War Machine

War machine is a common term used for referring to either an Ammo Cart, Ballista, First Aid Tent or Catapult. Basically they are all special combat units which are available in most of the battles. The only exceptions are creature banks and shipwrecks, where none of the war machines are used. Furthermore, Catapults are only used in siege combats. All war machines have a special slot reserved just for that particular war machine.

Typically, war machines except the Catapult are bought from Blacksmiths, which sell different war machine depending on the town. Additionally, war machines can be bought from an Adventure Map location called the War Machine Factory, which sell all war machines (except Catapults). Stronghold has the special building Ballista Yard, where a visiting hero can buy a Ballista. All heroes have the Catapult with them, and if one is destroyed in the combat, a new one is automatically added to hero's catapult slot.

All war machines are immobile and unaffected by morale (Ballista and Cannon  can have a lucky strike, and in the Horn of the Abyss they both can have bad luck). Additionally, war machines do not affect the hero's movement. On the battlefield AI considers Catapult, Ballista and Cannon  as ranged units, ignoring the moment they can not be blocked.

War machines are immune to:

Spells	Abilities
•  Implosion	• Aging	Ghost Dragon
•  Clone	• Death cloud	Liches
•  Bloodlust	• Death stare	Mighty Gorgon
• Mind spells - (Berserk, Blind, Forgetfulness, Frenzy, Hypnotize, Mirth, Sorrow)	• Disease	Zombie
•  Berserk can be cast without any effect.	• Fear	Azure Dragon
•  Frenzy can be cast by the Orb of Vulnerability owner.	• Life drain	Vampire Lord
•  Death Ripple and  Destroy Undead	• Paralyze	Scorpicore
•  Slow and  Haste	• Petrify	Medusas   Basilisks
•  Teleport	• Poison	Wyvern Monarch   Sea Serpent and Haspid
•  Resurrection and  Sacrifice	• Summon demons	Pit Lord
•  Counterstrike	• Accurate shot	Sea Dog

Some spells are effective for Ballista and Cannon  only:

•  Fortune and  Misfortune

•  Bless and  Curse

•  Slayer

•  Precision (can be cast on  Catapult)

Ammo Cart

File:Mini Portrait Ammo cart.png   Ammo cart    Attack    Defense 5    Damage    Health 100    Cost 1000    Shots

Ammo Сart provides unlimited shots for creatures and War Machines with ranged attacks. The shots start to decrease right after the Ammo Cart is destroyed. Despite the fact that The Ammo Cart is not used during a creature bank or shipwreck battle, it still provides unlimited ammo. In damage calculations, Ammo Cart goes as level 1 unit, its AI Value is 400.

Sold by the blacksmith of

• Inferno,
• Stronghold,
• Tower.

Ballista

Ballista    Attack 10    Defense 10    Damage 2–3    Health 250    Cost 2500    Shots 24

A ballista is a missile weapon that, like ranged units, shoots projectiles toward enemy troops, but is unable to retaliate against attacks. It can shoot even if one or several enemy stacks are adjacent to it. It has a basic damage range (of 2–3) like creatures, but the damage calculation is different. The formula for the calculation of damage is (2–3)*(hero's attack + 1). The Artillery and Archery secondary skills increase this damage. The ballista acts at the end of every combat round, followed only by the first aid tent, and can be controlled when a hero has learned any level of Artillery. Contrary to what its in-game statistics indicate, a ballista has unlimited shots (fixed in Horn of the Abyss) .

Ballistas can be bought from Blacksmiths in Castle, Dungeon and Conflux towns, and from Ballista Yards in Stronghold towns. They can also be purchased from war machine factories on the adventure map. Heroes who specialize in ballistas do typically bring one with them when hired (always in Horn of the Abyss) . In damage calculations Ballista goes as level 5 unit, its AI Value is 600.

Heroes with Ballista specialty:

•   Christian the Knight
•   Torosar the Alchemist
•   Pyre the Demoniac
•   Arlach the Overlord
•   Gurnisson the Barbarian
•   Gerwulf the Beastmaster
•   Ranloo the Death Knight 

First Aid Tent

File:Mini Portrait First aid tent.png   First aid tent    Attack    Defense    Damage    Health 75    Cost 750    Shots

First Aid Tent heals 1-25 hit points of the top creature in target allied stack. The amount of health restored is affected by First Aid secondary skill, which also gives the player control over the tent rather than being chosen by computer. First Aid Tents act last at the combat round. Tents can be bought from blacksmiths of Rampart, Fortress and Necropolis towns, or from a War Machine Factory adventure map location. Typically, heroes with First Aid specialty start with a First Aid Tent (always in Horn of the Abyss) . Oddly enough, Necropolis' heroes cannot learn First Aid, even though their blacksmith produces First Aid Tents. In damage calculations, First Aid Tent goes as level 1 unit, its AI Value is 300.

Heroes with First Aid specialty:

•   Rion the Cleric
•   Gem the Druid
•   Verdish the Witch

Catapult

Catapult    Attack 10    Defense 10    Damage    Health 1000    Cost N/A    Shots 24

The Catapult only appears on the battlefield when siege attacking enemy towns with walls, which requires the town to have a fort, citadel, or castle. Its main use is to attack and destroy the walls in order to enable ground troops to attack the defenders. The Catapult can also attack and destroy the arrow towers of citadels and castles. The ballistics secondary skill enhances the performance of the Catapult. Basic ballistics gives the player control over the Catapult making it possible to aim at particular parts of the siege structures. During a siege, the Catapult shoots after the arrow towers, but before any other troop. In damage calculations Catapult goes as level 1 unit, its AI Value is 500.

