Though the days of elemental magic schools are long gone, the four ancient elementals endure for yet another series. Much like their predecessors, they have their own characteristic traits. Earth is the melee tank unit, Air is the fast, effective, but vulnerable flying unit, Fire always feels the need to attack, either through ranged or melee, while its opposite, Water, is quite content on sitting on the backline casting spells. The very popular Dread Knight from Heroes III (and, to an extent, the Dark Champion from Heroes IV Gathering Storm) has made another appearance. The Phoenix has done likewise, displaced from the Sylvan by the Green/Emerald Dragons. It assumes a very stylised look, which one may describe as draconic...
How to read this page
Most of the elements describing the creature should be quite familiar. However, if they're not, here's what you should know:
The Attributes panel presents the creature's attack, defense and such. Position your mouse over an element to display the tooltip if you're not familiar with the icon.
The Economics panel shows the cost of the unit, and its weekly growth rate.
Move your mouse over the abilities to show the description popup.
Casters have a spellbook: it opens as a popup to show the creature's spells. The little icon next to the spell name represents the creature's mastery of that spell, ranked from None to Expert. Click on a spell to go to the corresponding spell page.
The Experience value is the amount of experience your hero will gain when killing one creature of that type.
The Power Rating is a global indicator of the creature power. It allows you to roughly compare different creatures, even if, of course, there's no such thing as a unique strategy and power ladder in Heroes 5!!
Neutral - Level 4 Upgrade
Air Elemental
Sentient beings formed of nothing more substantial than wind and light, Air Elementals are nevertheless dangerous foes. Their familiarity with storms makes them immune to lightning, and their insubstantial form makes it impossible to retaliate against their attacks.
A traditionally quick but vulnerable creature, the Air Elemental does not possess the insubstantial ability for once, which makes its meagre 30 Hit Points a major disadvantage. Its damage range is very smal, but its damage output is quite poor. It is comparatively weak in proportion to the other elementals, though its iniative is superb, and hence able to deal some good offense before succumbing.
Flyer
8
6
5 - 7
17
8
30
0
0
Neutral - Level 4 Upgrade
Fire Elemental
Brazen spirits of the great molten core and elementals of all that burns, these entities are protected by a potent Fire Shield. The Fire Elemental also has a ranged attack, which makes it dangerous at any distance.
The Fire Elemental favour the Heroes IV mentality of a ranged attacker rather than Heroes III's flyer. It has a large damage range (with respect to its net damage), and can be an unpredictable source of offense. Its low hit points aren't as troubling as with the Air Elemental, as the Fire Elemental can afford to remove itself from the melee. It has average-slow initiative and speed, while its attack value is quite good.
Shooter
10
5
11 - 20
8
6
43
0
50
Neutral - Level 4 Upgrade
Earth Elemental
Solid and unyielding as the rock and soil from which they come, Earth Elementals have 100% immunity to Earth and 50% immunity to other forms of magic.
Its slow and defensive nature makes the Earth Elemental a fine garrison unit. It is unfortunately much too sluggish to be brought with a exploring army, and its abilities are of particular use during sieges. If given the opportunity, it can deal average damage, but considering its Hit Points, defence, specialties, and lack of speed and initiative, it is largely a block-unit, much like the Treant. Unlimited Retaliation only serves to augment its defensive capabilities.
Walker
8
11
10 - 14
5
5
75
0
0
Neutral - Level 4 Upgrade
Water Elemental
Like their brethren, these elementals are spirits formed of the primary matter of Ashan. The Water Elemental is doubly dangerous, being immune to all cold spells while casting Ice Bolt and Circle of Winter upon its foes.
The Water Elemental was widely considered the most useful elemental in Heroes IV, and is a similarly effective asset in Heroes V. It is not too bad in comparison to the other elementals in the physical side, while it also has the added bonus of being able to cast spells. Its solid supply of hit points so that you may even run out of spell points before hit points.
Caster
8
8
8 - 12
10
5
43
18
0
Neutral - Level 6 Upgrade
Death Knight
A terrible curse awaits those who are foolish enough to combat these Vampire lords, outcasts from the dark realm of the Necromancers. Death Knights are able to slay numerous enemies with a single strike.
The Necropolis' answer to the Paladin has been rejected in favour of the Wraith. The Death Knight has statistics comparable to that of an upgraded level 6 while it costs considerably less to recruit. Its specials are quite unique and very effective, especially Deadly Strike, which is a throwback to the previous games.
Walker
23
23
25 - 35
10
7
90
0
0
Neutral - Level 7 Upgrade
Phoenix
These birds of pure fire roam freely in the skies. They are powerful allies for any hero lucky enough to find their hidden lairs and enlist their support. The essence of fire makes Phoenixes very hard to hit - any attacking creature will burn in their flames. But the most amazing Phoenix ability is to rise anew from the ashes they burn down to after their death.
The blazing speed and initiative of the Phoenix are its biggest assets, acting almost 2x more frequently than other level 7s. While its hit points aren't spectacular, it has great attack and defense, and its fire shield specialty does not endear others to attack it. Though its damage is average, it has its rebirth ability to counter its hit point deficiency. It is, however, extremely expensive.
Flyer
33
33
30 - 50
19
10
150
0
0
Neutral Analysis (by ThE_HyDrA)
Walker: 2 Shooter: 1 Flyer: 2 Spellcaster/-: 1
Total Orientation:
Another eclectic bunch of neutral creatures grace the land of Ashan in Heroes V. Similar to Heroes IV, the strongest creature in the game is indeed a neutral, the Phoenix (at least according to power rating), while the four elementals return once more. The Death Knight has a lack of Hit Points, but is a potent adversary and has a wealth of specials, as do the rest of the neutrals.
This information comes from the Heroes V release version (v2.1).
Thanks to sfidanza for the work on this page. Thanks to Lord_Crusader for the pictures! Thanks to ThE_HyDrA for creating and looking after the Heroes 5 section of Age of Heroes!
Neutral Intro
Though the days of elemental magic schools are long gone, the four ancient elementals endure for yet another series. Much like their predecessors, they have their own characteristic traits. Earth is the melee tank unit, Air is the fast, effective, but vulnerable flying unit, Fire always feels the need to attack, either through ranged or melee, while its opposite, Water, is quite content on sitting on the backline casting spells. The very popular Dread Knight from Heroes III (and, to an extent, the Dark Champion from Heroes IV Gathering Storm) has made another appearance. The Phoenix has done likewise, displaced from the Sylvan by the Green/Emerald Dragons. It assumes a very stylised look, which one may describe as draconic...