Necropolis creature choices

[Metathron]

1. I think you can really see the developers going a bit overboard with this alternative upgrade, just because it would be difficult to persuade players not to pick archers. The warriors are vastly more durable and have some good abilities, but I will stick pick the archers a bit more often, i.e. 55% of the time.

2. Choose both equally, 50%, when I decide to choose them, that is (which is almost never).

3. The Spectre's special is better, but the it is very situational whereas the Poltergeist's better stats always come into play. Use both about 50% of the time.

4. It's hard to pass up no retal, so Vampire Lords 65% of the time. This would be even higher if it were not for me wanting diversity and, even more importantly, Torpor seems to trigger more the more Princes you have, so in late game, I think the Princes may actually be the better choice.

5. Having an additional Raise Dead Caster is useful, but the loss of Death Cloud is not worth it. Besides, they did a real lame job of differentiating their stats (+1 max damage for the Masters? Please). Archlich 60%

6. Wraith 60%, due to better stats, haven't had a chance to use Death Wail yet.

7. 50/50 for diversity's sake. Wimpy unit either way and, aside from the titans, the most boring alternative upgrade. Sorrow Strike means casting Sorrow on basic level? Oh jeeez Louise what a bonus!

[Akul]

Tier 1: Archers almost always. Zombies are better walkers the Wariors
Tier 2: 50:50
Tier 3: Poltergeist more often then Spectre because of the stats
Tier 4: Vampire Lords until I hit a big number, then I start collecting Princess
Tier 5: Masters, there is no doubt in that. Raise Dead is much more useful then the Death Cloud because I don't lose any unit 80% of the time
Tier 6: Banshee - looks a lot better then Wraith.
Tier 7: Spectre Dragon - Ghost looks stupid

[Tensho]

1.Few skeleten warriors(because of the shield other)And a lot of archers....
2.Few rot zombies(cos of the aura),others go to plague.Only plague in late game.
3.Poltergeist in 60%.Depends what i play againts.
4.Vampire lord.
5.Archlich.
6.Wraith.
7.Ghost dragon.No point in Death stare,since sorrow works just fine

[Dacarnix_]

95% Archers - I like ranged units and can Raise Dead what their ranged dudes kill anyway
80% Rot Zombies - Both are fairly useless attackers, so the better hp and aura effect are preferable for me
50/50 Ghost Upgrades - I'm not a huge fan of either really, and they're not a priority for me
90% Vampire Lords - No Retaliation rocks although it's tempting to switch over in the late game once I've got a huge stack of vamps
90% Lich Masters - I'd rather have more Raise Deads than the Death Cloud
60% Banshees - This one is close, but I usually like the extra 10 hp more than the better damage
90% Shadow Dragons - I like Death Stare and a 150-hp upgraded Tier 7 just makes me cringe

[aaelgr]

I think that Necropolis is now of the strongest towns in Heroes. With the new upgrades added on they can be a real pain to fight against (but also great to fight as).
Despite the (in my opinion ridiculous) stats of the Skeleton Warrior, I always go for the Archer. I know from pre-Dark Energy how powerful they become once you've got a lot of them (and even now it's not too hard to get a few hundred in a short space of time).
I usually go for the Rot Zombies. The better Initiative means they might actually get to hit something! Plus their aura works without having to hit anyone.
Poltergeist all the way. Spectres have worse stats and a special that rarely comes into play. Granted the Poltergeist's ability to Steal Ammo is one that I've only used a couple of time (to see what happened mostly) but they are much more durable.
It has to be the Vampire Lord. He may have less health, and not be as speedy, but the No Retaliation is a definite plus. Torpor can be annoying if it happens to me, but whenever I choose to go for the Princes it never seems to trigger...
I'm never sure which one to go for here. Death Cloud isn't that powerful a skill, but still useful, and the Archlich does have some useful spells. The Master Lich doesn't have much of an edge statswise, but being able to cast Raise Dead is incredibly useful. Don't they also have a No Melee Penalty?
Another hard choice. Wraiths have a special that I rarely use but better stats, whilst the Banshee has a special that I've used from time to time (or at least more than Harm Touch!) and a little more health.
The dead dragons are still the worst level-7 in the game. having 150 health is pathetic, and the fact that you can get 3 a week doesn't really make up for it. If I get dragons I usually get Spectral Dragons. Their mere presence reduces enemy morale by 1, they can curse whoever they hit and they have slightly more health.

