Best boytoy for mage still...?

[Zechnophobe]

Originally Posted by Saiko Kila

Thanks for input guys. I have a 20 lev mage now, and decided to get Elenhel. I have cleared first four islands (Debir, Bolo, two with pirates), can kill most of non-hero armies on Verona and Montero (except some like undead army before prison castle because they have 4 Black Dragons), or orcish-droid guardians of Umkas map, because they love to spam Astral Damage), and have access to Sheterra, Dersu, Tekron, before getting Elenhel. No Elon, so Moro will have to wait for me

My mage is somewhat weak comparing to previous games (I had 10 INT when got Elenhel on Level 18, and less than 50 mana), and enemies are somewhat stronger, especially all forms of orcs, so I'm going to experiment a bit. I've been playing HoMM5 recently, and liked their undead armies with phoenix, probably will try to do sth similar here (but without Raise Dead equivalent that could be hard).

I can't upgrade Adept's Staff to higher level still, but I'm going to eventually give that to another armor bearer (and it will give more than INT+4, hehe).

For now, I'm using Royal Snakes (still), Inquisitors, Demonologists, Paladins, Evil Beholders, Engineers and Witch Hunters (witch hunters can shackle even black dragons, hehe), depending on enemy. My pet dragon is a blue one this time, and I probably will have some green dragons in future. But while I'm willing to try orcs, I'm not going to use any Orc-only armor bearer, because I suspect that orcs will suck. There are enemies which are nasty when you fight them, but quite sucky when you have them, and I think that orcs may be such a case. For example, if I'm not mistaken, Goblin Shamans sacrifice themselves to perform their powerful Astral attack, so I'd have to forget about no-loss. And there are other specials seeming to cause loss of units.

But a few of them also seem to have the 'recruiter' skill that gives you troops after each fight. Sounds pretty useful. I'm totally going to try out pure orc build next time I play through.

[BB Shockwave]

Yeah, it seems a no-loss game will be very hard to do with Orcs. I plan to do a warrior walkthrough later and use only orcs.

[Saiko Kila]

Originally Posted by Zechnophobe

But a few of them also seem to have the 'recruiter' skill that gives you troops after each fight. Sounds pretty useful. I'm totally going to try out pure orc build next time I play through.

In theory yes, but I don't know how it works. I had a stack of Goblin Shamans, not full, and got no units after fight. Maybe I'd need more practice with orcs to get a better grip on them. And orcs seem to depend on synergy - enemy orcs have much higher level of adrenaline than my orcs, even if they don't have a hero. Orc-only army would be better, I think. But there are so many units to try!

[BB Shockwave]

Originally Posted by Saiko Kila

In theory yes, but I don't know how it works. I had a stack of Goblin Shamans, not full, and got no units after fight. Maybe I'd need more practice with orcs to get a better grip on them. And orcs seem to depend on synergy - enemy orcs have much higher level of adrenaline than my orcs, even if they don't have a hero. Orc-only army would be better, I think. But there are so many units to try!

I think they only give units to existing goblin/orc stacks, and only not above your own leadership limit.

[ckdamascus]

Originally Posted by BB Shockwave

I think they only give units to existing goblin/orc stacks, and only not above your own leadership limit.

Wow, I'm surprised you guys didn't get the answers by now, if not by trial and error.

Yes, they [goblin shaman] give it only to existing goblin stacks (not orc). They do not give to themselves, and they DO give you above your leadership limit, as they start filling out your reserve section.

e.g.
I had 3 goblin shaman, 5 goblins, 3 catapults, and 2 other non-goblin units.

I win a battle.

I randomly get +3 goblins which end up in my reserve troop area.

In another battle, I get +2 catapults which end up in my reserve troop area.

To be frank, it's a great concept, until you want to hold other reserve troops and you end up losing slots to these other units.

It can definitely help out early on (which is why I've been saying Crossworlds seems to be FAR smoother, especially for impossible mode games).

[BB Shockwave]

I don't use orcs. My first walkthrough will be with a human army (well those, and Witch Hunter/Royal Griffins), so no, I do not know from trial and error.

And Orc Chieftains do give Orc troops, ckdamascus. Have not used them, but ZagZag (Rusty Anchor) has them so I checked.