Tricks and Combo's

[Zechnophobe]

Paralysis Ogre: The ogre's ability to steal all the action points from an opposing stack is pretty awesome... what is even more awesome is phantoming them and stealing all action points over and over again! You can permanently (Or until you run out of mana) lock down a stack with this tactic.

Flower Storm I: Royal thorns summon thorns, quite a few of them in fact. A fun trick is start a battle with 5 stacks of thorns (Split them up) and have them all summon friends. When one stack dies, use another to seed the death spot. Against melee oriented enemy armies, you can often hold them off for an almost indefinite amount of time while your flowers get in the way.

Flower Storm II: A single thorn can seed a dead stack to get a new stack with a single thorn in it. IN fact, if that old stack dies, the new one can seed it back, ad infinitum. Against low initiative troops, you can often keep up this bait and switch for a long long time.

Troll, tell us of the Night: Trolls regenerate all their health at night, so why not use them as an entire army? Buff them with peacefulness, mana spring, righteous armor et all, and you can make a single stack of trolls be darn close to invincible.

Puny Power!: Items likes the Demoness' whip and poison dagger add 1 damage to the attack of your troops (In addition to their other effects). This isn't much for a dragon, but for level one troops like Sprites, it results in a very very large increase in damage! Having both of these items can make your li'l fey hit with the power of dragons!

Just some random coolness I've found, anyone got others?

[Sortvind]

Niiice! Thanks for the info!

I used the flower concept alot!
Even if they get killed easily they are great for dummies, so that my better troops can stay out of harm.

[arcainic]

Dragon Power: Send in a stack of red dragon, put divine armor and stone skin on it, sit back and lulz

[Granamyr]

Max Distortion and Summon skills in the magic tree. Phantom Royal Griffons and have both call in the Heavenly Guard (Summon increases the amount of Heavenly Guard called in). You essentially have 3 throwaway troops to place most anywhere on the battlefield and they all counterattack every time.

[Tibster]

The old fav, Hypno + mana accel + sacrifice = U catualy leave the battle with more minions.

[Infiltrator]

Demonologist Life steal: It would make sense that this is a magical attack, but it's NOT. It takes into consideration PHYSICAL resistance and DEF so always cast it on the most defenseless target to gain the maximum amount of health back.

Once I had one enemy stack left and I couldn't ressurect my whole army of demons - I just cast Defenseless on my target and THEN cast life steal - it amplified the damage quite a bit and I was able to ressurect my entire stack.

[BB Shockwave]

-Lasting Phantoms: Fun fact, that all units summoned by a Phantomed stack stay forever (or well, until killed). So, cast Phantoms on Royal Griffins, Demonologists, Demons, Necromancers, Thorns, Dryads, Druids to get cheap extra cannon fodder that even stays for longer then 3 rounds!

-Summoning Advancement: You can only summon new troops (with spells) next to your old ones. In order for them to go far ahead and take the damage instead of your real troops, move one of your units forward enough for the summoned units cast next to them to be able to reach the enemy on that turn!

-Blockade of Eggs: Hyterrant eggs, unlike the eggs layed by your dragon, have a HP multiplied by the number of birdies that have lain it! If you have a lot of Hyterrants, this HP can be a very high number. Thus, it is often advisable against strong armies or shooters, to not attack in the first round but instead lay an egg in front of enemy archers, or in the narrow space where it can hold off enemy ground units. If the egg stays intact by the second round's end, it will hatch and you'll have some new cannon fodder - that can also lay eggs again!

-Line them up attack the weakest spot! - When using creatures that can attack two spaces (dragons, gorguls) always try to go for enemies clustered next to each other, and - if there is a chance of retaliation - always attack the weakest enemy.

-Killing Spree: When using Gorguls and Gorguanas, you can use (with an 50% chance) battlefield objects like Vespiaries or Statues to take two turns in a round! With Gorguls this can be especially usefull in reaching the enemy ranks in one round. With Gorguanas, this lets you kill off a potential danger and then cast a spell on the enemy!

-Work in Tandem: Certain units work best when used together. Droid Guards and Droid Engineers - the latter resurrect the first. Miners and Foremen - both have talents that greatly increase the speed/initiative/attack/critical of the other! Gorguls/Gorguanas - the Gorguanas can activate the round attack skill of Gorguls without the need to loose 50% of those troops (fun fact: this counts as an attack by the Gorguanas - if the round attack kills a troop, they will act again with an 50% chance!).

[Specaz]

is it true, that palladin (hero, not unit), can resurect everything, with resurection? like plants and black dragons? if so, what should be upgraded?

[Tibster]

1 unit chosen randomly.

[DGDobrev]

I don't think it's 1 unit chosen randomly. It is usually based on the leadership of the lost stack. For example, in my Pala hard game against baal I lost 400 Priests, about 250 Inquisitors, 70 Archmagi and around 150 horsemen and some Paladins. The hero resurrected the 150 horsemen in the end, which I consider to be the most appropriate choice.

