Necropolis

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Towns
Castle Castle
Rampart Rampart
Tower Tower
Inferno Inferno
Necropolis Necropolis
Dungeon Dungeon
Stronghold Stronghold
Fortress Fortress
Conflux Conflux Armageddon's Blade
Cove Cove Horn of the Abyss
Factory Factory Horn of the Abyss

Necropolis is an evil alignment town with necromancer and death knight hero classes. Necropolis represents Deyja.

"Necropolis towns are overrun and ruled by undead creatures. They are the natural bases for the Necromancer and Death Knight hero types. Necropolis armies have many units with abilities to weaken their opponents. This quickly gives them an edge over equal or even more powerful enemy armies." RoE manual

Necropolis' native terrain is dirt.

Necropolis building tree[edit]

Fully upgraded Necropolis
Building Category Cost
Common
 Wood
45
   Ore
40
       Gold
37000
Mage Guild
 Wood
25
 Mercury
28
 Ore
25
 Sulfur
28
 Crystal
28
 Gem
28
 Gold
6000
Dwellings
 Wood
60
 Mercury
32 Armageddon's Blade
31 Horn of the Abyss
 Ore
70 Armageddon's Blade
65 Horn of the Abyss
 Sulfur
22 Armageddon's Blade
15 Horn of the Abyss
 Crystal
17
 Gem
17
 Gold
48400
Unique
 Wood
20
           Gold
6000
Total Building Cost:
 Wood
150
 Mercury
60 Armageddon's Blade
59 Horn of the Abyss
 Ore
135 Armageddon's Blade
130 Horn of the Abyss
 Sulfur
50 Armageddon's Blade
43 Horn of the Abyss
 Crystal
45
 Gem
45
 Gold
97400
Troop Cost / Week: 26920 Gold, 2 Mercury

Common Buildings and Mage Guild[edit]

Halls Fortifications Miscellaneous Mage Guilds Banned spells
Village Hall Village Hall
(existing)
Fort Fort
 Wood
20
   Ore
20
       Gold
5000
Tavern Tavern
 Wood
5
           Gold
500
Mage Guild level 1 Mage Guild level 1
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
2000
 Bless   Cure
Town Hall
     Gold
2500
       
Citadel Citadel
     Ore
5
       Gold
2500
Marketplace Marketplace
 Wood
5
           Gold
500
Mage Guild level 2 Mage Guild level 2
 Wood
5
 Mercury
4
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
4
 Crystal
4
 Gem
4
 Gold
1000
City Hall City Hall
     Gold
5000
       
Castle Castle
 Wood
10
   Ore
10
       Gold
5000
Resource Silo Resource Silo (1 Wood, 1 Ore)
     Ore
5
       Gold
5000
Mage Guild level 3 Mage Guild level 3
 Wood
5
 Mercury
6
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
6
 Crystal
6
 Gem
6
 Gold
1000
Destroy UndeadHypnotize
Capitol Capitol
     Gold
10000
       
Blacksmith
Blacksmith
 Wood
5
           Gold
1000
Mage Guild level 4 Mage Guild level 4
 Wood
5
 Mercury
8
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
8
 Crystal
8
 Gem
8
 Gold
1000
Prayer
Mage Guild level 5 Mage Guild level 5
 Wood
5
 Mercury
10
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
10
 Crystal
10
 Gem
10
 Gold
1000
Summon Fire Elemental Magic Mirror Summon Water Elemental
Total Common Buildings:
 Wood
45
   Ore
40
       Gold
37000 
Total Mage Guild:
 Wood
25
 Mercury
28
 Ore
25
 Sulfur
28
 Crystal
28
 Gem
28
 Gold
6000

Creature Dwellings[edit]

Structure Base Cost Upgrade Cost Creature Max
Grw
Upg Cr
Cost
Cost/
Week


 Cursed Temple 
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
400
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
1000
Skeleton Skeleton
Skeleton Warrior Skeleton Warrior
30 70 Gold 2100 Gold


