Undead Units
Racial Tag[]
The Undead classification brings a large number of hidden traits to the unit that was gifted with this racial tag. Below is the list of all of the traits:
- Immunity to all Psychological effects.
- Immunity to all Illnesses.
- Immunity to transformation spells. (Transform and Mutate)
- +2 combat during the night.
- Prior to 1.03.23, the Undead used to gain +1 combat while raining.
- Double HP regeneration during the night.
- No HP regeneration during the day.
- In 1.03.23 they take reduced damage from critical hits and deathblows (50% reduction on the bonus damage).
----------Tier 1----------[]
Zombie - Undead Builder[]
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Combat: 2 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Medium Ability: Can build all types of buildings, Can Fill Mines, Disease (5), Can be upgraded to scavenge resources from freshly slain units Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, +4 combat |
The builder and miner of the Undead. It doesn't build very fast, it has a slow movement speed but it is fairly cheap, can transmit diseases and is one of the more tougher builders around. It can also be upgraded to scavenge resources from freshly slain units, but the likelihood of the Zombie actually ever meeting a dead body is almost never, so the ability is somewhat wasted.
Skeleton - Basic Undead Infantry[]
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Combat: 2 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Medium Ability: Resistant to missiles Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor |
Being the basic fighter of the Undead, its true strength lies in its ability to instantly upgrade to a stronger unit, provided you have the tech and resources to do so. On its own it is worthless, although it has some merit in overwhelming arrow towers since it is nearly invulnerable to piercing attacks.
Wight - Basic Undead Infantry[]
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Combat: 6 |
Prerequisites: Boneyard Size: Medium Ability: None Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, +3 combat |
This little sword-and-shield guy is the first level-up from a skeleton, and it is much, much stronger. It can withstand quite some of punishment for a tier 1 creature due to its naturally high armor and resistance to piercing damage. When fully upgraded with damage and armor upgrades, it even has some use in the late game as cheap meat-shields. Watch out for crushing damage dealing enemies, though. A group of these can dominate early on in the game. Can be upgraded to the Liche and Slayer Knight.
----------Tier 2----------[]
Wraith - Basic Undead Floating Infantry[]
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Combat: 6 |
Prerequisites: Barrow Size: Medium Ability: Drains EXP from enemies it kills Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, +3 speed, +3 combat |
This floating, ice damage dealing creature is the other upgrade possible from the skeleton and would be nearly useless if not for one very interesting ability: if it slays an enemy, it leeches all its experience! Yes, that includes Heroes. So use an army of these (costs some crystal) and hunt down the enemy Hero, and you have an instant level 20 juggernaut at your command! Can be upgraded to the stronger and faster ghost.
The biggest drawback of the wraith is its vulnerability to physical attacks, at a time in the game when most attacks are physical. So be careful with them. Luckily, they can outrun most enemies when upgraded with the Haunting skill.
Bat - Basic Flier[]
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Combat: 2 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Small Ability: Flying, Triple damage vs large and huge fliers Upgrades: Vampirism ability, +10 armor |
Undead Bats are unique in the sence that in tier 3 you can upgrade them with Vampirism - allowing them to gain HP back upon attacking. However, this doesn't in any way make them useful for combat - it simply allows them to go toe-to-toe with the other bottom-of-the-barrel basic fliers. In other words, Dragonflies. (Opposing non-Undead Bats come from races who have access to the Training skill, effectively giving them 2 extra levels in no-Hero games.) Fighting anything more powerful usually results in the Bat being slain outright.
The Undeads' purpose for Bats is scouting and that's basically it - Undead posses better archer / tower fodder in Skeletons (and Cavalry) to absorb physical missiles, or Shadows to sponge elemental attacks. It's rather insulting when you realize that out of all the races that can use Bats, Undead can really only use them for scouts, but yet, Undeads' Bats are the weakest of all other races Bats for that role. This is ironically down to the other races not actually needing them for scouting due to either access to Farseeing or earlier, more useful scouts, but yet they can improve their Bat's scouting role through Eagle Eye.
----------Tier 3----------[]
Shadow - Advanced Undead Floating Infantry[]
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Combat: 10 |
Prerequisites: Altar of Shadows Size: Medium Ability: Drains EXP from enemies it kills, +5 combat at night (+7 including their racial bonus) Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, +3 speed, +3 combat |
The upgrade from the Wraith - these are faster, stronger and slightly more resilient overall. But they gain a huge boost on the elemental side where they can be used to sponge missile attacks that the other Undead units normally cannot. They also retain the ability to leech the experience from slain enemies. This means they can really shine when an enemy has done an XP upgrade on its creatures (for example, the Fey). When they kill a creature, they will level up and heal immediately, making them very difficult to kill.
