Necropolis
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
Creature Dwellings
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, lichs, power lichs, 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.
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
- Wights and Wraiths are one of the worst third level units in the game
- 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 week 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 is a Hovel nearby, then recruit peasants, and take them to the Necropolis. If you have a Skeleton Transformer, you can basically get free skeletons, and even free skeleton warriors if there is a Hill Fort close by too.
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
Cloak of the Undead King, Vampire's Cowl, Dead Man's Boots, Amulet of the Undertaker, Pendant of Death