Shaman Karrakh quest chain..?! (Spoilers)

[Ryastar]

The way I look at things, the only troops really worth using are ones that i actually fear when they are in the opponent's army. The same reasons that make me fear them (ie. concentrate on killing them off asap), are the reasons that make them a worthy addition to my army. Think about it. I don't really think I should give my opinion on every troop, but here is mine on the orc units:

Goblins: annoying only from a minimal loss standpoint due to ranged attack, but very easy to dispose of, no specials at all. Not feared.

Raging goblins: again, only an annoyance, good init and speed, but damage and hp is average at best, iirc. Running is only special. Best saved to kill in 2nd round+. Not feared.

Cataputs: annoyance, but, to a mage, almost even less of one than goblins, because they are absurdly easy to destroy with fire spells (like fire rain, IMHO, the best attack spell in the game), to others, more of an annoyance, due to AOE fire attack ability, but damage from this is fairly low, and can be avoided simply by not grouping together. Not feared

Orcs: too slow, running doesn't help. High hp means will survive a little longer, but can't really do anything with the extra time it gives them. Not feared.

Veteran Orcs: second best unit in orc lineup, but still not amazing. Sure two attacks is nice, but the enemy gets one in the middle of those, and if they don't counter, the orcs only attack once. Dangerous enough to be a kill focus on 2nd round, but not on first, unless no shamans are present. Only somewhat feared.

Ogres: Same problems as orcs, slow and tough, but still easy to kill, if caution is used. Easiest way to deal with them is the trap spell. Only somewhat feared, mostly because of the one combat with ~100 of them, but everything is scary in large enough numbers (however, for some units (like peasants, for example) "large enough numbers" is in excess of 10000, and for peasants, 100000).

Note that my strategy is based around ranged/no retal/dragons/giants (the unit make up changes over time) and minimal losses, and that affects my opinion of all troops. To me, a big melee is inefficient, cause it will cost a lot of troops. I prefer to snipe with ranged units, strike and return with no retal units (strike one turn, return the next for most units, obviously) rather than have big beefy, slow units in the middle of a group of enemies. My giants are just used to block choke points, therefore facing only 1-2 enemy stacks at a time and also for earthquake.

That's my... wow, it seems like more than two cents this time, cause i wrote about 20 times more words. I guess this is my forty cent's worth, then. Payable in cash or credit card.

[Metathron]

I agree with most of what you said. However, I don't think the "fear factor" is always applicable. Sure I will choose to deal with enemy catapults by showering them with fire spells, but that doesn't mean the enemy (when there's a hero present) will do the same to my own catapults. Also, enemy catapults will often fire a regular shot first, rather than using their special right away, etc. So the catapults for me are actually worth more than they're worth as a threat. This goes for some other units as well.

Re: Furious goblins, I actually find them to be quite the threat, more so than their ranged counterpart, because they are incredibly tough and durable, coupled with their good speed and high numbers makes them pretty daunting. So for me, slow was always a must when dealing with them.

[taltamir]

the AI will never use units the same way a player would, so fear is not the only issue. But it is a pretty good analysis.