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[[Image:necropolis_map.png|right|frame]]
{{towns}}
The [[Necropolis]] is an Evil [[alignment]] [[town]] with a strong force of undead, focused on magic.
'''Necropolis''' is an evil [[alignment]] [[town]] with the [[Necromancer]] and [[Death Knight]] [[hero class]]es. Necropolis represents [[Deyja]].


==Overview==
''"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."{{-}}<sup>[[Restoration of Erathia Manual Page 100|RoE manual]]''</sup>


Various [[undead]] creatures rule in Necropolis. Their allies are [[Necromancers]] and [[Death Knights]]. Many of the Necropolis' troops have the abilities to weaken their enemies. This can give them an advantage over an equal or even a stronger opponent.
Necropolis' [[native terrain]] is [[dirt]].


Necropolis is one of the most powerful towns in {{homm}}, mainly because of the Necromancers' ability to raise dead enemies as skeletons, quickly making a host of them. In addition, Necropolis has strong magic, a very nice complement to the hordes of undead.
__TOC__


==Structures==
==Necropolis building tree==
{| style="margin-right:20px; float:left;"
| [[File:NecropolisBuildingTree.png|left|600px]]
|}
 
[[Image:Necropolis-in.png|none|border|500px|thumb|right|Fully upgraded {{PAGENAME}}]]
 
{{Town cost summary|
|common  = {{Building cost|{{W}}<br>45||{{O}}<br>40||||{{G}}<br>37000}}
|mage    = {{Building cost|{{W}}<br>25|{{M}}<br>28|{{O}}<br>25|{{S}}<br>28|{{C}}<br>28|{{Gem}}<br>28|{{G}}<br>6000}}
|dwelling = {{Building cost|{{W}}<br>60|{{M}}<br>32{{-wa}}<br>31{{-wh}}|{{O}}<br>70{{-wa}}<br>65{{-wh}}|{{S}}<br>22{{-wa}}<br>15{{-wh}}|{{C}}<br>17|{{Gem}}<br>17|{{G}}<br>48400}}
|unique  = {{Building cost|{{W}}<br>20||||||{{G}}<br>6000}}
|total    = {{Building cost|{{W}}<br>150|{{M}}<br>60{{-wa}}<br>59{{-wh}}|{{O}}<br>135{{-wa}}<br>130{{-wh}}|{{S}}<br>50{{-wa}}<br>43{{-wh}}|{{C}}<br>45|{{Gem}}<br>45|{{G}}<br>97400}}
|troop    = 26920 {{G}}, 2 {{M}}
}}
{{clear|left}}
===Common Buildings and Mage Guild===
{{Necropolis common buildings}}
 
===Creature Dwellings===
{{Necropolis creature dwellings}}
 
===Unique Buildings===
{{Necropolis unique buildings}}


{{StandardBuildings|5|[[Wood]] and 1 [[Ore]]}}
{{clear|left}}
==Heroes==
{{Hero table}}
{{{{PAGENAME}} hero table}}
|}


===Necropolis Specific Buildings===
'''Banned secondary skills:'''


*[[Cover of Darkness]]
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.
*[[Necromancy Amplifier]]
*[[Skeleton Transformer]]
*[[Shipyard]]
*[[Soul Prison]]
*[[Unearthed Graves]]


===Creature Dwellings===
{{ss|Leadership}}, {{ss|First Aid}} and {{ss|Estates}} are not available for [[Death Knight|Death Knights]].


