Heroes 3 wiki - User contributions [en]

Tricks

2018-08-15T17:19:04Z

FourLiches: Grammar, spelling fixes.

== Harpy Hag Hoodoo ==
Since they are fast and strike with no retaliation, [[Harpy Hag]]s can be used to attack neutral stacks which are much more powerful than they are. To make this work, you need to be facing enemy troops with a speed of 4 or less, or use the [[Slow]] or [[Haste]] spells so that your Harpy Hags are moving more than twice as fast as the enemy (or some fortuitously-placed obstacles). You can then choose to wait, to make the enemy move first, swoop in and attack, then, when they get close, hustle to a new location and repeat (beware [[Morale]] bonuses by the enemy, however!). In a multiplayer game, this can take some time to do and hence is frowned upon, but early on in a SP game you can use it to clear mines/guardians you would otherwise not be able to, at least until your Dragons become available. This tactic can basically be done with any non-retaliatory creature (Cerberi, Arch Devils, Sprites, Vampire Lords), but the HH's are the only one to return to their original hex.

== Cooking the Books with the Treasury ==
The [[Treasury]] can be extremely useful during long games on larger maps. If you let your gold accumulate week to week, buying only essential troops and buildings, in a month or so your gold stockpile can mushroom to humongous levels (1 million gold or more). The interest rate is equal to Treasuries Owned x 10%, so if you have 4
[[Rampart]] towns with Treasuries, that's 40% per week. If you start with say 100,000 gold, with a daily income of 10,000, you will, after 4 weeks, indeed have over 1 million gold. But the downside is that a [[Plague]] will kill off half of all unpurchased troops in your towns, so I'd start saving AFTER a Plague (as I've never seen two Plagues happen within 2-4 months of each other). (On the contrary: I've seen a plague at the end of both Month 1 and Month 2, but it's very rare. --[[user:Memetics|Memetics]])

== Wraith Bomb ==
[[Wraith]]s can be useful after all! Send out waves of expendable heroes against a dangerous invader, each with 7 1-Wraith stacks, with the aim of reducing his spell points. You will need lots of extra gold of course to make this work. This, of course, works better against the AI than it does vs. another human and is countered by [[Destroy Undead]], but if you have the [[Pendant of Death]]...! And even getting your enemy to cast Destroy Undead over and over is going to cause him to lose spell points. Considered a "gamey" strategy by some...

== Castle Siege ==
'''Attacker'''
[[Hypnotize]] an enemy troop and open the drawbridge.

Six or seven stacks of [[cyclops king]]s can reduce a castle to rubble in as little as two rounds.

'''Defender'''
Block an open drawbridge with [[Force Field]].

In a [[Tower]] town defending against an AI, send a lone gargoyle to stand on the top or bottom mine after at least one ground troop has advanced all the way to the castle wall, leaving several hexes between the gargoyle and the nearest ground troop. In many cases, the ground troop will walk through every mine on the way to kill the lone gargoyle, and sometimes die before it reaches its target.

In a [[Fortress]] town defending against an AI, when a wall is at risk for coming down or has already come down, send a lone serpent or dragon fly to stand immediately outside an intact section of castle wall, not adjacent to an enemy. The two-wide moat means that no creature will be able to attack you without getting morale. AI creatures will typically prefer to approach your dragon fly rather than try to make their way to the weakness or hole, thus ceding their turn. As soon as your fly gets another turn, move it to another location against the wall and watch the AI waste its turn walking up to you again.

When the enemy has no or relatively weak flying or ranged units, and you have the [[Castle]] built, don't ever attack with non-ranged units until he can get within the siege wall. By the time he manages to get closer, his army will be much weakened by the arrow towers and your ranged unit(s), so you can beat even much stronger enemies.

If the attacker has strong walker units, destroy the catapult as soon as possible by spells and/or ranged units. The arrow towers will do rest of the work.

== Open-field battle ==
[[Remove Obstacle]] is a possibility when:
* a troop in your army is blocked in its starting position by a battlefield obstacle.
* an enemy shooter is protected by a battlefield obstacle.

==Extra nasty Berserk==
If you have [[Berserk]], and are fighting at least two stacks of [[Dendroid Guard]]s and/or [[Dendroid Soldier]]s, try using it to get them to attack each other. If you do, they will bind each other, making them both unable to move.

