Are [shrine units] actually good?

[Honorable Discharge]

I always go for the warrior+healer combo, but what about the warrior of discord, or the undead priestess, or the barbarians? What's your opinion about them?

[////]

game with them is harder, yes. but when they reach higher levels and buy few things... i think, level 10 priestess can take out dragon alone. skeletons are very efficient against dragons, for some reason.

and the fastest way to uncover whole map is barbarians+rangers combo.

[mafilux]

Skeletons are good against dragons because they have (I think) the highest dodge in the game, so they don't get hit very easily. Also priestesses are great in their own right, and still offer the ressurection spell at the max level of their temple (500 more gold than Agrela's). Warrior's of discord are slow but have the highest vitality of the game, a level 1 discord usually has more hitpoints than a level 7 or 8 warrior. Barbarians are pretty good too, but they have low armor. The biggest benefit of having krolm temples is the Rage of Krolm spell that can be used in their temple for 1500, which increases spped/attack speed and damage of all your heroes.

Definitely useful when you're in a tight spot.

[Honorable Discharge]

Just tried games with krypta priestess and barbarian.
Lost all my barbarians. TWICE.
And lost 3 priestess. Cost me an arm and an eye to revive them.

I think building a library may be mandatory for the intelligence bonus, if it really affect the heroes' AI. Getting tired of the "UAAAAAAAAAARGH" here.

[////]

try barbarians with rangers... alone they are not that effective. be sure to have more rangers than barbarians.

[Honorable Discharge]

Początkowo opublikowane przez ////:

try barbarians with rangers... alone they are not that effective. be sure to have more rangers than barbarians.

That was the case, I had 2 barbarians and 4 rangers.
The barbarian always go berzerk and aggro something bigger than him and end up dying while the rangers are fleeing in terror.

Compared to that, healer are turning my games into easy mode.

[mafilux]

One good thing about the barbarian is that they're cheap to re-build, and if you can manage to keep a couple alive until they're a decent level they can be very useful. One thing I did notice though is that they don't seem to spend their money on new armor and weapons until much later on, I've had barbarians with thousands of gold who were still using the starter gear.

Agrela/Dauros is the most common temple choices, and quite possibly the best, because they keep your heroes alive and the monks have great defensive spells to keep themselves alive. The Dauros temple also unlocks Paladins, which are superior to the Warrior of Discord in my opinion because they're fast, have magic spells, and good armor and attack ratings.

[Palandus]

The thing I have found to be the most powerful combo is Healers + Warriors + Rangers + Wizards + Solarus + Dwarves (As they will all group up together).

I've also found that:
-> Barbarians are incredibly stupid; They hardly ever buy anything, even healing potions.
-> Warriors of Discord are suicidal; If you get them to high levels they can be useful.
-> Cultists are pitiful; They can tame some powerful monsters like Werewolves and Medusae but other than that they hardly deal any damage on their own.
-> Priestesses are even weaker than Wizards; They can tame vampires and other undead, but are weak and pitiful in their own right. I've had LV 15+ Priestess die to a Minotaur or a Troll.
-> Monks are pious and a waste to a settlement; They hardly purchase any items and don't respond to reward flags.
-> Paladins although appear powerful initially taper off over time; As their main Stat is INT rather than STR, they are actually in the longterm weaker than Warriors (STR per level) or Warriors of Discord (at least these guys get tons of HP) and as they lack any real offensive spells, the INT bonus is fairly wasted on them.
-> Rogues are not very useful except to answer reward flags; As their Crossbow doesn't benefit from Strength, their damage output will always remain low (unlike a Ranger whose damage increases over time with Strength). Unless you have a serious number of statues, Rogues will attack your own buildings if a reward flag is placed on them OR other heroes. You'll notice this right quick in the Siege Mission in Northern Expansion.
-> Adepts appear to be a powerful ally, but their abilities don't really improve over time as much as Solarii do; Adepts can move fast and will frequently defend buildings, reducing overall building attrition. However, they will not attack monster lairs or hunt monsters unless it has a reward flag on it.
-> Elves are good for an economy for the sovereign but are bad for the heroes; Having elven bungalows increases gold flow at every marketplace by double for each bungalow. Although this is good, Elven Lounges will suck up 100 gold per visiting hero (which could be spent on items to improve their survivability instead) and Gambling Halls further suck gold out of your heroes. Also it may be just me, but I find that Heroes will often prefer Elven Lounges to going out and hunting monsters, so there will usually be too many monsters wandering around AND heroes without a penny to their name. But, hey, the sovereign makes tons of gold, so it could be offset by placing tons of lucrative bounties around.
-> Gnomes are great for repairing and building structures extremely fast; however you cannot have dwarves or elves... and quite frankly unless you are on a mission where building attrition is high (ie tons of dragons), it would be better off having Dwarves or Elves.

