|
| Thread: The Different Units | |
|
CleansingFire
Hired Hero
|
posted April 20, 2002 08:12 PM |
|
|
The Different Units
In my opinion, one of the best things about Heroes IV is the choice between varying units. I'm curious as to what other people choose to use when they play the game.
I mainly use the Asylum, and I vary the units I choose based on the opposing town/towns I'm facing. Note that all of the following is, of course, simply IMO.
My standard build order is:
Medusas, Nightmares, Black Dragons.
I pick Medusas because it's good to have a ranged attacker other than the Orcs, and their Stone Gaze is an excellent ability to have. I think Nightmares are generally better than Efreet because of the Terror ability, which is very useful in almost any battle. Black Dragons are fantastic tanks, fantastic damage dealers, and can't be affected by spells like Hypnotize, Blind, and so on, making them perfect if you find yourself up against a spellcaster.
My build order when I face the Academy is:
Medusas, Efreet, Black Dragons.
I like to get Medusas when I face the Academy to counteract their own ranged units, and to try and quickly eliminate deadly spellcasters like the Magi and Genie. I go for the Efreet for the same reason, as the Efreet can close on the many ranged units of the Academy with much greater speed than Nightmares can.
Black Dragons are almost a neccessity when facing the Academy, as not only are Black Dragons immune to the ever annoying spells like Berserk, Blind and Hypnotize that Academy Mages possess, they are also immune to the spells of the Magi and Genies. And they can close with all the Ranged units the Academy has with great speed as well.
My build order when I face the Haven is:
Medusas, Nightmares, Hydras.
Medusas are, as always, great at eliminating powerful and deadly enemy stacks, and are a great ranged unit even without the Stonegaze ability.
Nightmares are very useful for their Terror ability, of course, and they are a neccessity against the Haven because of their Life Ward ability. You shouldn't even think about getting Efreet when you're facing the Haven.
Hydras are better than Black Dragons in this matchup, for me at least, because most of the Haven units are quite numerous and they do not have lots of hitpoints, meaning a properly buffed Hydra can rip up tons of Haven units very quickly. You also have less to worry about in the spells area because most Life and Nature spells focus on buffing/protecting their own army.
The Haven opponent might go for an Order Mage, but you have a 2/3rds chance he won't, and even if he does, it's not enough of a threat to warrant switching to Black Dragons.
My build order when I face the Stronghold is:
Medusas, Nightmares, Hydras.
Medusas, baby, Medusas. Great for eliminating the pesky level four units of the Stronghold, and as always a great ranged unit to have in your army.
Nightmares are great for the Terror ability again, and their superior hitpoints and damage is a definite plus when facing the high damage, high hitpoint Stronghold units.
Hydras are perfect when facing the Stronghold, as the Stronghold will have numerous units thanks to the Breeding Pits, and little to no magic, making Black Dragons unneccessary. A properly buffed stack of Hydras rips through a ton of Stronghold units, and this probably the one matchup where I barely consider going with Black Dragons.
When I face the Necropolis my build order is:
Minotaurs, Nightmares, Black Dragons.
Yes, Minotaurs, not Medusas. Medusas are not as good as Minotaurs in this matchup because of the fact the Necropolis has three or four units that can quickly close in on the Medusas or do severe damage to them from range.
Having a higher hitpoint unit with the block ability is a great plus against the Necropolis, especially if they have Vampires, which they almost certainly will. After all, if you block that attack by the Vampires, that's at least one round that they are not regenerating their stack.
Nightmares are better here just because of the higher hitpoints and damage they have when compared to the Efreet.
Black Dragons are definitely better than Hydras in this matchup. They are harder to drain life from for the Vampires, and they do more damage, allowing you to kill the Vampires faster. They are great against Devils and Bone Dragons, as well. No contest here, in my opinion.
And finally, when I face the Preserve my build order is:
Medusas, Nightmares, Black Dragons.
Medusas, once again. They are almost neccessary as your primary ranged unit, and they are always great at killing pesky Heroes or high level units.
Nightmares, once again, and once again it is because of the higher damage and hitpoints they have, not to mention the Terror ability.
Black Dragons. Four words... Water Elementals, Faerie Dragons.
Well, that's my general build orders against the various towns. Certain things can change them, of course, like less or more resources, more than one opponent, and so on, but these are what I will usually do if I face a certain town. I haven't really had enough experience with the other towns to comment on them, though. Like I said at the beginning of the post, I am curious as to what other peoples build orders are, and why they use them. I'd love to find out what other people think.
____________
|
|
Hexa
Responsible
Legendary Hero
|
posted August 28, 2002 01:27 PM |
|
|
top!@
____________
If you want to realize your dreams >>> you have to wake up!@
|
|
dragonsister
Hero of Order
MapHaven administrator
|
posted August 29, 2002 07:19 AM |
|
|
I play Order most, and sometimes Life or Nature. Let me think ...
My default lineup of higher level creatures is Mages, Genies, Titans. I *love* ranged attacks. Especially since magical ranged attacks never attract retaliation ... Further, Slow and Mass Slow are part of the Order Mage's repertoire, and Genies will assist by casting Slow and Song of Peace ... that is to say, my Genie Singlets will; the mass Genie stack will usually Ice Bolt and occasionally Illusion. Mages 'Poison' is also very useful, especially in Sieges and other 'long' battles.
When I will vary that lineup:
Against Black Dragons, mages are practically useless. So much so that when I'm fighting only BDs, the mages are removed from the army ... but I usually don't have any Golems around to replace them. Genies are also less useful, but at least they can clone Titans.
Against Vampires, Song of Peace doesn't work and the Vampires are so fast they often cross the screen to get me all too soon. I do generally keep the shooters in the back row, which helps - but if playing against the Undead, it *is* more likely to be worth building the slow, powerful walker units at whichever level.
Hmm ...
That's all that really springs to mind just now.
DragonSister
____________
MapHaven
|
| |
|
|