 Graveyard 
     Ore
5
       Gold
1000
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
1000
Walking Dead Walking Dead
Zombie Zombie
16 125 Gold 2000 Gold


 Tomb of Souls 
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
1500
   Mercury
Armageddon's Blade
Horn of the Abyss
         Gold
1500
Wight Wight
Wraith Wraith
14 230 Gold 3220 Gold


 Estate 
 Wood
5
   Ore
5
       Gold
2000
 Wood
10
       Crystal
10
 Gem
10
 Gold
2000
Vampire Vampire
Vampire Lord Vampire Lord
8 500 Gold 4000 Gold


 Mausoleum 
     Ore
10 Armageddon's Blade
Horn of the Abyss
 Sulfur
10 Armageddon's Blade
Horn of the Abyss
     Gold
2000
     Ore
5
 Sulfur
Armageddon's Blade
Horn of the Abyss
     Gold
2000
Lich Lich
Power Lich Power Lich
6 600 Gold 3600 Gold


 Hall of Darkness 
 Wood
10
   Ore
10
       Gold
6000
 Wood
5
 Mercury
2
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
2
 Crystal
2
 Gem
2
 Gold
3000
Black Knight Black Knight
Dread Knight Dread Knight
4 1500 Gold 6000 Gold


 Dragon Vault 
 Wood
5
 Mercury
5
 Ore
5
 Sulfur
5
 Crystal
5
 Gem
5
 Gold
10000
 Wood
5
 Mercury
20
 Ore
5
       Gold
15000
Bone Dragon Bone Dragon
Ghost Dragon Ghost Dragon
2 3000 Gold
1 Mercury
6000 Gold
2 Mercury


  


[[File: Creature portrait small.gif link=]] [[|]]
[[File: Creature portrait small.gif
link=]] [[|]]
Total Dwelling Cost:
 Wood
60
 Mercury
32 Armageddon's Blade
31 Horn of the Abyss
 Ore
70 Armageddon's Blade
65 Horn of the Abyss
 Sulfur
22 Armageddon's Blade
15 Horn of the Abyss
 Crystal
17
 Gem
17
 Gold
48400
Weekly Troop Cost: 26920 Gold
2 Mercury

Unique Buildings[edit]

Structure Effect Cost
Necromancy Amplifier Increases the Necromancy skill of all your heroes by 10%.
             Gold
1000
Cover of Darkness At the beginning of the player's turn, creates an unexplored area of 20 radius
around the town for opposing players.
             Gold
1000
Skeleton Transformer Allows converting of creatures to Skeleton Skeletons and Bone Dragon Bone Dragons
             Gold
1000
Unearthed Graves Horde Building. Growth +6/week for Skeleton Skeleton / Skeleton Warrior Skeleton Warrior
             Gold
1000
Shipyard Allows building boats if the town has access to water.
 Wood
20
           Gold
2000
Soul Prison Grail Structure. +5000 Gold/day, +50% creature growth
Increases the Necromancy skill of all your heroes by 20%.
n/a
Total Cost:
 Wood
20
           Gold
6000

Heroes[edit]

Banned secondary skills:

Some skills are not available for certain hero classes, which means they can only acquire them from Scholars, Witch Huts (except for Necromancy and Leadership, if not allowed by a map-maker), Seer's Huts, Events or Pandora's Boxes.

Leadership Leadership, First Aid First Aid and Estates Estates are not available for death knights.

Leadership Leadership, First Aid First Aid and Interference Interference Horn of the Abyss are not available for necromancers.

