Best Units and combinations. Beginner Tips

There are many different types of units in this version of King's Bounty. In this version, you will mostly be using creatures "of the dark", which are usually not available in other versions until late in the game, and by then, you're set on the "good" units.

Also, I have some beginner tips that will help you along the way.

Some Easter eggs/tips

1. Once you are "run out" of Dragandor(dwarven area)and kill ONE unit in Whitehill, you can go to Portland. Once there:

2. Return through the catacombs, the entrance is located in a graveyard. First, go back into:

3. Dragandor and retrieve what loot is there. Usually not much.

4. Then go back into catacombs, go into Tristem and Atrixus and immediately leave back into the catacombs.

5. The reason being you can now teleport to those zones and it's worth it to do so. When you teleport in, there's nothing there to attack you.

6. Tristem. Avoid the elven patrols. They're far too much to deal with. Instead pick up goodies while avoiding them. Two really good ones take place outside "Grumph's Inn". You can get 70 shaman or 70 "Goblins with Catapults" there. Very good units at this point in the game. Also, make your way into the underground area. There is another free "friendly unit" there. A lot of either Veteran Orcs or regular orcs. There is also a large supply of goblins outside the Shaman's Tent as free friendly units, but you won't need them.

7. Teleport to Atrixus. There is an area where, if you avoid one patrol, and it can easily be done, you can reach an area that has 15-18 either Demons or Executioners. Again, very good units and they're free "friendly units". Also, immediately right next to the area you teleport to, there is a movable tile to an area with Verdelet the Demonologist and no encounters to get there. You can buy Demonologists there, an excellent unit as well as either Demons or Executioners. Later in the game, Verdelet will come to the Shelter so you can recruit units there from him. He only has top of the line demonologists and demon units then.

8. Once you get the map to Insenburg, which can be obtained by killing the Paladin unit located in front of a navigational chart(he's actually slightly easier than the pikeman unit guarding the chart to Monteville), go there and sail around picking up chests. One island has 4 fields on it of various "crops", with a road in front of it with usually a plant type unit. The GREEN FIELD can be landed on and in the middle is a chest that has from 100,000 to 180,000 gold pieces in it. The units in Isenburg aren't all that good to recruit though.

9. Once you get the map to Monteville from the Pikeman unit, sail there. Immediately avoid the unit that's close, and go left to a castle where you can recruit Necromancers, a truly excellent unit. Further along the path, avoiding TWO tough units, you get to another castle where you can recruit all 3 types of vampires. Save the female vampires for now as you'll need them for a quest later. Both of these castles, as well as the "Dead House", where you first land, often have excellent undead items if you have enough gold saved to buy a few now.

With these great units, you can more easily handle Portland. Portland can be extremely tough for a starting area, but with these units, it can be a cakewalk. Once Portland is "finished" and "of the dark", you can recruit Human Traitor units, which are "dark versions" of units you might be more familiar with from earlier King's Bounty games.

MORE TIPS:
1. Buy the Alchemy set as soon as you can. Every 10 battles, you get a free random rune. There are two alchemy sets. One you buy from Simon, the mage in the shelter. The second one is on the Sandy Isles at the little hut in the middle of the bridges. It's a chemist's place.

2. Really be wary of enemy that can cause burning, poison, and freeze. There's no way to dispel these and they can hurt badly. The trick is to try and block/kill the enemy that can do these, like the dwarven Alchemists.

3. Avoid buying spells you won't really need. I know it's fun to fill your spellbook, but wait until you have extra cash just lying around. There's always a higher priority buy until then instead of useless spells.

4. Try and buy every item/artifact you can, but again use prudence on cash flow. Every item should be broken down into crystals if you're not using them or are not going to use them.

