Evolving Hero Strategy

[LPhillips]

Rather than start a new thread, this seems like a good one to bump. It's still good reading even now.

So, we have 3 new heroes. Everyone has had a chance to take them on a test run. What are the decisions? I'll begin.

1) Horse Lord. I've used this guy the least. His group move ability can justify grouping him with your starter/main hero and walking him around until he becomes useful. Somewhat handicaps the main hero's xp gain ofc. I haven't leveled him up in a game where I really got to use him yet. Rather sad that I haven't gotten to smash anything worth smashing with him. People leave the game by the time he's leveled. Igor has been reported to group him with a Valkeria, and that sounds just wonderful. Of course he can be countered and so can that strategy: Grand Archon.

2) Barbarian. The new favorite? He's an expansionist. So, you know he's my favorite. I take 25% of "Battlefield" in 10 turns; you had better believe expansion is just what I do. That was before this gem. He is the one to use if you want to preserve your units while capturing neutral after neutral. It's possible to gain all of Airstream in a few rounds with him. Not good in hero vs hero combat, but still a useful raider or bodyguard in mid-late game if he's already leveled. Nearly the god of small maps, but a level 1 Assassin can embarrass him for 400 gold, so don't put all your eggs in one basket.

3) The Assassin. I see a lot of this guy from other players. He needs leveling and either hero support or items. People are using him right and left, but I generally just roll over him because he's not leveled. I think the 10 UL is drawing them in without proper consideration for his strengths and weaknesses. Looking forward to seeing what he does on defense in one game; got him to level 5 so far there. Support hero, right? Unless you stack some crit hitters with him and slaughter stacks in open field.

[Moonknight]

I haven't tried out all the different pairings of heroes quite yet, but here are my early thoughts...

I could definitely see the Horse Lord being farely powerful on the Bull Run map, but like you LP, I have used him the least. He still needs to be paired with something powerful in cities, so maybe running a bunch of Minotaurs out with him in the open and a couple of lt. cav protecting in front in the grassland will let you get deep into the opponents territory and do some razing.

I've yet to play any big maps on 0.8, but Barbarians definitely rock the small maps, although you still have to be careful with him. I've lost my starting Barbarian quite often so far thinking he'd be able to take on a match 1 on 1, and while he's favored to win them all, having a 10-30% chance to lose the fight is dangerous. You have to be okay with losing him, as he will not play much role in the end game anyways.

I have been one of those players that has been sucked into the Assassin. His starting UL is very nice, combined him with a ghost, he is a monster in ruins and an ambushed god who can be grouped later in the game with a leadership hero. I'm not sure if he even needs to be grouped with another hero if you can get some powerful allies with him (like the popular flock of Demons).

[KGB]

I) HorseLord - I have yet to use him or face him in any of my games (1v1, team and FFA games all on 100x maps or larger). So I don't have any experience with which to judge him. I think what Igor is using him for (controlling specialized terrain on small maps) would seem to be the pinnacle of use for him. I can't see his value as much on larger maps because there is more time to develop a counter (archon, ambush, strong hero + high morale unit).

2) I'm a big fan like LPhillips is for all the reasons he states. However if he isn't your initial hero his value drops dramatically unless you are getting him turn 2 or 3. That's because with less time to level (fewer neutral cities/ruins) he tops out at lower strength/hits making him no more than a Blessed Green Dragon (46/3) or Blessed Demon in a swarm (62/3).

3) I like him a lot. The *only* L1 hero (new or old) who has value in the late game due to his UL (can search ruins right away if he comes out near some) and ambush skill. At 10% ambush he's a decent addition to a city full of armies and at 20% he can single handedly (no other heroes/bonus units) hold a city with a bunch of Hv Inf defenders against even the strongest enemy stacks. If you get him as your first hero by the time he gets to L7+ his stack is almost godlike in the ability to kill any other stack. He is however not an offensive hero so you will need a Valk/Pally/Horselord/DK to do your offensive work.

Right now my initial hero is 70/30 Barb/Assassin split. My choice depends a lot on the game. In 1v1 the Barb makes more sense but in FFA or team games I like the Assassin better because the Barb doesn't get as many neutrals/ruins to level up on before he starts facing the inevitable orc/wolfrider/ghost/assassin stacks that force him to become a defensive hero instead of an offensive one.

KGB