--------------------------------------------------------------------- FANTASY GENERAL LADDER- THE USE OF HEROES IN FG PBM GAMES: by Maxwell --------------------------------------------------------------------- All of you probably wondered at times if you should use a certain hero in a pbm game or not. Is it worth the money? Will it give you a good advantage? Which hero is the best choice? Well, in this article I will try to answer those questions. I could not have written it without the help of Nick, the laddermaster. He provided the information about hero use in heroes games, and gave some additional info about their use in regular games. Many thanks to him. Hope you find this article useful. Maybe you will think about using heroes more often after reading this. INTRO ----- In my opinion SSI made the heroes too expensive in comparison with the normal units. With a few exceptions they are all not worth buying. If they had made them cheaper the game would be much more interesting. So should we not think about them at all? No! In some games, a hero can give you an important advantage. And above that, your opponent will probably not have thought about buying heroes, so that can give you an advantage too. Always think about them, and if you come to the conclusion that they are useless in the game you are starting, do not buy them. By considering heroes each time, you will never miss an opportunity to gain an advantage in a game. There are two types of situations we need to consider, as well as MUG. 1) The first situation is in a regular game. 2) The second type of situation is a game where the goal is to kill enemy heroes so you MUST pick some heroes and then defend them. I will address each of these for each hero. In general, in the first type of situation you will rarely need heroes until there are severe restrictions on purchasing. At MUG=5 and even at MUG=4 to a lesser extent, NO hero will be a match for other units of that grade, so you would only choose a hero if you want some special attribute the hero has, such as Chandel's charm spell or Dreggo's anti-air capability. At lower MUGs there are more possibilities and the heroes can be used to actually confront the enemy troops. In the second situation, you have to decide WHICH heroes to choose. You want heroes that are 1) As strong as possible defensively 2) Resistant to magic spells 3) Fast or can fly so they can escape 4) Have an armor spell for extra defense GOOD HEROES ----------- First of all I can mention that I hardly choose the good side at high MUGs, since the bad side is stronger there. At lower MUGs (3 or below) however, the good side is actually better than the bad side. Borric: 1) For general pbm play, Boric is almost useless. Almost... the one use I can see is for MUGs of 3 or below. You can use him to cast armor on either flyers or frontline units and they would be able to attack the enemy front line units and take little damage during that turn. Of course, magic armor would be cheaper, but maybe your unit is already carrying another item. The main problem is that Borric is too expensive to use for this purpose. At lower mugs you usually cannot afford to spend so much money for an armor spell. But if you have tons of money to spare it might be worth a try. 2) If you are playing a "kill the heroes" game I think Borric is a good choice because of his armor spell. Remember, when trying to protect heroes those that can cast armor each turn make themseleves harder to kill. Plus he is resistant to magic, which means skulls and other spells won't work against him. With full exp he will be tough to bring down. He fits two of the hero criteria above. Loric: 1) Too expensive for what you get. The Beserk spell looks nice, but the armour is also decreased by 5, so the unit will suffer much more damage than usual. The spell can only be usefull when you also cast armor on the unit after that, the unit does not suffer deaths, or has the Raise Dead ability. 2) Loric is slow, does not have an armor spell, and is weak defensively. But since he resist magic spells, you can use him if you are desperate, since he is better than most of the completely useless good heroes for this type of game. Dreggo: 1) Could be a reasonable choice, cause of his 3-way attack ability. You can also give a Magical bow to a HI or HC unit to almost get the same effect, but when you are short on items Dreggo could be a good altenative. The first problem is that he's very expensive. Too expensive to my opinion. If they made him somewhat cheaper, I would say around 100 gold, then Dreggo could be an interesting add to your army. Another problem he has is that he is weak without exp, so MUG 4 and MUG 5 sky hunters will destroy him easily even though he has an anti-air attack. A third problem is his magic defense is 50, so unless you waste an amulet on him he will be killed easily by ANY magic unit. The final problem is that he is painfully slow. The only time when he might be worth the money is when you are playing at a low MUG (0-2), and your character is Marcus, cause then you can give him a shield of exp. for free. Hiding him is a good idea, so he is not an easy target. 