault: Bone Dragon/Ghost Dragon dwelling.
--Fortress--
*Town Hall: Purchase town and earns your kingdom 1000/day.
*Fort: Provides defensive wall, upg.to Citadel (give you archer tower)
*Tavern: Rumor, Hiring heroes, increases morale for troops in garrison.
*Blacksmith: Provides First Aid Tent.
*Marketplace: Trade resources.
*Mage Guild (1,2,3,4): Allow the visiting hero to kept the spells.
*Shipyard: Purchases boat.
*Carnivorous Plant(GB): +50% generation, +5000 gold/day, +10 attack and
defense skill for hero in town (temporary).
*Cage of Warlords: +1 defense to visiting hero once.
*Gnoll Hut: Gnoll dwelling.
*Lizard Den: Lizardmen dwelling.
*Serpent Fly Hive: Serpent Fly/Dragon Fly dwelling.
*Basilisk Pit: Basilisk/Greater Basilisk dwelling.
*Gorgon Lair: Gorgon/Mighty Gorgon dwelling.
*Wyvern Nest: Wyvern/Wyvern Monarch dwelling.
*Hydra Pond: Hydra/Chaos Hydra dwelling.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
V. ARMY LIST
}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
_____________
/Castle Armies\_________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Pikeman
Cost: 60
HP: 10
Attack: 4
Defense: 5
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Halberdier (Upg.Pikeman)
Cost: 75
HP: 10
Attack: 6
Defense: 5
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Archer
Cost: 100
HP: 10
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: none
*Marksman (Upg.Archer)
Cost: 150
HP: 10
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: 2 shots per attack
*Griffin
Cost: 200
HP: 25
Attack: 8
Defense: 8
Damage: 3-6
Speed: 6
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Counterattack against 2 attacker
*Royal Griffin (Upg.Griffin)
Cost: 240
HP: 25
Attack: 9
Defense: 9
Damage: 3-6
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Counterattack against unlimited attackers
*Swordman
Cost: 300
HP: 35
Attack: 10
Defense: 12
Damage: 6-9
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Crusader (Upg.Swordman)
Cost: 400
HP: 35
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Damage: 7-10
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 2 blows per attack
*Monk
Cost: 400
HP: 30
Attack: 12
Defense: 7
Damage: 10-12
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: none
*Zealot
Cost: 400
HP: 50
Attack: 12
Defense: 10
Damage: 10-12
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: No melee attack penalty
*Cavalier
Cost: 1000
HP: 100
Attack: 15
Defense: 15
Damage: 15-25
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Extra damage (+5% per hex traveled in battle)
*Champion (Upg.Cavalier)
Cost: 1200
HP: 100
Attack: 16
Defense: 16
Damage: 20-25
Speed: 9
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Extra damage (+5% per hex traveled in battle)
*Angel
Cost: 3000
HP: 200
Attack: 20
Defense: 20
Damage: 50
Speed: 12
Fly: yes
Shots: no
Specials: +50% damage if attacking devil/archdevil
*Archangel (Upg.Angel)
Cost: 5000
HP: 250
Attack: 30
Defense: 30
Damage: 50
Speed: 18
Fly: yes
Shots: no
Specials: Same as Angel, plus can resurrect dead allies in combat.
______________
/Rampart Armies\________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Centaur
Cost: 70
HP: 8
Attack: 5
Defense: 3
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Centaur Captain (Upg.Centaur)
Cost: 90
HP: 10
Attack: 6
Defense: 3
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 8
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Dwarf
Cost: 120
HP: 20
Attack: 6
Defense: 7
Damage: 2-4
Speed: 3
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% magic resistance
*Battle Dwarf (Upg.Dwarf)
Cost: 150
HP: 20
Attack: 7
Defense: 7
Damage: 2-4
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 40% magic resistance
*Wood Elf
Cost: 200
HP: 15
Attack: 9
Defense: 5
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: none
*Grand Elf
Cost: 225
HP: 15
Attack: 9
Defense: 5
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: 2 shots per attack
*Pegasus
Cost: 250
HP: 30
Attack: 9
Defense: 8
Damage: 5-9
Speed: 8
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Enemy spellcasters pay extra 2 pts per spell
*Silver Pegasi (Upg.Pegasus)
Cost: 275
HP: 30
Attack: 9
Defense: 10
Damage: 5-9
Speed: 12
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Enemy spellcasters pay extra 2 pts per spell
*Dendroid Guard
Cost: 350
HP: 55
Attack: 9
Defense: 12
Damage: 10-14
Speed: 3
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Attacked units are stuck in place
*Dendroid Soldier (Upg.Dendroid Guard)
Cost: 425
HP: 65
Attack: 9
Defense: 12
Damage: 10-14
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Dendroid Guard
*Unicorn
Cost: 850
HP: 90
Attack: 15
Defense: 14
Damage: 18-22
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of blinding opponent, 20% magic resistance.
*War Unicorn (Upg.Unicorn)
Cost: 950
HP: 110
Attack: 15
Defense: 14
Damage: 18-22
Speed: 9
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Unicorn
*Green Dragon
Cost: 2400 + 1 Crystal
HP: 180
Attack: 18
Defense: 18
Damage: 40-50
Speed: 10
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to spells below 4th level
*Gold Dragon
Cost: 4000 + 2 Crystal
HP: 250
Attack: 27
Defense: 27
Damage: 40-50
Speed: 16
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to spells below 5th level
_________________
/Stronghold Armies\_____________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Goblin
Cost: 40
HP: 5
Attack: 4
Defense: 2
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Hobgoblin (Upg.Goblin)
Cost: 50
HP: 5
Attack: 5
Defense: 3
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Wolf Rider
Cost: 140
HP: 10
Attack: 7
Defense: 5
Damage: 2-4
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Wolf Raider (Upg.Wolf Rider)
Cost: 150
HP: 10
Attack: 8
Defense: 5
Damage: 3-4
Speed: 8
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 2 blows per attack
*Orc
Cost: 150
HP: 15
Attack: 8
Defense: 4
Damage: 2-5
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: none
*Orc Chief (Upg.Orc)
Cost: 165
HP: 20
Attack: 8
Defense: 4
Damage: 2-5
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: none
*Ogre
Cost: 300
HP: 40
Attack: 13
Defense: 7
Damage: 6-12
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Ogre Mage
Cost: 400
HP: 60
Attack: 13
Defense: 7
Damage: 6-12
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Can cast Bloodlust on allies, 1pt
*Roc
Cost: 600
HP: 60
Attack: 13
Defense: 11
Damage: 11-15
Speed: 7
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Thunderbird (Upg.Roc)
Cost: 700
HP: 60
Attack: 13
Defense: 11
Damage: 11-15
Speed: 11
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of additional damage (10x #birds)
*Cyclops
Cost: 750
HP: 70
Attack: 15
Defense: 12
Damage: 16-20
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 16
Specials: Can attack siege walls at basic ballistic skill
*Cyclops King (Upg.Cyclops)
Cost: 1100
HP: 70
Attack: 17
Defense: 13
Damage: 16-20
Speed: 8
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: Can attack siege walls at advanced ballistic skill
*Behemoth
Cost: 1500
HP: 160
Attack: 17
Defense: 17
Damage: 30-50
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: attack can reduces target defense by 40%
*Ancient Behemoth
Cost: 3000 + 1 Crystal
HP: 300
Attack: 19
Defense: 19
Damage: 30-50
Speed: 9
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: attack can reduce target defense by 80%
____________
/Tower Armies\__________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Gremlin
Cost: 30
HP: 4
Attack: 3
Defense: 3
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Master Gremlin (Upg.Gremlin)
Cost: 40
HP: 4
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 8
Specials: none
*Stone Gargoyle
Cost: 130
HP: 16
Attack: 6
Defense: 6
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 6
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Obsidian Gargoyle (Upg.Stone Gargoyle)
Cost: 160
HP: 16
Attack: 7
Defense: 7
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Stone Golem
Cost: 150
HP: 30
Attack: 7
Defense: 10
Damage: 4-5
Speed: 3
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 1/2 damage from spell attacks
*Iron Golem
Cost: 200
HP: 35
Attack: 9
Defense: 10
Damage: 4-5
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 1/4 damage from spell attacks
*Mage
Cost: 350
HP: 25
Attack: 11
Defense: 8
Damage: 7-9
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: No melee attack penalty, reduce spell cost by 2pt
*ArchMage (Upg.Mage)
Cost: 450
HP: 30
Attack: 12
Defense: 9
Damage: 7-9
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Mage, plus can penetrate cover and walls
*Genie
Cost: 550
HP: 40
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Damage: 13-16
Speed: 7
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: +50% damage to Efreet
*Master Genie
Cost: 600
HP: 40
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Damage: 13-16
Speed: 11
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: +50% damage to Efreet,can cast random spell on allies
*Naga
Cost: 1100
HP: 110
Attack: 16
Defense: 13
Damage: 20
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Attacked units cant retaliate
*Naga Queen (Upg.Naga)
Cost: 1600
HP: 110
Attack: 16
Defense: 13
Damage: 30
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Attacked units cant retaliate
*Giant
Cost: 2000 + 1 Gem
HP: 150
Attack: 19
Defense: 16
Damage: 40-60
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to mind spells
*Titan (Upg.Giant)
Cost: 5000 + 2 gems
HP: 300
Attack: 24
Defense: 24
Damage: 40-60
Speed: 11
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: Immune to mind spells, +50% damage to black dragon, no melee
penalty
______________
/Dungeon Armies\________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Troglodyte
Cost: 50
HP: 5
Attack: 4
Defense: 3
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Poor morale, immune to blinding
*Infernal Troglodyte (Upg.Troglodyte)
Cost: 65
HP: 6
Attack: 5
Defense: 4
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Poor morale, immune to blinding
*Harpy
Cost: 130
HP: 14
Attack: 6
Defense: 5
Damage: 1-4
Speed: 6
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Attack returns them to hex they started on
*Harpy Hag (Upg.Harpy)
Cost: 170
HP: 14
Attack: 6
Defense: 6
Damage: 1-4
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Harpy, attacked units cant retaliate
*Beholder
Cost: 250
HP: 22
Attack: 9
Defense: 7
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: Close up, attack for equal damage using tentacles
*Evil Eye (Upg.Beholder)
Cost: 280
HP: 22
Attack: 10
Defense: 8
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: Close up, attack for equal damage using tentacles
*Medusa
Cost: 300
HP: 25
Attack: 9
Defense: 9
Damage: 6-8
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 4
Specials: No melee penalty, melee attack has 20% chance to petrify
*Medusa Queen (Upg.Medusa)
Cost: 330
HP: 30
Attack: 10
Defense: 10
Damage: 6-8
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 8
Specials: No melee penalty, melee attack has 20% chance to petrify
*Minotaur
Cost: 500
HP: 50
Attack: 14
Defense: 12
Damage: 12-20
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Good Morale
*Minatour King (Upg.Minatour)
Cost: 575
HP: 50
Attack: 15
Defense: 15
Damage: 12-20
Speed: 8
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Good morale
*Manticore
Cost: 850
HP: 80
Attack: 15
Defense: 13
Damage: 14-20
Speed: 7
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Scorpicore (Upg.Manticore)
Cost: 1050
HP: 80
Attack: 16
Defense: 14
Damage: 14-20
Speed: 11
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance to paralyze
*Red Dragon
Cost: 2500 + 1 Sulfur
HP: 180
Attack: 19
Defense: 19
Damage: 40-50
Speed: 11
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to spells below level 4
*Black Dragon (Upg.Red Dragon)
Cost: 4000 + 2 Sulfur
HP: 300
Attack: 25
Defense: 25
Damage: 40-50
Speed: 15
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to all spells, +50% damage to Giant/Titan
_______________
/Fortress Armies\_______________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Gnoll
Cost: 50
HP: 6
Attack: 3
Defense: 5
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Gnoll Marauder (Upg.Gnoll)
Cost: 70
HP: 6
Attack: 4
Defense: 6
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Lizardman
Cost: 110
HP: 12
Attack: 5
Defense: 6
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: none
*Lizard Warrior (Upg Lizardman)
Cost: 130
HP: 12
Attack: 5
Defense: 7
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: none
*Serpent Fly
Cost: 220
HP: 20
Attack: 6
Defense: 8
Damage: 2-5
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Dispel beneficial spells on their targets
*Dragon Fly (Upg.Serpent Fly)
Cost: 240
HP: 20
Attack: 6
Defense: 8
Damage: 2-5
Speed: 13
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Dispel beneficial spells on their targets
*Basilisk
Cost: 325
HP: 35
Attack: 11
Defense: 11
Damage: 6-10
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of petrifying their prey for 3 rounds
*Greater Basilisk (Upg.Basilisk)
Cost: 400
HP: 40
Attack: 12
Defense: 12
Damage: 6-10
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of petrifying their prey for 3 rounds
*Gorgon
Cost: 525
HP: 70
Attack: 10
Defense: 14
Damage: 12-16
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Mighty Gorgon (Upg.Gorgon)
Cost: 600
HP: 70
Attack: 11
Defense: 16
Damage: 12-16
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 10% chance of killing top creature in stack outright
*Wyvern
Cost: 800
HP: 70
Attack: 14
Defense: 14
Damage: 14-18
Speed: 7
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Wyvern Monarch (Upg.Wyvern)
Cost: 1100
HP: 70
Attack: 14
Defense: 14
Damage: 18-22
Speed: 11
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of poisoning its target for 3 rounds
*Hydra
Cost: 2200
HP: 175
Attack: 16
Defense: 18
Damage: 25-45
Speed: 55
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Attack all adjacent units, attacked units cant retaliate
*Chaos Hydra (Upg.Hydra)
Cost: 3500 + 1 Sulfur
HP: 175
Attack: 16
Defense: 18
Damage: 25-45
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Hydra
______________
/Inferno Armies\________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Imp
Cost: 50
HP: 4
Attack: 2
Defense: 3
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Familiar (Upg.Imp)
Cost: 60
HP: 4
Attack: 4
Defense: 4
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Channel 20% of spell pts spent by opponent to hero
*Gog
Cost: 125
HP: 13
Attack: 6
Defense: 4
Damage: 2-4
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: none
*Magog (Upg.Gog)
Cost: 175
HP: 13
Attack: 7
Defense: 4
Damage: 2-4
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: Attack affects adjacent hexes
*Hell Hound
Cost: 200
HP: 25
Attack: 10
Defense: 6
Damage: 2-7
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Cerberus (Upg.Hell Hound)
Cost: 250
HP: 25
Attack: 10
Defense: 8
Damage: 2-5
Speed: 8
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Can attack 3 adjacent enemies in a single attack
*Demon
Cost: 250
HP: 35
Attack: 10
Defense: 10
Damage: 7-9
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Horned Demon (Upg.Demon)
Cost: 270
HP: 40
Attack: 10
Defense: 10
Damage: 7-9
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Pit Fiend
Cost: 500
HP: 45
Attack: 13
Defense: 13
Damage: 13-17
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Pit Lord
Cost: 700
HP: 45
Attack: 13
Defense: 13
Damage: 13-17
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Can resurrect dead units as demons 1 per combat
*Efreet
Cost: 900
HP: 90
Attack: 16
Defense: 12
Damage: 16-24
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Immune to fire spells, +50% damage against genies
*Efreet Sultan (Upg.Efreet)
Cost: 1100
HP: 90
Attack: 16
Defense: 14
Damage: 16-24
Speed: 13
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Efreet
*Devil
Cost: 2700 + 1 Mercury
HP: 160
Attack: 19
Defense: 21
Damage: 30-40
Speed: 13
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Teleport to any hex, attacked units cant retaliate, +50%
damage to angel/archangel
*Arch Devil (Upg.Devil)
Cost: 4500 + 2 Mercury
HP: 200
Attack: 26
Defense: 28
Damage: 30-40
Speed: 17
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Devil, reduces enemy luck by 1
_________________
/Necropolis Armies\_____________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Skeleton
Cost: 60
HP: 6
Attack: 5
Defense: 4
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Skeleton Warrior (Upg.Skeleton)
Cost: 70
HP: 6
Attack: 6
Defense: 6
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 5
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: none
*Walking Dead
Cost: 100
HP: 15
Attack: 5
Defense: 5
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 3
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance to cause disease
*Zombie (Upg.Walking Dead)
Cost: 125
HP: 20
Attack: 5
Defense: 5
Damage: 2-3
Speed: 4
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance to cause disease
*Wight
Cost: 200
HP: 18
Attack: 7
Defense: 7
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 5
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Regenerating
*Wraith (Upg. Wight)
Cost: 230
HP: 18
Attack: 7
Defense: 7
Damage: 3-5
Speed: 7
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Regenerating, plus 2 spell pts drained from enemy per turn
*Vampire
Cost: 360
HP: 30
Attack: 10
Defense: 9
Damage: 5-8
Speed: 6
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Attacked units cant retaliate.
*Vampire Lord (Upg.Vampire)
Cost: 500
HP: 40
Attack: 10
Defense: 10
Damage: 5-8
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Vampire, plus units resurrect equal to damage.
*Lich
Cost: 550
HP: 30
Attack: 13
Defense: 10
Damage: 11-13
Speed: 6
Fly: no
Shots: 12
Specials: Damages adjacent hex non-undead
*Power Lich (Upg.Lich)
Cost: 600
HP: 40
Attack: 13
Defense: 10
Damage: 11-15
Speed: 7
Fly: no
Shots: 24
Specials: Same as Lich
*Black Knight
Cost: 1200
HP: 120
Attack: 16
Defense: 16
Damage: 15-30
Speed: 9
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: 20% chance of cursing opponents
*Dread Knight (Upg.Black Knight)
Cost: 1500
HP: 120
Attack: 18
Defense: 18
Damage: 15-30
Speed: 9
Fly: no
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Black Knight, 20% chance of double damage
*Bone Dragon
Cost: 1800
HP: 150
Attack: 17
Defense: 15
Damage: 25-50
Speed: 9
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Enemy units is lowered by one
*Ghost Dragon (Upg.Bone Dragon)
Cost: 3000 + 1 Mercury
HP: 200
Attack: 19
Defense: 17
Damage: 25-50
Speed: 14
Fly: yes
Shots: none
Specials: Same as Bone Dragon, 20% chance of aging their targets
_____
/Notes\_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Disease: diseased creatures have their attack and defense ratings
reduced by 2 for a period of 3 rounds
*Aging: hit points of all members in aged troop is halved
*Poison: Top creature of a poisoned stack loses 50% of its health/turn
*Undead always have neutral morale
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VI. SPELL LIST
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There are several changes in HOMM III, first, there are 4 types of
magic: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water magic. And each magic has more level
(level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). You can increases the effectiveness of some magic
type by learning some ability by your hero (basic earth magic, advanced
fire magic, expert air magic, etc). You should try yourselves what
happen with the spells if you learn basic, advanced, or expert.
--Air Magic--
-------------
*Level 1*
-Haste: Increases speed of friendly unit/s
-Magic Arrow: Causes a bolt of magical energy to strike the enemy.
-View Air: Reveals all unclaimed artifacts, enemy heroes and towns.
*Level 2*
-Disrupting Ray: Lowers enemy defense.
-Lightning Bolt: Damages enemy with a lightning bolt.
-Precision: Increases ranged attack damage by ally.
-Protection From Air: Reduces air magic damage.
-Visions: Shows exact number of wandering monsters, heroes, towns, etc.
-Fortune: Increases Luck.
*Level 3*
-Destroy Undead: Hit all enemy's undead units.
-Hypnotize: Control an enemy unit (temporary).
-Air Shield: Reduces ranged attack damage causes by enemy.
*Level 4*
-Counterstrike: +2 retaliation.
-Chain Lightning: Damage 5 unit, the 2nd unit is half damage, etc.
*Level 5*
-Summon Air Elemental: Summon a group of Air Elemental. No other
elementals can be summoned in the battle.
-Magic Mirror: Reflects hostile magic to random enemy (40%)
-Fly: Causes the Hero to fly over obstacle in the adventure map.
-Dimension Door: Teleport the hero to a location in adv. map.
--Earth Magic--
---------------
*Level 1*
-Magic Arrow: Causes a bolt of magical energy to strike the enemy
-Shield: Reduces hand-to-hand damage causes by enemy.
-Slow: Reduces enemy unit speed.
-Stone Skin: Increases defense for ally.
-View Earth: Reveals resources, mines and terrains.
*Level 2*
-Death Ripple: Damage all non-undead units.
-Quicksand: Places random 8 quicksand. Visible to caster and native
creatures. Once hit by an unit, cant move.
-Visions: Shows exact number of wandering monsters, heroes, towns, etc.
*Level 3*
-Animate Dead: Resurrect fallen ally by restoring fixed hp,undead only.
-Anti-Magic: Defense against all spells.
-Earthquake: Random damage to four section of castle walls.
-Force Field: Places a medium size force field.
-Protection From Earth: Reduces Earth magic damage.
*Level 4*
-Meteor Shower: Causes a group of meteors to damage enemy unit/s.
-Resurrection: Same as Animate Dead, but all unit type can.
-Sorrow: Reduces enemy morale.
-Town Portal: Teleport the hero to the nearest town.
*Level 5*
-Summon Earth Elemental: Summon a group of Earth Elemental. No other
elementals can be summoned in the battle.
-Implosion: Massive damage to a single creature stack.
--Fire Magic--
--------------
*Level 1*
-Bloodlust: Increases hand-to-hand damage caused by ally.
-Curse: Causes minimum damage to enemy.
-Magic Arrow: Causes a bolt of magical energy to strike the enemy
-Protection From Fire: Reduces fire magic damage.
*Level 2*
-Blind: Causes enemy unit cant move until attacked or dispelled.
-Fire Wall: Any units walking through the wall will take damage.
-Visions: Shows exact number of wandering monsters, heroes, towns, etc.
*Level 3*
-Fireball: Damage target and any adjacent units.
-Land Mine: Same as quicksand, but causes damage instead.
-Misfortune: Reduces enemy unit's luck.
*Level 4*
-Armageddon: Causes damage to all units in battlefield.
-Berserk: Causes an unit to randomly attack nearest unit.
-Fire Shield: No protection, but damaging if touched.
-Frenzy: Reduces defense, Increases attack.
-Inferno: Causes damage.
-Slayer: Increases damage against Dragons, Behemots, Hydras.
*Level 5*
-Summon Fire Elemental: Summon a group of Fire Elemental. No other
elementals can be summoned in the battle.
-Sacrifice: Destroy friendly group to resurrect dead group.
--Water Magic--
---------------
*Level 1*
-Bless: Increases maximum damage.
-Cure: Heal HP/cure status
-Dispel: Removes all spells.
-Magic Arrow: Causes a bolt of magical energy to strike the enemy
-Protection From Water: Reduces Air magic damage
-Summon Boat: Summon a friendly unoccupied boat.
*Level 2*
-Ice Bolt: Causes an Ice Bolt to strike an unit.
-Remove Obstacles: Removes some obstacles in battlefield.
-Weakness: Reduces enemy attack strength.
-Scuttle Boat: Destroy a boat you own, permanent.
-Visions: Shows exact number of wandering monsters, heroes, towns, etc.
*Level 3*
-Forgetfullness: Forget to use ranged attack.
-Frost Ring: Damage nearby creatures except the center.
-Mirth: Increases ally morale.
-Teleport: Teleport an unit to a location in battlefield.
*Level 4*
-Clone: Create a clone of an unit. Gone if attacked.
-Prayer: Increases attack, defense, and speed.
*Level 5*
-Water Walk: Causes the hero can walk over the water.
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VII. ARTIFACT LIST
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--Unclassified--
----------------
*Pandora's Box: Anything or everything may be put into Pandora's Box.
*Spell Scroll: 1 spell per scroll. Appears in hero's spell book if
artifact is equipped.
*Grail: Customizable. Buried artifact found via the Puzzle Map.
Placing this object determines the location of grail.
Otherwise, a random location is chosen when an obelisk is placed.
--Class: Treasure--
-------------------
*Centaur's Axe: Right handed weapon,increases your attack skill by +2.
*Shield of the Dwarven Lords: Left handed, increases defense by +2.
*Helm of the Alabaster Unicorn: Head, increases knowledge skill by +1.
*Skull Helmet: Head, increases knowledge skill by +2.
*Breastplate of Petrified Wood: Torso, increases spell power by +1.
*Quiet Eye of the Dragon: Finger, increases attack and defense by +1.
*Dragonbone Greaves: Feet, increases your knowledge and power by +1.
*Still Eye of the Dragon: Finger, increases your luck and morale by +1.
*Clover of Fortune: Increases your luck by +1.
*Cards of Prophecy: Increases your luck by +1.
*Ladybird of Luck: Increases your luck by +1.
*Badge of Courage: Increases your morale by +1.
*Crest of Valor: Increases your morale by +1.
*Glyph of Gallantry: Increases your morale by +1.
*Speculum: Increases your scouting radius by +1.
*Spyglass: Increases your scouting radius by +1.
*Amulet of the Undertaker: Neck, increases your necromancy skill by 5%.
*Bow of Elven Cherrywood: This bow increases your archery skill by 5%.
*Bird of Perception: Increases your eagle eye skill by 5%.
*Stoic Watchman: Increases your eagle eye skill by 10%.
*Charm of Mana: Recover 1 extra spell point per day.
*Talisman of Mana: Recover 2 extra spell points per day.
*Mystic Orb of Mana: Recover 3 extra spell points per day.
*Collar of Conjuring: Neck,increases the duration of all your spells by1
*Ring of Conjuring: Finger,increases the duration of all your spells by2
*Cape of Conjuring: Shoulders,increases the duration of spells by 3.
*Spirit of Oppression: Negates all morale bonuses during combat for both
you and your opponent.
*Hourglass of the Evil Hour: Negates all luck bonuses during combat for
both you and your opponent.
*Ring of Vitality: Increases the health of all your units by +1.
*Necklace of Swiftness: Neck, increases the combat speed of all your
units by +1.
*Pendant of Dispassion: Renders your units immune to the Berserk spell.
*Pendant of Holiness: Renders your units immune to the Curse spell.
*Pendant of Life: Renders your units immune to the Death Ripple spell.
*Pendant of Death: Renders your units immune to the DestroyUndead spell.
*Pendant of Free Will: Renders your units immune to the Hypnotize spell.
*Pendant of Total Recall: Renders your units immune to the Forgetfulnes.
*Legs of Legion: When equipped by a hero in a town, increases the growth
of your 2nd level units (in that town) by 5 per week.
--Class: Minor--
----------------
*Blackshard of the Dead Knight: Right hand,increases your attack by +3.
*Greater Gnoll's Flail: Right hand, increases your attack skill by +4.
*Shield of the Yawning Dead: Left hand, increases your defense by +3.
*Buckler of the Gnoll King: Left hand, increases your defense by +4.
*Helm of Chaos: Head, this item increases your knowledge skill by +3.
*Crown of the Supreme Magi: Head, increases your knowledge skill by +4.
*Rib Cage: Torso, this item increases your spell power skill by +2.
*Scales of the Greater Basilisk: Torso, increases your power by +3.
*Armor of Wonder: Torso, increases all four primary skills by +1.
*Red Dragon Flame Tongue: Rh, increases your attack and defense by +2.
*Dragon Wing Tabard: Shoulders, increases knowledge and power by +2.
*Vampire's Cowl: Shoulders, increases your necromancy skill by 10%.
*Bowstring of the Unicorn's Mane: Increases your archery skill by 10%.
*Emblem of Cognizance: This item increases your eagle eye skill by 15%.
*Equestrian's Gloves: Hands, increases your hero's movement rate over
land.
*Ring of Life: Increases the health of all your units by +1.
*Boots of Speed: Worn on the feet, these boots increase your hero's
movement rate over land.
*Inexhaustable Cart of Ore: This cart provides you with an additional +1
ore per day.
*Inexhaustable Cart of Lumber: This cart provides you with an additional
+1 wood per day.
*Loins of Legion: This item, when equipped by a hero in a town,
increases the growth of your 3rd level units (in that town) by 4 per
week.
*Torso of Legion: When equipped by a hero in a town, increases the
growth of your 4th level units (in that town) by 3 per week.
--Class: Major--
----------------
*Ogre's Club of Havoc: Right handed, increases your attack skill by +5.
*Sword of Hellfire: Right handed, increases your attack skill by +6.
*Targ of the Rampaging Ogre: Left handed, increases your defense by +5.
*Shield of the Damned: Left handed, increases your defense skill by +6.
*Hellstorm Helmet: Head, this item increases your knowledge skill by +5.
*Tunic of the Cyclops King: Torso, increases your power skill by +4.
*Breastplate of Brimstone: Torso, increases your power skill by +5.
*Dragon Scale Shield: Left hand, increases your attack and defense
skills by +3.
*Necklace of Dragonteeth: Worn about the neck, this item increases your
knowledge and power skills by +3.
*Dead Man's Boots: Feet, increase your necromancy skill by 15%.
*Garniture of Interference: Neck, increases your magic resistance by 5%.
*Surcoat of Counterpoise: Shoulders,increases your magic resist by 10%.
*Angel Feather Arrows: Increase your archery skill by 15%.
*Statesman's Medal: Neck, reduces the cost of surrendering.
*Diplomat's Ring: Finger, reduces the cost of surrendering.
*Ambassador's Sash: Shoulders, reduces the cost of surrendering.
*Ring of the Wayfarer: Finger, increases the combat speed of all your
units by +2.
*Necklace of Ocean Guidance: Neck, this necklace increases your hero's
movement rate at sea.
*Orb of the Firmament: This powerful orb causes your air spells to
inflict an additional 50% damage.
*Orb of Silt: This powerful orb causes your earth spells to inflict an
additional 50% damage.
*Orb of Tempstuous Fire: This powerful orb causes your fire spells to
inflict an additional 50% damage.
*Orb of Driving Rain: This powerful orb causes your water spells to
inflict an additional 50% damage.
*Recanter's Cloak: While wearing this cloak, neither you nor your
opponent will be able to cast level 3 or higher spells during combat.
*Golden Bow: When wielded, the Golden Bow allows your troops to shoot
through any obstacle or at any range without penalty.
*Sphere of Permanence: Wielding this sphere renders your units immune to
the Dispel magic spell.
*Vial of Lifeblood: Increases the health of all your units by +2.
*Cape of Velocity: Worn about the shoulders, this cape increases the
combat speed of all your units by +3.
*Pendant of Second Sight: Renders your units immune to the Blind spell.
*Pendant of Agitation: Renders your units immune to the Lightning spell.
*Pendant of Courage: Bestows +3 luck and morale to your hero's troops.
*Everflowing Crystal Cloak: This cloak increases your crystal production
by +1 per day.
*Ring of Infinte Gems: Increases your gem production by +1 per day.
*Everpouring Vial of Mercury: Increases your mercury production by +1
per day.
*Eversmoking Ring of Sulfur: Increases your sulfur production by +1/day.
*Endless Bag of Gold: the Endless Bag of Gold increases your income by
750 gold per day.
*Endless Purse of Gold: When equipped, the Endless Purse of Gold
increases your income by 500 gold per day.
*Arms of Legion: This item, when equipped by a hero in a town, increases
the growth of your 5th level units (in that town) by 2 per week.
*Head of Legion: This item, when equipped by a hero in a town, increases
the growth of your 6th level units (in that town) by 1 per week.
*Shackles of War: When these shackles are wielded in combat, neither you
nor your opponent may retreat or surrender.
--Class: Relic--
----------------
*Titan's Gladius: Held with the right hand, this massive relic increases
your attack skill by +12, but reduces your defense skill by -3.
*Sentinel's Shield: Held with the left hand, this relic increases your
defense skill by +12, but reduces your attack skill by -3.
*Thunder Helmet: Increases your knowledge skill by +10, but reduces your
power skill by -2.
*Titan's Cuirass: When worn, this massive relic increases your power
skill by +10, but reduces your knowledge skill by -2.
*Sandals of the Saint: Worn on the feet, the Sandals of the Saint
increase all four primary skills by +2.
*Celestial Necklace of Bliss: Worn about the neck, the Celestial
Necklace of Bliss increases all four primary skills by +3.
*Lion's Shield of Courage: Held with the left hand, the Lion's Shield of
Courage increases all four primary skills by +4.
*Sword of Judgement: Held with the right hand, the Sword of Judgement
increases all four primary skills by +5.
*Helm of Heavenly Enlightenment: Worn on the head, the Helm of Heavenly
Enlightenment increases all four primary skills by +6.
*Dragon Scale Armor: Worn on a torso, this item increases your attack
and defense skills by +4.
*Crown of Dragontooth: Worn on the head, this item increases your
knowledge and power skills by +4.
*Boots of Polarity: Worn on the feet, these boots increase your magic
resistance by 15%.
*Angel Wings: Worn about the shoulders, these wings allow you to fly.
*Tome of Fire Magic: This heavy book contains all spells in the School
of Fire Magic. It must be equipped for the spells to be available.
*Tome of Air Magic: This heavy book contains all spells in the School of
Air Magic. It must be equipped for the spells to be available.
*Tome of Water Magic: This heavy book contains all spells in the School
of Water Magic. It must be equipped for the spells to be available.
*Tome of Earth Magic: This heavy book contains all spells in the School
of Earth Magic. It must be equipped for the spells to be available.
*Boots of Levitation: These boots allow you to walk across water.
*Orb of Vulnerability: This orb negates the natural magic resistance of
all creatures on the battlefield.
*Endless Sack of Gold: When equipped, the Endless Sack of Gold increases
your income by 1000 gold per day.
*Sea Captain's Hat: When worn, this hat increase your movement at sea,
allows you to summon and destroy boats, and protects you from
whirlpools.
*Spellbinder's Hat: This hat allows you to cast all 5th level spells.
*Orb of Inhibition: Prevents all spell casting in combat.
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VIII. SKILL LIST
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Skills owned by hero, and it will give the hero special ability to do
something. There are a lot of skills, but a hero only can get 8 skills,
and you cant delete the skills. There are levels; basic,advanced and
expert. They will be given as your level increased.
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IXa. HINTS AND TIPS
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-Make the special abilities from your creatures as your advantage.
-Sometimes, the shooting units have "broken arrow" attack, but try to
let enemy come closer to you until "unbroken arrow" attack appeared.
-Maybe you want to use the "no enemy retaliation" creatures first, as
when they attack, the enemy wont counterattack. Usefull to attack
strong creatures.
-Use the Vampire Lords for your advantage, necromancer!
-The champions have charging attack bonus, so try to position them to
attack from far away but can hit the enemy.
-If you dont have good ballistic skill, use cyclops/cyclops king to
damage the siege wall.
-Try to avoid using magic while fighting certain enemies (like golems,
dragons, and elementals.
-The Rampart's Dwarven Treasury is very usefull in increasing your gold.
Its give you 10% of your gold at the 7th day before day 1 in the next
week.
-Dont know how to place the hero in garrison? just go to the town window
and select the hero, and place them above to the garrison.
-When you have Fly,Dimension Door, and Town Portal spells, use this,
these spells are very usefull.
-Keep in mind that contrary to HOMM 2, troops in adventure map dwellings
will not accumulate from week to week. So if you don't recruit them,
they're lost.
-Don't forget to use mini hero chains to constantly transfer troops and
fight more battles each turn. Squires (secondary heroes) can fight
battles too.
-Something very important to keep in consideration : an army with only
native troops (i.e. fortress troops here) will have no movement penalty
while moving through the swamp.
-If your army is strong enough, there's a 10% base probability wandering
stacks will join you for free. Having creatures of the same kind
(upgraded or not) makes this 10% more likely. Having an army that
"mostly" has the same kind of creatures (more than 50% of your total
army) makes it 20% more likely instead. Diplomacy improves that
probability by 10% for each level of the secondary skill. A best case
scenario, let's say with a strong enough army, "mostly similar" troops
(ex.: mostly Thunderbirds and you're going up against Rocs) and expert
diplomacy means that you'd have a 60% chance of the stack joining for
free. Even if they don't join for free, you've still got a 10% chance
per diplomacy level (i.e. 10% at basic, 20% at advanced and 30% at
expert diplomacy), of them joining you for money. The actual formulas
are more complicated than that but this is roughly how it works. Thanks
to Gus Smedstad, HOMM 3 AI programmer, for the information.
-Berserk: It can do an enemies army up to nearly unlimited damage, soak
up counter attacks and turn all the special abilities in the enemies
army like blind etc against the enemy. It is by far better than chain
lightning or other spells than it comes to heavy battles. Berserk some
angels and let them attack the champions (if they are next to the
angels). You don´t have to bother about the angels i.e. you can
concentrate your fire on the other units (thus giving you a great
strategic advantage) and the champions won´t counterattack when you are
fighting them. Works even better if you berserk enemy units close to
unicorns, medusas or mighty gorgons. With expert fire magic and three
berserked enemy units you will lower the enemies army power in that
round dramatically, give your shooters one extra round to fire, reduce
counter attacks massively and all the damage the units can do will be
done against the enemy him(or her)self. Do the berserk against the
fastest unit and really slow the enemy down. And you can do that in any
round again. (source: Ye olde sorcerer (Florian Trombach))
-If you prefer magic heroes, then it is a very wise strategy to build up
your magic guilds very fast -- meaning that you build them up to at
least 4th level before you decide which magic school you will build your
heroes' skill up to expert in. All the tips about how worthiness of
certain school of magic or a certain spell cast at expert level are
absolutely worthless unless you get those spells in your mage guild.
What good is expert earth magic if you don´t get Town Portal or
Resurrection? Chain Lightning and Fly are good spells but expert air
magic is worthless when you get berserk and frenzy as 4th level spells.
(source: Ye olde sorcerer (Florian Trombach)) [posted on 10/01/99]
-If you have a great stack of Archangels, the spell Clone, and expert
Water Magic, you can clone your Archangels (after facing some losses)
and let the "ghost"-Archangels resurrect the original archangels. Also
clone can help you many battles which you assumed to be lost. (source:
Ye olde sorcerer (Florian Trombach))
-I found a neat glitch in HOMM3 Campaigns. There's a way to edit the
campaigns in the Map Editor. First, play the campaign until you reach
the scenario you wish to edit. In your Heroes 3 Maps directory, theres
one file called "campaign.tmp". Open it with the Editor. The last
campaign scenario accessed by the game will pop up in the Editor. If you
want to use the changes you make, though, I think you have to start all
the campaigns again from the beginning. (source: Poke Slayer )
-If you are facing a huge force (6 or 7 stacks) of 2-hex creatures and
you have expert Air, a smart thing to do is to cast Force field at the
second row of the right. It will grow to the top of the map, effectively
blocking 2 or 3 stacks for a number of turns. They can't move because
they need a 2 hexes hole to get through. An expert force field at both
sides of a obstacle in the middle can block the entire enemy force from
reaching your stacks. Very underestimated, that Forcefield!! (source:
Marin Bouman ) [posted on 07/28/99] Forcefield only lasts 2 rounds
regardless of power (according to the manual), so it could get expensive
throwing up a new Forcefield every two turns. Insure that you have
sufficient mana to pull this trick off. (source: Don Wang )
-If you find yourself in a situation where your troops are blinded but
you do not have Cure or Dispel Magic, you may still have a powerful
alternative if you have Teleport. Blinded troops CAN be teleported, and
what better place than right next to your opponents shooters? That way
the blocked stack has to attack you at half strength (mostly) and
"wastes" his own spell. Or he moves his shooters to another spot --
foregoing his attack -- and you can teleport again next turn. You need
to Teleport as soon as one of your troops gets to move because the
blinded troops won't have a turn. (source: Rich Browne )
-You can make use of more artifacts by changing them around during a
turn. Artifacts that increase movement (boots of speed, equestrian's
gloves) need only be worn at the beginning of the turn. Before combat
you can change the gloves for a ring, or change the boots for something
that will help you in combat (holy sandals, necromancer's boots).
Similarly, artifacts that provide gold or resources, or increase
regeneration of spell points, need only be equipped at the beginning of
the turn. Artifacts that increase knowledge need only be worn when you
recharge spell points, such as at the end of the turn you spend in a
mage guild town, or before you approach a well or fountain. However, you
may have to take a step or two with the artifact equipped for the
increase in knowledge to take effect. After your spell points have been
recharged, you can remove the knowledge-increasing artifact, and even
equip artifacts that decrease knowledge (such as the titan's cuirass,
which decreases knowledge but greatly increases spell power) with no
decrease in spell points. (source: DenverSam )
-Ballistics skill has one tremendous advantage- during the targeting
phase of combat (which comes before any creatures go), you can cast a
spell! Use this spell to blind/berserk the defender's fastest troop, to
do a mass haste, or a mass slow. If you have a squire, give the squire
all your troops, and head him back to a friendly town. The main hero can
attack, use his largest damage spell, and then flee. He only needs 4
creatures (even level 1st will do) in separate stacks, 3 to absorb tower
fire, and one more to survive the round. (source: Qurqirish Dragon )
-Summon Elemental is generally not worth it because Elementals have been
weakened so much. Damage spells also are less effective because
everything has more HP. Spells like Blind are now as good and sometimes
better than direct damage spells. (source: Don Wang )
-Aging can be cured. In fact, that's probably the one condition you want
to cure as soon as you can. (source: Don Wang )
-You can pull more Armageddon combos then before. Efreet and Fire
Elementals, and Gold Dragon are all immune to Armageddon, though Efreet
and Fire Elementals doesn't have all that much HP to duke it out with
the enemy. Diamond Golems are also pretty good for this purpose since
they're tough and take only 5% from Armageddon. (source: Don Wang )
-If you cast Mass Dispel while laying siege to a Tower, you'll dispel
(eliminate) all of the Tower mines. (source: Dan McGraw )
-"When a month of plague occurs, the following happens:
•All unpurchased creatures are cut in half
•All dwellings produce 0 creatures
•Any dwelling which has horde building built is IMMUNE to the effects
of plague. Thus a castle with a griffin bastion produces griffins
normally. Similarly with dwarves, dendroids, imps, cerberi, skeletons,
gnolls, etc." (source: Qurqirish Dragon (Matthew Charlap) )
-Sacrifice = Most Powerful Spell in the Game? This is a bug (it could
not be otherwise unless there's something I'm overlooking), but contrary
to the Sacrifice spell description you can sacrifice enemy troops too
and not just your own. You select Sacrifice from your spell book, you
drag the icon over the enemy unit you want to sacrifice, it says
something to the effect you can't sacrifice that, just click anyway,
then click on the unit you want to resurrect. Voila, you killed a
complete stack while resurrecting troops in one of your own stacks. In a
very extreme case (which I hope isn't possible), you could even
sacrifice 30 enemy Archangels to resurrect one Imp.
