Haven creature choices

[Metathron]

1. Almost never upgrade them, so don't really care about these.

2. Definitively give the edge to Crossbowmen about 90% of the time. Precise Shot is just way too situational.

3. Vindicator 75%, I love offensive as opposed to defensive. But the Squire is a solid unit as well, especially when facing shooters with your own shooters.

4. Battle Griffin 80%. Not especially impressed with the Rush Dive unless facing enemy hero with numerous armies. Battle Dive rocks.

5. Zealot 55%. Prefer their offensive power a little more, but the Vindicator is good as well (as far as casting goes, as shooters they're both meh)

6. Champion 60%. Similar to above.

7. Archangel 65%. The availability of Divine Strength seems to tip the odds in favour of the Seraph, but Resurrection is just too good to pass by.

[Mirez]

1. never upgrade them
2. in the start marksman (cuz the precise shot is ez to abuse in the start) though I prefer crossbowman later in the game (they need Divine Strength though)
3. If I'm going light magic I prefer to turtle with Squires, otherwise I prefer vampirism vindicators
4. I love battle dive so I prefer imperial griffin, unless I'm going dark magic vampirism + battle griffins = OP
5. I always go Inquisitor, divine strengh is all I need (for my crossbowman and Seraphs)
6. I pretty much always go champions, though when I have angels I prefer to have 2 or 3 paladins in another slot so I can lay hands
7. I always go seraphs, with Divine Strengh they deal massive damage, and with refined mana they can cast divine vengance twice!!!!

[Tensho]

1.No upgrade to this one...however i prefer conscript than brute
2.Crossbowman.Just love em
3.Usually few squires(from 1 to 30) in front of crossbowmans.Shield allies works really nice.Then i just buy vindicators due to there high defence and dmg.
4.60% for battle griffin
5.60% for zealot.I like the purge thingy
6.Paladins most of the time.Can remove curses from anyone or heal my angels.And deals enough dmg to pwnd anyone
7.Archangel.Because of the ressurect...

[tb5841]

This is the team I probably use least, so am unsure about some of them.

1) Conscript. They're much more useable now that they keep their taxpayer ability, and now that peasant -> archer is no longer the best training option.

2) Crossbowman. Still think they should have made an upgrade that has Scatter Shot, it's pretty useful

3) Very hard choice, I have absolutely no idea

4) Unsure. Battle Dive is far better than Rush Dive, though I can't remember what Battle Frenzy does... Both units have very different uses.

5) Probably Zealots - having a unit with Cleansing is helpful.

6) Unsure - Paladins are clearly better against Dark Magic users, Champions may be better the rest of the time.

7) No idea which to choose.

Almost every choice here seems to come down to whether you prefer a defensive unit or an offensive unit, so many creature choices depend lots on the number of creatures you have in your army.

[aaelgr]

Haven is one of the towns where (in most cases) you really do have to think about what upgrade you want to get.
I used to always upgrade the Peasants into Brutes but recently I've found that Bash happens more often than Assault (plus No Retaliation is better than a double attack).
Crossbowmen are great. Their special is something that you can take advantage of regardless of how far away the target is.
I'm never sure which one to go for here. Squires are a godd defensive unit, and Large Shield can help protect my shooters a little. Vindicators are more offensive. Cleave nearly always happens, as it's quite rare that they don't manage to kill at least one unit.
Imperial Griffins all the way! Battle Dive is much better (in my opinion) than Rush Dive. I know Battle Griffins have better stats, but having a special that relies on them getting hit first doesn't strike me as being that great...
Another hard choice is better the Inquisitor and the Zealot. Inquistors may not do as much damage, but their spells are really useful, especially seeing as they'll last much longer than anything your Knight casts. Zealots do deal more damage, but has anyone ever had Purge take affect? I don't think I have yet, and I play as Haven a lot!
Champions do more damage and can even hurt units behind the one they hit. Lay Hands is a useful ability, but I don't use it that often unless I'm against someone using lots of Dark spells. That's the main case where I'll use Paladins, otherwise it's Champions.
I still use Archangels. If I get Resurrection from my town I'll think about using the Seraphs, but even in this case being able to bring back two stacks in one turn is more useful.

[Dacarnix_]

Conscript 95% - I vastly prefer Bash to Assault for such a low-offense creature.
Crossbowman 95% - Unless I've got a Unicorn Horn Bow, I see no point in Marksmen.
Vindicator 70% - Shield other is nice, but I like Cleave a bit more.
Battle Griffin 70% - I'm not a huge fan of either of these, really, and they're not a priority.
Inquisitor 70% - I like the spell list better on the Inquisitors although Purge is a nice ability on the Zealots.
Champion 85% - Unless I know I need to remove curses or block Frenzy, I'll go with the Champs' better offense.
Archangel 85% - For Resurrect Allies.

[Metathron]

I know Battle Griffins have better stats

They only have better health, actually.

but having a special that relies on them getting hit first doesn't strike me as being that great...

Not only getting hit first, but also hit multiple times. This alternative upgrade really needs some work to be able to compete with the Battle Griffins.

So do Marksmen.