[Tibster]

Then it should have res the arcmagi 200 vs 180 .

[DGDobrev]

We're talking about total leadership. 200x70 < 180x150. This is why I said leadership of the lost stack, not leadership of the lost unit.

[Coin-coin le Canapin]

Nice tricks here.
The paladin is in my opinion one of the best units in the game.
It improves its defense each time it suffers damages.
It has good physical resistance, and have two excellent skills.
That's basically a metal wall able to make allied unit play twice in a round, and his rez ability is just overpowerful. Plus it causes large amount of damages on undead/demons.
At the end of a battle, I usually move all my damaged troops toward the paladin to surround it (or I teleport it at the right place) and rez all my units before I win.
I don't lose much troops that way.

[Zechnophobe]

I would say the two most universally useful units are Paladins and Inquisitors. They both resurrect, they both have amazing support abilities (Anger for rage, and bonus AP for your big boppers). I don't think I've seen anyone play who doesn't end up using at least one of these troops, and often both. Demonologists may be third best, and then perhaps... Dunno, Red Dragon's are pretty good.

[Misery]

Inquisitors are not very good for late game IMO..with low damage and health they most likely become the 1st target for enemies, and even with help from paladin and Target spell I can't rez them all back-more annoying so if your stack are burnt or poisoned and you can't dispel them fast enough.

[Coin-coin le Canapin]

Yeah, their bless ability isn't very useful in late game because your rage increases more when shooting with them instead of using this ability.
I don't use much their resurrect spell too because of my paladins. :D
I'm currently thinking about replacing them with another unit, but I don't know which one to pick...

[Elwin]

On both Legend and Ap i have them till late game but for final fight i find them useless .. with haas they were dieing instantly and here are there are not much use as well ... for final fights the best ones are with high physical res i swapped them for horsemans

[arcainic]

demonologists deal way more damage than inquisitors and can summon up a good meatshield

[Infiltrator]

Yeah demonologists are just amazing, summoning, nuking, ressurecting.. what else DO you want?

[Elwin]

50% physical resistance lol kidding ;p

[Coin-coin le Canapin]

What are exactly the demonologists? Black demons, the upgraded version of the red ones?

[Elwin]

Nope, those looks more like red necromancers.
Upgraded demons are executoniers also great unit but i count them as "time back unit" They are awesome went teloprted on the begining in the battle and timebacked at the end of the 2nd round. But hard to ress them . They are doin great also as summoned by demonologists.

[Infiltrator]

Executioners are fantastic when you're up against a hard opponent with thousands of troops lvl 1-3. Just finish one of them off with his active ability and you can count on at least half of the others to be locked out for 2 turns.

[Zechnophobe]

Summoning Executioners with your Demonlogists is the best thing. Not only do they do a whole lot of damage due to attacking so often, but they also tend to fear and lower the initiative of enemies. Time Back on them to resurrect a whole bunch is a great combo.

[Zhuangzi]

I can't find any Demonologists in my game! :( But I agree that Paladins and Inquisitors are pretty much a given in any team (I take the point about Inqis losing their value later in the game though). Red Dragons are supreme if you can find them on Verona as I did. A couple of eggs can be swiped in Shettera too. I'd say at least 50% of KB players love Royal Snakes, and I'm one of them, but I have stopped using them now in late game. Archmages and Druids are also very nice. Royal Griffins too. Those are my core units.

[Metathron]

I found five demonologists in my latest game on Bolo and I'm hoping there are more somewhere. Not very hopeful, though...

[Saridu]

I didn't find any demonologists in my first game as a paladin but my mage found 140 in Verona - Sweet! That barbarian encampment on the west coast always seems to give me good stuff.

[Tianx]

Demonologists are great but I also find Trolls and Ogres are awesome if you can find a good amount of them. Ogre's skill to steal AP is very nice as you can pretty much charge into the mobs with 1 turns. With Ogre Boots and Club you can even get better.

[Zechnophobe]

The combo I *wish* worked: Casting Doom on your own Vampire Lords.

Alas.

[Elwin]

NIce ida :p

[Zechnophobe]

Here's one that DOES work. If you summon a phoenix, and it dies, you will have the option to resurrect it at a very high initiative, or you can wait with it for later. If someone is standing on it you automatically wait.

Here's the trick though, you can cast spells and summon your dragon at the point when you would use it. This means it may be strategically beneficial to LEAVE IT DEAD so that you can cast a spell at a more time appropriate point.

For instance, if you are solo stacking an opposing force, and want to heal your tank stack at the end of turn, but also want to attack right away. Wait your dead phoenix, and when its turn comes back around, heal away!

[vicheron]

Sacrifice Guard Droids to increase the numbers of another stack and then resurrect the Guard Droids with your Repair Droids. That's how I build up all my level 5 armies. I just buy one and then use Sacrifice to make more.