-Sometimes Defending makes more sense than Moving or Waiting. Imagine a
one-on-one confrontation between Minotaurs (speed 6) and Dread Knights
(speed 9). Let's say the opponent is clever enough to stay just out of
range of your Minotaurs on the first turn (and the AI at hard is
excellent at staying out of range). You could move your Minotaurs closer
to them or you could tell the Minotaurs to Defend. If you don't have
Slow or Haste, the best option is Defend at the end of turn 1 because on
turn 2, the Dread Knights will get the first attack anyway. By
defending, your Minotaurs get a better defense rating (+5 in this case!)
possibly meaning a few more Minotaurs will survive the first assault
that was unavoidable. This is not certain (in fact I'm pretty certain
other factors enter into this because it's not constant) but as a
general rule I think the defense bonus given by Defend is the same as
the creature level (+1 Defense for level-1 creatures, +2 Defense for
level-2 creatures, etc). (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
-Much less useful than HOMM 2 but still available is the "pocket
formation". The objective is to surround your best shooter stack with
walkers and flyers so the enemy cannot reach it. That way, your shooter
can continue to pick its target each turn and does not have the half-
damage penalty. There are many variations on this but here's a simple
example. You use tight formation (also called close or grouped
formation) in the hero screen, you put your Griffins stack in slot
number 2, the Pikemen in slot 3, the Markmen in slot 4 and your
Swordsmen in slot 5. On turn 1, you move the Griffins in front of the
Marksmen therefore closing off the "pocket". (source: Quebec Dragon
(Sebastien Patenaude)
-Put tough slower walkers units, such as Dendroids, close to your
shooters but not next to them. The enemy will have little choice but to
fight them too if he tries to block your shooters (blocking is putting
your unit next to an enemy shooter so it does half-damage). The tough
walker stack should be close but not next to the shooter because you run
the risk of the opponent attacking that walker stack *and* blocking your
shooter, especially if it's a strong stack. (source: Quebec Dragon
(Sebastien Patenaude)
-A way to reduce the strength of an approaching enemy army is by hiring
a bunch of magic heroes one after the other or the same hero several
times in your town about to be invaded. You give 3 very fast units to
the hero, leave the rest of the troops in the garrison, make the
spellcaster sacrifice himself by attacking the invader, you cast your
best offensive damaging spell (such as Lightning or Meteor Shower) and
you make your hero flee or surrender right away. If the hero has enough
spell points (and now enough movement points with the patch), you can
make another run with the same hero. If not, you hire another magic
hero. You repeat until you run out of gold. You need 3 split units or
more against human players, less against the computer (a faster shooter
and a spell could take out 2 units before you can cast the spell). This
trick is much less effective in HOMM 3 than HOMM 2 because units have a
greater speed range and because of the patch preventing rehired heroes
from getting their full movement back on the same turn. On the other
hand, starting heroes have much greater starting armies and you could
create a decent garrison just by hiring and rehiring them. (source:
Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
-Some veterans might remember HOMM 1 where you could use a fast flying
unit to avoid slower enemy walking units during a castle siege. The
indestructible turret could then shoot away for as long as it took to
destroy all the enemies. With the tougher castle defenses in HOMM 3 and
a much larger battle field, this tactic has surfaced again. As the
castle defender, at the end of battles, you could potentially avoid your
last stack being killed, even get a win from what was a certain defeat,
by making your unit avoid the last enemy stacks for as long as you're
able (if you managed to destroy the catapult, you can do this forever
because your turrets will stay operational). Try to remember that moats
stop the movement of walker units. (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien
Patenaude)
-For the first time in a HOMM game, the catapult can now be destroyed.
It has a thousand hit points and you'll likely have to use powerful
damaging spells and hit-and-run tactics with your very fast flyers but
it is possible. The main benefit of this is that once it is destroyed,
the invader cannot take out your walls and turrets anymore who will
continue firing until the battle is over. Once the enemy's spell points
and flying units are gone, you can stay cozy and safe behind your wall
waiting for your turrets to do the dirty work (in fact, let they flying
enemy units come to you behind walls). Enemy shooters are unlikely to
make a difference (with the wall and distance penalty) unless they're in
much bigger numbers than your troops. (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien
Patenaude)
-What to do if your opponent is devious enough to destroy your catapult?
You have several options : cast multiple Earthquakes, cast Teleport to
get your troops inside (you need expert water magic though) or Hypnotize
an enemy stack so it opens the main gate for you. (source: Quebec Dragon
(Sebastien Patenaude)
-If you got the secondary skill of "Ballistics" and tackle a castle,
target the main tower... you'll ALWAYS hit the lower tower. (source:
Emmanuel Issaly )
-When Magic Plains says all spell is cast at Expert level, they really
mean it. Not only do your heroes cast at Expert level, your Master
Genies also cast their spells at Expert level, too. So instead of having
one stack with every enhancement in the book, you can now have every
stack loaded with every enhancement in the book! If possible, get as
many Master Genie stacks as you can spare without compromising firepower
(after all, if you're having all but one or two stack with Master
Genies, it's almost the same anyway because you'd cast all your spell on
the one or two powerful stacks). (source: Don Wang )
-If your Necromancer has skeleton warriors and has the rest of his/her
slots full (no normal skeletons) the resurrected skeletons will come
back as skeleton warriors. (source: Steve Church )
-While Titans and ArchAngels seem to only produce skeletons when shoved
into the gaping maw of a skeleton transformer, your Hydras and Assorted
Dragons are transformed into Bone when sacrificed in the same manner.
(source: DarkKittin )
-Staight from Maranthea on the message board, this is the formula to
calculate scores in HOMM 3 stand-alone scenarios.
Base Score = 200 - (days+10)/(Towns+5) + 25 (if you defeated all
enemies) + 25 (if you got the grail)
Final Score = (Base Score)(Difficulty level map was played on)
In English, it gives us this:
•1. Start with a score of 200
•2. Add 25 points if you beat all enemies
•3. Add another 25 points if you get the grail
•4. Subtract an inefficiency penalty: The number of days to complete -
10, divided by the number of towns on the map plus 5 (in other words,
the more towns to beat, the more time you can take without being majorly
penalized) This will give you a score up to 250.
Multiply this by the difficulty rating (0.8, 1, 1.3, 1.6 or 2) to get
final score. Theoretically, the max score would be 500 (defeat any map
in 10 days on impossible while killing all enemies and getting the
grail). Map difficulty (easy normal hard, expert) seems to be
irrelevant. (source: Maranthea on the 3DO Message Board and submitted
here by Quebec Dragon and Angela )
-If you didn't save and start with the proper saved game and you are now
at the end of all three initial campaigns without being able to go on to
the next campaigns without replaying all the first three; then you may
wish to download Quebec Dragon's special Unlocked Campaigns file which
is a saved game after the third campaign. You will also find a complete
description of the problem by Timothy Duncan in the Question of the
Week! section or in the Q of W archives.
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-When visiting locations that are protected by guardians, locations such
as Dwarven Treasuries, Naga Banks, Griffin Conservatories and several
others, it's often a risk because you don't know how many troops you'll
face exactly. A way to make taking this decision easier is by always
saying no when the prompt asks you to fight. You can then right-click on
the structure and you will get a rough estimate of the number and types
of creatures you'll have to fight. You'll lose a couple of steps but in
the long run it's a good way to avoid foolish battles.
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-In multiplayer, when it's your opponent's turn, click in the bottom-
right corner box where you see his flag. You'll see how many towns he
has and of what hall type (village hall, town hall, city hall, capitol).
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-Split up the Wraiths in your army. For each wraith stack you have, the
adversary will lose 2 spell points each turn.
-Split up your Mighty Gorgons in several stacks. Several with single
units and one with the rest, or all stacks of equal numbers. Each stack,
even if it contains only 1 Mighty Gorgon, has a chance of using death
stare on the target killing its top unit outright, no matter how
powerful it is. If you have more than 10 Gorgons in one stack, you could
even kill 2. See strategy for Spoils of War 3 (Greed) at the Rally Flag
for more details on how the Mighty Gorgon death stare works.
(source: Quebec Dragon)
-Split up the Master Genies in your army. Each Master Genie stack you
have can cast one beneficial random spell each turn. Keep in mind that
although only 3 spells are shown at one time, more than 3 spells can
affect the unit. Only the 3 most recent effects are shown.
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-There is an additional, unforeseen benefit to actually buying those
ammo carts, healing tents and ballistas. It will soak up damage from
Chain Lightning ! The war machines are considered suitable targets as
far as that spell is concerned. You'll also see quite regularly that the
powerful enemy stacks will ignore your own living troops to take cheap
shots at those war machines in order to destroy them. Therefore that
enemy stack who could have hurt you badly wastes its attack on something
that you can easily replace. It will often happen when the retaliation
of your stack would have inflicted losses on the attacker.
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-HOMM 2 veterans had learned that the AI always targeted their strongest
shooter stack first. Even if you had one Halfling and 50 Ogre Lords next
to it, that stack of enemy Dragons would attack that lone Halfling who
could never have hurt it in a million years. The HOMM 3 AI is smarter
and won't always target your shooters anymore. However, it's still not
that brilliant and you can use a variation of the old shooter bait trick
to cut your losses significantly. Use split-up low-level units (doesn't
matter if it's shooter, walker or flyer but levels 1 are better) in
small numbers alongside one, two or three really strong higher-level
stacks. The enemies on the other side are likely to target those low-
level units first because the retaliation of the higher-level stacks
would hurt them too much. It won't always happen like that but it can.
For example, I was attacking an opponent who had six Black Dragons
(split in two or three stacks) with four Black Dragons of my own and my
6 other slots taken by single-units Troglodytes. The enemy Black Dragons
attacked my Troglodytes instead of my Black Dragons!
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-A clever use of this wait feature is, when fighting slower enemy
walkers or fliers, to "wait" at the beginning of the turn until after
the enemy moves. Then at the end of the turn move forward and attack
them. At the beginning of the next turn, run away again so that they
never get a normal attack on you. Works great with Archangels and
Dragons and (I would imagine) Archdevils against things like Dwarves. I
recently took on "lots" of dwarves with a single gold dragon and lost,
but then reloaded and used this trick and won easily.
Having Mass Haste and Mass Slow (Haste and Slow at expert level) makes
these waiting tactics even easier to accomplish.-- QD
(source: Samuel Martin Ventola )
-When fighting wandering stacks composed of walkers and flyers that
cannot reach your side in one turn, it's almost always better to make
all your units wait. This gives you a double advantage. Your units have
the first strike and some of your shooters will not have the broken-
arrow range penalty (shooters have a 10 hex range, beyond that, they
inflict half damage).(source: Quebec Dragon )
-This has been true since HOMM 1 and it hasn't changed for HOMM 3. It's
always better to attack on day 7 and day 1 of each week before the enemy
has a chance to buy more troops. It works on day 1, too, because your
day 1 turn is before the computer's day 1 turn; so its troops are
unbought when you attack. You can sometimes capture lightly defended or
empty castles that way. Most importantly, you can hire all those troops
yourself while preventing the enemy from getting those reinforcements.
It's also quite possible that the enemy will buy new structures for you
during that week from which he'll not really be able to benefit from.
Letting the computer build stuff for you will save you a lot of gold and
resources. Against human players, this is different, it's not always the
host who goes first each turn anymore, it's now the player picking the
color that's higher in the advanced options list. On smaller maps, this
is a tredendous advantage as you can bring day 1 reinforcements from
your own town (by hero chain) and attack the enemy's town before he has
the change to buy day 1 troops of his own.
-Hiring more heroes on day 1 from your tavern is something that most
players should do. Players will often start exploring with only their
starting hero, possibly buying just one more, and staying with only 1 or
2 heroes for the rest of the week, sometimes longer. Learn that often
more heroes sooner are better. As a general rule of thumb, hiring 2 or 3
additional heroes on day 1 is a good idea at hard difficulty. At normal
difficulty, hire 3 or 4 extra heroes. It's not an exact science though,
so go with your instincts and particularly what you see of the immediate
area around your town. If you see lots of gold piles and chests, hire
more heroes. If it looks pretty barren, hire less. Combine practically
all troops (don't forget to buy troops from your starting town) on the
same hero who will become your main hero, fighting the majority of
battles, and who will climb levels quicker than the rest of your heroes.
If possible, try to hire heroes associated with your main town so you
have less problems with morale.(source: Quebec Dragon )
-If you have Ghost Dragons, fill your open slots with one single Ghost
Dragon in each. Make sure they attack before your main stack. Let them
attack the opponent's main stack (for instance, Titans). You have a good
chance (20% for each Ghost Dragon stack you use) of aging them (halving
the hit points of all members in the stack), making it considerably
easier for your main stack of Ghost Dragons to finish them off. The
first single Ghost Dragon who attacks also takes up the retaliation.
(source: Jaxe )
-Troops with multiple grid attacks (dragons for instance) should be
positioned when attacking to angle their attack down (or up) through a
first aid tent, ammo cart, or ballista. This way, they can hit the enemy
troop on the other side of the war machine and not suffer a retaliation!
(source: Paramjot Oberoi )
-You can pull more Armageddon combos then before. Efreet and Fire
Elementals, and Gold and Black Dragon are all immune to Armageddon,
though Efreet and Fire Elementals don't have all that much HP to duke it
out with the enemy. Diamond Golems are also pretty good for this purpose
since they're tough and take only 5% from Armageddon.(source: Don Wang )
-If you like high level units (6 or 7), a good way to go is to form one
or two stacks of those guys and as many stacks of Master Genies as there
is space left. The Genies can cast a lot of magic -- just about all of
them useful except for Frenzy, which is sort of a double-edged sword.
(source: Don Wang )
-The cost of upgrading troops at a Hill Fort: •Level 1: Free •Level 2:
25% of normal cost •Level 3: 50% of normal cost •Level 4: 75% of normal
cost •Level 5: normal cost •Level 6: normal cost •Level 7: normal cost
(source: Quebec Dragon )
-It was late in the game, I had maybe 10 to 20 Titans and lots of spell
points. here was a Gold mine that was guarded by literally hundreds of
Black Knights. If I went in with a "normal army" I was quickly crushed.
The trick was to leave everyone in the home castle, and only take the
Titans. When the battle started, I moved the Titans into the upper left
corner of the battlefield and cast ForceField right in front of them.
The Knights couldn't touch the Titans, as the Titans slowly shot all the
Knights. (source: KenD)
-A huge number of people have been asking for cheats. Luckily, a few
(dozen) people have been sending me email telling me all the cheat codes
they have just discovered. The following are verified by numerous
people. There are others that are unverified and will be posted when
they, so here they are...
Hit the TAB key and then type...
•nwcphisherprice: brightens screen (not considered a cheat)
•nwctrojanrabbit: wins scenario
•nwcsirrobin: lose scenario (obviously not considered cheating)
•nwcalreadygotone: Reveals grail map (if any)
•nwcgeneraldirection: reveals map
•nwconlyamodel: All towns you control build all buildings possible to
them, including Grail structures.
•nwcshrubbery: +100 of all resources, +100,000gold
•nwcavertingoureyes: 5 archangels in each empty slot on hero
•nwcfleshwound: 10 black knights in each empty slot on hero
•nwcigotbetter: Selected hero gains a level.
•nwccoconuts: unlimited movement
•nwcmuchrejoicing: Selected unit will always have +3 morale for the rest
of the game.
•nwccastleanthrax: Selected unit will always have +3 luck for the rest
of the game.
•nwcantioch: all war machines
•nwctim: 999 spell points and all spells
LOOKIE LOO'S GET THE EARLY ENEMY REAL ESTATE!
The computer will often leave their castles unguarded. There are a couple of
things we can exploit in this weakness. In the beginning of a game, send a
scout to run around and find your opponent's castles. DON'T send your main hero
to take this unguarded castle. With your scout, wait until the beginning of the
next week, and if it is unguarded,TAKE IT! In the early parts of the games, the
new week's armies will be more powerful than your current army. Run in, recruit
the troops, build up the castle, or, if it is already built, upgrade a creature
generators. You will be safe inside castle walls with mid-level troops, while
your enemy is outside, with weak creatures. This is more useful if you are with
an incompetent computer controlled ally, as you will be able to save him from
certain doom, as well as establishing a foothold somewhere else on the map.
(source: Sir Garland ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
FORCEFUL MOAT MANAGEMENT!
You know about taking out the catapult, right? Sometimes it's just not
practical -- either you don't have enough direct- damage spells to do it, or
you don't want to waste all your mana. But what can you do to patch those
holes? Two solutions, from underused spells: first, force-field. This spell is
vastly underrated. It's useful in open-field combat, if there are already lots
of obstacles on the terrain, but in seige combat it's even better, because
without any expertise at all you naturally get a 2-hex force field to place. If
you've got cursor shadowing on you'll be able to see exactly where it goes --
and that it's the perfect size to block a single broken section of the castle
wall! (source: Tianyun ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
ELEMENTAL MOAT MANAGEMENT!
Another option, which is a bit more spell-intensive but also more permanent, is
to use summon elemental (which is never a useless spell!). If your spell power
is high enough, or you have expert-level magic in the school, you can raise
elementals and have them stand in front of a breached wall. Your walker
opponents will be stuck in the moat, with nowhere to go, and if they try to
move to another breached sector, your elementals will be able to cut them off
when they're stuck in the moat! The perfect way to keep enemy forces out and
your own forces in. And after all, the true advantage of castle seiges is not
the turrets -- it's the chance to force an enemy's army to break up, so you can
gang up on the fliers while the walkers are stuck outside. (source: Tianyun )
[posted on 04/18/2000]
EMPLOY THE DECOYS!
Whenever you're facing a difficult battle, it pays to take some quick low-level
troops, especially if they're conscripts of some sort, and divide them up so
all your slots are filled with stacks of 1 troop. (Centaurs or Centaur Captains
and Obsidian Gargoyles seem tailor-made for this purpose.) Keep them in reserve
and use them to soak up the enemy's counter- attacks, then swarm in with the
main body of your forces. You can make sizeable headway against an Uber-stack
if you can make it waste its retaliation on a single unit. An added
consideration if you're using this strategy: even medium-speed units can be
very effective if you're fighting slow ground-pounders. The enemy will
approach, while you can have your fast units wait and your sacrifical unit
attack without waiting, so even your slowest units have a free strike. But
swelling the ranks has added benefits as well -- not only is there a chance
your enemies will attack one of the single stacks (as mentioned by QD), but
also they'll appear in only one or two stacks, which may decrease the overall
number of creatures you fight by a little, and also makes it easier and cheaper
to use spells like slow and curse if you don't have mass-efficiency. (source:
Tianyun ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK...!
Adela's Blessing: Adela's the only hero in the whole game that can make her
troops do more than +1 their maximum damage due to her Bless spell specialty.
When Adela has mastered water magic, this can make a big different with the low
level units as they can end up doing twice their maximum damage before the
attack-defense calculation, or even 3 times or more depending on Adela's level.
Even better if you can stack up lots of Master Gremlin under Adela's
leadership, since the Master Gremlin is level 1 creature, it gets the most
advantage from the specialty adding to it's already huge bonus percentage from
it's maximum damage. (source: Benny Benjamin ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
GO BALLISTIC!
Here's the quickest way to hit all arrow towers in siege combat. This isn't a
100% effective formula. It works most of the time. This requires expert
ballistics since both shots do max damage, although Advanced may work also.
1. Attack the garrison. The lower arrow tower will be destroyed and the lower
wall will be half destroyed. Note that the lower arrow tower will be destroyed
99% of the time and almost always, the lower wall will follow.
2. Attack the upper tower. There is a great chance that it will be destroyed,
about 90%. The second shot will either hit the upper wall or the mid-upper
wall.
3. Attack the upper wall. If it is already damaged, it will be destroyed after
which, the mid-upper wall will receive a hit. If in no. 2, the mid-upper wall
was hit, then the upper wall will be destroyed totally.
4. Attack the garrison. Here comes the finger-crossing part. If one of the
upper portions is hit, then the garrison will be hit on the second shot. But it
is often seen that the first shot destroys the lower wall, the one that was hit
in no. 1, and the second shot destroys the damaged wall above the gate. In that
case, attack the garrison in the next round to destroy it.
(source: Abdullah) [posted on 04/18/2000]
FUND TRANSFERS... A CAPITOL IDEA!
If you are playing a co-op map with two humans, then it is a good idea to, at
the end of every turn, give all of your resources to the next human ally. The
reason for this is it helps both sides get their building done faster. For
example, red player has 4000 gold and blue player has 7000. They both need a
capitol. If red sends 4000 to blue, blue will have 7000 + 4000 + 2000 = 13000.
Blue can now build a capitol. Blue sends back 3000 and red gets another 2000.
The next turn, red has 5000 + 2000 + blue's 4000 will be 11000, enough for a
capitol. They got a capitol in one and two days, where it would've been 2 and 3
days if they had been greedy. (source: L. Camarota ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
...WITH A FOOT (OR A CORPSE) IN THE DOOR!
When attacking an enemy castle, if the AI has average/good speed walkers, it
will probably attack your troops if you can goad it in to doing so. Use this
tatic to get the gate permanently open and your ground troops inside without
sacrificing the weaker flyers. Moving some of your troops closer to the gate
should goad the enemy in coming out to engage you. Endevour to kill that stack
as quickly as possible, unless you have much more dangerous things to kill, or
they have no powerful shooters. When the stack dies, the corpse will remain,
preventing the gate from closing. You may now bring all your available troops
into the beseiged castle. (source: Enigma ) [posted on 04/18/2000]
FANNY MAES AND HEROES 3!
In multiplayer games where you have a human ally and at least one controls a
Rampart, everyone on your team can benefit from the 10% interest. On Day 7,
give all your money to the controller of the Rampart. Let the interest do it's
magic (all that matters is the amount of money at the beginning of Day 1), and
have him give the money back after his Day 1. Obviously, don't bother when the
game is nip and tuck, but on big maps with long periods of nothing, it'll give
your team a significant advantage. It's usually pretty tough to fund a
high-grade Tower army, but with the economic backing of the Rampart, you'll be
buying Titans and Nagas as fast as your towers can pump them out. In games with
more than 2 human players, the Rampart can be a neutral trading nation a la
16th century Netherlands. Charge people resources for the right to boost their
cash. (source: Mr. No Name ) [posted on 02/22/2000]
RESURRECTION: FOR YOUR EYES ONLY!
When you have Expert Fire Magic and the blind and resurrection spells, you can
get all of your army back if you have enough mana. When you get to last enemy
stack, blind that stack. You now have unlimited turns to do what you want with
nothing happening to you. If your in a battle with another hero, the hero will
not be able to do anything. You can then use resurrection to build your army
backup before ending combat. Note: If you have a ballista, you need to have the
skill to control it, otherwise the balista will automatically attack that one
blinded troop nullifying your recovery procedure. (source: Gavin Watkinson )
[posted on 02/22/2000]
LAUGH IN THE FACE OF THE MOUTH OF THE DEEP!
If you have a spare stack, split out one troop from your lowest level stack and
place in that slot. This way you can avoid the penalty (except for the one
troop) for going through a whirlpool. That one low-level troop is considered
your weakest stack, so it will be the one who will suffer the loss. This makes
being sent to the wrong whrilpool for twenty times in a row a lot more
annoying, but a lot less costly. (source: Fizban the fabulous ) [posted on
02/22/2000]
EXCUSE ME... ARE THOSE ***YOUR*** HARPIES?
If you're attacking a castle and for some reason you don't want the opponent's
troops to exit the castle and attack, you need to block the square right in
front of the drawbridge. This is a perfect place to stash your harpy hags,
because they'll be able to reach anybody behind the walls, attack without
retaliation, and then come right back to continue to block the drawbridge!
(source: Tianyun ) [posted on 02/22/2000]
LUMBERJACKING 101
How to take out "legions of dendroids": You need one unit (in numbers: 1) that
can attack without retaliation and the berserk spell (preferably expert but
even basic will do most times), at least two stacks of enemy dendroids.
Berserk one of the enemy dendroid stacks (or more if you have adv/exp fire
magic). It will attack one of its companions and tie it with its roots. The
attacked stack will retaliate and hold the first unit in place too. Both stacks
will end up being unable to move! Repeat until all enemy stacks stand still.
Now its your turn: Wait, attack (without retaliation!) and retreat. Even if you
inflict just one point of damage you´ll finally win as the "root spell" lasts
forever. It's even better if you have a range-attack unit. (source: Roland
Spindler) [posted on 12/06/1999]
EVEN MORE DIFFICULT THAN YOU HAD IMAGINED!
Sebastien Patenaude has put together a chart to explain EVERYTHING about how
the difficulty levels work...
Starting resources for Humans
Difficulties Gold Wood/Ore Other Resources
Easy 30000 30 15
Normal 20000 20 10
Hard 15000 15 7
Expert 10000 10 4
Impossible 0 0 0
Starting resources for Computer players
Difficulties Gold Wood/Ore Other Resources
Easy 5000 5 2
Normal 7500 10 4
Hard 10000 15 7
Expert 10000 15 7
Impossible 10000 15 7
* There's a list of things the AI will not do at Easy or Normal, such as
retreat, use the "wait" feature, etc. There are also more AI features "cut" at
Easy than Normal. The AI is exactly the same at hard, expert and impossible
difficulty settings. "Hard" difficulty is the difficulty level where the
computer is the most equal to the human player except for having 5000 less
gold. The information above was compiled from information given by Gus
Smedstad, HOMM 3 programmer.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 10/04/1999]
FACE THE MUSIC!
The following tip on changing music came in almost simultaneously a [long]
while back from two separate sources, so I am combining all their information
into one exciting tip.
You can change all the music in Heroes III! Here's how you do it:
1) Locate the MP3 folder in your Heroes 3 folder heirarchy.
2) Locate the MP3 file for the tune you wish to replace and rename it (for
example, rename 'necroTown.mp3' to 'necroTown.BKP'.
3) Copy an MP3 tune you wish to play instead to the Heroes MP3 folder and
rename it to the name of the tune you just renamed in step 2 (in the example
above, rename it to 'necroTown.mp3').
But wait! There's more! You can also use a CD ripper (for instance,
audiograbber) to rip the town theme music from the HOMM 2 and HOMM2:POL cd's
and store them as MP3's. The town tracks are #'s 5 - 10 on the cd. Then you can
use those wonderful HOMM oldies in place of their current counterparts!
(source: Ant Geomax ) and (source: Derek Knauss ) [posted on 10/03/1999]
MAGICAL TROOP COMBOS!
You can combine specific units with spells. Here are a few (Unit\Spell): Mighty
Gorgon\Shield... Battle Dwarf\Haste... Arch Angel,Titan\Bezerk... Efreet
Sultan\Armageddon. These combinations can turn the tide in both a losing and
winning battle. There are many different combos you can make up. (source: Louis
Estrada ) [posted on 10/01/1999]
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER... AND STAYING?
There are lots of tips how to avoid the incapable computer allies from sitting
on the resources; but I found a new, easy and total one. It works well if the
allies has few (preferably one) castles in the begining and has only one hero
outside this castle. If you want to stop the ally's progress so that you can
buy several heroes and capture all the resources, buy a hero in his castle and
leave it there. As long as it is staying there, the computer has to use its
only hero to do everything else. If you have enough money, it is better to buy
one hero with a fast troop (and with logistic secondary skill if it is
managable) to run around and capture the area before the computer does and use
another one to block the castle. It has the most effect if the computer is an
explorer. (source: Balage (Balázs Vissy) ) [posted on 10/01/1999]
BIRDS OF A FEATHER...!
If your army is strong enough, there's a 10% base probability wandering stacks
will join you for free. Having creatures of the same kind (upgraded or not)
makes this 10% more likely. Having an army that "mostly" has the same kind of
creatures (more than 50% of your total army) makes it 20% more likely instead.
Diplomacy improves that probability by 10% for each level of the secondary
skill. A best case scenario, let's say with a strong enough army, "mostly
similar" troops (ex.: mostly Thunderbirds and you're going up against Rocs) and
expert diplomacy means that you'd have a 60% chance of the stack joining for
free. Even if they don't join for free, you've still got a 10% chance per
diplomacy level (i.e. 10% at basic, 20% at advanced and 30% at expert
diplomacy), of them joining you for money. The actual formulas are more
complicated than that but this is roughly how it works. Thanks to Gus Smedstad,
HOMM 3 AI programmer, for the information. (source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on
10/01/1999]
THIS SPELL MAKES ME CRAZY!
Berserk: It can do an enemies army up to nearly unlimited damage, soak up
counter attacks and turn all the special abilities in the enemies army like
blind etc against the enemy. It is by far better than chain lightning or other
spells than it comes to heavy battles. Berserk some angels and let them attack
the champions (if they are next to the angels). You don´t have to bother about
the angels i.e. you can concentrate your fire on the other units (thus giving
you a great strategic advantage) and the champions won´t counterattack when you
are fighting them. Works even better if you berserk enemy units close to
unicorns, medusas or mighty gorgons. With expert fire magic and three berserked
enemy units you will lower the enemies army power in that round dramatically,
give your shooters one extra round to fire, reduce counter attacks massively
and all the damage the units can do will be done against the enemy him(or
her)self. Do the berserk against the fastest unit and really slow the enemy
down. And you can do that in any round again. (source: Ye olde sorcerer
(Florian Trombach)) [posted on 10/01/1999]
DON'T BE AN EXPERT AT NOTHING!
If you prefer magic heroes, then it is a very wise strategy to build up your
magic guilds very fast -- meaning that you build them up to at least 4th level
before you decide which magic school you will build your heroes' skill up to
expert in. All the tips about how worthiness of certain school of magic or a
certain spell cast at expert level are absolutely worthless unless you get
those spells in your mage guild. What good is expert earth magic if you don´t
get Town Portal or Resurrection? Chain Lightning and Fly are good spells but
expert air magic is worthless when you get berserk and frenzy as 4th level
spells. (source: Ye olde sorcerer (Florian Trombach)) [posted on 10/01/1999]
TOUCHED BY A ANGEL CLONE!
If you have a great stack of Archangels, the spell Clone, and expert Water
Magic, you can clone your Archangels (after facing some losses) and let the
"ghost"-Archangels resurrect the original archangels. Also clone can help you
many battles which you assumed to be lost. (source: Ye olde sorcerer (Florian
Trombach)) [posted on 10/01/1999]
NO MAP IS AN ISLAND!
I found a neat glitch in HOMM3 Campaigns. There's a way to edit the campaigns
in the Map Editor. First, play the campaign until you reach the scenario you
wish to edit. In your Heroes 3 Maps directory, theres one file called
"campaign.tmp". Open it with the Editor. The last campaign scenario accessed by
the game will pop up in the Editor. If you want to use the changes you make,
though, I think you have to start all the campaigns again from the beginning.
(source: Poke Slayer ) [posted on 08/29/1999]
BLOCKING BY FORCE!
If you are facing a huge force (6 or 7 stacks) of 2-hex creatures and you have
expert Air, a smart thing to do is to cast Force field at the second row of the
right. It will grow to the top of the map, effectively blocking 2 or 3 stacks
for a number of turns. They can't move because they need a 2 hexes hole to get
through. An expert force field at both sides of a obstacle in the middle can
block the entire enemy force from reaching your stacks. Very underestimated,
that Forcefield!! (source: Marin Bouman ) [posted on 07/28/1999] Forcefield
only lasts 2 rounds regardless of power (according to the manual), so it could
get expensive throwing up a new Forcefield every two turns. Insure that you
have sufficient mana to pull this trick off. (source: Don Wang ) [posted on
10/03/1999]
BROWNE'S BLIND BLOCKER BLOCKBUSTER!
If you find yourself in a situation where your troops are blinded but you do
not have Cure or Dispel Magic, you may still have a powerful alternative if you
have Teleport. Blinded troops CAN be teleported, and what better place than
right next to your opponents shooters? That way the blocked stack has to attack
you at half strength (mostly) and "wastes" his own spell. Or he moves his
shooters to another spot -- foregoing his attack -- and you can teleport again
next turn. You need to Teleport as soon as one of your troops gets to move
because the blinded troops won't have a turn. (source: Rich Browne ) [posted on
07/28/1999]
ARTIFACT SWITCHAROO!
You can make use of more artifacts by changing them around during a turn.
Artifacts that increase movement (boots of speed, equestrian's gloves) need
only be worn at the beginning of the turn. Before combat you can change the
gloves for a ring, or change the boots for something that will help you in
combat (holy sandals, necromancer's boots). Similarly, artifacts that provide
gold or resources, or increase regeneration of spell points, need only be
equipped at the beginning of the turn. Artifacts that increase knowledge need
only be worn when you recharge spell points, such as at the end of the turn you
spend in a mage guild town, or before you approach a well or fountain. However,
you may have to take a step or two with the artifact equipped for the increase
in knowledge to take effect. After your spell points have been recharged, you
can remove the knowledge-increasing artifact, and even equip artifacts that
decrease knowledge (such as the titan's cuirass, which decreases knowledge but
greatly increases spell power) with no decrease in spell points. (source:
DenverSam ) [posted on 07/19/1999]
GET ON THE MAGICAL BALL WITH THE BALLISTICS SKILL
Ballistics skill has one tremendous advantage- during the targeting phase of
combat (which comes before any creatures go), you can cast a spell! Use this
spell to blind/berserk the defender's fastest troop, to do a mass haste, or a
mass slow. If you have a squire, give the squire all your troops, and head him
back to a friendly town. The main hero can attack, use his largest damage
spell, and then flee. He only needs 4 creatures (even level 1st will do) in
separate stacks, 3 to absorb tower fire, and one more to survive the round.
(source: Qurqirish Dragon ) [posted on 07/12/1999]
TURN A BLIND EYE TO ELEMENTAL SUMMONING
Summon Elemental is generally not worth it because Elementals have been
weakened so much. Damage spells also are less effective because everything has
more HP. Spells like Blind are now as good and sometimes better than direct
damage spells. (source: Don Wang ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
MANDATORY YOUTH PROGRAM
Aging can be cured. In fact, that's probably the one condition you want to cure
as soon as you can. (source: Don Wang ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
ARMAGEDDON REVISITED
You can pull more Armageddon combos then before. Efreet and Fire Elementals,
and Gold Dragon are all immune to Armageddon, though Efreet and Fire Elementals
doesn't have all that much HP to duke it out with the enemy. Diamond Golems are
also pretty good for this purpose since they're tough and take only 5% from
Armageddon. (source: Don Wang ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
NO MAS BOOM BOOM WITH MASS DEFUSION
If you cast Mass Dispel while laying siege to a Tower, you'll dispel
(eliminate) all of the Tower mines. (source: Dan McGraw ) [posted on
07/10/1999]
A POX ON US ALL
"When a month of plague occurs, the following happens:
All unpurchased creatures are cut in half
All dwellings produce 0 creatures
Any dwelling which has horde building built is IMMUNE to the effects of plague.
Thus a castle with a griffin bastion produces griffins normally. Similarly with
dwarves, dendroids, imps, cerberi, skeletons, gnolls, etc."
(source: Qurqirish Dragon (Matthew Charlap) ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
BASIC DEFENSE SENSE!
Sometimes Defending makes more sense than Moving or Waiting. Imagine a
one-on-one confrontation between Minotaurs (speed 6) and Dread Knights (speed
9). Let's say the opponent is clever enough to stay just out of range of your
Minotaurs on the first turn (and the AI at hard is excellent at staying out of
range). You could move your Minotaurs closer to them or you could tell the
Minotaurs to Defend. If you don't have Slow or Haste, the best option is Defend
at the end of turn 1 because on turn 2, the Dread Knights will get the first
attack anyway. By defending, your Minotaurs get a better defense rating (+5 in
this case!) possibly meaning a few more Minotaurs will survive the first
assault that was unavoidable. This is not certain (in fact I'm pretty certain
other factors enter into this because it's not constant) but as a general rule
I think the defense bonus given by Defend is the same as the creature level (+1
Defense for level-1 creatures, +2 Defense for level-2 creatures, etc). (source:
Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude) ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
BILLARD ETIQUETTE ON THE BATTLEFIELD
(Or... "9 shooter stack in the top-right pocket!") Much less useful than HOMM 2
but still available is the "pocket formation". The objective is to surround
your best shooter stack with walkers and flyers so the enemy cannot reach it.
That way, your shooter can continue to pick its target each turn and does not
have the half-damage penalty. There are many variations on this but here's a
simple example. You use tight formation (also called close or grouped
formation) in the hero screen, you put your Griffins stack in slot number 2,
the Pikemen in slot 3, the Markmen in slot 4 and your Swordsmen in slot 5. On
turn 1, you move the Griffins in front of the Marksmen therefore closing off
the "pocket". (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude) ) [posted on
07/10/1999]
YOU WATCH MY BACK -- I'LL WATCH YOURS
Put tough slower walkers units, such as Dendroids, close to your shooters but
not next to them. The enemy will have little choice but to fight them too if he
tries to block your shooters (blocking is putting your unit next to an enemy
shooter so it does half-damage). The tough walker stack should be close but not
next to the shooter because you run the risk of the opponent attacking that
walker stack *and* blocking your shooter, especially if it's a strong stack.
(source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude) ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
GUERILLA TACTICS 101: LIGHTNING REHIRE
A way to reduce the strength of an approaching enemy army is by hiring a bunch
of magic heroes one after the other or the same hero several times in your town
about to be invaded. You give 3 very fast units to the hero, leave the rest of
the troops in the garrison, make the spellcaster sacrifice himself by attacking
the invader, you cast your best offensive damaging spell (such as Lightning or
Meteor Shower) and you make your hero flee or surrender right away. If the hero
has enough spell points (and now enough movement points with the patch), you
can make another run with the same hero. If not, you hire another magic hero.
You repeat until you run out of gold. You need 3 split units or more against
human players, less against the computer (a faster shooter and a spell could
take out 2 units before you can cast the spell). This trick is much less
effective in HOMM 3 than HOMM 2 because units have a greater speed range and
because of the patch preventing rehired heroes from getting their full movement
back on the same turn. On the other hand, starting heroes have much greater
starting armies and you could create a decent garrison just by hiring and
rehiring them. (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude) ) [posted on
07/10/1999]
FLIGHTS OF FANCY (AND SURVIVAL)
Some veterans might remember HOMM 1 where you could use a fast flying unit to
avoid slower enemy walking units during a castle siege. The indestructible
turret could then shoot away for as long as it took to destroy all the enemies.
With the tougher castle defenses in HOMM 3 and a much larger battle field, this
tactic has surfaced again. As the castle defender, at the end of battles, you
could potentially avoid your last stack being killed, even get a win from what
was a certain defeat, by making your unit avoid the last enemy stacks for as
long as you're able (if you managed to destroy the catapult, you can do this
forever because your turrets will stay operational). Try to remember that moats
stop the movement of walker units. (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
) [posted on 07/10/1999]
GET OUT AND STAY OUT!
For the first time in a HOMM game, the catapult can now be destroyed. It has a
thousand hit points and you'll likely have to use powerful damaging spells and
hit-and-run tactics with your very fast flyers but it is possible. The main
benefit of this is that once it is destroyed, the invader cannot take out your
walls and turrets anymore who will continue firing until the battle is over.
Once the enemy's spell points and flying units are gone, you can stay cozy and
safe behind your wall waiting for your turrets to do the dirty work (in fact,
let they flying enemy units come to you behind walls). Enemy shooters are
unlikely to make a difference (with the wall and distance penalty) unless
they're in much bigger numbers than your troops. (source: Quebec Dragon
(Sebastien Patenaude) ) [posted on 07/10/1999]
BUT I WANT IN!...
What to do if your opponent is devious enough to destroy your catapult? You
have several options : cast multiple Earthquakes, cast Teleport to get your
troops inside (you need expert water magic though) or Hypnotize an enemy stack
so it opens the main gate for you. (source: Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
) [posted on 07/10/1999]
GO BALLISTIC!
