No matter which AI lord, they all lose if you place a woodcutter's hut at their gate.

Emir is the best ally you could have. Also I love "I March!" every time I ask Richard to attack

5:07 his qoute "Watch your back knight..." haunts me in dreams.

The problem with wolf is that 2 out of 5 of his castle designs are so crazy big that he either spends all gold on it or ends up stuck in it himself. either way everyone already gnaws on his castle before he even finishes it

Almost 20yrs old game and still alive being played today. One of the best classics and must play, even Stronghold Warlords are not on par on this for some reason.

Finally somebody who appreciates my guy Emir. He spawns out a ton of Arabic swordsmen as if Allah calls them for an islamic crusade

My opinion (based on 15 years experienced) Defense Ranking (0-100 points) 1. Wolf - 100 2. Nizar - 85 3. Wazir - 80 4. Caliph - 75 5. Emir, Saladin - 70 7. Emperor Frederick - 65 8. Abbot - 60 9. Pig, Sheriff - 60 11. Snake - 55 12. Lionheart - 50 13. Marshall, King Philip - 35 15. Sultan - 20 16. Rat - 5 Attack 1. Wazir, Emir - 85 3. Wolf, Saladin - 80 5. Lionheart, Emperor Frederick - 75 7. Caliph, Nizar - 70 9. Pig, Sheriff - 65 11. Marshall, King Philip - 60 13. Sultan - 50 14. Abbot - 35 15. Snake - 30 16. Rat - 10 Army 1. Emir, Saladin, Wolf - 85 4. Wazir, Lionheart - 80 6. Caliph, Emperor Frederick - 75 8. Marshall - 70 9. Nizar - 65 10. Pig, Sheriff - 60 12. King Philip - 55 13. Sultan - 50 14. Abbot - 45 15. Snake - 40 16. Rat - 10 TOTAL 1. Wolf - 265 2. Wazir - 245 3. Emir - 240 4. Saladin - 235 5. Nizar, Caliph - 220 7. Emperor Frederick - 215 8. Lionheart - 205 9. Pig, Sheriff - 185 11. Marshall - 165 12. King Philip - 150 13. Abbot - 140 14. Snake - 125 15. Sultan - 120 16. Rat - 25

I got killed by Frederick once... Simply because I forgot he's in the game, so I was focusing on killing other lords on the other half of the map instead of looking out for my castle :D

I'm surprised Richard is so low given the explanation why Emir is first. Richard is basically Lord of Destruction in this game, he attacks often and HARD with tons of heavy units and siege equipment. He's the main reason why Thunder Hill is pure hell.

you forgot one glaring weakness of Wolf's: castle area. put him somewhere with loads of rivers or non-constructible tiles and he'll stop functioning altogether. I don't know if they have patched it, but the last time I played it was still that way. also, a bit of idea: do you think ranking lords in terms of politeness would be interesting?

I remember playing a 3-hours siege to bring down a fully build Wolf and still had a very hard time. Had to use every tricks in the book as it is a nightmare to even get close to his base. Still the best AI for me

I always take Saladin as ally, then march on enemy castle together because he rarely refuses.

Great video. I mostly agree with the ranking as overall lords. I only disagree with the lion hearts placement as I think he might be slightly higher because his attack can be massive over time. And Saladin, he’s great but he’s terrible at putting out fires usually. Often times I light him up and his entire castle will burn as he keeps replacing building which then catch on fire tell he’s broke. So Saladin would be lower because of this. Again ty for the video. I love this old game. So many command and conquer games out there but not many with an actual economy like this one.

it hurts me so much that Frederick doesn't really play the game. Bu he did die before arriving in the holy land so maybe that explains it - He is already dead and all he left to his 2nd in command were some castle blueprints

If you use the UCP with the aggressive AI modifier this List gets turned on its head. The Abbot becomes such a top tier lord with it that he can easily compete with the top three.