5. As you're walking around the maps, use the "D" key to constantly dig as you go.

6. with the alchemy sets, if you want to always have them first in your inventory, use the organize by type until it's first, but whenever an item stays in front of it, manually move the item past it and the next time you organize by type, the set will resume it's rightful place

7. Always save items/artifacts that you can level up until you can defeat it's keepers. It's extra xp and gp.

8. Always keep at least TWO saves of your current campaign. alternate saving between the two. Sometimes the game will erase one if saved on too often. Also:

9. Go to garrisons as often as you can on any map. This auto save feature always works and never erases.

10. Don't be discouraged if you never get a set of items. I'm on 9th playthrough and haven't gotten one yet.

11. Save all items/artifacts that are part of sets until just before end of game to see if you can collect the set.

12. Use teleportation to get around to max out your score via the time spent. The only time you should use the boat travel is when first going to the land. There is one more time when you have to sail a ship with a checkered sail into Galenirim.

13.

Human Traitor Units

Once you complete Portland and turn it "dark", Traitor humans become available. Many have various uses while some you might want to avoid as "not that good".
*Once you complete Isenburg, your choices in Traitors are increased plus you can get an amulet for the Order of Twilight. Together with the Nightmare TITLE, you can make a deadly force.
Good Traitor Units:
1. Heresiarchs- These are the Inquisitors of earlier games for the good. They can resurrect twice a battle and can cast "anger" on a friendly unit to increase their damage. Together with the "Creation" spell, you can make more resurrection chances.

2. Dark Paladins-Have an ability to resurrect units of level 1 to 4 that are next to this unit. Also, extremely good as a defensive unit as well.

3. Dark Knights- Have the Circle attack of all knights in the series, but even better has the Second Wind ability that gives a friendly unit another turn for that round.

4. Wizards- These are the Archmages of earlier versions. However, although they have the same abilities as archmages from before, those mages can hit 3 units while in a Trance in this version.

Ok Traitor Units:
1. Horsemen- Dark version of regular horsemen, they can be useful
2. Mage Killer- Although level 2, it's abilities are very good.

The rest? Not so good.

The main problem with using Traitor Humans is they're limited in what you can recruit. There's simply not "hordes" of creatures of them. However, you can use the Demon Blood Priestess to easily increase their numbers.

Unlike the spell Sacrifice, Blood Priestess can increase your stock with it's sacrifice ability by using it on Summoned creatures like those from Demons or Back To Nature or even the rage skill, Flames of Passion. These do not count as unit losses in this version. It's wise to carry Blood Priestesses around as a reserve unit for when you need to do this as they're not very effective in battle on their own.

Undead Units.

Undead Units can be recruited most anywhere and in large quantities. However, some are good, some a waste of gold.

Use of even one undead unit in your army causes "Ziogyns" to be released on the battlefield after creature stacks die. Also, they're released if your enemy has even one undead unit in it. These are dangerous to all but undead units, which they heal and even resurrect. If no Undead unit is present on the battlefield, then no Ziogyns will be released.

Good Undead Units:
1. Necromancers. These units can revive stacks of dead enemy into undead units that vary on what the stack was. They can also use "Magical Lock" to halt an enemy units abilities. Also, if using only Undead units. the Plague ability it has can benefit you greatly by raising your troops' morale.

2. Ancient Vampire. These hit harder and move faster than the regular Vampires. In bat form, they can resurrect themselves.

3. Vampires- Only slightly less than Ancient BUT you can command twice as many of these, thus actually making them stronger than Ancient vampires. Can also resurrect themselves as a bat.

4. Bone Dragons- Can be useful if used correctly. Can poison units surrounding it and can heal itself(but not resurrect) by devouring the dead.

Ok Undead Units:
1. Black Knights- It's dark Grasp is it's most useful feature as it can be hard for it to even reach the battle.
2. Female Vampires- They seem to be incomplete and in need of alteration by the developers, but can be useful...somewhat.
3. Cursed Ghosts-Can replenish itself or add numbers to it.
4. Dead Pirates-Haven't explored them fully, but seem to be one to include in the GOOD undead.

The rest? meh

Orc Units(and the 2 good Dwarf Units)

Orcs live by Adrenaline accumulation. However, they tend to be rather weak unless explored fully.

