Summon demons is a special ability of Pit Lords, that enables them to summon a stack of dead creature back to life as Demons. Non-living creatures cannot be summoned as Demons. The ability is based on dead stack's health (see calculation), and therefore health altering artifacts Ring of Life, Ring of Vitality, Vial of Lifeblood and Elixir of Life affect the outcome of the summoning. Note that poison still affects a dead stack's HP (but aging does not).

Calculation

An individual Pit Lord can summon up to 50 health points worth of Demons. For example, because Demons have 35 hit points 7 Pit Lords can summon exactly 10 demons. However, total health of Demons summoned this way cannot exceed the total health of the dead stack nor can the number of Demons exceed the number of creatures in the dead stack. In other words, the dead stack must have had at least 35 hit points in order for summoning to work. A stack of one Pikeman cannot be resurrected while a stack of four will summon one Demon.

Formula: min(floor(min([dead_count]*[dead_single_health], [pit_lord_count]*50)/35), [dead_count])

In order to use the full potential of resurrection, [dead_single_health] shouldn't exceed the health of demon (35). If the stack consisted from imps, optimal count of units is 12.5 times count of pit lords; if the stack contained gogs, optimal count of creatures is ~3.8 times count of pit lords (provided no health increasing artifact is in place).

Strategy – Demon Herding

Demon Herding is a tactic that can be used for Inferno. The basic idea is, that the player deliberately sacrifices Imps and Gogs in combat in order to summon them back as demons. This is based on the fact that Imps and Gogs have a lower attack to defense ratings than demons, and therefore their hit points are less valuable. You can also herd demons from cheap low-level troops from other towns. Additionally, cloning hero's pit lords will grant an extra number of demon summonings. By using the Clone spell or having multiple Pit Lord stacks, it is possible to resurrect the same Demon stack several times during a single battle. Consider using Marius who specializes in Demons when using this strategy.

Note that Cursed Ground prevents Pit Lords from raising Demons.

Demoning table

Pit Lords Demons raised Number of creatures required to raise the correspondent number of Demons based on creature’s HP
HP= 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
1 1 9 7 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
2 2 18 14 12 10 9 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
3 3 27 21 18 15 14 12 11 10 9 9 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4 35 28 24 20 18 16 14 13 12 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5
4 5 44 35 30 25 22 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6
5 6 53 42 35 30 27 24 21 20 18 17 15 14 14 13 12 12 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7
7 62 49 41 35 31 28 25 23 21 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 8 8 8
6 8 70 56 47 40 35 32 28 26 24 22 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9
7 9 79 63 53 45 40 35 32 29 27 25 23 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 11 10 10
10 88 70 59 50 44 39 35 32 30 27 25 24 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 13 12 12 11 11
8 11 97 77 65 55 49 43 39 35 33 30 28 26 25 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 17 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 13 12
9 12 105 84 70 60 53 47 42 39 35 33 30 28 27 25 24 23 21 20 20 19 18 17 17 16 15 15 14 14 14 13
10 13 114 91 76 65 57 51 46 42 38 35 33 31 29 27 26 24 23 22 21 20 19 19 18 17 17 16 16 15 15 14
14 123 98 82 70 62 55 49 45 41 38 35 33 31 29 28 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 19 18 17 17 16 16 15
11 15 132 105 88 75 66 59 53 48 44 41 38 35 33 31 30 28 27 25 24 23 22 21 21 20 19 19 18 17 17 16
12 16 140 112 94 80 70 63 56 51 47 44 40 38 35 33 32 30 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 20 19 19 18 17
17 149 119 100 85 75 67 60 55 50 46 43 40 38 35 34 32 30 29 28 26 25 24 23 23 22 21 20 20 19 19
13 18 158 126 105 90 79 70 63 58 53 49 45 42 40 38 35 34 32 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 21 20 20
14 19 167 133 111 95 84 74 67 61 56 52 48 45 42 40 37 35 34 32 31 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 23 22 21 21
20 175 140 117 100 88 78 70 64 59 54 50 47 44 42 39 37 35 34 32 31 30 28 27 26 25 25 24 23 22 22
15 21 184 147 123 105 92 82 74 67 62 57 53 49 46 44 41 39 37 35 34 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 23
16 22 193 154 129 110 97 86 77 70 65 60 55 52 49 46 43 41 39 37 35 34 33 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 25 24
17 23 202 161 135 115 101 90 81 74 68 62 58 54 51 48 45 43 41 39 37 35 34 33 31 30 29 28 27 26 26 25
24 210 168 140 120 105 94 84 77 70 65 60 56 53 50 47 45 42 40 39 37 35 34 33 32 30 29 28 28 27 26
18 25 219 175 146 125 110 98 88 80 73 68 63 59 55 52 49 47 44 42 40 39 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27
19 26 228 182 152 130 114 102 91 83 76 70 65 61 57 54 51 48 46 44 42 40 38 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28
27 237 189 158 135 119 105 95 86 79 73 68 63 60 56 53 50 48 45 43 42 40 38 37 35 34 33 32 31 30 29
20 28 245 196 164 140 123 109 98 90 82 76 70 66 62 58 55 52 49 47 45 43 41 40 38 37 35 34 33 32 31 30
21 29 254 203 170 145 127 113 102 93 85 79 73 68 64 60 57 54 51 49 47 45 43 41 40 38 37 35 34 33 32 31
30 263 210 175 150 132 117 105 96 88 81 75 70 66 62 59 56 53 50 48 46 44 42 41 39 38 37 35 34 33 32