Emir is the Best. He send 70+ swordsmen after the 20 min.

As an old player of the game I approve of this list. The only thing I hate about the AI in this game is when the map they play in small and then get stuck and can't build their economy nor defenses.

You read my mind, two days ago I was looking for an AI ranking

I've been playing the Crusaders' stronghold for 10 years, but the clip helped me very much and I will rely on it to make the fight interesting. Thank you🌹

Thanks to the youtube algorithm for this, nice content mate

"He's basically Frederick if he was playing the game." God damn, as someone who played this game growing up, I could never relate so close to something like that even if I tried. Made me damn laugh too.

Also it depends highly on map, i remember playing against fredrick who was in bottom left cornor.... But he builded gate facing that corner so he was base locked entire game

When i was 10 y old, i always played 1v1 with The Wolf. I loved these 1v1s. I had so many freetime as a child cuz sometimes i played free-for-all with 7 same lord like 7 The Snake, 7 Lionhearth..then i coiped one's castle and played like him. The Pig's castle was my favorite.

I once made a custom 3-player map where one player is unreachable and the other 2 face 1v1 in a balanced setting with all resources available. I used that map to make a AI 1v1 direct elimination tournament with the help of the website challonge. The 2 semi-finals ended up being Lionheart vs Nizar and Wolf vs Saladin won by Nizar and Saladin respectively. The Nizar ended up winning the tournament and the Wolf won the small final for the 3rd place. So I can confirm this video is pretty accurate.

I would've ranked Wolf to be number 1. Emir's arab swordsmen spam is just a crossbow check, cuz they die easily. He also doesn't have crazy defenses like pitch or killing pit, which makes killing him easy. Also would've put Lionheart higher in the list due to his agressive siegeing habits. His siege attempts are on paar with Saladin at least, even though his castle is a joke. But back to Wolf, no one gave me the same amount of grief as him. Even if you deplete his gold, he still has the best defense in the game imo, making sieges againts him the longest or second longest if you count moat digging time. Also the Sheriff can be annoying with his fire ballistas, if left unchecked, but yes, his castle just calls for fire, *LET IT BURN* .

" Prints units " that explains a lot now 😂

Is it possible to provide the map used in this showcase anywhere?

How to attack a castle when it is surrounded by water? How do you cross the water with the army?

I would put Phillip above Sultan. At least his early Knight raid was annoying

My personal ranking 1. Wolf 2. Saladin 3. Emir 4. Lionheart 5. Wazir 6. Nizar 7. Frederick 8. Sheriff 9. Abbot 10. Pig 11. Snake 12. Caliph 13. Philip 14. Marshal 15. Sultan 16. Rat

In aggressive UCP Frederic is so op he can destroy some lords before I even finish my economy. Richard siege ability in aggressive UCP is insane aswell.

The thing about Saladin compared to other lords is the fact that he could somehow find a way to flourish and become the economical powerhouse among other lords, even when every lords including himself has little to no resource. Edit: I forgot about the Emir. And, yes, Emir is somewhat similar to Saladin, except attack much more often.

Wolf and Emir are really at the top. I dont really care how you put them on the list, I see them as equally strong at their own battle style

Agreeing with most, though sometimes its situational and can vary. Just wanted to add that the Sheriff once performed the most impressive attack I've ever witnessed a bot do. He used assassins to capture a Caliphs gatehouse, cleaned the walls with macemen and then killed him with another wave of macemen. To be fair, the Caliph was already quite damaged before the attack, but its still impressive how smartly the Sheriff did it. He might not be very aggressive, but he is relatively intelligent. I'd love to see a Lord ranking list in terms of Lord vs Lord instead of Lord vs Human.

couldn't agree more great video to watch

Your channel is growing fast congrats man!!

I have a real weak spot for the Marshall. He tries to be competent but has just become too slow in his old age. I always try my best to keep him alive whenever I'm allied to him. His small but effective armies help me secure a victory every now and then.

