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| Thread: Heroes 5 TotE Strategy: Playing Stronghold Faction |  This thread is pages long: 1 ... 10 11 12 13 14 ... 20 28 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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romanov77
Known Hero
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posted December 24, 2007 10:45 AM |
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Guys, I need a suggestion:
I just started the Barbarian campaign in TotE and with major disappointment I discovered that the hero is a warcry specialist...forcing me to discard another powerful skill..
now...WITHOUT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST SPOILER...Not even stuff like: "Beware in mission 3 there's xxx hero with powerful xxx, so you need xxxxx".....could you give me a suggestion about the hero build?
I planned:
From start:
1)Bloodrage
2)Shout
My picks:
3) Attack
4) Warmachines (do you think this is worth for the ballista/tent? even on lategame?
5) Shatter Dark (mainly for fear of dark spells... Can this be skipped in favor of luck or enlightment....or its 100% needed on Heroic difficulty? Just say YES or NO, I dont want to to know anything about the missions I will play
6)Leadership
Please help 
And if you spoil even the slightest thing, I'll make my mission to spoil ALL the future Heroes games to you 
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Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
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posted December 24, 2007 11:05 AM |
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Edited by Mytical at 11:19, 24 Dec 2007.
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I would say you have a great set up as is.
Enlightenment is always worth it imo, so yes shatter dark can be gotten rid of. Advisible? No comment (as this would be a spoiler).
I won't say where or when but you can ditch shout later. However with his special..consider keeping it.
Now if not going for the ultimate (ultimate rage is very useful) for Gotai I would go..
Attack > Archery and Frenzy > Flaming Arrows
War_Machines > Balista and Tent >Tripple Balista.
Leadership > Recruitment > Battle Elation
Shout > Up to distract (especially if not getting shatter dark)
Expert Blood Rage
Then the last any of the three you mentioned (Luck, Enlightenment, or Shatter Dark) is good.
Another skill to consider is Defense. Keep this in mind.
More damage you do, the quicker you build rage. The less damage you take, the less rage you loose. Doing more damage can easily lead to taking less damage, so is an effective strategy.
Damage dealing skills for creatures. Attack and Luck. I ended up ditching shout (which may be silly) and ended up with this build before I went for the ultimate.
Memory of our blood (1)
Might over Magic (2)
Powerful Blow (3)
Expert Attack > Archery > Flaming Arrows > Frenzy (9)
Expert Blood Rage (12)
Expert Leadership > Recruitment > Battle Elation (17)
Expert War_Machines > Balista > Tripple Balista (23)
Expert Luck (no perks) (26)
Advance Shatter Dark > Detain Dark, Corrupt Dark (30).
I would suggest Attack 1st, then warmachines, then bloodrage. Rest as you can. Don't know max level on last map, but think it is 30. The number in brackets is how many total skills points are spent though they are out of order. I spent only 30 skill points.
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Message received.
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romanov77
Known Hero
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posted December 24, 2007 02:18 PM |
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Thanks Mystical, nice suggestion!
I'll ditch shatter dark....at least for the beginning...I'll rely on Tent and Witch docs..
About the Ballista....is it worth to get triple flaming ballista? I mean, would it be useful even on late game with huge armies??
The last enemy of the Arantir campaign had a MONSTER POWERFUL ballista...I suppose he had some artifact or something like that...anyway, there' any chance to develop a such powerful ballista?
(I think it killed more than 10 spectral dragons in 1 turn....)
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 24, 2007 02:20 PM |
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I did. Make sure you get flaming arrows and warmachines, it will make the last mission much easier. My ballista could kill 10 titans per shot 
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Jukeboxhero
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 24, 2007 08:50 PM |
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Here's another quick question to keep the strategy going.
What races will you most likely need Shatter Dark against and which perks are worth taking/leaving vs other typical perks that Stronghold would want.
Imo, it's almost always a good idea(unless it's a mirror match), because any race can and probably will get Dark Magic, if they know anything about stronghold's obvious weakness. So, from my limited experience, this is my humble opinion.