Creatures[edit]

Necropolis creatures
 Name   Town   Lvl   Att   Def   Dmg-   Dmg+   HP   Spd   Grw   AI Val   Cost   Special 














Skeleton Skeleton 1 5 4 1 3 6 4 12 60 60 Gold   Undead
Skeleton Warrior Skeleton Warrior 1+ 6 6 1 3 6 5 12 85 70 Gold   Undead
Walking Dead Walking Dead 2 5 5 2 3 15 3 8 98 100 Gold   Undead
Zombie Zombie 2+ 5 5 2 3 20 4 8 128 125 Gold   Undead, Disease
Wight Wight 3 7 7 3 5 18 5 7 252 200 Gold   Undead, Flying, Regeneration
Wraith Wraith 3+ 7 7 3 5 18 7 7 315 230 Gold   Undead, Flying, Regeneration, Mana drain
Vampire Vampire 4 10 9 5 8 30 6 4 555 360 Gold   Undead, Flying, No enemy retaliation
Vampire Lord Vampire Lord 4+ 10 10 5 8 40 9 4 783 500 Gold   Undead, Flying, No enemy retaliation, Life drain
Lich Lich 5 13 10 11 13 30 6 3 848 550 Gold   Ranged (12 shots), Undead, Death cloud
Power Lich Power Lich 5+ 13 10 11 15 40 7 3 1079 600 Gold   Ranged (24 shots), Undead, Death cloud
Black Knight Black Knight 6 16 16 15 30 120 7 2 2087 1200 Gold   Undead, Curse
Dread Knight Dread Knight 6+ 18 18 15 30 120 9 2 2382 1500 Gold   Undead, Curse, Death blow
Bone Dragon Bone Dragon 7 17 15 25 50 150 9 1 3388 1800 Gold   Dragon, Undead, Flying, Morale -1
Ghost Dragon Ghost Dragon 7+ 19 17 25 50 200 14 1 4696 3000 Gold , 1 Mercury  Dragon, Undead, Flying, Morale -1, Aging

Town names[edit]

Unless specified by the mapmaker, towns will generate with a random name. Necropolis towns will use one of these following names:

Agony Blackquarter Blight Cessacioun
Coldreign Coldsoul Death's Gate Dark Cloud
Dark Eternal Ghostwind Grave Raven Haunt's Wind
Sanctum Shadow Keep Terminus Worm Warren

If there are more Necropolis towns on the map than possible names, they will use names taken from other towns.

User commentary

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Some may find the information in this section subjective or irrelevant.

  • Necropolis armies have many units with abilities to weaken their opponents. This may give them an advantage over an equal or even a stronger opponent.
  • Necropolis is one of the most powerful towns. It has very strong 4th and 6th level creatures, as well as mighty shooters. Vampire Lords and Dread Knights are among the strongest in their respective levels, and while having Power Liches in an army consisting of living creatures may have problematic because of the death cloud attack, in the army of undead it is an advantage. Skeletons are around average rank of 1st level creatures, but due to Necromancy secondary skill, their numbers can be signifcantly greater than other 1st level creatures. The downside is, that Walking Deads, Wights, and Bone Dragons are all among the weakest creatures of their respective levels. In fact, Bone Dragon is perhaps the weakest 7th level creature.
  • Bone Dragons and Ghost Dragons are underrated. Their -1 to enemy morale means that neutral mobs except for Minotaurs will never get an extra turn in battle, which gives the Necromancer greater control of the battlefield, reducing losses over time, and eventually resulting in a larger, stronger army. When upgraded to Ghost Dragons, they become faster than all units below level 7, allowing the Necromancer to cast the first spell unless the opponent has a Firebird/Phoenix or an upgraded Black Dragon, Gold Dragon, Arch Angel, or Arch Devil. The Ghost Dragon's aging attack is useless in small battles, but is terrifying in huge battles when split into 3 stacks and used to age the opponent's best stacks.
  • Necropolis has excellent magic capabilities. It can build level 5th Mage Guild and has few special spells like Animate Dead and Death Ripple to support the armies. Also, undead hordes are immune to mind spells, which greatest advantage is that they cannot be blinded or "berserked". In addition, undead do not suffer from negative morale (nor do they benefit from positive). This makes the Spirit of Oppression a useful tool for Necropolis armies.
  • Perhaps the most outstanding feature closely related to Necropolis is Necromancy secondary skill. It enables heroes with the skill to "harvest" Skeletons (or Skeleton Warriors) from enemy armies as well as allied creatures. It is possible for a hero with Necromancy skill to come out from a battle with more troops than he went to it.
  • An advantageous tactics with Necropolis is "harvesting" skeletons with the Necromancy secondary skill. At expert level Necromancy allows 30% (15% in Horn of the Abyss) of the creatures killed in combat to be brought back from the dead as skeletons. The percentage points can be increased with two structures: Necromancy Amplifier(s) and Soul Prison. Amplifiers can typicallly be constructed in necropolis towns, while Soul Prison is the grail building of Necropolis. Each amplifier increases the percentage points by +10% (5% in Horn of the Abyss).
  • Harvesting leads to a situation, where it is profitable for heroes with Necromancy (mainly Death Knights and Necromancers) to carry through combats with wandering creatures instead of letting them flee if they are substantially less creatures and want to quit the battlefield. So, special months (see growth) where some creature types population doubles is actually a boon for Necropolis skeleton harvesters. This is especially valid for low-level creatures that come in large numbers, like hobgoblins. Random units blocking pathways on the map thus become a motivational boost because those wandering creatures mean additional Skeletons.
  • Even without necromancy, you can turn any creature into Skeletons. This means that free level 1 map dwelling (like for Gremlins and Imps) will give you free skeletons indirectly, thanks to the Skeleton Transformer. That means you don't even need wandering enemies or the Necromancy secondary skill to raise huge hordes of skeletons as the Necropolis, and outnumber other towns.