2) Dreggo fails the test here. He is too weak to be used as a hero that you have to protect. Really he has no redeeming values for this type of game. Shandal: 1) An often forgotten unit, she can be very usefull in some situations because the Charm spell can be very effective. The spell will often fail on strong enemy units; to prevent this you can cast the spell on a mediocre enemy unit, and let that unit attack the strong one. The strong unit will retaliate and inflict much damage on the weaker one. With some luck you can get rid of that weak unit in one attack. Give a Cloak of Hiding to Shandal and she will be hard to find (and kill). That way you can cast the spell every turn of the game. A good tactic is to charm a Sky Hunter and then have to attack the ground unit below it, which will usually result in the Sky Hunter receiving major damage. Plus Shandel is not as expensive as most of the other heroes are. 2) Only slightly useful in this type of game, because you can't cloak her. The opponent will know she is there and probably target her real quick. And since her defenses are low and she is not that fast, she will probably be killed quickly. Xyphon: 1) He is too weak to pose a threat to enemy units, but his spell is powerful enough to do heavy damage to the enemy flying units at low MUGs. Remember that his spell affects all unit within one spot of where you are casting, so it could damage multiple sky hunters. For higher MUGs he does not work, but for lower MUGs he is a decent choice, esp since he is not too expensive. 2) For the same reason as Shandel, he is not too useful in this type of game. Priest of Handola: 1) Who wants to pay 132 gold for such a wimpy unit, who can only cast Bless to boost your morale with a lean 10%. Definitely not me. I don't know why the programmers made him so expensive, cause his stats are pathetic. 2) Same goes for a "kill the heroes" game, he is too weak and gives you no special talent. Krindel: 1) His spell could be very useful in maps with lots of jungle and swamps. Krindel can enable you to do a surprise attack at the enemy with a strong unit on these types of maps. The problem is that he is very wimpy and can easilly be killed. A cloak of Hiding would help a lot, but that will cost you an item, and make his total cost 193 Gold. For the same money you can buy many other strong units. At lower MUGs Krindel can at least do some damage to sky hunters and is probably better than any archer unit you can buy. But of course you can just get a cav with bow instead much less money. So I would say, if the map is filled with Jungle and Swamp, and you have LOW MUG, say 0-2, MAYBE it is worth considering him, if you have a good amount of gold. But probably better to buy another tough HI instead. 2) Krindel fails on all account for this type of game. He is not especially fast, not strong, does not resist spells, and has no armor spell. Sir Kalador: 1) Strongest Good hero if you look at the attack/armor rate, but often too weak to play an important role in pbm gaming. In the campaign I am always happy to have him, but I rarely choose him in my army at pbm games. And above that, the Dispel Undead spell is often resisted, and quite useless in pbm games, because nobody plays with undead units. Not worth the 186 Gold in a regular game. 2) A pretty good choice in this case since he is fast and he resist spells, plus his defense values are among the best for the good side. Valira: 1) Her stats are a bit on the low side, but when playing at MUG=3 or lower she might be worth buying. She can compete with the enemy Sky Hunters at those MUG's, and her spell can be usefull in some occassions. You can prevent a good unit from breaking down by restoring his morale and restore broken units. This can turn a fight sometimes. If you want to save money, choose Valira. She is a little weaker than Malric, but with the extra money you can buy her an item or another unit. However, even at lower MUGs, if there is no exp limit, you can just buy monkeys with 5 shields or flying snakes with 5 shields. Both units are actually better than a no exp Valira, so you have to think carefully when buying her. Sure, with full exp she would be good choice, but who wants to spend that much money on her? 2) Whether she is useful in the "kill the heroes" type of game depends on how you want to play it. If you plan on buying units to win the air war, she should be part of your contingent of heroes, because if you win the air war, she will be untouchable. This is also a reason to play the good side if you plan on winning the air war, since the evil side has only one airborne hero. If you are stocking up on ground units, air heroes will be vulnerable when the opponent wins the air war, so Valira should be avoided. Malric: 1) If you