If you got the secondary skill of "Ballistics" and tackle a castle, target the
main tower... you'll ALWAYS hit the lower tower. (source: Emmanuel Issaly )
[posted on 06/27/1999]
WHAT PART OF "EXPERT" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?
When Magic Plains says all spell is cast at Expert level, they really mean it.
Not only do your heroes cast at Expert level, your Master Genies also cast
their spells at Expert level, too. So instead of having one stack with every
enhancement in the book, you can now have every stack loaded with every
enhancement in the book! If possible, get as many Master Genie stacks as you
can spare without compromising firepower (after all, if you're having all but
one or two stack with Master Genies, it's almost the same anyway because you'd
cast all your spell on the one or two powerful stacks). (source: Don Wang )
[posted on 06/27/1999]
A BONER OF A TIP -- PART 2!
If your Necromancer has skeleton warriors and has the rest of his/her slots
full (no normal skeletons) the resurrected skeletons will come back as skeleton
warriors. (source: Steve Church ) [posted on 06/06/1999]
A BONER OF A TIP!
While Titans and ArchAngels seem to only produce skeletons when shoved into the
gaping maw of a skeleton transformer, your Hydras and Assorted Dragons are
transformed into Bone when sacrificed in the same manner. (source: DarkKittin )
[posted on 06/06/1999]
ADVANCED MATHEMATICS 110!
Staight from Maranthea on the message board, this is the formula to calculate
scores in HOMM 3 stand-alone scenarios.
Base Score = 200 - (days+10)/(Towns+5) + 25 (if you defeated all enemies) + 25
(got the grail)
Final Score = (Base Score)(Difficulty level map was played on)
In English, it gives us this:
1. Start with a score of 200
2. Add 25 points if you beat all enemies
3. Add another 25 points if you get the grail
4. Subtract an inefficiency penalty: The number of days to complete - 10,
divided by the number of towns on the map plus 5 (in other words, the more
towns to beat, the more time you can take without being majorly penalized)
This will give you a score up to 250.
Multiply this by the difficulty rating (0.8, 1, 1.3, 1.6 or 2) to get final
score. Theoretically, the max score would be 500 (defeat any map in 10 days on
impossible while killing all enemies and getting the grail). Map difficulty
(easy normal hard, expert) seems to be irrelevant.
(source: Maranthea on the 3DO Message Board and submitted here by Quebec Dragon
and Angela ) [posted on 06/06/1999]
A DRACONIC KEY TO THE CAMPAIGNS!
If you didn't save and start with the proper saved game and you are now at the
end of all three initial campaigns without being able to go on to the next
campaigns without replaying all the first three; then you may wish to download
Quebec Dragon's special Unlocked Campaigns file which is a saved game after the
third campaign. You will also find a complete description of the problem by
Timothy Duncan in the Question of the Week! section or in the Q of W archives.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
KNOCK, KNOCK. WHO'S THERE?
When visiting locations that are protected by guardians, locations such as
Dwarven Treasuries, Naga Banks, Griffin Conservatories and several others, it's
often a risk because you don't know how many troops you'll face exactly. A way
to make taking this decision easier is by always saying no when the prompt asks
you to fight. You can then right-click on the structure and you will get a
rough estimate of the number and types of creatures you'll have to fight.
You'll lose a couple of steps but in the long run it's a good way to avoid
foolish battles.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
SPY vs SPY
In multiplayer, when it's your opponent's turn, click in the bottom-right
corner box where you see his flag. You'll see how many towns he has and of what
hall type (village hall, town hall, city hall, capitol).
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
WRAITH BOMB
Split up the Wraiths in your army. For each wraith stack you have, the
adversary will lose 2 spell points each turn.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
BOVINE PERSONS BOMB
Split up your Mighty Gorgons in several stacks. Several with single units and
one with the rest, or all stacks of equal numbers. Each stack, even if it
contains only 1 Mighty Gorgon, has a chance of using death stare on the target
killing its top unit outright, no matter how powerful it is. If you have more
than 10 Gorgons in one stack, you could even kill 2. See strategy for Spoils of
War 3 (Greed) at the Rally Flag for more details on how the Mighty Gorgon death
stare works.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
WHY MAKE ONE WISH WHEN YOU CAN MAKE THREE?
Split up the Master Genies in your army. Each Master Genie stack you have can
cast one beneficial random spell each turn. Keep in mind that although only 3
spells are shown at one time, more than 3 spells can affect the unit. Only the
3 most recent effects are shown.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
WAR MACHINES AS DECOYS
There is an additional, unforeseen benefit to actually buying those ammo carts,
healing tents and ballistas. It will soak up damage from Chain Lightning ! The
war machines are considered suitable targets as far as that spell is concerned.
You'll also see quite regularly that the powerful enemy stacks will ignore your
own living troops to take cheap shots at those war machines in order to destroy
them. Therefore that enemy stack who could have hurt you badly wastes its
attack on something that you can easily replace. It will often happen when the
retaliation of your stack would have inflicted losses on the attacker.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
BAITING THE LAME AI TIP #42!
HOMM 2 veterans had learned that the AI always targeted their strongest shooter
stack first. Even if you had one Halfling and 50 Ogre Lords next to it, that
stack of enemy Dragons would attack that lone Halfling who could never have
hurt it in a million years. The HOMM 3 AI is smarter and won't always target
your shooters anymore. However, it's still not that brilliant and you can use a
variation of the old shooter bait trick to cut your losses significantly. Use
split-up low-level units (doesn't matter if it's shooter, walker or flyer but
levels 1 are better) in small numbers alongside one, two or three really strong
higher-level stacks. The enemies on the other side are likely to target those
low-level units first because the retaliation of the higher-level stacks would
hurt them too much. It won't always happen like that but it can. For example, I
was attacking an opponent who had six Black Dragons (split in two or three
stacks) with four Black Dragons of my own and my 6 other slots taken by
single-units Troglodytes. The enemy Black Dragons attacked my Troglodytes
instead of my Black Dragons!
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/09/1999]
WAIT AND RUN TACTICS!
A clever use of this wait feature is, when fighting slower enemy walkers or
fliers, to "wait" at the beginning of the turn until after the enemy moves.
Then at the end of the turn move forward and attack them. At the beginning of
the next turn, run away again so that they never get a normal attack on you.
Works great with Archangels and Dragons and (I would imagine) Archdevils
against things like Dwarves. I recently took on "lots" of dwarves with a single
gold dragon and lost, but then reloaded and used this trick and won easily.
Having Mass Haste and Mass Slow (Haste and Slow at expert level) makes these
waiting tactics even easier to accomplish.-- QD
(source: Samuel Martin Ventola ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
WAITING FOR MR. BADBAR!
When fighting wandering stacks composed of walkers and flyers that cannot reach
your side in one turn, it's almost always better to make all your units wait.
This gives you a double advantage. Your units have the first strike and some of
your shooters will not have the broken-arrow range penalty (shooters have a 10
hex range, beyond that, they inflict half damage).
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN!
This has been true since HOMM 1 and it hasn't changed for HOMM 3. It's always
better to attack on day 7 and day 1 of each week before the enemy has a chance
to buy more troops. It works on day 1, too, because your day 1 turn is before
the computer's day 1 turn; so its troops are unbought when you attack. You can
sometimes capture lightly defended or empty castles that way. Most importantly,
you can hire all those troops yourself while preventing the enemy from getting
those reinforcements. It's also quite possible that the enemy will buy new
structures for you during that week from which he'll not really be able to
benefit from. Letting the computer build stuff for you will save you a lot of
gold and resources. Against human players, this is different, it's not always
the host who goes first each turn anymore, it's now the player picking the
color that's higher in the advanced options list. On smaller maps, this is a
tredendous advantage as you can bring day 1 reinforcements from your own town
(by hero chain) and attack the enemy's town before he has the change to buy day
1 troops of his own.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
JUST ADD BEER AND GOLD!
Hiring more heroes on day 1 from your tavern is something that most players
should do. Players will often start exploring with only their starting hero,
possibly buying just one more, and staying with only 1 or 2 heroes for the rest
of the week, sometimes longer. Learn that often more heroes sooner are better.
As a general rule of thumb, hiring 2 or 3 additional heroes on day 1 is a good
idea at hard difficulty. At normal difficulty, hire 3 or 4 extra heroes. It's
not an exact science though, so go with your instincts and particularly what
you see of the immediate area around your town. If you see lots of gold piles
and chests, hire more heroes. If it looks pretty barren, hire less. Combine
practically all troops (don't forget to buy troops from your starting town) on
the same hero who will become your main hero, fighting the majority of battles,
and who will climb levels quicker than the rest of your heroes. If possible,
try to hire heroes associated with your main town so you have less problems
with morale.
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
A GHOST (DRAGON) OF A CHANCE!
If you have Ghost Dragons, fill your open slots with one single Ghost Dragon in
each. Make sure they attack before your main stack. Let them attack the
opponent's main stack (for instance, Titans). You have a good chance (20% for
each Ghost Dragon stack you use) of aging them (halving the hit points of all
members in the stack), making it considerably easier for your main stack of
Ghost Dragons to finish them off. The first single Ghost Dragon who attacks
also takes up the retaliation.
(source: Jaxe ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
WAR MACHINES DON'T FIGHT BACK!
Troops with multiple grid attacks (dragons for instance) should be positioned
when attacking to angle their attack down (or up) through a first aid tent,
ammo cart, or ballista. This way, they can hit the enemy troop on the other
side of the war machine and not suffer a retaliation!
(source: Paramjot Oberoi ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
OLD DEADLY COMBOS IN NEW PLACES
You can pull more Armageddon combos then before. Efreet and Fire Elementals,
and Gold and Black Dragon are all immune to Armageddon, though Efreet and Fire
Elementals don't have all that much HP to duke it out with the enemy. Diamond
Golems are also pretty good for this purpose since they're tough and take only
5% from Armageddon.
(source: Don Wang ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
GENIE BOMBS OUT -- GENIE POWERUPS IN
If you like high level units (6 or 7), a good way to go is to form one or two
stacks of those guys and as many stacks of Master Genies as there is space
left. The Genies can cast a lot of magic -- just about all of them useful
except for Frenzy, which is sort of a double-edged sword.
(source: Don Wang ) [posted on 05/08/1999]
THE HILL FORT'S A SWELL FORT!
The cost of upgrading troops at a Hill Fort:
Level 1: Free
Level 2: 25% of normal cost
Level 3: 50% of normal cost
Level 4: 75% of normal cost
Level 5: normal cost
Level 6: normal cost
Level 7: normal cost
(source: Quebec Dragon ) [posted on 04/23/1999]
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IXb. ADVENTURING GUIDE
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Adventuring!
by Maneater
The main purpose of adventuring is exploration and resource gathering. It can
also improve your heroes in a variety of ways. There are two ways to go about
adventuring: scouting, which constitutes mostly aimless roaming for removing
the
shroud and taking advantage of anything that is not guarded, and aggressive
expansion, which involves the conquest of territory. Scouts are expendable
heroes with light and relatively mobile troops. They are usually unsuited for
any sort of combat, but can avoid trouble because of their good movement. There
are several criteria that determine the amount of success any exploration
mission will have. For clarity's sake, I will cover each one of these criteria
individually.
Choosing the right hero
As far as your main heroes go (the ones you'll use to aggressively expand),
they
can be anyone you like. And although some are better than others, it all
depends
on personal preference and playing style. When picking a scout, however, it is
important to look for several key characteristics. One, heroes who start with
fast troops - hell hounds and serpent flies, for example. Two, heroes who start
with Logistics, Scouting, Pathfinding, and Navigation secondary skills. Three,
heroes with creature specialties (because they increase their troops' mobility
and, in turn, their own). Four, heroes of your native town who were hired only
for the troops they were leading and are now otherwise useless. Later in the
game, when faster troops are readily available, multiple heroes with a single
mobile troop type (dragon flies, silver pegasi, etc.) can be dispatched to
uncover the map even faster.
There are a few things to keep in mind when exploring with scouts. First of
all,
never equip them with only a single stack of creatures. An enemy hero can
easily
dispatch them that way before they have a chance to retreat. The reason for
this
is that they can be carrying an artifact or a spell that you wish to pass on to
your main forces. Second, never pick experience from treasure chests, unless
you
actually plan on developing the scout. On that same note, only visit free map
locations with scouts.
The skill of adventuring
As mentioned above, there are a few secondary skills that are specifically
designed to aid adventurers. Among those are Logistics (a skill EVERY hero
should try to learn), Scouting (a useful skill for any aspiring scout),
Pathfinding (useful if the map features lots of hard terrain), Navigation (a
must for exploring the seas). There are other non-combat skills that work in
more subtle ways. Scholar allows a more effective distribution of spells among
your hero pool (just make sure the scout possessing that skill has a spell book
before you send him/her out :). Diplomacy is a sure tiebreaker in close games
(it also requires you to pay neutral creatures which might have otherwise
joined
you for free). Learning speeds up your level advancement (not particularly
impressive when picking up experience from treasure chests or visiting learning
stones). Estates is more of an economical skill, but it never hurts having it
on
one or more of your scouts :)
Spells that go the distance
Everyone knows the power of the awesome Dimension Door, Fly, Waterwalk, and
Town
Portal spells. However, the little spells are often the ones that make the big
difference. Here's a list of the spells which are commonly overlooked:
1. View Earth (earth) - good for scouts on the prowl for more resources. At
expert it lets you see the layout of the map and the location of all mines.
2. View Air (air) - useful for artifact hunting. At expert it allows you to
pinpoint all heroes and towns on the map.
3. Visions (all) - a natural compliment of Diplomacy. Very useful early on
when clearing out mines and other important locations. At expert it gives
information about enemy heroes and towns as well.
4. Disguise (air) - a very tricky spell that lets you escape some hairy
situations unscathed.
5. Summon Boat (water) - as the name suggests, it's useful when you have no
other means of making a boat at a specific location. It can also be used to
deprive the enemy of one of your stranded boats. At expert it creates a boat
if none is available.
6. Scuttle Boat (water) - this is a dirty spell that can seriously cripple
your opponent's expansion capabilities, not to mention it is extremely
annoying to the person on the receiving end :)
Coveted prizes
To say that artifacts are an important part of the game would be an
understatement. Artifacts are of extreme importance, so having the right
assortment of those can spell victory or defeat in most situations. Since we
are
on the topic of adventuring, here are some items that may make yours a
successful one:
1. Land mobility artifacts - rings, gloves, and boots that increase your
movement points. All I can say about these is you can never travel far
enough.
If you can't learn Logistics, these artifacts are a good substitute.
2. Sea mobility artifacts - necklaces and caps that increase your movement on
sea. The ultimate seafaring artifact is the Sea Captain's Hat, which also
allows you to summon/destroy boats and protects you from whirlpools.
3. Sight range artifacts - those work similarly to the Scouting skill.
4. The Boots of Levitation - puts you in auto Waterwalk. Top of the line
mobility artifact.
5. The Angel Wings - puts you in auto Fly. The best mobility artifact.
6. The Spellbinder's Hat - arguably the most powerful artifact in the game is
not an adventure artifact per se, but it allows you to cast adventure spells
like Fly and Dimension Door.
On a concluding note, it is a good idea to memorize what individual artifacts
look like, because they appear the same on the world map, but without a
description. It can save you tons of frustration during an actual game. Also,
it
is a bad idea to equip an expendable scout with any artifacts other heroes may
need. In fact, it is a bad idea period, because they are EXPENDABLE. Make a
habit of transfering artifacts from scouts to regular heroes as often as
possible.
Important locations
Naturally, some map locations are more critical than others, mines and towns
being the most important of all. Below is a list of sites you should never pass
by.
1. Sites that give you extra movement. These include Stables, Rally Flags,
Fountains of Youth, Watering Holes, and Oases. They will also provide a variety
of other bonuses. The only exception (which should not apply to Stables) is
going out of your way to visit them, effectively slowing your progress.
2. Sites that remove the shroud. These include Magi Huts, Redwood
Observatories,
and Cartographers (for land, underworld, and sea).
3. Keymaster's Tents. Not all are essential or even important, but some are. So
unless you know what it's guarding, I suggest visiting each and every color
tent
you encounter.
4. Seers. Again, you never know what they may give you as a reward and it might
be big.
5. Prisons. This is a no-brainer, just make sure your hero ranks are not
already
full before going after an imprisoned hero.
6. External creature dwellings. This is another no-brainer, but only if it
helps
you in some way. For example, you wouldn't go out of your way to flag a Cursed
Temple if you are a Knight, but you might consider flagging a Dragon Cave in
most situations. This also presents an intriguing alternative if you are
playing
as the Dungeon. Since that town can build a Portal of Summoning, you may be
well-advised to be careful of what you flag. If you flag only high-end
dwellings, you will be able to recruit powerful creatures on a regular basis.
Keep in mind that in order to get the most out of your external dwellings
you'll
need to visit them each week. Be prepared to set aside "collector" heroes for
this puprose.
7. Sites that contain considerable rewards. Dwarven Treasuries, Naga Banks,
Cyclop Stockpiles, Imp Caches, Medusa Stores, and Griffin Conservatories all
reward you handsomly for the effort. The best fight-for-reward site is the
Dragon Utopia. DO NOT pass it by if you have the chance to beat it.
8. Trees of Knowledge. The only downside to these is the occasional resource
prerequisite. But even then they are worth the price, especially for high-level
heroes who would not find an easier way to grow.
9. Libraries. These are a must for every level 10+ hero.
10. Magic Springs. Mimics the effects of the Dungeon's Mana Vortex building and
the Expert Intelligence skill, although the Intelligence bonus is permanent.
11. Covers of Darkness. These are very very important in multiplayer games
since
they set back the adventuring efforts of others. They are also good for staging
ambushes as well as escapes.
Take a swim
The seas, while often disregarded on predominantly land-based maps, can be the
source of considerable riches. Hence, it is adviseable to take advantage of
them
whenever possible. Aside from wood and gold, many useful artifacts can be
fished
out from the waves. The map may also contain remote islands unreachable by any
other means. The sea Cartographer will reveal every area covered with water.
You
can also scout the seashores, which can give you valuable information of enemy
outposts and movement. Just make sure you don't end your turn near the beach,
where you can be boarded. Lighthouses and Shipyards, therefore, are locations
you should be keeping an eye out for. There are three towns which can build
shipyards of their own, if they are close enough to the shore - Castle (the
best
on island maps), Fortress, and Necropolis.
When sailing the seas of Heroes3 beware the Whirlpools. Never enter one unless
you're running for your life or there is no other way to get from one section
of
the map to another. Never EVER enter a whirlpool with a full compliment of
troops. Only the Sea Captain's Hat artifact makes it safe for sailors to cross
these treacherous vortexes. *Note: if you have only one troop left, your boat
will not sink when passing through a whirlpool. It is, in fact, the best way to
cross multiple whirlpools with scouting heroes.
[Editor's Note from QD: Split your army so that in one slot you have one unit
of
the lowest level (or the weakest unit in your army). You will lose that single
unit but that trick will allow the navigator to pass safely through the
whirlpool. Whirlpools in HOMM 3 will almost always halve the stack of the
weakest unit in terms of individual hit points. Let us imagine you have a big
Dungeon army with 6 places filled out of 7. If you went through a Whirlpool,
you
would lose half of your Troglodytes even if they were in the hundreds. With the
above tip, each time you wanted to go through a whirlpool, you would simply
make
a seventh stack with only 1 Troglodyte and lose that single unit.]
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IXc. GUIDE FOR BEGINNER
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Beginner's Manual for New Online Players
by Eonoak
I. Playing the map.
II. Playing your town type.
III. Building your Heroes.
a. skills
b. spells
IV. Playing your Opponent.
V. Battles.
a. open early
b. siege early
c. open mid
d. siege mid
e. open end
f. siege end
g. Playing the Map
I. Playing The Map.
This is the most crucial aspect of the game and the most difficult to
master. It's all about decisions and taking the initiative. It starts on day 1.
Where do you send your army, and your main hero if you have choosen him
already.
Taking the fastest path to the most important point requires a good knowledge
of
the map. That means scouting if you haven't played the map before. Playing the
map requires thinking long term- several weeks in advance as concerns your main
hero. Never waste time sending your hero back and forth, try to send your main
hero into an area and clear out everything in that area so you don't have to
come back. To do this properly you really need 1 scout to accompany your main
hero, visiting Witch's Huts and picking up loose resources so your main hero
doesn't lose any movement points at all. Also- to continue beyond week 1 in
this
way you will need to chain (using scouting heroes as troop transports.)
Diplomacy or similar unit types cause monster groups to join you more
frequently
and greatly speeds up your main hero as he doesn't need to wait for
reinforcements at any point. Any packs (or lower size) of 5th level and lower
units can usually be handled with week 1 troops and Magic Arrow. The main worry
at this stage is that your opponent might gather all his forces and march on
your castle in week 1. If you aren't there to defend it he will surely win, but
if you are he will almost as surely lose. This also highlights the importance
of
heroes as troop transports. Keeping 1 hero midway between your main army and
your castle provides some insurance against a surprise attack in the early
weeks. Many maps that came with the game have certain structures that change
your goals at this stage, gold mines, griffon conservatories, or wyvern nests
might allow you the extra power to challenge 7th level units in week 2 or kill
off your opponent quickly. In most player designed maps these structures never
appear however and you don't need to worry about any of them except gold mines.
Gold is more important than any other resource, and might be worth losing a few
days of non-essential mine production for if you can get 1 early. As the game
progresses you can likely keep your main hero in the field until week 3-4 using
chains.
The only time you need to come back is to learn high level spells from the mage
guild or defend against an opponents siege. Moving intelligently over the map
saves you time and allows your hero to gain experience quicker while you
dominate the map. In the later game playing the map is as or more important. By
now your scouts should have uncovered the majority of the map and certainly all
the map close to you. Now is the time to set priorities- is your goal to gain
artifacts and experience or deny them to the enemy? Both strategies are equally
valid and can be effective if you use them at the right time.
II. Playing your Town type.
The town you are playing forces some choices on you. What kind of resource
priorities will you set...? Is gold production or unit production more
important, and do you need a quick victory or do you benefit more by playing
for
time and stretching the game out. 3rd level mage guild towns usually force you
to compromise between units and gold. You need enough units to be able to
dispatch your opponents, yet you also need the gold to afford those units. A
balanced building plan is usually best... depending on difficulty level of
course! Towers and Dungeons especially can benefit from longer games, along
with
the true king of the end game- Necropolis.
A few towns such as Rampart and Inferno benefit more from building unit
structures week 1 instead of gold-producing structures. As Rampart on 160% or
less difficulty you can get 1-6th level unit dwellings and a castle in week 1
usually. That is a big bonus and Rampart can only afford it because both their
dwellings and units are so cheap. Inferno can really benefit from reaching
Efreets week 1, and upgrading their Hell hounds to Cerberi week 2, these 2
units
used well with a hero that has any sort of expert magic can take on almost most
anything short of a Dragon Utopia sized monster group. Inferno should also
think
about building to level 4 mage guild quickly in case it has Armaggeddon. With
Efreets and Armegeddon in early game nothing can stop you. This is rare, but
after Inferno has Capitol and Forsaken Palace- building your mage guild up is
better than upgrading your troops. Most of the time however, building straight
to Capitol and then buying all your creature dwellings is best. On days 6 and 7
after city hall; sometimes you should buy 2 creature dwellings to protect
against siege and have a better army in week 2. However, leaving off that and
going straight for Capitol assures you of 7th level dwelling in week 2 on most
maps if the level isn't set to impossible. You just have to decide based upon
whether you expect an early attack or not.
III. Building your Heroes
a. This allows the widest latitude for individual choice and playing styles
that remain effective. The most important thing to keep in mind is what kind of
town your opponent or opponents are, and what you need to beat them. Developing
a 2nd hero as a reserve is also recommended, you never know what the game will
bring- and having a secondary level 10 or higher hero can be very useful
especially for Inferno or any town that lacks shooters or has a major Hitpoint
disadvantage- having 1 or 2 extra heroes with spell power of 5 plus, and
lightning or even better implosion or armeggeddon can win the game for you.
b. The spells your hero gets are as important as the skills... 1 other
reason to build a mage guild quickly is that you can determine what magic
school
you need to take full advantage of the spells you receive, getting an expert
magic and having only 1 or 2 spells that are useful isn't that great, level 4
spells are the most important to know. This can be difficult to do since
oftentimes you must choose a magic school before you know what spells you will
get even if you go for mage guild early. This is also why building a second
hero
is recommended, if your main hero doesn't get the required magic schools, your
second one often can.
An important point in building a second hero is that the experience needed to
reach level 10 for 2 heroes is equivalent to the experience 1 hero needs to
reach level 14- so essentially you miss out on 6 levels and the added
flexibility it could give 1 single hero. Also- 1 hero can only visit bonus
locations such as learning stones once. 2 heroes can visit twice (actually once
each); also- having 2 heroes of a high level allows you to conquer the map
quicker and thus you can often take on monster groups before your opponent and
gain the resulting experience while denying it to the enemy. The larger the map
the more important it is to have at least 2 high level heroes.
IV. Playing your Opponent
This is mostly composed of pyschological warfare and bluffing. Many people
don't like talking trash or receiving any smack and bluffing doesn't need any
words to be effective. Buying all your units and sending them down on a
transport hero or reserve hero (making sure to stay away from your opponents
main army otherwise this isn't a good ploy) while you retreat your main hero
back to your town to pick up the spells is a decent strategy. This is also a
good time to let your 2nd hero gain some experience from battling monsters with
your army. The pyschological part is to put your opponent on the defensive,
never let your army leave the field and keep it as close to the center of the
map as possible. Even if you don't have an exact plan of what to do next
staying
near the middle of the map or the point on the map with access to the most
locations quickly lets you stay flexible and when you do decide which direction
to go makes it appear as if you had a plan all along.
Also-keeping your main army in the field always forces your opponent to march
out with everything he has and generally slows his development and makes him
play cautiously. You can use transport heroes to upgrade your units. Keeping
units already purchased in castle is useless unless you are playing a game with
some AI players in it. Another thing you can do is buy 4-5 heroes and flood
your
opponent with them all at the same time, moving 1 or 2 scouts is piecemeal and
won't make your opponent worry much and also wont' accomplish much for you
except -5,000 gold. Even if you lose all 5 heroes you can usually penetrate to
just outside his castle and generally cause havoc on his resource production
stealing key mines and resources. You generally don't want to commit your main
army to raiding because while it messes with your opponent, it slows down your
map domination by the same # of days you aren't using it to conquer the map and
is also a risk if you can't move away fast enough before day 1 of a new week.
You don't want your enemy to attack you with a bonus week of creatures.
V. Battles
a. Early open field battles are usually the province of scouts or
eliminating AI players main armies in week 1 or early week 2. There isn't as
much strategy here as the most important things are magic bolt and getting the
1st attack. You want the 1st attack to let your slow, low level units get the
1st move on the battlefield.
b. Early sieges are hard to accomplish it you are fighting a castle.
Generally you need lots of ranged units. to win. Only Tower and perhaps Rampart
have a good chance of winning a siege against a castle in week 1. Most times,
early sieges deal only with forts or citadels and these are much easier to
take.
Ranged units are at their most dominating at this point in the game.
c. Mid game open battles are the meat of the game. I include attacking
monster groups here because you can't afford many losses so you need to play
these with skill. Usually you will still be using un-upgraded units in general
and have several turns to make it across the field, ranged attackers are still
very potent here, but your hero should by this time have level 2 spells and
some
spell power, or else you might be in trouble. Fighting human opponents in week
2
is dangerous for you both since whichever side is forced to retreat has a
serious setback to overcome. Unless you are totally sure you have superior
forces, you should avoid these as your army is usually so small 1 lucky blow or
morale move can determine the outcome. The real strategy here is to appear to
seek battle or at least not avoid it- you can only do this if you think you
have
a 50-50 chance of winning. Even if you don't want to fight, your opponent can't
know at this point if you found a great artifact or got some other type of
bonus
that will turn the battle in your favor, and hopefully they will avoid you or
might even retreat into their castle thinking a siege is coming.
d. Mid game sieges almost always favor the defender. Hiding behind their
walls with archers towers for support and generally low stats and skills on the
commanding heroes the battle revolves around the quality and quantity of the
units. Without a large numerical advantage or very superior shooters mid game
sieges are almost hopeless for the attacker.
e. End game open battles are a cat and mouse game of feint and counter-feint
before the battle with both sides seeking last minute reinforcements or magic
wells to refuel their heroes and this is where planning ahead really makes a
difference. The heroes&units involved are usually fully upgraded and often you
can't manage more than 1 hit&run attack so both sides will have a lot of
shooters unless they are Inferno or Fortress. Your hero development and town
development culminate here, the tactics of battle are fairly standard (wait,
all
units except shooters maybe- then move at last possible time) but there is
still
a huge amount of options left. Spells also affect end games battles in a big
way. With the right skills and spells,, small armies can decimate larger ones
in
the end game. The battles are chiefly determined by how well you did prior to
engaging the enemy, but in close games your battlefield tactics will win or
lose
the game for you. Spells can do the same thing, but hopefully if you are facing
a Tower or Dungeon army you have expert resistance. There is no way to have
100%
effective tactics in battles, every battle is different and the best you can
hope for is to have come in prepared.
f. End game sieges are the most difficult of all battles. For most attackers
the preservation of their catapult is paramount. If the defenders can destroy
the sieging catapult not only do they preserve their archer towers, but they
force the attacker to either use mana on earthquake or teleport spells, rely on
the fliers and shooters in their ranks, or retreat. Destroying the catapult
doesn't always result in victory for defenders but it increases their chances a
lot. Conflux-Castle-and Rampart with the fastest 7th levels are particularily
well suited for that tactic. For a few towns fighting behind castle walls
actually hinders their units, Fortress and Inferno do better in open battles,
as
does Stronghold. Castle and Rampart can fight effectively either way as can
Dungeon, but Dungeon is well suited to siege warfare. Necro can often win
sieges
even without a catapult; skeletons- vampire lords, ghost dragons, power liches,
and wraiths are almost as good a combination as Dungeon's 3 flyers and 2
shooters. Tower is also the master of siege warfare, being able to attack thru
the walls, and defend from within them almost equally well. The largest problem
for Tower is on defense where the Nagas 2 hex size often hinders gang attacks.
Other than that the end game siege is managed very well also with Tower's
heroes
who often have 200+ mana and a huge assortment of spells to choose from.
: : This is actually a really brief overview- there is alot more to address in
each area, but just to give you some idea of what you will be facing as much as
anything else, online play is the most fun and challenging part of HeroesIII!
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X. STRATEGY GUIDES (EXPERT)
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--Guides for Campaigns--
(5 campaigns strategies available)
* means the campaign's number.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Liberation 1: Steadwick's Liberation
by: Sebastien Patenaude
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember that somewhat tougher scenario where you took the capital
Steadwick with your Dungeon/Inferno troops, having to deal with General
Kendall along the way ? Well it was all for nothing since you now have
to take back Steadwick with the good forces. No rest for the weary I
guess. In more concrete terms, this means that the general geographical
layout in this large map called "Steadwick's Liberation" will be very
similar to the one in "Steadwick's Fall", the third scenario in the
Dungeons & Devils campaign. Very similar but with differences. You start
in the southwest corner but there will be a catch this time, the Dungeon
Overlords have blocked off access to Steadwick from the surface so
you'll have to venture in the underground to reach it. On my first play,
I finished on month 3, week 2, day 5.
0) I suggest picking the 2 Archangels starting bonus. They're better
than Titans are.
1) You start with Christian the ballista specialist and two towns: 1
Castle and 1 Tower.
2) Hire 4 extra heroes: two in the Castle and two in the Tower (could be
1 and 3 too or just 1 and 2). If you get knights/clerics, buy them at
the Castle, if you get wizards/alchemists, buy them at the Tower. If you
get heroes with pathfinding or a resource bonus (got Saurug giving +1
Gem each day !), jump on them.
3) Your 2 free Archangels are waiting in the Castle. Form an army with
just them. Give them to Christian. Don't forget to buy him a spellbook.
4) You have a war machine factory next to your Castle. My initial tip
would have been not to buy any and save your gold, but in hindsight, I'd
suggest buying a First Aid Tent and Ammo Cart for Christian. The First
Aid is useful even without the secondary skill (because you have
Archangels) and the Ammo Cart might seem useless but it has the
unforeseen benefit of soaking up damage. Enemies just seem to love
wasting attacks on war machines as stupid and useless as that might be.
5) Christian should go roughly east with his Archangels beating the
wandering stack blocking his way to the dirt area.
6) Give the rest of the knight troops to another hero who should go
west. The third hero near the Castle should go south to grab the Ore
Pit, then go back north and east following Christian a few days later.
He'll be used to grab resources that Christian frees up Christian won't
pick them up right away instead continuing to move and fight as many
stacks as possible each round. Do take items and flag mines he goes
near. Just don't pick resource piles right away with Christian, they can
wait. Extra wandering stacks joining him should be dismissed because
they would slow him down or else given to the squire if he's not too far
away.
7) Pick gold from chests in the first 2 weeks except for Christian who
should sometimes pick experience from 2000 gold/1500 experience chests.
8) There are 3 types of chests (plus the one giving free items): the
1000 gold/500 exp. (chest A); the 1500 gold/1000 exp. (chest B) and the
2000 gold/1500 exp. (chest C). It's more worthwhile to pick experience
from chest C, pick gold from chest A and flip a coin for chest B :-)
More seriously, in the early game, I strongly suggest always picking
gold from chests. Lack of gold will be your most frequent bottleneck and
you can get enough experience later.
9) Here are my building orders for both the Castle and Tower in week 1.
I decided to forget about level 6 or 7 troops in week 1.
Castle
•1) Mage Guild (don't forget to buy spell book for Christian!) •2)
Blacksmith •3) Monastery •4) Griffin Tower •5) Griffin Bastion •6)
Marketplace •7) Citadel
Tower
•1) Town Hall •2) Mage Guild •3) Parapet •4) Sculptor Wings •5) Golem
Factory •6) Mage Tower •7) Citadel
I had to trade to get enough gold for the second citadel (don't trade
gems or crystal!). It's quite possible you might not be able to get two
Citadels in week 1, if so buy the missing one by the end of week 2.
10) I had wood problems but it's because I didn't initially go west from
my Castle.
11) By the end of the week, try to get the knight town in the southeast
corner with Christian.
12) Do not attack that stack of Black Dragons in front of the
Subterranean Gate. We'll have to go back there eventually but not for
quite a while yet.
13) During week 1, the 3 heroes who stayed there should explore most of
the grass area (before the garrison). Christian and his squire should
have explored a good section of the southeast corner in the dirt area,
still leaving quite a few black spots though.
14) In week 2, buy a Tavern, Town Hall and Marketplace in the southeast
knight town, then forget about it.
15) Make Christian go north until he comes upon an Inferno that he
should be able to conquer if he has any luck. I did almost lose an
Archangel because of the turret.
16) I was going for the Cloud Temple in the Tower and better gold
production in the Castle. My building orders for week 2 were:
Castle
•1) City Hall •2) Upgraded Archer Tower •3) Upgraded Griffin Tower •4)
Skip •5) Skip •6) Stables •7) Training Grounds
Tower
•1) Marketplace •2) Skip •3) Altar of Wishes •4) Golden Pavilion •5)
Blacksmith •6) City Hall (build sooner if you can!) •7) Cloud Temple
The City Hall in the Tower could have been built as soon as day 3 but I
wasn't sure if I could build the Cloud Temple AND get the City Hall. It
looks like you can. As an alternative to the City Hall, you could buy
the Castle in the Tower. In fact, it might be the better choice.
17) Build another City Hall in the Inferno
18) Watch out for your Inferno, mine got attacked on day 7 of week 2.
The one hero (which I traded to buy), a knight with 5 Archers and 13
Pikemen barely managed to repel the assault from the Demoniac attacker
who had about 1 week's worth of Inferno troops. I split the Pikemen to
protect the Archers in the upper right corner. Christian should have
attacked that hero and would have won but didn't see her in time.
19) Your week 3 objective is to get the Portal of Glory
20) Buy all the Royal Griffins, Halberdiers, Marksmen and Monks in your
Castle. Transfer to your main hero who will go northwest past the
crystal mine protected by that level 5 stack. For me it was lots of
Mighty Gorgons so I decided to wait until week 4 where I would have even
more reinforcements. In hindsight, I could have taken them in week 3 so
that's why I'm suggesting it here.
21) The 2 Archangels were quite sufficient to defeat most wandering
stacks encountered up to now except that Black Dragon stack.
22) Buy 1 or 2 Resource Silos during week 3.
23) Make sure you buy the Castle structure in both your Tower and
knight's Castle (I just love the fact the town and that structure are
named the same ;-) by the end of week 3.
24) Don't forget to visit your windmills each week with a secondary
hero.
25) Buy the Capitol in week 4.
26) I made a mistake, which you shouldn't make. From the Inferno, I went
west, saw a knight town and tried to waltz around avoiding the strong
hero inside. The problem was that a mountain chain blocked my way to the
west and I was caught by that enemy and killed. To make it worse, I
didn't even have enough gold to surrender with my Archangels (although I
did flee in time). My suggestion to you is to explore north of the
Inferno with Christian instead of going west like I did. If you want to
take the risk of exploring west of the Inferno, do make sure you have
enough gold on hand to keep your Archangels ;-)
27) Week 5 was my "upgrade the level 7 structure" week, i.e. the Portal
Glory and Cloud Castle. No Angels or Giants had been bought until then
and wouldn't be bought for several weeks yet. As you no doubt noticed,
most wizard troops were left unbought, they were accumulating for later.
For now, just the knight troops from the Castle were plenty enough.
28) I even managed to buy the Forsaken Palace in the Inferno!
30) I captured a neutral knight town in the northwest corner with my
knight army on month 2, week 2, day 1. If you attacked the level 5 stack
protecting the crystal cavern in week 3, you can probably reach it
sooner. Don't forget to bring in reinforcements (from your Castle) by
hero chain though.
31) Liberate Kendall from his northwest prison. The pack of ArchDevils
was tough and I lost about half my Marksmen. If they had been any
slower, I could have easily protected my Marksmen by surrounding them
with walkers and covering the front with Cavalry or Royal Griffins. This
strategy used to be very popular in HOMM 2 and it can still be useful in
HOMM 3 but it seems to be less so these days since most walkers/flyers
can cut off enemies before they reach the shooters on your side. A side
effect of the bigger battlefield and flyers not being able to reach the
other side in one turn I guess.
32) Kendall possessed the Ladybird of luck that was necessary to
complete a seer quest.
33) Instead of walking the item all the way back to the Seer's hut with
Kendall or another hero. I simply made Kendall sacrifice himself on a
nearby wandering stack and rehired him at my Castle. A very weird bug
happened though. I didn't see him in my tavern but when I right-clicked
on both heroes there, I saw he simply had acquired the portrait of Lord
Haart!
34) I just received a lousy badge of courage when I completed the Seer
Quest. On the positive side, this magic artifact would be carried over
to the next scenarios.
35) On week 6, I got lucky and captured the central knight town with
only 3 Devils and 9 Efreets while the enemy hero was away. You can
probably do the same by fooling the hero outside of town with a
sacrificial hero but if not, don't worry too much; either your inferno
army or the knight army coming in from the northwest will be more than
strong enough to take it.
36) Buy a spell book for Kendall, make him visit the Library of
Enlightenment.
37) Buy all the Titans and Archangels you have and give them to Kendall.
Buy 3 or 4 Mater Genies and split them up. Each Master Genie stack can
cast a random beneficial spell each turn. That means 3 or 4 free spells
each turn for your Titans and Archangels. Keep in mind that any given
stack can only have 3 spell effects on them at a time. On the fourth
spell, the first spell cast will be gone. Watch out if you get the spell
Frenzy, this cuts down your defense to zero. Bless is useless on
Archangels.
38) Kendall had 12 Archangels and 10 Titans before he went east to
attack the pack of Black Dragons protecting the underground. Buy the 3
War Machines before going!
39) There's an unprotected subterranean gate in the northeast corner.
Who knows what might have happened if Christian had not lost his
Archangels earlier? I would have probably gone there after having
cleared the northeast surface section or... being the reckless Dragon
that I am, I might have gone underground right away trying to catch an
unprotected enemy town by surprise.
40) The battle against the pack of Black Dragons was very easy since the
War Machines soaked up most of the initial attacks. This is certainly a
big AI flaw in my eyes. If the Black Dragons had concentrated on my
other troops, they could have inflicted more losses. You could have also
used more split-up sacrificial low-level troops to draw fire from the
Dragons. It seems the AI is often scared of suffering too much
retaliation damage and will waste its attacks on less-powerful stacks
and even war machines.
41) By end of week 7, I had total surface control except of course for
the cut-off Steadwick valley.
42) Kendall went underground and his army fought 2 consecutive battles
against very strong Dungeon armies near the center. I did beat them
(taking two Dungeon towns too, one in southeast corner, the other in the
center) with only my Archangels & my Titans. I still had plenty of them
left after the battles. This army combo was particularly effective as I
thought it would be. Of course you could decide to wait longer and buy
all the troops in your Tower and Castle before starting your underground
assault.
