Arrogancy
01-15-2010, 03:20 AM
Having gotten past level 40 with no losses as a mage on Impossible, I find myself in the position to share some of the techniques that got me there. Most of these techniques will be helpful in all difficulty levels.
First, try to sneak onto islands before you're supposed to be there. It's very helpful to get access to Bolo as rapidly as possible, because Bolo usually has a trap scroll, and more importantly, access to colossi, your first level 5's.
You combat options are defined largely by the spells you have access to and the makeup of your enemy's forces. By the late game, Phantom on your red dragons and Target on the phantoms on round one enables you to breeze through the majority of fights.
Until you have lots of powerful spell access, your main strategy will consist of
1. Neutralizing ranged attackers
2. Delaying powerful ground attackers
3. Whittling targets down
In that order. For most of the early game, the enemy does not have very much ranged, and the little they have is fairly easily dealt with via spells and dragon shots. So the game becomes very much about delaying their big bruisers from getting to your fragile troops, and giving your ranged attackers and no retaliation units time to whittle down their numbers.
Good early spells for this include slow and (especially) trap. The freezing arrow Bowmen ability is also very useful. Creatures that can summon other units (such as Royal Thorns) are extremely helpful, as you don't care if summoned things bite it. Paladins are the tanking and resurrecting champs; you can't afford not to use them as soon as they become available. Vampires can be handy tanks against living foes, as they can restore their numbers by attacking. Ancient vampires are great against Berserkers on Bolo-- berserkers always crit after half the troop is dead, and ancient vampires in human form auto dodge all crits.
During the early game, try to get access to all the spell schools, but don't bother leveling them up-- you don't have the magic crystals for it. Instead, focus on getting to higher magic, which will be a beast throughout your career. Picking up transmute is a good idea, but only level 1-- go for concentrate 3 before levelling transmute past 1. Being able to lay two traps or slow two creatures will help you get through the vital early turns, where the enemy is strongest and most threatening. One exception: if you should find a scroll of Summon Pheonix, level it ASAP. A level 5 Pheonix can brutalize early game opponents.
You should try to dig (with your dragon's treasure seeker) every battle. The scrolls you can get are justification alone; many lategame spells can come early through careful digging. Runes are just gravy. As a result of this, your pet's experience can lag; picking up training early is not a bad idea. Make an effort to kill things with traps as much as possible; the trap medal is huge in the early game, and is the only way to reliably stun a level 5 foe.
After a while, you will reach the midgame, characterized by the acquisition of your first dragon. For most, this will be an emerald or a black; the red dragon (the best one) tends to take much longer. If you have a black, your life is harder; because you cannot cast spells on him, his usefulness as a tank will fade (though his role as a damage dealer and first striker continues well into the late game). Try to find a green or red as soon as possible.
Once you have your solid dragon, you are interested in acquiring a troop of archmages. The Magic Shield ability is quite potent, especially in conjunction with Stoneskin or Divine Armor. All three can make your dragon into a super-tank, capable of withstanding nearly anything. Magic Spring begins to shine at this stage, as your high intellect will enable you to extract enormous quantities of mana from your dragon tank, which (eventually) will be used to fuel resurrections.
At this stage of the game, enemy heroes will become more and more difficult, as their spells are able to strike at your forces with impunity. You will need to keep as many rez-capable units on hand as possible to deal with these. In order to give yourself time at the end of combat to restore your forces, it's helpful to leave your enemy with a single unit and keep that unit under fear (or, less desirably, blind, or, worst of all, polymorph) lock. If a hero's only unit is feared, the hero cannot cast spells. This will give you time to convert rage to mana, feed off concentrate, and heal up your soldiers. Paladins continue to be excellent; Inquisitors are grudgingly required. Be on the lookout for demonologists, druids and red dragons.
This is where you start upgrading your spells. Oil Mist has enormous synergy with your dragons, and in conjunction with fire rain can end many fights before they start. Upgraded Stoneskin makes a tank very strong, healing gets cheaper, slow can completely disable units and I've already talked about Summon Pheonix. As soon as you can, go for concentration.
You are at late game once you have Phantom, Target and Resurrection. (You can make do without Phantom for a while). At this point you can drop your archmages and green dragons; it is acceptable to relegate Paladins to reserve status. You have enormous freedom with the makeup of your forces because so much of your power is represented through spells.