Pros:

  • A variety of good heroes to choose from.
  • A variety of strategies available.
  • Units are unaffected by negative Morale thus unaffected also by Sorrow or Spirit of Oppression, mixing with other Town type units still has a penalty on units of other towns.
  • Unaffected by Mind spells like Elementals, even Blind does not function on Undead units.
  • Necromancy is a powerful secondary skill that only Necropolis town heroes can utilize effectively and that every Necropolis hero typically has. Given affordable Necromancy amplifier buildings (10% point building bonus to Necromancy, unique town secondary skill boost building feature for all own heroes on the map, safe the Navigation centric building Lighthouse the only secondary skill bonus enhancer building available in the game) in Necropolis towns and a range of artifacts that further enhance the skill percentage like Vampire's Cowl it is rather easy to recruit a small but steady number of Undead from most other creatures after fights. Every successful fight will increase the number of level 1 units one has even to astronomical amounts of stack sizes for steady motivation boosts after each encounter. Undead generally are Animate Dead resurrectable during combat additionally and the Skeleton Transformer in a Necropolis town can change foreign units to Skeletons so mixing foreign units with Necropolis town units does not make them suffer morale penalty when converting them to Skeletons first, one can recruit units off fights with the opponent and they are rather hard to kill and easily replenished given enough mana or Necromancy skill bonus points which are readily available via buildings or artifacts or even hero specials.
  • Vampire Lords are by far the most cost-efficient level 4 unit (and arguably the most cost-efficient unit in the game), as they can beat armies of much greater size as long as they are not (like Undead, Constructs or Elementals) immune to the Vampire Lords' Life drain ability and as long as the Vampire Lords are used properly (with Blind on extra enemy stacks for example or Counterstrike on the Vampire Lords amidst low number/low hp enemy stacks, alternated with Animate Dead to help out if the Life Drain to damage inbound ratio is proving destructive to the Vampire Lord stack - perhaps also using Haste and the Flying feature of the Vampire Lords to switch opponent melee stacks to feasible ones or to seek a safe point to replenish via Animate Dead, Cure or First Aid).
  • The level 3 spell Animate Dead (which the necromancer hero Thant has built in) can resurrect units in combat, and they stay resurrected after combat. So given a good balance of Thants undead and repairable units compared to the opponent, enough mana for the resurrects and having Shackles of War for unlimited turns (a smaller version would be using Blind on all remaining enemy units and killing one blinded stack each turn, keeping the enemy locked until the enemy hero is lost to the opponent and the artifacts if any are transferred) he would not lose any units in combat but also often get additional Necromancy created skeletons (which would hamper movement on the adventure map a little, as Skeletons are slow creatures (and even with Town Portal and Dimension Door there's an adventure map movement penalty to consider)).
  • There are number of artifacts that are only useful to Necropolis (artifacts enhancing the created creature number of the unique secondary skill Necromancy like Cloak of the Undead King, but also Pendant of Death which counters the mini, undead-only version of Armageddon, damaging all undead on the battlefield, even those recruited in no Necropolis but on the adventure map).
  • Both Necropolis hero types begin with a spell book.