== Using Master Genies ==
When you have [[Master Genie]]s on your hero and have several creatures slots free, split your Master Genies to several stacks so you could benefit from their spell casting ability with additional casts.

==No spells, or?==
The [[Orb of Inhibition]] seems slightly bugged. It doesn't stop the [[Armor of the Damned]] or the [[Angelic Alliance]] from casting their spells at the start of combat. Especially in the first case, this can give you an enormous advantage.

==It goes on and on==

[[Clone]] helps double your manpower if you cast it on troops that number well over 500 (5 or 10 if it's concerning LV4+ troops). They also still retain their abilities, so that means you can spam [[Resurrection]] with [[Archangel]]s, general blessings from [[Master Genie]]s or even deliver the extra deathblow with [[Dread Knight]]s, [[Cyclops King]]s, and [[Power Lich]]es.

== Decoy ==
When a strong enemy approaches your castle, buy some random heroes and spread them in different directions. If placed correctly (not always an option), the enemy can't capture your castle the next day because he has no movement left. Useful when you need that extra day for troops, or when your main hero is just a few turns out of reach.
You can also trigger the enemy's "bonus till next battle" this way.

== The Admiral's Way ==
The [[Admiral's Hat]] negates the movement speed loss while boarding or disembarking a boat. For AI opponents, this is 'impossible', so you can trick them easily.
Requires: The artifact, enemy castle nearby water. This trick is very useful when you have to attack a well-guarded enemy castle.
Approach the castle (by boat). While enough movement remains, disembark and flag some nearby mines/dwellings. Before your turn ends, board and make sure
the enemy can't attack your boat from the shore. Since AI opponents think you need an extra turn to disembark, they will re-flag their mines/dwellings.
If they can't make it back to their castle, you can simply take it the next turn so you are the one defending the castle. You can also quickly refresh your
troops if you happen to have Town Portal and Expert Earth Magic.
You can combine this trick with Decoy (above): Instead of flagging mines/dwellings, pull him out with a decoy hero while your real hero waits at sea.

=== Grand Theft Boat ===
Related to the above, this is a hilarious tactic which involves stranding an enemy hero on a desert island. Tactics like having a secondary hero rescue the primary one are usually too advanced for the AI, so you can take a powerful army out of the game with this simple trick. There are several ways to pull it off:

1. A means of water-walking, flying or [[Dimension Door]] and either [[Scuttle Boat]] or the [[Admiral's Hat]]. If you catch an enemy disembarking on a small island, get to the island using one of the aforementioned methods, then either scuttle their boat and get away (usually only possible with Dimension Door), or grab their boat and set sail.
2. You can do this with just the Admiral's Hat: land on an island, let the enemy land to attack you, scuttle one boat and abscond with the other.
3. Same as the above, but with just Scuttle Boat: let the enemy land to attack you and scuttle both your boats, trapping the two of you. Then use [[Town Portal]], engage the enemy then retreat/surrender, or sacrifice your hero.

This will not work if the enemy has water-walking, flying, Dimension Door, Town Portal or (possibly) Summon Boat.

== Mix and match ==

If you like to play the diplomacy way, make sure you always have an extra hero following your main hero. Either split one stack in two or just keep one slot open. When a non-matching group joins you for free, dump them on your extra hero for the time being. When full, replace the weakest stacks if necessary.
You now have an extra army at your disposal.
- Weaken an enemy with a wave of accumulated creatures before attacking them with your real army. (optionally bring a third hero for this)
- Adapt to the combat situation. Need more ranged creatures? Missing that fast-moving troop that grants you the first turn? Simply swap before attacking.
- When you get a decent stack of pit lords, you can change all your random creatures into a big pile of demons.
- Get a lot of profit from a freelancer's guild or an altar of sacrifice.
- You can leave guards wherever you'd like them.

__NOTOC__

[[Category:Miscellaneous]]
[[Category: Combat]]

Strategies

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FourLiches: Removed extra spaces.

== General Strategies ==
=== Dragogeddon ===
A tactical maneuver, wherein the hero aims to cast the [[Armageddon]] spell without harming his own troops. In the original {{roe}} [[Black Dragon]]s and [[Gold Dragon]]s were the best creatures to have when using this tactic, hence the name dragogeddon.

In order for dragogeddon tactics to work in the best possible way, the hero requires:
* at least advanced [[Wisdom]] to learn Armageddon
* high [[Primary skill#power_skill|power skill]] for Armageddon to cause as much damage as possible
* reasonable [[Primary skill#knowledge_skill|knowledge]] for sufficient spell points to cast the spell at least few times
* creatures with appropriate spell immunity to cause damage only to enemy units.