Have a stack of Gorguanas cast Mark of Blood on the most powerful enemy stack. Let a stack of level 1 creatures get attacked by that stack. Cast Pain Mirror on the enemy stack for massive damage. Resurrect the level 1 creatures with Turn Back Time. This can also be done with Phantom Image.

[Zechnophobe]

I am beginning to think all the best damage combos are going to involve gorguana's. I wish they were available a little earlier in the game.

[Zechnophobe]

Anyone Know if Archdemons + Gorguana's "Works"? I think I'd downright pee my pants of you got a 50% chance to instakill a stack.

[Elwin]

i doubt it ... but even if so .. halving works only for stacks with lower leadership than yours .. usualy if its lower its not troublesome and easily to kill. Its annoying when u play against them on impossible diffculty, but for player its hard to use it ..

[Zechnophobe]

I wouldn't be surprised if it works actually. If you can kill 96% of an arbitrarily large stack with ball lightning, why not all of it with Halve?

[travelingoz]

Look up the meaning of "half" in a dictionary.....:rolleyes:

[Ryastar]

Look up the meaning of "half" in a dictionary.....:rolleyes:

Well, It all depends on whether the ability is considered to do damage equal to half of the opposing stack, or just kill half the stack. If the former, then putting blood mark on the stack first would mean an instant kill. If the latter, then blood mark will do nothing.

[Zechnophobe]

One more that I think everyone should try:

Target + Time Back

On the first turn of the game, fly or throw out some big stack.. Demons, griffons etc for damage, or just like red/green dragons for tankness. Get them up close to the enemy, then cast target on them.

This will absorb most or all damage from the opposing army for two full turns. At the end of the second turn, cast time back to resurrect all lost units in that big stack. Works on any unit in the game (That will survive!) except black dragons.

Note that target forces units to make their STANDARD attack if they can. This means hyena's will not crit boost themselves, shamans will not use magic axes, and bowmen will use only normal arrows. It effects undead, and units immune to mind effecting spells too!

Great, especially with green dragons that can do an AoE attack to recoup the mana lost to Time Back.

[Elwin]

Well .. its not that awesome. Alchemists ignore that completly. At least in legend they did

[Zechnophobe]

Hmm, haven't fought any meaningful alchemist stacks with it, so I do not know for certain. But pretty much everything else rolls over to it.

There ARE some AI changes between TL and AP though.

[lauvhk]

Just stand 3 hexes (or less) in front of the alchemist stack and it will use acid spray attack. Don't worry if some other stack block the alchemist since acid spray attack deals damage to all. Also make sure Shaman and Imp (or anything else) can pursue standard attack. Otherwise it will bring on their special attack.

[RYTEDR]

Try to use Necro Call on stacks that will yield you a good bit of ghosts. These summoned ghosts ignore leadership requirements. Build them up all you want and they will remain on your side. It is very easy to get a very threatening, game-breaking stack of ghosts if planned correctly, especially in late game: the numbers they spawn when they hit become outrageous, especially if they land a lot of crits. A lot of times you'll spawn more ghosts than lose if you're careful. Using this I can usually conjure myself up a tank that replenishes itself and becomes stronger and stronger as the battle goes on.

A lot of animals summon ghosts when you use Necro Call on them, so I typically use level 1 Call of Nature (or higher depending on how strong the enemy is and if I can risk raising less ghosts in the beginning), send them out on a suicidal run, then use their corpse to summon my ghosts.

EDIT: Level 1 Call of Nature is great because hyenas and wolves can summon from them, which are guaranteed ghost stacks. Unicorns and black unicorns (and also bears. All bears summon ghosts as well) are great if you want cursed ghosts, but you'll have to sacrifice the rather large amount of mana for the offchance that you might accidentally summon a useless stack (like dragonflies).

[Zechnophobe]

So, having looked through the dragon experience system some more, I now believe that phantom/inquisitor/Accelerator is the best way to get dragon xp.

Setup: Use an efficient army to fight down an opposing one, leaving them with something like a single decently sized stack of slow moving units, such as bears.

Steps:

1. Save up some rage so you have it ready to use. Your army needs to be about the size of the remaining stack (in leadership) and should include at least one stack of inquisitors.

2. Cast level 1 phantom on your inquisitors (15 mana)

3. Use phantomed stacks rage generating ability to generate 3 to 10 rage (average of 6.5) DO this three times over the life of the phantom'd stack for an average of 19.5 rage (min 9, max 30)

4. With your average of 19.5 rage, cast mana accelerator on each turn to move your 'real' stack of inquisitors far away from slow enemy stack. You also get back enough mana for another phantom.

This is an ALMOST infinite source of rage experience. Also, dragon level is only taken into account for rage abilities that do damage, so you can go to town on this one. This is ridiculously tedious, but amusingly effective.

Another, more reasonable way to generate dragon xp, is with the Mysic Egg ability. The units it summons will generate rage when they die, giving you the opportunity and rage... to cast more Mystic eggs! however, this only lasts until turn 20, when you stop gaining mana and rage from standard sources.