Impossible mage (w/ kiting) vs. Hard mage (no kiting)

[feloniousmonk]

I started a Orcs on the March campaign to take a stab at winning NL/Imp/Mage.

I kited and got to about level 20 before my first battle. I got to about level 35, and it was pretty repetitive to use more or less the same army over and over, and then to use the same resurrection tactics every battle.

Regardless of the difficulty level, I'm just not having as much fun as I do when I play on Hard mode. Playing on Hard and not kiting at all lets me try out all the different units, spells, and items in the game. On Hard mode you can make the game more challenging by choosing less effective, yet more interesting units...

I guess everyone has fun approaching the game in their own unique way, and that's certainly one of the strengths of the King's Bounty series. So far, NL/Imp/Mage is too repetitive for me. Has anyone managed to play through a NL/Imp/Mage game without doing the same thing over and over?

[Zechnophobe]

Well, most games I've played you settle into a grove, 5 units that are working well for you, and rarely changing it up. No loss or not, that's pretty much the same.

I still think the best army for 95% of a no-loss run is the dragon/archdemon army, since it is fast, brutal, and efficient. For those few fights where you need more finesse, just swap to something else. Since it relies more on 'not dying' then 'resurrecting everyone at the end' it gets a little less... menial.

[ckdamascus]

The rune mage REALLY changes this and makes life much easier not to mention the new and improved Call Phoenix.

Both the rune mage and phoenix can revive level 5 units.

Rune mage is basically a demonologist, a random disabler, and a tank all in one. He has the best qualities of a lot of the mages, but he is strong enough so you don't say "what a waste of a slot" like those inquisitors.

I am starting to be convinced that the Call Phoenix spell is grossly overpowered BUT almost necessary for a smoother Impossible Mage game play.

I just randomly started up a game, no save game scanner (do they even work) and doing OK so far. I used to almost never be able to beat "invincible" map guardian missions.

Anyway, I digress. Some of the new units might change things. Also, I think the new Dragon of Chaos gives a +1 morale to demons when alive, but it is soooo expensive and weak compared to Call Phoenix (then again, with a demonic army that +1 morale could be pretty darn scary).

[feloniousmonk]

For my Imp game I was using Black/Red/EG/Bone dragons along with Rune Mages, but I'd maxed Chaos Magic rather than Order Magic so I was summoning the Chaos Dragon a lot. I haven't tried the new Call Phoenix. I can see how it would change things.

[Saiko Kila]

How to get that Chaos Dragon spell? Is it tied to a particular quest maybe? Because while I have a bunch of Call Phoenixes in my game (game scanner said, but I've got that spell from random chest on a battlefield too), I've never seen anything with "chaos" in its name.

[ckdamascus]

I've seen it in at least two shops and I think a random chest on the ground.

Don't worry, you aren't missing out on too much unless it works better if you can do consecutive kills for that strange bonus for killing stacks with it.

[edit]
sheesh, I thought you meant using IMPs, you were saying Impossible.

Well, you have to basically use a handful of repetitive tactics, but some are far less painful than others.

I remember steam rolling with a Warrior Archer army... I mean it was outright fun to wipe out entire stacks before they could reach you and all in like less than 10 turns.

I think I even took out the big lizard dude in like 12 turns? (only 2 rounds of resurrecting?).

I can definitely see if you go past 15+ turns, for EVERY battle, that it would get boring.