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| Thread: Necropolis Strategy Guide |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 · NEXT» |
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 11, 2008 01:27 AM |
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Edited by Elvin at 01:52, 11 Jun 2008.
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Necropolis Strategy Guide
Following Falkenstein's example I decided to write a necro guide. It had been on my mind for some time because the info and strategies concerning this faction are scattered or outdated and there was need for a more cohesive guide, I hope I have covered most things.
NECROPOLIS FACTION OVERVIEW
Academy's dark twin in lore and gameplay, necropolis features slow tanky units aided by a powerful mix of summoning and dark spells to dominate the battlefield. Its power lies in the strength of numbers yet it is one of the factions that depend on might the least – low attack, rare luck, no morale, no light.
To make up for that they have blazing fast creeping, good survivability, mind immunity, mana recovery and an impressive spellpower that both native magic schools require. Since they can be permanently raised they fear no losses and dark allows them tackling neutrals that other factions would rather avoid. This kind of fast expanse makes necro an early to midgame power that should press its advantage before the enemy’s might overwhelms them.
As with most evil factions necromancy is crucial to develop early on. While a passive skill it can influence your decisions on what to attack, when and how to distribute the weekly amount of dark energy to the units you raise.
TOWN LINEUP
The following assume that you play a medium to long map. You need all the army you can get to survive and keep casting much less going on the offensive. You can still creep effectively with a minimum of spells so there is no sense in sacrificing growth for mage guilds. This of course changes in skirmishes, a phoenix rush can bring enemy heroes to their knees.
Week 1
Your primary steps are building skeleton archers and mage guild for creeping. By the end of the week you must have built pillar of bones, zombies, town hall and vampires. If possible liches as well, it’s worth sacrificing city hall for them.
Week 2
A good time to go for capitol, castle and wights. Oh and mage guild 2-3 of course. You may also wish to upgrade vampires for easier creeping, however ore will usually be in short supply and skelies with summoning are enough more often than not. Do not skip unearthed graves if you can spare the sulfur, every little bit counts.
Week 3+
From that point on you have what you need, complete the guild and make a couple of upgrades. I usually upg wights, liches and vampires. If the map has a tier 7 dwelling be sure to get the dragons even if you consider them weak. You won’t regret it.
SKILL SELECTION
I will simply mention the more important skills, if something is not included it’s because it’s not worth the trouble or requires very special circumstances to help.
Dark is an almost default pick. Too good not to pick and it complements necro units nicely, if you can’t charge the opponent make sure you disorganize him or turn his units against him. Since it does not take into account stack size you can make some silly exploits such as killing a few hundred archdevils with a few ghosts  However it’s not so good for skirmishes unless you manage to get curse of netherworld.
Summoning is equally if not more important. It’s the skill you will want to level up first and believe me it can boost creeping immensely. However its effectiveness is subject to chance, what you hope for is firetrap, arcane crystal, barrier, phantom, phoenix. Arcane armor can be most useful but only after week 3. The school is good to have just for raise dead.
Recommended abilities are elemental balance against skilled summoners, fog veil for shooter factions and fire warriors that is good anyway. Really hard to counter early.
Enlightenment is simply great to have. Faster leveling, boost to defense/spellpower and mana perks. If also aiming for logistics arcane intuition is a must pick and for longer games aim for mentoring. Mentored necros add in your dark energy pool and enable you to raise more units per week.
Logistics would be a shame to skip swift mind or not. Consider it an investment that gives you more levels and artifacts should you reach the key locations first.
Sorcery is really fun to use with high level curses and summoning, makes it harder for the opponent to keep up. Besides you mostly depend on your magic.
Abilities I’d pick are arcane excellence and maybe boneward if I know I’ll face destructive. Distract would be tempting if you could spare the levels but you rarely do.
Defense adds great survivability further complemented by enlightenment. I’d go for vitality and last stand, the latter is an amazing perk. Not only it buys you time but it also prevents enemy units from covering your soon-to-be-raised corpses 
Attack is of lesser importance than defense, however battle frenzy is a good boost for skeleton archers(hopefully with unicorn horn bow) and power of speed has merit. For one it can make summoned phoenixes blazing fast. Anyway that’s something I’d pick against spellcasting factions, not might.
Luck is always good, d’uh! If you have Deirdre’s wail with dead man’s curse can decrease enemy luck nicely.
The last two are rarely used but can be great under the right circumstances.
Destructive offers an early boost to knowledge through secrets and a guaranteed direct spell, just great in skirmishes. Go fireball!
