Royal griffins

[Metathron]

Having read many positive things about them, I couldn't wait to recruit them into my ranks. I think they're a solid troop, but I don't find them especially good for some reason, or perhaps I'm not using them to their full effect. The rest of my army consists of royal snakes, paladins, inquisitors and shamans.

So, I'm thinking of swapping them for black dragons I found on the orc island. Good idea?

[DGDobrev]

Well, as long as you don't lose the dragons (since you can't resurrect them), they'll be a fine addition.

The Royal Griffins are great, but they need some items and some complementing units to help them shine. For example, some items with + physical resistance will help greatly. Then, some items with fire resistance will help, because they have -10% base. Finally, target + Stone skin + magic shield from the archmagi and you're ready to use them properly :)

[Zhuangzi]

Well, I use them more of a support or 'surgical strike' unit than a genuine tank. Generally I cast Heavenly Guards on turn 1 and then wait them on turn 2 and select a soft target. Their other ability buffs the Inquisitors/Paladins, so I use that sometime, and their high hp means that you can take some damage with them. Plus they provide a morale bonus for human units, so for me it's win/win/win.

The only downside is the morale problem with Dragons. :rolleyes:

[DGDobrev]

Well, there is no workaround that... However, if you manage to get a game with these 2 items - Slippery Cuirass and Twinkling Boots - the Royal Griffins will soon prove that they are the best there is. These 2 items add a total of 25% physical resistance (if I recall correctly), and you can imagine what a Royal Griffin will do with that much physical resistance. Always retaliates, 25% phys resistance, 50% magic resistance, 220 HP...

Perfect!

[iankhadan]

I use the same army as you Meta, Inquisitors, Paladins, Royal Snakes, Shaman, and Royal Griffins. I too was also unimpressed by the Royal Griffins but after reading this thread I went out and got me a Slippery Cuirass and Portrait of the King of Griffins and man what a difference it makes, it's like I just recruited an entirely new unit.

I do have one problem now, however, I'm fresh outta Royal snakes; on my last 37 or so, what's a good replacement for those assuming I don't find any other places to get them in the near future?

[Infiltrator]

There are craploads of places with royal snakes. The elven island and Verona surely have thousands of them in stock.

[iankhadan]

I've depleted the stock on Debris and Verona, I just got a map to get over to Elon so I'll see if I can sneak a few there, for now I decided to go with Horsemen to replace them, but the first stop on Elon I found my first ripe stock of Archmagi and my fingers are twitching to go back to my last save so I can satisfy my hunger for mages!

[The Rider]

I just love royal griffins, it is a pity we didnt have them in the Legend, with so many fights against dragons (royals do double damage against dragons). In my first game in AP as a paladin I used them until the end of the game (yes, no dragons at all, I dont think their power pays the leadership cost).

[Newbie1234]

I love Royal Griffins.

Phantomed Royal Griffins has got to be one of the best uses of Mana in the game because the Avenging Angels they summon stay after the duration of Phantom. Couple that with the Griffin buff items + Summoner Magic skill and they're just amazing tanks.

The main Royal Griffin stack shouldn't even do much fighting, such that their stack count is always high in case you want another Phantom of them.

[Saridu]

My paladin spent the entire game casting phantom on his Royal Griffins, then both summon guards and even if I lost a couple - no big deal they were rezzed after combat :) Great unit!

The top paladin skill negates the Royal Griffin penalty (gives +2 morale to animals) so for the Grem-pain-in-the-ass fight I used both Royal Griffins and Black Dragons

I found the Griffin portrait in Reha so everybody except my orc shamans had at least +2 morale!

[loreangelicus]

I haven't played enough KBAP to use the Royal Griffins, but are they really that good as compared to Emerald Green Dragons?

In KBTL I abused the hell out of Emerald Green Dragons + Phantom. The original EGD stack also did minimal fighting (except for some hit-and-run tactics with its two no-retaliation abilities), but the Phantom-ed stack fearlessly jumps into the middle of the enemy ranks and lets loose its mana blast, essentially getting back the 25 mana spent to cast them; in short, free Phantoms. Then just keep on casting Phantom every turn since you sometimes even end up with more mana...

Inquisitors and Time Back are still in KBAP, so EGDs being level 5 is still not that big of an issue.

[Zechnophobe]

Well, green dragons are much better for tanking, even in phantom form. Royal Griffs however dish out the damage like little else. Their attack and damage are both quite high, and infinite retaliation helps out well.

Time back is cheaper to cast on them, so it is an option if you want it. Cast phantom first turn, time back turn 2, and get really aggressive with 'em!

[tetleytea]

Two questions about Royal Griffins:

1) Where do you buy them? Demenion's castle?
2) Does the Griffin banner work on royals?

[DGDobrev]

1) You buy them wherever you find them :) Chances are they'll be spawning on Verona, but I have also encountered them on Scarlet, Bolo, Rusty, Tekron, Montero and once on Elon.
2) Yes, absolutely.

[KongMysen]

Uhh Don'y forget the Portrait for even more boosting.

I prefer the red dragon in most lineups to do the same job as the birdies.. That is, if you have either Time Back or Inquisitors.

I do carry royal Griffins in the reserve stack though to pull out when I'm fighting Demons or dragons. And I guess they work well in a group with even more humans than the usual Paladin/inquisitors

[Zechnophobe]

You can use Reds against demons, just cast Oil Mist first. Not only is it -1 morale to the entire area, but it will also about double the damage from fire they take.

[KongMysen]

Hm.
I'm in a warrior game, and I think there are tons of spells I want to cast first round already. Adding another is just annoying so I swapped the Reds on Settera.
Mass Haste, Phantom, Awaken dragon, stone skin, Target amongst others

I didn't know about the Morale thingy though. Are demons scared of all dragons?

[lauvhk]

Each debuff decreases the unit morale by one during fight.

[KongMysen]

hehe

I never Noticed.

However Settera is kinda easy already, if you clear it as the 2nd to last island, but obviously debuffing is the way to go with a mage.

[WhYdOyOuThInKtHaThApPeNeD]

I also found Phantoming Royal Griffins to be very powerful. Very nice how the Heavenly Guards the RG's summon are permanent. Casting Phantom on the RG's EVERY round the field can get flooded full of ruthless griffin forces very quickly. It's almost too powerful, especially with 100 RG's.

I was lucky to find RG's early on at the same time I found the Griffin Kings Portrait Artifact (+5 def. +2 griffin morale) AND the Griffin's Banner Regalia (+5 attack of griffins, -20% leadership of griffins). Super powerful combo. The location find for that setup was so ideal I got the feeling maybe some things aren't so random.

For a while I thought the +5 def. of the Griffin Kings Portrait applied only to griffins, it was a nice surprise to find it applies to ALL units.

Also, RG's are top of the line for taking down Gremlin Towers often in 1 hit. RG's have 50% magic resistance, Royal Guards have 25% magic resistance, so even if they get a retaliation from Evil Gremlins they don't receive much harm.

Of course nothing kills a dragon so well as RG's.

My first play through I didn't find them until I got to Elon, that smarmy trader guy hanging out on the bridges in the middle of the island had them, thus not accessible until late game.
Two other play through's RG's were found in an identical setup at the Barbarian camp in Verona (with Royal Thorns across the way, and all the same other units for sale both times, so I think it's a common setup).
It's right on the shore of that little island on the West side of Verona. So if they are there they can be acquired as soon as you find a Verona map with no fighting to get to them. Just beware the enemy unit that patrols that area.

[Petwin]

Placement is random. The only way to obtain RG's for sure is to use a Song of the Wind scroll. With a little egg and sprout use that is..