Possible creatures for the dragogeddon tactics are:
* [[Black Dragon]]s from [[Dungeon]]
* [[Gold Dragon]]s from [[Rampart]]
* [[Efreet Sultan]]s from [[Inferno]]
* [[Fire Elemental]]s, [[Magma Elemental]]s, [[Magic Elemental]]s or [[Phoenix]]es from [[Conflux]]

Additionally, [[golem]]s may be used for the tactic because of their [[Spell damage resistance]] ability. For this purpose, [[Tower]]'s [[Stone and Iron Golem]]s are typically the easiest to gather. However, dragogeddon tactics are often used in situations where it is essential to rapidly – preferably in the first round of combat – destroy enemy forces, and therefore golems with a slow [[speed]] rating are not a preferable choice. Conflux's Fire Elementals and Magic Elementals are not significantly better.

The combination artifact [[Power of the Dragon Father]], while hard to obtain, makes all of the hero's units immune to Armageddon, allowing dragogeddon usage with any army.

Another situation for dragogeddon is when a player needs to weaken an enemy hero's main force. When used for this purpose, the attacking method is typically hit-and-run, which makes speed essential and Phoenixes the best choice. It is vital for the hero to act first in the combat, cast Armageddon and then [[surrender]] (or [[retreat]]), and then repeat the process. In an ideal situation, the enemy hero's movement has ended up near the defending player's town, when it is a short distance to attack the enemy hero over and over again with Phoenixes combined with Armageddon.

The biggest threats for dragogeddon are [[Orb of Inhibition]], disallowing the use of all spells in combat and [[Recanter's Cloak]], suppressing spells any higher than level 3.

=== Artifact Monopoly ===
A tactic for the turn's first human player of every month. Since all [[Artifact Merchants]] carry the same stock, the human player who is first in the turn order gets the first choice of artifacts to buy every month. This can be a huge advantage during multiplayer games, as the computers always act after the human players.

If playing with {{sod}} expansion, a solid use of the strategy is to buy every [[combination artifact]] piece they can afford at the first round of the month. After a few months, and with some luck in adventuring, the first player - using this tactic - may combine few of the easier combination artifacts like [[Bow of the Sharpshooter]], [[Cloak of the Undead King]] or [[Wizard's Well]] - all quite powerful.

=== A mite, but not an enemy, very charming, no enmities ===
If you don't have the resources to run that one town you need the troops from, let the enemy capture it and spend all their resources building it for you, then when they least expect it, take it back with minimal force. Losses are 500 (basic city) over 1000 (with [[Town Hall]] building) over 2000 ([[City Hall]]) gold to 4000 gold ([[Capitol]] city, losing the [[Capitol]] to the enemy destroys the 10k gold [[Capitol]] building) each day and the added costs of recapturing the town - but the [[Resources]] needed for better buildings might even be harder to come by and you want that high level unit buildings to be built in the long term, why not let the enemy build them.

=== Stack divide, and conquer ===
Flanking has its uses, [[Cyclops]] and [[Genie]] units with their casting or castle wall damage feature work '''without considering the unit amount''' of the stack , so [[Cyclops]] that have damage castle walls as a special will get one castle wall attack per [[Cyclops]] stack (or even advanced [[Ballistics]] and thus two shots when the stack is a [[Cyclops King]] stack), the number of [[Cyclops]] in the stack is not relevant and [[Genie]]s will get their usual allotment of spells without regarding the stack size too - one [[Genie]] and his utility spells is as important as 100 considering spells that they can cast - as opposed to [[Faerie Dragon]]s that use damaging spells that depend on the number of units the stack has. [[Genie]]s are level 5 creatures, a [[Cyclops]] is a level 6 creature, both are a little bit faster than level 1 or 2 units in general - and those tend to die off easily midgame so the open places in the army of the hero are not actually wasted given utility spells on worthwhile creatures or faster sieges and additionally higher level creatures also tend to move faster on the adventure map.

