Talk:Fortress

Strategy

• While among them there is only one ranged-attack creature, Fortress units are possessed of many special abilities to offset this deficiency.

Pros

• Fortress is the cheapest town to build up.
• High defense (Defense themed town)
• With a two-hex moat and several buildings which increase the stats of the defending hero, a Fortress castle is a real pain to attack.
• Resilient hand-to-hand troops with excellent specials (Death Stare, Petrify, Poison)
• Their swamp native terrain makes them move much faster than any hero (without pathfinding) in the swamp.
• The Wyvern Nest is very cheap and has very low requirements compared to the other level 6 dwellings, allowing the Fortress town to get level 6 units in their army early even on impossible difficulty.
• Bron is the only hero in the game to bring level 4 units - Basilisks - with him at the start of the game.

Cons

• Fortress creatures have the lowest attack ratings of all towns.
• The heavy focus on Defense can be disadvantageous in many cases, as a hero with high attack can kill their enemies before they have a chance to attack back. Attack can therefore be used as a type of defense, while defense cannot be used as offense.
  • The heavy focus on Defense combined with the fact that fortress only have got one shooter makes it more difficult for fortress to win battles without casualities than the other factions.
• Magic, Mage Guild is limited to level 3.
• Some creatures have poor stats (in Shadow of Death some stats for Lizardman/Lizard Warrior and Serpent Fly/Dragon Fly were increased, but overall they are still relatively weak. In wake of gods, this can be fixed by use of some settings making Fortress creatures better)
• With two relatively weak fliers (lvl 3 with 20 hp, lvl 6 with 70 (!) hp) and one very weak shooter, the Fortress has a very hard time invading other towns properly. So Expert Ballistics, Expert Teleport and/or Expert Earthquake are a must.

Discussion

The fortress is a "Defense" themed town. It's evident all throughout the design of this faction. The castle itself has a double-thickness moat, and many tough, resilient creatures such as Basilisks, Gorgons, and the immovable Hydra which can make fortress hypothetically the hardest town to siege. Even the native terrain of swamp plays into this theme because many opposing heroes will be severely hindered in the area around your town.

Unfortunately, having a tough defense is usually not ideal strategy in Heroes III as it is a game that favors aggression and outward expansion. Most players rank the fortress as among the weakest towns, and typically if you don't expand to other towns in the first few months, you'll most likely be outpaced by other players or NPCs. Pick a strong witch as your hero and begin pounding on wandering creatures as early as possible (you'll suffer losses, but fortress creatures are hard to wipe out).