Light can go your undead army a long way. Mass haste, mass RM, mass deflect missile, teleportation you name it.
CREEPING
You should focus primarily on summoning, enlightenment and logistics for the first days. But AFTER you get necromancy to advanced at least. Get mark of the necromancer(motn) and eternal servitude quickly. The latter was unimportant in the past but since motn was nerfed you can’t spare 9 mana for raising in each battle. Skill perks that I pick early are intelligence, arcane intuition and scouting.
Word of advice, first build mage guild and then take xp so you know if you can safely pick master of mind.
Onwards to the units.
I creep with skeleton archers, zombies and one skeleton warrior to shield from ranged attacks. As with most factions I have the skelies in the corner surrounded by 3-4 single zombies and one big zombie stack - in case the enemy units are tough I wait till they get closer, no sense in wasting shots while out of range.
- The skeleton warrior should only take part in ranged battles, with his protection and range penalty your skeleton archers die very slowly even against hunters. Consider that eternal servitude raises back 7+5xlevel hp before raising dead.
- If there is no time to change marks from enemy to enemy, mark your skelies. Ranged stacks will always attack them and give you an almost endless source of mana 
- Motn cannot perform miracles, at best it will decrease the mana you cast in each battle. In the beginning you just don’t do enough damage.
- Spells that will help you are eldritch arrow, arcane crystal, firetrap, slow but for the most part you will be using raise dead. Do not cast unless you need to.
- Fist of wrath may miss on ghosts but firetrap always hits.
- Attack tier 1-2 units first to gather skeletons. A secondary can take them to twon, upgrade and return.
- Units as blackbears and hell chargers that you would otherwise avoid are easy with expert firetrap.
- Later creeping is done with wights, skelies and vampire lords. Tough units as dragons are better to attack with wraiths and a few single zombies to block the dragons from attacking all at the same time. Summoning and/or vampirism will do the rest.
NECROMANCY
  
The manual shows what raises what so I’ll just make a few clarifications.
Dark energy increases with your necromancy level, your necromancer heroes level(not just your main) and pillar of bones. On the other hand you do not need too much gold early which means you could get some chests for xp.
Aim for the highest level you can get and have secondary necromancers visit learning stones, the faster your leveling rate the more dark enerhy you will have next week.
Then there is the matter of what to raise.
- It is a no brainer that on week 1 you raise almost exclusively skellies. If you can raise archers or unupgraded choose the latter because it’s cheaper on dark energy and you can still upgrade them in town.
- Do not raise zombies unless your own are dead. Then you might need several to guard you.
- Ghosts are a risky investment, raise only a few when you see that you will need them. They are the great as ranged blockers or archer protectors.
- Many vampires can cause quite an annoyance and make creeping easier, just know that they will not win the game for you.
- Liches are too expensive and easy to block. I tend to avoid them most of the time.
- Wights rule. Both tough and decent damage dealers, you need as many as you can get.
- Dragons are a waste of space but a few spectrals for cursing are nice to have.
So skeletons, vampires and wights for the most part.
FACTION SPECIFIC STRATEGIES
Haven should not prove too hard early, however it can pose a serious threat beyond week 4. If you don’t get the right spells and a knight with empathy keeps cleansing your curses you are doomed because his units can kill you at a fast rate. Dark is good but I’d get summoning and possibly defense/ sorcery as well. Swift mind seems a must, if you can puppet his archangels to act before he plays it will be a great relief. With any luck you will also have cotn to hit both of his paladin stacks or firetrap.
Dungeon I also fear in lategame. Yes you can take control of his high damaging units but his meteor with slippers can kill more than you can raise plus he may have blackies. Boneward may help but attack in midgame anyway. Power of speed can prove your ally. In case someone mentions it I doubt you have the mana to counterspell empowered spells. Go cotn!
Inferno is not too hard but not too easy either. Aim for swift mind to intercept his familiars and then do your magic, he should be powerless against your dark. Just don’t get cocky his units deal A LOT of damage. Keep an eye out for sandro’s cloak, you may find your undead puppeted If they have flaming arrows kill ballista asap.
Against another Necro I’d probably skip dark and get sorcery with summoning. Keep in mind that blade barrier can break to an earthquake or that trying to cast a phoenix first may also summon one on your opponent’s side. Buy ring of banishment and get as much mana as possible. If your phoenix is puppeted or frenzied cast vampirism. Harm touch can instantly kill phoenixes or clones but cannot dispel arcane armour as it can with light spells.
Same goes for Academy.
