Hero Abilities

[LPhillips]

So, I see a lot of players using "critical stack". I have to say, I don't agree at all. Here's why:

Most of the time the critical ability I am observing hovers between 12% and 24%. Let me break it down mathematically: The units only get to roll that the first time they attack. So, the number of times that ability is used is dependent on the number of units you lose. So if you have a decent stack, you're looking at somewhere between a 10% and 50% chance of killing a single unit in a battle. One unit. If everything but your hero dies, allowing 8 rolls at 12%, you've still got a 35% chance of critical hits never landing. About the only time this can be offensively useful is if grouped with Ghosts and/or fodder units with an existing critical stat. It could be considered defensively deadly if it's high enough (perhaps grouped with Ghosts) and the enemy must cycle through multiple stacks of fodder units when attacking a city. Rare circumstances indeed.

Compare negative stack: Expensive, yes. But it comes into play every time you kill an enemy unit. It keeps your own units alive. It also can't be directly countered.

Command: As with negative stack, your units have an advantage of 1 every time they fight (in the absence of an Archon, and noting that reducing the enemy strength is more powerful dice-wise than increasing your own by an equal amount). This is significantly more useful than even a 30% chance of instantly killing the first enemy your unit fights. It comes into play every time your units are matched up, not just the first round of the first matchup for each unit.

Stack+terrain/attack/defend: Situationally useful, and not nearly as good, as these abilities don't stack with other stack bonuses. However, in a vital battle, it can often be extremely effective to drop 30-40 points to get +2 when attacking an enemy hero stack or city at a critical moment in the game. I have found the reward in hero points to often exceed the investment by a large margin.

So, in short: Critical stack is (relatively speaking) the most useless group ability there is for a hero. Why do so many people love it so much? Do they just not know how it works? Are they copying each other without thinking it through? Or am I totally wrong, missing some vital factor?

[zorro]

I am not playing long enough to have an objective view on it. But in my first turns I thought you only have to build those ghost/wolfrider stacks to get hero stacks munched.

Ingame it turns out that it would be a lot of effort to get that going, and while you dont produce 1-turners you get outswarmed most likely. Whenever you get such stacks going you have to make good use of them, navigate them around enemy fodder to finally make a useful hit. Sounds like you are dead before you get there.

As a trap it could work ... once or twice in your life. However I am always a bit scared that one day I run into critical stacks, but I would never buy it on a hero. Command and negative stack are the most useful abilities imo, and sometimes some movement or city stack, situation based.

Havent been in the situation yet where I met a strong enemy stack, lets say on a hill, and then used all my hard spared points on hill stack and attacked. But the time will come... :P

[ams16]

I thought Archons completely canceled the hero's abilities, not just Command. For example, if I hero had critical stack or negative stack, they wouldn't work against an Archon. Am I wrong?

[zorro]

yeah,

does the archon cancel the hero completely or only certain abilities?
and does that have effect on the whole stack (in which the archon is) or only on the archon?

[KGB]

The Archon only cancels the Command bonus (unique to heroes, hence why it says cancel hero bonus).

The Devil cancels the Stack bonus (both negative and positive).

Nothing cancels Critical Strike.

KGB

[Pillager]

This is one of the rare circumstances where I actually agree with Lphillips

Crit stack is probably just too expensive..its very difficult to get it up past 20% or so. It might be decent with orcs or wolfriders....does anyone do this much? Obviously good for city defense, but I tend to use my heroes as attacking pieces..so not too interested in that.

Command and -stack are both solid choices. I've gone so far as to get the -2 stack hero..and been pretty happy with the results.

[LPhillips]

It's relatively easy to get stack bonuses. Negative 2 stack is definitely superior to an 3/4 Command. Unless it's a Dreadlord, I never go up to 3 command (Dreadlords can travel relatively comfortably with Medusas, making negative stack less useful). Also, Negative stack costs 45 as long as you are buying it for the first time. So it costs a total of 90 if you buy two at once. But the cost goes up by 5 after buying it, so it costs 95 to buy it separately. Then 55 if you somehow bought stack-3. Not a big deal, obviously. But if you gain enough levels at once it can come into play.

[zorro]

must be the impatience of players,that they cant wait to gather 35 or 45 points, and spend their stuff on str and critical and such

[Moonknight]

I was playing around with the different abilities including critical stack just to see if there is anything worthwhile outside of command and negate just b/c i get tired of doing the same thing for every hero...and I have not found much success. I do kind of like having a stack city bonus...