Dark Dwarves

Titan - Grond

Click Grond to hear him speak

After having their armies decimated in a series of long brutal battles against the Dark Elves, the Dark Dwarves of Khaz-Tor were desperate to survive. Their Priests learned of a powerful artifact deep beneath the lands of Etheria, at the core of their world. Dark Dwarven engineers devised a plan to reach this artifact. They built a gigantic Golem made entirely of Mithril. His purpose was to break through theie planet's crust and dig down to reach this artifact. They named him Grond. Realizing the destruction that Grond could cause, the Dark Elves ceased their war, and few nations have troubled the Dark Dwarves ever since.

Race

In keeping with their wish for solitude, Dark Dwarves do all their fighting by proxy, and at a distance, a trick they learnt from politicians. The only real Dark Dwarf unit is the Engineer, who is strictly a home base boy. All the real fighting, and dying, is done by the various constructs and machines that the boys whip up in their workshops. This entirely sensible approach earns them the scorn of many races, particularly the tree hugging types of Elves. The hypocrisy of the Elven reproaches becomes immediately apparent when they get their beloved trees to do the fighting for them, and the Dark Dwarves are unmoved by the shrill bleating of the Elves.

The dark Dwarves are similarly deaf to criticism of their mechanical, even chemical approach to the sweet science of destruction. As far as the Dark Dwarves are concerned, if a process can be harnessed to blow something up, then it’s an entirely desirable line of research. We should all be thankful that their pragmatism has given us purposeful engines of war such as the rugged and brutal Flame Cannon, and the sweetly sophisticated Hellbore.

Pros: No side is better at base busting, Trade skill allows resource balancing, mortars are terrific base defense.

Cons: Slow, slow and slow. Golems are the only real Infantry unit, although Wraiths can help.

To taunt a Dark Dwarf: Get your Granny to challenge him to single combat.

To make friends with a Dark Dwarf: Ask him a question about sprockets.

Motto: Death from a distance

Engineer:

The Engineer embodies the Dark Dwarf ethos. Fights like a girl, builds like a genius and is a dab hand at repairing burning towers. Engineers also work extra hard down the mines where a single highly motivated Engineer does the work of two weedy Thralls.

Golems:

Someone has to stand in the front line, and protect all those expensive yet vulnerable siege machines, and the Golems get the job. They’re very slow, but they do an admirable job of soaking up punishment and handing out some of their own, especially after all their upgrades are researched.

Wraiths and Shadows:

The Dark Dwarves do have a spiritual side, and they show this by lovingly constructing their Ancestral Halls, where the spirits of the dead are worshipped. Such veneration lasts just as long as the peace, for in times of war the ancestor spirits are summoned back as Wraiths and Shadows to do their bit again. As well as being fast units (by Dark Dwarf standards) Wraiths and Shadows provide some much needed air defense capacity.

Bats:

Lets face it, if you rely on anything other than Bats to explore the map, you’ll get the news in your grave. Build an Eyrie when you get the chance, and send the Bats out (but don’t expect them to return).

Wyverns:

No special abilities, but a fast and capable unit, good for taking care of enemy Pegasi and the like.

Dragons:

Dark Dwarves bitterly resent the Dragon’s huge build cost, but they realize that they can’t do without a Dragon’s combat power late in the game. Many of the Dark Dwarves siege engines are very vulnerable to fire, and one of the best counters to a Dragon is another Dragon.

Ballista:

The Dark Dwarves can start building their basic siege machines with only a Level Two keep, a fact that does not endear them to their neighbors. The Ballista, though awfully vulnerable to Fire, fires a large missile at both air and ground units, which will pass through its initial target to damage other units in its line of fire. This delights the Dark Dwarves and dismays their opponents, especially those in the rear ranks of battle who thought that they were safe.

Battering Rams:

As you might expect, the Battering ram does quadruple damage against buildings, and can have a tower toppled with only a few strokes. Again, very vulnerable to fire, so the actual Tower to be attacked should be chosen with some care.

Catapults:

There’s nothing more disconcerting to an enemy unit than to be assaulted by a large rock arcing through the air, lobbed by a machine that’s so far away that it’s out of viewing range. Nothing, that is, unless the lobbing machine has chosen the even more damaging Cow as its ammunition. The Catapult is such a lobbing machine, and it does a thoroughly good job of it.

Flame Cannons:

The basic Dark Dwarf siege machines are all distressingly vulnerable to Fire. Not so the advanced jobs like the Flame Cannon, which are reasonably armored against all forms of attack. The Flame Cannon does a lot of Fire damage, but only against ground units.

Hellbore:

Dark Dwarf students endure years of boredom, harassment and compulsory drinking at University, just so they can get their hands a machine with a name like this. The Hellbore does a fair amount of Magic damage against both air and ground units, making it a versatile addition to the Dark Dwarf armory.

Bronze Golems:

Massively powerful but monstrously slow, the Bronze Golems are the Dark Dwarves General. They benefit from all the same upgrades as regular Golems, and this can make them quite formidable indeed, if you can get them in the right place.

Mortars:

As soon as their Keep reaches Level Three, Engineers can construct Mortars for base defense. Mortars can’t move, and don’t fire often, but when they do they hand out a large lump of Splash damage to any attacking ground units within a very long range. Mortars are ideal when you’re being rushed by waves of cheap units, and if you manage to construct Mortars in large numbers then you can severely discomfort just about any attacker.

Firebombs:

Firebombs take their war to the enemy in an up close and personal way. When killed, they cause a large amount of Splash damage to their attackers. You can actually use them to explore the map, and you can also use them to harass enemy Heroes, a job they perform tirelessly.