Good Orc Units:
1. Shaman- In reality, these work better with dragons than other orcs, but benefit both. In short, they're a very good unit to use with almost any choice you make for other units. They can heal with their axes, and do some decent damage with them while doing so plus their totems seem to attract the enemy more than your army does. They feel they must kill the totems first. An excellent distraction.

2. Orc Scouts- Require several quests to obtain, but once you do, they're very useful. They can summon a large stack of wolves and hit pretty hard themselves. These are the Wolf Riders.

3. Goblins with Catapults- Honestly, only work best in early to mid game as in late game, they seem to acquire "Highly flammable" as an ability. However, there isn't a better unit at Gremlin Tower destruction in the game.

4. Orc Chieftains- I'm not as impressed with these as other "leader" units, but they can be useful. It's problem is low initiative and speed. It has the ability to increase it's speed, but it's low initiative often leaves nobody to use that ability on.

5. Spirit Talkers- Has 3 very useful abilities and a surprisingly good regular ranged attack. Together with Shaman, they're the best units available for Orcs. Has an "avenger" ability which works like the spell, doing extra damage to any unit that attacks the selected one of yours. It's Hex ability makes the enemy miss more. It's biggest problem is very mediocre health.

Ok Orc Units:
1. Veteran Orcs- However in mid to late game, just not very good.

Good Dwarf Units:
1. Mechanic- Can both create and repair droids and these abilities benefit from the creation spell. It's flash grenade can also be useful.

2. Chemist- It's "Healing bottle" can even heal Ice and Black Dragons and Dragon Riders, creatures who's magic resistance prevents other measures, except Shaman. The bottle doesn't resurrect them though. It's Poison and Fire bottles are also very useful as well.

Dragons and Demons

Demons can be very good added to other types of units or on their own. It does require a bit of finesse at times and they seem to be best when you don't bother using traps in your game. That means avoiding the Spirit ability "Diversions". The reason why is your summoned demons(not main demon units) seem to hit every trap on the board and seem to even be magnetically attracted to them most times.

Good Demon Units:
1. Archdemons. This demon and fire are true buddies. It can use the ability Rain of Fire to hit 7 hexes or Volcano to create one that attracts enemy like the Totems do.. Also, it can summon a random demon stack, which is ALWAYS useful.

2. Demoness. Takes a bit of learning to use correctly, but worth it. Can charm enemies, hit from 2 spaces away and "swap stacks" which can pretty much neutralize any tough ranged enemy.

3. Demons. It's abilities and it's hard hitting are very useful. Can summon a random stack of enemies. can run up to be more effective in head to head and has a morale and initiative booster in it's pentagram.

4. Executioner. Very strong and tough skinned creature.

5. Blood Priestess- It's main strength is it's Sacrifice ability, which I went over strongly in the first section of this guide.

6. Scoffer Imps- Not as useful late in the game, but still very tough. 2 Fireballs and a tease distraction make them uber tough especially in the early battles. Also has a no retaliation physical attack. It's low health is it's only problem.

*7. Demonologist- They are not actually a demon ,but a neutral. But they're extremely useful in that they can heal/resurrect all but Ice and Black dragons and Dragon Riders. They can also summon demons as well. Plus they can hit hard even with their basic attack, especially on towers.

Ok Demon Units-
Imps- 2 fireballs and no retaliation strikes. Low health is it's problem too.
Cerberi- If you can get their defense high, they work great, otherwise, they die in droves as they rush into battle with their main "Blood lust" ability.

Dragons:
First, all dragons are useful in this, but some are VERY limited in how many you can recruit. Ice and Black Dragons are the main ones of these and thus not very good for long term strategy. You can get them from the Call of Colossus spell only if you keep trying to get them by doing it over and over until you do. Therefore, due to this limit, they will be in "ok units".

All dragons are tough defensively and offensively in straight up battle plus it's abilities and talents.

The rest can be replenished with the Blood Priestess Sacrifice ability, even Bone Dragons which I covered in Undead Units.