1. Necro: Most assuredly get Shatter Dark since IMO, Necro almost always goes for Dark.
2. Academy; I played against them once and I went for Defense (because I thought it was good for a might race) I could've easily got Dark from Witch's hut, but I passed on it in favor of other skills. Now, I woulda lost regardless in the end because of my inferiour army, BUT I'm almost certain any decent academy player will be getting expert dark, especially since they can usually specialize in 2-3 schools of magic (outta 4, the odds are pretty high one will be Dark)
3. Inferno. I don't know much about them, since I've never played against them or played them. But I'm guessing they could/would get it.
4. Dungeon. Even though they typically get Destructive, I think they would most likely go Dark for 2 reasons.
A. It seems offered frequently and most people know rage weakens destructive's force and Orc are fairly good agaisnt Dungeon
B. A few heroes are quite good at Dark magic and already have abilites that benefit from it, like Lethos.
5 Haven. Probably, at least if they knew about Stronghold's weakness.
As for Sylvan and Fortress, I'm not really sure. It seems they would focus more on Light or perhaps Summoning...but no idea really.
P.s. Don't forget to discuss what perks are best? Detain? Corrupt? Corrupted Soil?
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 24, 2007 09:51 PM |
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Necro, academy and inferno reek of dark miles away Dark is actually the rarest skill in dungeon but unless in a large map with huts around I would not count on the enemy getting it. Haven can go with either because it's a guessing game and it can work well with both and as for the rest I'd take shatter light. Their destructive is not THAT powerful and cannot save them from superior might not when rage is concerned.
I almost always get corrupt, brings down mana asap. Corrupted soil I'd only consider in factions that may use phantom forces but it's not a priority..
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PaleMaster
Hired Hero
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posted December 24, 2007 10:29 PM |
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i think shatter dark is mainly against necro
inferno and haven heroes have low spellpower and might over magic makes it even lower,so puppet master cant be used(it will lower initiative like -90% and will have duration of 1 turn,so the affected creature cant make its turn under puppet master)
frenzy is major threat, but i dont think its a good idea to take a skill only to make frenzy duration half
academy is dangerous oponent and u dont know which magic will his hero use(most of times it will be dark and light, but the other 2 schools are very potent too)
dungeon, starting with lethos is good too, but in most times lethos cant learn lvl4 and lvl5 dark magic spells (its too random what u will get from utopias and mage vaults)
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Jukeboxhero
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 24, 2007 11:32 PM |
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So you're saying Shatter Dark is only useful against Frenzy and Puppet? I know those are the two biggest threats to Stronghold, but I still think it would be good if you think/know you're opponent is getting dark, even if they don't have a good chance of getting those two spells. Basically, what does Expert Shatter-D do to basic Dark spells like Weakness, Sorrow, Slow...etc?
Btw, let's say your opponent is playing a faction that will likely get Expert Dark and a 5th level mage guild. What are the odds they'll actually get one of the 2 evil spells?? Isn't it completely random..like they could get any school of spell? or do you get spells that actually orient around what schools you specilize in?
Lastly, I noticed that the perks you get from the actual magic school (ie. Dark Magic) seem to be better than the Shatter perks for anti-magic. I guess it's the Corrupt and Detain that seem to have a 50% delay/increase in mana as opposed to the 25% you get from Dark. Is this correct?
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 26, 2007 12:54 PM |
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Ceres notified me that a link to a replay was deleted, if you find anything please let me know. I wonder how reliable speedyshare is, some replays end up deleted..
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Map also hosted on Moddb
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Ceres
Supreme Hero
and sweetness
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posted December 26, 2007 12:56 PM |
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Thanks Elvin!
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And when the stars fall, I
will lie awake. You're my
shooting star.
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romanov77
Known Hero
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posted December 29, 2007 10:58 AM |
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Some questions:
1) I have a lv20 Kujin (2nd scenario) and I have expert War machines, ballista, triple ballista ...yet the damage is still...low...it can kill just one Black Dragon...I only need to pick flaming arrows....will that really improve it? I mean, that campaign hero I defeated with Arantir could kill 10+ ghost dragons with his ballista...I WANT THAT LOL 
2)First aid tent...hell I hoped that it could resurrect MORE people...there's no way to improve it? (of course Ive already picked the skill)
3) Horde Anger...what do you think about it? I found that in very late game (1000+ goblins) can be extremely powerful...