What I do to defeat wolf is that just killing his archers with my horse archers and with help of assassins I put my own archers on his towers (with braziers) and rest is just using some meele units to kill him

I played stronghold crusader alot, but i see some leaders i could never choose? Is this a extended edition?

I never seen some of this lords before. My first game i had at my first PC(long ago), was a CD with this game. But looks different. Btw, love your content, bring a lot of memories of me and my uncle playing it.

I really like the Marshall as an ally. I think it's his personality that I really like.

Very cool ranking, but I would make the following changes: 1. Wolf 2. Saladin 3. Emir 6. Lionheart 7. Caliph

When I play with or against Saladin I don't know what's happened... His economy usually runs out he does have more military units why does it happens so..??? Maybe because of the map and nearby utilities such as mines, farms are not there is that the reason or what??? Or does this game gets updated???

As a Stronghold Crusader fan, I loved your video!

I agree. Although I almost was gonna vote Wazir the Terrible as the hardest. I had a match with him that was an absolute nightmare. Seemed like his castle was complex and thick . And his unending troops he would send.. won’t ever forget it.

I'd like to see a enemy lord playoff bracket on a custom map tuned for it. Start off with matches like #1 emir vs. #16 rat and #2 wolf vs. #15 phillip "Here comes the fire lord" I cracked up

3:03 how you can put calvary on the wall?

when do you drop a stronghold 2 deluxe or legends ai ??

What an honor, as the Emir is my favorite in the franchise. I think the Emir can afford a lot of arab swordsmen because he buys european archers, which means less gold spent on the arab counterpart. So for every european archer bought via fletcher shops, that’s 63 gold saved for spending on arab swordsmen.

Very good list A tip Against saladin I always do the same thing and its very efective, I put 100 slaves /100 horse archer and 50 assassin. slaves go on first and i start a massive fire in his Castle so he doesnt make any more units and it stops the economy then i send the horse archers to clear the towers once most of the buildings collapse because of the fire I send in the assassins and i always kill him he doesnt have time to defend.

Thank you for keeping this game alive

Thanks for giving me a good laugh. Love this game still play in 2021

Personally my top 5 of AI opponents to play against would look as follows: 1) functioning Wolf - especially in the end game hard to conquer and massive attacks 2) Wazir, bc of the horse archers and the solid defence (fire, etc) 3) functioning Nizar, strong defence bc digging is just bugged. Also assasins can be so anoying if there are other AI opponents in the game. 4) Richard, attacks extremly early in the Game, however poor defence 5) Saladin, well balanced AI

At the On the Edge level, we will fight Abbot and Marshal who are in an alliance, I immediately recruited an assassin to kill the marshal and then played normally. but then abbot made a mistake that cost himself, the defense of his castle made troops and workers unable to get out, but I'm confused why his gold is always a lot, that's why he recruited a lot of Monks totaling 1400 more I made a lot of archers if only he could get out, but still he lost🤣, I'm just surprised how many Monks piled up in his kingdom

preaty good man!

Jefflenious I wanted to ask why your picture is of a Rat and not of the Emir?

I kind of have to disagree with you on wolf and emir. Arabian lords could simply be held at bay with cross bow men shields and balistae. Maybe some regular archers for faster shots when it comes to slaves. European troops take way more punishment from crossbowmen and can brute force their way through. Also wolf has much better defended castles.

In my opinion, I ranked Saladin higher than Emir because... - While Emir's attack is frequent and high in military power, Saladin's attack is much more tactical despite of smaller siege force. - Saladin's fortress contains more various equipments which are quite helpful against enemy's siege engines. Although Emir's castle is stronger and more imposing. Moreover, Saladin's economy strength allowed him to recover quickly after his city suffered major destruction, unless he get overwhelmed by number of enemy lords (in chapter 78 for example).

Could you please make a guide on how to install the europe mod for SHC? That would be much appreciated!

