General Information
This page will be a repository of general information that does not fit into any other sections easily.
Resources
In HoMM2, there are different resources that must be obtained in order to build up castles or hire troops. The table below shows pictures of each of the resources and explains what it is. Be aware that on this website, if there is a picture of a resource (or any picture), and you're not sure what it is, rest the mouse cursor over it for a moment to bring up a little information box describing the picture. Try it below. See?
The first 3 are the most essential. The other 4 are for special structures, such as the mage guilds, structures for the upper-end troops, and for hiring those troops as well.
 |
Gold |
 |
Wood |
 |
Ore |
 |
Mercury |
 |
Sulfur |
 |
Crystal |
 |
Gems |
Movement
Unless they are in a ship, heroes move as fast as the speed of their slowest stack. Logistics increases heroes' land movement, while Navigation does the same for water. When moving over rough terrains, heroes get a movement penalty. However, this can be offset by learning Pathfinding. The effects of Pathfinding and terrain are shown in the table below. It is shown by the percent of penalty to regular movement. 200% means the hero would move at half speed. Also, leave the Ogres and Hydras and other slow troops in garrisons!
| Terrain | No Pathfinding | Basic Pathfinding | Advanced Pathfinding | Expert Pathfinding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Desert |
200% | 175% | 150% | 100% |
Swamp |
175% | 150% | 125% | 100% |
Snow |
175% | 150% | 100% | 100% |
Cracked Earth |
125% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Beach |
125% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Lava |
100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Water |
100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Dirt |
100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Grass |
100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Road |
75% | 75% | 75% | 75% |
Note that you get a 25% bonus when going on a road. It is faster than traveling on grass and dirt, and roads make traveling over bad terrain much easier. Pathfinding becomes a very important skill in maps with lots of rough terrain. Note that Pathfinding may be useless in a scenario with little or no bad terrain.
Retreat vs Surrender
If you are in a battle you cannot win, you could fight it out. However, "He who runs away lives to fight another day." Thus, the option to retreat or surrender. What's the difference? Well, if you retreat, your hero loses his army, but keeps his experience, skills, and artifacts. However, if you surrender, you keep everything! The catch is that you have to pay a fee: 1/2 of the cost of your whole army. It's worth it, however, when you don't want to lose a good hero. The fee is reduced by 20% for each level of Diplomacy your hero has. Another catch is that you can only surrender to enemy heroes. All in all, it's much better than the enemy defeating you outright, because you lose your army and artifacts. If the enemy hero runs away, then he's most likely got an artifact.
Few, Pack, Lots?
Ever wonder about the number equivalents for the descriptions of enemy army sizes? Check the table below for the lowdown on these confusing descriptions.
| Description | Number |
|---|---|
| Few | 1-4 |
| Several | 5-9 |
| Pack | 10-19 |
| Lots | 20-49 |
| Horde | 50-99 |
| Throng | 100-249 |
| Swarm | 250-499 |
| Zounds | 500-999 |
| Legion | 1000+ |
Graveyards, Shipwrecks, and Derelict Ships
When you visit a graveyard or shipwreck, you can fight a certain number of Ghosts to gain a certain amount of gold, experience, etc (see table below). However, if another hero has already gotten the goods, you will only get bad morale by visiting. Save your game first, then check. If you get the bad morale, reload your game, make a note of it, and move on. The table below applies to graveyards, shipwrecks, and derelict ships. Derelict ships contain Skeletons instead of Ghosts, and can only be visited by water.
| Number of Ghosts per group | Your reward | Chance of occurrence |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Ghosts/ group | 1000 |
30% |
| 3 Ghosts/ group | 2000 |
30% |
| 4 Ghosts/ group | 3000 |
30% |
| 10 Ghosts/ group | 2000 + Artifact |
10% |
Note that in all the above situations, there are 5 groups, or stacks. So when it says 4 Ghosts/ group, that means there will be 20 Ghosts to fight at the beginning of the battle. So don't take troops that are easily scared to death, like Peasants!
Demon Caves
When you visit a demon cave, you could get some gold and experience, just experience, or experience and an artifact. For more details, check the table below
| What you get | Chance of Occurrence |
|---|---|
| 1000 Experience | 30% |
| 1000 Experience and 2500
|
30% |
| 1000 Experience and an Artifact | 10% |
| The demon captures and eats you if you don't pay 2500
|
30% |
Yes, there is a chance of... unpleasantness... here. Like with shipwrecks or graveyerds, save before going in and reload if you don't care for the result. If someone has visited the cave before you, then it will be empty.
If you enter this structure, you will be confronted by a demon. He will give you a choice whether to fight him or his servants. If you choose servants, you will have to fight Earth Elementals. If you win, you will get a prize. If you choose not to fight the servants, the demon attacks you and you win, getting a prize anyway.
Spell System
There is a new spell system in HoMM2. In the first game, if you had a spell book, you could learn any of the spells available in your mage guild. With the addition of the Wisdom secondary skill, only heroes with higher Wisdom could learn higher level spells. Additionally, the number of each spell a hero could learn was the same as his level of knowledge. If his knowledge was 5, he could then learn 5 Fireball spells. And when they were all gone, he would have to learn the spell again to be able to use it. However, in HoMM2, a hero's knowledge level does not directly affect how many spells he can cast. For each point of knowledge, the hero gets 10 spell points, or mana. Any spells the hero learns, he learns permanently. Each spell in HoMM2 costs a ceretain number of spell points to cast. With this new spell system, a hero can cast fireball as many times as he likes until he runs out of spell points.
Another note about spell points, is that every hero naturally regains 1 spell point per day. This can be increased if a hero has the Mysticism secondary skill. Otherwise, a hero can regain all his spell points if he stays for a turn in a castle with a mage guild, or drinks from a magic well, to the same effect.
Town Cost Comparison
The following table compares the costs of building up the different towns in Heroes 2.
| Hero Types | Resources | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Barbarian | 44050 | 115 | 135 | 28 | 28 | 48 | 28 |
| Knight | 48450 | 165 | 100 | 28 | 28 | 58 | 28 |
| Necromancer | 52510 | 85 | 80 | 43 | 53 | 43 | 43 |
| Sorceress | 46250 | 110 | 100 | 53 | 28 | 38 | 38 |
| Warlock | 62250 | 65 | 100 | 28 | 78 | 48 | 43 |
| Wizard | 62950 | 95 | 70 | 43 | 38 | 38 | 78 |
From the table, you can see that the Warlock and Wizard castles cost the most in gold, and that the spellcasters need more in resources overall.