Necropolis

File:Necropolis map.png

The Necropolis is an Evil alignment town with a strong force of undead, focused on magic.

Overview

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 is one of the most powerful towns in Heroes of Might and Magic III, 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.

Structures

Necropolis Specific Buildings

• Cover of Darkness
• Necromancy Amplifier
• Skeleton Transformer
• Shipyard
• Soul Prison
• Unearthed Graves

Creature Dwellings

• Cursed Temple
• Graveyard
• Tomb of Souls
• Estate
• Mausoleum
• Hall of Darkness
• Dragon Vault

Town Costs

["Basic" includes Citadel, Castle & any prerequisites; "Upgrades" also includes prerequisites]

Resource	Basic	Upgrades	All
Gold	33400	25500	96400
Wood	45	25	135
Ore	65	25	135
Crystal	5	12	45
Gems	5	12	45
Mercury	5	27	60
Sulfur	15	7	40

Troop cost/week: 26920 Gold 2 Mercury

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.

Heroes

Magic Heroes (Necromancers)

The following Necromancers are the magic heroes of the Necropolis town:

• Aislinn
• Nagash
• Nimbus
• Finneas
• Sandro
• Septienna
• Thant
• Vidomina
• Xsi

Might Heroes (Death Knights)

The following Death Knights are the might heroes of the Necropolis town:

• Charna
• Clavius
• Galthran
• Isra
• Moandor
• Lord Haart (AB)
• Tamika
• Straker
• Vokial

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• 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

• Walking Dead and Zombies slow armies down
• Only one ranged attacker Lich/Power Lich
• Unaffected by positive Morale
• 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
• Bone and Ghost Dragons are near the bottom of the Level 7's in strength and usefulness

Strategies

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.

"The month of the Hobgoblin" and the like are Necromancers' wet dream. Just take your strongest hero and stockpile Skeletons.

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.

Be on the lookout for Hovels. Peasants 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 Skeletons each week. Have a hero be a collector of these benefits.

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