Which hero units do you always build, and which do you never build?

[Khalagar]

After trying the Eldar's hero several times, I'm pretty much just giving up on it as the Autrach seems like hot garbage tbh, it's going in my "pass for sure" category for it's absurd price + dying so absurdly easy + having such eh? impact

Force Commander, Necron Lord, Tyranid prime, and Tervigon are definitely in my "absolutely must get" categories because they add so much and are so useful

I would put Destroyer Lord and Commisar in the "bleh at best" category too

[Sloul Des Tucs]

I like Tau starting hero, but sadly by the time he unlocks all his supportive goodies for infantry, infantry is kinda obsolete.
He is otherwise s good boost for Tau eco.

[Jey]

Cadre Fireblade is very good with Broadside (the T8 infantry) or simply for his loyalty bonus at lvl 6.

Warboss, Painboy and Weirdboy are good.

Captain and Chaplain are good, but they are usually hard to fit in.
Librarian is bad.

Commissar is a very good hero. Primaris Psyker is good but a bit hard to fit in terms of tech. Tank Commander is very good if you go with tanks or if you have an ally that uses tanks, but a bit expensive.

Lord is very good. Cryptek is pretty good. Destroyer Lord is usually meh (too expensive to gear)

Prime is trash (too expensive to gear), Tervigon is a must. Hive Tyrant is very expensive but is a very good investment for a long game.

Chaos Lord is very good, though it needs gear. Master of Possession is an incredible support hero. Warpsmith is a very good tank healer combined with an amazing eco ability.

Cadre Fireblade is a bit squishy, but very worth it if you go for infantry. Commander is very good, but require a decently sized army to be really useful. Ethereal is incredibly squishy and hard to use. But when it works, it makes your army a killing machine.

Autarch is decent. His eco ability is especially good, but even just his anti-tank grenade makes him incredibly nice. Spiritseer is a decent support hero, but meh. Farseer is another decent support ♥♥♥ hero killer hero.
The main issue of Farseer and Spiritseer is probably that you don't NEED them. They usually just add to your already existing superiority.

[Jey]

Originally posted by RoboEmperor:

Making one unit harder to kill every 3 turns .

Chronometron has a cooldown of 1. You can permanently give an unit 60% invul reduction.

[dexgattaca]

Originally posted by RoboEmperor:

The other two tau heroes are worthless. Lategame you might have a use for the Fireblades for the loyalty if you hit the turn when you get level 6 heroes on build.

And

So basically, Economy heroes are a must. Combat heroes are a maybe if you need early game strength but if you can survive the early game without them then you skip because their influence and influence upkeep is no joke.

Fireblade is THE economy hero. Having +6 influence to all your cities is amazeballs! Its perfectly possible to get 1 or 2 Fireblades to level6 by turn 70 for a mass eco boost and pathway to your 4th city.

Also, Ethereal is a must at higher difficulty AI as it can heal and boost Riptides+Comander

[BLAME! 40K]

Imperial tank general is a musthave for me . I personal dont like the space marine psyker

[dexgattaca]

Space Marines.
The Captain is a great way to cheese AI. Equip him for defence and send him into some cover to hold an entire flank all by himself. Watch out for hard hitting melee units. His Deeds of Glory becomes your main source of influence generation once you start taking down elite enemies.

The Chaplain is the full package. A decent eco buff. A damage boost/morale nuke combo to take down enemies and a fantastic AoE heal to keep your army alive. Plus he is tanky enough to hold the line.

The Librarian doesnt have much purpose. His skills are not significant enought to make a difference in the early game as a T4 investment and dont bring enough utility be needed in the late game.

[Sloul Des Tucs]

I started to play recently, and I had the feeling that supportive units are not that great.
Issue is not only the CD, but for me, mostly it's about range and radius.
Range is usually abysmal (like 2), and radius is either single target or 1.
Of course there are exceptions, but support units (mostly heroes) become tedious, because they have to be close to melee, at the right time, at the right place, to possibly give bonuses that are otherwise cool, but maybe not worth the investment.

That's my overall feeling about it, although I cannot say that it concerns every hero and every skill.
I think they would generally feel better if they could target areas with their skills, or at least have increased radius for their aura (like T'au Commander for instance).

[BLAME! 40K]

Try the chaos SM "techmarine" ( I know I deserve the wrath of the emperor for this heresy) and put him in the middle of hellbrutes . Then you see a support hero beeing very useful

[Jey]

As overwatch bait sure, but also as a way to protect a frontline unit. Sure you can shoot another, but maybe you will have less firepower that can reach the units on the side or behind.
Also a way to protect a midlife unit. Sure the enemy can probably still kill it, but at the cost of wasting a lot of firepower.

It's not a god like skill, but it's still pretty useful.

[dexgattaca]

Originally posted by RoboEmperor:

Originally posted by dexgattaca:

Also, Ethereal is a must at higher difficulty AI as it can heal and boost Riptides+Comander

I tried Ethereal on Ultra Hard and Impossible. And my judgement is not worth it. Builder Drones are expendable and heal just as well. Ethereal's ultimate is just too long on a cd and against an AI short bursts of strength don't do anything especially ones on a 10 turn cd. And did I mention heroes require an entire influence building all to themselves for upkeep? I rather get another ore or energy building out and get two more riptides than an ethereal.

In my experience, at higher difficulty levels the only way for Tau to hold the line is utilizing a defensive Commander and Riptides. You need the Etherial to buff and keep these defensive formations alive.

Builder drones are insufficient as healers, dont buff, and are far more likely to be targeted and one-shot by the AI (especially the flyers).

You already have a hero production building and influence should not be a problem. Plus getting another ore building is often not an option at the early point due to Unity.

