Noob mage

[Suporex]

Hello guys,

I hope you won't bash me for creating another thread for mage. I have tried to get through guides here but they are for impossible mage and the tips you guys give seems very usefull but for experiance players.

I am just playing normal (mage 8) and I got myself to 4th iseland but now I have big problems, big problems getting medals (achivements)

I believe my build is not right and army composition as well. I have uploaded my save and would appreciate if anyone can have a look as explaining my army, skills, items, spells would make this post very long.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XY1N7LW3

well so far I understood that I should get royal snakes and inquisitors as fast as possible, should not get pet dragon to high so I can use it more often, should use palladins, but in my game I could find only 3 in tent guarded by guy on horse, as well I should use bots, the dwarf on Bolo has them I saw (but no money to buy them atm)

so basicly I would like to know, when I start from begining again (Norml) what build I should go for, what army I should go for and what tactic I should use to get no/minimal losses at begining of the game explained for compleate beginner

again sorry for creating another thread about it

PS. in meanwhile trying to learn as much from impossible threads on forum

[kcwong]

There will be more human troops available on Debir (in castle and the nearby monastery) when you obtain the second, fourth and sixth stones.

Go to Bolo and sneak! You can lure enemies away, then run around to grab the non-map treasures they are guarding. You can kite your way to the amulet in the mines on Bolo (1 boss, 3 minions wandering about). Remember to use the amulet before returning it to the priestess in Debir!

That will get you the second stone (you get the first for free when you arrived), so you will have more paladins to hire.

[ludak021]

royal snakes are on debir in the house with a guy asking you to clear his basement. After you do it, he will sell snakes. Beware thou, there are lot of snakes in the basement :) I'd go kitting a bit before taking the quest, if you want no losses there.
also, divide inquisitors into two stacks so you can ressurect them in the end and cast that holly anger more times to get rage for your pet. Use stoneskin A LOT, get rid of enemy archers first and bla bla. if you have higher level units than enemy archers, you can cast fear on them (if you got it early in the game) otherwise try to burn them asap, especially plants.

[Suporex]

Thanks guys, I have read many posts here and started from begining. I have managed to do the sneak but did not use the stone. (but it is only +50 leadership right?)

I managed to find some paladins and got droids and inquisitors, after that first island was easy.

now I am lev 11, hawe guard bots, 2 stacks of repair bots, palas, and inquisitors) have managed to get 50 wins without the loss so (+1000 leadership)

I have managed to kite map for verona, but that is it, I can't kite any map there.

I as well was looking for mage build (skillwise) and I think I have messed it up a bit, I have order 1, chaos 2, distortion 1, alchemy 3 (as I have read that crystals are rare), destroyer 1, and wisdom 1 and linguistic 1. I have put 1 point in resistence and now I lack 4 red runes for chaos 3 but I thought it will be ok since I have gladiator sword that will give 10 runes (13 more fights)

in mind I have scouting 1, holy avanger 1 and prayer 2 (my paladins have 50% crit ;))

now 3 islands are cleared (except boss on Bolo, and 1 map guardian on Scarlet), trying to go through 4th map monsters, unfortunatelly I could not find troll in Verona, and I can't kite any map there. I am affraid I will have to start from begining.

My new save if someone wants to have a look and share some ideas:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OEK426A0

[bukimi]

There is no point in investing in Alchemy so much when you cannot upgrade your spells.
It is really important to have Level 3 of all magic schools as fast as possible to have a few "best" spells without investing a lot of crystals.
For example, Level 3 of healing, stoneskin and Fear are really useful.
The same with resurrection, all summoning and damaging spells (not worth casting on low levels).
You will find lots of crystals on every island so they will be enough before Alchemy will be useful.

Destroyer is not a good idea until you want to get to higher magic.
(or later in the game when you have really high intellect)

Try to invest some runes in mana recharging abilities (concentration or transmute)

Generally, remember to kill weaker stacks on every island and then go back to tougher ones. Do not fight with enemies where you will get heavy losses.

Check list of overpowered tricks. There are many you may find useful.

[Suporex]

at this point of the game, meaning clearing 4th Island and access to 3 more should I already go for red dragon tactic ( I can hire them on one island) or I should go for trolls?

[ludak021]

dragons. just take care of them, dont rush them in. It depends what you are fighting against. You basicly wait for melee units to go towards you, then go with dragons on his mages (since dragons have hi magic dmg resistance, especially black ones) or you get your summoned units to hit and get retaliated, then attack same stack with dragons. It is also good idea to have them stoneskined (actually, everything is good stoneskined :D)

as for build, I go for linguistics 2 (intelect), then chaos magic to 2, then distortion to 2, then go for higher concentration 1, then transmute 1, then, if if i have demon portal chaos 3, otherwise distortion 3 (stoneskin, phantom) then chaos 3 (fear, later demon portal, fire rain etc.) then i go for more transmute and higher concentration, order magic i level up I have spare runes since Out of 5 games I find ressurect only in 1 or 2, and beside that only dispel lvl3 and heal lvl 3 are worth it, at least for me. Dragon slayer, demon slayer are not bad but i rather cast stoneskin or haste.