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 29, 2007 11:12 AM |
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I don't remember Orlando's attack and knowledge, ballista damage comes primarily for that. Flaming arrows just negates enemy defense and adds 50 fire damage per shot. If you can find a ring of machine affinity you gain an extra shot and your tent will heal double the amount of hp. Make no mistake, tent is mostly an earlygame tool though it can help you counter low level dark spells later. My Gotai could kill 10 titans per turn with ballista but he had insane attack boosted from that quest to destroy the peasant huts.
Horde's anger can be good if you accumulate your army but not of much helpf early.
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Map also hosted on Moddb
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Mytical
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Chaos seeking Harmony
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posted December 29, 2007 11:19 AM |
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1). Yeah, flaming arrows helps a LOT. So does enlightenment (for stat boosts). Get FA asap. Depending on luck with stats you can end up with a powerful weapon.
2). Don't know what besides War_machines skill level (if anything) effects it, but it is still useful. Though sometimes it only heals 1-2 creatures  .
3) Hordes anger can really pack a heck of a punch. That said when possible I still prefer fear my roar .
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Message received.
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Duncan
Famous Hero
The Pathfinder
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posted December 30, 2007 10:36 AM |
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Get arties that will boost your Att, Ballista depends on that. I also think it's somehow scripted that Kujin, being a shaman, will get more spell/knowl stats than att/def. She's no ordinary Barb hero. Ballista in her hand is far inferior to Gotai's.
I second Mytical, Horde's Anger is fantastic late game with many goblins, but it only cripples the enemy which can still retaliate. Otoh Fear My Roar paralyze them. Unless we're talking final battle, you need to always win with as min casualties as possible.
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But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it.
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jukeboxhero
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 30, 2007 09:32 PM |
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Hey Guys!
I'm back for more questions. I'm finally starting to get these optimal stronghold builds that I keep reading about in this topic.
So here's the situation. I have Kragh the Pounder, my opponent picked Random, but immediately told me he had Academy. These are my skills so far.
Kragh is Level 9. Time of last save was Week 2, Day 3
Adv. Warmachines-Ballista-Triple Ballista!! (I finally got this and it's awesome!!)
Adv. Attk-Archery & Frenzy
Bas. Rage> Memory of our Blood.
Bas Shatter Dark.
So I guess my questions are; What should I primarily focus on now?
I know I'm behind on Rage, and Powerful blow Might over Magic would be some good perks if they show up.
I hope I can get Flaming arrows too. I think it showed up once, but at the same time as War Machines. I didn't think it would be wise to pass up War machines.
Should I get any new basic skills? I still have 2 slots open, so I could get Ldrship, Luck, or perhaps Enlightenment...but I think I might want to focus getting my current skills maxed out first.
....and of Course I'm worried about Academy's Magic. I'm not sure if he knows that Stronghold's main weakness is Dark, but I figured I better get the skills just in case. Plus it's a good practice for when I actually play against people who will no doubt use Dark against me.
Last but not least is my town build. The started as Level 1, so most of my first turn was getting money buildings and basic stuff, but I hope I can still get Slayers, Cyclops, and Citadel before Week 2 ends. The map is "The Art of Strategy". I don't know where any gold mines are yet, but I'm considering going underground to search. (they seem to be underground in a lot of maps). Or I could just kill the creatures guarding gem and crystal mines and hope I have enough to trade in for cash.
Last but not least I'm wondering if I should consider trading the 2000-1500 chests in for Gold instead of Exp.
Anyways, I would love to hear any advice, I'm think I'm starting to get the hang of this and I've realized that you usually need to focus on Attk, War machines and Rage until you get most or ALL of the nessecary perks to make Orcs effective with them (and I think I've read that earlier too...but in the previous game, I chose luck for some reason, so Now I'm getting luck perks)
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Lesij
Famous Hero
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posted December 30, 2007 09:40 PM |
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Edited by Lesij at 21:44, 30 Dec 2007.
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Why did u choose Kragh?
He's good with excruciating strike/ stunning strike combo, not with ballista...
You wasted some points already then...
What for shatter dark? Do you really know he would use it? If not- then you wasted the points...
You should rather have picked basic luck and Magic Resistance, then (not so neccesary) luck of baba, cuz your opponent might use destr. magic.
To warmachines: You need first aid badly.
And that's all I think.
But I'm not so good compared to Elvin. Wait for his advices...
btw. The startegy I use now is Garuna+ hybrid (both centaurs and warriors) I have been quite succsefull with it and I'm collecting nice battle replays 
I'll show 'em to you in some time...