*[[Cursed Temple]]
{{ss|Leadership}}{{swh|,| and|noicon=}} {{ss|First Aid}}{{showwithhota| and {{ss|Interference}}{{-wh}}}} are not available for [[Necromancer|Necromancers]].
*[[Graveyard]]
*[[Tomb of Souls]]
*[[Estate (structure)|Estate]]
*[[Mausoleum]]
*[[Hall of Darkness]]
*[[Dragon Vault]]


==Town Costs==
==Creatures==
{{Creature table}}
{{{{PAGENAME}} creature table}}
|}


["Basic" includes Citadel, Castle & any prerequisites;
==Town names==
"Upgrades" also includes prerequisites]
Unless specified by the mapmaker, towns will generate with a random name. Necropolis towns will use one of these following names:


{|
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="white-space:nowrap; text-align: left;"
!Resource!!Basic!!Upgrades!!All
|-
|Gold||33400||25500||96400
|-
|Wood||45||25||135
|-
|-
|Ore||65||25||135
| width=85px | Agony || width=85px | Blackquarter || width=85px | Blight || width=85px | Cessacioun
|-
|-
|Crystal||5||12||45
| Coldreign || Coldsoul || Death's Gate || Dark Cloud
|-
|-
|Gems||5||12||45
| Dark Eternal || Ghostwind || Grave Raven || Haunt's Wind
|-
|-
|Mercury||5||27||60
| Sanctum || Shadow Keep || Terminus || Worm Warren
|-
|-
|Sulfur||15||7||40
|}
|}


Troop cost/week: 26920 Gold 2 Mercury
If there are more Necropolis towns on the map than possible names, they will use names taken from other towns.
 
==Units==


Creatures native to the Necropolis town are all [[undead]], which has a number of advantages and disadvantages.  The Necropolis has generally weaker lower level units, mainly the walking dead, wights, wraiths, and vampires. This isn't that important as skeletons are available in large numbers, and Necropolis is a powerhouse in middle-upper level units. Vampire lords, liches, power liches, black knights, and dread knights are all extremely powerful for their respective levels. Bone dragons and ghost dragons are not the best final level unit but are still quite effective. Necropolis creatures have many abilities that weaken their opponents.
{{user commentary|
* 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.


{{creaturelist|Skeleton|Skeleton Warrior|Walking Dead|Zombie|Wight|Wraith|Vampire|Vampire Lord|Lich|Power Lich|Black Knight|Dread Knight|Bone Dragon|Ghost Dragon}}
* All Necropolis' creatures are [[undead]], which means that they are unaffected by [[morale]]. They are also immune to all [[mind spell]]s as well as [[Curse]], [[Bless]], [[Resurrection]] and [[Death Ripple]].
 
==Heroes==


===Magic Heroes (Necromancers)===
* Necropolis is one of the most powerful towns. It has very strong 4th and 6th level creatures, as well as mighty shooters. [[Vampire Lord]]s and [[Dread Knight]]s are among the strongest in their respective levels, and while having [[Power Lich]]es 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 Dead]]s, [[Wight]]s, and [[Bone Dragon]]s are all among the weakest creatures of their respective levels. In fact, [[Bone Dragon]] is perhaps the weakest 7th level creature.


The following [[Necromancers]] are the magic heroes of the Necropolis town:
* 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.


*[[Aislinn]]
* 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 spell]]s, which greatest advantage is that they cannot be [[blind]]ed or "[[berserk]]ed". 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.
*[[Nagash]]
*[[Nimbus]]
*[[Finneas]]
*[[Sandro]]
*[[Septienna]]
*[[Thant]]
*[[Vidomina]]
*[[Xsi]]


===Might Heroes (Death Knights)===
* Perhaps the most outstanding feature closely related to Necropolis is [[Necromancy]] [[secondary skill]]. It enables heroes with the skill to "harvest" [[Skeleton]]s (or [[Skeleton Warrior]]s) 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.


The following [[Death Knights]] are the might heroes of the Necropolis town:
* An advantageous tactics with Necropolis is "harvesting" skeletons with the [[Necromancy]] [[secondary skill]]. At expert level Necromancy allows 30% (15% in {{hota}}) 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 {{hota}}).