Sylvan is another of those factions that you must destroy while it’s still early. Puppeting one unit will not keep the others from shredding you apart no can you expect a phoenix to keep them at bay. Use necromancy to its fullest, look for 2 pieces of the necro set to decrease their speed, buy luck decreasing arties. Sounds like a good situation to use last stand and sorcery. Do not try to puppet units next to unicorns 
Fortress has one weakness against you, it cannot keep up with your creeping. Also if you puppet their units you can use their runes against them. Unfortunately once built up you will have trouble - eternal light, rune of battlerage, dwarven luck, mind immune magmas, armageddon tactics. At least cleansing is not that easy to get and he can’t use rune of exorcism unless he has control of that unit.
Stronghold offers one of the most challenging fights. You can expect him to have at least shatter dark but don’t skip it. Dark and summoning seem your best bet, just kill the ballista and incapacitate those annoying witch doctors. Should they fail they also get cursed but in case of puppet you can’t control 2 units and it is automatically dispelled from them  Luck with vampirism or phoenix is fun but so is puppeting/blinding/frenzying. Then there’s the phoenix/power of speed combo. Swift mind seems a prudent choice.
I should mention that I am deliberately vague on some parts. One reason is that some issues have been discussed to death such as which upgrade to pick. Other information is already in the fan manual that I do not need to repeat. Finally I believe that a guide's role is to give pointers, not reveal every single thing.
Hope that helps
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The_Gootch
Honorable
Supreme Hero
Kneel Before Me Sons of HC!!
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posted June 11, 2008 03:14 AM |
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Good stuff.
Few things about Necro in my experience.
Pound for pound for me, ghosts are the best unit to raise. No arguments about the first few weeks being skeletons. After that, it's ghosts.
Skeleton Warriors are amazing. If you have enough of them and depending on the faction you go against, you might want to ditch the zombies and make 2 stacks of warriors. Shield Allies for necro is just...I can't say enough good things about it.
Agreed about Destruction. That's why Raven is awesome. Hell, her with Power of Speed and you've got an nongating Inferno army that'll just punish people.
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Gurnisson
Known Hero
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posted June 11, 2008 08:16 AM |
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Good work, Elvin!
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Nikita
Famous Hero
Meepo is underrated
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posted June 11, 2008 08:21 AM |
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great job,Elvin!Could you do one for Stronghold sometime?
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WarLore
Famous Hero
servant of urgash
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posted June 11, 2008 11:20 AM |
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it seems you play lot with necro's ,great guide.i would do inferno guide...
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A Nightmare from below.A hero from Within
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kermit
Known Hero
Soul hunter
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posted June 11, 2008 12:16 PM |
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Edited by kermit at 12:25, 11 Jun 2008.
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Pretty good Elvin as usual
If you don't mind I'd like to add a little on necro units
and their raising costs
Skeletons
Cheap and ranged is mostly what you can say about these guys. Skeleton wariors are a nice alternative for offensive play, unfortunately they lack a bit in initiative to really shine. With a price of 2 DE for a skeleton, you can't go cheaper than that Unless you get the necro set that is, making it a whooping 1 DE/ skeleton.
Zombies
Converintg zombies means only that you're out of things to convert and still have some DE left. While overall a uselless unit, a weakining strike here and there can make life a little easier.
Ghosts
I agree with the Gootch about ghosts, they have the best ratio in terms of hp & survivability, furthermore their can be further boosted by blood claw and frenzy. Their ethereal ability gives them a high survivability against fast damaging units such as emerald dragons, paladins and even arcane archers. This ability makes them one of the last targets for enemy units. They profit alot from arcane armor and vampirism and can be easily raised. ~8DE for a ghost, it's a bargain
Vampires
Vampires are cool but as Elvin said they won't win you the game. Nice for creeping they're rather fragile in hero encounters, and can be taken down easily due to their lowish hp and defense. Fastest unit in necro army they have however no chance of survival against an entire enemy formation, so unless they can severly damage or block a key enemy unit (rather unlikely), they need to wait for the rest of the melee to catchup, leaving them open to enemy archer fire. In any case it's 20DE for 35hp: still a reasonable price.
Wights
Wights are nice but their offensive potential is not that spectacular, and they're more effective in small numbers. I used to like raising them but found that 100 DE/wight wasn't worth their 100hp. Said otherwise, not enough meat for the buck
If you want an example of wight action checkout Deirdre in duels and see for yourself.
Liches
The unupgraded version is really not spectacular: large size, low initiative, low hp, mediocre damage, makes liches a less than atractive. However if upgraded they make very good spellcasters with very high spell power. One upgrade has the ability to cast decay, the other to raise dead, both can cast suffering, all of which are very usefull spells. Furthermore they have a very nice ranged firepower.