want the stronger hero sky hunter, choose Malric. His stats might be similar to MUG 5 flyers, but he only has 10 attacks(2/3 of the attacks of other non-hero flyers), 10 life, and no magical attack. Any MUG 5 flyer, even with no experience, will crush him. Lion dragons are heroic like him, seekers have better defense, ogre griffons have better offense, shadow dragons are heroic and magical, and I don't even need to mention pheonix hawks and raise dead. Sure, you could give him an amulet, but why not just give it to a cheaper unit such as a shadow dragon? He only takes wounds, but he only has 10 life as well, so he is still not that tough to kill. Plus if you are heroic, a few kills won't really hurt anyway. Seekers don't take kills either, but nobody buys them. I would avoid him in pbm play unless you got money to burn, or there is some special circumstance where there are exp limits and you are at a low MUG. 2) see Valira SUMMARY FOR GOOD HEROES ------------------------ Regular PBM In summary, the only good heroes that I would use in regular pbm are Shandel (at any MUG) and Xyphon(at low MUGs). The others are not cost-effective in the least, not to mention mostly useless. Kill the Heroes PBM The main heroes I would use in a "kill the heroes" type of pbm game are Borric, Kalador, and the air heroes if you stock up on air units. Use Loric as a last resort, or even buy generals(they have force march and better defense than most of the other heroes), before using the useless bunch of light infantry and archer heroes. EVIL HEROES: ------------ Kraekvar: 1) Same as Borric and Lorric on the Good side. Just not worth the money. The stats are too low, and the Panic spell is useless. If the Panic spell even broke units occasionally, it might be useful, but I have never seen it do so, and as a result I never buy him. 2) Also useless here, he is slow, has no armor spell, cannot resist magic, and is average on defense at best. Morg the Lasher: 1) One of the best choices among the bad heroes, along with the Witch of Icethorn, because his attack and armor are very high. When playing at MUG=3 or MUG=4 Morg can be an especially strong unit. Give him a Magical Axe or an Amulet of Resistance and he will inflict much damage and be hard to kill. I almost never use the Armor spell, cause attacking with Morg is much more effective than using the spell. Nick disagrees: "You must weigh the disadvantages and advantages of shelling out 165 gold for a unit, when you can get cheaper substitutes that are almost as good. At MUG 4, I would forego Morg for sandmen, and even at MUG 3, full exp lionmen are better choices. Going down to MUG 2, werebears are almost as good, so Morg is a possibility. If you go all the way down to MUG 1 or below I would actually advise you buy Morg is you can spare the money since no full exp MUG 1 unit is a match for him. While at higher MUGs he can be a strong unit, so can other cheaper units. Remember, heroes have 10 attacks and 10 life only, so if you buy them, you better be sure their stats are much better than anything else you can buy to make up for that." 2) Morg is the best ground hero for this type of game, without a doubt. He is very strong, has the armor spell, and has OK speed. With an amulet and his armor spell, not too many units can hurt him. Witch of Icethorn: 1) Second best choice on the bad side to my opinion, cause of the Charm spell. See Shandel for explanation. Actually Nick thinks the witch is the best choice for pbm play. She not only posseses the charm spell, but she can attack air units from below, and cause decent damage at lower MUGs. Since she is doubly useful and also cheap, you should always consider her when purchasing, though more so for lower MUGs, as her air attack is useless at higher MUGs. Giving her a cloak is a good idea, as with Shandel. 2) Not useful for this type of game, for the same reason as Shandel is not. Grimal the Rat Lord: 1) The Death Wounds spell sounds attactive, but for the same money you can buy 3 conjurers and have money left as well, so I would never buy him, cause he is too wimpy to survive. 2) Too weak and slow for this type of game. Avoid buying him. Leach King: 1) Same as Kreakvar, Borric and Lorric. Also not worth the money. And the Beserk spell looks nicer than it is. 2) Same as Grimal, too weak and slow. Avoid buying him. Claw the Assasin: 1) At MUG 5 or 4 you can buy Trail Runners or Ogre Hunters for even less money, who have better stats, and can do exactly the same, so why bother buying Claw. He is the cheapest hero, but that is because there is little use for him. Of course you cannot buy trail runners or ogre hunters at lower MUGs, so if you want a good inviso skirmisher at, say, MUG 2, Claw is not a bad choice. 2) Assuming your heroes cannot turn invisible, Claw will be disallowed anyway, so there is no choice in the matter in this kind of game. Goat King: 1) Also way too expensive. 