*[[Charna]]
* There are also artifacts that can increase the skill: [[Amulet of the Undertaker]] increases the percentage points by +5% (2.5% in {{hota}}), [[Vampire's Cowl]] by +10% (5% in {{hota}}) and [[Dead Man's Boots]] by +15% (7.5% in {{hota}}). The artifacts combine to the [[Cloak of the Undead King]] which gives another +30% (15% in {{hota}}) to the [[Necromancy]] skill. With these artifacts and one amplifier, the Necromancy secondary skill can be increased to 100% (50% in {{hota}}). Additionally, two heroes specialize in Necromancy, [[Isra]] and [[Vidomina]]. Combining either of them with one amplifier and all three artifacts, it is possible in {{hota}} to reach 100% skill level in necromancy at level 67, which means that possibly all the creatures killed in combat will be brought back as skeletons.
*[[Clavius]]
*[[Galthran]]
*[[Isra]]
*[[Moandor]]
*[[Lord Haart (AB)]]
*[[Tamika]]
*[[Straker]]
*[[Vokial]]


==Strengths and Weaknesses==
* 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 [[Skeleton]]s.


===Strengths===
* 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.
*A variety of good heroes to choose from
*A variety of strategies available
*Unaffected by negative [[Morale]]
*Unaffected by [[Mind spells]]
*[[Necromancy]] is a powerful secondary skill that only Necropolis heroes can utilize effectively
*There are number of artifacts that are only useful to Necropolis
*Both Necropolis hero types begin with a spell book


===Weaknesses===
'''Pros:'''
*[[Walking Dead]] and [[Zombie]]s slow armies down
*A variety of good heroes to choose from.
*Only one ranged attacker [[Lich]]/[[Power Lich]]
*A variety of strategies available.
*Unaffected by positive [[Morale]]
*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.
*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
*Unaffected by [[Mind spells]] like [[Elemental]]s, even [[Blind]] does not function on [[Undead]] units.
*Bone and [[Ghost Dragon]]s are near the bottom of the Level 7's in strength and usefulness
*[[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%27s_Cowl|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 [[Skeleton]]s so mixing foreign units with [[Necropolis]] town units does not make them suffer [[morale]] penalty when converting them to [[Skeleton]]s 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 Lord]]s 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]], [[Unliving|Construct]]s or [[Elemental]]s) 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 Lord]]s 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 Lord]]s 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 [[Thant]]s 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 [[blind]]ed 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 [[Skeleton]]s 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.


==Strategies==
'''Cons:'''
* Necropolis produces the least amount of units per week. (Not counting Necromancy).
* [[Walking Dead]] and [[Zombie]]s 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 [[Skeleton]]s 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 Knight]]s' [[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 Dragon]]s 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 {{hota}}, all percentages for [[Necromancy]] got halved in an attempt to balance this and also [[Galthran]] got replaced by [[Ranloo]].


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 solely take out large numbers of low-level creatures. Combine with "counterstrike" to get even better effect.  
'''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.
"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 Warrior]]s, [[Vampire Lord]]s, [[Power Lich]]es and [[Dread Knight]]s.
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 Warrior]]s, [[Vampire Lord]]s, [[Power Lich]]es and [[Dread Knight]]s.
Line 121: Line 124:


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 [[skeleton]]s, and even free [[Skeleton warrior]]s if there is a [[Hill Fort]] close by too.
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 [[skeleton]]s, and even free [[Skeleton warrior]]s if there is a [[Hill Fort]] close by too.
}}{{end of user commentary}}


Be on the lookout for [[Hovel]]s.  [[Peasant]]s come free and, though extremely slow and non-lethal, once inside a [[Skeleton Transformer]] they gain a 600% increase in health, up to 300% increase in damage, among other bonuses.  Since Hovels spawn 25 peasants each each week and there are usually 4 or more Hovels close to each other one can gain an extra 100 or so [[Skeleton]]s each week.  Have a hero be a collector of these benefits.
{{Town 'see also'}}
 
==Additional Information==
 
Alignment: Evil
 
Native Terrain: [[Dirt]]
 
J R rates this town's music 4.5/5
 
'''WARNING!''' This town is often considered too strong and thus is ''banned'' in many multiplayer games/tournaments.
 