If I'm correct Orson in duels has a good amount of liches, that can give an idea of some good lich action. Unfortunatley they have a large size, making them easily blockable by fast units, still they have pretty good survivability if protected in some way. I used to like raising them but seeing how rapidly their number decrease when oponent focuses on them, I nowadays prefer to use them in limited numbers mainly for their spells. 40 DE is pretty expensive for such a unit, ofcourse if you find the unicorn's horn bow that's another story
Dragons
Not many units convert to dragons, and when you do have the occasion to convert to these, it's just not worth it ~150DE for the unupgraded version is just too much for a mediocre level 7 unit.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 11, 2008 01:09 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 13:14, 11 Jun 2008.
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Actually I have rarely played necro compared to the other factions but if you know academy you can learn them pretty fast. It is only recently that I started playing random and got some more necro games and what they can do is nothing short of impressive. For instance Dragon's Cape garrison(4x6 water, 20 air/earth/fire elementals) on week 3 with just raise dead or dragon hill garrison(20 blackies, 15 lava and 300 assassins) week 5 with just wraiths. Can probably be done week 4 but there are too many locations to visit before you break Not many can take those without casualties and necro has none.
Another reason why I made this thread is that it was a necro game that got me to the lord rank
@Gootch
I'll agree about ghosts but I don't like their randomness. What if the unit they attack retaliates with luck and does not miss? Wraiths are a more dependable backbone in comparison and will be weakened before they join the melee. But if you have boosted them sufficiently they'll still be enough.
Since I don't often use dragons I tend have a warrior to shield my units but never used a second. I guess it would be lovely to cover your advancing units against academy's shooters. That mostly depends on how effective your skeleton archers are, a bow or battle frenzy can make them decent shooters.
Thanks for the addition kermit.
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Anakrom
Known Hero
(Scroll) Out of the blue
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posted June 11, 2008 01:27 PM |
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Edited by Anakrom at 13:29, 11 Jun 2008.
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I must say I prefer Skeleton Warrior over Archer, even in early creeping - they have Large Shield, higher defence, attack and damage and Bash is handy too, since with necromancy they come in numbers. Archers desperately need Battle Frenzy, otherwise they do pathetic damage, especially on long range.
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Result matters
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 11, 2008 01:32 PM |
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Yes but skeleton archers with one warrior share the protection and do not have to endanger themselves. You receive a quarter of ranged fire and do not have to join the melee that probably means an extra raising. And what against blackbears or wind dancers that attack first and are superior in every sense?
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Anakrom
Known Hero
(Scroll) Out of the blue
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posted June 11, 2008 01:50 PM |
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Quote:
Yes but skeleton archers with one warrior share the protection and do not have to endanger themselves. You receive a quarter of ranged fire and do not have to join the melee that probably means an extra raising. And what against blackbears or wind dancers that attack first and are superior in every sense?
Main problem in this aspect is number of shots. Eight is sometimes not enough, especially against shooters - on Dragons Cape you can creep like lots of hunters/xbowman on day 1-2 (I use Naadir) without losses, same for Magi guarding gold mine - I doubt that I would be able to take them down week 1 without losses using protected archers. I must admit that Blackies/Wind Dancers can be taken out quite hard, you need MotN and one Raise Dead is usually enough - Bash saved my skin many times. But I´m only occasional and unexperienced Necro player, so I will give it a shot in few games and maybe I will change my point of view.
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Result matters
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 11, 2008 02:04 PM |
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I will say that I have done those in the early days of DC with Vladimir. Maybe not day 1-2 but you can get them soon.
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Isabel
Known Hero
Dragonblessed
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posted June 11, 2008 03:33 PM |
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A nice guide, make it a sticky thread?
Is bone dragon worth getting? They seem to be rather inferior in stats to other tier 7s.
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Griffin eternal!
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 11, 2008 03:40 PM |
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As I said only if the map has tier 7 dwelling. Necro does not play long games so the resources can be spent better in this short time.
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home_run758
Tavern Dweller
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posted June 14, 2008 01:25 AM |
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Quote:
Necro does not play long games so the resources can be spent better in this short time.
I'm only beggining to get into necro, but I would think they would have a pretty decent late game. Dragon tombstone helps get over the poor stats of the dragons, and now that the skeleton transformer is tier for tier effectively any other castle you take over becomes a necro castle meaning some truly massive armies. Couple that with high level dark and phoenixs and you've got quite a formidable force
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 14, 2008 01:55 AM |
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Only if you get more towns, most online matches are with one or two towns of the same faction for each player. Might factions such as sylvan and haven are the ones who get the benefit if the game drags on, however if the second town was not native necropolis would indeed get a great army.