1. Red Dragons- It's attack hits both the target, and the one behind it. It's "Line of Fire" attack can hit as many as you can line up.
2. Emerald Dragons- It's "capture" ability to hit with no retaliation a unit 2 spaces away is good, but better is it's mana restoration ability. Simply put it amongst a lot of enemies and use the ability and replenish lost mana.
3. Dragon Riders. Without a doubt, the best unit in the entire SERIES. Once you sacrifice princesses to Oncologon, the dragon that joins you in the shelter, you can recruit these riders for 100,000 each. Worth every penny. I'll do a section on princesses later.
Anyways, the Riders can summon a troop of dragons, which are random but always strong as your leadership. Plus, their "Dive" ability can hit all ground units of the enemy extremely hard without it affecting your own. They're extraordinarily magic resistant and their main attack also hits the target and the enemy(or friend) behind it.

Ok Dragon Units:
1. Ice Dragons- Highly magic resistant which is both a blessing and a curse. Can hit 3 enemies with it's flap without retaliation and can summon little ice creatures that can take some of the heat off you.

2. Black Dragons- Highly magic resistant which is both a blessing and a curse. It's fire ability can hit many, many enemy, depending on how you place them. Requires some practice to use it right, but worth it once you do.

Do you need more Princesses?

Princesses are useful in that if you give them to the dragon Oncologon, you can buy Dragon Riders, the best unit in the entire King's Bounty series for 100,000 each.

Obtaining enough can be expensive but trust me, you can do it with all the money available in the game and some prudent spending.

After you finish Inselburg, the area around the castle opens up for you. Most are filled with Traitor human units, but there is a charm school there too.

Marie Curie, once in your shelter, will tell you the dragon doesn't know a princess from a regular human female if dressed right. Here's your chance.

Go to the charm school about it and for 500,000 gp, the headmaster will turn her head and let you capture 10 "fake princesses" who have had charm school instruction, thus fooling the dragon. Give all 10 to him as they're fake.

For another 500,000 she'll turn her head and let you have 5 REAL Princesses. Save two of them but give the rest to the dragon.

With one, Give them to Feline Delacourt in Portland and then another(I don't know why 2 and why separately), and she'll make dresses for 20 regular human females you can use to fool the dragon with.

That's 33 extras for Dragon Riders right there. Plus you'll easily get the Princess medal with:

On the dragon land, Drakkonakar(sp?), there is a place where you can obtain 3 dwarven princesses, who'll join you to avoid being bored by their dragon there.

There are only a few other princesses available throughout the other campaigns, but I hope I've helped you get as many Riders as you'll need.

Economics: Impossible Mode

WORK IN PROGRESS
Money, represented by gold pieces or 'gp', isn't much of a problem in all but the Impossible Mode. There it becomes prudent to spend your gp wisely, at least in the first of it. I'll start with what spells you'll want to buy. The others I would either never buy or wait until late in the game when "money is no object".

This is the only mode where the Spirit tree's "Trade" actually becomes very useful(It's useful in the others too but mainly for the added prisoner %, but, I promise, you'll eventually get all the prisoners you need)

PRIORITY SPELLS:
1. Resurrection-For Simon the Mage to convert into an "Of the Dark" version, you'll need to purchase 3. These are 12k apiece.

2. Turn Back Time-50k but worth it. Simon, the Mage always has one to buy when you add him to the shelter. Worth saving for

3. Call to Nature- This spell, in this version, is uber strong throughout the entire game. In this version, it's call is based on leadership and it's worth it even for the vampire. It's only 2k and can always be found early, in Portland, at the Lighthouse

4. Teleport-8k. This one can often be hard to find, and sometimes, you can't find it at all. Still, if you like taking the melee based strong units, such as knights, paladins, ogres and orc chieftains and putting them in the face of your enemy, this spell is for you.

5. Healing-Another that Simon converts for you into "of the dark" after buying 3. They're only 1k apiece and worth it.

6. Phantom- It sometimes isn't there, but often I've found it in Inselburg, once the city has fallen to the dark. 8k, I..think.

