Stronghold Rating
I. Creatures - a very good
mix of range and hand-to-hand power; lot's of hit points, but relatively slow;
below-average over-all cost; good growth rates (Goblins, Wolf Riders); very powerful
specials, which make this army a terror on the battlefield; good for siege combat
- + troops: Ogre Magi are extremely durable,
deal great damage, and can cast Bloodlust!; Thunder Birds are even tougher than Ogres and
can summon lightning bolts for additional mayhem; Cyclopes are second only to the mighty
Titan as far as range is concerned, but can take down town walls!; Ancient Behemoths can
win a 1v1 contest a/st most other lvl 7 creatures
- - troops: Goblins are a mild joke, but at
least they are numerous and cheap; Wolf Riders are pretty weak, also, so they should be
used with care; Orcs are the slowest archer, along with the lowly Master Gremlin; this
army can really use some spell support (Bless, Haste, Teleport)
- important upgrades: Wolf Riders, Orcs,
Ogres, Rocs, Behemoths
- rating: 8
II. Special buildings -
excellent; the Ballista Yard upgrade provides the Blacksmith with two kinds of war
machines; the Escape Tunnel grants you great flexibility when defending a town; the Hall
of Valhalla beefs up your heroes permanently; the Freelancer's Guild can supply extra
resources on the spot
- rating: 9
III. Magic - level 3 Mage
Guild; spell restricitions: Animate Dead, Curse, Death Ripple
- rating: 6
IV. Grail building - +20 to
attack of any garrisoned hero; Stronghold towns with a grail building will be hard to
overtake
- rating: 8
V. Heroes - Barbarian: the
best fighter class available; expect attack ratings to rise fast and keep on rising; with
specials like Offense, a high-level Barbarian is a tough opponent
- rating: 8
Battle Mage: one of the most
balanced classes in the game with a host of useful specials like Logistics, Offense,
Sorcery, Gems, Precision (very good for hordes of ranged troops), and Haste
- rating: 8
VI. Resource requirements -
tons of wood, ore, and crystal; initial dwellings are a pain to build, but the upgrades
are very reasonable (which is good, because upgrades are an absolute must for this town);
you can get to Behemoths in week one!; few building dependencies
- rating: 6
VII. Best opponent -
Fortress: Dragon Flies and Wyverns will be ripped to shreds if they try to tie up the
Stronghold archers right away and a gradual advance will give barbarian armies time to
organize their formation and get some free hits; once the Cyclopes are safely surrounded
by Ogres, Behemoths, and Rocs, it is game over for the Fortress
VIII. Worst foe - Tower: the
Stronghold is outclassed in the range department and does not have the speed to get
accross the battlefield in time to tie up the wizard's superior archers; Stronghold armies
need their Ogres to be in the thick of things in order to be successful, but Ogres are too
slow to get into attack range before much of the fighting is already done; Titans/Nagas
will beat Ancients/T. Birds, while Genies and hordes of Golems/Gargoyles will take care of
Goblins/Riders
IX. Final grade: 7.6
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