as for the rest of the skills in mind and might, dunno, I take onslaught asap (scouting is first of course :D ), then I go for rage control anger. By the time you do all this, you don't really need anything cause you are prolly level 30 already :/

as for paladins, they are great, especialy when phantomed, but they don't like to do critcal attacks against anything except demons, don't know why. I had that banner of true faith, gives them 20% more critical, i had morale items for humans that gave them + 2 more morale, 7% more critical from medal, 3% more critical from prayer, all in all, there were at some 70% critical chance and I NEVER saw them do critical dmg against anything except demons. I always dump them for something else that can go tank. ED are great tanks and they do more criticals with only ~45% thatn paladins did with 70+. Maybe it's just my luck, dunno. undead units, namely ancient vampires, with only +1 morale do criticals all the time.

PS. word of caution: as a mage your LS is low, meaning, bringig paladins into a battle with 70+ evil beholedrs or 120+ demoneses = mind control/charm + your paladins hit your dragons, then dragons retaliate, pretty nasty if they hit red or black dragons...or 150+ inquisitors of yours that will die hard and then retaliate with magic dmg

[Suporex]

well, got 2 red dragons and 3 trolls, and cleaning everything on 4th first islands, all the heros are pice of cake. as well got my novice staff a level higher. Got chaos 3 and destruction 2 and higher magic 1. everything is so easy now, trying to lev up and get more leadership for extra dragon. can get Green Dragons as well so I think I will add them

basicly I stone skin dragons and troll and fireball rest later than after killing stacks and getting 4 mana I use it for heal on dragons as trolls regenerate themselfs, I wonder how long it will work.

One more question, can I rush to a good companion? as the one I have got now gives me bonus to pirates and stuff and would like to go for some other.

[EDIT] can hire cyclops, should I add them to to my army composition?

[Petwin]

One more question, can I rush to a good companion? as the one I have got now gives me bonus to pirates and stuff and would like to go for some other.

Elenhel can be found in the north of Verona (house next to the bridge). You'll need 20 Int to hire him (or 10 INT + the wanderer scroll that gives +10 INT for a short while). He gives you +4 INT and a wanderer scroll every 30 battles. see http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=10991 for more info.

[EDIT] can hire cyclops, should I add them to to my army composition?
There are not many fans of the Cyclops. Have you collected the free Green Dragon at Rusty Anchor yet?

[Suporex]

Elenhel can be found in the north of Verona (house next to the bridge). You'll need 20 Int to hire him

I have 20 int after upgrading novice staff, will look for the guy, thanks

There are not many fans of the Cyclops. Have you collected the free Green Dragon at Rusty Anchor yet?

no, I have not seen any free Dragon, I will look around Rusty, thanks

[bukimi]

Cyclops are weak units. I think the weakest 5 level ones.
Only good thing is their high damage resistance but they deal only a little damage and are slow. You also cannot heal them :(

I would not take third 5 level unit to the army. You will not be able to keep stoneskin on all of them and it will be harder to keep them alive by healing all of them.
You also cannot resurrect them so a good 4 level unit will be a better choice (the best choice will be some summoning unit like demonologists)

[Suporex]

OK I am lev 18 now, got Ethaniel and have army of 2 red dragons 2 black dragons and 5 trolls, works well since black dragons are immune to magic, they are rarely attacked and can move them back if needed, but the extra damage is great since their crit rate is so high.

Trying to upgrade some items without loss but not that easy, found resurection spell, working on getting to the voice of dragon in mind tree. clearing Verone easly without losing any units. will add green dragons when I will buy more to have full stack.

PS. Thinking if I should invest in the skill that breaks items for mana before voice of dragon, but I think I would need at least 2 points in it as 1st gives only 2 mana

[bukimi]

PS. Thinking if I should invest in the skill that breaks items for mana before voice of dragon, but I think I would need at least 2 points in it as 1st gives only 2 mana

You brake items for crystals, not mana.
You will find a lot of useless artifacts level 1-3 to break.
They are cheap to buy so I buy every useless artifact (if it's cheap) only to break it.
Without Neatness ability you get only 1 crystal. After taking it you get 2 crystals for every simple artifact you break. That's a lot of crystals to get.

I personally never invested in more than 1st level of neatness, because better artifacts are usually good and expensive and it takes a lot of runes that can be spend on sth else...

[kcwong]

I personally never invested in more than 1st level of neatness, because better artifacts are usually good and expensive and it takes a lot of runes that can be spend on sth else...

If you take Neatness II, several level 4 artifacts will give you runes.

Even on Impossible, by the end of the game you can still have enough money to buy every single artifacts for sale. Plus you can't possibly have a use for all the level 5 items you will get - which makes Neatness III useful (but not high priority).

[bukimi]

If you take Neatness II, several level 4 artifacts will give you runes.