[Mirez]

1) archers 100%, I always archer turtle and try to get as many as possible, archers are really the central unit in my army
2) why upgrade them? their only purpose is to block enemy's from getting to my archers
3)about 50/50 though I don't use them a lot, unlike my brother who relies on these wimpy ghosts (ever since he got pwned so bad by them, he playes necro with naadir ^_^)
4)vampire lord 100% torpor sux and no retaliation rules, they look better anyways
5)Archlich, death cloud is just to good, sure another ressurect is nice but when I play necro I play either with Kasper or Vladimir so I don't really need another ressurect, besides it's far to good in combination with arcane crystal*
6)Wraith better stats overall, death wail is only usefull when the enemy has -4 morale or something and harm touch can be really handy sometimes
7)50/50 the ability's are both nice but not very usefull and their pretty equal statwise aswell

*you can really abuse arcane crystal with death cloud, most of the time it'll deal more damage then a destuctive spell because you have expert sommoning, and since it's really weak you can destroy it with the death cloud for some nice extra damage
also you can place it between 2 units and target it with your achliches so you damage both units

[Silpion]

1. Skeleton Warrior
2. Plague Zombie - Weakens enemy even after the stack is gone
3. Poltergeist - Better stats
4. Vampire Lord - Prince's torpor to unreliable
5. Lich Master - Hero can focus on other spells than raise dead
6. Wraith - Better fighter
7a. None - Building too expensive
7b. Spectral Dragon - Another -1 morale to all enemies is always welcome

[tb5841]

1) Archers early on when they're doing most of the killing, Warriors later on

2) Rot zombies - not an upgrade priority

3) Unsure

4) I was unsure before reading this thread, but now I think I'll go for Vampire Lords early and Vampire Princes later on

5) Lich Masters are much better in battles against neutrals, but Archliches are far better in crucial battles and so get my vote

6) Wraiths. Harm Touch is far better than Death Wail, except maybe in a seige, and their stats are better as well

7) Unsure, they're pretty similar anyway. Depends whether my army needs killing power or survivability more

[tb5841]

1) Archers early on when they're doing most of the killing, Warriors later on

2) Rot zombies - not an upgrade priority

3) Unsure

4) I was unsure before reading this thread, but now I think I'll go for Vampire Lords early and Vampire Princes later on

5) Lich Masters are much better in battles against neutrals, but Archliches are far better in crucial battles and so get my vote

6) Wraiths. Harm Touch is far better than Death Wail, except maybe in a seige, and their stats are better as well

7) Unsure, they're pretty similar anyway. Depends whether my army needs killing power or survivability more

[Mlai]

Where is it documented that a large stack of Vamp Princes have higher chance of Torpor? Or is it just a rumor?

[Silpion]

It's like every other may-hit ability (like "Bash"). The chances to trigger depend on the stack power, exact formulas are included in the manual.

[tb5841]

Pages 315/316 of the fan manual give a guide to triggering chances. Torpor is not specifically mentioned here, but neither are any other TotE-only creature abilities so I assumed they would follow the same pattern.

[gzork]

1. Archers until pretty late game. Low starting hp means Raise Dead hardly has a downside with these guys, and shield others on such a cheap, long lasting unit is amazing.

2. If I ever bother to upgrade htem, I guess Rot Zombies, better stats for a blocker.

3. Depends on the enemy army. If they rely on their army's casters (i.e. druid's mana feed thing) of course I'll take spectre, otherwise, poltergeist.

4. Vamp lords 100% of the time, but then again, I forgot that bigger stacks mean better chances, I'll probably end up witching them late game, too.

5. Masterlich early to reduce losses as much as possible, then Lich Masters for bigger battles, Raise Dead's nice but they don't ahve enough mana to give htem an edge.

6. Always Wraiths, better stats and Death Wail seems so useless.

7. Spectral. They need all the help they can get in surviving, Death Stare ties in well with stuff like Banshee Howl and Rot Zombie aura, and Cursing attack isn't a terrible alternative to sorrow.

[asuka_langley]

1. Archers all the way - I find the warriors somewhat useless as necro has already lots of infantry unit.
2. Rot Zombies - although most of the time, I dont upgrade zombies at all.
3. The mana stealer (actually forgot its name).
4. Vampire Lords - although after reading this post I think I'll try the princes when my vampire count is high. If their special does trigger most of the time then that surely is stronger than no retal.
5. Master Liches - with an additional raise dead caster, i almost always finish battles without casualty.
6. Wraiths. - better stats i think.
7. Spectral Dragons - better looking than the Ghosts. Although most of the time i dont use them. Wraiths are better.