Cons:

  • Necropolis produces the least amount of units per week. (Not counting Necromancy).
  • Walking Dead and Zombies slow armies down.
  • Only one ranged attacker Lich/Power Lich which also has a Melee penalty, no Double attack and cannot attack Siege Walls.
  • Unaffected by Bless.
  • Unaffected by positive Morale. Mixing creatures of other town types without converting them to Skeletons via Skeleton Transformer first will get them negative Morale of course, on the other hand Spirit of Oppression is a very nice thing to have for any Necropolis hero with only Necropolis units in the party as it does not do any harm to Necropolis units. The Dread Knights' Death blow feature works largely (no Luck bonus for the second strike) like an attack only, no movement Morale bonus would, but at a higher probability of 20% (high Morale has 12.5% of activating a second action each creature) and it is a natural feature.
  • Difficulties in the early game, where your slow level 1 and level 2 creatures are not the best to conquer mines and explore the map (and in the endgame a host of in-combat resurrectable skeletons might hamper adventure map transfers (to re-flag buildings for instance) safe for Town Portal which is a nice (and often banned) spell to jump the adventure map)).
  • Bone and Ghost Dragons are near the bottom of the Level 7's in strength and usefulness.
  • Necropolis heroes cannot learn first aid, even though their blacksmith produces first aid tents.
  • Armageddon spell is in the Mage Guild, but is useless for Necropolis units since the undead don't have fire magic immunity. Moreover, a Rampart, Inferno, Dungeon, or Conflux hero may capture a Necropolis and learn Armageddon, which will be used in a proper way via dragogeddon.
  • Dirt which is Necropolis's native terrain doesn't give any movement penalty to the enemy.
  • This town is often considered too strong and thus is banned in many multiplayer games/tournaments. In Horn of the Abyss all percentages for Necromancy got halved in an attempt to balance this and also Galthran got replaced by Ranloo.

Some thoughts If you can upgrade your Estate early, you should do so. The Vampire Lords are one of the best 4th-level creatures in the game. Since they draw life from their enemy, and resurrect themselves, they can be used to single-handedly take out large numbers of low-level creatures. Combine with "counterstrike" to get even better effect.

"The month of the Hobgoblin" and the like are Necromancers' wet dream. Just take your strongest hero and stockpile Skeletons. Necromancy adds a little bit of motivation on clearing maps - who needs experience and levelups, when there's Skeletons aplenty?

The Necropolis has only a few units they can rely on, the others can wait with being bought and, in time, even be ignored. The reliable units are: Skeleton Warriors, Vampire Lords, Power Liches and Dread Knights.

You get Skeleton Warriors only if your ranks are full at the *end* of combat and if you have a stack of Skeleton Warriors and no stack of Skeletons. The downpart is that you get less than if you'd get normal Skeletons (2/3rds as many). Therefore, if it is logistically managable, it would be better to try and get a horde of normal Skeletons first, and then upgrade them at a Necropolis or Hill Fort for the last battle.

If there are any Level 1 dwellings nearby, recruit them and take them to the Necropolis. If you have a Skeleton Transformer, you're practically getting free skeletons, and even free Skeleton warriors if there is a Hill Fort close by too.


See also[edit]