Editing Fortress

{{TownNew
| name            = Fortress
| alignment       = Neutral
| class_1         = Beastmaster
| class_1_plural  = Beastmasters
| class_2         = Witch
| class_2_plural  = Witches
| country         = Tatalia
| description     = Fortress towns are built at the edge of swamps and are often used as bases by the Beastmaster and Witch hero classes. Their armies are primarily made up of deadly creatures — born of the swamps, and then subdued and trained for warfare. While among them there is only one ranged attack creature, Fortress units are possessed of many special abilities to offset this deficiency.
| source          = Restoration of Erathia
| page            = 92
| terrain         = Swamp
| commonGold      = 37000
| commonWood      = 45
| commonOre       = 40
| mageGold        = 4000
| mageWood        = 15
| mageOre         = 15
| mageMercury     = 10
| mageSulfur      = 10
| mageCrystal     = 10
| mageGems        = 10
| dwellingGold    = 45400
| dwellingWood    = 105
| dwellingOre     = 50
| dwellingMercury = 19
| dwellingSulfur  = 39
| dwellingCrystal = -
| dwellingGems    = -
| uniqueGold      = 6000
| uniqueWood      = 20
| uniqueOre       = -
| uniqueMercury   = -
| uniqueSulfur    = -
| uniqueCrystal   = -
| uniqueGems      = -
| totalGold       = 92400
| totalWood       = 185
| totalOre        = 105
| totalMercury    = 29
| totalSulfur     = 49
| totalCrystal    = 10
| totalGems       = 10
| troopGold       = 26660
| troopWood       = -
| troopOre        = -
| troopMercury    = -
| troopSulfur     = 2
| troopCrystal    = -
| troopGems       = -
| sp_banned_1_1   = Curse
| sp_banned_2_1   = Disguise
| sp_banned_2_2   = Death Ripple
| sp_banned_3_1   = Animate Dead
| sp_banned_3_2   = Protection from Earth
| name_1          = Backwater
| name_2          = Coolmire
| name_3          = Deadfall
| name_4          = Deadwood
| name_5          = Drakenmoor
| name_6          = Edgewater
| name_7          = Hermit Cove
| name_8          = Lostmoor
| name_9          = Marshank
| name_10         = Marshchoke
| name_11         = Marshwall
| name_12         = Mossden
| name_13         = Mosswood
| name_14         = Mudshire
| name_15         = Silt
| name_16         = Stillbog
}}
{{user commentary|
* While among them there is only one ranged-attack creature, Fortress units possess many special abilities to offset this deficiency.

'''Pros:'''
*High defense (Defense themed town)
*With a two-hex [[moat]] and several buildings which increase the stats of the defending hero, a Fortress castle is a real pain to attack. So the Fortress moat is considered as the best moat in the game due to usefulness thanks to two-hex wide that make harder to attack a Fortress castle without support of shooters, flyers and spells.
*Hand-to-hand troops with excellent specials ([[Dispel]], [[Death Stare]], [[Petrify]], [[Poison]]).
*[[Serpent Fly and Dragon Fly|Dragon Flies]] are extremely fast. They share 8th place by speed among town units with [[Efreet and Efreet Sultan|Efreet Sultans]] (not including 7 level creatures, these two are fastest in the game), being faster than ''all'' creatures in [[Tower]] and [[Stronghold]] - and it's on level 3! For early development, it rocks, since the hero may simply rush through the map having Dragon Flies only (even basic Serpent Flies are ok, as their speed 9 is decent); and in a big battle, they are a major problem since they [[Dispel|remove]] positive spells casted on enemy units and cast [[Weakness]], making them less effective. They are also good creatures in terms of speed per cost ratio for scouting heroes at early game and/or towns with slow armies.
*Their swamp native terrain makes them move much faster than any hero (without [[pathfinding]]) in the swamp.
*The [[Wyvern Nest]] is very cheap and has very low requirements compared to the other level 6 dwellings, allowing the Fortress town to get level 6 units in their army early even on impossible difficulty.
*[[Bron]] is the only hero in the game to bring level 4 units - [[Basilisks]] - with him at the start of the game. (Except [[Illor]] and [[Todd]] in HotA.) {{withhota}}

'''Cons:'''
*Fortress creatures have the lowest attack ratings of all towns.
*The heavy focus on Defense can be disadvantageous in many cases, as a hero with high attack can kill their enemies before they have a chance to attack back. Attack can therefore be used as a type of defense, while defense cannot be used as offense.
*The big focus on Defense, combined with the fact that Fortress only has one shooter, makes it more difficult for it to win battles without casualties, than the other factions.
*Magic, [[Mage Guild]] is limited to level 3.
*Some creatures have poor stats (in {{sod}}, as well as {{roe}} patch 1.3 and {{ab}} patch 2.1, some stats for [[Lizardman]]/[[Lizard Warrior]] and [[Serpent Fly]]/[[Dragon Fly]] were increased, but overall they are still relatively weak).
*Very slow 7 level creature, especially the basic version (with speed 5, [[Hydra]] is slower than six level 1 creatures, and there is no upgraded level 1 creature slower than Hydra; among level 2 melee units, only [[Dwarf]], [[Walking Dead]], and [[Zombie]] are slower). Moreover, Chaos Hydras are more expensive than [[Behemoth and Ancient Behemoth|Ancient Behemoths]] who are stronger, faster and more resilient.
*[[Wyvern and Wyvern Monarch|Wyverns]] are on the bottom of the 6th level, have low HP, and are too expensive for their strength (Monarchs cost as much as [[Efreeti and Efreet Sultan|Efreet Sultans]], and more than [[Unicorn and War Unicorn|War Unicorns]]).
*With two fragile fliers (lvl 3 with 20 hp, lvl 6 with 70 hp) and one low-level shooter, the Fortress has a very hard time invading other towns properly. So Expert [[Ballistics]], Expert [[Teleport]] and/or Expert [[Earthquake]] are a must.

The fortress is a "Defense" themed town. It's evident all throughout the design of this faction. The castle itself has a double-thickness moat, and many tough, resilient creatures such as Basilisks, Gorgons, and the immovable Hydra which can make fortress hypothetically the hardest town to [[siege]]. Even the native terrain of [[swamp]] plays into this theme because many opposing heroes will be severely hindered in the area around your town.

Unfortunately, having a tough defense is usually not ideal strategy in Heroes III as it is a game that favors aggression and outward expansion. Most players rank the fortress as among the weakest towns, and typically if you don't expand to other towns in the first few weeks, you'll most likely be outpaced by other players or NPCs. Pick a strong beastmaster as your hero and begin pounding on [[wandering creatures]] as early as possible (you'll suffer losses, but fortress creatures are hard to wipe out).
}}{{end of user commentary}}

{{Town 'see also'}}

[[Category: Fortress]]
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