Skeleton Cavalry - Undead Cavalry[]
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Combat: 10 |
Prerequisites: Deathkeep level 3 Size: Large Ability: Resistant to missiles Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor |
The first thing that stands out with Skeleton Cavalry is their production cost. Aside from Skeletons (which can be raised for free by Liches), they have no resource competition with any other Undead unit. This allows you to field them without compromising the upgrading of your other units. Stat wise, they're not too shabby and also possess a great ability. All this makes Skeleton Cavalry a really decent unit. The only issue they bring is that they count as 2 units for the population cap, something which Undead are always struggling with due to their lack of need for buildings.
Thrall - Primitive Builder[]
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Combat: 1 |
Prerequisites: Slavehorde skill Size: Medium Ability: Can build all types of buildings, Can fill mines Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor |
At tier 3 Undead can obtain Thralls from Cages via the Slavehorde skill. As they are "summoned" in batches of 10, you can instantly fill a mine to its maximum capacity, and even have some left over. Although, by this stage in the game all your starting mines would have been filled, leaving only the more trickier mines, which questions whether they're actually worth the risk of filling. Thralls posses the same build skill as Zombies, but have a faster movement speed. This means you could effectively replace Zombies for Thralls as they will essentially get the job done faster (by getting to the destination faster). Although you should keep in mind their frailness when building near a war-zone.
They can also be "harvested" for their bones by killing them (by pressing Ctrl+D) giving your necromancer hero and liches with an ample supply of bones to be used to instantly raise a horde of skeletons. Plus since a batch of thralls cost Gold, it does not compete with the other resources that you will be using to morph your newly raised skeletons into more powerful units, instantly granting you an army of powerful units with enough resources stockpiled.
Slayer Knight - Advanced Undead Infantry[]
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Combat: 14 |
Prerequisites: Cage Size: Medium Ability: Cause Chaos (9) Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, Double damage, Triple damage vs Humans |
A Wight can be upgraded to the Slayer Knight, which will cost you a lot of metal but will net you the first of the Undead Knights. They are very strong but watch out for crushing damage dealing enemies! Especially Catapults are the bane of these creatures, since they are very slow and thus have difficulties moving out of the way.
In early tier three, have two of these support a group of Wights and Liches for their status effects on the enemy. In the end game, have a group of these and a group of Liches, then, when the Slayer Knight is badly wounded, transform him into a fully healed Doom Knight to surprise the enemy!
----------Tier 4----------[]
Liche - Advanced Undead Missile Unit[]
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Combat: 10 Max Mana: 50 |
Prerequisites: Black Library Size: Medium Ability: Can cast Call the Dead (45 mana) Upgrades: +10 armor, Triple mana regeneration, +4 combat, +2 range |
The Advanced Missile Units of the Undead, these guys are the damage dealers of your army. They do not have much hit points and are vulnerable to crushing damage (just like most of the Undead), but their damage output makes up for their weakness. Flinging fireball after fireball, four or five of these can demolish an entire base. A group of Slayer Knights supported by a couple of these is almost unstoppable.
They can also summon Skeletons from fallen soldiers around them, that can then be upgraded to more advanced soldiers just like any Skeleton. This allows you to instantly replace your losses (if you have the resources), even if you don't have a Necromancer Hero.
Doom Knight - Elite Undead Infantry[]
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Combat: 18 |
Prerequisites: Boneyard, Cage, Altar of Shadows, Black Library Size: Large Ability: Cause Chaos (12) Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, Double damage, Triple damage vs Humans |
The champion of Undead forces, the Doom Knight, is a sight to behold. Slow but unstoppable, it will cleave through wave after wave of enemy forces, bringing terror and death. It is resistant to slashing and piercing (and it is not vulnerable to crushing, like the other Undead), so it can hold out for a long time. With upgrades, it is about as powerful as the Minotaur king and can be upgraded to do triple damage against Humans.
Bring a couple of Liches for support and you will have the ultimate Undead army. However, a Catapult's stunning attacks will render the Doom Knight useless.
Bone Catapult - Siege Weapon[]
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Combat: 2 |
Prerequisites: Deathkeep level 4 Size: Large Ability: Splash damage Upgrades: +10 armor |
Bone Catapults are an inferior variant of the standard Catapult. The main reason is their range. While range 12 would be great for any other unit, for a siege weapon it's poor. This means that it has trouble out-ranging even un-garrisoned towers, and with only 60 damage, it wont be able to pull off much damage before said tower makes short work of the Bone Catapult's low HP. If you want to raze buildings of all types, then Liches are the units for the job - not to mention that you'll be fielding them anyway due to how much of an important role they play with Undead.