7. Creation- This spell might should be considered "overpowered". It's cheap, I think 3k, but is multi useful. Want your heresiarch to have more resurrections? This is the spell. It works with the Dark Paladins and Demonologists as well

8. Hypnosis** But not for your spellbook. Oh, it's useful, but the reason you should find/buy 3 of these is simple. Simon will take 3 "5th level" spells and make whatever Wanderer spell you want(I always choose Call of Colossus). Hypnosis is the cheapest of these at 12k each.

9. Dispel- Hate having the druids take over your summoned "Call to Nature" units? Dispel the effect. Last Hero used by enemy causing crashes once it gets to the third attack on the unit? Dispel it. Tired of your Heresiarch getting "sheepish" during keeper battles? Dispel it.

10. Calm Rage-Especially useful for Vampire-Converts those unused rage points into mana...simple.

11. Helplessness-Believe it or not, this can be very, very useful for those hit point heavy/defensive enemy units.

12. Blur- Let's face it, I'm mostly putting it here as it's a badge requirement spell. However, it DOES come in handy, but not until it's level 2. Blur is part of the badge that gives more resistance(more important than defense) so it's great to spam Blur, which costs little in mana, to get that as fast as possible up to it's highest badge level.

13. Magic Shackles- Works on all units, up to level 4 at highest level. Game changer.

14. Magic Spring- Useful in early game, but becomes useless once you have your own mana restorers.

**You'll notice I haven't put any Chaos spells in this. For the Orc and Demoness playthroughs, consider those spells as secondary. When playing the Vampire, of course, they should actually take precedence. Dark Star, Fireball, Fire Rain, etc. are all useful. Avoid the spells with 'chaos' in it's name as they're borderline worthless.As for "Demon Portal", Call to Nature makes it seem shoddy in this version.

BEST ARMOR in this version is the lab coat with it's 20% resistances. Also, it's one that has to be leveled up. However, it's probably the easiest level 4 keepers ever. The final one is even easier than the one before. There is also another resistance armor but can't think of it's name as it not always appears. With the Demoness, using both is surety against stat damage, which is the worst damage one takes in this version. Both are far better than any +defense armor you will find. I haven't found one that gives +5, but still it wouldn't come near the lab coat. You get the lab coat from buying it from Marie Curie once she's in your shelter and you do her first request, getting her 10 of the nigh worthless female vampires.

Life Light and Warding Healing aren't really worth your money. Life Light, at 50k, is especially wasteful to buy 3 of.

BLOOD PRIESTESS can save you a ton of gold. It's sacrifice ability can be used, if you use it wisely as it's random, to increase your amounts of all but 3 creatures, the black and ice dragons and the Dragon Riders. It works on the summoned creatures, so you don't have to "sacrifice" your main army units.

The better "attack" spells
1. Lightning- Should be used on Turn 1 mainly.
2. Dark Star- Heavy, heavy damage. works best with one of your units being immune to magic. You can do this on Turn 1 using the position of that immune unit and it won't affect him.
3. Sonic Boom-does good damage, but not sure what making enemy deaf does....
4. Fireball
5. Fire Rain
6. Blizzard
7. Ball of Lightning
8. Messenger of Death- A good way to deal with large stacks.

Do NOT buy:
1. Last Hero- Bugged is the reason
2. Peacefulness- doesn't do enough
3. Any spell with chaos in it's title. Theyr'e all random and you can't depend on any of them.
4.