And that's what I've got to say.
First, try to sneak onto islands before you're supposed to be there. It's very helpful to get access to Bolo as rapidly as possible, because Bolo usually has a trap scroll, and more importantly, access to colossi, your first level 5's.
You combat options are defined largely by the spells you have access to and the makeup of your enemy's forces. By the late game, Phantom on your red dragons and Target on the phantoms on round one enables you to breeze through the majority of fights.
Until you have lots of powerful spell access, your main strategy will consist of
1. Neutralizing ranged attackers
2. Delaying powerful ground attackers
3. Whittling targets down
In that order. For most of the early game, the enemy does not have very much ranged, and the little they have is fairly easily dealt with via spells and dragon shots. So the game becomes very much about delaying their big bruisers from getting to your fragile troops, and giving your ranged attackers and no retaliation units time to whittle down their numbers.
Good early spells for this include slow and (especially) trap. The freezing arrow Bowmen ability is also very useful. Creatures that can summon other units (such as Royal Thorns) are extremely helpful, as you don't care if summoned things bite it. Paladins are the tanking and resurrecting champs; you can't afford not to use them as soon as they become available. Vampires can be handy tanks against living foes, as they can restore their numbers by attacking. Ancient vampires are great against Berserkers on Bolo-- berserkers always crit after half the troop is dead, and ancient vampires in human form auto dodge all crits.
During the early game, try to get access to all the spell schools, but don't bother leveling them up-- you don't have the magic crystals for it. Instead, focus on getting to higher magic, which will be a beast throughout your career. Picking up transmute is a good idea, but only level 1-- go for concentrate 3 before levelling transmute past 1. Being able to lay two traps or slow two creatures will help you get through the vital early turns, where the enemy is strongest and most threatening. One exception: if you should find a scroll of Summon Pheonix, level it ASAP. A level 5 Pheonix can brutalize early game opponents.
You should try to dig (with your dragon's treasure seeker) every battle. The scrolls you can get are justification alone; many lategame spells can come early through careful digging. Runes are just gravy. As a result of this, your pet's experience can lag; picking up training early is not a bad idea. Make an effort to kill things with traps as much as possible; the trap medal is huge in the early game, and is the only way to reliably stun a level 5 foe.
After a while, you will reach the midgame, characterized by the acquisition of your first dragon. For most, this will be an emerald or a black; the red dragon (the best one) tends to take much longer. If you have a black, your life is harder; because you cannot cast spells on him, his usefulness as a tank will fade (though his role as a damage dealer and first striker continues well into the late game). Try to find a green or red as soon as possible.
Once you have your solid dragon, you are interested in acquiring a troop of archmages. The Magic Shield ability is quite potent, especially in conjunction with Stoneskin or Divine Armor. All three can make your dragon into a super-tank, capable of withstanding nearly anything. Magic Spring begins to shine at this stage, as your high intellect will enable you to extract enormous quantities of mana from your dragon tank, which (eventually) will be used to fuel resurrections.
At this stage of the game, enemy heroes will become more and more difficult, as their spells are able to strike at your forces with impunity. You will need to keep as many rez-capable units on hand as possible to deal with these. In order to give yourself time at the end of combat to restore your forces, it's helpful to leave your enemy with a single unit and keep that unit under fear (or, less desirably, blind, or, worst of all, polymorph) lock. If a hero's only unit is feared, the hero cannot cast spells. This will give you time to convert rage to mana, feed off concentrate, and heal up your soldiers. Paladins continue to be excellent; Inquisitors are grudgingly required. Be on the lookout for demonologists, druids and red dragons.
This is where you start upgrading your spells. Oil Mist has enormous synergy with your dragons, and in conjunction with fire rain can end many fights before they start. Upgraded Stoneskin makes a tank very strong, healing gets cheaper, slow can completely disable units and I've already talked about Summon Pheonix. As soon as you can, go for concentration.
You are at late game once you have Phantom, Target and Resurrection. (You can make do without Phantom for a while). At this point you can drop your archmages and green dragons; it is acceptable to relegate Paladins to reserve status. You have enormous freedom with the makeup of your forces because so much of your power is represented through spells.
And that's what I've got to say.