Editing Stronghold

{{towns}}
'''Stronghold''' is a neutral [[alignment]] [[town]] with the [[barbarian]] and [[Battle Mage|battle mage]] [[hero class]]es. Stronghold represents [[Krewlod]].

''"Stronghold towns are built by alliances of tribes and are frequented by the Barbarian and Battle Mage hero types. Armies composed of Stronghold-based units have a balanced mix of ranged and hand-to-hand attackers. With the inclusion of the stronger units, these armies are particularly well-equipped to deal with attacks on other towns."{{-}}<sup>[[Restoration of Erathia Manual Page 108|RoE manual]]''</sup>

Stronghold's [[native terrain]] is [[rough]].

===Stronghold creature dwellings===
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Goblin Barracks]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Wolf Pen]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Orc Tower]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Ogre Fort]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Cliff Nest]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Cyclops Cave]]
* [[Stronghold creature dwellings|Behemoth Lair]]

===Stonghold specific buildings===
* [[Ballista Yard]] - Allows visiting heroes to purchase [[ballista]]s in addition to the [[ammo cart]]s provided by the blacksmith.
* [[Freelancer's Guild]] - (Unique building, allows to sell troops for resources)
* [[Mess Hall]] - ([[Goblin]] [[horde building]], +8/week)
* [[Escape Tunnel]] - (Unique building, allows defending heroes to [[retreat]] during a siege, but not to [[surrender]])
* [[Hall of Valhalla]] - (+1 Attack to visiting hero)
* [[Warlords' Monument]] - ([[Grail]] building, +20 [[Attack]] to defending hero)

==Stronghold building tree==
[[File:StrongholdBuildingTree.png|600px|left]]

[[file:Stronghold-in.png|thumb|right|Fully upgraded Stronghold|500px]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align: center; float:right;"
! class="unsortable" | <span title="The type of resource required.">Resource</span>
! <span title="Cost of building the Citadel, the Castle, and all base creature dwellings, including any associated prerequisites.">Basic</span>
! <span title="Cost of upgrading all creature dwellings, including any associated prerequisites.">Upgrades</span>
! <span title="All buildings built and fully upgraded.">All</span>
|-
|{{Gold}}||28700||28000||91200
|-
|{{Wood}}||60||47||157
|-
|{{Ore}}||70||47||157
|-
|{{Crystal}}||30||20||60
|-
|{{Gem}}||0||5||15
|-
|{{Mercury}}||0||0||10
|-
|{{Sulfur}}||0||0||10
|-
!colspan=2| Troop cost/week: !!colspan=2| 24530 {{Gold}} + 2 {{Crystal}}
|}
{{clear|left}}
===Common buildings===
{{Common buildings|Stronghold|Ammo cart|+1 {{W}} & +1 {{O}}|bs1={{-}}[[file:Curse.png|Curse|link=Curse]]|bs2=[[file:Death Ripple.png|Death Ripple|link=Death Ripple]]|bs3=[[file:Animate Dead.png|Animate Dead|link=Animate Dead]]{{---}}{{---}}| no_4 = | no_5 = }}

==Heroes==
{{switch|tag1=sod|tag2=hota|switch1=[Switch to Horn of the Abyss]|switch2=[Switch to Shadow of Death]|style1=color:blue;|style2=color:blue;}}

{{switch_content|tag1=sod|tag2=hota|content1=		{{hero table|bgc=#{{Green 2,5}}|head=!+ colspan = 14 style="background-color:#{{Green 1}}; font-size: 120%; color:white; height:28px; text-align:center;" {{!}} Stronghold heroes (Shadow of Death)}}
		{{Stronghold hero table}}
{{T!}}|content2=		{{hero table|bgc=#{{Green 2,5}}|head=!+ colspan = 14 style="background-color:#{{Green 1}}; font-size: 120%; color:white; height:28px; text-align:center;" {{!}} Stronghold heroes (Horn of the Abyss)}}
		{{Stronghold hero table (HotA)}}
{{T!}}}}

===Banned secondary skills===
Some skills are not available for certain hero classes, which means they can only acquire them from [[Scholar (Adventure Map)|Scholar]]s, [[Witch Hut]]s (except for [[Necromancy]] and [[Leadership]], if not allowed by a map-maker), [[Seer's Hut]]s, [[Event]]s or [[Pandora's Box]]es.

{{ss|Necromancy}} and {{ss|Water Magic}} are not available for [[barbarian]]s.

{{ss|Necromancy}} and {{ss|Navigation}} are not available for [[battle mage]]s.

==Creatures==
{{Creature table|bgc=#{{Blue 1b}}|head=!+ colspan = 14 style="background-color:#{{Blue 0}}; font-size: 120%; color:white; height:28px;" {{!}} Fortress creatures}}
{{Stronghold creature table}}
|}