Resurrection

UNITS:
1. Heresiarch- These you get in Portland after it turns to the dark. They're the inquisitors in this version.
2. Dark Paladin- These you can get in either Portland(sometimes) or in Inselburg after they turn to the dark. However, I played one campaign and never got any
3. Demonologist- In my tips guide, I discuss how to get them early from Atrixus. After Whitehill, go to the catacombs in Portland. From there enter the Atrixus portal, but immediately leave as there will be a unit too strong for you to handle there. THEN teleport to Atrixus where it's enemy free. Take the first floating platform to Verdelet's abode and buy your Demonologists there until after Inselburg becomes dark. Then you can recruit Verdelet for the shelter and buy your units there.
4. Blood Priestess-Unlike the sacrifice spell, you can use it's sacrifice on "summoned units" such as the one you get from call to nature. Use this to increase all but ice and black dragons and dragon riders without having to spend a dime after the initial purchases.
5. Soothsayer- Gotten in add ons. Can resurrect up to level 3's. Very good attacks too
6. Warrior Maiden- Hits hard and can resurrect up to level 4's. Hits HARD and has great defense.

SPELLS:
1. Turn Back Time-buy from Simon the mage after you recruit him.
2. Resurrection-buy 3 scrolls at varied locations and have Simon convert to the dark version.

OTHER:
Ziogyns. This works only for undead creatures. These little black puffs of smoke can heal/resurrect undead units. They only appear if you or your enemy is using undead creatures.

My Best Battle Strategies

One man's meat is another man's poison so they say. This is MY best strategies but that doesn't mean they work for everyone.

In strategy games, I tend to be passive defensive. I let an opponent break himself on my defenses, taking occasional shots when they err.(And a proper defensive strategy always makes opponents err, out of impatience or desperation). Once they're out of position, or ripe for it I hit strong, concentrating on either a weak point or the strongest, never the middle. They find they can't counter attack as my defense is still there. I do this in online card games like Magic; The Gathering and in other strategy games.

Here, in the early going, I concentrate on ranged attacks, with a tank out in front to absorb damage which I promptly heal or resurrect. After Inselburg goes 'dark" I shift into a more "pin the enemy at it's own front line" strategy by using expendable summoned units to block them from advancing, while hitting them with a couple of ranged units.

The best unit combination of 5 I like to use are:
1. Heresiarch- For resurrection but also this can be a hard hitting ranged unit as well. There is more than enough morale boosts to make this so. The 88k gp Order of Twilight medal is a must for an artifact slot
2. Demonologist- Together with the Heresiarch, these keep your units whole with resurrections. I like to use creation mainly on this unit as it's "heal/resurrect" is deadlier than it's attack, EXCEPT vs units vulnerable to fire. It's not 'supposed' to be a fire based attack, but it seems to work line one. It's demon summons is iffy, but use it anyways to help pin the enemy at it's front line if you can
3. Dragon Rider- Deadly in melee, but I almost never put it face to face with enemy units. Why? Heresiarch and Demonologist can't resurrect these and they cost 100k a piece PLUS a princess. Instead I use the Dragon summons right in the enemy's face and it's Dive to really wreck every ground enemy unit. Some like to have 4 units of these separated, but it's dive really works great with one strong unit.
4. Archdemon- It's one problem is it's melee hits like a 'wee girl', regardless of what it's attack stat is. Instead it's mobility, stat protection, initiative and demon summons is what is really key. Put it just one hex away from enemy units on turn 1, summon a "call to nature" in the hex in front of the enemy(hopefully you choose a ranged enemy to block it off) and use another hex to place demons. Use Fire Rain next but refrain from using 'volcano' as it seems to love targeting YOUR units. Use the melee instead to "pick off" weak enough units...also, besides it's attack stat seeming to be wrong, it's defense also seems wrong too.
5. Red Dragons- Unlike all other dragons, you get multiple ways to increase your leadership of these. The dragon based 'old artifact' is the only one worth keeping due to this, You get a painting later that also increases this for red dragons only as well as another item that does the same. Also, it and the Arch Demon can be resurrected despite being level 5.

*Until you get dragon riders and/or arch demons, Emerald Dragons do well too.

Stat "Resistance" is very key in this version. Much more important than defense as burn, bleeding and poison can wreck your unit numbers. The Arch Demon is great because it 'shakes off' these at the beginning of the next turn so the effect never affects it. The Lab coat and another item that does the same thing(can't recall name offhand) are also priority. Demetrius, a pitchfork weapon, is great as it increases your demons leadership, especially when you level it up to 3 as it also has an attack of +4.