43) An unforeseen advantage of only going in with Titans and Archangels
is that the enemies will come out of their towns to attack you, thinking
that you're easy prey. With luck, you won't have to deal with fighting
those powerful Dungeon armies when they're hiding inside their towns.
Fighting outside means that the turrets will get less time to hurt you
(you should expect token garrisons in towns anyway but those can easily
be beaten in 1 or 2 turns).
44) My knight army (with Royal Griffins, Marksmen and the rest) entered
the northeastern subterranean gate and captured the dungeon town near
it.
45) You'll soon come upon a rather strong garrison in the underground.
The gate leading to Steadwick is just beyond. The garrison's roster
includes 40 Evil Eyes, 30 Minotaur Kings, 20 Scorpicores, 10 Black
Dragons, 20 Scorpicores, 30 Minotaur Kings and 40 Evil Eyes in that
order.
46) I knew my remaining Titans and Archangels would probably not be
enough so I added some other good troops brought from my Tower and
Castle.
47) The army that beat this garrison was composed of 45 Zealots, 36
Master Genies, 130 Royal Griffins, 10 Titans, 61 Crusaders, 24 Champions
and 9 Archangels.
48) Strategy for this battle: Cast Mass Haste (I hope you have it ;-),
make your Archangels wait, the Black Dragons will likely attack the
Titans and be in range of all your other troops, the Genies should wait
and attack the Evil Eyes. Make the Archangels attack the Scorpicores.
Blind one stack of Minotaur Kings on day 2. I only lost 34 Royal
Griffins and 1 Titan, which is pretty good overall.
49) Continue northwest to the Subterranean Gate.
50) Capture Steadwick (northeast of the Gate but hidden by a cover of
darkness). It should be a real cakewalk compared to what you faced up to
now. Just ignore the heroes around, you don't need to beat them and your
heroes don't carry over anyway so the extra experience serves no
purpose.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Liberation 2: Deal With the Devil
-----------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deal with the Devil, the second scenario in the Liberation campaign, is
a medium-sized map pitting the Rampart and the Castle against Inferno
towns. The victory objective is capturing a town called Kleesive where
Roland, Catherine's husband, is apparently held captive. Since it's the
first campaign scenario dealing with the Rampart, there are several
general tips applying to that town inside the walkthrough. I finished on
month 2, week 1, day 5.
0) There is no clear better choice in the spell scrolls given as the
starting bonuses. I suggest picking Icebolt because it will make the
starting game easier. Protection from Fire is a level 1 spell so easier
to get than Precision or Icebolt.
1) You start with 1 Rampart town and 2 Castle towns (one having the
Fort)
2) Hire one extra hero at the Castle, 2 heroes at the Rampart. Do not
make an Eagle Eye specialist your main hero (goes for all other
scenarios too). In other scenarios with the Rampart (and no other town),
I'll sometimes form two armies, one with only Centaurs and Wood Elves
and the other with all the other troops including (or not) the Dwarves.
This permits me to cover more ground, more quickly at the expense of
having less wandering stacks join me through greater glory.
3) Leave the Dwarves in the Rampart for now. They would simply slow you
down.
4) Build Town Halls in your Castle towns.
5) Crystal will be your most-needed resource since you're playing as the
Rampart and that town requires a lot of crystal to build its level 7
creature dwelling, the Dragon Cliffs. The Castle would also need some
crystal for the Portal of Glory but we won't really need it to win this
scenario. Ore is the second most-needed resource in the Rampart (you
need 30 ore for the Dragon Cliffs!)
6) There is a Crystal Cavern just west of your Rampart and another one
much farther east. Flag them as soon as possible.
7) There is a Trading Post (works as if you had 3 marketplaces) east of
the main Castle town (southern one) although you probably won't need it
in week 1. If you need to trade, do not trade wood, ore or crystal and
leave at least 10 units of the other resources (10 is arbitrary, it
could be 5 or 8 too, just leave yourself a little of each resource).
8) Here are my week 1 building orders for the Rampart and the main
Castle town. Try to get in a routine, always build at one town (your
favorite that will lead the first offensive) then the other. I suggest
building first at the Rampart, then at the Castle and most often at the
end of turns when your heroes have picked up some more resources and
chests. The exception to that rule would be when you want to transfer
troops (a part from a newly-constructed structure such as Homestead) to
the main hero by hero chain before he gets too far away.
Rampart Building Order
•1) Mage Guild (you could wait until week 2 since you can't build the
Dragon Cliffs in week 1 but why not have your heroes start with
spells?). •2) Homestead •3) Enchanted Spring •4) Dendroid Arches •5)
Unicorn Glade •6) Dwarf Cottage (or Dendroid Saplings) •7) Citadel
General Rampart building considerations : It is quite acceptable to skip
the Dwarf Cottage in week 1, it's not a requirement for any other
creature dwelling. The Dragon Cliffs are extremely unlikely to be built
in week 1 so don't even attempt it. To get them so soon, you would need
to start with a free Dwarf Cottage (in starting games, either the level
2 creature dwelling will be built or it won't, it's random) and then
build a Mage Guild Level 1, a Mage Guild Level 2, the Homestead, the
Dendroid Arches, the Enchanted Spring, the Unicorn Glade and the Dragon
Cliffs on day 7. Unless you're drowning in resources and gold, it won't
happen. It is much better in my opinion not to be in such a rush and
build it in week 2, even week 3 if necessary. My first 2 builds for the
Rampart are usually different than those above. The vast majority of the
time, I'll start with Mage Guild level 1 then build a Town Hall on day
2. I didn't do it this time because I had a secondary town.
I prefer to have the Citadel in week 1 instead of either the Dendroid
Saplings (Dendroids +2) or the Miner's Guild (Dwarves +4), those 2 horde
production buildings will usually be built in week 2 along with the Mage
Guild Level 2 and the marketplace. My first town upgrade is always the
Upgraded Homestead and I try to do it early in week 2, also changing
Wood Elves into Grand Elves. By day 6 of week 2, I usually have a good
idea if I'll be able to make the Dragon Cliffs this week or not. If by
providence and sheer luck it's possible, I'll even build the Castle on
day 6 and the Dragon Cliffs on day 7. If the Dragon Cliffs are not
possible, I'll buy the Castle on day 7.
I have heard, yet not tested myself, that going for the Capitol (or at
least City Hall) in week 1 and the creature dwellings in week 2 was
better and that you would feel the usual cash crunch much less. In my
usual play philosophy, I always pick gold from chests in the first 2 or
3 weeks and I do not buy any extra creatures from the town in the first
two weeks except perhaps those up to level 3 at the start of week 1 (I
do not buy Dwarves) . The combined armies of my starting heroes (I
usually buy from 2 to 4) are usually more than enough to deal with the
wandering stacks around.
Castle Building Order
•1) Town Hall •2) Blacksmith •3) Barracks •4) Archer's Tower •5) Griffin
Tower •6) Griffin Bastion •7) Citadel
Yes, this town will have an amazing Griffin production.
9) Your main Castle hero should go east from the main Castle and take
both the lightly protected Sulfur Dune and Alchemist's Lab. Your
secondary hero should follow the road, flag the Guardhouse, the Ore Pit
and the Saw Mill.
10) Try to take the gold mine north of the secondary Castle town by the
end of week.
11) It's usually not a bad idea to wait until week 2 to attack wandering
stacks that protect little caches of goodies (in other words, non-
essential resources and chests that don't block your way to somewhere
else). It is especially true against wandering stacks such as Elves
(shooters) and Royal Griffins (quick flyers that can reach you in 2
turns) that would inflict some casualties in your ranks. If you wait in
week 2, the goodies will still be there and if your army is stronger (as
it usually is by then), the wandering stack is more likely to join
instead of fighting. Knowing when to pick a fight with wandering stacks
is an acquired talent. Most people err on the side of caution so I
suggest you learn becoming aggressive (if a fight goes too badly, just
reload), this will help you if and when you ever want to tackle HOMM 3
multiplayer where the aggressive (but not reckless) player usually wins.
12) Your week 2 objective is to get the Dragon Cliffs at the Rampart.
13) Start your week by buying a Town Hall in the Rampart.
14) Upgrade your Homestead and Archer Tower (wait for later in the week
for Archer's Tower upgrade). The upgraded shooters, Grand Elves and
Marksmen, will be much better, being able to shoot twice per turn
instead of just once.
15) By day 2 or 3 of week 2, buy all available Centaurs, Grand Elves,
Pegasi and Unicorns. In week 1, you should have bought only Pikemen,
Archers, Centaurs and Elves. By hiring several starting heroes, your
initial army is usually strong enough to survive in the first few weeks
while you build up your town. In this scenario, I bought some higher-
level troops sooner because I wanted to make an early strike in enemy
territory. This proved to be a risky dangerous move so it might be
better to wait until week 3 for newer less adventurous players. Those
would use the same type of army (no Dwarves or Dendroids) but simply
more in each stack (rest of the tips are valid just delayed by one week)
16) Do not buy any new knight troops this week.
17) In the middle of the week, attack the Pit Lords east of your
Rampart.
18) Capture an inferno town (the one just southeast following the road)
by the end of the week then go south-southwest leaving no troops inside
the town (you could not really hold it at this time anyway). Watch out
for enemy heroes wandering around, I encountered a guy with a 2-week old
strong Inferno army and lost all my troops except 3 Unicorns and my
Grand Elves (see I told you it was a risky move :-).
18b) You could also capture the Inferno town and try to hold it until
reinforcements arrive the next week. It's certainly possible but more
risky especially if you get caught at the end of the week. The AI won't
split its troops retaking an empty town like it did in HOMM 2. If you go
for that option and do not go south with your Rampart army (see
paragraph 22), you should wait around in this area until you're ready to
launch a simultaneous assault on two fronts (northeast with Rampart
troops and southeast with Castle troops)
19) With some aggressive trading at the Trading Post, you can build the
Castle (for added production) in your Rampart on day 6 and the Dragon
Cliffs on day 7, plus the Monastery and Castle in the Knight's Castle
(yep it's confusing for me too :-). In my game, I didn't get the Castle
in the Rampart but it would have been doable.
20) In week 3, get reinforcements from your Rampart and transfer them to
the hero in the lava terrain. If you suffered some heavy losses (like I
did) I suggest upgrading the Cottage right away and hiring Battle
Dwarves. At speed 3, Dwarves are almost useless, at speed 5, they're
more acceptable. I will usually never buy Dwarves until the building is
upgraded.
21) Trade Gems, Mercury and Sulfur at the Trading Post for extra gold
when needed.
22) Make your Rampart hero go south at the border between lava and
grass. He will visit the Observatory Tower, kill the first stack of Pit
Lords protecting the Castle valley then go back north.
23) Buy the City Hall in your Castle.
24) Send in one or two scouts east through the lava terrain (optional
but it's usually better to send an expendable hero before committing
your main army to an invasion).
25) Let us evaluate the value of upgrades in the Rampart except for the
Gold Dragon, which is a significant although expensive upgrade like
every other level 7 unit in the game. Unlike most other towns, all the
Rampart upgrades are worthwhile although at varying degrees. In first
position as most valuable upgrade, I would put the Grand Elf with its
ability to shoot twice. The main weakness for Rampart troops being lack
of speed, the Battle Dwarves and Dendroid Soldiers upgrades help out in
that regard (although I do wish Dendroid Soldiers were at speed 5
instead of 4). The extra 20% of magic resistance for the Dwarves and the
extra hit points for the Dendroids are not to be forgotten also. The
Silver Pegasi with its +4 speed increase will give you the all-important
first turn in every battle except against Dragon Flies, Efreet Sultans
and certain level 7 creatures, you'll also be able to reach the other
side in one turn. This, for me, is the second most valuable upgrade in
the Rampart. The War Unicorns benefit from having 20 more hit points and
a +2 speed increase. Although less valuable than others, I'll often do
this upgrade sooner because Dwarves and Dendroids are often left behind
on first strikes and not bought until much later. Centaur Captains are
another worthy upgrade if not for the extra 2 hit points then for the
little extra speed making them the quickest level (and arguably best)
level 1 units in the game.
26) If possible try to end turns in towns so you can replenish your
spell points. This is very easy to overlook even by veteran players.
27) In week 4, buy all available Halberdiers, Marksmen, Royal Griffins
and Monks. Go east and kill the second stack of Pit Lords blocking the
Castle valley.
28) Buy all Rampart troops you can afford (Dendroids and Battle Dwarves
being bought last) and transfer them to your main Rampart army. If you
do decide to get Dendroids, upgrade the structure before buying.
28b) (Little bonus tip I had to insert somewhere :-). Although less
beneficial than in HOMM 2, the "pocket" formation can still be useful.
The pocket formation consists of surrounding your best shooter stack
(often the only one) with 3 other stacks so enemy units cannot engage it
hand-to-hand. That way, the shooter stack stays effective for the whole
battle : it does not suffer the half-damage penalty (when engaged in
melee) and can pick the most favorable target each turn. You must
usually choose tight formation for this to work properly but it's not
always necessary (if you have 6 or 7 stacks or if you have tactics for
example). An example of the pocket formation with Rampart troops would
be to put the Grand Elves in the middle (slot 4) flanked by the Centaurs
and the Unicorns. The Pegasi (slot 2), moving first, close the pocket by
flying in front of the Grand Elves. With a full roster of Rampart
troops, you could easily replace the flanking Centaurs and Unicorns with
Battle Dwarves and Dendroids. There are many variations.
29) There are 2 rocky roads: one going west to east near the Rampart
(road 1) and the other going west to east near the Castle (road 2). I
suspected there were other towns along those roads and I was right.
30) The two main armies (Castle and Rampart) followed the roads taking
the Infernos along the way. The Rampart army took road 1 and the Castle
army took road 2.
31) By end of week 4, I had captured the four Inferno towns in the lava
terrain. The only things left to do were to chase down straggling enemy
heroes and explore the two sections protected by Arch Devils. Your
victory objective, Kleesive is in the east section. The west section,
the valley between the Rampart and Castle, contains a gold mine, a hut
of magi, refugee camps and piles of resources you don't need at this
point. However, if you want to get minor magical items to carry over in
the last scenario, you must visit there (see paragraph 35).
32) Buy new scouts in your Infernos and explore around. It's a good idea
to buy new heroes in newly captured towns that will flag the mines
around it so your main army can continue on its destructive path without
being sidelined.
33) Buy Orders of Fire in the new Infernos you capture and nothing else.
It's cheap and gives +1 power skill to heroes. Visiting the four
Infernos here could give you +4 power.
34) The first Seer Quest seems useless because he simply exchanges a
sword giving attack +6 for a shield giving defense +6. However, the
second seer in the southeast corner asks for this magic shield (that you
can't get any other way) and gives you a Tome of Fire Magic in exchange,
a book giving you all the spells in the School of Fire! I didn't find
out about this nice bonus until after I finished the scenario and
checked to see if I had missed anything. This tome of Fire Magic will
not carry over to the last scenario and it will not help you in the
final battle (capturing Kleesive, see paragraph 36) but for any battles
until that time, it will be helpful. Favorite spells in the Fire School
of Magic include Blind, Berserk and Armageddon. Least-useful spells
would include Fireball, Land Mine and Misfortune (all the level 3 spells
surprisingly), which all seem either underpowered and/or unreliable.
35) To get magic items that will carry over to the next scenario of the
Liberation campaign (either number 3 or 4), you need to have completed
the seer quest from scenario 1. With the Badge of Courage (given by the
seer quest in scenario 1), you can unlock a blue border guard and get a
Charm of Mana giving you +1 spell point per turn. If however you played
scenario 3 (Neutral Affairs) before scenario 2 and already opened the
blue border guard there, your starting hero will have a Pendant of Life
instead of the Badge of Courage. With the Pendant of Life, you can open
the green border guard giving you a Spyglass for the next scenario.
36) You can take as much time as you need before attacking Kleesive, the
last Inferno town, it is doubtful that the hero inside can break out of
its valley anytime soon. Myself, I attacked in week 5 with knight troops
only. Be sure to ferry troops to your front line hero before attempting
your final assault. That last battle was surprisingly easy because the
enemy in the castle had very few troops and so I wondered why that was.
I do not know for sure but from checking the full map with the reveal
map cheat code after the game was over, there was an hero near Kleesive
called Clan Leader that I never encountered in my own game. I speculate
that he lost his army while trying to beat the several Arch Devils near
him.
36b) While reloading and finishing my turn just before assaulting
Kleesive, the stronger army I expected all along, led by the Clan
Leader, came out of the Inferno to attack me. With intelligent use of
the wait command, my Royal Griffins with unlimited retaliation and my 2
shooter stacks (monks and marksmen), the battle was not even close. It
is extremely easy to outmaneuver the enemy with wait if you're the least
bit attentive. To make it even easier, you can bait him outside so you
don't have to suffer as much from the turrets. In my opinion, the
Inferno town is far from a match for the Castle town and this little
battle just proved it to me. If we compare units level by level, the
Castle town is superior in every way. The Magogs, almost a liability for
their own troops, are dominated by the Marksmen. The Halberdiers beat
the fragile Imp Familiars that are not even real flyers despite their
little wings. The Royal Griffins are more numerous flyers with unlimited
retaliation while the Cerberi are slower less numerous ground-pounders
(although their multiple attack (useless against good human players) and
them suffering no retaliation is nice). Still if I had the choice, I'd
take the Royal Griffins over the Cerberi simply because of Castle
sieges. The Horned Demons get chopped off by Crusaders who attack twice.
The Pit Lords are walkers and one of the worst level 5 units out there
(much better to have an extra shooter or flyer stack in my opinion).
Only the last 2 units of the Inferno are really good and even then
Archangels beat Arch Devils. If I had to combine armies of an Inferno
and a Castle, only the Efreet Sultans would possibly take the place of
the Champions because they're very fast flyers.
37) If you have to fight the Clan Leader with all the normal inferno
troops he should have had by this point, I suggest combining the best
surviving troops from your Rampart and Castle. A good hypothetical army
would consist of Marksmen, Royal Griffins, Monks, Champions (or
Crusaders), Grand Elves, Green Dragons and Unicorns. Since you're on
cursed ground, you cannot rely on any magic spells (because you can't
cast any) and your Tome of Fire magic is useless. Keep that in mind and
use a might hero if you can.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Long Live the Queen 1: Homecoming
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
-----------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's unlikely you'll have much trouble winning this one but I'll use
this particular strategy to introduce some of the concepts HOMM veterans
have known for quite a while and that might appear evident but are not
always so especially for beginners. Pay attention as some of those
concepts might reappear relatively often in upcoming strategies and I
might not always describe them. There is no time limit here so take your
time, experiment and most importantly: have fun! It might seem a bit
overwhelming at first for new players who've never played HOMM before
but this series prides itself on being very accessible and simple to
learn while being very deep in terms of strategy and tactics.
0) Before the scenario starts, take the rare resources bonus although
you'll not really need it since you start with plenty of resources
already. Most other scenarios won't be so generous.
1) Something that might be very easy to overlook if you don't pay
attention is the special victory condition. The vast majority of
scenarios have the same victory condition that we call standard:
eliminate every other enemy color and castle on the board. Several
scenarios also add an extra victory condition to that standard victory
condition that might be much more achievable. Some scenarios might have
only the special victory condition and not the standard. In this case,
the objective is capturing the town Terraneus so even if you capture
every other enemy town it does not really matter, you need to capture a
particular one.
2) You start with a Castle, home of knights and clerics and 1 hero
called Christian that has ballista specialty.
3) As you can notice, you're surrounded by pikemen and archers, most
scenarios won't start like that but in this case, it was safe to assume
that those were free troops, meaning that when you meet them, they'll
join your main army free of charge.
4) Having wandering stacks (they don't really wander but this name is
used to designate all troops on adventure screen that are not led by
heroes) join your heroes is of prime importance in HOMM 3 and the most
successful players will learn quickly how to maximize their chances of
that happening. General rule is that your army should be twice as strong
in terms of total hit points as the wandering stack (at least it's the
way it worked in HOMM 2) although the exact ratios and probability of
stacks joining you in HOMM 3 are unknown at this time. If your army is
strong enough (read intimidating enough), the wandering stack will
either flee (most often occurrence), offer to join for money (if you
have diplomacy) or join for greater glory (free troops !). What is
fairly certain though is that troops part of the same faction as your
main hero will be a bit more likely to join. For example, with my knight
hero Christian, I'd suppose that pikemen, archers, griffins, swordsmen,
monks, cavaliers and angels would be more favorable to join if your army
is impressive enough. (Update note : Since I first wrote this, I learned
that the system was much simpler. The hero class does not affect the
probability of wandering stacks joining. You won't get the probability
bonus (10%) if your troops are of the same town... to get it you need
some units in your army that are *the same* as the wandering stack
(upgraded or not doesn't matter). If your army is comprised of more than
50% of the same unit as the wandering stack, then you get
5) Move your starting hero in your main castle and buy a spell book for
him (or her) by clicking on the Mage Guild. It's only 500 gold but you'd
be surprised at how often people forget to buy them for their starting
heroes or might heroes they hire. Each faction has one associated might
hero and one associated magic hero (heroes of might & magic, get it ? :-
). For Castle, the knight is the might hero (starting with no spell book
and most likely to improve in attack and defense) while the cleric is
the magic hero (starting with spell book and most likely to improve in
spell power and knowledge). So, always buy spell books for might heroes
as soon as you hire them so they are able to cast spells too.
6) We'll now constitute your main army. You buy all troops available in
your current dwellings and most importantly, you hire more heroes, the
more the better. At first, always try to hire heroes associated with
your faction if possible and also pay special attention to their
specialties, some are better than others. This serves several purposes:
•a) By combining all troops on one hero, that we usually call the main
hero, the army will be much stronger, you'll fight less often and more
wandering stacks will join. Let's call this concept: instant army. •b)
More heroes cover more ground which is especially important in the early
game when you need lots of resources. Main hero will fight battles, free
passages and conquer towns, the secondary hero will be behind picking up
resources, items and mines (although most often main hero will flag the
mine himself). The secondary hero can pick up most of the stuff on the
ground leaving the main army free for more important tasks. Let's call
this concept: the pack mule. •c) More secondary heroes also means that
you'll see more of your surroundings quicker making you less likely to
be surprised by enemies or to travel in the wrong direction with your
main army. Let's call this : the scouts. •d) The hero chain (which I'll
explain later). •e) Extra heroes are convenient for carrying extra
troops that might slow down your main army or when your army is full.
Let's call this: the squire. Having more heroes early in the game than
my opponents has proven to be the secret to many of my HOMM 2 victories.
So in the starting game, you'll have 1 main hero that will fight the
battles and secondary heroes that will act as pack mules, squires,
scouts and links in hero chain, most often they'll serve most if not all
of those functions.
7) I know that more advanced players will argue in favor of having 2
main armies, splitting troops in various combinations. It does make
sense and we'll use it in later scenarios but I don't want to go too
much in-depth on that right now.
8) Secondary heroes who will serve as scouts should have 2 or 3 of the
fastest available troop in separate single-unit stacks. In HOMM 2, we'd
have used 2 Gargoyles in packs of 1 for example. This is so that the
hero can move farther each turn on the adventure screen (see bottom of
page 15 for explanations). This advantage seems less pronounced than in
HOMM 2 but doing that for scouts still has another advantage. If those
scouts are caught unaware by enemy heroes (and they will be), they'll
have a better chance of fleeing so you don't lose them.
9) In the early game, when you're not too much in immediate danger, you
can easily live with giving only 1 unit to each secondary hero although
if a scout gets ahead in unknown territory, it should really have more
than 1 unit.
10) As a general rule of thumb, I'd say that hiring 2 or 3 more
additional heroes on day 1 is a good idea at hard difficulty. At normal
difficulty, I'd say more 3 or 4 more extra heroes. It's not an exact
science though so go with your instincts and particularly what you see
of the immediate area around your castle. In this particular scenario
where I was rolling in dough, I could have hired 7 more heroes (for the
max of 8) on day 1 but I decided to pace myself by only hiring 4 more
and not even hiring more during the week. 11) But heroes cost 2500 gold
each time you say, it's too expensive. I personally find that extra
heroes will pay for themselves very soon and that their usefulness
warrants the cost.
12) Still in the early weeks, almost always pick gold from treasure
chests as that's what you'll badly need. Only exception to that general
rule would be for main hero who gets chests of the 2000 gold/1500
experience point variety where I'm often tempted to choose experience
because the experience per gold is the most favorable ratio of all the 3
chest types (but even then, picking experience would be rare).
13) Think of an extra hero as about 2 chests. Or 1 chest and 1 pile of
gold.
14) Back to this particular scenario, I decided to go with 2 extra might
heroes (knights) and 2 extra magic heroes (clerics) who by luck were all
of the same faction.
15) Now should be the time to decide who should be your main hero and
that you'll develop more than the others. Pick the one with the best
specialty or the one that appeals more to you. In HOMM 2, I'd have said
to develop barbarian hero no matter the castle but in HOMM 3 it's
tougher to make that decision. Never forgetting about the specialties,
I'd say that in small/medium maps I'd develop more a might hero and that
in large/huge maps my main hero would tend to be more of a magic type.
I'm saying that because magic will not play such a huge factor on
smaller-sized maps so attack-defense are more important. Still it
doesn't mean your main hero should not have a spell book! 16) Ideally,
in large maps, I think I'd eventually develop both a high-level might
hero AND a high-level magic hero, possibly 2 magic heroes...
17) In Homecoming, from the choices I got, Valeska was more attractive
than the others for main hero position because of her archer/marksmen
specialty. I decided to develop more Christian anyway because that one I
knew everybody would have.
18) 2 heroes immediately boarded the nearby boats and started navigating
around picking up all the stuff.
19) Building orders will likely change for each scenario as I experiment
and depending on what is already built. But for this one, I decided to
buy the Archer's Tower upgrade right away because marksmen can shoot
twice instead of once and that's a huge improvement. I also noticed that
upgrading existing troops (in this case Archers) was a lot more cost-
effective than in HOMM 2.
20) Perhaps, something I was too used too in HOMM 2 and knights always
needing wood, I made my first objective the sawmill west of me. With all
the wood in the water, it was not that urgent anyway and I could have
gone the other direction :-)
21) As you become more proficient, you'll probably notice that there's
always one (sometimes two) particular resource that's more important
than the others for a given faction, give particular attention to that
kind of resource and look for it everywhere. It's often the resource
that the resource silo will give you (for example mercury for Inferno
and sulfur for Dungeon).
22) You'll also learn that some resources are less-needed for a given
castle, so those resources you could trade for more gold (especially
good if you find trading post in starting game).
23) A possible building order for this particular scenario that gives
lots of resources. I decided to emphasize creature production. Usually I
think I'd skip cavaliers for angels instead but we couldn't build portal
of glory in this scenario since it was grayed out.
•1) Upgraded Archer Tower (to upgrade all those free archers) •2)
Blacksmith (not for war machine but because it's required for Barracks)
•3) Barracks •4) Monastery •5) Stables •6) Training Grounds •7) Citadel
(to improve production by 50%)
Possible alternative, forget about Upgraded Archer Tower until week 2
and go for the Town Hall.
24) With your initial army, most stacks will certainly flee except those
in snowy valley west of starting castle. Those mines, I decided not to
liberate (too many potential casualties but perhaps not) and instead I
went back and took the north branch.
25) Deciding which fights to pick with wandering stacks is something
very important to learn. In week 1, several, packs, and lots of level 1
and level 2 troops are prime targets, level 3 troops in some cases if
the reward is worth it. Walkers and flyers that aren't too fast are
especially desirable targets while archers are much less so.
26) If a stack wants to flee you and it would have inflicted some kind
of casualties, let it flee (especially if they're shooters !). The
experience they give out is often not worth it. If you have necromancy,
you don't want to let anything flee of course as you'll get more
skeletons if you slaughter them :-)
27) For now and since you're learning the game, fight those stacks that
are fleeing to get the hang of combat. Makes for good practice when
things will become tougher.
28) Learn to love and respect the wait command more particularly on turn
1 against wandering stacks. Every stack should wait in the majority of
cases. You can always move your flyers after the shooters on the other
side have had their turn. That way, their first shot will be hampered
(broken arrow meaning half-damage).
29) The range of the shooters where they can inflict maximum damage is
10 hexes. Keep that in mind.
30) It's usually not a good idea to upgrade any creature dwelling in the
first week. You need the gold and resources to build the creature
dwellings you don't have.
31) Start of week 2 is the time to reinforce your main army by buying
the best troops you can afford. Take more than 1 day to buy troops if
you need (but not more than 3 before leaving castle). If you're really
short on funds and you need reinforcements sooner, buy the troops that
would be of most immediate help in battles, such as shooters and fast
walkers/flyers than can get to the other side in 2 turns. The best
offensive units if you want. Higher-level troops are usually more
desirable than lower-level units but be careful about that.
32) For example, in knight castle, swordsmen and pikemen would
definitely be bought last because of their relatively low speed and
because they're walkers.
33) To bring reinforcements to the front lines (read: troops from castle
to main hero), you use the so-called hero chain (it also goes under
other names). You move the first hero in the chain (usually one in
castle) to the second hero (a scout) about one day away more or less,
you transfer all troops to him except one low-level rather fast troop.
This second hero then moves his full movement allowance until he reaches
the third hero whom he transfers all his troops too except 1 or 2. The
third hero then moves to main hero and gives him the reinforcements.
Hero chains can be shorter or longer but they're very useful as you can
move troops several days worth in only 1 day.
34) At the end of week 2, near the first enemy town I took, the one
called Mirham, located in the center of the map, I then decided to split
my combined army roughly in half in order to cover more ground (gave
monks to Christian and left swordsmen with Valeska for no apparent
reason :-). Valeska went southwest while Christian explored the area
around Mirham.
35) Oh yes I forgot, before the hero chain started, one of the heroes in
boats returned to main castle with all the items found in the water. I
used him as first link in the hero chain. The items eventually got to
the main hero like the troops did.
36) At the start of week 3, I really started to feel the money crunch. I
regretted not taking the gold mine earlier. Gold mines are "extremely"
desirable locations to flag and worth several deaths to get one.
37) I decided to trade most (but not all) of my resources for gold at
the trading post. I wasn't really going to buy mage guilds in this map
nor was I going to really upgrade creature dwellings except those that
fit my fancy.
38) I bought Capitol in week 3 that gives you 4000 gold each day. It
looks expensive but you can recuperate your investment in about 5 days.
39) By end of week 3, I captured Plinth (southwest town near river) with
Valeska.
40) I also saw the first enemy signs near the center town of Mirham.
Luckily, Christian was still around to deal with invaders and so he
pressed on his attack into enemy territory eliminating tan eventually.
41) By week 4, I had found underground entrance with Valeska (southwest
area) and was busy exploring it. It was very long and winding and I
still didn't know where the objective town of Terraneus was located.
42) During all this time, I was concentrating on boosting the 4 heroes
(3 knights, 1 cleric in my case) that would accompany me in the next
scenario. They had to reach level 6 (or close to it) and I also made
them visit the most stat-boosting structures possible (like the tower
giving +1 defense for example). Remember earlier when I said not to
really pick experience more experience from chests with no problem at
all, and not just for the main hero either. By the end, I had two level
6 heroes (Christian & Valeska), one level 5 hero (Sorsha) and one level
4 cleric (Loynis).
43) I finally managed to reach Terraneus at the end of that very long
underground tunnel and proceeded to conquer it with just Valeska. She
still had about the same army that she had when the army split occurred
in Mirham back in week 2. Casualties were not that important, because
there would be no battle after that. Still if I didn't feel confident in
winning, I would simply have had to give her more troops by hero chain.
So I won this scenario exploring almost everything, on month 2, week 2
day 5. Locating Terraneus took the most time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Long Live The Queen 2: Guardian Angels
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
----------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian Angels, the second scenario in the "Long Live the Queen" mini-
campaign, is designed to show you the amazing power of the Angels. This
small scenario should normally be even easier than the first one. I
finished in month 1, week 3 day 7 on my first play. I replayed the start
of scenario after it was over to test a few theories.
0) I picked the one Angel as starting bonus although in hindsight
picking the 3 Zealots might have been good too.
1) The objective is a bit misleading at first, it says you must reach
Fair Feather before the enemies, it's true but it's extremely easy to
reach being just north of your starting position and unprotected.
2) You start with the 4 best heroes of the last scenario (Homecoming)
which should be around level 6.
3) Combine all troops, except one Angel, and give them to Christian the
expert in artillery.
4) The Artillery secondary skill is for the ballista (giant arrow
shooting machine working in all combats) while Ballistics deals with the
catapult that you'll only see in castle sieges and that serves to break
castle walls. It's easy to confuse the two.
5) Give your lone Angel to your best magic hero (in my case a cleric
named Loynis) and attack the stack to your northwest, the one with 2
chests and 1 item in the niche behind.
6) The 2 other heroes will have the fastest low-level troop you can give
them. 1 Griffin each if you start with them.
7) Take experience from chests unless it's of the 1000 gold/500 exp
variety (I admit that I took more often gold than experience in my first
try because I didn't know what the scenario was like)
8) Christian will head east with his army taking and visiting everything
on the way. He might look too weak to take on the stacks you'll
encounter but with the ballista, he should be ok. The ballista at expert
skill does a lot more damage than you might first expect if you right-
click on it or if you check the range of damage given when you pass the
cursor over an enemy (information window at bottom). For example, when
fighting Troglodytes that were close enough, you'd get a range of damage
between 30-50 (theoretically) with the ballista. Now imagine you roll 40
points of damage, that will be doubled to 80 points of damage (first
shot) then the ballista shoots again for another 80 points of damage
(second shot). So in fact, you did 160 points of damage in one turn with
your ballista not just 40 ! Quadruple the damage range when you pass the
cursor over the target and you get the real damage you'll inflict when
you're an expert in artillery.
9) Keep in mind that with expert artillery, the ballista shoots twice at
double damage each time. Christian's specialty with artillery helps too
making it even more devastating. It looks pretty wimpy (even useless)
when you start in the first scenario and Christian is at level 1 so
don't dismiss this secondary skill too quickly like I did.
10) Your magic hero will see a few Angels blocking his passage north.
This might scare you off but in fact, all Angels you'll encounter in
this scenario as wandering stacks will join you free of charge (with one
possible exception). So go ahead, attack it and you'll get one extra
Angel (you're now at 2).
11) Make your 3 heroes enter this little green valley, go for the castle
Fair Feather, having another free Angel join you. The heroes will flag
every mine, pick the resources and visit the sights.
12) This castle is quite special since you already have the Portal of
Glory built for you. Go ahead and hire one more Angel. You know you want
too even though they're quite expensive at 3000 gold a pop. While you're
at it, buy 1 or 2 more extra heroes (you can wait if you want)
13) The Angels in front of the Portals of Glory will join you but you'll
have to fight 3 Angel guards in each one. For my first battle, it was 5
Angels Vs 3 and I didn't lose any of my own.
14) If you want to be especially careful of not losing any Angel, you
can cast spells like cure, slow, haste or bloodlust (one of those will
suffice). Make sure you get the first strike whatever you do.
15) Angels are not immune to magic. Bless is wasted on Angels since they
already do maximum damage on each hit.
16) Buy the Angel in portal of glory and go liberate the other one,
picking up the free Archangel along the way.
17) Seeing how the castle was, I decided to forget about getting other
troops and just concentrate on Angels instead. I knew my revenue would
not be great by that time, barely enough to buy the possible Angels. My
objective was getting the castle by end of week 1 which I did. First
thing I bought though was a town hall (to get 1000 gold per day). Also
later in the week, I bought a marketplace.
18) Being relatively new to the game, I thought that building the
citadel would net me another Angel per week. I was wrong. The citadel
improves current base production by 50% rounded down. Meaning that since
the default is one Angel per week, with citadel, it's 1.5 rounded down
to 1, meaning it's still only 1 Angel. Let's take another example to
illustrate this, your default production is 7 Griffins per week, the
Citadel will not double your production to 7 more (14 per week), instead
it will improve it by 50%. So you take 7 multiply it by 50%. It gives
you 3.5 more griffins per week which rounded down means 3 additional
griffins per week for a new total of 10.
19) To check the breakdown of creature production, right-click on
creature icons in the bottom-left corner. You should see with the Castle
built: Weekly Angel Growth is 4, Basic Growth 1, Castle +1, External
dwellings +2. For most other creatures, you'd get different numbers
(naturally :-) and a number next to Citadel.
20) Make your best magic hero continue north on the road visiting the
Seer Hut along the way who asks for the Angel Wings.
21) Fairly early, after you visited the Observation Tower, you'll
probably see enemy heroes appear from the subterranean gates. Don't
worry too much about them but stay clear with Christian.
22) Out of your small valley, you'll see another stack of Archangels
blocking your way. What was not my surprise to find out that those did
attack me instead of joining! I lost an Angel that way having 5 Angels
and 1 Archangel left. Now on my second try, I checked this out again,
and this time those archangels joined me, boosting my initial army to 6
angels and 3 archangels! I suggest not taking any chances and attacking
those with one of your 4 main heroes and a strong Angel army of your
own. Do not use a scout for this.
23) At the northern exit of the valley, you have 2 options. You can
split your army in twice. One with 6 Angels going west and the other
going east with 3 Archangels. If you're stuck with less, you could split
it roughly in half. The other option is keeping all your Angels together
with the same guy and going west. It's what I did in first game and it
worked very well, wandering stacks either fleeing or joining.
24) Something you might has well learn now, your main hero (the guy with
the army fighting the battles) should not waste his time picking up
scattered resources and items in little closed-off niches, he should
continue on his way fighting as many battles per turn as he can. Chests
are another thing altogether, at low level, picking experience from them
is pretty desirable, but at higher levels, the experience it gives you
might not be worth the detour.
25) It's better if it's the secondary heroes coming up behind who pick
up the things in the niches. It's quite possible that some items might
be protected by token armies though so that's a risk although you'll
have the choice of battling the defenders or not. Worst that could
happen is that your main hero might have to go a little way back if the
item was really wanted.
26) By end of week 1, my Knight castle produced 4 Angels per week and I
had 2 more in the Portals of Glory (something easy to overlook).
26b) It's quite probably you'll be lacking gold to buy all of them. Just
trade resources for gold at your marketplace to buy those Angels sooner.
27) In the northwest corner, your hero should eventually reach the
Angels Wings.
28) Those are extremely powerful permitting your hero to fly over any
obstacle.
29) Still, the seer asked for them and you should bring them back to
him.
30) Just click at your destination and you'll hear wings flap while your
hero flies over the mountain and back into your base valley. When you
return the Angels Wings, you'll get 10 free Angels! Yes 10 more Angels
!!
31) So if everything went perfectly, you could possibly have 22 Angels
and 3 Archangels in week 2 ! I don't need to tell you that by this time,
you're pretty much invincible.
32) All this time Christian was continuing on his merry way in the
southeast corner of the map. If you feel confident, he might even
continue on to the subterranean gate and attack right now (even more
recommended if the split hero with the 3 archangels arrives from the
northeast and joins you). If you really don't want to take any risk, go
back with Christian to get reinforcements.
33) In week 2, I constituted 2 armies. My best warrior had 10 Angels
plus extra troops. My best spellcaster had 9 Angels + 3 Archangels
(perhaps it was 1 ?). (The extra troops in the first army were not
really necessary and slowed me down but I didn't know what I was going
to face next. Better to create a third army of non-angelic troops I
think)
34) Those 2 big armies each entered one subterranean gate for the
assault on the underground killing every enemy hero along the way.
35) There are 4 underground castles, one in each corner. I had 2
captured by end of week 2 but I was taking my time.
36) No army should be a match for yours in the underground but make sure
you hire 8 heroes before you finish the scenario so that on the next
one, you start with 8.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Long Live The Queen 3: Griffin Cliff
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0) The bonus at the start was tougher to pick than usual because all the
magic items offered were pretty attractive. With the Golden Bow, I
wouldn't have to worry about doing half-damage with my shooters anymore
even when capturing castles. The Lion's Shield of Courage (which has
same effect as the Ultimate Crown in HOMM would boost considerably the
strength of my main hero. The Endless Sack of Gold would give me 7000
more gold per week. I decided to pick the Lion's Shield on a whim but
the other choices are good too.
1) Normally, you should have 8 heroes carrying over from the last
scenario with 4 heroes noticeably better than the rest. At least one
high-level magic hero is preferred. If you have less than 8 heroes, hire
more so you have 8.
2) You start with 3 towns in rough pyramid formation with the better
town at the top.
3) The town at the top, will be your main town and concentrate on
producing troops
4) The 2 towns at the bottom will be the secondary towns and will be
developped to boost revenue.
5) When you start scenarios with more than 1 town, it's probably better
to work like that. One town where you produce troops, the other one that
produces gold to buy those troops.
6) Build Town Hall in the 2 secondary towns on day 1
7) Flag mines and combine all the troops of your heroes on 2 different
persons. Thus, you will form 2 main armies. The rest will be squires and
scouts.
8) Do not attack those hordes of Magogs you see. Casualties inflicted
would be too much.
9) A general tip : on any given turn, try to move all your heroes before
making any purchasing decisions for your towns. It might sound evident,
but you have more gold at the end of a turn than at the start.
