In Heroes of Might & Magic V, most creatures have one or several special
abilities. Most of these abilities are special combat skills reflecting the
specific power and nature of the creature. The most common abilities are Flyer,
Shooter, and Immunity to a specific element or spell (fire, lightning, slow…),
or the ability to cast one or several spells. However there are plenty of other
abilities, many of them being specific to one creature. Today we will take a
first look at six special abilities, covering creatures from each faction in the
game.
Archangels: Resurrect
Archangels can resurrect friendly units from a stack that have been
decimated or partially destroyed. This ability needs to be “activated” by the
player. In other words, Archangels can either move/attack in the regular way, or
the player can select the Resurrect special ability and use it on a stack of
friendly units. Archangels can use Resurrect only once during a combat. The
number of creatures resurrected by Archangels depends on the number of
Archangels in the stack and the health point (HP) value of resurrected
creatures.
Familiars: Mana Stealer
Every time a Familiar takes the turn, a certain amount of mana is taken away
from the reserve available to the enemy hero. This ability is automatic (it does
not need to be activated by the player) and has no cost to the creature: it will
be able to move or use another ability in the same turn. The amount of stolen
mana is calculated based on the number of Familiars in the stack, and their
basic weekly increase. As a result, a stack made of one weekly brood of
Familiars "steal" approximately three points of the enemy hero's mana every time
it takes the turn.The stolen mana is then transferred to the hero who controls
the Familiars, and added to the hero's current reserve; note that the total mana
value cannot exceed the maximum set for the hero). Having a huge stack of
familiar in your army can be a very effective way to reduce the enemy hero’s
magic power.
War Dancer: War Dance Combo
Using their two swords and their superior training in fencing, War Dancers
are capable of attacking not one but all the tiles that surrounds them with a
single attack. The War Dancer must position himself carefully when attacking to
strike a maximum of enemy creatures. The best strategy is then to target the
weakest enemy stack, as only this one will be able to retaliate on the attack,
while creatures suffering “indirect” damages won’t.
Vampire: Life Drain
Vampires can restore their HP and even resurrect some of the killed units in
their stack by using the HP that they extract from enemy creatures. They will
extract vital energy from the enemies thanks to successful attacks. For every
wound they inflict they will get some HP. They will restore their energy
immediately after the attack, even before the enemy retaliates.As a result a big
stack of vampires is all the more difficult to eliminate because it will
constantly regenerate itself in combat.
Mage: Magic Attack
Like War Dancers and Hydras, Mages have a pattern attack, meaning they can
damage several creatures with a single attack. However their attack is special
in that the pattern is a "tile by tile" vector originating in the tile where the
Mage stands, going through the tile where the specified target is positioned and
continuing beyond the game field. All units in the line of attack—both friendly
and hostile—suffer damage from the Mage’s shot (damages are calculated
individually for each target). Combat machines positioned outside of the game
field but in the line of attack also suffer appropriate damage.
Deep Hydra: Six-Headed Attack
Deep Hydras are huge creatures occupying a 2x2 tiles surface on the
battlefield.Thanks to their six heads, they can attack a whole sphere
simultaneously—the 12 adjacent tiles around them. However, Hydras always
target an actual creature, not an area. Damage inflicted is calculated for each
creature positioned on the affected tiles individually.