{{user commentary|
* Armies composed of stronghold-based units have a balanced mix of [[ranged attack|ranged]] and [[melee|hand-to-hand]] attackers. With the inclusion of the stronger units, these armies are particularly well-equipped to deal with attacks on other towns.
* [[Hobgoblin]]s are excellent 1st level creatures due to their high speed. Giving them to secondary heroes they will give them a lot more movement points (only [[Sprite]]s and [[Centaur Captain]]s are faster). With 70-80 Hobgoblins, you can already take down 3 [[Behemoth]]s and conquer a [[Behemoth Crag]] in the first week. Similar for other tough but slow monsters that are a single stack. This is possible due to their speed. Make 6 stacks of one Hobgoblin and the last stack has all remaining. This big stack is in the last slot (on the bottom when fighting). The strategy is as follows: The Behemoths are in reach of the Hobgoblins but the Hobgoblins are just outside the Behemoths reach. The big stack of Hobgoblins waits. One single Hobgoblin attacks the Behemoths to take the retaliation. Then, the Behemoths approach but can't attack because nothing is in range. After the Behemoths moved, the big stack attacks on the side where they have more space to run away. The round ends. In the next round, everyone runs out of reach in one direction, only one Hobgoblin stays behind in reach of the Behemoths to lure them away. Then, you get the same situation as before and repeat until the Behemoths are dead. You should get ~4 hits before they retaliated once against you. That is sufficient to take down the rest in melee 1v1.
* Be aware that [[Tactics]] and [[Haste]] are incredibly important to get the rather slow Stronghold units engaged into combat.
* Always have your [[Wolf Rider]]s strike not as the first one so they won't receive the retaliation. They deal an immense amount of damage but are very fragile.
* Expert [[Teleport]] and [[Earthquake]] are your spells when besieging a town with a castle (Teleport is hard to get though). Expert Teleport lets you teleport troops behind walls. You have only two mediocre damage-dealing shooters and one expensive flier. You need to get the Behemoths and/or [[Ogre]]s involved. Consider splitting your [[Cyclops King]]s into 2-4 stacks so you can take down the walls effectively. After 18 hits, the entire defensive structures are destroyed. With Expert [[Ballistics]] and two stacks of Cyclops Kings you can get 2 + 2*2 {{=}} 6 attacks onto walls per round this way. After 3 rounds, you have destroyed everything. In Round 2, some towers will already be destroyed. If you additionally have Expert Earthquake, you can take down the entire defensive structures in only two rounds. With four Cyclops King stacks and neither Ballistics nor Earthquake you will still destroy all defensive structures within two rounds.
* Don't be fooled by the low AI value of Behemoths. Yes, they don't have a 2-hex breath attack, they can't resurrect dead allies and they are not immune to spells. However, they defeat all other level 7 units in 1v1 combat, except [[Haspid]]s, and are also the cheapest level 7 unit. Because they are not immune to spells, they *can* get [[Resurrection|resurrected]]. Their only downside is that they are slow - but that's what you can fix with Tactics and Haste. Their building has the fewest prerequisites of all level 7 buildings so you can start amassing them early. In late-game their defense-reducing ability scales very well and they deal absurd amounts of damage.
* Beware of saving lives of your [[Thunderbird]]s. The more Thunderbirds is in a stack, the more additional damage will their [[lightning strike]] do. [[Cure]] them if necessary.
* [https://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id{{=}}447 Strategy Guide for Stronghold from Jolly Joker on Celestial Heavens]

=== Pros ===
* Stronghold is the cheapest town to fully build up.
* Hero classes. [[Battle Mage]] is one of the most balanced classes in the game with a host of useful specials. [[Barbarians]] are the best fighter class available, expect attack ratings to rise fast and keep on rising. With great specials like Offense, a high-level Barbarian is a tough opponent.
* [[Escape Tunnel]]: it is great to be able to retreat from a siege, so that you don't lose your best hero this way. However, it doesn't allow surrender and thus won't save your army.
* [[Cyclops|Cyclopes]] and [[Cyclops King]]s can attack castle walls with their ranged attack. This is a vastly underestimated special that can tip the scale in an attacking force's favor very quickly, especially when combined with a fast initiative-giving unit and [[Haste]] (Expert level for best effect). If you have the room in your army, every additional stack gives additional shots at the wall! A stack of 1 [[Cyclops King]] 'sieges' as well as a stack of 1,000 (and twice as well as a stack of Cyclops).
* [[Ancient Behemoth]] can win a 1vs1 against most 7th level creatures.
* [[Crag Hack]] is one of the best Heroes in the game, at later stages, he will deal incredible amounts of damage thanks to his Offense specialty.
* Least expensive town as far as weekly troop cost is concerned for gold, though the [[Rampart]] town will often have a better economy in general by making use of the [[Treasury]].
* Possible to get [[Behemoths]] on third day, provided sufficient resources.
* [[Freelancer's Guild]] may be helpful to get resources you need by getting rid of units which aren't very important (being weak, slow, and/or not from Stronghold).
* Opportunity to get two war machines.
* [[Gurnisson]] with his artillery ability and high attack, can quickly take many mines, artifacts, enemy heroes, and artifacts quite easily in early-game. The ballista doesn't phase out with a high attack Barbarian until way later in late-game, so this is a great strategy to get a fast start on Stronghold, and get Behemoths quickly.

=== Cons ===
* Stronghold creatures have the lowest defense rating of all towns.
* Slow units, the fastest is the [[Thunderbird]] with a [[Speed]] of 11. [[Ancient Behemoth]] has 9.
* Magic, [[Mage Guild]] is limited to level 3.
* Only one flying unit, namely the [[Thunderbird]].
* [[Cyclops]] and [[Behemoth]] lairs both require a lot of crystal to build. This competition makes it hard to have them both out in the earlier times - you have to choose between one of them, while both are very useful.
}}{{end of user commentary}}

== See also ==
* [[List of creatures]]
* [[List of creatures (HotA)]]
* [[List of heroes]]
* [[List of heroes (HotA)]]

[[Category: Stronghold]]
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