10) Here's the building order for my main town :
•1) Town Hall •2) Archer's Tower •3) Mage Guild Level 1 (not for spells
but because of Portal of Glory requirement) •4) Blacksmith •5) Barracks
•6) Monastery •7) Portal of Glory
11) And for the secondary towns, here's what I built in week 1 although
the days and order of constructions might be wrong : Marketplaces,
Resource silos (? not sure if I built two), Blacksmiths, Mage Guilds,
City Halls,
12) Do not attack the Griffin conservatory north of the main town. It's
too dangerous for now. For myself, I completely forgot about it and it
was never liberated. The Qurqirish Dragon told me that if I did fight
the Griffin guards, the conservatory would have given me Angels,
something that would certainly have helped. I know for a fact though
that I didn't want to fight that horde of Royal Griffins and lots of
Griffins (those numbers are random apparently) in the first few weeks.
13) The Pikemen and Halberdiers protecting those mines are very likely
to join you. In any case, they're extremely easy to defeat.
14) Use your best spellcasters to clear the Hell Hounds blocking the 2
roads, one going northeast, the other going northwest. If you don't want
to take risks, you can combine the 2 main armies into one for those
battles and stay with one really big army for the rest of the map.
15) Don't forget to use mini hero chains to constantly transfer troops
and fight more battles each turn. Squires (secondary heroes) can fight
battles too.
16) Not knowing the map layout, I didn't see the 2 Inferno towns just
northeast and northwest of the main town until too late because I could
have taken them easily in week 1. They were so badly protected (by Imps
!) that even one scout with magic arrow (okay perhaps lightning or
icebolt :-) would have won.
17) I noticed that no enemy heroes were ever hired from those 2 Inferno
towns.
18) Other than those Hell Hounds blocking the road and those
Pikemen/Halberdiers, I really didn't fight any other wandering stacks in
the first week. They seemed too strong. Even low-level troops were in
horde numbers.
19) I explored the southwest and southeast corners with scouts but I
didn't fight the wandering stacks there until near the end of the
scenario (week 4 and 5 where I did so just to check out the items
given). The rewards given and the goodies in the niches were not
necessary for victory.
20) Going by the northeast road, I came upon a seeminly empty knight
town. I should have known it was too good to be true. My scout was
ambushed out of nowhere by a strong dungeon army one step in front of
that town. The morale of the story is, if something seems to be too good
to be true or if you have doubts about something, use a secondary hero
to check things out and not your main army (especially true for liths).
I lost a level 4 cleric (I should have given him more than 2 single-unit
troops) that way but it could have been worse.
21) There's a twin knight town at the end of the northwest road with a
similar kind of ambush.
22) Something that wasn't explained properly in the manual (page 45) are
the effects of native terrain. You might say to yourself, big deal, no
movement penalty on grass for the Castle troops, there wasn't any
penalty in the first place. Well you'd be right on that point but what
you might not know is that on grass, your knight/cleric troops have a +1
hex bonus to their movement during combat ! When you right-click on one
of your units during combat, you'll see on the speed line, a number in
parentheses next to the default speed, that's the modified speed of your
unit for the current battle.
23) I also found out, quite by chance, that heroes having some kind of
troop speciality, such as Valeska with her Archers/Marksmen speciality
for example, will give a +1 speed bonus to those particular troops in
combat ! So when fighting on grass, the Archers led by the knight
Valeska had a speed of 6 instead of 4. +1 due to fighting on native
terrain and +1 because of the speciality.
24) By the end of week 1, I had explored most of the surface grass
section.
25) By now, at least one of your magic heroes should be expert in some
kind of elemental sphere, preferably more than one. It's time to enjoy
the power of mass spells (actually you've probably been casting those
since scenario 2 :-). Low-level spells cast at expert level often become
mass spells and it's a tremendous boost to your effectiveness on the
battlefied. I personally love Mass Haste and Mass Slow very much and
will start practically every combat with either one of those spells when
I have it. On second turn, depending on what I have and if I deem it's
necessary, I'll cast something that will make my troops inflict more
damage (Mass Bless, Mass Bloodlust, Mass Precision) or that make the
enemies inflict less damage on my own troops (Mass Shield, Mass Stone
Skin, Mass Curse).
26) In week 2, your main objective should be to capture those 2 Infernos
if you haven't already done so in the first week.
27) Anything above level 2 wandering stacks, you should think twice
before attacking.
28) All the troops in my main castle were bought by day 3, the hero that
was inside proceeded to transfer those troops to my main army by hero
chain.
29) Some structures built in my main castle during week 2 : City Hall,
Citadel, Griffin Tower, Stables, Training Grounds, Castle.
30) Return the bird items requested by the seers with secondary heroes.
The seer on the right will give you 50 free Griffins, the one on the
left only gives you Expert Eagle Eye, which won't really be useful.
31) Capture those 2 knight towns at the end of the roads (don't worry
too much if you do it during week 3 instead, the troops in those
invisible ambushes stay the same)
32) When I capture new enemy towns, the first thing I'll usually build
is the Town Hall. I will rarely build any creature-producing creatures
in them. It's pretty certain that in the tougher scenarios to come, this
philosophy might change but for now it served me well.
33) By end of week 2, I had almost total control of the surface with
every enemy town captured in the grass area. The north dirt section was
not a priority at that point and was left unexplored. I was making 9000
gold per day and every creature-producing structure in my main castle
was built but not upgraded. Most niches were left intact protected by
wandering stacks.
34) Week 3 was for boosting my main army and preparing for the
underground assault, consolidating my dominance on the surface.
35) I upgraded most of my troops for fun although it wasn't necessary to
be so thorough. I wanted to see what upgraded knight troops were like. I
found the upgrade to Marksmen and the upgrade to Crusaders particularly
good because it made those troops attack twice per turn. I had so many
Griffins that upgrading them to Royal Griffins, mostly because of
improved speed, made a lot of sense. The Archangel upgrade was divine if
you'll pardon the bad pun :-)
36) My 3 best heroes visited the 2 Libraries of Enlightenment that seem
to work like an improved Xanadu : +2 on every primary skill if you're
level 10 or above (diplomacy lowers that level requirement) for each
visited library.
37) I also started building Mage Guilds in my secondary starting towns
(because I could) but I found out that they weren't really necessary
because the underground towns you'll capture will already have one or
two built-up mage guilds.
38) The tan enemy was eliminated by default on week 4, day 1 because it
had no towns left.
39) By the end of week 3, the underground invasion had already begun.
With my high-level heroes and my stronger armies, all battles there were
cakewalks.
40) The Orange enemy did manage to take back one knight town (at the
northeast end of road) but didn't press his advance after that, staying
near it and the underground entrance. I knew I could defend my home
territory anyway, because his armies were pretty weak, so my main army
continued its rampage in the underground.
41) I experimented and found out that 2 Angels were quite able to defeat
a throng of familliars or lots of almost every other kind of troop below
level 4. That was with a level 8 knight.
42) In my game, orange was eliminated in the middle of week 4. It might
seem quick but my main army did not really hang around to visit
underground locations, it just went methodically castle after castle
sometimes changing hero so it could cover more ground in one day.
43) The objective of the map is flagging those 7 Griffin Towers so you
don't really need to conquer the underground, but it will make your life
easier if you do, not to mention unlimited time to build up forces
strong enough to tackle the north section of the surface with those
tough garrisons and wandering stacks.
44) If you take all castles of a given color, any hero left of that
color (no matter how mighty) will be abandonned by their troops and
vanish from the board. I made a powerful stationary enemy hero
(protecting north passage leading to Griffin Towers) disappear like that
without needing to fight him.
45) As an indicative of what kind of troops I had when I cleared out my
first garrison. My best warrior doing the northeastern side had 13
Champions, 100 Royal Griffins, 30 Zealots, 54 Marksmen and 30 Crusaders
while my best spellcaster, doing the northwestern side, had 6
Archangels. They were more than enough to do the job although I did lose
a few Archangels. By having 2 armies like that, it also made quicker the
flagging of those Towers.
On my first play, the Long Live the Campaign was finished in 98 days for
915 points and a Griffin rating which considering the last scenario was
quite an appropriate rating :-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Dungeons & Devils 1: A Devilish Plan
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign map
--------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This medium map of easy difficulty makes for a nice Inferno town
introduction and tutorial. I finished in month 1, week 4, day 5. The
only objective is to kill the Gold Dragon, protector of the Elves of Av-
Lee, but I did eliminate the red enemy too even though it was
unnecessary. Don't let my time intimidate you, you can take all the time
you need and I was using hero chains extensively. You can carry over 8
heroes to the last scenario of the mini-campaign but they're limited to
12th level in this one. It turns out that improving the heroes here
wasn't that important, the 8 heroes in the next scenario
(Groundbreaking) will likely turn out to be better because there's an
extensive underground and above ground section. In "A Devilish" plan,
the action mostly takes place on the surface with a small foray in the
underground near the end.
0) Of the bonuses offered, the 100 additional Imps seemed the most
attractive. It would certainly make my starting game easier.
1) While hiring my 5 extra heroes on day 1 (3 or 4 are good too if
you're concerned about gold), the best one available was Jeddite, a
specialist in resurrections. With heroes starting with a specific spell
like here, it's always good to improve the elemental skill associated
with that spell as soon as possible. For Jeddite and his Resurrect
spell, I would try to improve his earth magic skill.
2) I decided to form 2 main armies that would go in different directions
: one composed of Inferno troops exclusively and the other one composed
of all the other types.
3) When you hire more heroes on day 1, start by hiring the hero who's
associated with your starting town and who has troops similar to your
starting hero. Then, depending on the choices offered, try to hire
heroes of your town-type and at most 2 other town types (okay perhaps 3
other town types if you're really stuck). When you combine armies, the
number of troops in each stack should be significant enough to be useful
4 Dwarves are not that useful and it slows the army down on the
adventure screen, 10 Dwarves on the other hand... that's better) and
there shouldn't be too much of a morale penalty when the different troop
types are together (-1 for each troop type beyond 2, plus undead that
lower your morale by another -1). To take an extreme example, something
like 10 Imps, 5 Magogs, 10 Pikemen, 5 Archers, 20 Troglodytes, 3 Wolf
Raiders, 4 Dwarves is to be avoided (that's 5 different troops types, so
you have cumulative morale penalty of -3 !). Keep also in mind that if
your army is only composed of troops of the same type, you get a +1
morale bonus in battle and no penalty when moving on native terrain.
This can be very significant for tower troops in snow and Fortress
troops in swamp and in those cases, you should think a lot more
seriously about not mixing them.
4) When deciding which heroes to hire, get used to right-clicking on
them to see their specialty. Certain heroes giving +350 gold per day, or
+1 (resource) per day are very desirable and should be hired right away
no matter the troop type. Heroes that have pathfinding, scouting or
navigation as secondary skills should also be looked for (See Samuel
Martin Ventola's article on secondary heroes at School of War for more
on this). Another factor in hero hiring should be the starting troops.
Some heroes will start with pretty good troops (sometimes even level 3)
while others will start with pretty pathetic ones.
5) Oh yes, don't forget to buy spell books for your might heroes :-)
6) Give one Hell Hound (speed 7) to each scout. That's 2 extra tiles of
movement per day instead of if you were using 1 Imp (speed 4) for each
scout instead (see Movement Allowance table on page 15 of manual). You
can use single-unit troops of speed 6 or better instead of Hell Hounds
if you want. No real risk of ambush in this map anyway.
7) Concerning the building order, I decided to take it easy and not
worry about the Forsaken Palace in week 1 although it's certainly doable
in this particular scenario. On maps of normal or hard difficulty
though, I doubt you could get the Forsaken Palace until week 2 or 3
anyway especially on unknown maps you're playing for the first time. So
my building order for the Inferno:
•1) Mage Guild Level 1 (so all heroes can start with some spells and
might heroes can get spell books, it's also requirement for Forsaken
Palace) •2) Demon Gate •3) Fire Lake •4) Hell Hole (you can reverse
number 3 and 4 if you want :-) •5) Citadel (to improve production by
50%) •6) Birthing Pools (extra imps) •7) Kennels
8) Demoniacs are the might heroes and Heretics are the magic heroes. I
still confuse the two all the time and Heretic being an action game
doesn't help :-)
9) Southwest of your initial town, there's a free rampart village that
is not upgradable. 9b) Don't forget to visit the red keymaster's tent
south of your initial town too. This will open a barrier later on.
10) Do not always use 1 or 2 heroes exclusively, use mini hero-chains
(transferring troops from one hero to the other so troops can move
several days worth in one day) to always go farther and fight more
battles each turn.
11) For example, one hero (with the troops) reaches the end of the path,
he can go back, give the troops to another hero who will go forward.
12) You don't need to buy any upgraded structures in your Inferno town
(not that you would really upgrade anything in week 1 for any kind of
town as a general rule) because there is a nearby Hill Fort in the
center of the map. Hill Forts are one of the best locations you can find
in any map, they upgrade your level 1 troops for free and they also
upgrade all your other troops for a fee (difference of price between
upgraded and non-upgraded creatures multiplied by number of creatures in
stack). It's well protected (minotaurs in my case) but you don't need to
liberate it in week 1 anyway. Wait.
13) Make your heroes visit Learning stones whenever you can and if
they're not too out of the way (+1000 experience). All my starting
heroes visited the learning stone east of my town.
14) In this first week, I mostly explored the south section of the map.
I even managed to grab a gold mine which is always excellent in the
early game.
15) Take the village in the southwest corner. It's always better to
attack on days 7 or 1 if you can. Remember that.
16) On week 2, your main objective is to build the Forsaken Palace so
you can get Devils.
17) Before that though, build a Marketplace, Blacksmith and City Hall.
18) Buy inferno troops and transfer to the hero that will start
exploring the area north of your starting town (if he hasn't already
started doing so). This transfer should take place on day 2 or 3.
19) If you need gold, trade everything but keep all your mercury (for
Devils) and 10 of each resource (just as a precaution :-)
20) I found a trading post one day too late. It's north-northwest of the
Hill Fort. Trading posts are also valuable locations in the early game
that improve your exchange rate as if you had 3 marketplaces (same thing
as HOMM 2). So when you have 1 or 2 marketplaces, always trade at the
trading post.
21) Pass the red border guard in the southwest corner that gives you
access to the green keymaster's tent.
22) The green border guard is in the northeast corner of the map (Hut of
Magi will reveal its exact location).
23) By the end of the week 2, I had liberated the Hill Fort and upgraded
everything more or less.
24) Your week 3 objective is to finish up the surface and eliminate your
enemy.
25) I encountered something that surprised me, it seems diplomacy
(hiring troops for money) works even when you don't have the diplomacy
skill. That's a big change compared to HOMM 2.
26) The best players will maximize their chance at wandering stacks
joining their army while still not suffering heavy casualties if the
wandering stack does indeed fight. Picking your fights better is
something you'll learn to do with experience. My HOMM 2 experience
served me well here. As examples of what kinds of troops joined me in
this scenario, there were 20 Elves, 25 Centaur Captains and even 26
Mighty Gorgons that joined me for free in week 3 ! I do admit that this
last one was a big risk. Mighty Gorgons are extremely tough and
dangerous. You'll learn to respect their death stare.
27) The "hot zone" is in the northwest corner. This is the base of
operations for the red enemy. Be careful with your scouts. Try to end
the turn in a sanctuary if you can and don't go too far in.
28) Use the Rampart in the Northwest corner to increase revenue by
building City Hall.
29) Build a Castle and a Capitol in your Inferno.
30) On week 3, day 6, the red enemy was gone.
31) To attack the Dwarven treasury or similar locations where you're
surrounded by troops, learn to put your best shooter stack in the center
(that's the 4th slot in the army row of hero screen) so that the enemies
have a longer way to go to reach it. I haven't confirmed this but it's
possible that with tight formation (another option in bottom-right of
hero screen) your shooter stack in the center might be protected by the
troops around him.
32) Starting on week 3, I almost always took experience from chests
because I was thinking of the carry-over heroes (I did continue to take
gold from chests of the 1000 gold/500 exp. type). Turns out it doesn't
matter, my carry-over heroes would be the ones used in the next scenario
(Groundbreaking).
33) Week 4 is for finishing up and killing that Gold Dragon hiding in
the underground.
34) I brought reinforcements by hero chain to my main army, stopping by
the Hill Fort to upgrade them.
35) Kill the pack of Green Dragons in front of the subterranean entrance
(northeast corner just north of green border guard) with the best troops
you've got and one of your better heroes.
36) Prepare yourselves, those are only the first Green Dragons you'll
encounter, not the last. More to come in the underground.
37) Underground, you'll see 3 Green Dragon stacks blocking the east,
west and south passages. The Gold Dragon is at the end of the south
branch but just for fun, fight those 3 Green Dragon stacks anyway. It's
good practice and if you do decide to carry over the heroes from this
scenario, they'll be stronger.
38) Most importantly, practice the art of hero chaining, I managed to
fight those 3 Green Dragon stacks in one turn, believe it or not. 3
Different heroes, same troops. Try it. At the time, I did not know how
vast this underground was or where the Gold Dragon was located so that
way I had cleared 3 passages a lot more quickly leaving my scouts to
explore farther down the branches while my main army continued down one
of the paths.
39) If you really want to give yourself an edge, you could easily build
a level 5 Mage Guild and make all your heroes visit before finishing up
the scenario. I didn't do that myself and it isn't necessary.
40) My heroes at the end were level 9,8,7,7,6 and 3. I do know that's
only 6 heroes out of 8, I forgot to hire 2 extras at the end ;-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Dungeons & Devils: 2 Groundbreaking
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign map
-------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groundbreaking is the first campaign scenario featuring the Dungeon, the
new Erathian domain of my favorite class in HOMM 2 : the warlock. It's a
medium-sized scenario of easy difficulty. With the previews, the more
evil emphasis and all the changes to the roster, I was wondering if I'd
even like playing that faction anymore. It turns out that the Dungeon is
as fun to play and as powerful as before. The units look neat and you
have a nice combination of 2 shooters (Beholders, Medusas), 3 flyers
(Harpies, Manticores, Dragons), 1 reasonable low-level walker
(Troglodyte) and another tough high-level grunt (Minotaur). Overall I
like the Dungeon a lot more than I thought I would and I'll certainly
practice it often.
0) I took the Mage Guild Level 1 Bonus although the other options are
not bad
1) Buy spell books for any might heroes you have and that you hire
2) The Pillar of Fire will help you see your surroundings and make a
better guess as to which direction to explore first.
3) I probably went a little overboard by hiring 6 heroes on day 1 but
there were so many different passages that I thought I should.
4) I suggest taking the west path, you'll encounter a free unprotected
Dungeon village pretty soon. When you capture it, build the Town Hall
right away).
5) Try to always leave a spot empty in your main army for possible
wandering stack joiners. Having to scrap troops because of a new joiner
of a different type can be frustrating.
6) Have a squire follow the main hero around to pick up extra troops.
7) A little trick to maximize movement is to leave only the fastest
troop with your main hero at the end of the turn while your squire
temporarily takes all the slower troops. The movement rate of the next
turn will be calculated according to the army you had at the start of
the turn even though your hero might lead very slow troops during most
of the turn. At the start of the next turn, your squire gives back the
slower troops to the main hero keeping only one or two of the fastest
low-level units. I might be wrong but it seems this little trick has
been minimized in HOMM 3, at least if I base myself on the Movement
Allowance table of the manual (bottom of page 15). Not a bad thing I
think because constantly switching troops like that was becoming
annoying.
8) Send the scout outside by the subterranean exit
9) Like in HOMM 2, to build Dragon Towers and keep Dragons, you'll need
sulfur and lots of it. Due to bad luck, I didn't find a sulfur mine (now
called sulfur dune but I know I'll keep making the mistake :-) until
late in the game but I managed anyway.
10) You can never underestimate the impact of wandering stacks joining
you for greater glory. I was lucky enough to have a pack of Beholders
join me pretty early in the game giving me a total of 21. If your troops
are of the same type as the wandering stack, it's a little more likely
to join.
11) This was my build order for week 1 for this partially built-up
Dungeon at easy difficulty. As usual, I went for creature dwellings and
production instead of economic buildup for my main town. If the Mage
Guild and Town Hall hadn't been built already, those would have probably
been my 2 first building choices.
•1) Pillar of Eyes •2) Chapel of Stilled Voices •3) Labyrinth •4)
Citadel •5) Mushroom Rings •6) Mage Guild Level 2 •7) Manticore Lair
Of the choices above, Mushroom Rings and Mage Guild Level 2 could have
waited until week 2, especially if the Mage Guild level 1 and the town
hall aren't built.
12) You should try to have the tactics secondary skill for almost all of
your heroes. It's excellent in more than one way. You don't have to
worry about grouped or spread formation anymore because you can
rearrange your troops at the beginning. It makes protecting your
shooters so much easier. It also makes tackling shooters much more
easier too because your troops will reach them quicker perhaps even in
one turn. So Tactics is great, learn it, love it, use it :-)
13) While I'm on the subject of secondary skills, those elemental
secondary skills are very useful too. Try to have at least 2, possibly
more for each of your heroes. And advance one to expert as soon as you
can because that's when the mass versions of spells will arrive.
14) Blind doesn't work like HOMM 2, if you attack a blinded enemy, it
won't lose its current turn.
15) Studying again my week 1 on this map, I should have perhaps hired
one less hero and not have built up to the City Hall right away in the
second town (the free Dungeon town to the west). It could have waited
until week 2.
16) In the southwest corner, I encountered a wandering stack of
Manticores, I did not want to press my luck by fighting them. That was
probably a mistake since hidden just behind it and out of sight was a
sulfur mine. A sulfur mine, you'll badly need and which I didn't get
until very much later myself.
17) In week 2, I had big cash problems at the start of the week (see
number 15 on why :-). My main hero came back east and I used a hero
chain to transfer troops from him to the castle to another hero.
18) My initial squire had separated from the main hero around the second
Dungeon town and was exploring a passage going north. I learned from
that scouting, that the stacks in that section were a bit too strong for
my current army.
19) I had Ajit, a beholder specialist in my army, so getting more of
them might be interesting.
20) Harpy Hags are a hassle to defeat because of their boomerang attack
from which you cannot retaliate. So please be careful and avoid those
kind of battles in the first two weeks if you can.
21) Of the possible purchase choices and due to limited finances, I
bought Beholders, Harpies and Manticores, leaving the Minotaurs and
Medusas for later (in hindsight, I should have purchased Medusas instead
of Manticores).
22) Avoid Mysticism and Eagle Eye as secondary skills. They weren't that
useful in HOMM 2, they still aren't that useful in HOMM 3.
23) How to fight Beholders is a tough question, they are shooters and
yet they don't have the usual hand-to-hand penalty that most shooters
have. Harpies are cannon fodder for Beholders and cannot stand against
them. Yet if you use Manticores, you run the risk of losing at least one
each time (since all Beholder stacks will concentrate their rays on it)
and they're quite expensive. So perhaps, the best way to beat them is to
exchange shoot for shoot from afar with stronger shooters on your side,
beholders and medusas. A damaging offensive level 2 spell also helps a
lot. The spell Precision might also be good but I usually prefer a more
direct approach. If you were lucky enough to develop the Archery
secondary skill, that might give you a big advantage against the
Beholders.
24) Something you should learn, there are 4 types of Magic Arrows, one
for each elemental sphere, make sure you cast the one your hero is the
most proficient in. Right-click on Magic Arrow icon to see how much
damage it will do.
25) I had to forget about getting the Dragon Tower in week 2, I still
had no sulfur mine. One was well-protected in the southwest corner
(which I didn't know about anyway at the time) and the other one was far
away in the northeast corner still weeks from being found.
26) Try to buy a City Hall in both your towns although you might not
quite make it in week 2. You don't want to suffer another cash crunch
like the one at the start of week 2.
27) Attack those 2 other Dungeon towns north of your initial town.
28) Use secondary hero to do the shuttle between the 2 fighting heroes
so you can take them quicker. That way, I managed to conquer those 2
towns on the same day!
29) Build the Town Hall in both these new towns right away.
30) In week 3, make sure you have marketplaces in all towns to have a
better exchange rate.
31) Harpy Hags are a very useful upgrade so try to get them now and
change your current Harpies that died in droves to Harpy Hags (upgrading
22 Harpies only cost me 880 gold). The price of the upgraded dwelling is
also quite reasonable. Only 1000 gold plus 2 Crystal and 2 Sulfur. The
Harpies you'll save by upgrading them will make it worthwhile soon
enough. If you're in a hurry, you could buy the upgrade in week 2.
32) Buy some more Medusas, Beholders, Harpy Hags and Troglodytes. The
Manticores and Minotaurs are too expensive for now.
33) My army at that time was composed of : 14 Evil Eyes (joined for
greater glory), 34 Medusas, 49 Beholders, 34 Harpy Hags and 131
Troglodytes. Don't panic if you're not close to those numbers, several
stacks joined me for free or simply fled.
34) But the Castle for the creature production bonus and the Capitol for
added revenue.
35) My army was boosted tremendously by wandering stacks joining. Some
might have been set for joining you regardless of what happens but I
can't be sure. Most of the stacks in the underground are from the
Dungeon so each one joining up was another big benefit and surprise.
36) Do not take unnecessary risks by attacking high-level wandering
stacks that might inflict heavy casualties. Do not fight a stack that's
too dangerous just because you think it might join. I wish I could be
more specific on this...but it's difficult. If you really screwed up or
are still learning the game, don't hesitate to reload the autosave.
37) With some heavy trading, I could have had Dragon Tower on week 3 but
unfortunately didn't make it in time.
38) Resource silos, marketplace upgrades, give you one 1 extra sulfur
per day, this is something to consider if you have the gold. The sooner
you buy it, the more the sulfur will accumulate.
39) You might want to try buying the Artifact Merchant just for fun.
It's 10,000 gold though plus you have to pay high prices for items,
still you might find some pretty good deals.
40) I only got my first Sulfur Dune at the end of month 1.
41) I finally got the Dragon Cave by the end of week 4 and none too
soon.
42) In week 5, I bought 2 nifty items from the Artifact merchant.
Equestrian Gloves improving movement (movement is everything in HOMM)
and a Red Dragon Flame Tongue (attack/defense +2)
43) I had 3 big armies by that point.
•a) 38 Evil Eyes, 36 Harpy Hags, 64 Beholders, 111 Medusas •b) 9
Manticores, 37 Minotaur Kings, 131 Troglodytes, 3 Red Dragons •c) 7
Manticores, 44 Medusa Queens, 16 Harpy Hags, 15 Beholders, 9 Minotaur
Kings, 9 Medusas.
As you can probably notice, this is not only from my Dungeon creature
production, many stacks joined for free. The 2 first armies are
particularly interesting since they use different troops. One that's
shooter centric and the other one that's more with walkers and high-
level flyers. It worked out great. It's possible you might only be able
to make 2 armies or one big army, that's okay too. It will just take you
a bit longer to finish the scenario.
44) In month 2, was the surface assault on multiple fronts. All this
time, I had been exploring the underground boosting my forces and
popping in and out of subterranean entrances to see quickly what was
around. All the underground entrances were protected by good wandering
stacks that I didn't feel an urgent need to destroy until now.
45) I noticed a Hill Fort near the Northeast underground exit. It was
too well-protected when I found it so I forgot about it (I shouldn't
have :-). During the assault, I used it to upgrade all my creatures that
weren't upgraded yet. For the first army, I changed the roster to 2
stacks of 51 Evil Eyes plus that huge stack of Medusa Queens. The Harpy
Hags weren't numerous enough to make a difference.
46) I delayed the victory because I wanted to finish the northwest
underground corner with all the Scorpicores and Dragons.
47) Before capturing the knight town in northwest surface corner, look
around, you'll find a prison with a level 6 Death Knight inside: Vokial.
A powerful midlevel hero that has expert necromancy and expert tactics.
48) Make sure you buy 8 heroes before the end because in my opinion,
it's likely that heroes from this Dungeon scenario will be more powerful
and higher-level than the ones from the Inferno scenario (A Devilish
Plan) simply because in Groundbreaking, the underground area is as large
as the surface.
49) I decided to beat the Dragon Utopia in the northwest corner for
making my main hero even stronger. It was certainly tough but the reward
was unbelievable. If you're got the army, this place is a must-visit
site.
50) If you really want another edge in the last Dungeons & Devils
scenarios, you could buy level 5 Mage Guilds in 2 of your Dungeon towns
(the initial one and the one in the northwest corner because it will be
closer to your best heroes). There is no time limit in this scenario. A
quick and rather cheap way to make a hero travel a long distance is by
making him flee away from a wandering stack he's attacking and rehiring
him where the good spells are. Make sure you leave the troops with
another hero before you do that though. If none of your heroes have
expert wisdom (unlikely but possible) then there is no need to buy level
5 Guilds since your heroes could not learn them.
At the end, I had the following levels of heroes : 12 (Overlord), 11
(Overlord), 8 (Demoniac), 7 (Alchemist), 6 (Death Knight freed from
prison), 5 (Heretic), 4 (Druid), 3 (Ranger). It turned out that my best
heroes were might heroes. I didn't know that at the time but it would
prove beneficial in the last scenario of this mini-campaign.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Dungeon & Devils 3: Steadwick's Fall
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign map
----------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This scenario has gained the reputation of being a rather difficult one
and also the one where requests for help on the strategic games
newsgroup are the most frequent. Steadwick's Fall is not that tough
except for one super-hero called General Kendall that, according to
rumor, is supposed to be toned down in the first HOMM 3 patch. The
following strategy was written based on my first play and with the
original unpatched version of the scenario. I had no problem beating
this scenario in its original incarnation so hopefully my tips will
prove to be useful even in the easier patched version.
Your victory objective in Steadwick's Fall is to capture the town called
Steadwick and NOT to eliminate every computer opponent on the map. You
can also start with a maximum of 8 heroes carried over from either of
the first two scenarios in the Dungeons & Devils mini-campaign (carrying
over heroes from Groundbreaking is more highly recommended because
they're more likely to be of higher-level). In my first game, I captured
Steadwick by mistake on month 2, week 1, day 7 without encountering Gen.
Kendall (I thought that town was more in the Northwest corner). Being
curious as to what the fuss was all about, I decided to reload before
taking that Steadwick town and to attack General Kendall. I was
literally crushed. I reloaded yet again, bided my time for 2 more weeks
and then attacked General Kendall yet again... This time it was no
contest and it was me that destroyed him easily. I won on month 2, week
3, day 6 beating General Kendall and taking Steadwick.
1) This scenario has a 3 month time limit but with the following tips
you'll probably finish it in less than 2 months. Anyway, you're not in a
rush, you can wait until month 3, week 4, day 7 if you so desire.
2) Check your starting heroes to make sure they all have a spellbook.
They should. Also make all your starting heroes visit the nearby town,
you'll get extra spells from the Mage Guilds which you might not have
already.
3) You start with a partially built Inferno on the surface and a
partially built Dungeon in the southeast corner of the underground. The
underground portion of this map is very small.
4) Your 2 weakest heroes will start in the southeast corner near a
knight town. Combine their troops to form a stronger army and make your
best hero travel roughly west.
5) The other 6 heroes will be split in 2 groups of three, one group will
start around the Inferno and the other group will start around your
Dungeon. Your 2 highest-level heroes will not be together. One will be
near the Inferno, the other near the Dungeon. Those two highest-level
heroes will become your main heroes fighting the majority of battles.
6) Buy all the initial troops in the Dungeon and Inferno. Combine
starting armies on your two best heroes leaving one single fast unit for
the others who will serve as scouts, squires and pack mules.
7) When combining troops, be careful about morale. The morale you see on
the hero screen is not your real morale, it does not take into account
the types of troops in your army. If all the creatures in your army are
of the same type (i.e.: all inferno troops) then you get a +1 bonus to
morale. You get a minus 1 morale penalty for each troop type mixed
beyond two (for example, dungeon, inferno and castle troops mixed in the
same army, you get -1 to morale). Any undead in your army causes another
minus 1 morale to your living troops. See page 44 of your manual for
more details on this. To confirm the real effects of morale on your
army, you've got to do this. Go into the hero screen, double-click on
one of your troops, on the creature stat window that appears, locate the
morale box (gold birds) and right-click. You'll see a detailed breakdown
of morale effects on this troop. Undead, Golems and Elementals don't
have morale. Minotaurs always have at least +1 morale.
8) It turns out that around the Inferno town, I had enough units to make
an initial army composed only of Inferno troops and so could field a
second hero there with the other troop types (starting heroes there were
of different types with one heretic among them). If you're not sure
about this, just combine all your troops on your main hero (always
keeping morale in consideration, -1 cumulative morale might be
acceptable but not beyond that)
9) Get the Imps from the Imp Crucible, go to Inferno and upgrade. Do the
same with the Troglodytes in the Dungeon area.
10) Don't give Vokial's undead troops (if you freed him from Prison in
Groundbreaking) to another hero. Leave them with him and possibly give
him any extra troops that don't fit in with the main army.
11) For the end game, having a powerful might hero will be better than
having a powerful magic hero. I'll explain more about this later.
12) As far as secondary skills are concerned, I tried to develop
Tactics, Wisdom and the 4 elemental magics (although not all elemental
magics for each hero). I also took logistics and diplomacy whenever I
could. Pathfinding is not that necessary since most of the terrain is
grass and dirt. Archery and Offense were also favorite choices
especially for my might heroes.
13) After day 1, try to make your town buying decisions after you moved
your heroes (i.e. : at the end of the turn). You never know what a scout
might find on his way and this might save you from unnecessary trading.
14) In the Dungeon Area, do not attack the Manticore Lair or the several
Black Dragons. The Dragon Cave, you could possibly attack right away (3
Red Dragons) but you'd suffer casualties. I did wait until later before
conquering it and it didn't really hurt my progress. (see Addendum)
15) You'll have to deal with the construction of 2 towns at the same
time. Some might prefer to concentrate on only one from a creature
production point of view (the other being developed more for increasing
revenue) but I suggest buying creature dwellings in both of them as fast
as you can. Depending on where you go and what you find, you might have
to skip a few dwellings or build them in a different order.
My week 1 building order for the Dungeon was:
•1) Upgraded Harpy Loft (not really necessary but I like upgraded
harpies) •2) Chapel of Stilled Voices •3) Labyrinth •4) Marketplace •5)
Manticore Lair •6) Had to skip •7) Castle
(Do not buy Manticores and Minotaurs in week 1)
My week 1 building order for the Inferno was:
•1) Mage Guild •2) Demons Gate •3) Skip •4) Hell Hole •5) Marketplace
•6) Birthing Pools •7) Fire Lake (traded some crystal to get it)
(Do not buy Pit Fiends and Efreets in the first week)
As you can see, it's possible to buy the first 6 levels of creature
dwellings in both towns in one week. If I had concentrated less on
Inferno, I might even have been able to buy the Dragon Cave in the
Dungeon (starting level 2 Mage Guild helps with that)
16) In your third starting town (knight town in southeast corner) buy
Tavern, Town Hall and Marketplace.
17) Above ground, exploring the dirt area (brown section on your map) is
quite safe provided you know how to pick your fights with the wandering
stacks. You won't see the computer enemy there.
18) Underground, I wanted an endless bag of gold (learned later by
testing, this is a random item) protected by a pack of Medusa Queens. It
was a bit risky but I knew that my combined armies could take them down
and the reward given was worth it. I was pleasantly surprised when they
joined me for greater glory. This is an example of picking a fight
wisely. I would not have attacked them right away if they were lots
because it would have been too dangerous, I might have also not attacked
them if the only reward for doing so was a measly chest. I also knew
that I'd win even if they fought and that the casualties inflicted would
be minor. Keep in mind that if your army is composed in majority of
troops of a certain type, then wandering stacks of that type are more
likely to join you. Such was the case for Medusa Queens and my Dungeon-
centric army.
19) The importance of picking your battles with wandering stacks
carefully cannot be minimized. In singleplayer games, you can experiment
and take unnecessary risks because you can reload. In multiplayer games,
you won't have that luxury. I prefer to take the cautious approach
myself and play the singleplayer game like in multiplayer, i.e. : no
reloading. In multiplayer, if I was really curious as to whether or not
I could take a particular wandering stack and I badly wanted what it was
guarding (most notably when fighting lots of a certain troop that could
be anything from 20 to 49), I would sometimes sacrifice a secondary hero
to check on the actual numbers of the troops. Better losing 2500 gold
than losing your troops in an unwise battle. (I even got 21 Medusas to
join a little later)
20) I removed the Gremlins from my main Dungeon army fairly soon. This
had a dual purpose, I got back the +1 morale bonus for only having
troops of the same type and it made the wandering stacks a bit more
likely to join (although I wonder if the probability is increased or the
same when fielding an all-Dungeon army compared to an army where Dungeon
troops are the majority)
21) The very small underground section was completely explored in less
than a week. Most of the surface dirt section was also explored by the
end of week 1 although several little portions were still dark and not
all wandering stacks were eliminated.
22) Use your weakest hero to stay around the Dungeon. He will serve as
the first link in a hero chain to bring Dungeon Troops more quickly to
the surface.
23) The Warrior Tombs give random items to the cost of -3 for the next
battle. If you check in the editor, you'll see that you might not only
get minor items either, major items and relics are also possible
(although less likely). I got lucky and got the Boots of Speed. I love
items that improve adventure screen movement. In HOMM, good movement is
everything.
24) The Refugee Camps make a random troop available each week so make
sure your secondary heroes visit those locations each week. The unit(s)
given could be even be a powerful level-7 creature that would give you
the early game advantage. I bought an Angel which I used in the
secondary army (Vokial)
25) Do not buy Elementals, they're usually not worth it. You only get 3
per week at their Conflux (they don't accumulate) and they count as a
different troop type in morale calculation. If you have a stack of those
join for greater glory, then you might have consider getting more of
them.
26) In week 2, buy Inferno troops (with the possible exception of Pit
Fiends) before Dungeon troops (which you might not need to buy this week
anyway, I didn't), Ajit (the main hero that started near the Inferno in
my game) will need reinforcements sooner than Dace (main hero that
started near Dungeon and that mostly had Dungeon troops). I will refer
to them by name from now on for identification purposes but it's pretty
certain your 2 main heroes will be different. All inferno troops were
bought by day 3 and the hero chain to Ajit started
27) Ajit went north of Inferno (grass section)
28) Dace, the Overlord, had finally reached expert Air but he had very
little knowledge (1 !). Still even with such low numbers, he could cast
Mass Haste or Mass Precision to give his troops a much needed advantage
in tougher battles.
29) Dace started traveling more to the southwest.
30) Starting around the Alchemist's Lab at the transition between dirt
and grass (south-center), the wandering stacks become tougher, do not
get cocky or overconfident. I lost a lot of Dungeon troops to a pack of
Cavaliers (level 6 troops) although the mercury given by the Lab was
necessary for Arch Devils.
31) Cast View Air and/or View Earth and you'll see the enemies are
mostly located in the northwest making the northeast and southwest
sections much safer to explore. I saw by visiting the Den of Thieves
(that serves the same function as the Oracle in HOMM 2) that General
Kendall was one extremely tough customer (attack 21 and defense 20 I
think). I'd need to build up my heroes and armies a lot before going
anywhere near his territory
32) With Advanced View Air, you can track down enemy heroes and avoid
ambushes easily. Not very useful now, but use it often later on.
33) In the Dungeon, I bought a Blacksmith and a City Hall
34) In the Inferno, I bought a City Hall
35) Most of the week after having built my City Halls, I saved gold for
the Dragon Cave and possibly even a Castle in the Inferno.
36) Turns out that I could build the Castle on day 6 and that at the
last second, I barely had enough gold to buy the Forsaken Palace too
(trade some crystal and gems if you're lacking gold but keep around 10
of each, then trade ore and wood if you still need more)
37) By end of week 2, a good portion of the right-half of the map was
explored and the southwest section was started. In the northeast corner
of the map, I captured a neutral rampart town with 2 Hell Hounds and a
level 5 hero casting Magic Arrow (town garrison: pack of Centaurs,
Several Dwarves). In the southwest, I captured a red Knight town with
Dace.
38) Watch out for level 5 and level 6 wandering stacks !!! Especially in
the southwest and northeast corners. They often protect mines but the
casualties you'd suffer are not worth it.
39) In week 3, buy a Capitol as soon as you can. The Inferno town is
more likely to be attacked than the Dungeon but having the Capitol in
Inferno probably makes your turrets more damaging if you ever need to
buy them (I didn't need too).
40) The more marketplaces you have, the better your exchange rate.
41) Build City Halls in your new secondary towns. Build the Castle or
the Forsaken Palace in the Inferno if you haven't done so in week 2.
42) Start considering doing some upgrades to your dwellings although
they're not extremely urgent yet and you won't necessarily buy those
troops right away. I decided to go for Scorpicores (still unbought at
that time) because of their 20% paralyzing special ability and for Black
Dragons in the Dungeon town (Harpy Hags were already upgraded from week
1). In the Inferno, I decided to go for Efreet Sultans (mostly because
of speed increase) and Arch Devils. I had also built the Upgraded Hell
Hole (for Pit Lords and ability to resurrect dead stacks into Demons)
but those troops turned out to be totally inconsequential and
unnecessary. So eventually upgrade your level 6 and level 7 creature
dwellings, the level 7 upgrades being absolutely necessary.
