Inferno

 Today we'll talk about Inferno, the antithesis of Castle:

Features of Inferno

Expensive castle - difficult to build and buy back an army. I'd compare it to Castle in terms of cost, and if it weren't for the Archangels for 40,000 gold, Inferno would be first in cost.

Mercury is a must-have - mercury is required to build some structures and Devils.

Level 5 guild - maximum buildup of magic spells is available.

Heroes

Inferno has a number of solid starting heroes, depending on your playstyle or randomness:

1) Ignat

Specialization - Imps and Devils, comes with three squads of Imps, which can be upgraded to Devils on the first day, and by transferring the army from the second hero, you'll get an average of 100+ devils, enough to break through anything. With each hero level, due to his specialization, Ignat's devil attacks will become more painful. 

Secondary skills - Tactics and Interference - can be helpful in the final battle with the opponent. This will give you the opportunity to deploy your army and disrupt the enemy's magic, although I haven't often seen Tactics played in the final battle. It's more for breaking through guards, for example. 

2) Fiona

Specialization - Hellhounds or Dogs. When I first started playing as Inferno, I didn't attach much importance to this unit until I tried playing with dogs as Fiona. I must say I really liked the 20-30 graded dogs, especially because many guards don't want to fight you when you have dogs, or you can quickly fight more often. 

Fiona also comes with an additional squad of dogs, which means you can play through them specifically. And of course, reconnaissance - the map opens up more with movement. 

3) Kalkh

A hero similar to Castle Valeska, he comes with three Gog units that upgrade to Magog on the first day, each with a special ability – area damage when firing. His specialization is Gog and Magog, respectively, with damage increasing with each hero level. 

4) Axis 

A good start for a mage with the Mysticism specialization – each turn, he restores mana for spells from the Book of Magic. In theory, playing Axis, you won't need to search for a well to replenish mana or end your turn in a castle with a Mages Guild. 

These are all decent heroes overall, and offer good choice options. The only issue I've personally encountered is that they feel like you're playing at minimum or 80% strength. For example: Kalkh is like Valeska, but without the double-shot abilities of crossbowmen. Axis is like Solmyr, but without the chain lightning specialization. That's the kind of feeling it evokes when you play the heroes above. It feels like a nerf... something like that. 

Inferno build

I don't know why, but this castle is quite difficult to build for money. Maybe it's just me, but I'd even put Inferno higher than Castle if it weren't for the angels. 

For me, the most I could do in the first week was build hounds and a guild, or stick in demons, or pit lords, although why would you need them in the first week if the Ifrits are so much cooler? 

And how people build devils in the first week, I don't know... you need to take Utopia and collect all the mercury at the respawn.

Demonization 

Another important thing to mention is that you can do demonization on Inferno. Pit lords are a T2 option; they can raise T1 Demons from fallen allied units. It's based on HP, I think it increases HP by 50 per pit lord, but I might be wrong. But I feel like this is the late game, weeks 2-4, when there's a lot of gold and pit lords, you can join random troops, destroy them in battle, and raise T1 Demons for your army at the end of the battle. 

Day 1

Depending on the hero and the chosen army, you upgrade Devils, Magogs, or use T1 Dogs.

Day 3

On the second day, 75% of the time, it will be a prefecture to get 1000 gold per day, since Inferno is not a cheap castle. And in the remaining cases, it will be a Mages' Guild or an upgrade of dogs to T2, depending on the hero and the size of the army, stashes at the respawn. 

Day 5

On the fifth day, I didn't see any other options for building, except to stick a citadel for greater growth and, if funds allow, demons to strengthen the army. But buying all this is a completely different matter 🙂 

Low gold

If you don't have enough gold at the respawn, try to reach upgraded dogs or play without them altogether, put a prefecture, citadel, and guild. It's also a good idea to use an Icnubator for increased imp growth or cages for more dogs, depending on your game strategy.

Average gold

When the respawn has average gold, you build the same as when gold is low, but capture demons and pit lords for potential ground to start further demonization in weeks 2-4. 

Lots of gold

Did the randoms shower you with gold? Of course, go with Blazes and Devils. But if Blazes are a strong unit, I believe you can use them in the first week. But in what universe would you be able to build Devils in the first week? It's a big mystery. And is it even worth it? Maybe with a stash of Devils at the spawn, perhaps...  

That's how it was playing on Inferno, in my personal experience. Expensive, good hero selection, but they're nerfed... You bought one army from the spawn, scraped together some gold from the corners, and now it's time to buy a second one. It feels better to skip some unit, like with dwarves on the stronghold or golems on the tower. I also forgot to add the castle gates and a lot of other things that you can try to study yourself :) 

Inferno Units