Should I go Paladin or Mage?

[Default137]

Basically the question.

I tried Warrior, and it just didn't click for me. I like huge armies and all, but I miss being able to cast spells, even basic supporting stuff, I suppose later in the game if I put in a ton of work I might finally be able to start casting stuff, but it just doesn't feel like it will as effective as I'd like.

I'm really not sure how the playstyles of the Mage and the Paladin really work at higher levels. Just how dependent is the Mage on spells, or how good at spellcasting is the Paladin?

I'd really like to play something where I can cast lots of spells, but am not just a spellcaster, I like buffing my army and using them to smash things along with me if possible. Wondering if the Mage can actually build a large enough army, and if they can, do they just try to play a defensive game, ie the only reason they have troops is so they can keep casting spells, or do Mages often have a bunch of buffing spells that allow them to keep troops alive.

On the other hand, how spellcasty orientated is the Paladin? As I said, I'd really like to make a fairly balanced all around character, who not only brings a nice sized fighting force to the equation, but can also buff them with stuff like Haste or whatever to make them put out more hurt then normal, but also cast cool stuff like Time Stop or whatever which sounds really cool.

Basically, how does each hero play.

[Metro]

Everything I've read suggests Paladin is a poorly done hybrid. I'm going with mage and I can't imagine going with one of the other classes because it would feel like your missing out on a large part of the strategy. I'm only level 7, though, and it seems the mage doesn't hit full stride until you can max out the multiple casts per round -- with just one you are basically going to cast a nuke and rely on priests and such for your buffs/heals.

[Draetor24]

I'm playing Mage in KBTL, and maxed out my Chaos magic effectiveness and dmg. My fireballs and ice snakes are doing crazy damage and wiping out armies with them.

In KBAP, I played a Warrior and used spells like Haste and Bless to buff up my troops. I don't find those spells that affective with Mage because your leadership is lower, making your army weaker against other armies. My massive damage spells weaken the other army so badly that my army just cleans up afterward.

[Zechnophobe]

So, In King's Bounty: The Legend, you should just stick with the mage. The paladin's only redeeming value is that he starts with a scroll of resurrection. His skills are awful.

In King's Bounty: Armored Princess, you have a much more balanced split of skills between the three. The Paladin is a very good mix of magic and damage, as he gets skills to increase both rage and mana by decent amounts.

In both, however, you will be using magic with Warriors too. They take a little bit longer to get their first spells, so you'll cast mainly from scrolls to start. But later you should have some decent spell casting options by the time you beat the turtle.

[Thrasher91604]

Warriors are fun to play if you want to play a no-loss game. You don't have to spend turn after turn regenerating mana to resurrect. Also, it forces to to REALLY understand the capabilities of all the different unit types, and when to use each against each kind of enemy. That's the fun part! Whereas a mage can be less picky about units.

[hydramarine]

Well, playing Mage is very hard in KB. You should really know how to survive in the early stages, use every bit of micromanagement opportunity available to you.

My personal suggestion is to go Paladin. Paladin both has the chops for spells and enough leadership points. In my first playthrough, I was a warrior and I was still going for magic tree all the time whenever possible, and wishing I had more magic runes. If you are a real HOMAM-TBS expert, you will notice spells really make the difference between %20 loss and %3 loss of units in battle.

I think Paladin is the best class in the game. It allows you to see both Might and Magic side of the game and still it has the most leadership I believe (more than Warrior). It gains more magic runes and leadership than Warrior, which is odd in my view.

I would suggest the Mages to only enthusiasts who constantly mediates upon their next movement, counting every hexagon in the battlefield. Preferabbly in hardest difficulty.

Others should go Paladin. You can't go wrong with it.

[HammerQQ]

Well, playing Mage is very hard in KB. You should really know how to survive in the early stages, use every bit of micromanagement opportunity available to you.

...

I think Paladin is the best class in the game. It allows you to see both Might and Magic side of the game and still it has the most leadership I believe (more than Warrior). It gains more magic runes and leadership than Warrior, which is odd in my view.

One correction:

Warrior has more leadership than the Paladin, and a higher base leadership gain. (60-50-40 x level if I remember correctly, it was somewhere on the official forums).

My two cents:

The warrior has superior rage gain and superior access to Rage skills, such as Timeback. I think having more rage stored up makes your army more likely to crit, which increases damage by quite a bit. Even though you'll be burning through rage with the Warrior, you can easily get a lot back due to the Anger class skill.

Paladin I found to be the most rounded of the characters, especially since you start out with Resurrection, which really helps early game. Rune Stone is very useful for rounding out a Paladin as well. And of course, Holy anger helps in fights against undead as one might expect...

Mage is more difficult early game, but becomes much easier as you go on due to spells being able to soften stacks considerably, as well as the ability to cast twice per round once leveled. Being able to toss damage around and crowd control really helps. If you want to throw out a damage spell and a buff or crowd control on the same turn, Mage can do that.

Mage is difficult for new players due to low leadership early on if you're not accustomed to it; paladin is a safer choice if you are not too sure about your tactic management, IMO.

Note that this is for KB:TL and not KB:AP; I haven't gotten around to playing through KB:AP yet, lol.