Most cool thing about the snake that he is some times makes his castle like s word

Totaly agree with the list emir is op as hell but i put the wolf on the 1 place with emir ans the sultan stop playing got me 😆

Sultan's biggest weakness is digging moat.... He has no unit to fill the moat...

Is this game still availabe nowadays? I am seeking for this game all way one of my fav. Game that i never gets tired.

What map is it ? Custom or ready made on game .

I have seen them against each other. I tried to put them in groups of 4. Emir is by far the most dangerous especially when aided by Wazir and Caliph.

Original Crusader: 1) Saladin - Very strong early, mid and late game. Powerful economy, great at recovery. Strong diversity in units, between mobility & expensive troops. Great with few resources. Great defense. Usually Saladin wins most match ups due to him quickly expanding in reliable resources, having enough troops to defend early to avoid being crippled. Only falls to players with more resources or have been less attacked or a Wolf that's late game with a strong economy, however location usually determines the outcome. 2) Wolf - Not #1 Because his base takes forever to complete & inconveniences him. Saladin & Caliph have a waaaay better early game that's usually enough to cripple him. Slow recovery once injured. Expensive large armies. If he has a strong foothold his base is extremely strong and armies large. 3) Caliph - Well balanced aggressive player. Loves to make people suffer. Majority of army is rush in and burn. Against great defense player like Saladin most of his troops is lost by archers. Economy holds him back late game. (Usually Ranks below Saladin, only beats Wolf early, outclasses the rest). 4) Lionheart - Great economy. Strong expensive troops. Lack of troops defending base is his downfall. Does not have the aggressive nature of people above him. If crippled early, lack of troops and slow recovery is usually his downfall. If he has a strong foothold his army can contest a Wolf. 5) Pig - Slow start, Very powerful with loads of gold. Very expensive troops, lack of diversity and mobility when it comes to ranged units. Loses most of army due to archers and aggression, once macemen wait on crossbows to join fights. Pig can contest with Lionheart and an early Wolf, but archers from above usually cripples him. 6) Snake - Low defense, quality of troops. Aggressive with a burn strategy. (Overpowers Rat and Sultan with sheer quantity of troops). 7) Sultan - Passive, Economy Medium (Okay with few resources), Defense & troops bad. 8) Rat - Aggression Hard, Economy Bad, Quality of troops Poor, Defense Pathetic.

man you inspire me to replay the again in 2023 this game is a masterpace

Can i download stronghold for free? I played the game years ago but i forgot how i installed it in my pc

The best solution for emir's swordsman spam is some fire throwers on a low wall maze

The just and powerful Lord in this game is Saladin Than Emir ,Wolf ,Loinheart

Very good video! I'm gonna leave a like and a sub

Someone please tell me how to defend or fight against a very large formation of sheilds, horse archers, pikeman and catapults combined. My friend uses this strategy and i always lose against him.