[yuritch]

Battle Griffins + Vampirism + Fallen Knight (don't forget that Haven has Light AND Dark) is a very good combo. Unlimited retal that gets stronger with each hit, and brings killed creatures back is just too good to miss. If the enemy cannot kill more than half of them in one hit (or unless he has a lot of shooters), he'll have a very hard time getting rid of them.
Squires VS Vindicators is actually an easy choice. Buy 1 Squire and make the rest Vindicators - 1 Squire can Shield Allies just as good as 10 or 100 Squires can. He'll stay back near the shooters anyway so is unlikely to get killed fast. 2 Squires + Last Stand for even more reliable protection.

[Ya5MieL]

I pretty much vary my pickings from game to game, except with crossbowman which are imho, too good to leave out. Marksmet are indeed to situational and are good with defensive play when opponents come to you, which is not what haven does in most battles. Damage of 2-6 would seem like more balanced stat.

[aaelgr]

They only have better health, actually. This alternative upgrade really needs some work to be able to compete with the Battle Griffins.

I don't know where I got the idea that Battle Griffins had better stats, but I think we agree that the Imperial one is better. (You do mean Imperial instead of Battle at the end right?)

Battle Griffins + Vampirism + Fallen Knight (don't forget that Haven has Light AND Dark) is a very good combo. Unlimited retal that gets stronger with each hit, and brings killed creatures back is just too good to miss. If the enemy cannot kill more than half of them in one hit (or unless he has a lot of shooters), he'll have a very hard time getting rid of them.
Squires VS Vindicators is actually an easy choice. Buy 1 Squire and make the rest Vindicators - 1 Squire can Shield Allies just as good as 10 or 100 Squires can. He'll stay back near the shooters anyway so is unlikely to get killed fast. 2 Squires + Last Stand for even more reliable protection.

The problem is that I very rarely seem to get Vampirism. I know that with it and the perks Dark Magic can get towards Spellpower (don't forget that Fallen Knight unlocks Twilight) the Battle Griffin is almost stupidly powerful, but I'd still prefer to have the Imperial Griffin, as Battle Dive is (I think) much better than Rush Dive, and their usefulness doesn't depend on whether or not I get a particular spell.
Buying 1 Squire means that I have to give up another unit in my hero's army. I prefer to field the whole Haven army, so as to take advantage of Haven's versatility.

Marksmen are nowhere near as good as Crossbowmen. At least we all agree on that!

[Dark_PC Gamer]

Is light and dark magic together a bad thing?

[Metathron]

Not at all, especially for Haven where you get both in your mage guild.
.

[Silpion]

1. Peasant - Cheap taxpayer, upgrade base to archers
2. Crossbowmen - Better in most cases
3. Vindicator - Squire if the Hero has Soldier's Luck
4. Imperial Griffin - High Initiative = high damage
5. Zealot - Better damage
6. Champion - Paladin if the enemy Hero has dark magic
7. Seraph - Can be enhanced by bless

[parcaleste]

Is light and dark magic together a bad thing?

Not with Haven, esp. with "Fallen Knight" and "Twilight" abilities

[gzork]

Most people will tell you it's a good idea to have light or dark magic, depending on your faction, having both could be overkill, or debilitating if your faction doesn't get a certain school of magic.

Haven gets Light AND Dark, both of which play to the strengths of a Might army, which Haven is.

[HOMMV_N00B]

Just started playing with haven, I don't understand why everyone wants imperial griffen. Unless you face archers (wich can still move) their special sucks. And You have wasted a whole turn to accomplish that their archers skipped 1 turn. If they don't have archers (neutrals) it doesn't have any use because you have to gamble to witch tile it will move to.

[tb5841]

Every enemy army will have archers, and usually more than one stack. So they either move them all, or take a gamble and you may hit them anyway. And against some of the slower walkers (treants, for example) you often land on them before they move. When facing neutral archers, you can fight them with just griffins, and probably beat them without any losses. Their special does so much damage that if you can hit something, you'll really hurt them.

And their other stats are pretty good also.

[Metathron]

Imperial griffins are vastly superior to battle ones IMO. What is more, Battle Dive is perhaps the most original special ever, and really powerful as well.

[Mirez]

battle dive is superb, it allows the griffins do do massive damage without retaliation, just use it more often, I think you get better in guessing where the enemy unit will move
the AI tend to walk as far forward as they can and if they have more speed then your unit, they'll position themselves so you walkers can't hit them but they can attack your walkers the next turn (wich is useless most of the time since it gives my archers 1 free shot)

[danhvo]

Additionally, battle dive can be used repeatedly, whereas rush dive can be used only. Griffins are untouchable while diving, and Imperial Griffins' initiative is so high that they usually take off before enemy archers get a shot at them, unlike the Battle Griffins. There are no archers with initiative higher than imperial griffins'.

Try this: the next time you go against a slow neutral army (the bigger the better), and you have the mean to haste your griffins or slow the enemy so that their initiative is less than half that of the imperial griffins (very doable; Mass Slow works great), deploy just the griffins, and watch them destroy the enemy by diving over and over. I bet you can't do that with Battle Griffins.

Obviously, the Imperial Griffins' ability and initiative are considered such a huge plus that the Battle Griffins are compensated with 50% more hit points. I don't think there is any other pair of high-level alternate upgrades with such a huge disparity in hit points.