43) A quick way to get back to any town, mostly to get high level spells
from newly built Mage Guilds, is to give all the troops to a squire
(except a couple) and make your main hero attack any wandering stack.
You make the hero flee right away (casting a damaging spell on the stack
if you so desire :-) and you rehire him at the town with the good Mage
Guild. I also used that to make my other strong hero visit the library
of enlightenment (+2 to all stats) in the southwest corner. This little
trick can save you weeks of travel.
44) In addition to upgrading decisions, I also considered if I should
build up my Mage Guilds or not. I only built up to level 4 in one town
because my main heroes were Overlords (might heroes) and only had
Advanced Wisdom. For the 2 toughest battles you'll face later on, you
won't be able to use any magic so high-level spells are not that
important after all (with natural exceptions of Dimension Door or Fly
that might make your life a lot easier and permit you to avoid those
tough battles altogether).
45) In week 4, I saw the first red enemy appear.
46) Use Summon Boat to explore the lakes (you could have done this
before too). The most useful thing you can do here is to disembark on
the shore of the lake where you see the Cartographer, this will reveal
the complete northwest corner of the map. It's possible you might get
ambushed as soon as you get out of the boat next to the Cartographer.
Cast View Air to avoid that.
47) With Ajit rehired in my Dungeon town, I finally decided to attack
those several Black Dragons in the southeast corner to get at the
mystery item behind, flag the Dragon Cave and the Manticore Lair too
while I was there. I bought the 5 Black Dragons in my Dungeon and went
at it. I didn't lose one single Black Dragon in those battles and I
learned that low-numbered units of Troglodytes and the Ballista made
excellent Dragon baits. In other words, instead of attacking my Black
Dragon stack, the enemy Dragons killed those. The Dragon Cave would
provide me with 1 Red Dragon per week. A Red Dragon that would be
upgraded to Black Dragon right away each time. The Manticores would also
be upgraded to Scorpicores. In hindsight, I could have taken that Dragon
Cave much sooner (only protected by 3 Red Dragons) and it might have
been a little better if I did although not dramatically better.
Attacking it only on week 4, I missed 3 Black Dragons that way.
48) The mystery item was a tome of magic, giving your hero all Air
spells including Chain Lightning, Dimension Door and Fly! It's about
this time that you wish one of your 2 main heroes has indeed reached
expert air magic :) If so, give it to him (or her) a.s.a.p. (note : This
item is random, you might not get the Tome of Air but the item you'll
get will undoubtedly be excellent)
49) IMPORTANT : Contrary to HOMM 2, creatures in adventure map creature
dwellings DO NOT accumulate from week to week. For example, if you don't
buy the Red Dragon a given week, you won't get 2 Red Dragons the next
week and 3 Red Dragons the week after that. You need to visit those
important creature dwellings each and every week with your secondary
heroes or you lose potential troops. Another example to better
understand, the free Troglodytes in the Warren (14) won't accumulate
from week to week, they'll always stay at 14 if you don't get them.
Creature dwellings will be replenished to their maximum on day 1 of
every week. The maximum is the normal basic growth of the associated
creature (i.e. : 1 level 7 creature, 2 level 6 creatures, 3 level 5
creatures, etc.)
50) A red enemy took the center knight castle near the end of week 4. He
had hordes of everything, I should have taken that Castle sooner.
51) I still hadn't bought any new Dungeon troops since early in week 1
except those 5 Black Dragons...
52) In week 5, I finally bought all those Black Dragons, Scorpicores,
Medusa Queens and Beholders that had accumulated in my Dungeon town all
this time.
53) Dragon production with the Castle Built in the Dungeon and the
Dragon Cave flagged is 4 each week. 1 as basic growth, +1 from Castle,
+1 from External Dwelling and another one you can recruit directly from
the Dragon Cave in the southeast corner. (see Addendum on how to have a
production of 5 Dragons per week)
54) My main army in week 5, to give you an idea of what I had and what
you could possibly have (more or less), was 6 Arch Devils, 10 Efreet
Sultans (I could have had more, those suffered casualties), 21
Scorpicores, 63 Medusa Queens, 74 Beholders and 23 Pit Lords (which you
don't really need to buy). This strong army had 2 powerful level 7
stacks, 2 level 6 flyers and 2 shooters. Feel free to substitute if you
have better stacks but the Black Dragons are necessary and the Arch
Devils help out a lot too.
55) My best hero, Dace the Overlord, was level 13 with expert tactics,
expert offense, expert logistics, expert air magic and advanced wisdom.
56) Attack the knight town in the center. If possible, try to attack
while the enemy hero is out of the castle. Even if he's not, you should
win anyway. (I lost 12 Scorpicores in that battle)
57) Eliminate any enemies scurrying around the castle.
58) You could fly or dimension door over the garrison west of the knight
town (the one sparkling) if you got those spells from the Tome of Magic
or from your level 5 Mage Guilds but most likely you'll have to fight
the garrison to proceed forward.
58b) You can easily bypass that garrison by using Summon Boat or Water
Walk (at the lake just south of there) although it will take you a few
more days to reach Steadwick that way.
59) I left my Pit Lords in the Knight garrison in case a red enemy came
out of nowhere.
60) That garrison fight was quite interesting. You could not use magic
and you had to beat the following army : 18 Zealots, 24 Royal Griffins,
15 Champions, 15 Champions, 24 Royal Griffins and 18 Zealots. The most
dangerous stacks by far being the Champions.
61 a) I suggest attacking one stack of Champions with your Arch Devils
and the other stack of Champions with your Black Dragons, being careful
so your Arch Devils are not in the Black Dragon's 2-hex attack path.
Leave every other troop in the back out of reach of the Champions but
able to attack the Griffins or Zealots on turn 2 (Efreet Sultans and
Manticores). Your shooters should each target one stack of Zealots. Most
likely, one stack of Griffins will be fried by the Black Dragon
retaliation. On turn 2, finish up the Champions with the Arch Devils and
the Black Dragons, attack with the Scorpicores and Efreet Sultans. If
done well, you should only lose 1 Arch Devil. You might ask why I simply
didn't wait on the first turn with the Black Dragons and the Arch
Devils, it's because I didn't want to lose a lot of my shooters to the
Champions/Royal Griffins in case those stacks got a morale bonus
61 b) After the game was over, I replayed that battle making the Black
Dragons and Arch Devils (plus Efreet Sultans and Scorpicores too) wait
their turn and it's better that way (provided Champions don't get a
morale bonus). The Medusa Queens attack one stack of Zealots, the
Beholders (or Evil Eyes) attack the other, the Pit Lords eliminate one
stack of Royal Griffins, the Efreet Sultans finish up the south stack of
Zealots (had moved them 2 steps forward with Tactics), the Scorpicores
attack the other stack of Royal Griffins, then the Black Dragons and
Arch Devils destroy the Champions. With luck, both Champions stacks will
be vulnerable to the 2-hex fire breath of the Black Dragons.
62) After the garrison, go west-northwest being careful not to go past
the Arena you'll encounter. General Kendall has a limited patrol radius
around Steadwick and with your current army and statistics you could not
take him down (I tried and got crushed).
63) Wait until he's out of Steadwick (most likely to visit the nearby
Windmill) and attack the castle. If you succeed, then you'll win the
scenario and the mini-campaign.
64) It's possible that General Kendall will stay inside Steadwick. If
so, you could do this. a) Use a secondary hero to bait him out of the
castle so your main army can attack Steadwick in peace. b) If you've got
logistics, stay at the extreme range of your possible movement in one
day. General Kendall will think you can't reach Steadwick, get out of
the Castle a little, while in reality you can easily reach it on the
next turn c) Dimension Door over to Steadwick while the General is out
(easier with good magic hero).
65) In my first game, I didn't pay attention and thought Steadwick was
the town that was more in the northwest corner, therefore I didn't
expect to find General Kendall so soon. I thought he'd be patrolling
around that northwest town (yes the scout who went to see Cartographer
was ambushed) and that's why I attacked so soon: to get that
intermediate town that turned out to be Steadwick (there was another
strong Inferno army coming up behind). I was very lucky in winning
without encountering Kendall the first time, he was on the windmill next
to Steadwick while another weak enemy hero was in Steadwick's garrison.
If Steadwick had been the town in the northwest corner and if there had
been no cartographer, I'd have sent in scouts first to explore the
northwest area and not my main army.
66) I felt a bit unsatisfied as to this surprise victory so I decided it
might be fun to kill that Kendall fellow AND take Steadwick to see if
that was possible. It was. Here's how I did it: I reloaded before
fighting the garrison, I waited 2 weeks to fight more wandering stacks
(some even joined, most notably a pack of Scorpicores) and boosted my
main armies while buying every single Inferno and Dungeon troop in my
towns. I also went in the northeast corner of the map to fight a pack of
Black Dragons. They were protecting an excellent item called the Helm of
Heavenly Enlightenment that boosts your 4 primary skills by 6. This helm
gave Dace stats similar to General Kendall.
67) My armies on month 2, week 3 were those:
Dungeon army : 250 Infernal Troglodytes, 98 Medusa Queens, 39 Minotaur
Kings, 42 Scorpicores, 96 Harpy Hags, 18 Black Dragons and 56 Beholders.
Inferno army : 9 Arch Devils, 59 Cerberi, 35 Pit Lords, 19 Efreet
Sultans, 76 Magogs, 231 Imp Familiars and 38 Horned Demons.
Kendall's army was : 67 Zealots, 74 Crusaders, 117 Marksmen, 16 Cavalry,
32 Champions and 116 Royal Griffins.
68) Kendall's wears a magic item preventing the casting of any spells so
it would be a contest of might and tactics.
69) My Dungeon army was obviously stronger than my Inferno army so I
decided to trade the 250 Infernal Troglodytes for 9 Arch Devils and
attack with Dungeon troops. It was an interesting battle against Kendall
but I won easily. I was happy to have Expert Tactics because he had it
too so that way they countered each other and we could not move our
initial troops at all before the first turn.
70) I reloaded and did some experiments trying to beat him with only
Dungeon troops, then only with Inferno troops. With the Dungeon troops,
I won, although with a bit more difficulty, with the Inferno troops, I
weakened him a bit but he won handily.
71) If you want to be absolutely certain of beating him, I suggest
attacking with your Inferno army first to wear him down, then finishing
him off with your Dungeon army. Leave the Arch Devils with your Dungeon
army if you want. There's no way Kendall could have survived both
assaults.
My final score for the Dungeons & Devils mini-campaign was 112 days and
380 points for a rating of Zombie on my first play. It was also the same
exact score when I beat Kendall and finished in 125 days. I'm not sure
of that but those low ratings seem suspiciously like a bug. For Live
Long the Queen and Spoils of War, I was around the 900 points mark.
ADDENDUM: The Dragon Cave could have been flagged much earlier than week
4 providing you with even more Black Dragons than you'd get my way. Most
importantly, if you flag *only* the Dragon Cave and build the Portal of
Summoning in your Dungeon, you'll get 1 extra Red Dragon each week. The
Portal of Summoning is supposed to select a random creature from your
flagged creature dwellings on the Adventure Map. If only the Dragon Cave
is flagged, the only possible choice for the Portal is to summon Red
Dragons. So your maximum weekly dragon production could be 5 instead of
4. And those Red Dragons can be upgraded to Black...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** Spoils of War 1: Borderlands
Map Type : HOMM 3 Campaign Map
--------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This medium map of easy difficulty will likely serve as the introduction
of many players to the Fortress, arguably the weakest town type in HOMM
3. Its troops are generally weaker or, to be kind, in the lower echelons
compared to troops in other town types of the same level. The Fortress
also cannot build its Mage Guild beyond level 3 and only has 1 shooter,
the Lizardman, which compares unfavorably to almost every other shooter
unit in Erathia. The Fortress does have some redeeming features though
such as troops, native to the swamp, that won't be penalized in movement
for moving through it; some excellent upgrades, such as the Dragon Fly
and the devastating Mighty Gorgon; being one of the only 3 towns where
you can build shipyards; and one of the towns where it's easiest to
reach the level 7 creature dwelling in the first week (the other being
the Stronghold). All in all, in a small or medium map where you start in
swamp terrain or that is mostly swamp, the Fortress is a very good town
choice.
The victory objective in Borderlands is to flag all the mines, something
that is much easier (as are most special victory conditions) if you
defeat all your enemies first. There is no time limit so you can take as
much time as you want and experiment with troop upgrades and town
purchasing decisions. In other words, check out what the Fortress is
like and how it plays. I finished rather quickly on month 1, week 4, day
5. If you're a true beginner, don't be panicked by this time, it is only
there (as the times and scores are in other strategies) so you can see
when I finished. For intermediate and advanced players, the scores and
times you will see are far from optimal because those are based on my
first play of the map (where everything is unknown), I will rarely
reload and I'll also tend to delay victory so I can see more of the map.
So for those types of players, my average scores and times are only
included for comparison purposes.
0) The starting bonus this time around is not that important. I picked
Verdish because I wanted to see if the First Aid skill was any good. I
suggest picking Korbac instead for his Serpent Fly specialty and basic
pathfinding.
1) You start with 2 Fortresses, one roughly in the northeast and the
other more in the northwest. Usually, I'd tend to develop the money
structures in one town and the creature structures in the other town but
since we're at easy difficulty (plenty of gold and starting resources)
and it's an introductory almost tutorial scenario, we'll build creature
dwellings in both towns.
2) Something very important to grasp, is that an army containing only
native troop types will not be penalized when moving through its native
terrain. For the Fortress troops whose native terrain is swamp, the
worst terrain to cross, you should always keep this in mind. The
advantages are a big movement advantage in the swamp and a much harder
time for enemy heroes to reach your towns and assets. The disadvantage
is that mixing fortress troops with other troop types is not
recommended.
3) In swamp battles, the fortress troops will also have a +1 speed bonus
even if they're mixed with other types (other advantage of native
terrain not mentioned in the manual). You also get a +1 morale bonus if
all troops in your army are of the same type, in this case fortress
troops.
4) Hire a second beastmaster/witch in your northeast Fortress. Buy the
troops in the town and combine everything on one hero, while the other
has 1 Serpent Fly for scouting.
5) Hire 3 heroes in your second Fortress, the northwestern one,
preferably beastmaster/witch or at least two of the same types so it's
easier to combine troops. You don't have much of a choice so combine all
your troops, even non-fortress ones on the same hero, leaving Serpent
Flies for the scouts/squires.
6) If you haven't noticed by now, Serpent Flies with their speed of 9
and no movement penalty in swamp are great for scouts. To make those
scouts even safer, you could give them 2 Serpent Flies each (in 2 stacks
of one) but here with the garrisons blocking the access to the red
knight towns, it's not necessary.
7) Your Observatory tower will reveal a good portion of the area around
it. Huts of the Magi will reveal the area around each Eye of the Magi on
the map (usually there will be more than one). Those 2 "of the Magi"
locations are linked together. Observatory towers, Huts of Magi,
Gaslight Towers and Cartographers should always be prime targets for
your scouts especially if they're deep in enemy territory.
8) As a general rule, when playing against the AI, don't buy troops
beyond level 3 in your starting towns in week 1, even though you'll
usually build creature dwellings beyond level 3. The combined armies of
the heroes you bought on day 1 plus the troops from your initial
dwellings should be plenty enough to deal with the wandering stacks in
your home territory. You'll need the gold to buy structures.
9) Your starting territory will mostly have Gnoll wandering stacks. Some
will likely join and those that won't are rather easy to defeat unless
they come in hordes. Attack the lots of Gnolls/Gnolls Marauders before
tackling something tougher. The stacks that will join you for free will
boost your initial army enough so that the hordes aren't so dangerous.
10) It goes without saying but with battles between low-level troops
like this, the first strike is primordial. Use wait often. This is
problematic when both troops are of the same speed (such as Gnolls
against Gnolls) This is where slow and haste come in handy. Magic Arrow
against low-level troops is also pretty good. I also tend to prefer
Bloodlust over Bless (if I have both) unless the damage range of the
troop is significant enough (for example, with a low damage range of 2-3
for Gnolls, I'd tend to use Bloodlust, for Hydras having a high damage
range of 25-45, I'd tend to use Bless)
11) My building orders for the 2 Fortresses, one where I wanted to have
Gorgons and the other where I wanted Hydras. The Gorgon lair is not a
requirement for the Hydra Pond so it's likely that in other games, where
you have less resources, you'd have to decide to buy one or the other in
week 1.
First Fortress (northeast)
•1) Mage Guild Level 1 (None of the creature dwellings of the Fortress
require a Mage Guild so contrary to other towns, skipping it in week 1
makes more sense) •2) Town Hall •3) Serpent Fly Hive •4) Lizard Den •5)
Gorgon Lair •6) Basilisk Pit •7) Citadel (a week 1, day 7, mainstay for
all towns in the way I play)
Second Fortress (northwest with Lizard Den already built)
•1) Town Hall •2) Serpent Fly Hive •3) Wyvern Nest •4) Basilisk Pit •5)
Hydra Pond •6) Citadel (it's possible you might lack a few wood) •7)
Castle
12) In week 1, you have 2 main armies and 3 or 4 scouts exploring all
around, picking up resources and flagging mines.
13) In week 2, get the Dragon Fly Hive in your both your Fortresses,
eventually upgrade your existing Serpent Flies to Dragon Flies.
Congratulations, you now have the fastest troop in the early game (speed
13 !) making your scouts safer and virtually insuring you'll get the
first turn in every battle.
14) Build up to the City Hall in your first Fortress.
15) During week 2, your northwest Fortress hero should reach the beach
in the northwest corner and clear the stack protecting the boat. Make a
scout board it.
16) In your northwest Fortress, hire 3 Hydras and go south. In the early
game, I often like to create an army with just level 7 troops so that I
can cover more ground and defeat more wandering stacks. Level-7 troops
(except Hydras and Behemoths) usually having more speed than low-level
troops, their associated heroes can also move farther each turn (see
Movement Allowance table on page 15 of the manual to see what I mean)
17) Buy marketplaces in your towns in week 2 so you can trade
unnecessary resources for gold. In my case, I had a lot more Gems than I
could ever use so I traded that. Sulfur, Wood and Ore are the important
resources for the Fortress.
18) Visit the 3 Lizard Dens in the northeast corner.
19) How to attack with Dragon Flies ? Those big insects can easily reach
the other side in one turn and they always move first. Making them fly
to the other side right away is a bad idea since, due to their
fragility, the enemy troops will destroy them (swatting them off like
flies ;-). It is much better to wait with the Dragon Flies so that they
move last in the turn, then you make them attack an enemy stack. The
Dragon Flies will also move first on the second turn so that in
practice, you have 2 consecutive turns with them ! On their second turn,
you either attack again right away or retreat back to your side if the
casualties suffered would have been too severe.
20) Feel free to buy 1 or 2 more heroes. Do buy one more hero in the
northeast Fortress.
21) I like casting Haste on Hydras so they're even more dangerous.
22) During week 2, clear and visit everything in your half of the map
(your home territory, the section before garrisons) except the Gorgons
wandering stacks, which you do not want to tackle at this time. Mighty
Gorgons are especially dangerous.
23) Near the end of week 2, I bought all the Dragon Flies, Gnolls,
Lizardmen and Basilisks in the northeast fortress and decided to attack
the nearby garrison. My objective was to reach the first knight town
before day 2 of week 3. Why ? Because even on day 1, you turn is before
the computer so it doesn't have time to buy the weekly troops in its
town. In the newly-captured town, you can then buy those new troops
yourself. Most veteran players of HOMM have learned that attacks on day
7 and day 1 are extremely desirable and will do so at every opportunity.
34) Kill any heroes along the way so they don't become pests and make
you have to come back.
35) By pure luck, the first town east of the garrison was empty and
there were no enemies around, so I used a scout to waltz right in,
leaving the bulk of my forces with my best hero (Verdish) who rushed
south by the road. This hero reached the second knight town on day 1 of
week 3 and captured it.
36) Verdish's army was composed of 58 Lizardmen, 106 Gnolls, 41 Dragon
Flies, 10 Basilisks, 107 Gnoll Marauders and 30 Lizard Warriors.
37) Still attacking so soon is a bit extreme and I could not have done
it, without extensive use of hero chains. You should feel free to delay
this invasion of the knight territory until week 3 or even week 4. I
doubt very much the red enemies can mount an adequate defense since
you're totally overproducing them.
38) The only thing you'll have left to do is capture the last town in
the southwest corner and flag all the mines.
39) Since your 8 best heroes will carry over to the third scenario of
this mini-campaign (either them or the 8 heroes of scenario number 2
with the Stronghold), you should hire 8 of them before finishing. I also
recommend taking elemental skills, logistics and pathfinding when your
heroes level up.
40) Before I flagged the last mine (which I delayed a bit doing), I had
killed almost every wandering stack except a few Gorgons stacks which
were too far away.
My 8 heroes were levels 12,10,8,7, 3, 3, 2 and 2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** Spoils of War 2: Gold Rush
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold Rush, one of the first two choices in the Spoils of War mini-
campaign, is a medium sized map of easy difficulty that will introduce
players to the Stronghold, the new Barbarian castle. Like the Fortress,
it seems a bit underpowered compared to the other good and evil town
types. It also has a very peculiar building order. Most towns usually
have one creature dwelling you can skip to reach the level 7 creature
dwelling sooner (examples of creature dwellings you can skip: Training
Grounds for Castle, Tomb of Souls for Necropolis, Kennels for Inferno,
Gorgon Lair for Fortress, Dwarf Cottage for Rampart) but all the other 5
creatures dwellings are requirements for the last one (for Dungeon and
Tower, you need all the 6 creature dwellings built to reach the last
one).
In the Stronghold however, it's very easy to get the level 7 dwelling in
the first week as the only requirements for it are the Wolf Pen and the
Cliff Nest. Even more peculiar is how there are 2 different building
branches, one leading to the Behemoth Lair and the other leading to the
Cyclops Cave, two branches that are mutually exclusive to each other. If
you go for the Behemoths, you won't get Cyclops until much later, if you
go for Cyclops, you won't get Behemoths until much later. Consequently,
when you'll play at higher difficulty levels and start with only 1
Stronghold, you'll have to decide early which branch to build up. In the
Behemoth branch, you'll have strong walkers/flyers but be very lacking
in the shooter department. In the Cyclops branch, you'll be strong with
shooters but rather weak in the walker/flyer department.
There is no time limit in this easy scenario and the objective is
accumulating 200,000 gold. As usual in scenarios containing a special
victory condition, I like to defeat every other enemy color anyway so I
can finish and explore at my leisure. You will go up against Knight
towns, which due to map layout are very unlikely to provide any threat
whatsoever. Therefore see this map and this strategy as a way to
familiarise yourself with the Stronghold. On my first play, I finished
on month 2, week 1, day 4.
0) The starting bonus consists of a choice between 3 Thunderbirds, 2
Cyclops Kings and 1 Ancient Behemoth. However due to a peculiar bug, my
choice did not register and so I had no bonus (no starting heroes either
for that matter). Even with the patch installed, my savegame (after I
had finished Spoilers of War 1 Borderlands) had the same problem. I did
test the start of the Spoils of War campaign again (not using previous
savegame) and this time it worked, I had 2 starting heroes and my bonus
troops. So I guess the patch did fix it after all even if it did not fix
old savegames. There are no really bad choices but I'd tend to suggest
picking the Ancient Behemoth and using it as the only army of one of
your heroes. It should be enough to kill most level 1, 2 and 3 wandering
stacks easily.
1) You start with 2 Strongholds. Usually I'd recommend developing gold-
producing structures in one and the creature dwellings in the other but
since we're at easy difficulty and here to experiment, why not have some
fun... My week 1 building orders were therefore chosen to explore the 2
different building branches (the Cyclops branch and the Behemoth branch)
2) Hire 2 extra heroes in each town on day 1. Combine troops as usual
(forming 2 main armies). Leave the Ancient Behemoth as its own single
army. Give 1 or 2 Wolf Raiders to scouts.
3) From the south Stronghold, have a scout go northwest by road to grab
the gold from the 6 nearby chests in the niche. Have your main army go
northeast and capture the gold mine protected by the Archers. 3rd hero
from the south Stronghold should flag mines and pick up resources
around. Usually, you would not really know where to go like that (in my
first game, I did not find those chests until the end of the week and
the gold mine until week 2). A good early strategy is to fan out your
heroes so they go in different directions, perhaps keeping a squire near
your main hero to pick up resources so the main hero doesn't have to
waste the moves. You might also like to keep a hero in your town until
day 2 or day 3 so you can buy more of your initial troops (up to level
3) and then transfer to the main guy (or gal) by hero chain.
4) From the north Stronghold, a scout should go south towards all those
white creature dwellings you see : Goblins Barracks, Wolf Dens and Orc
Tower. Recruit all the troops there. Your main hero from the north
stronghold should not go too far north or east until all those new
troops have been transferred to him. The hero with the Ancient Behemoth
should go west then roughly north, flagging everything along the way.
5) Keep in mind that contrary to HOMM 2, troops in adventure map
dwellings will not accumulate from week to week. So if you don't recruit
them, they're lost.
6) Here are the week 1 building orders I used. Due to not knowing the
map layout and not having the initial bonus, it is far from optimal.
Still, do notice that the town halls were built in both towns on day 1
instead of mage guilds unlike what you'll often see in my other
strategies. Contrary to most other towns, in the Stronghold, the mage
guild level 1 is not a requirement for any other creature dwelling. You
should take this into account. Sure, having early spells is nice but in
the Stronghold's case (Fortress too), it might be better to simply
capture a computer enemy town and use its mage guild. Back in HOMM 2, I
always proceeded like that, never really buying mage guilds in my
initial town and developing those in enemy towns I captured. In HOMM 3
with magic more important, not to mention the mage guild a frequent
requirement, I prefer to buy a Mage Guild on day 1 most of the time so
all my heroes can start with a variety of spells and my might heroes
with spell books.
North Stronghold (Cyclops building branch)
•1) Town Hall •2) Orc Tower •3) Ogre Fort •4) Marketplace (unnecessary,
see tip 9) •5) Mess Hall •6) Cyclops Cave •7) Citadel
South Stronghold (Behemoth building Branch)
•1) Town Hall •2) Cliff Nest •3) Behemoth Lair •4) Skipped •5) Mess Hall
•6) Skipped •7) Citadel
(I was saving Ore for the Cyclops Cave. That explains in part why it
seems I skipped certain possible building choices in the south
stronghold)
7) During week 1, take it easy and explore most of the rough section :
your home territory.
8) Or you could use a more aggressive approach... go east from your
north Stronghold, kill the Pikemen/Halberdiers protecting the grass
area, proceed northeast (perhaps stopping at Hill Forth to upgrade
troops) and rush the knight town before day 2 of week 2. Why day 2 and
not day 1 ? Because your day 1 turn is before the computer's day 1 turn,
it won't have time to buy its new troops. It's a fluke going back to
HOMM 1 making day 1 attacks even more advantageous than day 7 attacks.
9) Marketplaces I'll usually buy in week 2 or in week 1 if there are no
other building choices available. In this scenario, I built the
marketplace and didn't really need too since there was a trading post
just east of the gold mine (found too late). A trading post works as if
you had 3 marketplaces and it's a real advantage when you can find one
early in the game.
10) In week 2, I bought a boat at the shipyard and used a scout to
navigate the river. Nothing really worthwhile on it but at least it
provides you with a little reconnaissance.
11) Buy Behemoths and Rocs to boost one of your armies.
12) Go for City Halls and Castles during this week If you don't manage
to get the Castles, it's not a big deal.
13) If you haven't found it by now, there's a Hill Fort east of your
north Stronghold. The Hill Fort is by far one of the most useful
locations in HOMM 3. You can upgrade your level 1 troops for free and
you can upgrade all your other troops too, even with a discount up to a
certain level ! When you find a nearby Hill Fort like that, you can
usually afford to delay or forget completely about upgrading your
creature dwellings in towns. This is also the kind of location I would
certainly suffer heavy casualties to get.
14) Try to get into the habit of checking which new heroes are available
each week. If you see specialists giving +350 gold or +1 of one
particular resource, hire those right away.
15) Try to finish exploring most of the island, both rough and grass
sections. Capture the knight town if you haven't already done so (or you
could do in week 3 or 4, doesn't matter). Don't go in the underground
right away.
16) When I give times in my strategies, such as "do this particular task
at that week", those are rough estimates achieved with a rather
aggressive approach and lots of hero chaining. In other words, it's
perfectly all right to take more time (a few more weeks, not more months
or else the rest of my strategies won't make sense :-). However, I often
suggest attacking sooner while the computer is still weak instead of
waiting in your little corner. Most contests against the AI can be won
in the early game simply by rushing it.
17) In week 3, trade everything for gold except about 10 units of each
resource (who knows what you might need ;-). I did keep the crystal
because the Strongholds need it and because I already had enough gold to
buy every troop in one town. In small/medium maps where high level mage
guilds might not really be a factor, trading almost every resource for
gold to buy more troops sooner is another way to gain an early advantage
(especially if you have a trading post or more than 1 marketplace).
Against the AI, buying several heroes on day 1 is another way to gain
the early advantage.
18) You could buy the Capitol and Resource Silos if you felt like it but
it's not really necessary until after you buy all the troops in that one
town.
19) Transfer those troops by hero chain to the Hill Fort to upgrade
them.
20) I noticed that starting with week 3 or week 4, gold usually becomes
less of a problem and I then start to pick experience from chests a lot
more often especially for my main heroes. Always picking gold from
chests in the first 2 or 3 weeks makes a lot of sense in my humble
opinion and it served me well up to now.
21) Before venturing in the underground, I split my 2 armies like this :
a) Ancient Behemoths, 32 Royal Griffins, 11 Thunderbirds (Royal Griffins
joined for greater glory, if you don't have them, you might want to use
an alternate stack)
b) Ogre Lords, 14 Orc Chieftains (lost a lot of them before), 219
Hobgoblins, 110 Wolf Raiders.
You could easily keep all the troops together if you wanted but it would
take you a little more time to complete the scenario.
22) The underground has 2 branches, one south, one north, each leading
to a different enemy island. The north enemy island (with 2 knight
towns) is more dangerous and so your better army should be used there.
If you don't split your army, go by the north branch first.
23) In week 4, I traded even more resources for gold, buying all the
troops in my second Stronghold. Those reinforcements didn't really prove
necessary (don't even recall if they arrived in time to the front lines)
but something can be said for overkill ;-)
24) Also in week 4, was the simultaneous assault on the 2 enemy islands
(northeast and southeast).
25) In the upper left corner of the map, protected by a red border
guard, the piles of gold you see there are not normal, they give 10,000
gold each for a total of 100,000 gold, half of your objective. The red
keymaster tent is on the north enemy island, not far from the
subterranean gate. If you don't feel like capturing all the enemy towns,
you could simply grab those piles and wait a couple of weeks to achieve
your gold quota. Actually, you wouldn't even need to get those piles of
gold at all OR capture any enemy towns, it would just take a bit longer
to win.
26) Conquering the enemy does have the advantage of making your heroes
stronger for the last scenario where you'll have the choice of carrying
over either your 8 best Stronghold heroes (from this scenario) or your 8
best Fortress heroes (from the scenario Borderlands).
27) To give you an idea, the timing in my game was pretty good, I
finished the red enemy just before winning by reaching the amount of
gold required. You could trade resources for gold to win sooner when the
opposition is dead.
28) When you have more than 3 marketplaces, there's no need to use the
trading post anymore.
29) If you want to have an easier time in the last scenario of the
Spoils of War mini-campaign, you could build up the Mage Guilds in the
Knight towns (up to level 4). You'd probably have to be careful not to
reach the 200,000 gold total before having built them up though. You can
delay victory by simply buying more troops or expensive dwellings, even
trading a bit of gold for the resources you're lacking.
My heroes at the end of this scenario were level 11,9,9,6,4,4,4,2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** Spoils of War 3: Greed
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last scenario in the Spoils of War mini-campaign is quite special
since you have the choice of deciding which side you will endorse while
fighting the one you spurned. This map is a classic contest between the
Stronghold and the Fortress; the advantage probably going to the
Fortress since most of the map is in swamp terrain. The 16 heroes you
developed in the first 2 scenarios (8 from Borderlands and 8 from Gold
Rush), will be both your starting heroes and starting enemies according
to their affiliation. The following strategy is for the Fortress. A
strategy for the Stronghold side is not likely to happen until I'm
finished with all the other campaign scenario strategies.
The heroes associated with the Stronghold, the barbarian and the
battlemage, will tend to favor attack while the Fortress heroes, the
beastmaster and the witch, will tend to favor defence. I personally
think attack is better than defence (higher attack means you do +5 %
damage per point above, while with higher defence, you only suffer 2%
less damage per point above). Therefore, I find Stronghold heroes
superior to Fortress heroes. On the other hand, the native terrain of
the Stronghold is less advantageous, since with rough terrain you only
need basic pathfinding to eliminate the movement penalty. With swamp
terrain, the native terrain for Fortress troops and the worst terrain
type in the game, enemies will have a much harder time reaching your
town (if the Fortress starts in a swamp that is). Both neutral towns
will be the towns where it's easiest to achieve the level 7 dwelling
with the Stronghold being quicker and having the better creature
(despite the multiple attack capability of the Hydra which I admit could
cause havoc but not so much against a savvy human player). The Fortress
also has the advantage of always going first in battles because of the
Dragon Flies. It also sports a unit with one of most of the devastating
special abilities in the game, the Mighty Gorgon. Fortress troops are
very weak in the shooter department (their only shooter, the Lizardman,
shooting once) yet they have one more flying unit than the Stronghold.
The Stronghold only has one flying troop but one more shooter unit than
the Fortress. The 2 different building paths (Cyclops branch and
Behemoth branch) can cause problems too compared to the Fortress, which
has a more straightforward building path. Both neutral towns are also
limited to level 3 Mage Guilds, which in larger maps could be a big
disadvantage against other factions.
I finished this large map of normal difficulty on month 2, week 4 day 5
delaying victory so I could see more of the layout.
1) You start with your best 8 heroes from Borderlands so you don't need
to buy a bunch of heroes on day 1 yourself, therefore saving you some
much needed gold.
2) You also start with 3 Fortress towns in the northwest corner of the
map. 1 already having a fort and the 2 others: simple villages. Your
main opposition, the Stronghold purple, is in the southeast town and
also has 3 towns. You'll have to deal with a buffer zone of Knight towns
first though.
3) The best Fortress (the one that is the more to the northwest) will
serve for creature production while the 2 other will serve to increase
revenue. When you start with several towns, it's a good philosophy to
adopt : only one town where you really buy creature dwellings in the
early game.
4) On day 1, build town halls in every town.
5) Buy war machines for your 2 main heroes at the War Machine factory.
You can use secondary heroes and transfer them to the main heroes. You
could do without the ammo carts which in my opinion is the least useful
of all war machines.
6) Something very important to keep in consideration : an army with only
native troops (i.e. fortress troops here) will have no movement penalty
while moving through the swamp.
7) Try to give those extra starting heroes (that are not Fortress
native) to a hero possessing pathfinding skills. If none have it, it's
not a big deal.
8) Here's the building order for my north-western Fortress that I'll now
refer too as the main town from now on :
•1) Town Hall (You could pick Mage Guild too but since your heroes
probably have some spells from the last scenario, why bother right away)
•2) Serpent Fly Hive •3) Lizard Den •4) Basilisk Pit •5) Wyvern Nest •6)
Citadel •7) Hydra Pond
9) Go for City Halls in your secondary towns. It's possible to buy them
both by the end of the week but they're not that urgent. Make sure you
keep enough gold for the Hydra pond.
10) Do not attack the garrisons in week 1.
11) There are 2 gold mines protected by Greater Basilisks in your home
territory. It's quite a good idea to take them as early as possible (I
took them early in week 2 simply because I discovered them a bit too
late). If you combine a few armies on one of your better heroes
(preferably a spellcaster), that stack is not that tough to defeat.
12) I was tempted to buy resource silos in my secondary towns but didn't
because I wanted enough gold to buy more troops early in week 2.
13) On week 2, buy all troops by day 2 or 3 and transfer. Upgrade all
Serpent Flies to Dragon Flies.
14) My building order in the main town for week 2 :
•1) Upgraded Serpent Hive •2) Marketplace •3) Resource Silo •4) Gorgon
Lair •5) Captains Quarters •6) Upgraded Gorgon Lair (I practically never
use simply Gorgons) •7) Castle
15) Your secondary heroes should all eventually have 1 single Dragon
Fly. This will make them move a lot farther each day. Try to end turns
with only one or two heroes having the slower troops.
16) Get the 2 gold mines if you haven't taken the risk of fighting the
Greater Basilisks in week 1. From there, go east with your main army.
17) Flag the Gnoll Huts in the northeast clearing by the end of the
week.
18) That pack of Serpent Flies next to the Serpent Fly Hives will join
you for free (southwest)
19) Build Resource Silos in your secondary towns.
20) I'd like to discuss the relative value of the upgraded versions of
Fortress units. My first upgrade is almost always the Dragon Fly simply
because of the huge speed increase of +4. It makes all scouts go faster.
You now have 1 unit that can reach the other side in one turn (although
Dragon Flies should almost always wait before attacking so they get 2
consecutive turns). And last but not least, they'll insure you get the
all-important first turn in battles until the level 7 creatures come
into play. My second favorite upgrade would be the Mighty Gorgon mostly
because of its death stare power, a special ability that's better than
many other special abilities even those from higher-level units. That
10% probability is misleading as the death stare is better than that as
will be explained in the following tip. In the almost worthless upgrade
category, I'd certainly enter both the Gnoll Marauder and Lizard
Warrior. If only that Lizard Warrior upgrade shot twice like the
Marksman or the Grand Elf, it would have made all the difference. The
Greater Basilisk is simply average in terms of benefits since the
special ability is not improved. The Wyvern Monarch is a good upgrade
because of the extra speed (+4) and because of the higher damage
inflicted. However, the special ability is not that great and the manual
is even wrong about it because it's not 50% removed from the top
creature each round, it's 10%. As all level 7 upgrades are, the benefits
are quite significant for the Fortress' Hydra also. The little speed
boost helps out as does the 75 extra hit points. The upgraded structure
to get Chaos Hydras is quite expensive though.
21) I'd like to thank our resident Astral Wizard site's mathematician
Qurqirish Dragon for investigating how the Mighty Gorgons special death
stare works in term of probabilities. It seemed to be better than 10%
(working more often than 10% of the time and killing more than one unit)
and it is. It's not 10% for the whole stack no matter what the number
is. The probability is stronger, the more Mighty Gorgons you have.
Here's how Qurqirish Dragon explained it (edited for the statistically-
impaired :-) :
"Apparently it DOES follow pure probabilistic patterns, with each Mighty
Gorgon in the stack having a 10% chance to kill a creature. There is one
restriction however: you cannot kill more than 1 creature for every 10
MGs you have (rounded up). Thus with less than 10 MGs, you can only kill
one ,and with 11-20, you can kill up to 2, and so on. Once you get 10,
there is a 35% chance to kill (exactly) 1, 19% chance to kill 2, a 6%
chance to kill 3, and small chances of more. There is a chance that the
death-stare will fail, even in a fairly large stack."
So in layman terms, it means you have a 10% chance of killing one unit
PER MIGHTY GORGON but not being able to kill more than one unless you
have at least 11 Mighty Gorgons in a stack. You could even potentially
use the Mighty Gorgon bomb dirty trick (affectionately nicknamed the mad
cow bomb by yours truly), a bit like players used to do with Genies in
HOMM 2. You split your available cows in single-unit stacks and attack
those high high-point level 6 and 7 units. Death staring Archangels that
cost 5000 gold a pop for your opponent is quite fun indeed.
22) Back to the strategy at hand, you'll notice in my week 2 building
order that I upgraded the Gorgons fairly early. It's because I
instinctively learned to respect the power of the death stare in other
scenarios (even before learning with mathematics it was even better than
expected).
24) Do NOT trade sulfur away for gold.
25) In week 3, buy all troops. Transfer by hero chain to your best hero
next to the northeastern garrison.
26) Attack the garrison. My army at this time (to give you a general
idea) : 37 Dragon Flies, 9 Mighty Gorgons, 4 Hydras, 51 Lizardmen, 18
Basilisks, 315 Gnolls and 9 Wyverns.
27) The most dangerous enemy stack in that garrison is the Thunderbirds.
Blind or slow it. Do something so it's incapacitated. I lost 27 Dragon
Flies, 5 Basilisks, 33 Gnolls and 5 Wyverns in that battle. Acceptable
losses to attack the knight towns earlier and by surprise. If you don't
feel confident enough to tackle the garrison in week 3, wait 1 or 2 more
weeks. The number of troops in the garrison doesn't grow anyway.
28) Visit the nearby Library of Enlightenment with your 3 best heroes.
You need to be level 10 for it to work (each level of diplomacy reduces
this requirement by one level of your hero, with expert diplomacy, you
only need a level 7 hero).
29) Cast View Air regularly (advanced level) to track down enemy heroes
and avoid ambushes.
30) Watch out on the roads ! There are invisible ambushes! The first
one, being on the east road after the garrison and consisting of 50
Lizard Warriors and 100 Gnoll Marauders.