==Related==
 
[[Necromancy]]
 
[[Cloak of the Undead King]], [[Vampire's Cowl]], [[Dead Man's Boots]], [[Amulet of the Undertaker]], [[Pendant of Death]]
 


[[Category: Towns]]
[[Category: Necropolis]]
__notoc__

Latest revision as of 15:00, 1 October 2024

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 the 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 | hide | hide all]

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 | hide]

Halls Fortifications Miscellaneous Mage Guilds Banned spells
Village Hall Village Hall
(existing) 		Fort Fort
Wood
20 		Mercury
 Ore
20 		Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 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
Wood
 Mercury
 Ore
 Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 Gold
2500
Citadel Citadel
Wood
 Mercury
 Ore
5 		Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 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
Wood
 Mercury
 Ore
 Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 Gold
5000
Castle Castle
Wood
10 		Mercury
 Ore
10 		Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 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
Wood
 Mercury
 Ore
 Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 Gold
10000
Blacksmith
Blacksmith
Wood
5 		Mercury
 Ore
 Sulfur
 Crystal
 Gem
 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 | hide]

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
4 Horn of the Abyss5 Shadow of Death 		         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
5 Horn of the Abyss10 Shadow of Death 		 Sulfur
4 Horn of the Abyss10 Shadow of Death 		     Gold
2000
     Ore
5 		 Sulfur
4 Horn of the Abyss5 Shadow of Death 		     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=]] [[|]]
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Total Dwelling Cost:
 Wood
60 		 Mercury
31 Horn of the Abyss32 Shadow of Death 		 Ore
65 Horn of the Abyss70 Shadow of Death 		 Sulfur
15 Horn of the Abyss22 Shadow of Death 		 Crystal
17 		 Gem
17 		 Gold
48400
Weekly Troop Cost: 26920 Gold
2 Mercury

Unique Buildings[edit | hide]

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 | hide]

Name Class Expansion Source Specialty Skill 1 Skill 2 Spell
StrakerStraker Straker  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Walking Dead Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Resistance  Basic Resistance    Haste 
StrakerStraker Straker  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Walking Dead Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Interference  Basic Interference    Haste 
VokialVokial Vokial  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Vampires Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Artillery  Basic Artillery    Stone Skin 
MoandorMoandor Moandor  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Liches Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Learning  Basic Learning    Slow 
CharnaCharna Charna  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Wights Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Tactics  Basic Tactics    Magic Arrow 
TamikaTamika Tamika  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Black Knights Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Offense  Basic Offense    Magic Arrow 
IsraIsra Isra  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Necromancy Advanced Necromancy  Advanced Necromancy     Magic Arrow 
ClaviusClavius Clavius  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Gold Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Offense  Basic Offense    Magic Arrow 
GalthranGalthran Galthran Horn of the Abyss (Campaign/Custom)  Death Knight   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Skeletons Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Armorer  Basic Armorer    Shield 
RanlooRanloo Ranloo  Death Knight   4 - Horn of the Abyss  Ballista Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Artillery  Basic Artillery    Haste 
Haart LichLord HaartHaart LichLord Haart Haart LichLord Haart Horn of the Abyss (Campaign/Custom) Armageddon's Blade  Death Knight   2 - Armageddon's Blade  Black Knights Advanced Necromancy  Advanced Necromancy     Slow 
SeptiennaSeptienna Septienna  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Death Ripple Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Scholar  Basic Scholar    Death Ripple 
AislinnAislinn Aislinn  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Meteor Shower Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Wisdom  Basic Wisdom    Meteor Shower 
SandroSandro Sandro  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Sorcery Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Sorcery  Basic Sorcery    Slow 
NimbusNimbus Nimbus  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Eagle Eye Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Eagle Eye  Basic Eagle Eye    Shield 
ThantThant Thant  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Animate Dead Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Mysticism  Basic Mysticism    Animate Dead 
XsiXsi Xsi  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Stone Skin Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Learning  Basic Learning    Stone Skin 
VidominaVidomina Vidomina  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Necromancy Advanced Necromancy  Advanced Necromancy     Curse 
NagashNagash Nagash  Necromancer   1 - Restoration of Erathia  Gold Basic Necromancy  Basic Necromancy   Basic Intelligence  Basic Intelligence    Protection from Air 

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

Creatures[edit | hide]

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














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

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 | hide]

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