== Faction Specific Strategies ==
* [[Talk:Castle#Strategy|Castle]]
* [[Talk:Rampart#Strategy|Rampart]]
* [[Talk:Tower#Strategy|Tower]]
* [[Talk:Inferno#Strategy|Inferno]]
* [[Talk:Necropolis#Strategy|Necropolis]]
* [[Talk:Dungeon#Strategy|Dungeon]]
* [[Talk:Stronghold#Strategy|Stronghold]]
* [[Talk:Fortress#Strategy|Fortress]]
* [[Talk:Conflux#Strategy|Conflux]]

== See also ==
* [[Tricks]]

[[Category: Miscellaneous]]

Strategies

2018-08-15T17:13:03Z

FourLiches: Grammar, spelling fixes.

Trivia

2018-08-15T17:07:09Z

FourLiches: Grammar fixes.

'''Did you know''' is a collection of small bits of information about {{homm3}}.

== Verified statements ==
* Adventure map objects can be reactivated by pressing the space bar. This action doesn't cost any movement points and allows, for example, unlimited cycling through two-way monoliths. (Does not work in {{roe}}).
* All living [[Dragons]] and [[Hydra]]s become [[Bone Dragon]]s in the [[Skeleton Transformer]]. [[Bone Dragon]]s will turn to simple [[Skeleton]]s.
* All effects of creature abilities (e.g. [[dendroids]]' [[bind]]ing) can be [[dispel]]led except [[Wyvern Monarch]]s' [[poison]], which can be [[cure]]d though.
* All [[spell]]s cannot be disabled from the map. There must be at least one spell from each level.
* Almost all non-upgraded [[wandering creature]]s look to the right side, while upgraded creatures look to the left side. (Exceptions are [[Water Elemental|Water]] and [[Earth Elemental]]s.
* [[Anti-Magic]] can only be removed with expert level [[Dispel]] or with [[Dragon Fly]]'s dispel ability (the ability was introduced in {{roe}} 1.4).
* Any creatures with [[double attack]] can get [[luck]]y twice in a row.
* [[Arrow tower]]s cause more damage to heroes with [[Armorer]], although it should be the other way round. This also applies to [[Air Shield]].
* Artifacts affect also [[Clone]]d creatures.
* [[Badge of Courage]] prevents all [[mind spells]]. The spellbook and wand symbol do appear, but spells like [[Berserk]] will have no effect.
* Battles in the subterranean level are always considered to take place on [[subterranean]] [[terrain]]. However, [[movement]] works normally.
* [[Berserk]] can be cast on [[Undead]] creatures if [[Orb of Vulnerability]] is present. However, they are still immune to [[Blind]].
* [[Cavalier]]s are upgraded to [[Champion]]s for free at [[Stables]] located on the [[Adventure Map]].
* [[Clone]]d creatures also copy the ability to cast spells. For example, [[Ogre Mage|Ogre Magi]] can cast [[Bloodlust]] or [[Archangel]] can cast [[Resurrection]].
* [[Dispel]] nor [[Cure]] cannot remove the effect of [[Disrupting Ray]].
* Even though [[Black Dragon]]s are immune to all creature abilities (e.g. [[stone gaze]]), they can still be [[bind]]ed by [[dendroid]]s.
* Even though [[Black Dragon]]s are immune to all spells, they still receive damage from [[Efreet Sultan]]s' Fire Shield.
* Having at least one [[Rogue]] in hero's army has the same effect basic [[Visions]] has.
* [[Land Mine]]s do no affect creatures with magic immunity (e.g. [[Magic Elemental]]s) (''Heroes v1.4 or Complete only'')
* Having two (or more) same legion artifacts on one hero only gives the growth bonus once. However, two heroes with the same legion artifact on garrison and visiting slots of the town, give bonuses for both.
* [[Master Genie]]s can and will cast Cure on friendlies.
* [[Morale]] bonus for visiting [[Temple]] on day 7 is +2. Also, [[Idol of Fortune]] gives +1 to both Morale and [[Luck]].
* Odds of [[wandering creature]]s joining you depends on what troops you have with you (and whether or not you have [[Diplomacy]]).
* The only spell that can affect [[Black Dragon]]s is expert [[Dispel]].
* [[Pikeman and Halberdier|Pikemen and Halberdiers]] are immune to [[Cavalier and Champion|Cavaliers and Champions]] [[jousting]] bonus (+5% damage per hex they cross).
* [[Stone and Obsidian Gargoyle]]s cannot be [[Resurrection|resurrected]] because they are [[non-living]] creatures. However, they can get [[Morale]], unlike [[Golem]]s or [[Elemental]]s.
* [[Orb of Vulnerability]] breaks creatures' natural immunities to magic, but not artifact-granted immunities.
* [[Tower]] [[moat]]'s [[Land Mine]]s are treated similarly as the spell, and therefore they can be [[Dispel]]led, creatures with magic immunities are unaffected by them, and [[Orb of Tempestuous Fire]] increase their damage.
* [[Tree of Knowledge]] gives experience equal to the difference between a hero's next level and current level.
* [[Windmill]] never produces [[wood]] {{W}}.
* With [[Necromancy]] skill, you get more [[Skeleton]]s than [[Skeleton Warrior]]s (because of the health difference).
* It's possible for a hero to have no troops if you deposit them at a [[Seer's Hut]] or [[Quest Guard]]. Upon entering a battle, you will instantly lose as soon as the pre-battle music ends.
* Spells cast by the [[Armor of the Damned]] combined with [[Orb of Vulnerability]] will work in an [[Anti-Magic Garrison]].
* Luck stacks with the [[Dread Knight]]'s Death Blow.
* You can delete artifacts by trading with an allied hero in multiplayer and having the artifact selected with your mouse (as you're dragging it) as the other player exits the trade window.