31) The main hero should have 6 stacks, not 7 and a squire should follow
him around. It's simply because you don't want to have to dismiss good
stacks when new stacks join for greater glory.
32) The majority of wandering stacks after the garrison are too strong.
Feel free to skip them unless you're really confident of victory.
33) Go for the City Hall in your main town.
34) Go roughly south-southeast after the garrison, attack the red knight
towns one after the other. Don't detour from your objectives until
they're all captured (perhaps just killing heroes along the way so they
don't go back on your tracks).
35) During those battles against the knight troops, always try to
incapacitate the strongest stack early on with a Blind spell (second
turn or first turn if the most dangerous stack is Marksmen). Mass Haste
and Mass Slow are very good opening spells.
36) Don't forget to enter the knight towns to get new spells. Upgrade to
level 4 Mage Guilds if you want. Oh and build City Halls too
37) By week 4 day 1, I had captured the 3 red towns and that color was
eliminated ! This left me free reign over the huge center portion of the
map.
38) The Stronghold heroes won't break out of their starting territory
until much later. They also have to deal with strong garrisons. The AI
is a lot more cautious than a human player is.
39) At about this time, build a fort in a second Fortress and build up
its creature dwellings up to Hydra Pond.
40) Bring reinforcements by hero chain or you could wait another week.
41) I got 18 Wyverns by visiting 2 Dragon Fly Hives and defeating its
guardians. Having only one stack of Hydras attacking is very good and
will reduce your casualties. Cast cure and defensive spells to keep that
top hydra alive longer.
42) On all those special structures where you have to fight a random
number of Guardians (Cyclops Stockpile, Dwarven Treasury, Naga Bank,
etc), I love to visit it, say no and then right-click on the structure
to know how many creatures I'd have to really fight. This simple tip can
save you from a lot of risky battles even though you'll lose 2 steps
each time you do it.
43) I beat lots of level 1 units with 1 Dragon Fly and 1 good
spellcaster. Several variations on this trick exist where you can beat
much stronger stacks simply by avoiding the attack and casting spells.
Used to do it with 1 Gargoyle and Magic Arrow against Goblins in HOMM 2.
44) After the last knight town, I went a bit more south then mostly
west, then north again towards the garrison protecting the other side of
my home territory.
45) In week 5, I started fort in my last Fortress and built creature
dwellings there also.
46) I lost a few scouts to invisible ambushes on the roads. Be warned.
Your main army will win but a scout with a Dragon Fly should surrender.
47) In week 6, I bought all the troops in all my Fortresses sent them to
main town to be upgraded.
48) By that point, my army was composed of 203 Dragon Flies, 47 Wyvern
Monarchs, 16 Chaos Hydras, 145 Lizard Warriors, 80 Greater Basilisks and
33 Mighty Gorgons.
49) In the southwest corner of the map, there are 2 pretty good items
you might like to have. They look like blue orbs. The Orb of Firmament
will make your air spells do 50 % more damage while the Orb of the
Driving Rain will make your water spells do 50% more damage.
50) When you finally attack the purple territory (and believe me it
won't pose much of a challenge if you followed the tips above even with
a few weeks' delays), forget about the mines, go for the towns and the
enemy heroes. The Spoils of War mini-campaign was completed in 112 days
for 890 points and a rating of Fire Elemental.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** Long Live the King 1: A Gryphon's Heart
Map Type: HOMM 3 Campaign Map
-----------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first scenario in the Long Live the King is a small-sized map of
normal difficulty but which I would evaluate as being fairly easy. It is
also the first scenario in the campaigns where you play as the
Necromancer. Therefore, it serves as a nice little tutorial of that
town. I will include several general Necropolis tips in this article
along with my usual assortment of other general tips not necessarily
related to the scenario. The objective of "A Griffin's Heart" is to
bring the Spirit of Oppression (that's an item) to the red knight town
called StoneCastle. The catch is that there is no such item on the map.
However you can get it anyway by following all the Seer Quests one by
one (more on this in the strategy). The tomb you see behind StoneCastle
is for decoration purposes only (supposed to represent King
Gryphonheart's tomb) and is not supposed to be accessible. There is a 3
month time limit but believe me you won't have to worry about it.
Contrary to most strategies where the scenario is only played once, this
one I played twice, since although I won the first time around, I had
been much too aggressive for my tastes, suffering too many casualties by
far. This, in turn, would have caused problems for average players
trying to follow it. Surprisingly my times for the first play and second
play were nearly identical: month 2, week 2, day 2 (first time) and day
3 (second time).
0) I originally thought the spell Death Ripple would be the best
starting bonus to keep and it is indeed nice to have, however I think
that buying the skeleton transformer instead might be wiser. I picked
Death Ripple both times but you don't need it or the transformer to win.
1) Buy 3 or 4 more heroes on day 1 (with 3 heroes you'll have less
trading to do later on), preferably Necromancers and Death Knights if
possible.
2) I suggest 3 options at this point
a) Combine all troops both living and undead on the same hero who will
go south towards the first garrison
b) Create an army with living troops and another with undead troops.
Make one go south and the other towards the Subterranean gate.
c) Stick all living troops you got, except shooters, in the skeleton
transformer. Wizards and Alchemists starting armies are especially
useful in that regard. Form only one main army who will go south.
3) Necropolis players in particular have an harder time combining troops
from different starting heroes because of the undead penalty which is
added to the penalty for different troop types.
4) Death Knights are some of the only might heroes who start with spell
books. So you save about 500 gold for each :-)
5) Best Necropolis hero you could get is arguably Thant who starts with
Animate Dead. Another highly desirable Necropolis hero would be Aislinn
who starts with Meteor Shower. I personally like to hire Isra and
Vidomina for their necromancy specialties also. Galthran, the skeleton
specialist, makes those units you'll eventually get in high numbers even
more effective.
6) I consider Walking Dead "dead weight" if you'll excuse the
expression. They're slower than Skeletons and they don't even grow
exponentially like those. By the time they get to the other side, the
combat will often be over. You might want to stick your starting Walking
Dead in the skeleton converter and transform them into Skeletons. After
that I strongly suggest forgetting about buying any more, unless your
main town gets attacked (no risk of that in this scenario unless you're
careless). Keep your gold for the really good troops that in the
Necropolis' case go from level 4 to level 6.
7) As a general rule though, I always buy the level 1 and 2 troops in my
starting town to provide an additional hit point boost to my starting
army. Although Walking Dead are practically useless, they do have more
hit points than skeletons and an higher hit point total in your army
means the wandering stacks you'll encounter will be more likely to flee
or join.
8) Leave one hero in town for the moment so it will be able to ferry
troops a little later on. If there's a statistic booster nearby (such as
a Gazebo), you could visit it and then go back to the town.
9) Here was my building order for week 1 in the Necropolis. It's close
to what my standard would be except for the two last choices.
•1) Mage Guild Level 1 (you'll notice this is a frequent first choice in
all my strategies because having starting heroes with a few spells and
spell books is very important) •2) Town Hall (for extra revenue
naturally and the sooner you build it, the more profits accumulate. If I
had a second town, I might skip it in the first town) •3) Graveyard (not
because it's good but because it's a requirement for other structures,
sometimes this will be already built) •4) Estate (Vampires are okay but
Vampire Lords rule) •5) Mausoleum (The perfect complement to the Vampire
Lords in the early game and your only Necropolis shooter) •6) Citadel
(Usually this would go on day 7 and I'd go with Hall of Darkness here
but in this map not enough Ore) •7) Tomb of Souls or Skeleton
Transformer if you haven't picked it as starting bonus.
The Tomb of Souls is really not required and I will often skip it in
week 1 unless there's nothing else to build. So my standard building
order for almost any town goes a bit like this : Mage Guild, Town Hall,
4 Creature Dwellings and Citadel on day 7. Then early in week 2, I go
for the City Hall.
10) For most towns and not only Necropolis, I will often survive in the
early game with my combined starting armies and I will not buy any
troops beyond level 3 in week 1, sometimes even week 2. Certain slower
troops I will tend not to buy such as Dwarves, Golems and Walking Dead.
11) Attack the garrison south of your town but do not proceed forward
with your main army. Make it go northwest to attack the second garrison.
12) A secondary hero (give 1 or 2Wights to the secondary heroes or a
couple of faster troops if you have them) should go south past the first
garrison. Take the Gem Pond but do NOT go west of this. You do not want
to attract the attention of the red cleric there. Fortunately, it seems
the red faction has no Tavern in its town because it will have but one
hero for the duration of the game. It also seems that the cleric has a
patrol radius, meaning that it can't go beyond a certain place on the
map. In this case, the limit of its radius is just east of the Shrine.
13) Make sure you visit the first Seer Hut. You'll be asked to bring
back the Pendant of Dispassion but you'll actually complete another Seer
Hut Quest before this one.
14) After beating the second garrison, flag the Crystal Cave and Gem
pond that are there. Make a secondary hero do it. Main heroes should not
waste too much time flagging mines (okay they should indeed flag mines
if no other heroes are nearby because every day a mine is left unflagged
is a day where potential resources are lost). They should not waste time
picking up resources and items if they don't have too (this point is
particularly important). Their job is to fight as many battles as
possible each turn and clear out passages.
15) That being said, do not attack the third garrison right away.
Instead, make your main hero take the Subterranean gate in the northwest
corner, flag the Sulfur mine and proceed east. You'll come upon a pack
of Marksmen, which you should be able to take down if it does not flee
(let it flee if it does).
16) Haste is an excellent spell for Skeletons especially if you don't
have Magic Arrow.
17) A little comparison between Magic Arrow and Death Ripple and when
it's better to use each. As a general rule, the more stacks you face,
the more advantageous it is to use Death Ripple even if the spell point
cost is twice that of Magic Arrow and its damage is half that of Magic
Arrow on an individual stack. While facing 1 or 2 stacks, it's better to
use Magic Arrow, when you face 3 stacks, it about the same either way,
when you face more than 3 stacks, it's better to use Death Ripple. I'll
spare you the math but I took into account the spell point cost, damage
for each spell and numbers of times it could be cast. It goes without
saying you don't want to use Death Ripple if you have any living troops
in your army.
18) Around the end of week 1, start of week 2, the main hero will
eventually reach the first Subterranean Gate (northeast corner), do not
go through it, go south and attack that Horde of Skeletons.
19) Lo and behold, it will join you for greater glory ! I tested this
with a wimpy hero and this stack is friendly, meaning it was set in the
map editor to join the hero. However, in most games, you would never
know if stacks would be compliant or not so it's important to have an
army strong enough to win if it comes down to a fight. In this
particular map, you could have taken that horde of Skeletons in week 1
with but a simple scout leading only 1 little Wight.
16) In my first game, I bought most of my Vampires and Liches by day 4
of week 2 and I transferred them by hero chain to continue my
exploration past the third garrison. This is doable but kind of a
strategic mistake since it will make your life (unlife) much harder
later on.
17) It is much wiser to use week 2 as a buildup phase so that in week 3
you have a much stronger army ready to venture forth.
18) In the underground, past the horde of friendly skeletons, you'll
come upon a second Seer Hut. This guy asks you to bring him back a
Hourglass of the Evil Hour (gotta love those scary names ;-)
19) Oh by the way, do pick gold from chests and not experience. I often
do that in the first 3 weeks.
20) There's a chest that's partially hidden by scenery just below the
Marletto Tower (very easy to overlook). It's much easier to hide stuff
behind scenery than in HOMM 2 so in order not to miss anything, I
suggest checking the overland map more regularly.
21) Tactics is a great secondary skill to have for Necromancers/Dead
Knights. Makes your stack of skeletons reaching the other side much
quicker.
22) Leadership is also nice to have in order to counter the undead
morale penalty but Necromancers/Death Knights cannot learn that. And if
you use another type of hero, then you don't get the benefits of
Necromancy.
23) Try to get your Necromancy secondary skill at expert level as soon
as possible.
24) However, do not ignore opportunities to gain basic levels in
elemental spheres such as Earth, Fire, Air and Water. In another game,
Thant who was around level 13 never got Earth Magic skill offered to him
even once. And since he was a specialist in Animate Dead, that really
hurt his usefulness.
24) As a reminder, do not buy extra troops in week 2, you need the gold
for structures.
25) My suggested building order for week 2 is :
•1) Marketplace •2) Blacksmith •3) City Hall •4) Tomb of Souls (if you
haven't got it already but in hindsight it's not really necessary) •5)
Unearthed Graves •6) Necromancy Amplifier •7) Hall of Darkness or Castle
The order can be easily changed if you want. I was hurting for resources
and gold in this map, particularly Ore. Otherwise, I would have bought
both the Hall of Darkness and the Castle in week 2. Building the Capitol
in week 2 before the level 7 building (yes I know the Hall of Darkness
is level 6 but I'm speaking in general terms for other maps ;-) also
makes a lot of sense. That is if you can afford it in week 2. In most
games I've played, I like to build the Capitol and the level 7 Dwelling
in week 3. However, if I can make the Level 7 dwelling in week 2, I'll
usually buy it even though I shouldn't because it will delay the Capitol
until later. Call it HOMM 2's professional deformation :-) If you're
still reading this paragraph (I do like to rant :-), please try to
remember that Level 7 creatures are much less dominating than they
previously were in HOMM 2 and that being stuck with lots of accumulated
creatures and no gold to buy them is quite frustrating. In multiplayer,
it can even cause your doom.
26) In this particular map, I suggest going for Hall of Darkness instead
of the Castle. Affording those extra Liches and Vampire Lords would
delay your departure even more.
27) In week 3, upgrade the Estate. Buy almost all the Liches and Vampire
Lords available. You'll have to trade your rare resources (crystals,
gems, sulfur, mercury) for gold but don't worry, you won't need to build
up your Mage Guild and the Dragon Vault is not necessary either. By day
4, you should be ready to start the long hero chain (in my case
comprised of 5 heroes) to transfer troops from the town to the main hero
just in front of the third garrison.
28) As a general rule, I like to trade my rare resources until I have
about 10 of each. When I really need gold, I might go as far as 5 of
each. If it's a smaller map, and I'm preparing for a final assault, I
could easily trade everything. Since each town usually has a resource
requirement that's higher than others, I will not trade those. The AI
will trade for gold almost everything that's above 20 of each resource.
29) The trade ratio when you have but one marketplace is pretty
horrible. Keep a lookout for Trading Posts (unfortunately none in this
map) or secondary neutral towns you can capture.
30) For those interested in my army at that time : 10 Wights, 7 Elves,
16 Walking Dead (starting troops and from day 1), 173 Skeletons (which
although numerous never really participated in the other battles), 16
Vampire Lords and 10 Liches. Those 2 last stacks would do most of the
work.
31) The main hero will clear the third garrison, defeat the Swordsmen
and follow the road at the west edge of the map. Be sure to buy some
Marksmen and to keep your other living shooters with your main army not
because they'll really be useful but because they will be great baits in
the coming battles. If you're going to play the Necropolis, you might as
well be devious :-)
32) Permit me to discuss Necropolis upgrades for a short while before
moving on. The first most essential upgrade would definitely be the
Vampire Lords. Without it, your Vampires will die like flies (I know, it
happened in my first try at this map), with the upgrade, you'll keep
them alive (okay undead) and their numbers will stay constant. My second
favorite upgrade would be the Dread Knight. Those double damage
deathblows are really devastating. Only Naga Queens come close, in terms
of overall value, to the Dread Knights for a level 6 creature. As for
the other upgrades, I do not place a high priority on them. You will
already have a huge stack of skeletons on the front lines so why add a
smaller bunch of skeleton warriors to them ? The Power Lich upgrade is
nice but the main advantage is that you'll get 10 more hit points. Just
use Animate Dead instead :-) Walking Dead suck and their Zombie
upgrade... well it sucks too unless you're stuck with nothing else and
you have to defend the town. Wights and Wraiths seem rather weak for
their level. Wraith Bombs are fun and do have a certain usefulness
though (see next tip). As for Ghost Dragon upgrade, I like it but more
for the speed boost than the aging ability. In smaller maps, I'll often
be happy to ignore the Dragon Vault altogether and buy more levels 4 to
6 troops especially Dread Knights.
33) The infamous Wraith Bomb consists of filling up the free stacks in
your army with Wraiths (even if each has a single unit). For each Wraith
stack you have, the enemy hero on the other side will lose 2 spell
points each turn !
34) Back to the scenario at hand, make sure you visit the third Seer
Quest hut along the way. It will ask you for the Pendant of Total Recall
35) Enter the Subterranean gate in the southwest corner.
36) Welcome to the Monk Caverns, you'll have to deal with several Monks
and Zealot stacks.
37) Don't forget to buy the Castle in the main town in week 3.
38) During week 4, you'll clear the Monks and Zealots stacks you'll find
underground. With the strength of your army, it's quite possible some of
them will want to join you for greater glory (talk about traitors to
their cause). In my case, 4 stacks wanted to join but since a bit of it
was luck I decided to kill them all anyway. Plus it was more fun that
way :-)
39) Blind is quite useful here (you can get it from shrine but that's
random) as is those shooter stacks (Marksmen, Elves, etc) that will
absorb first attacks from the Monks/Zealots while your Vampire Lords
close in.
40) In my first try, where I used Vampires and attacked that section
about one week sooner, by the end I only had 13 Walking Dead and 1
Zombie left.
42) In my second try, practically all my undead troops survived
unscathed. The skeleton stack had become the main target focus after the
living shooters had been eliminated. The skeletons gained through
necromancy attenuated their losses.
43) Since we're on week 4 and gold is not such a pressing issue anymore,
feel free to take experience from chests.
44) In the southwest corner, beyond a Zealot stack, you'll find the
Pendant of Total Recall, one of the items for your Seer Quests.
45) After everything has been picked up and killed in that section go
back to the surface, and visit the first Seer Hut on your way. The Seer
will give you the Hourglass of the Evil Hour as a reward. You bring that
Hourglass to the Seer who asked for it (that's the one underground
beyond the horde of Skeletons you took). He will give you the Pendant of
Dispassion. As you've probably guessed it by now, you bring this Pendant
to yet another Seer Hut. This last Seer will finally give you what you
wanted all along : the Spirit of Oppression.
46) With that item of Oppression in your possession, your main minion
can now destroy the opposition. (ouch :-)
47) You trade every resource you have left for gold to buy troops, you
buy what you can afford, starting with Vampire Lords, Liches and Black
Knights and then you attack StoneCastle. You can ignore the cleric along
the way if you want.
48) To win, you absolutely have to enter the town with a hero that
carries the Spirit of Oppression.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** Long Live the King 2: "Season of Harvest"
Map Type: HOMM 3 Campaign Map
-------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you complete the first scenario in the Long Live the King mini-
campaign, you'll get the chance to choose between two scenarios. Season
of Harvest is one of them and the one selected by default. It takes
place on a medium-sized map and it's sort of similar to another popular
campaign scenario in HOMM 2 called Rebellion (evil campaign number 6)
where you had to create thousands of skeletons to have any hope of
winning. However, this particular "harvesting"-type scenario in HOMM 3
is much less challenging because, although you have to contend with a
time limit, the enemy colors will never hire any heroes and they don't
have any to start with! So the only opposition you have to contend with
are the wandering stacks and the enemy-controlled towns. The only way
you can lose is by going over the time limit. I finished this map in
month 2, week 4, day 1 on my first play. That's with a little more than
a month left to spare.
0) For the starting bonus, I suggest taking the Vampire Cowl. The
Unearthed Graves are not good enough compared to the other bonuses. The
Necromancy Amplifier you can buy yourself later on anyway: only 1000
gold.
1) The victory objective is to accumulate 2500 skeletons in 3 months,
i.e. before month 4, week 1, day 1.
2) It's usually recommended to let wandering stacks flee especially if
they would have inflicted losses on your army. When you deal with
necropolis armies however, this is different: you don't want to let
anyone flee because the dead corpses provide you with Skeletons to make
your army grow.
3) The common sense exception to the rule above is if you think the
losses inflicted on your army would be higher than what you could get
back as skeletons. Be particularly careful when you fight medium-level
shooters.
4) Vokial, a vampire specialist, and Vidomina, a necromancy specialist,
are your starting heroes. Both have expert necromancy.
5) Buy every undead unit available in your Necropolis except for the
Vampires.
6) Hire 2 extra heroes. The first one hired should be an extra
Necromancer/Death Knight (you always get at least one native town hero
you can recruit on day 1 of every scenario). The second one should be
chosen in function of how many living troops it has. The more, the
better.
7) Here is the recommended building order for week 1. In my game, I went
for a slightly different order but the same structures. I put Mage Guild
in first place this time around, because in hindsight, it would have
been better to have a few more level 1 spells for my heroes.
•1) Mage Guild Level 1 •2) Fort •3) Skeleton Transformer •4) Necromancy
Amplifier •5) Unearthed Graves •6) Citadel •7) Upgraded Estate
8) Keep living troops in the Necropolis until you buy the Skeleton
Transformer. Put every living troop in the Skeleton Transformer except
shooters (and possibly level 3 troops). If you feel particularly cruel,
why not drop the Walking dead into the Skeleton Transformer too? They're
mostly useless anyway.
9) Vidomina is specialized in necromancy so in the long run, and
especially in this map, she's the better hero to use. We'll use both
heroes extensively to cut down on our time.
10) Vokial starts with the Spirit of Oppression, an artifact that's
supposed to prevent morale and luck bonuses from occurring in battle for
both opponents. Now if that artifact prevented morale penalties too, and
perhaps it does, I'd say to keep and cherish it even more so, because
you're leading necromancers/death knights with dead and living troops
combined (very bad for morale) and no chance to ever get Leadership.
However, I'm not sure of that. If the "Spirit" only prevents "good"
morale bonuses during battle (attacking twice with the same unit) and
does "not" prevent morale penalties (freezing in place and losing a
unit's turn), I'd recommend leaving it at home. I'll look more into
this.
11) The undead troops of the Necropolis are not affected in any way by
morale either good or bad. They are affected by luck though.
12) With the Vampire's Cowl and the Necromancy Amplifier built, Vokial
will be able to raise 50% of the troops that die in battle against him
(30%: Expert Necromancy, 10%: Necromancy Amplifier, 10%: Vampire's
Cowl).
13) Even your own troops and enemy troops that are already dead (all the
Necropolis units) can be "raised" again as Skeletons.
14) A little tidbit of information you will not use in this map but
that's still fun to know. You can convert Dragons and Hydras into Bone
Dragons by using the Skeleton Transformer. (Now which despicable fiend
would ever want to do such a thing to those magnificent Dragons!?!?).
15) Wood will be a problem in the early weeks. You get a free boat near
where Vokial is. I suggest waiting later in the week to buy a boat from
your shipyard. Wait until week 2 if you're really lacking wood.
16) Pursue and engage every stack you encounter (just a reminder ;-)
17) Make Vokial board the free boat with 2 Black Knights and half the
Skeletons you have around (this implies you go north for a bit to trade
troops). If you want to make things easier for Vokial, you could give
him all the Skeletons you currently have instead of just half of them. I
don't think it's necessary though.
18) Vokial should navigate west and disembark near the Pikemen.
19) If wandering stacks want to join (and they will), accept for now,
you can always convert them into Skeletons later. 19a) If you want to
complete a Seer's Quest later on, pay attention to a little niche
protected by Pikemen where a gold medal is located (northwest from
initial landing). See paragraph 33 to know the reward.
20) Those lots of Pikemen stacks will become hordes in week 2. Don't
panic, it just means their numbers grow by 20% each week, as do all
wandering stacks by default. It's more Skeletons for you in the long run
21) On week 2, I upgraded my Tomb of Souls on a whim.
22) There's a Sawmill not far west from where Vokial disembarked. Flag
it as soon as possible. That's +2 wood per day!
23) Buy all Skeletons, Wraiths and Vampire Lords and board a boat around
day 4 of week 2 with Vidomina.
24) Try to buy the Mausoleum and the Hall of Darkness in week 2. If
you're lucky, you can even make the Dragon Vault (you do not need to
build it at all btw)
25) A cartographer west of the Rampart town (where Vokial is) will
reveal the entire surface map.
26) Try to take that blue Rampart town with Vokial by the end of week 2.
The garrison is stronger than what you might expect : around 30 Centaurs
and 21 Dwarves. If you wait until later, it will grow even stronger.
It's worth taking because there's a Level 3 Mage Guild inside. Vokial
will finally get more spells. If you get Animate Dead, consider yourself
very fortunate.
27) Look around the map for a prison (it's center-west). The old fan
favorite Sandro is in there enjoying the amenities. You're not strong
enough to free him yet (jump to paragraph 48 for a spoiler that will
make this map even easier).
28) Vokial should go in a southeast direction from the Rampart, killing
almost everything along the way.
29) Vidomina should go roughly west-northwest on the main island.
30) Try to keep Skeletons safe. It's the other troops that are more
expendable especially the living troops.
31) You'll badly need wood to build structures. Look around for it.
Trade other resources if you have too.
32) Take experience from chests for Vidomina.
33) Vokial will come upon a Seer's Hut (it looks like a tree). The Seer
will ask for a Badge of Courage (this is the medal just a little
northwest of where Vokial originally landed, see 19a). The reward is a
Teleport Spell Scroll. Don't worry if you did not get the badge, I did
not get it myself until much later.
34) Centaurs are a bit problematic to kill. Here's how to deal with
them. You either slow them down or you haste your Skeletons after the
Centaurs have moved. That way, you insure your Skeletons get the first
strike on them. Works on big stacks of Pikemen too.
35) In week 3, buy a third boat.
36) Buy all troops in your Necropolis (except the Walking Dead) and
transfer them to a hero on the boat, who will then go south, disembark
and transport to Vokial's location. Vokial can go towards that secondary
hero to make the troop transfer quicker if you prefer.
37) Buy a marketplace and a Castle in week 3 if you haven't already done
so. Try to go for the City Hall too.
38) There's a Trading Post in the northwest corner of the map. This
works as if you had 3 marketplaces.
39) Eventually transfer living troops (Pikemen, Centaurs mostly) to the
boat for "conversion" into Skeletons at the Necropolis. First "trip"
should be the hero who exchanged troops with Vokial.
40) Be careful with Dwarven Treasuries, visit, say no, go one step back
and right-click on the structure. Will give you a rough estimate of what
numbers you'll have to face. This little trick works for all similar
structures.
41) It's always better to make your Vampire Lords wait on the first turn
so they go last instead of first. You also get the benefit of 2
consecutive attacks with no retaliation.
42) In week 4, take the second blue town, another Rampart, in the
northwest corner with Vidomina. Blue shall be eliminated.
43) There is a level 5 Mage Guild inside the Rampart !!! Unfortunately,
it's quite possible Vidomina will not have enough wisdom to learn the
level 4 and 5 spells. It happened to me.
44) Still in week 4, buy a Capitol and a Resource Silo in your
Necropolis. The resource silo is optional but depending on your speed,
you'll make up the cost when you trade the extra ore and wood later on.
45) On week 5 (or month 2, week 1), get reinforcements from your town
but this time, split them roughly in half. One half will go to Vidomina
and the other half will go to Vokial.
46) I destroyed the red knight town in the southwest corner on month 2,
week 2.
47) Vidomina and Vokial will meet again in the southwest corner, north
of the knight town. Combine armies and free Sandro from prison.
48) The undead wandering stacks guarding him will likely join you for
greater glory (I think they're set to compliant) but there was no way to
know that beforehand so it was better to be prepared for the battle just
in case. This goes for every HOMM 3 map. You cannot assume a strong
stack will join you! Don't take the chance of fighting them if you think
the potential battle would cripple your army.
49) Sandro turned out to simply be a level 5 Necromancer with very few
troops. Freeing him was not really worth the bother but the troops
guarding him and that joined you made the attempt worthwhile
nevertheless.
50) Return all the troops to the Necropolis to be transformed into
Skeletons when the majority of wandering stacks on the main island is
destroyed. I got 613 extra Skeletons when they were all transformed (I
transformed the other undead troops too even high-level ones).
51) You do not need to have 2500 Skeletons in the "same" stack on one
hero. They can be in different armies.
52) If you want to be devious and win cheaply (not from a monetary point
of view but from an ethical point of view ;-) and no doubt more quickly,
you could hire heroes over and over again, transforming their living
armies into Skeletons. Wizards/Alchemists are pretty good in that regard
with their starting Gremlins that go from 50 to 79.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** Long Live the King 3: "Corporeal Punishment"
Map Type: HOMM 3 Campaign Map
----------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Corporeal Punishment" is one of the two choices you have after
finishing the first scenario in the Long Live the King campaign. This is
a medium-sized map and the objective is to defeat the Death Knight Mot
who refuses to follow King Gryphonheart, the new Lich King. I finished
on month 2, week 1, day 2 on my first play.
0) I'm at a bit of a loss regarding which bonus to choose. I practically
never use any Protection Of "Element" spells, since you're never sure
what the opponent might cast so let's do without that Protection from
Earth scroll altogether. The Pendant of Death, giving you protection
from Destroy Undead might have benefits especially if Mot starts with
that spell. There's just a little catch though... Mot's side only has
Necropolis towns and will fight with undead troops like you so the enemy
would be very stupid using that kind of spell. This leaves us with the
only possible choice: 25 Zombies. Not a great bonus, but it will make
the starting game easier. All that being said, I think I took the
Pendant of Death bonus for my only game because I did not know the map
layout ;-)
1) You start with 2 Necropolis towns, one in the center and one in the
northwest. The one in the center is more vulnerable to enemy attacks.
2) As we usually do when we start with more than 1 town, we'll make one
concentrate on creature production and the other on gold production. The
one in the center being more vulnerable to attacks and closer to the
enemy also, it makes sense to have that one develop in creature
dwellings first.
3) Here are my building orders for week 1 :
Center Necropolis
•1) Mage Guild •2) Town Hall •3) Graveyard •4) Estate •5) Mausoleum •6)
Hall of Darkness •7) Citadel (don't worry too much if you can't buy
everything)
Northwest Necropolis
•1) Mage Guild •2) Town Hall •3) Marketplace •4) Blacksmith •5) City
Hall •6) Skeleton Transformer •7) Unearthed Graves
4) Go crazy on heroes. Buy 3 of them at the center town. Buy 3 of them
at the northwest town. Try to hire the Necromancers/Death Knights at the
same town (preferably center one). Combine troops, form 2 main armies. .
4a) In hindsight, since the hero in the northwest corner will have 25
Zombies, you might want to hire 4 heroes in the center town and 2 in the
northwest town. Everything depends on the kind of random hero mixes
you'll get. Hint : Hiring heroes of the same type at the same town is
good :-)
5) If you manage to get a necromancy specialist, try to make it one of
your two main heroes. Not because it's necessary, but because it's fun
making more Skeletons ;-)
6) I always like to pick Earth Magic (Death Ripple, Animate Dead are
Earth spells) and Wisdom for Necromancers/Death Knights when they level
up.
7) Did I forget to mention about not buying troops from your towns after
day 1 until the end of the week ?
8) You'll soon come upon a Hut of Magi that reveals most of the map.
You'll see 3 red necro towns: in the southwest, southeast and northeast.
Mot is in the southeast corner. Garrisons block the south hemisphere.
9) It's possible you might want to create a living-only army (making
this a third active army). I did so in the northwest corner by combining
armies of 2 heroes of the same faction.
10) Take gold from chests in week 1. (As a general rule, and in most
maps, I almost always pick gold from chests for the first 3 to 4 weeks).
11) One of your main armies (the guy who'll lead the 25 Zombies) should
head west from the center town to flag the Crystal Caverns. (You might
want to make him or her visit the Learning stone just south of the town
first).
12) Mines are protected by lots of Walking Dead. By combining all troops
on the same hero (like I recommended), you make it more likely for them
to join you.
13) There's something little known that will also improve chances of
stacks joining you. This is important so please pay attention. If your
army is strong enough, the wandering stack you attack might join for
free. There's a 10% base chance of that happening. If you have a unit of
the same type in your army as the one you're attacking, then you improve
the probability of the wandering stack joining.
Having creatures of the same kind (upgraded or not) makes this 10% more
likely. Having an army that "mostly" has the same kind of creatures
(more than 50% of the total army) makes it 20% more likely.
Diplomacy improves the probability even more, even allows you to
persuade them to join for money but we won't talk of this here (keep an
eye on our AW Site's School of War for Diplomacy tips and article).
14) How do you evaluate if your army is strong enough? In HOMM 2, you
could roughly evaluate this by the total number of hit points your army
had compared to the total of the wandering stack (you needed something
like double the total). In HOMM 3, there's still an army comparison
going on but it's based more on rough total AI values modified by the
attack and defense of the hero than just on hit points. The AI value is
a hand-balanced number reflecting the rough value of a creature,
including attack, defense, hit points, and special abilities. (Thanks to
Gus Smedstad, HOMM 3 AI programmer, for the explanations). For
simplicity's sake, I'd suggest evaluating your chances of stacks joining
by still doing a general hit point comparison. Go by a x3 ratio and
reduce it according to how strong your hero is. I admit I go by a x2
ratio myself and I choose my battles very carefully, taking special care
against shooters and high-level faster units.
15) From the northwest town, go east with your main hero, flag mines and
reach the shipyard by the end of the week. Buy a boat and board it with
a secondary hero.
16) Go south with the boat, disembark and flag the Lighthouse. The hero
can reboard the boat right away or hang around a little longer to pick
up resources from the Windmills
17) In week 2, buy all the troops (except Walking Dead) in the center
Necropolis by day 2 or 3. Transfer them to the main hero who's west
beating up wandering stacks. Read the building orders below first
because you want to buy Vampire Lords not simple Vampires ;-)
18) Here are my building orders for week 2. Yours will likely be
different depending on where you go:
Center Necropolis (creature production town)
•1) Necromancy Amplifier •2) Upgraded Estate •3) Marketplace •4) Castle
•5) ---- •6) Tomb of Souls •7) Dragon Vault
Northwest Necropolis (gold production town)
•1) Necromancy Amplifier (you get a 10% necromancy bonus for each one
you build) •2) ---- •3) Citadel •4) Castle •5) ---- •6) Capitol •7) Tomb
of Lost Souls
19) Transform remaining living troops into Skeletons eventually.
20) Buy a second boat and make another secondary hero board it. This
hero will go northeast towards the Whirlpool. The first navigator will
take the stuff in the northwest bay. Lots of flotsam, wood and sea
chests free for the taking.
21) Week 3 is time for your first assault. (It's amazing how in most of
my games, I often end up taking my first enemy town on week 3.)
22) Upgrade your Hall of Darkness (not totally necessary if you're short
on gold)
23) Buy all the troops from your center town except the Walking Dead
(noticing a trend? ;-) by day 2 or 3. If you're really lacking gold, you
might wait to buy the Bone Dragons and the Wraiths.
24) Defeat the garrison linking your 2 home territories. (You could
transfer Skeletons bought from northwest town at this point but I don't
remember if I did that myself)
25) Attack the northeast red town. My army for the invasion at this
point was comprised of Liches, Vampire Lords, Dread Knights and about
half my total of Skeletons (around 170). If you like playing Necropolis,
you'll notice sooner or later that the AI just adores attacking those
Skeletons (same goes for Troglodytes). You can use this at your
advantage to reduce casualties in your other stacks.
26) What of the Bone Dragons, Wraiths and the other half of my
Skeletons? They were in a different army, busy attacking the garrison
south of the central town around mid-week (do not confuse with the
garrison southeast, leading to Mot's territory).
27) Go for the City Hall in your center town during week 3.
28) It's possible to capture the northeast and southwest enemy towns by
week 4, day 1. At least I did.
29) You could probably rush Mot during week 3 and win more quickly
instead of taking those 2 towns you don't really need to take...
However, you get a higher score in HOMM 3 when you capture all the
towns. Besides, it's more enjoyable that way :-)
30) In week 4, you could buy your Mage Guilds level 2 or 3 in your new
towns.
31) On cursed land, the Vampire Lord regeneration doesn't seem to work!
However, I don't know if this was due to me killing off undead or the
magic-draining properties of the cursed terrain.
32) At that time, it's your 4 Necropolis towns against just 1. Mot has
no chance.
33) You might want to use Wraith bombs: consists of splitting up your
Wraiths in different stacks so that each stack drains 2 spell points off
the enemy every round.
34) You could even build up Mage Guilds until you got Animate Dead but
it's far from necessary.
35) For the final assault, you can win without Skeletons. They'll only
slow down your main army.
36) If you're concerned about Mot's magic, just fight him on cursed
land. Makes Pendant of Death and Protection of Earth scrolls even more
useless as starting bonuses.
37) Little bonus tip : Make a squire take all the troops from your main
hero except the Ghost Dragons (fastest troop) at the end of a turn. On
the next turn, your main guy will move much farther. Transfer back
slower troops to main hero before moving. This trick is used extensively
by advanced players to maximize movement, especially movement out of
towns (you put slower troops in the garrison row and the fastest stack
in your hero's row).
38) My army for the final battle was 4 Ghost Dragons, 37 Vampire Lords
(12 from northwest town), 22 Power Liches, 54 Wraiths and 13 Dread
Knights. To tell you how much that army was superior, I only lost 1
Ghost Dragon, 7 Vampire Lords, 5 Power Liches and all my Wraiths (which
absorbed the early blows that would have normally been aimed at the
Skeletons).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** Long Live the King 4: From Day to Night
Map Type: HOMM 3 Campaign Map
-----------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last scenario in the Long Live the King Campaign pits Necropolis
forces against Castle forces in a large-sized map. You start with 3
Necropolis towns and your opponent has 5 Castles. By building
intelligently, we'll outproduce and overrun those Castles without even
breaking a sweat. I finished this scenario in month 2, week 2 day 5 on
my first play.
0) All the bonuses are good. I took 3 Ghost Dragons myself. It will make
your starting game easier.
1) Your 3 starting heroes are set. They are Thant, the Animate Dead
specialist, Vokial the Vampire specialist and Septienna the Death Ripple
specialist. Vokial is a Death Knight of level 3 while the two others are
Necromancers of level 2.
2) Here are the building orders I used. You'll notice I went with the
usual strategy of 1 town focusing on creature dwellings (which I'll call
main or primary town) and the others on gold production (secondary
towns). Which town you pick as the creature production capitol does not
really matter. I'd suggest picking one where the Graveyard is already
built or you could do like me and go with the centrally located one
(choice taken because I did not know the map layout at the time or the
opposition strength)
West Necropolis where Septienna starts (gold production)
•1) Town Hall •2) Mage Guild •3) Marketplace •4) Blacksmith •5) City
Hall •6) Skeleton Transformer •7) Unearthed Graves
Center Necropolis where Vokial starts (creature production)
•1) Mage Guild •2) Graveyard •3) Estate •4) Mausoleum •5) Citadel •6)
Hall of Darkness •7) Castle (or Dragon Vault but I recommend Castle
because you'll only lose 1 Bone Dragon by delaying it until next week)
East Necropolis where Thant starts (gold production)
•1) Town Hall •2) Marketplace •3) Mage Guild (gold problems or Mage
Guild would have been on day 2) •4) Blacksmith •5) City Hall •6)
Skeleton Transformer •7) Unearthed Graves
For the west or east Necropolis towns, it's quite possible to build an
Estate around day 6 but I did not. Your building orders might be
slightly different depending on where your heroes go and that's quite
normal. Remember that what you want to maximise creature production in
one town and build City Halls in the 2 others. You might have to trade a
few resources for gold near the end of week.
3) Did you know that by default in HOMM 3, either the first creature
dwelling or the two first creature dwellings will be built? This is
random unless the mapmaker sets the structures in the editor. It's
possible the building orders in my strategies might be a little
different than yours depending if you get the second level creature
dwelling or not (in this case: the Graveyard).
4) Vokial will start with the 3 Ghost Dragons (speed 14). There's just a
small problem though...the Skeletons (speed 4) he will produce through
necromancy will slow him down. Therefore, I suggest hiring 1 extra hero
in each town (by day 2) and more particularly a non undead might hero in
your center town that will lead your Ghost Dragons (and only the Ghost
Dragons) instead of Vokial (I picked good old Crag Hack for the job).
That way, you'll have one army that will move approximately 20 tiles
instead of 15 each turn.
5) Week 1 is for the usual exploration of the home territory. You pick
gold from chests, you flag mines, etc.
6) Do not buy Walking Dead from the Graveyards on the adventure map but
do flag them.
7) Do not attack Griffin Conservatories in week 1. (Looks like I never
attacked them after all even when I could have).
8) Crag Hack (your might hero with the Ghost Dragons) should go behind
the center Necropolis, kill the Zombies and take the gold from chests.
9) Here's a little tip that might seem minor but that I like to do: take
the mine before the resource pile(s) in front of it. You have limited
movement and by picking the resource pile, you might not have enough
movement left to flag the mine. The resource pile will be the same
whether you pick it today or tomorrow. With the mine, you'll lose 1 or 2
resource units if you pick it tomorrow instead of today. As the cliche
goes, every little thing counts.
10) The spell Cure is nice to keep your Ghost Dragons in operation a bit
longer as are the defensive spells like Shield or Stone Skin. Cure is
almost always more advantageous with higher-level creatures than with
lower-level ones. I don't think I ever used it on a unit of less than
6th level. Not a favorite spell you should cast regularly but it does
have its uses.