Harpy - Advanced Flier[]
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Combat: 8 Max Mana: 40 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Medium Ability: Flying, Poison (5), Can cast Drain Mana (20 mana) Upgrades: +10 armor, Triple mana regeneration |
Undead don't care much for Poison, due to some of their units doing large damage per strike (Slayer / Doom Knights / Liches / Vampires), but one will always be pleased to see an enemy Hero get Poisoned! However, their main use has always come from their ability to drain enemy mana and that still applies here too, but not to the extent that other races need the ability. Most offensive spell casters can be put in their place with Shadows, who are resistant to all elemental attacks. The few that aren't, such as Moonguards and Manticores, wont get past most of the Undead army, anyway.
However, Harpies can be used against more support orientated spell casters - essentially removing healing / wards and the likes, making them more susceptible to your army's assault. BUT there is one spell caster that the Harpy can be more effective against than any other unit (besides the Dragonliche), and that's the Runelord. Although it possess a fire type attack, its offensive spell, Doomstones, deals crushing damage - a type that hits nearly all Undead units for extra damage, including Shadows. This will be the one time that Harpies will prove valuable, as a Runelord without its magic is easy pickings for your Shadows. Unfortunately, Runelords can carry a lot of mana, able to cast Doomstones twice when at full. This does make things difficult for your Harpies, but if your Harpies can direct the Doomstones at them, then they have essentially done their job by saving the rest of your army from a crushing fate. If you really want to keep your Harpies alive, though, you could always send Bats in first and just fly there above them. This will probably be the only time they can be useful for fodder in the Undead race.
----------Tier 5----------[]
Vampire - Undead General[]
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Combat: 16 Max Mana: 50 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Medium Ability: Can summon Bats (40 mana), Can convert buildings, Vampirism, Causes Fear (8) Upgrades: +15 damage, +10 armor, Triple mana regeneration |
The Vampire serves as the Undead's general and alongside Skeleton Cavalry, are the only two non-flier Undead units that need to be purchased from a building rather than upgraded from a Skeleton. Its weakness to piercing attacks makes it fragile against most towers, however its strong 50 damage and high combat makes it effective against most units. It can regain 3 hits per attack due to its vampirism.
Frost Dragon - Elite Flier[]
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Combat: 20 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Huge Ability: Flying, Splash damage freezes enemies, Terror (5) Upgrades: +10 armor |
Undead were gifted with their choice of Dragons, for they couldn't of had a better choice when taking alignment in to account. Their synergy with Slayer / Doom Knights is fantastic - when your army of Undead Knights marches towards the enemy, a well micro-managed Frost Dragon can swoop down ahead and freeze all enemy missile units (as well as destroying Catapults and co) that were that hoping to slow down or stop their advancing doom by greatly reducing their damage output towards your Slayer / Doom Knights through a reduced attack speed. This usually results in the enemy unable to handle the situation and the confrontation is followed by a swift defeat. As mentioned in the main Frost Dragon entry, whether it's used offensively or defensively, the Frost Dragon works in pretty much every situation.
Dragonliche - Elite Flier[]
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Combat: 20 |
Prerequisites: None Size: Huge Ability: Flying, Splash damage takes away enemy XP, Terror (6) Double damage vs good enemies, Resistant to missiles Upgrades: +10 armor |
The Undead army can be pretty difficult to stop in its tracks, what with Liches raising Skeletons in the middle of a fight which can then morph into stronger units immediately, having a decent number of tough units through high armor and broad resistances, massive bonuses at night, uber Shadows etc.. The Dragonliche is basically that extra layer of icing on the already iced cake. This monstrosity is incredibly difficult to take down and is usually seen spearheading the Undead assault, followed closely by a Frost Dragon, taking shelter behind the Dragonliche's missile resistance. The Dragonliche simply draws all enemy fire towards it while spreading death and terror among the enemy ranks, allowing the rest of your attack force to move into position unscathed and ultimately brings the game to an end. It's no wonder the Dragonlich costs 50% more than the other Dragons (excluding the Celestial Dragon) However, some races (such as Plaguelords) don't use physical missiles to bring down aerial units and in these scenarios the Dragonliche can't prove its cost. Fortunately, you have Shadows to take over in those cases - that and nearly all the races rely on psychical missiles to safely take down aerial targets.
Lord Bane - Undead Titan[]
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Combat: 21 |
Prerequisites: Deathkeep level 5 Size: Huge Ability: Causes Terror (10), Ignores armor, Explodes into Rings of Ice upon death Upgrades: +10 armor |
Lord Bane is your standard ranged Titan with nothing particularly noteworthy when compared to other Titans. His HP is rather low, his range is only 8 and even his view is pretty poor. The only interesting element is his attack type of fire. This typing allows him to do obscene damage vs buildings, and with a piercing resistance, he can knock around the common arrow-dealing towers like play things! Being a ranged unit, he should have melee units close by to protect him. Typically you would want to have Slayer / Doom Knights around, but Lord Bane has much higher speed than those, which often means he has to sit around waiting while his "bodyguards" move ahead before he can safely move on. Shadows can keep up, but aren't anywhere near as tough as the Undead Knights.