== Unverified claims ==
* [[Archangel]]s resurrect fewer creatures with health artifacts on, but [[Pit Lord]]s raise more creatures with additional health points with health artifacts?
* You can mark a path max. 602 tiles long on ground and 594 tiles long on water?
* [[Gold Dragon]]s are susceptible to Dispel cast by heroes, the Resurrection part of Sacrifice (but not the Sacrification), Ghost Dragon's Aging, War Unicorn's Blinding and Medusa Queen's Stone Gaze?
* The [[Disguise]] spell is completely useless against Hard/Expert/Impossible AI?
* [[Orb of Vulnerability]] does not negate [[Spell Damage Resistance]], whereas it negates the [[Magic Resistance]] artifacts and secondary skill?

== False claims ==
* A [[horde building]] protects those particular creatures in that town from [[plague]], which means that the dwelling with a horde building will produce creatures normally. - tested in RoE, SoD (HD+) and HotA --[[User:ShushMaster|ShushMaster]] ([[User talk:ShushMaster|talk]]) 18:27, 30 July 2018 (CEST)
* Battles in [[mine]]s are always considered to take place in [[Subterranean]] terrain. (Version 4.0. Tested by [[User:Kapteeni Ruoska|Kapteeni Ruoska]] 07:30, 28 March 2014 (CET))
* Elementals that are summoned in combat are not affected by Planeswalkers' (e.g. [[Kalt]]) bonuses. Tested by [[User:Kapteeni Ruoska|Kapteeni Ruoska]] 06:37, 4 August 2014 (CEST)
* In the first versions of the game, [[Witch]]es had a chance to learn [[Necromancy]]. (Version 1.0. Tested by [[User:Kapteeni Ruoska|Kapteeni Ruoska]] 07:55, 28 March 2014 (CET))

[[Category: Miscellaneous]]

The Shadow of Death

2018-08-15T17:00:47Z

FourLiches: /* From Armageddon's Blade to Shadow of Death */ Grammar

[[Image:homm_sod.jpg|frame|right|Shadow of Death box-art]]

'''Shadow of Death''' (or '''SoD''') is the second [[Expansions|expansion]] to {{hommroe}}. Chronologically it takes place prior to the events that occur in Restoration of Erathia. It does not need a previous installation of heroes in order to work (unlike [[Armageddon's Blade]]), and it includes all of the new features of Armageddon's Blade, except [[campaigns]] and the ability to play as the [[conflux]] town.

'''New Features:'''
* [[Combination Artifact]]s
* All the new creatures and artifacts from Armageddon's Blade
* New [[magical terrain]]s
* The [[random map]] generator
* Several new options for mapmakers

<br>

== Campaigns ==
* [[Hack and Slash]]
* [[Elixir of Life (campaign)|Elixir of Life]]
* [[New Beginning]]
* [[Birth of a Barbarian]]
* [[Rise of the Necromancer]]
* [[Unholy Alliance]]
* [[Spectre of Power]]

<br>

== From [[Armageddon's Blade]] to [[Shadow of Death]] ==
* [[Lizardman]], [[Lizard Warrior]], [[Serpent Fly]], [[Dragon Fly]], [[Angel]], and [[Archangel]] rebalanced

[[Category: Expansions]]