Focus on stat producing enemy that do burning, poison, and bleeding first, freeze and shock next. Get them blocked off or dead as fast as you can. Alchemists can become your worst enemy so they take HIGH priority in getting rid of as their stat potions can't be 'blocked off'.

In Portland, you won't have many in my list, probably only can rely on having Demonologists(consult other parts of guide as to why). So, what's early set up is both imp types, demonologist, Demons/executioners depending on what you get kiting to Atrixus for free, and either Orc Shaman or Goblin Catapults, depending on what you get from kiting to Tristrem. As soon as you get the Monteville map, go there and get both vampire types(not the females) and Necromancers to replace 3 of the units. Also, use my Call of Colossus trick to get another great unit, hopefully a red or emerald dragon or an arch demon. When fighting the dragon on Portland, if you have one of these 3, it's easy to go without losing a unit. Once you start getting the ones in my main 5, get rid of the other units at faraway garrisons.

The early imps are very good, but only for that map. Another good thing about them is they easily get your 'fire, poison, etc" badge up so when you get the Arch Demons, and dragon rider and red dragons, they hit for maximum.

An alternative to the above list of 5 units:
1. Dragon Riders
2. Heresiarchs
3. Arch Demons
4. Wizards- These are highly effective with high morale as it hits 3 with it's trance attack
5. Dark Paladin
*Use this combination with amulet of the Twilight Order and keep the Nightmare Title.

Any questions, just contact me at [e-mail]

Expansion suggestions

UNITS:
1. An undead resurrection unit. Lich
2. An evil Wyvern creature, to counter Griffins. Should have poison ability or attack as they do in fantasy
3. Griffins to be tied more to elves, who need the help. In most fantasy, griffins and elves go together and would make the Wyvern the Dark elves counter
4. The 'Botanist' a character that can heal/resurrect plants
5. The "beastmaster" that enhances all beasts stats and perhaps has ability to summon random beasts.
6. Perhaps add Lions and Tigers, perhaps a cat themed group? Lynx, puma, cheetah, bad ole' putty tats?
7. Bring back the Archdruid from the original King's Bounty game. Perhaps this can be the "botanist' type I suggested in #4

SHELTER:
1. A place to buy Traitor Humans. I actually like how they work. If going All of a type, this one is the most durable throughout the game.
2. If you sell items to the shelter, you can rebuy them later
3. More things to do with your prisoners. Perhaps you can later make a level 5 type of each? Make Traitor Humans a possibility for prisoner conversion?
4. A sacrificial pit to get rid of extra creatures you no longer need. Reward in Gold or Crystals or even Items after certain amounts are reached. Base this amount on total level with:
1. Level 1's give 1 point x however many you put in. Excess prisoners could also be used
2. Level 2's give 2 points x however many you put in
3. Level 3's give 3 points x however many you put in
4. Level 4's give 4 points x however many you put in
5. Level 5's give 5 points x however many you put in



ITEMS:
1. We seem to have umpteen dozen artifacts and very few regalia. The Paintings, at least, should be regalia. Makes sense.
2. A multifaceted quest to get the "Sword of Eternal Darkness". This sword would be a +5(game has a shortage of +5 Attack items) and be part of the Eternal Darkness set which would feature a glove or belt(shortage of these too), Eternal Darkness Regalia/flag, Eternal Darkness Armor and an Eternal Darkness Boots(Another item we're short of)You can even base a ton of quests on obtaining each, with having to face worlds of Undead, Demons, Traitor Humans, Traitor Orcs, and Dark Elves and Dwarves.
3. Better Armor or at least more of a choice. Mid level Armor. You can get them from past games
4. More set options. I'm on my 9th playthrough and have yet to get one.
5.