Generally speaking, your arguments seem compelling. However, my personal ranking, based on my experience, would be different. E.g., I found the new european lords less strong than the old Pig and Snake. In particular, I think they're quite more aggressive, so they can be a really pain in the ass in early games. Instead, King Philip, Frederik and the Marshall are quite passive, other than weak "economists". The Abbot is more aggressive, and his defence is sturdy, but relying on the monks alone can be dangerous against ranged troops like archers or crossbowers. Only the Sheriff can be considered as a reliable enemy. Otherwise, I agree with you about the arab characters. In particular, I found the Emir who more than the other characters "wants to win": not only his defence and economy are solid, but his attacks are frequent and reasonable. Instead, Wolf has the stronger defence and a good economy, but his attacks are unusual and very sloooowwww. As regards Saladin, he often reachs a good balance between a strong defence and a mighty economy (the strongest IMHO), but his attacks are weak, even if more frequent than Wolf's. This is my personal ranking: 1. Emir (basically the Sultan with much more attitude towards war, he is a very dangerous enemy) 2. Wolf (the most resistent castle and a good economy knowledge, if only his attacks would be more frequent and less predictable...) 3. Sultan (the best lord in terms of building a solid economy, very good defensive skills but his attacks are not so dangerous) 4. Richard (good offensive and defensive skills, however his attacks are a little bit slow and predictable even if frequent) 5. Nizar (maybe the worst lord to fight if you're unable to dig a moat, good defensive skills even without walls, try to believe) 6. Pig (the good old Pig relies only in macemen and crossbowmen, who are, IMHO, among the best troops in terms of efficiency as well as of gold and weapons required) 7. Wazir (average defensive skills, he's one of the few characters who knows the military strenght of the horse archers, if only his attacks would be more frequent...) 8. Sheriff (he has a good defence and a diversified economy, however he has just average offensive skills) 9. Caliph (one of the characters who loves the most to destroy your economy and burn your troops, but his castle and his economy are not so resistent) 10. Abbot (his tower and his economy are very solid, but his attacks are predictable and his monks are too exposed to ranged troop's offensives) 11. Snake (his defence and economy are not a real threat, but he often tries to hinder your economy by burning buildings with slaves and enrolling a lot of archers and spearman) 12. Frederik (solid walls, but very few ranged troops to be a reliable defender) 13. Marshall (balanced strategy, but he attacks with very few troops and he always leaves one side of his castle undefended) 14. Abdul (the weakest economy and defence, even if his attacks are frequent and his troops always gain a +25% bonus) 15. King Philipp (literally a Mouse that has discovered swordsmen and stronger towers) 16. Mouse (senseless management of troops and economy)

Can you PLEASE explain why lords lose if you woodcutter's hut at their gates? By the way, this video explains the things as they are, no wrong stuff :D

Have you tried out Krarilous aggressive AI v1.3 with fixed vanilla castles from the UCP? What would be the difference there?

I love how you put Saladin with his title

My 3 strongest lord is Wolf, Caliph, and Wazir. Especially when you're so close to them and they have complete the castle. Oh My Not fire again

Dude, please review it again with bots, but with the improvement of the unofficial patch. It's just that the abbot, marshal and frederick have such military passivity due to the lack of buying weapons. The emir does not buy bows either, but this does not bother him in any way.

Hey dude, just discovering you channel and I am really enjoying the content so far. Stronghold is such a fun game! One note I’d like to add though is I am not a fan of the text to voice chat. You should really try to record with your voice and everyone will naturally get to know your personality better!

Good to see I'm not just the only stronghold addict 😆❣️❣️❣️

I would rank Frederick higher and still would put Wolf in first, even tho it’s a fair point that Frederick is not as good against humans coz he is so slow. Still Arabian swordsmen fall so easily , especially against crossbowmen, that’s why I would rank the sultan below Philip and emir behind Wolf and Saladin.

Now its time to rank their personality, I guess. I would watch it at least! Mine would be: 1. Richard 2. Emir 3. Snake 4. Caliph (actually) 5. Marshall 6. Saladin 7. Sultan The rest doesn't really matter that much Although I really like when Wazir is an ally, and you defeat someone, he says "you killed one of our enemies, *leave the next to me!"* it's quite awesome

started playing the game around 2010-2009 i think? wasn't quick to the update. so while i have played against them, not much familiar with new lords. from what i have played tho, i agree with everything. like every single bit you said. recently had to install new OS; so when yesterday i learnt about UCP for first time, i reinstalled the game with it. gonna be hard learnings against new lords🤤😎loving the challenge so far. good video. i subbed👍

I would like to download version as yours, where can I download it? Speed and more

Personally, I think ya'll are sleeping on the Pig. I've also never had any problems with the Nizar, 30-50 arabic swords knocking down his EXPOSED gates kills him every time for me. But that's just my opinion

I agree with your ranking but i will swap emir and saladins place

Would you make a video about ranking AI lords about which one of good for being your ally? Like if they would give you supply if you need them, or help you out if things went badly

I want to download the game but can't find a proper way to get it😢

Me : Wolf why you still not attack? Wolf : My castle is not fancy enough to build an army. Me : Omg you the worst AI companion. True story when you play with the Wolf, he will ask you for everything.