11) Haste is my favorite first level spell to get with Necropolis towns.
You have no idea how much units you'll save in the long run just by
being able to haste your skeletons.
12) I combined the undead armies of Vokial and Septienna in mid-week
(make Vokial lead the combined army). 12b) I'll rarely tell when I buy
additional heroes after day 1 in my strategies so most of the time, it's
better if you don't rely on me to decide when to buy them. I do try to
hire a maximum number of heroes (8 that can move) as soon as I can
afford them, sooner than usual if there seems to be many free paths to
explore. By looking at my savegames, I see that I did buy a seventh hero
by the end of week 1. Probably explains why I had to trade a few
resources for gold also.
13) The garrisons leading out of your home territory include 30 Pikemen,
20 Archers, 10 Griffins and 5 Swordsmen. Would 3 Ghost Dragons be enough
to win? The answer is yes, especially with a few statistics-boosting
items on your hero. Attack the stack next to the Archers (Griffins more
likely) while blocking off the Archers (so they do half-damage).
14) Took garrison south of the center town with Crag Hack. If your own
might hero follows the road, he'll come upon a useful Redwood
Observatory at an intersection.
15) Make Septienna visit all Mage Guilds so that at least one of your
heroes has most of the level 1 spells.
16) By the end of week 1, the majority of the "dirt" section before the
garrisons should be explored.
17) Week 2 begins. Make your hero with the Ghost Dragons continue east
by road so that he clears out a second garrison (the one below the
northeast Necropolis).
18) Buy a ballista for Vokial at the War Machine factory. Buy a First
Aid Tent for Crag Hack. It's possible to trade "war machines" between
heroes.
19) In week 2, one of your gold-producing secondary Necropolis towns
should be mostly ignored (I ignored the east one). In the other
secondary Necropolis (for me, the west one), start buying creature
dwellings up to the Hall of the Darkness then build the Citadel (and
possibly even the Castle if you're lucky).
20) Every town should have the Necromancy Amplifier because each one
boosts the necromancy skill of all your heroes by 10%. In the town you
chose as your first creature production base (the center Necropolis for
me), upgrade your Estate. Do buy the Town Hall later on in the week
also.
21) The underground is full of unprotected goodies and mines. Send in
some scouts as soon as possible.
22) Buy the maximum number of Vampire Lords and Black Knights (possibly
a few Liches too if you're really rich) by day 3 of week 2 and transfer
them to Vokial who hopefully is not too far away.
23) Use Vokial's army to get the bunch of resources protected by the
Pikemen (just north of the Observatory Tower)
24) One of your scouts, exploring the dark sections of the grass
terrain, should find a gold mine. (It's roughly southwest from the first
garrison you cleared out).
25) Your 2 main armies should not stay around to pick resources. That's
a job for secondary heroes.
26) Learn to ignore distracting resources so you can reach enemy towns
sooner. It's what I did to reach the first red knight town, located
center-east of the map by the end of the week. I was lucky enough to
catch it empty but even if there had been a garrison, I'm pretty sure I
would have won.
27) Buy a City Hall in that new town (wait until next week if you have
too)
28) Hire a hero in that knight town that will pick up resources.
29) In week 3, you should go for the Capitol in one of your towns.
30) But first, you want to buy all troops in the primary town except
Walking Dead, Wights (and possibly Bone Dragons). You then transfer them
by hero chain to your hero on the front lines (Vokial or Thant according
to your preference ;-)
31) You might decide to upgrade the Mausoleum before buying Liches if
you feel like it. You get 10 extra hit points and +2 speed compared to
the standard Lich.
32) Start taking experience more often from chests for your 3 best
heroes (in my case Thant, Vokial and Crag Hack).
33) Since week 2, I had 2 scouts exploring the underground. I don't
remember them being ever menaced.
33b) The northeast section of the underground, protected by a black
border guard, has excellent stuff you can steal. The items given were
not really used in my game.
34) After your troop purchases, you should have plenty of resources and
4 marketplaces. I traded for gold to buy the Capitol sooner (completely
unnecessary but I had so much resources so why not ;-).
35) Crag Hack (still with Ghost Dragons) continued south by road to the
southeast corner.
36) Do not attack Medusa Stores or Cyclops Stockpiles with Skeletons, or
else they'll all get killed. Besides, you don't really need what they
give you.
37) Waste of good troops perhaps, but I like to give 1 Vampire Lord each
to my squires and scouts.
38) Start building creature dwellings in your 3rd Necropolis town.
38b) In hindsight, those troops were never needed, you should perhaps
keep your gold instead. If you're not too sure of your playing skills,
do build up those dwellings. It's always good to have troop reserves in
case something goes wrong and in more competitive maps (especially
against humans), you'd have been happy to have them.
39) I quite expected Crag Hack to meet some real opposition soon enough
and he certainly did. He got ambushed by a knight army including 39
Archers, 45 Griffins, 104 Pikemen, 14 Swordsmen and 3 Monks. Being the
reckless Dragon I am, I decided to fight the battle anyway using Blind
extensively. Naturally, despite his better stats, Crag Hack got beat and
so I rehired him at my northwest Necropolis.
40) Actually I wasn't so reckless after all... You see I had forgotten
to leave myself enough gold to surrender with my Ghost Dragons. I was
going to lose them anyway so why not fight and inflict as much damage as
possible? By being just a little more careful in the southeast corner, I
could have kept my Ghost Dragons. Try not to make the same mistake I
did.
41) Here's a general battle tip, which I found useful on more than one
occasion. Your Skeletons will often be the primary targets of your
enemies; however, it's possible to use living troops as baits to
preserve your undead force. Just advance them enough to make a juicy
opportunity target for the other side while other undead forces (your
big skeleton stack) will be just close enough to pounce on the foolish
enemy unit that thought this would be easy pickings. It doesn't always
work but it's so satisfying when it does ;-)
42) Attack the red town in the center by end of week 3 with Thant or
Vokial (I suggest Thant). My army for those interested was 3 Bone
Dragons, 10 Black Knights, 15 Power Liches, 353 Skeletons and 18 Vampire
Lords.
43) Make your troops wait but at least one stack should advance enough
so that a knight stack inside the town stupidly opens the front gate.
This tricks works for almost all towns. The AI who would often be better
off staying inside his town walls as long as possible will make a
sortie. Then with luck, you can often destroy that stack while it's
still on the gate therefore leaving it open.
44) Take notice how your Skeletons and the Pikemen (if some joined for
greater glory) will absorb most of the turret shots.
45) With Animate Dead, at the end of that battle, I had only lost 2
Pikemen.
46) In week 4, buy all troops in your northwest Necropolis (troops had
been accumulating since week 2) except the Walking Dead. Also buy all
troops in your primary town (except the Walking Dead). Combine them
together for a massive army. I had bought around 161 Skeletons too but I
decided to leave them behind because they would have just slowed me down
and I did not think they would be necessary with the strong army I
already had (see paragraph 49)
47) Trade resources to buy the troops sooner. Leave 10 of each resource.
48) A big red guy in the southwest corner decided to attack me. Thant
who was still around slaughtered him.
49) I went southeast with Crag Hack to pay a return visit to the knight
hero who had been so rude... My army included 5 Ghost Dragons, 21 Power
Liches, 27 Vampire Lords, 14 Black Knights and 60 Wraiths. Those were
the troops from the 2 Necropolis towns bought earlier this week; it was
not combined with the other big army (Thant's) already on the field.
50) While this was going on, Thant was making his way southwest with
about the same army, he had for capturing the town in the center of the
map (paragraph 42)
51) At the end of week 4, I captured the knight town in the southwest
corner with Thant. A few days later, I captured the knight town in the
southeast corner with Vokial (Crag Hack had transferred the troops to
him so it could be reached sooner).
52) In the fifth week (month 1, week 1), there was only one enemy red
town left in the northwest corner and not its strongest one either. Only
the clean-up phase remained. I finished the Long Live the Campaign in
157 days for 1090 points and a rating of Dendroid Guard. (only 5 points
less than for Liberation but who cares about silly artificial scores
anyway ;-).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
****** Seeds of Discontent
Map Type: HOMM III Campaign Maps
----------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seeds of Discontent 1: The Grail
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - Boots of Speed
B. Approach - use several heroes to collect creatures from the
surrounding dwellings
C. Strategy - first of all, build a Mage Guild in your town and have
your closest hero visit it. Then, while she collects goodies near by,
build a Tavern. Hire several heroes to organize an early army. On day 3
build a Blacksmith and transfer an Aid Tent to your main hero. Be
prepared for numerous ambushes along the way. There are, also, many
points at which you will be met by free reinforcements, so make sure you
check out-of-the-way places in order to get all the events. Keep
collecting creatures for several weeks, while building up your town as
much as you are allowed. The more advanced dwellings are up north past
the Garrisons. There is a Hill Fort there, as well - use it to upgrade
your troops. Getting the artifacts behind the Border Guards is not
essential, but you could, if you have the time. Remember, you get only 2
months to find the Grail so don't waste too much time on anything other
than collecting troops. By the end of month 1 you should have more than
enough to kill the swamp guardians and claim the Grail. Just avoid
walking near the trees when you're heading into the swamp. If you get
too close, you will be ambushed by a large force of War Unicorns. The
Grail is randomly buried, so you definitely will need all Obelisks to
identify the exact location.
-- Maneater
Seeds of Discontent 2: The Road Home
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - 3 Dendroid Soldiers
B. Approach - make haste reaching Welnin, everything else is irrelevant
C. Strategy - Welnin is not too upgradeable so don't bother with it past
a Town Hall and a Marketplace. Let Ryland explore his surroundings a
little. It will pay off as many of the creatures near by will join him.
You will find sympathetic Dendroids to the right and some Swordsmen
south of your starting location. Don't assume that all Dendroids or
Swordsmen will be as friendly, though. Diplomacy will win you another
neutral camp or two so make sure you advance it every chance you get.
That means take the experience from the Treasure Chests you run across.
Avoid the enemy Garrisons, they are not blocking the path you should be
following. Further south you will encounter an enemy Castle. Capture it
and use it to reinforce your army. Here you can upgrade your Swordsmen
and buy some ranged troops as well. Make sure you venture south past the
Alchemist Lab to befriend some Elves before you head eastward. You could
build up this town a little more, if you wish, but don't overstay your
welcome. By week 4 enemy heroes will be pouring out of the north-east.
That is your cue to get moving. Don't worry about the Castle you'll be
leaving behind - it's of no importance. The Border Guards protect
nothing too interesting, so ignore them, too. If you built Stables
before you ventured out of town, your journey to Welnin will take no
more than four or five turns.
-- Maneater
Seeds of Discontent 3: Independance
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - 12 Wood
B. Approach - build only the required structures for a Capitol
C. Strategy - the trick is to not build any creature dwellings at all.
Use the ones provided to you outside of town, instead. Another thing to
keep in mind is that the Wood supply is detracted from as time
progresses. In other words, build the structures that use Wood first.
Here is a suggested build order: Marketplace, Blacksmith, Mage Guild,
Citadel, Castle, Town Hall, City Hall, Capitol. Take the Gold from the
Treasure Chests to ensure proper cash flow. Defeat the creatures around
to receive more resources or simply trade for them. If your army is too
weak, hire some mercenaries and use their armies. This one will be a
piece of cake, if you don't take too long. Eight days is the minimum
time required to beat the level.
-- Maneater
------------------------------------------------------------------------
******* Song for the Father 1: Safe Passage
Map Type: HOMM III Campaign Maps
-------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song for the Father 1: Safe Passage
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - Boots of Speed
B. Approach - kill the computer in week 1 and use the neutral army camps
to advance a couple of heroes
C. Strategy - first off, build an archer's tower (if one isn't available
to you already). Hire all the troops in your town and buy another hero
or two to bolster your initial strike force. Take your loaded general up
the road, stopping at the Guardhouse for some reinforcements, to the
first Necropolis. You will have no problems taking it on day 2. Bring a
second hero along to collect goodies along the way and then garrison him
in your new town. Send your main force back on the road right away. The
remaining Necropolis is
just north-west of the first one. You won't have any problems with it,
either. Garrison a hero there as well in case you get attacked while
your army is away. Proceed building up your towns while exploring the
map. I suggest you take the experience from any treasure chest you
encounter as money is not an issue here. Develop a fighter and a
magician to have balanced leadership for the remainder of the campaign.
Don't bother with Nimbus, his level will be fixed at the start of the
following scenario. At this point all you need to do is explore the map
and hunt down any renegade heroes. Don't hesitate to upgrade all your
Mage Guilds to the max should one of your own heroes reach expert Wisdom
- you get to keep all the spells you learn here! Be on the lookout for
the Earth Magic skill as well. Once you're satisfied, bring Nimbus to
Highcastle to end the level.
-- Maneater
Song for the Father 1: Safe Passage
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: October 4th, 1999
The first scenario in the last standard campaign takes place on a small-
sized map and your objective is to escort Nimbus, a Necromancer traitor
with the Stateman's Medal, to your hometown of Highcastle. On my first
try, I finished in month 1, week 3, day 4. I did replay the start after
I had already finished in order to confirm some of my speculations.
0) I recommend taking the Boots of Speed as the starting bonus unless
you want to make absolutely certain one of your heroes can develop the
excellent secondary skill Logistics.
1) Hire 2 extra heroes on day 1. Combine knight troops on the same guy,
leave the rest to a scout (preferably spellcaster because Magic Arrow
will be more powerful) who will follow the road. The hero you'll use as
your main one should stay in the town until day 2. If you want an easier
time in the early battles against Skeletons, put all the troops
including the non-Castle native ones on the main hero.
2) Don't forget to buy spell books.
3) Your secondary heroes should have a few troops of speed 6 or 7 to
maximize their movement. Heroes with Serpent Flies are great as scouts.
4) You'll notice the building order for week 1 seems to maximize low-
level unit creature production. This was intentionally done because this
is a small map.
1- Mage Guild Level 1
2- Archer Tower or Upgraded Archer Tower (if it's already built)
3- Blacksmith
4- Barracks
5- Griffin Tower
6- Griffin Bastion
7- Citadel
In my original game, I had built the Monastery in week 1 but I now think
it's better not to do so. You could not afford buying the Monks anyway
and it's better to buy more of the other units and attack sooner.
5) It's possible to take the center Necropolis town on day 2 with a
scout. I took it myself with 2 Griffins and Magic Arrow. If you don't
have Magic Arrow, make sure the army of the scout is good enough to take
on 12 Skeletons (not that difficult ;-). After the town is taken, do not
venture north from it, it will just attract unwanted attention.
6) This early rush won't work if you see Zombies inside.
7) On day 2, buy all the Pikemen and Archers, move out.
8) The first 3 days are for taking all the mines before the garrison. A
secondary hero can fight some of the battles if you want (just trade
troops)
9) Buy a Town Hall in the Necropolis
10) Depending on your luck and what troops you have in the Necropolis,
you'll be attacked back by purple. If you see it heading in your
direction, don't stay.
11) Even if a purple hero takes back the Necropolis you just took, it's
unlikely he'll stay in.
12) Take gold from chests for now
13) Make you main hero go towards the center Necropolis, conquering it
back and killing the wimpy enemy hero hanging around if there's one.
14) The main hero should then go southeast from that Necropolis with
Pikemen and Archers. Stay in town with a secondary hero and your non-
Castle native troops.
15) Be careful, there's a second Necropolis town a day away or so. After
the first potential attack, you should not be bothered for the rest of
the week though.
16) Do not attack the Black Knights stacks. Attacking level 6 stacks in
week 1 is never wise anyway :-)
17) Visit the red keymaster tent in the southeast corner after clearing
out the Zombie protectors.
18) Don't forget to visit your Guardhouse and Archer Tower early in each
week 2.
19) Build marketplaces in your two towns.
20) Trade your resources for gold.
21) On day 3 or 4 of week 2, buy all the Archers, Pikemen and Griffins
you have (you could add Swordsmen if you want), and transfer them by
hero chain to your main hero left of the Necropolis. You might also want
to give him the best non-undead troops from the Necropolis garrison.
22) Attack the second (and last) Necropolis. Should be pretty easy.
23) Normally and if I suspected the opposition was stronger, I'd have
waited until week 3 to attack and I'd have used Pikemen, Marksmen and
Royal Griffins. The sheer numbers should have been enough to insure
victory even against higher-level troops.
24) You just need to find and enter the green and blue keymaster tents
to be able to open up a safe passage for Nimbus.
25) Since the eight strongest heroes carry-over in the next scenario
(including Nimbus), you should make every hero visit every Learning
Stone before finishing the scenario except those that are really too
much out of the way.
26) There is no time limit so you could optionally build up to level 5
Mage Guilds and kill off those Black Knight stacks to get at the chests
behind (take experience). Considering the following scenarios are not
particularly tough, I don't think it's necessary. I did build a Mage
Guild up to level 2 to get Blind.
27) To end the scenario, you only have to make a hero (not necessarily
Nimbus) carrying the Stateman's Medal (it's originally in Nimbus'
inventory) enter your Castle in the southwest corner.
28) For those interested, my carry-over heroes were of level 7,
4,4,4,3,3 and 3. The main hero did not clear out the Black Knight
stacks. I had developed an expert scholar, an expert navigator and an
expert scout and my main hero had expert diplomacy and expert leadership
so I was well prepared for the next scenario. (Hint : you don't need any
navigator but I did not know that at the time).
-- The Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
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******* Song for the Father 2: United Front
Map Type: HOMM III Campaign Map
-------------------------------------
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Song for the Father 2: United Front
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - 35 Grand Elves
B. Approach - build your towns at a similar rate so you can defend each
part of the border equally well
C. Strategy - both you and the computer start with four towns, but you
get a huge edge in two areas: your heroes should be better and the Grand
Elves you took as a starting bonus will be a big factor early on. With
the combination of spells and those elves, you will be clearing mines
and other sites in no time. Make sure you build a Lookout Tower so you
know exactly where to go. A Cover of Darkness will keep the enemy at bay
in most situations. If you are brave enough, you could even mount a
little invasion of
your own at the start of the game. The 35 Grand Elves will make that
option possible. With a little luck you'll probably be able to conquer a
town or two before they mount any significant defenses. The locations of
the enemy bases are as follows: one to the west of your Necropolis, a
second one is straight north of your Tower, a third lies north of your
Castle, and the final base is located in the top left corner of the
board. In any event, start planning a massive attack as soon as you have
level 4 creatures in every town. That shouldn't take you more than two
weeks to accomplish. There is a refugee camp south of your Necropolis,
which may help boost your starting armies. By day 7 of week 4 you should
have 4 castles, 3 city halls, 1 capitol, and be up to level 6 creatures
in every town. You should also have enough money to arm your three best
heroes to the teeth and send them north. Do so early in the second month
after you've made all the necessary troop upgrades. Take your Rampart
hero through the second Garrison from east to west, then go north from
there to reach an enemy town. Take your Tower hero through the next
Garrison down, then continue north to capture another town. Take your
Castle hero to the western-most Garrison. You will find an enemy
Necropolis just north of it. Your initial objective is to corner and
contain the enemy while you continue to build up. You could decide to go
ahead and finish the job, but advancing your magic and your stats has
its advantages in the long run. What you need to get out of this
scenario are two good heroes with expert Wisdom and Earth Magic and all
the spells you can gather. There is an "extra" town located in the
middle of enemy territory to help you accomplish that. The Keymaster's
Tent needed to access this city is in the lower right corner of the map
and is guarded by Liches. When you're satisfied with your heroes'
development, mop up and move on.
-- Maneater
Song for the Father 2: United Front
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: October 15th, 1999
This scenario is of large size and it pits four different towns: Castle,
Rampart, Tower and Necropolis (the so-called "United Front") against
four Necropolis towns. Since you can potentially start with 8 heroes
(carried-over from scenario 1 in this campaign), you have the early
advantage. On my first play, I finished in month 2, week 3, day 3
without much difficulty until perhaps the very end, where I was
surprised.
0) For the starting bonus, pick either the Royal Griffins or the Grand
Elves (I picked the Grand Elves). Those Golems are just too slow for
your needs and besides we'll be attacking instead of defending.
1) Your towns are spread out on the south and east "borders". Your first
objective is to explore and control those two "bands" of terrain located
before the garrisons.
2) I opted to use the Castle and Necropolis for creature production. You
will notice that I did not go beyond a level 4 creature dwelling in
either town. This is intentional: wood and ore were badly lacking. Here
are my week 1 building orders, which should not be taken as gospel. I
often had to make compromises based on what I had left as resources.
Feel free to switch the order of the structures bought in a given week.
"---" means I did not buy anything that day in that town:
Necropolis:
1) Mage Guild Level 1
2) Town Hall
3) Skeleton Transformer
4) Unearthed Graves
5) Necromancy Amplifier (Buy Graveyard instead if it's not built
already)
6) Estate
7) Citadel
Castle:
1) Town Hall
2) Citadel
3) ---
4) Blacksmith
5) Barracks
6) Griffin Tower
7) Griffin Bastion
Rampart:
1) Town Hall
2) Dwarf Cottage
3) Miner's Guild
4) ---
5) ---
6) Homestead (optional but possible if you trade a little)
7) Citadel
Tower:
1) Mage Guild
2) Town Hall
3) Sculptor Wings (only if you have the Parapet pre-built)
4) Upgraded Workshop
5) Marketplace
6) Blacksmith
7) Citadel (only if you have the Parapet and only if you can afford it
after building in the other towns)
3) Buy troops on day 1 for your initial armies. Usually, I'd say to
leave the Golems, Dwarves and Walking Dead behind because they would
slow you down and be too expensive but in this case, you can afford them
since you do not have to buy any extra heroes when you start.
4) There is a Hill Fort to upgrade your troops southeast from your
Castle and a Sawmill east of your Tower that's easy to overlook in the
early game if you go in the wrong direction.
5) In the first week, flag the most mines possible! Give priority to ore
and wood.
6) Basic View Earth can show you where resource piles are. With Advanced
View Earth you can locate mines too.
7) I suggest splitting the bonus Grand Elves on 2 different heroes so
you can cover more ground (for example: 20 to 25 Grand Elves on one, 10
to15 on the other plus combined starting troops). If you picked the
Royal Griffins instead, have one army that only has those.
8) You'll be going up against a lot of Walking Dead and Zombies. Use
wait extensively and always try to get the first strike.
9) You won't really have gold problems. Take experience from the 2000
gold/1500 experience chests. Flip a coin for 1500 gold/1000 experience
chests. Have your 2 best heroes always take experience from chests.
10) Keep your gems & crystals. First trading away sulfur and mercury
(but never all of them) for gold is relatively safe (gems are kind of
safe to trade away too since you won't bother building a Cloud Castle
but you do need at least 10 to upgrade the Vampire Estate).
11) In week 2, pay a little visit to a Den of Thieves... if you're doing
well (and you should), you should see that your main hero is better than
the strongest hero on the opposing side, you have a stronger army, more
income and the same number of towns.
12) Here are my week 2 building orders. I only built the City Hall in
the Tower and nothing else. I started building more creature dwellings
in the Rampart. Take notice of how the Castle structure was built at the
end of week 2 in almost every town, just like the Citadel was built at
the end of week 1.
Necropolis:
1) Upgraded Estate
2) Mausoleum
3) Marketplace
4) Hall of Darkness
5) Tomb of Souls
6) Castle
7) ----
Castle:
1) Marketplace
2) Mage Guild
3) City Hall
4) ---
5) Monastery
6) ---
7) Castle
Rampart:
1) Dendroid Arches
2) Citadel
3) Enchanted Spring
4) Marketplace
5) Unicorn Glade
6) Dendroid Saplings
7) Castle (had to trade for ore)
13) Send at least 2 scouts in necromancer territory (that's beyond the
garrisons with the dirt and cursed terrain).
14) It's always wise to send in scouts in enemy territory before your
best armies. That way, you have less chance of encountering nasty
surprises.
15) By the end of week 2, only the necromancer territory (northwest
quadrant) was left to explore. Most mines were flagged on the grass
terrain.
16) In week 3, buy all your accumulated Necropolis troops except Wights
and Walking Dead. I suggest upgrading the Hall of Darkness but it's not
necessary. Try to get your army out by day 3 even if you still have some
troops unbought.
17) With this undead army, go west and attack the first enemy Necropolis
roughly west from your own Necropolis. You can't go west directly
though, you have to go south until you reach an open passage, then you
go northwest from there.
18) On cursed ground (that gray terrain with all the bones), with no
magic that can be cast, might heroes are definitely better, especially
Knights with leadership.
19) As an alternative to this assault with Necropolis troops, you could
instead use Knight troops from your Castle if you preferred. The
objective after all is taking at least one enemy town before the end of
week 3.
20) In week 3, build the Capitol, the Dragon Vault (at the Necropolis)
and the Dragon Cliffs (at the Rampart). Build City Halls in the towns
that don't have them if you so desire but that's not really necessary.
21) Important bonus to know about: In the middle of Necromancer
territory, there is a free Knight town just beyond a blue tent that has
a level 4 Mage Guild and in which you can buy Archangels. By free, I
mean there's no garrison protecting it, hidden or otherwise, so a scout
could potentially reach it if it's not ambushed by enemy heroes out of
the dark. If a scout does reach that special town, leave your slower
troops inside and give him (or her) Archangels.
22) Leave the Walking Dead or Zombies (most of which having joined
through greater glory) in the first enemy Necropolis captured. They will
serve as garrison. Build a City Hall and nothing else.
23) In week 4, it's time to open up a second front with a second
offensive strikeforce. This one will be composed of Castle-native
troops.
24) Buy all Castle troops (except possibly Pikemen), upgrade at the
nearby Hill Fort and attack north. To have added punch, you might want
to add what's left of those 35 Grand Elves or Royal Griffins given to
you at the start of the game.
25) I had at least 4 of each type of mine by that point.
26) Capture the Necropolis just north of the Tower (it should be pretty
easy).
27) I built up the Hall of the Darkness and the Castle structures in
that second captured Necropolis. It was easier than going all the way
back to my initial Necropolis.
28) I wanted to buy a Portal of Glory this week to get more Angels but
it turns out they were completely unnecessary and I never bought any. I
expected the opposition to be tougher especially in one of the last
campaign scenarios like that but such was not the case. Both sides
started with the same number of towns and you had the big advantage of
having carry-over heroes, making this map's difficulty something between
easy and normal.
29) Do not let enemies pass around you, kill them so they don't take
back your newly captured towns.
30) I also managed to take a third Necropolis town with my knight army
in week 4: this one is just north of the Castle. Don't worry too much if
it takes you longer to take it.
31) Once this one is taken, there's only one Necropolis town left to
take and it's in the northwest corner.
32) The enemy did try to take back some of its towns. I even lost one
temporarily but not before inflicting major losses. The enemy had
attacked one Necropolis with roughly 2 weeks worth of Necropolis troops
(including 125 Skeletons), a town protected almost exclusively by
Zombies. To give you an idea, I had 63 Zombies, 19 Skeletons and Castle
turrets and at the end I had destroyed 3 Liches, 16 Walking Dead, 109
Skeletons, 6 Wights and 8 Vampires. The morale of this story is that
it's almost always better to leave some kind of slower troops behind in
your town that can serve as a defacto garrison when annoying computer
enemies come knocking. Slower troops that you buy only when they're
needed. The Walking Dead are such a troop for the Necropolis.
33) So on month 2, week 1 (or week 5), it was the clean-up phase,
hunting down enemy heroes and preparing to take that last town.
34) Your 6 strongest heroes will carry over to the last scenario of the
campaign. Do not forget to visit Libraries of Enlightenment for heroes
of level 10 and above. You might even want to build up Mage Guilds too
before finishing but don't delay victory unduly just because of them.
I'm saying this because the last scenario is quite easy with or without
high-level magic spells.
35) It's not necessarily always bad for scouts to get caught in enemy
territory, they can be rehired at starting towns and bring troops to the
front.
36) A little dirty trick that's kind of fun is flying around with
Vampire Lords (or other fast flying troops) while the turrets of the
town pummel the enemy. Of course, if the hero has any amount of spell
points to zap the Vampire Lords with, that little ploy might not work
for long :-)
37) Near the end of this scenario, I got in trouble with a powerful
necromancer hero who had hundreds of Skeletons.
38) If you lose a good hero at one point (like I did in that battle),
simply hire heroes over and over until you get it back.
39) Building up my Rampart creature dwellings early on even though I
might never have needed to buy those troops (I had already a good
Necropolis and Castle creature production going) proved to be a wise
choice. I sure was glad to have Rampart reserves when my own Necropolis
army was annihilated and my Knight army was too far away to react in
time. If the enemy had sneaked into my territory, I could have
counterattacked quickly also.
40) "Play aggressively, expect the best but prepare for the worst" :
that's a motto I live by in HOMM 3. You never know what you might
encounter later on even though a scenario might initially seem to be a
cakewalk.
41) At the end of this scenario, my six heroes who would carry over were
of level 14,13, 11,11, 10 and 9.
-- The Quebec Dragon (Sebastien Patenaude)
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******* Song for the Father 3: For King and Country
Map Type: HOMM III Campaign Map
---------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song for the Father 3: For King and Country
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: December 31, 1999
A. Starting bonus - Helm of Heavenly Elightment, Tome of Earth Magic (in
case you were never able to learn Town Portal).
B. Approach - use one or two good heroes to wipe out the opposition
C. Strategy - this one will be a breeze if you took the time developing
your heroes in earlier scenarios. Your towns start well-upgraded, too.
Build them up some more and use your best hero (preferably the one with
Town Portal) to jump around collecting troops and more spells. Also,
transfer the Helm of HE to that hero - Catherine won't be needing it.
The Eyes of the Magi will show you where you need to go, so go as soon
as you have enough troops. You can complete this level in two weeks
flat, if you don't slack off. Keep visiting the Hut of the Magi to
render the enemy Cover of Darkness useless and keep yourself of track.
Don't worry about the underground - it's of no consequence.
-- Maneater
Song for the Father 3: For King and Country
Map Type: HOMM3 Campaign Map
Date of strategy: October 28th, 1999
This particular strategy is based on the non-expansion pack version of
this medium map. I noticed that if one used the Armageddon's Blade CD,
this scenario was set at expert difficulty while if one used the
original Restoration of Erathia CD, this scenario was set at hard
difficulty. The savegames are even more confusing, they say the map
difficulty is expert and that player difficulty is hard. The player
difficulty can be significant because at expert, the human player starts
with 5000 less gold and a little less of each resource (compared to
hard) while the computer gets regular bonus resources (not that much but
still). In any case, this scenario was so easy and anticlimactic,
especially for the last scenario of the last campaign that you should do
well either way. It's your 3 partially built towns against 2 Necropolis
towns. You start with eight strong starting heroes (between levels 10
and 15 for me) while the other side starts with a few wimpy level 1
heroes (if that's not an unbalanced scenario in your favor, I don't know
what is). If you want to play it like I played it, use the heroes3.exe
executable and your original HOMM 3 CD (load the savegame if you have
one), if you'd like a little more challenge, use the h3blade.exe
executable and your Armageddon's Blade CD. On my first and only try at
this map, I finished on month 1, week 4, day 5 and totally by surprise
too because I did not know all the enemy towns were taken. I expected a
more decent opposition, some kind of surprise, anything, in the
underground.
0) All the bonuses are excellent. I took the Spellbinder's Hat, giving
you all the level 5 spells, but I intentionally chose not to use Fly or
Dimension Door. The saddest part is that even without any such bonus
item, you'll win easily anyway (unless you take too long to attack and
even then, you still overproduce your opponent)
1) Lord Haart should serve as Queen Catherine's squire. Keep your
friends close and your enemies even closer ;-) . Give the Spellbinder's
Hat (or Tome of Earth) to your best spellcaster later in the week.
2) You'll quickly see that the northwest corner is packed with nice
piles of resources. To reach it, you'll have to make an hero go east
from the Tower until you see a way up, then you can go west.
3) The week 1 building orders are a bit different than usual because the
towns were already partially built.
Tower
1) Golden Pavilion
2) ----
3) Castle
4) ----
5) Capitol (not sure if I built it so soon or not, I probably did)
6) Altar of Wishes
7) Cloud Temple
Rampart
1) Dendroid Arches
2) Dendroid Saplings
3) Unicorn Glade
4) ----
5) Castle
6) ----
7) ----
I mostly ignored the Castle Town: building the Monastery on day 1 and
then the Castle structure on day 7.
4) Trade if you need to do so. Start by trading away sulfur and mercury
(but never all of them). You can also trade gold for gems if you like.
5) Take notice that the Rampart starts with a level 5 Mage Guild.
However, Catherine and Lord Haart start next to the Castle. Have them go
inside and buy spellbooks.
6) Make one of your heroes, expert in earth magic, cast View Earth so
you can get to know the lay of the land. If one of your heroes has
advanced skill in air magic, then View Air is another spell you want to
cast regularly to keep track of enemy heroes.
7) Buy Tower troops (except Golems & Gremlins). Also buy Castle troops
except Pikemen and Crusaders. Don't buy any Rampart troops for now
(except perhaps a few Silver Pegasi for heroes passing near so they can
maximize their movement)
8) Your spellcasters (clerics, druids, warlocks, etc) should be able to
easily defeat stacks protecting mines simply through the use of magic
even if they have relatively few troops.
9) Get gold from chests for now.
10) You'll have to visit the Huts of Magi regularly since the
Necropolises' Covers of Darkness are in effect.
11) Important items to get: Endless Sack of Gold northeast of the
Rampart, Equestrian Gloves northwest of the Castle.
12) Try to flag Sawmills and Ore Pits first.
13) Don't forget about the spell Destroy Undead that you might have used
very little, if at all, until now.
14) I beat a stack of Ghost Dragons by splitting up my army in 7 stacks
and casting spells. It was close and perhaps I should have added some
Unicorns. I suggest waiting until week 2 or 3 if you're not as
aggressive as I am. The rewards for clearing that stack are extremely
worthwhile: they include a Crown of Dragontooth (knowledge and power +4,
a Red Dragon's Flame Tongue Sword (attack and defense +2), a necklace of
Dragonteeth (power and knowledge +3) and Sandals of the Saint (4 primary
skills +2).
15) The statistics of my highest-level spellcaster (Deemer the Warlock)
were 6,7, 18 and 17 with those items.
16) By the end of week 1, most of your territory (the green grass
section) should be explored (this does not mean, all stacks should be
necessarily defeated!)
17) We are now in week 2 and your objective should be to get the Dragon
Cliffs at the Rampart and possibly attack your first Necropolis.
18) You can Dimension Door or Fly past garrisons but I did not do so
myself in case the player didn't have those spells (no Spellbinder's Hat
or those particular spells in their Mage Guilds)
19) My main army was ready for invasion by mid-week and went north from
the Rampart. The army was composed of 9 Monks, 26 Royal Griffins, 12
Silver Pegasi, 34 Marksmen, 21 Grand Elves (could have used more), 88
Centaur Captains and 12 Crusaders (notice the emphasis on speed and
shooters). I wanted to reach my first enemy town by the end of the week.
20) Because the necromancer's territory is mostly in Cursed Land (i.e.
no magic), either Catherine or a strong might-oriented hero should
command this army. Use Town Portal to get them to the Rampart sooner.
21) I also had a reserve, led by Lord Haart, comprised of 23 Archers, 41
Halberdiers, 28 Pikemen, 30 Zombies and 37 Walking Dead (those 2 last
stacks joining for greater glory). That army did not go in Necro
territory, it stayed at the frontier.
22) At least 2 heroes should visit external creature dwellings each
week.
23) Decided to go after a Cyclops Stockpile with a secondary army that
included 48 Gremlins, 10 Walking Dead, 5 Wights, 18 Zombies, 9 Archers
and 81 Skeletons (used Ice Bolt at 190 points of damage per shot). Only
got 4 of each resource. In hindsight, it was not really worth the risk.
If there had been more Cyclops (than just 20), I might even have lost.
24) The main army reached the first enemy Necropolis on day 4 of week 2
(follow the road). 3 Turrets protect that town. Wait until there's no
hero inside it to make your life easier. If an enemy hero does not want
to come out by the end of the week, bait it out with a wimpier hero you
can surrender. This trick is less easily exploitable than in HOMM 2, but
it still works. A very good case scenario is when you can catch the
enemy outside the town defenses because he could not kill your "bait"
hero and return. Of course, an even better and most clever scenario, is
to take the town from under his nose while he's outside ;-)
25) It's quite possible to go from the garrison to that Necropolis in
just one day if you use Catherine (who has the Logistics skill).
26) Remember to cast View Air to keep track of enemy heroes.
27) Stay in the Necropolis with Catherine and let any big enemy hero
attack you there. With the turrets and your better statistics, you can
even defeat stronger armies than you could have imagined.
28) If I had "rushed", I could have reached that second Necropolis in
week 2 but I chose not to do so. I suggest you don't either.
29) Let Lord Haart stay at Rampart (or one day away from it) so you can
bring reinforcements from there in week 3. Of course with Town Portal,
there are no such "logistical" problems.
30) If you wanted to play "dirty", you could use 2 Silver Pegasi, attack
an approaching invading necro army, blast it with a devastating Chain
Lightning, surrender your hero and rehire at the Necropolis... Something
to keep in mind if you get in trouble. Oh by the way, use your best
spellcaster if you do this, the enemy will appreciate the special
attention ;-)
31) I did better than I thought and managed to buy both the Dragon
Cliffs and the Portal of Glory by the end of week 2 (turns out they
weren't really needed but I kept expecting stronger opposition)
32) Do not go past the second garrison until you have reinforcements
33) In week 3, your objective is to capture the second Necropolis on the
surface (which also turns out to be the last one, there's no town
underground).
34) On day 2, trade resources for gold except gems and crystals.
35) Buy Monks, Crusaders, Royal Griffins, Marksmen & Halberdiers at the
Castle. Buy Silver Pegasi, Centaur Captains, Grand Elves and optionally
3 Green Dragons at the Rampart.
36) Reinforce Catherine with those troops before assaulting the second
necro town in mid-week. If you have Town Portal, reinforcing her should
be very quick.
37) If you want to play it safer, attack in week 4.
38) I fought and defeated an enemy army of 20 Power Liches, 192 Skeleton
Warriors, 37 Wraiths, 28 Vampire Lords, 14 Dread Knights and 11 Ghost
Dragons. How did I do it? I used 2 Chain Lightnings and Destroy Undead.
I lost 14 Royal Griffins, 9 Silver Pegasi, 7 Marksmen, 19 Crusaders, 25
Centaur Captains and 15 Grand Elves, so the losses were not as severe as
one might think. For that town assault, you might want to use your best
spellcaster instead of Catherine. That's your choice.
39) I replaced my decimated Crusaders with 3 Green Dragons and the
somewhat depleted Silver Pegasi by 188 Halberdiers. Might still be
strong enemies running around so it's always better to be prepared.
40) During that week 3, I also bought Tower troops (except Giants,
Golems and Gargoyles) and attacked the garrison southeast of it. I then
flagged most of the Necropolis external dwellings there while killing
heroes around that area. Do not waste your gold on the troops inside
those dwellings.
41) In week 4, I just had to hunt down the last enemy heroes in the
underground.
I completed the Song for the Father campaign in 87 days for 1385 points
and a rating of Lich.
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XI. DISCLAIMER
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Unpublished Work Copyright Joseph Andro Artanto 2000-2003.
This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced
in any way, shape or form (physical, electronically, or otherwise) aside
from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in
it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used
for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it)
or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial
transaction. It cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc.,
with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore
prohibited. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers,
editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business,
or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like. It
cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form of
printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically
mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference
or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author,
myself. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, Joseph Andro Artanto
([email protected]). All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged
and respected that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ.
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XII. AUTHOR'S INFO
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FAQs : * Star Ocean 2 FAQ
* Star Ocean 2 Claude's Scenario Walktrough
* Star Ocean 2 Rena's Scenario Walktrough
* Final Fantasy Tactics Deep Dungeon Guide
* Heroes of Might and Magic II FAQ
* Heroes of Might and Magic III FAQ
* Suikoden II FAQ/Walkthrough
E-Mail : [email protected]
Website : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
Anyway, that's all! for more info about me, visit my website:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
Beware, I havent updated my website for around... 2 years! ^_^
Feel free to asks questions about any other RPGs besides Suikoden 2!
Support me when I've begun creating faq for Suikoden 3!!
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XIII. CREDITS
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Special Thanks :
----------------
Note that all part of this faq are simply a part of a website:
http://www.astralwizard.com/
And I, admit and give my very special thanks to the webmaster:
Julia Skipper, AKA AngelA ([email protected])
Astral Wizard Website Ambassador
And their contributors in the respective website:
Sebastien Patenaude
Eonoak ([email protected])
Maneater ([email protected])
Etc.
Please visit http://www.astralwizard.com/ for more complete info about
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
*Kao Megura, for his disclaimer.
*All other people who have posted their strategies (listed above, mainly
in the strategy guides section).
*Other people who have sent their info, suggestion, critics, etc to me.
*You all readers, without you all, this faq is not possible!
Feel free to send info,strategies,critics,suggestion,etc. to me.
E-Mail : [email protected] or you can visit my
website at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/3939
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Unpublished work Copyright 2000-2003 by Joseph Andro Artanto.
The Spoiler Centre