I agree the Etherial's Elite skill is not actually that powerful. I often forget to use it. Its main purpose for me is one-shotting cities - which, as you know, can be a way to avoid counter attacks by the AI.

I recommend you give the Etherial another try for your Riptide deathstar.

[winters_night]

Pretty new to the game and have mostly just played Eldar but the Autarch is solid, anti tank grenade and good for taking down armor early on since theres not much in the way of AT until fireprisms.

Spiritseer is a must to me, being able to heal ANY unit every other turn as well increase armor or decrease armor on an enemy unit has a lot of uses.

[Pooltastic]

Wow, I feel like the oddball.
Orks:
Warboss is practically my go-to infantry most of the game, as the Boys get outmoded pretty quick.
Have a bit of a love/hate with Weirdboy, but I think it's cause I'm under-utilising his mass teleport. I love the research bump, and the zappy-zap is decent, what with it ignoring line-of-sight, but then there is the extra attacks buff just a waste of an ability slot.
... have completely overlooked the Painboy. Though to my defence, I do mostly run a vehicle army.
Necrons:
Lord is a great all-rounder, with great damage, armour and eventually a whopping unit of Triarch Praetorians he can chuck at his enemies.
Cryptek is a surprisingly good support, but eh more than two and you're overreaching.
Destroyer Lord is somehow more expensive, yet worse than Lord. Not worth it.
Tyranids:
Prime is the sh*t! Feel No Pain, regular damage boosts, permanent accuracy boost AND a 50% armour break? You spread that on the map like Nutella on toast, baby!
Tervigon is not only a great support unit, but its ability to rapidly pump out a bona fide army of Termagaunts makes it a true hidden menace.
Hive Tyrant is another complete package. Flyer, psyker, Synapse range extension provider. 'nuff said.
Chaos Space Marines:
Master of Possession? More like mistress of micromanagement. Get him in the right spot at just the right time, with the right ability off cooldown and hell yeah, he rocks. Otherwise, he p*ssyfoots across the battlefield like a lost milkmaid.
Warpsmith is an absolute must for anyone fielding vehicles (so, everyone). Not only that, but he brings the pew pew pew to the enemy vehicles and bases alike.
Chaos Lord is a decent hero. Straight shooter, middle of the road. Personally love him, but mileage may vary.
Oh and there’s a Daemon Prince? Literally forget he exists until somebody’s Champion of Chaos trait spawns him.

[Avlaen]

As a Nid player my least favourite is the prime, but hes still a solid beat stick with good support abilities, tervigons are a must, the endless cannon fodder and healing support your other monsters so well, for me hive tyrants are also a must, a strong flying creature, with 4 range synapse AND it boosts your economy, while also having an AOE attack and a great support spell in onslaught.

[ىlipperyⱬip]

Originally posted by RoboEmperor:

Chaos lord is trash. Hes not worth the influence cost imo.

Nope, nah (read: no).

Chaos Lord is vital for three aspects of Chaos gameplay.

1. Rush intensive builds that cheese on impossible. You simply cannot kill quickly enough or sustain the momentum of a rush without his ultimate on bases.

2. Boon amplification ability, which turns every unit into a near guaranteed Prince or spawn as well as making your infantry survive and useful into the late game. This is so vital to maintaining an offensive on higher difficulties it isn't even funny. Yes this also increases the chance of him turning into a spawn, this is why you send him in with minimal gear in the beginning (he doesn't even really need to be geared to stomp nearly every other unit early to mid game). Later you gear at least two, who can effectively keep themselves alive through their insane damage + Bloated.

3. Anti-super heavy. A lord's damage is unmatched when it comes to close range. They only really fall short if you are not scouting ahead and letting them run into Tau firing lines. I have fought off an entire early necron rush, on impossible, with just a lord and an outpost. Played right they will wreck house and dance on the ashes before the AI/opposition has a chance to realise how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ they are. Send a lord buffed with Tzeetch's Marks and all boons active against a Baneblade and tell me he is worthless.

[Jey]

Originally posted by ىlipperyⱬip:

2. Boon amplification ability, which turns every unit into a near guaranteed Prince or spawn

First, the ability doesn't increase the chance of Prince/Spawn. It should actually reduce them if you trust the experience of some people.

Second, even if it actually did increase the likeliness of either, how the hell would it be a good thing?
Spawns are nice units, but I usually don't want my Tactical to turn into Spawns. Their role is different. It can mess up your battle plan.
Prince are extremely expensive and can ruin your influence eco (making buying items harder than you want) as well as your whole eco (because energy upkeep and energy controls all your buildings).
If they were good, that'd be nice, but Daemon Princes aren't even THAT good. Their support abilities are too weak for their cost and their low survivability doesn't allow them to make use of their okayish melee damage.

Yes this also increases the chance of him turning into a spawn

Again no it doesn't.
But even if it did, all Chaos heroes are immune to transformation since a few patches.

(he doesn't even really need to be geared to stomp nearly every other unit early to mid game).

No, but he needs to be geared to survive. The +3 armor is vital (as well as reaching as quickly as possible the +45% invul reduction)

Send a lord buffed with Tzeetch's Marks and all boons active

The Lord's invulnerability skill gives min 45% invulnerability.
Tzeentch's Mark gives min 17% invulnerability

When you sum up the two you obtain min 45% invulnerability.
Which is... The same as not having Tzeentch's Mark.
If you want to increases the survivability of the Chaos Lord, you want to apply the Mark of Nurgle OR the Mark of Slaanesh (with the hope of being able to put the Icon of Desire or whatever, that gives +17% feel no pain reduction).


Furthermore having a Lord with "all boons active" require quite a bit of set up. The boons are spread in the whole tech tree.
By the time you unlocked all boons (let alone triggered them all), you can probably get stuff like the Defiler, which deal uncanny amount of damage in melee.