This time, Rhodes' Eagle Eye also managed to learn two spells: the mage's Ice Lance and Arcane Shield.
Both spells are extremely practical; Ice Lance can be used in conjunction with Frostbolt for continuous attacks.
Arcane Shield, on the other hand, can apply armor to himself. Ice Lance can be cast five times with one point of Mana, while Arcane Shield can be cast twice with one point of Mana, forming an arcane energy shield on the body's surface to defend against and absorb some damage.
Both of these spells benefit from the Hero Power bonus. The duration and defense of the shield are increased, and the damage of Ice Lance is also boosted.
Ice Lance benefits from Water Magic bonuses: 10% increased power at the Basic level, 25% at the Advanced level, and 50% at the Expert level of Water Magic.
Arcane Shield is counted as an Air Magic spell. Its bonus is the same as Ice Lance; Expert Air Magic also grants a 50% increase.
"Lord Rhodes, Jaina, we must hurry to Hearthglen. We absolutely must stop this infected grain from being transported to Stratholme," Arthas said, turning his head.
"That is right, Your Highness."
"There is no time to lose. Let us depart."
Everyone nodded in unison and quickly headed toward Hearthglen under Arthas' leadership. Rhodes, meanwhile, took this time to check his gains.
Rhodes' detachment of Skeleton Soldier has now reached over 170 units. This number is quite terrifying. This is how the Undead faction's troops operate; the longer the war goes on, the more they multiply.
The Skeleton swarm tactic! Brother, have you ever heard of the Necropolis faction's Skeleton Soldier' infinite numbers? I do not care what you are; I will chop you all down with a single strike!
Basic Necromancy already possesses this power. Once he levels up his Spirit Tower and upgrades Necromancy to Expert level, basically 40 to 50 percent of the units killed in every battle will be re-summoned as Skeleton Soldier.
For now, he cannot upgrade to Skeleton Warriors; he must ensure the quantity of Skeleton Soldier is maintained.
In the game heroes of might and magic III, veteran players often choose not to upgrade to Skeleton Warriors, preferring to keep Skeleton Soldier.
Some newcomers might wonder, "Why do you not take Skeleton Warriors?"
If you use Necromancy while carrying Skeleton Warriors, the summoned units are automatically upgraded to Skeleton Warriors for free. But Skeleton Soldier cannot be upgraded, and they cannot defeat Skeleton Warriors!
The reason is simple: when enemy troops die, the number of Skeletons summoned is determined based on their quantity and health.
After upgrading to Expert Summoning Magic, 30% of the fallen units will be converted into Skeleton Soldier. With the addition of the Necromancy Tower, that increases to 40%. If there are other artifacts that boost Necromancy, this number can stack even higher.
For example, if you kill 1,000 Spearmen, based on the bonus from Expert Necromancy plus the Necromancy Tower, you can obtain 400 Skeleton Soldiers.
This is because the Spearman's health is higher than a Skeleton's, allowing for almost a full summon. However, if you kill small monsters whose health is lower than Skeleton Soldier, you will not summon 400; you will get at most 300-plus, and so on.
But if your entire army consists of Skeleton Warriors, then when you summon, you will inexplicably lose one-third of the Skeleton Soldier.
For example, killing 1,000 Spearmen should yield 400 Skeleton Soldier, but if you are carrying Skeleton Warriors, the resulting Skeleton Warriors summoned might be fewer than 300.
You would simply lose 100 Skeleton Soldier out of thin air.
Fun fact: When you eliminate Undead creatures in the wild, you also summon Skeleton Soldier. Even if you take down a Bone Dragon, one Bone Dragon summons one Skeleton Soldier—amazing, right?
Therefore, the practice among veteran heroes of might and magic players is to absolutely never upgrade Skeleton Soldiers to Skeleton Warriors during the early exploration and wild skirmishes.
They only upgrade when preparing for the final battle against the AI, returning home to convert all Skeleton Soldier into Skeleton Warriors for the decisive fight.
If needed in the early stages, they will even send the Skeleton Warriors back home to stay in the city, then go out and use Necromancy to summon Skeleton Soldier for battle.
This effect of Necromancy also applies to Zombies, Wraiths, Vampires, and Liches.
If one possesses the Cloak of the Undead King, when one's Lich army is formed, it is basically invincible, even against Holy Dragons.
What a pity! He is currently a human, and generally speaking, it is truly difficult to bring these Undead troops out.
But if you asked Rhodes to transform into an Undead creature, Rhodes would refuse. "I have not lived enough yet! I still want to use my exploration stick to explore caves!"
However, his Heroes can run around independently. Rhodes is considering sending his Undead Hero, Straker, to infiltrate the Undead factions as an undercover agent!
He wants to see if the necromantic magic and Undead modification technology of the Azeroth World can strengthen his Heroes or troops.
With Straker's innate strength, Hero attack and defense bonuses, area-of-effect magic, and special Zombie troop bonuses, he can definitely rise to a high position.
However, he absolutely cannot join the Lich King's faction, because due to the Helm of Domination, all Undead are unconditionally controlled by the Lich King. There is no freedom whatsoever for them.
Even their memories are unconditionally open to the Lich King, and their souls are eternally enslaved by him.
If Straker were to join as a wild Undead, he would never gain the Lich King's trust.
Instead, he would be controlled by him through special means, and he might even expose Rhodes' secrets, so this approach is not feasible.
Therefore, there is only one Undead faction he can join: the Forsaken.
When the Lich King's Frozen Throne is attacked by Illidan, and a large number of Undead gain their freedom, Straker can join Sylvanas as a newly freed Undead.
After witnessing Straker's bugged abilities, Queen Sylvanas would certainly accept him gladly.
At that time, Rhodes will join the Alliance, and his Undead Hero will join the Horde.
Although some Forsaken are nothing but Skeletons, the majority of the Forsaken are actually in a Zombie state. These Forsaken might even benefit from Straker's Zombie specialty bonus.
Furthermore, the Forsaken faction allows for the modification of Skeletons and Zombies. Rhodes highly appreciates the Queen's Royal Dreadguard.
Moreover, the Queen is very skilled with Banshees. Rhodes can also ask the Queen for help to see if the Wraiths can be modified.
As for Zombies, there are many Abominations in Undercity. He can also ask the Queen for help in developing Zombies toward Abominations.
As for Vampires, he cannot handle them for now! Rhodes does not have many ideas yet. He cannot possibly try to imitate a Dreadlord, right?
The future upgrade path for the Dread Knights must be Death Knights. He can look into this when the Knights of the Ebon Blade defect from the Lich King.
Regarding Bone Dragons, Frost Wyrms are a good development direction. Only the Scourge has these, so he needs to figure out a way.
In the future, he might be able to get some for free from Arthas or Kel'Thuzad's Naxxramas.