It always depends on what kind of map you have in mind, the game balance is strongly tied to it.
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Berny-Mac
Promising
Legendary Hero
Lord Vader
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posted June 14, 2008 02:14 AM |
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is there a way to buy death knights?
they would really be useful for the necropolis since they are the best tier 6 in my opinion
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 14, 2008 02:20 AM |
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Edited by Elvin at 12:45, 15 Jun 2008.
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Not in regular maps but you could try Nevermindspy's RMG, check the toh forum. He has modded it so that the neutrals have their own dwellings.
Tip of the day: Do not have pizza at night, it may prevent you from sleeping
Since I can't get any sleep right now I might as well post something on spell combos. Some I have probably mentioned in the faction specific strategies but better to have them all in one place. Also I have a few more to add, summoning and dark have some pretty interesting combos.
Arcane armor + cotn
Much akin to the dragogeddon this tactic harms all living units while your own become twice as durable. Good targets can be the ghosts, wights or zombies.
Arcane armor + vampirism
Yet another cheesy trick, who doesn't love tough units that can resurrect themselves 
Phoenix + vampirism
When your own phoenix is puppeted you are in a tight spot right? Wrong, you cast vampirism and send it to wreak havoc behind enemy lines. The phoenix is considered undead and therefore immune to puppet/frenzy.
Phoenix + Power of Speed
Phoenixes are already swift units, hasted they are even more deadly. Power of speed may not always be a great boost to your army but it certainly is to your summons.
Blade Barrier + Earthquake
Has your opponent barricated himself behind this magical obstacle? Fear not for one earthquake will take care of it. Same goes for banish.
Phoenix + Frenzy
Frenzy is one unusual spell, probably the only one that can be cast on enemies and allies alike. If cast on a friendly unit it adds a significant damage boost that can be worth it even if you lose control for 1-2 turns.
Summon Hive on Enemy Corprses
Summon hive is primarily used to hassle the opponent with a constant barrage of wasp swarms. However it can be used to cover your own units or prevent your opponent from raising his own.
Wasp Swarm + Vampirism
One of the weaker but vital combos, you wasp an opponent that has wasted his retaliation and attack with a damaging vampiric unit. This extra drained life without being retaliated against can save your unit's hide. Of course it requires some good damage dealing potential.
Phantom Forces + Fire Warriors
The number of a necromancer's fire elementals is often overwhelming. Cloned is double the fun, especially from close range or with archer's dream.
Last Stand + Raise Dead + Vampires
By now everyone must know how last stand prevents enemy units from covering your corpses making them impossible to resurrect. There is more to it. If you have 2 vampires that are reduced to 1hp through raising each retaliation will do at least 1 damage and restore the second back to life. And once you have 2 vampires again in the stack last stand can trigger again and again making possible to kill limitless numbers of large opponents. That said it's best not to try this on swift units such as emeralds
Vampires + Vampirism
It is not exactly a secret that the vampire' life drain and vampirism stack. This simple combo makes them real hard to get rid of and conserves your mana. That basically means that if life drain is 50% and vampirism 50% that the unit gains 100% life drain.
Magical Immunity + Harm Touch
Not strictly a magic combo but a useful hint nonetheless. If you harm touch an opponent he loses his buffs and magical immunity is no exception.
Power of Speed + Harm Touch
Harm touch often seems ineffective, however if you speed up the wraiths it can help tremendously. Not for big armies of course, it helps if you also slow the opponent's high tier units.
Edit: Added a few clarifications.
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emilsn
Legendary Hero
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posted June 15, 2008 02:37 PM |
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Hey Elvin this is great - Could you perhaps make a: Skeleton vs Skeleton warrior kind of thing?
Because that is always my problem, which to choos you know - I know you did a kind of version in the creeping section but maybe a more overall thing? Or do Kermit cover that section?
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Don't walk behind me; I may not
lead. Don't walk in front of me;
I may not follow. Just walk
beside me and be my friend.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 15, 2008 02:50 PM |
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There are already a few threads on that if you check the table of contents. In any case necro is the least complex on that and creeping is a personal choice. I just write how it works for me.
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ZeroXcuses
Known Hero
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posted June 22, 2008 08:01 AM |
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What Elvin said about (Arch)liches is why I only play against the AI. (Arch)liches are my favorite necro unit and I would feel naked without them.
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