As for positive heroes I've found that:

-> Warriors although slow, are generally bright enough to purchase healing potions and upgrades whenever possible. They will actively defend the realm, they will protect other guildhalls, they will steadily increase in damage capabilities over time, such that at LV 15+ can sometimes kill a Golem or Dragon solo. Also they love to party with Dwarves, Wizards, Rangers, Solarii, and Healers.

-> Dwarves although slower than Elves, are basically more powerful Warriors, that can build/repair objects very fast, will answer reward flags quickly (but less likely than rogues to attack your buildings if another sovereign places them), have high magic resistance, and are immune to Gorgon Petrification (only race/class that is). Also they love to party up, and their guildhall has a nice HP and attack ability making it a great structure to place next to a marketplace.

-> Rangers although often will go to other lands when the map is explored is a powerful ally in any combat. Their ddamage output increases every level, they have the longest attack range of all heroes, they are often braver than Elves or Rogues, they move quickly, they harvest healing herbs and create their own potions (a bonus for working with healers of agrela) and will constantly explore the wilderness. Even better is they love to party it up too.

-> Wizards are by far the most powerful class if they survive long enough to get there, and you have a library available. A typical wizard will need to have Fireblast at LV 3 in order to survive for longer.

-> Healers of Agrela are both a plus and a con; As a plus they regularly heal other heroes, they plant healing herbs, they naturally desire to party up, and if they die they respawn once per level, resetting when they gain another level. As a con however, if their guildhall gets attacked they become fairly suicidal and attack whatever is attacking their guildhall, be it a goblin, a minotaur, a Yeti, a Golem or even a Dragon; they don't care, and will frequently die and then die again forcing you to use Resurrection on them. The other con is that they like Paladins and Monks, refuse to be placed in a Mausoleum if they die. So you HAVE to use resurrection on them, otherwise they are gone for good.

-> Solarus (Solarii plural) are powerful melee fighters with several offensive spells. Their main stat STR means that they will gain more damage over time. They will garrison guard towers and asset in the defense of the realm. They will also occasionally seek out monster lairs specifically when leaving town (rather than other classes that wander around / hunt monsters first and THEN go hunt lairs) and they have a powerful death ability that can sometimes even kill an attacking dragon or golem.

Hope some of this helps someone!

[mafilux]

One reason I never make rogues is because they rob your buildings of money as well, and then hoard it in their guildhall. Then a rat man comes along, hits their guildhall once and just take it all. They're weak, and the only reason to even consider building a rogue's guild is for the weapon poisoning at level two. I often do build a rogue hall and don't build any rogues, as extort can also be useful if you're in desparate need of money (Eventhough you earn more gold by simply waiting).

[Palandus]

Ya thats what I frequently do as well; Have a rogue hall level 2 for poison and extortion.

[Honorable Discharge]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bone:

Lot of stuff that should be in a FAQs.

Woah.
Impressive.


But I'd like to add two-three things :
- the gnome hovel are reputed for being hard to exterminate. Either you keep them under control (hire only one), or it becomes real common.
- even if you destroy the elven bungalow, the elven lounges will stay, and you can't destroy them yourself. Paying a rogue to attack it is the only way.
- trade posts attract monsters, and cause trolls to appear, but it often sends a caravan to your marketplace. The caravan carries roughly 600 golds, but keep in mind that amount is MULTIPLIED by your marketplace's level.

[Palandus]

I'm not entirely sure what increases Troll spawn rate exactly, but I find that the more marketplaces, inns and trading posts you have the more generally spawn.

Caravan gold is dependent on distance from the nearest marketplace. If you only have one marketplace it will send the caravan to that one. I've seen on a Large map if you place a marketplace at the edge of the screen and stick a trading post in the farthest away corner, a caravan can be sent carrying up to 3000+ gold (which is then multiplied on arrival based on Marketplace level).

[Honorable Discharge]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bone:

I'm not entirely sure what increases Troll spawn rate exactly, but I find that the more marketplaces, inns and trading posts you have the more generally spawn.

Doesn't that depends from the hero population?

[Palandus]

Maybe. Though I've had extremely large numbers of heroes on the screen with Cheat Engine (like 100+) and it seems to have a marginal effect on troll spawns.

[Palandus]

Also, Elven Bungalows can be destroyed by more conventional... if expensive means if no one will take on the Bungalow Reward Flag (usually if your own heroes attack the building, other heroes of yours may attack them causing infighting and possibly lots of dead heroes), is to get a Wizard's guild, upgrade to LV 2, and use Lightning Bolt on it to destroy it. Costly to do so, but it works.

[Honorable Discharge]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Bone:

Maybe. Though I've had extremely large numbers of heroes on the screen with Cheat Engine (like 100+) and it seems to have a marginal effect on troll spawns.

Does that spawn house too? I mean that Cheat Engine.