143 Gold for such a weak unit. At MUG 5 you can buy a Shadow Knight who is much, much stronger for the same money. And like I said before, the Panic spell is useless. But at lower MUGs he would be better than any other light cav you can buy. For one thing, Goat King negates cav and converts wounds to morale loss against almost all units, so at lower mugs he would be very hard to kill. Being light cav, though, he couldn't actually do much damage himself. An iffy choice at low MUGs, don't bother for high MUGs. 2) A pretty good choice for the "kill the heroes" game type, since he is very fast, has an excellent spotting range, and is tough to kill, since he converts wounds to morale loss like all light cav. Pale Marchal: 1) A bit expensive, but maybe worth buying at MUG=3 or lower. For the same money you can buy lots of Conjurers who have the Death Wounds spell as well, but the Pale Marchall is much faster, and harder to kill than Conjurers. He can go to the front line and help your other good units kill the enemy. He is pretty much the evil version of Kalador. Same comments apply to him as to Kalador, useful at low mug if you have gold to spare. 2) Useful in this type of game due to his magic resistance, good speed, and average defense. Deathlord Rapax: 1) A good choice when playing at MUG=4 or lower, though at MUG=5 he is a little too weak to survive. Much better than his Good counterpart Sir Kalador. If you are playing Orc King Dragga(and get free exp) and you give Rapax an Amulet of Protection, he can be a good addition to your army. Nick disagrees: "The only advantage I can see over Kalador is the magical attack. On the other hand, he is not resistant to magic, so that is a minor shortcoming compared to Kalador. Rapax is slightly better than the Pale Marshall for lower MUGs with gold to spare, otherwise avoid him." 2) An OK choice. Rapax has good defense, and is fast. But he is not magic resistant, which makes him an easier target. I would say he is better than a generic hero, but unless you have to choose a lot of heroes you should probably not take him. Malkin Nightwing: 1) Same arguments as for Malric. This is the magic version of M alric with the same advantages and disadvantages. Expensive Sky Hunter for what you get. For less money you can buy a Shadow Dragon or a Pheonix Hawk (if you have the Archmage ability). Those two units are much stronger than Malkin, so I never buy him at all. 2) Once again, if you are fielding strong air units, get Malkin since he will be easy to defend, otherwise don't get him. SUMMARY OF EVIL HEROES --------------------- Regular PBM In summary, the only evil heroes that I would use in regular pbm are the Witch of Icethorn(the best all around hero at any MUG) and Morg. At lower MUGs with money to spare, you should consider Morg first, then Rapax, Malkin, and Claw. They could be useful, but as for the rest, don't waste your money on them. Kill the Heroes PBM The main heroes I would use in a "kill the heroes" type of pbm game are Morg, Pale Marshall, Goat King, and Malkin if you stock up on air units. Use Rapax as a last resort, or even buy generals(they have force march and better defense than most of the other heroes), before using the useless bunch of light infantry heroes. GENERIC HEROES (CORPORAL TO GENERAL): ------------------------------------- 1) They are all way too expensive to use in pbm games. For the same money you can always buy much better HI units. Nick agreed with one exception: "There is some use for generals, because with severely restricted lower mug games, they can actually be the best unit. For ex, I was playing a MUG 3 game in which beasts and magic units were not allowed. Well, generals are almost as good as full exp legionarriis (and cheaper) and better than full exp iron giants. Since we were limited to three of each unit, I chose some generals along with the giants and legionarrii. So don't forget generals if you have a special situation like that. If magic units or beasts are avaiable, however, don't even think about generic heroes." 2) I think generals are good choices for this kind if game. You can buy more than 1 to fill out your heroes, and the force march will help you escape around mountains and rivers. Plus these units are stronger than most other heroes with no exp. Don't use them if you can get the best heroes for this type of game, but if you have, say, 5 heroes you need to take, getting a general or two instead of Shandel or Grimal is a good idea. CONCLUSION ----------- The basic questions to always ask yourself is "Is this hero worth the money?" Most heroes costing around 200 gold are worth it only if they will be the best unit on the board and tough to kill. For the 100 gold heroes, if their spell is useful enough (like the charm spell), they don't have to be the best unit on the board to be useful, you just have to make sure you have enough solid units that spending 100 gold on a novelty unit will not hurt your HI forces too much. Maxwell Salient Columnist E-mail: "mjswoltjer@hotmail.com"