I'm playing on heroic ofc
What's more- noone said anything about treasure chests- all the time take gold. Then, you can reach (even on heroic) mighty cyclops quite fast! If you have cyclops- you rule XP
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 30, 2007 10:32 PM |
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@Jukeboxhero
You can afford to get one more skill as leadership, enlightenment, luck or shout but I'd get flaming arrows and rage with the last few perks first.
Shatter dark is a good choice as its the only one you should really worry about and you cannot afford to get more than one shatters. I'd also fear light for mass haste(along with initiative arties) and divine vengeance but your ballista should cut down the enemy's units easily.
Actually taking xp is a bad idea, I only take the first few chests for easy leveling and the rest gold only.
@Lesij
Kragh is just as good with warmachines, no waste at all. But you are right about luck->resistance and first aid that also dispels up to lvl 3 dark.
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Map also hosted on Moddb
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jukeboxhero
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 30, 2007 11:18 PM |
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Quote:
Why did u choose Kragh?
He's good with excruciating strike/ stunning strike combo, not with ballista...
You wasted some points already then...
What for shatter dark? Do you really know he would use it? If not- then you wasted the points...
I chose Kragh, cuz I've heard a lot about his cool abilites from people on this forum. I was thinking of going for Telsek too, because of the most recent post about him by Elvin. He seems like a lot of fun with warriors + Defense and Preparation.
Also, I have Garuna in a current game I'm running against someone else.
And I've played Haggash against academy once and if I would've had more cyclops, I would've been puppet-mastered. Any decent academy player probably knows that Stronghold are weak against Dark, at least if they frequent these forums. So since Academy can get Exp in at least 2 magic schools, the odds are good that he will choose dark...even if by pure coincedence.
@ Lesij- Thanks for you're advice. You're absolutely right about first aid and of course the Chests. Also, I was wondering...is it still possible to get Excruciating Strike just because I've taken Ballista? I'll definetly get Stunning and Powerful Blow if they come up though.
@ Elvin. Good point. Recently, I've been a bit confused about this and it seems I get conflicting advice. But I think a lot of comes from my recent transistion from H3, where it seems at least some people I've asked for advice would reccomend taking exp. But in this game it seems towns are a bit more expensive...especially if you have not external revenue. Gold it is then! (no wonder I've troubles gettin large enough armies to fight my opponent in previous games, I can almost never afford to recruit even half my available creatures by the time my opponent comes knocking at my door).
So in short, I want to try out all the decent heroes for Orc, at least the 3-4 big ones, Kragh, Haggash, Garuna and Telsek...just to see what they're like. Keep in mind that I've only played a few multiplayer games with Stronghold so far and since I'm still new to the game, I'm excited about trying out as many factions and heroes as possible.
(the only two factions I haven't touched yet are Haven and Inferno).
I have Fortress and Necro stuck in saves at about Week 2. Dungeon in around Week 3. The only factions I've actually completed a game with are Stronghold, Sylvan and Academy. And even for those 3, I'm sure I missed out on a lot of the factions' true potential (i.e. It wasn't until later in the Academy game I began to unveil the power of "Mark of the Wizard"
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted December 31, 2007 01:36 AM |
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The transition is not so easy, even if the gameplay is similar you have to get used to how units act and how some things do not work anymore. The choice is excruciating strike or flaming arrows but you can get triple ballista regardless.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Duncan
Famous Hero
The Pathfinder
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posted December 31, 2007 06:16 AM |
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Edited by Duncan at 06:30, 31 Dec 2007.
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IMHO, Exp Shatter Dark is a must, other magics depend on spellpower, which to some extent can still be countered with Might Over Magic. But few rounds of PM on your Cyclops can be decisive. I'd say MOM is also the most needed perk for Barb's racial. When you get Fear My Roar or Horde's Anger, I doubt you'll ever use Powerful Blow. And 50-100 rage from Memory is a meh.
Honestly though, I fear that relying too much at Ballista and investing in its associated skill boosters might be ineffective, esp playing against Academy. Those Grems can turn off your machine, no Cold Death required. Hmm... could this be a case where Ultimate is more preferable? Is there a Memory Mentor in the map?
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But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it.
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