OTHERS:
1. Replace the "Merciful" badge with another Attack based badge. Even if "very weak" they rarely give you the option of them surrendering. ...I know, Make a "Condition Critical" badge that's based on how many critical hits you accomplish.
2. If you give us an Undead Resurrection unit, the Lich, then remove the Ziogyns
3. An Undead island/continent would be a good new addition. There's not many so far.
4. A Reptile world for those dino like creatures would be nice. Having a ring that benefits Gorguans in the game is kind of silly without actual Gorguans to command.
5. A Cleanse spell to rid the field of traps and Ziogyns and maybe even obstacles. The dwarf ones piss me off,lol
6. Making the Fire Elementals immune to fire attacks makes sense
7. Make "Life Light" also remove status effects like burning, freeze, poison and bleeding. Otherwise this spell is no where near worth it's cost x 3 to get. It's not even worth 2k, let alone 50k.
8.

[DaddyCoolGames]

Great guide. Very useful infos.

I tend to max out my playthroughs, and I use maraduers for dead-body gold seach and ghost pirates for chest dig. Both units can receive"creaton" spell for extra ability "uses". Chest drop rate is about 50% for ghost pirates. Chest include mainly gold and spells, sometimes wanderer scrolls and runes. Reacting to one of below comments: ghost pirates never trigger any traps.
My personal current army is: maradurers, ghost pirates, dark paladins, archdemons and ancient vampires. The first 2 slots are permanent for max gold grinding, the other 3 can be changed as preferred.

You can find my Vampire -Impossible difficulty - No unit loss gameplay on youbute under DaddyCoolGames.

[josefedmunds]

Incredible guide but I can't get past the first battle out in front of the Spirit of Darkness's tower.

[alation13]

The Priestesses are best used with Demonesses, use the Demonesses to charm an enemy and then sacrifice the charmed enemy with the Priestesses. Why kill your own (or summoned units) when you can kill enemy units.

[Shadowcran]

Why have 4 slots empty? Divide up your dragon stack among all 5.

[jn3b00n]

@Zlorfik - allright, it's very situational :-) . I play 1 stack of dragons + armageddon on impossible, so 3-4 slots are always empty.

I found some things that could not be found otherwise - wanderer spells, crystals (sometimes 3-4 / chest), a few runes (maybe 3-4) and even an item upgrade. I would say you find runes as often as the alchemy set (1 in 10 fights), but may be more like 1 in 20.

Still - it's worth it for me and the build I use at this moment in the game (inselburg, dragandor and baraz-gund), but probably won't be worth it further on in the game.

[Zlorfik [CH/BY]]

@jn3b00n Apart from spending money on a limited availability unit... And usually, I stack of units is not enough to do the fighting unless you play on easy. Finally, the treasures I found are usually not worth the pain.

[jn3b00n]

"4. Dead Pirates-Haven't explored them fully, but seem to be one to include in the GOOD undead."

I found a great use for pirate ghosts, although quite situational. The jist of it - put 1 stack of units that will do the fighting + 4 pirate ghosts (1 in each free unit slot).

Use the search treasure, and if a treasure is found, the next pirate ghost will run to it - through obstacles and everything (actually found a bug, if a pirate ghost goes on a trap while doing this - it will pick up the treasure and not trigger the trap :-) ).

In general you can hope for an average of 1 treasure per fight (due them being targeted by spells / archers, not surviving the 2nd round or just bad luck). Gold and scrolls are most common, runes and items are very rare.

Works extremely well with vampire thanks to Transmute, guaranteeing an extra 8/16/24 mana per fight.

[Shadowcran]

It's if you want to run the no casualties method, you don't use cerberi.

[Enfernuz]

The Cerberi dogs can be quite powerful if you position them right so they could attack/counter three units simultaneously. The teleport spell is useful for this. Also their leap ability is itself a good distance closer and they have enough speed to get in position for it. They have not so much health though, I agree on that, so you have to have a spare stack of them in the reserve. But even with that said, on the hard difficulty their numbers don't deteriorate too fast comparing to some other 3rd level units.

[Enfernuz]

It's "Zlogn", not "Ziogyn". Rooted from "zlo" ("evil") in Russian.