Horn of the Abyss

Cannon

Cannon    Attack 20    Defense 10    Damage 4–7    Health 250    Cost 4000    Shots 8

Cove War Machine. Bought in the blacksmith of Cove or in a Cannon Yard. The formula for the calculation of damage is (4–7)*(hero's attack + 1). It costs 4000 gold.

• Is put in the Ballista slot of a hero. It cannot be put in a backpack.
• Assault battle machine. Only attacks by shooting. Is not blocked by standing next to an enemy unit. Can attack enemy troops and fortifications. One does not need to destroy the cannon to win the battle. No experience is given for its destruction.
• Is put in place of Ballista during battle. Does not participate in the battle on the side of the defender during the siege, as well as the battles in vaults and banks. Moves at the same time as Ballista (before the First Aid Tent). Controlled by the AI.
• In damage calculations, Cannon goes as level 6 unit, its AI Value is 875.

Effect of Artillery skill

• None. All features work as described above.
• Basic. Gives you control of the cannon. Aimed shot with increased damage on the fortifications.
• Advanced. Gives you control of the cannon. Double damage on unit, aimed shot with increased damage on the fortifications.
• Expert. Gives you control of the cannon. Triple damage on unit, aimed shot with maximum damage on the fortifications.

Heroes with Cannon specialty:

•   Jeremy the Captain

Ballista vs. Cannon

Here a table showing the average damage of a Ballista and Cannon with and without Artillery skill. Note that the Cannon has 20 Attack and 8 shots while the Ballista has only 10 Attack but 24 shots:

Hero Attack	Average damage
	Ballista (10 Attack)				Cannon (20 Attack!)
	Base	Artillery			Base	Artillery
		Basic	Advanced	Expert		Basic	Advanced	Expert
0	2.5	3.75	8.75	10	5.5		11	16.5
1	5	7.5	17.5	20	11		22	33
2	7.5	11.25	26.25	30	16.5		33	49.5
3	10	15	35	40	22		44	66
4	12.5	18.75	43.75	50	27.5		55	82.5
5	15	22.5	52.5	60	33		66	99
10	27.5	41.25	96.25	110	60.5		121	181.5
15	40	60	140	160	88		176	264
20	52.5	78.75	183.75	210	115.5		231	346.5
25	65	97.5	227.5	260	143		286	429
30	77.5	116.25	271.25	310	170.5		341	511.5
35	90	135	315	360	198		396	594
40	102.5	153.75	358.75	410	225.5		451	676.5
50	127.5	191.25	446.25	510	280.5		561	841.5
60	152.5	228.75	533.75	610	335.5		671	1006.5
70	177.5	266.25	621.25	710	390.5		781	1171.5
80	202.5	303.75	708.75	810	445.5		891	1336.5
90	227.5	341.25	796.25	910	500.5		1001	1501.5
99	250	375	875	1000	550		1100	1650

User commentary

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In general, the importance of War Machines is decreasing throughout the game, as you have big army and powerful damage spells. The Ballista is a war machine of some limited use, however it requires a high (25+) Attack skill before it starts dealing enough damage to justify its 2500 Gold cost. The Artillery skill can offset this somewhat, but comes with the high opportunity cost of omitting a potentially more useful secondary skill such as Offense or Armorer. The above restrictions generally limit the Ballista to might heroes with high Attack skill. Of the four towns that sell Ballistae, Barbarians from Stronghold are most likely to reach this skill - more defensive heroes such as those from Fortress will not be able to make use of the Ballista as efficiently. Note that if you don't have Artillery skill, Ballista can spoil the battle if you want to blind the only remaining enemy stack and resurrect/animate your whole army. It will shoot and unblind the enemy. The First Aid tent is most often useless, even with the (also nearly useless) First Aid skill at its top level. Its main limitation is that it cannot resurrect killed creatures, so it's useless for low-level creatures. The only case in which a First Aid Tent is useful is when a player obtains a high-level creature early in the game. Setting a hero up with 1-2 high level creatures and a first-aid tent ensures that the healing is not wasted and allows the player to clear wandering monsters from the map more easily. You may start with a hero with First Aid tent, even if your blacksmith doesn't produce it, and rush through the map using 1-2 sixth level creatures. The Ammo Cart's unlimited ammunition is usually unnecessary besides a very long battle, but is extremely useful in the few situations when it is needed. Most shooters in the game have enough ammunition to attack 12 times, with many carrying more. The few exceptions are Master Gremlins (8 shots), Medusa Queens (8 shots), and Medusas (only 4 shots!). With good Morale, these creatures run the risk of quickly depleting their ammunition over the course of a battle. This can be the difference between defeat and victory, particularly in a bloody castle siege. If the enemy Catapult can be destroyed and their flying units killed, even a single shooter with an ammunition cart can eventually drive of the enemy if the walls are still intact. As every hero gets a Catapult free of cost which is only deployed for siege warfare, there is little choice involved in catapult usage other than targeting with the Ballistics skill.