Hey I've seen some people particularly in the German community make custom AI and I think some of them were just them in their play style... That would make a interesting video for sure if you found them... By that I mean translate their websites lol😁

Even though i dont have computer Or pc but Thank you for you Admin bcz making this videos and Remember my chillhood Games

I missed this game!!!😢😢😢 I wish we had this.....only now that I grown that I realized how wonderful, interesting and good this game was and is.

True. Emir is one that HARD to defense against when his waves like never end.

I always thought about doing a video like this but never did. Have a lot of disagreements though. Don't think Frederick sucks as much as you claim and AI battles prove this where he'll always beat Lionheart who you claim is a better version. Emir for me is nowhere close to number 1. He attacks frequently yes but his attacks don't hit as hard as some others and his defenses are kind of mediocre. I don't really have to step back and think before attacking him like one of Wolfs big castles. Abbot is also quite underrated and has a stronger economy than you think. For me through study of attack, defense, economy and AI battles, my top 16 are: 16: Rat 15: Sultan 14: Phillip 13: Snake 12: Marshall 11: Pig 10: Sheriff 9: Abbot 8: Caliph 7: Nizar 6: Lionheart 5: Emir 4: Frederick 3: Wazir 2: Saladin 1: Wolf

great video

imagine if all the stronghold al characters existed, not just saladin and the ones we know

The Rat and the Snake are the most annoying Lords for me because of their hypocrite nature. They would just spam you with their bratty speeches and then when you make a slight move they suddenly start worshipping you. 😤 Saladin and Emir are my go-to allies because of their soft nature and great war tactics.👑 The Caliph is annoying but easily manageable. All you need is some mangonels to break through his lookouts and he's as good as done. 🤗 The Wolf and Emperor Fredrick have the coolest character. "We move from strength to strength." - I love that delivery. 😅❤

- i like having the abbot as an enemy because his castle design allows me to spam siege towers, and then rush archers up his castle on his own towers. - Emir i find is the also the most responsive lord in terms of defending you when order, and despite me being irritated at being sandwiched with him in "We're Surrounded!" his aid was invaluable in that mission and earned my eternal respect, as did his frickin character. His taunts and responses are frickin hilarious. "My date farms wilt, my camels grow barren and you.... Well! I can at least do something about you!" - However, I must profess that between the Wolf and the Emir, while i find their aggression nearly equal to deal with, its their castles which make the Wolf leagues ahead of the Emir, solely because Emir can't build tower ballistae which makes sieging him a bit less stressful. Trebs outrange mangonels and if properly setup his mangonel towers will be down in no time. Other than that you can just spam pults and/or set the inside base on fire once you lure the swordsmen off his keep. After that its a matter of ensuring keep troops are dealt with especially the oil pot engineers. - Trying catapult spam against the Wolf on the other hand still leaves all the nasty crossbowmen, oil pots and armored units atop the keep, and i've had many sieges fail just because of them alone as without hefty arrow spam they tend to murder any invading force and any amount of pults by their lonesome. - Plus between the two of them the Wolf just has the best failed siege taunt. "You ah weak, and not fit ta cammand an army!" just bites you to the bone after said keep troops decimate your masses of crossbowmen, pikemen and swordsmen. Although credit has to be given, "Hot rain, what a fight!" is just as awesome to hear. - Any opponent which uses positive fear factor scares me for some reason. I think its because of Misty River. - any lord that uses oil pot engineers or fire throwers atop their keep earns my eternal irritation.

Can you do a ranking about who beat who in 1v1 game ? i really wonder its ranking

Very informative