Neatness is not totally useless but in early and middle game there is no way to get enough runes from destorying artifacts.
If you get back what you invested in this skill you can say you are lucky.

I prefer to exchange mind runes to magic runes and take higher magic 2, upgrade summoner skill or other useful magic skills.

[Suporex]

Thanks guys for help, I have started new game, this is umbelivable how easy it is when you know things, it is so different. I will progress and post questions if need to, so far it is sweet.

PS. I did that save check thing, and it seems I was lucky with items, I do not have geyser scroll available tho. You think it will affect my game? I saw in many posts that geyser spell is a must.

[Suporex]

You brake items for crystals, not mana.
You will find a lot of useless artifacts level 1-3 to break.
They are cheap to buy so I buy every useless artifact (if it's cheap) only to break it.
Without Neatness ability you get only 1 crystal. After taking it you get 2 crystals for every simple artifact you break. That's a lot of crystals to get.

I personally never invested in more than 1st level of neatness, because better artifacts are usually good and expensive and it takes a lot of runes that can be spend on sth else...

I just double checked and it says that it breaks item into crystals but in addition it rises your maximum mana (lev1 +2 max mana), so I think this is very usefull for mage, lev 2 at least I would say

[ludak021]

+2 mana means nothing, (it gives you +2 mana when you take the skill, not every time you break an item!) you need to conserve those mind runes if you are a mage, you will need them for distrotion magic, transmute and almost every other skill in magic tree. Neatnes is ok if you are left with bunch of runes and already have all you need from magic tree. Transmute gives you mana each time something dies on battlefield (if not killed by your magic), and things die and give you mana all the time (summoned units from both sides, archer stacks, etc etc.). Neatnes you need one point only so you can get to absolute balance witch gives rage + mana per upgrade.

Voice of dragon for mage...hmm...I don't know where are you going to get that much might runes, since you need level 3 for dragons to get +1 morale. I don't think it's worth it. While you get to the point (as a mage) when you can afford to put 1 point into voice of dragon, you will stop leading animals big time, so it's just a waste of runes which can buy you onslaught, frenzy or something that all your troops can use.

[Suporex]

hmm, I have read someones guide and now I am lev 19 and have all needed skills in a tree to pick up voice of dragon, my army now 2 black dragons, 2 red dragons, 3 green dragons, 5 trolls and 31 demonologist and I reck havoc, I do not think I will do many changes in this army composition, just add more units when leadership allows. The voice of dragon means +2 to morale of dragons that's loads of crits.

well that what I understood from the guide. In magic tree I am doing good as well:

3 chaos, 2 desotioration, 3 thesis, 3 alchemy, rest of skills 1 point each, except of summoner and concentration 0 for now

if it goes to frenzy, I think will not be that hard to get since have 26 might runes atm.

Anyway thanks for tip with Neatnes (did not put point yet, but getting more and more items, although have 164 crystals due to alchemy at 3 ;P)

[ludak021]

you need voice of dragon 3 to get +2 moral to dragons, you will need rage control if you want rage for your pet dragon, you need might runes for destruction 1,2,3. I don't know what to tell you. I use dragons when I play safe, I do damage with spellbook, I don't really care how much damage dragons make :) I rather cast fire rain that does 4000+ damage then have 50% critical on dragons :)

play as you like, there are many ways to play this game, voice of dragon is one of them :) And critical hit chance is not the main purpose of +2 morale on dragons, defense and attack are ;) Critical chance you boost with items like axe of lightning that gives +10% critical chance to ANY unit in your army :)

[Suporex]

yeah I do understand, I am just saying which guide I am playing and so far it works, I have put point in all skills leading to voice of dragon, so rather no way back. I will see how it goes and maybe will try seocond play through different.

so what is your mage build? I saw you can do impossible without loss and was wondering if you can share build and army composition for most of the game as I saw you change it for different bosses.

Thanks

[ludak021]

well, I take onslaught and that other thing that gives speed + initiative (on second level) every turn to one unit. I need so I can always play first, otherwise enemy dragons/archdemons get to play first so you can't set traps or other things, makes life more difficult if you want no loss, especially when archdeamons decide to kill a dragon or two of your own...

[Svidler]

Just wanted to state how incredibly overrated I consider
alchemy. Have had all but perhaps 1 or 2 spells in the game at level 3 without alchemy level 1 :P Must admit I had neatness 3 though..

[magritte]

I'm another beginning mage and worried that I'm messing up strategically. The thing that worries me is that when I was on Debir Island I was able to wipe out pretty much everything with almost no casualties, in part because I could wipe whole stacks out with a level 2 magic pole-axe. But now I'm level 8, I've done all the quests on Debir Island, plus Goodman's last ambush and have cruised around Bolo and Scarlet Wind knocking off the easier monsters.

But everything's at least equal in strength to my army now, so that every combat costs me some troops...not a lot, maybe a couple stacks will lose 10-20% of their numbers, but some, especially if I'm fighting another hero. My direct damage spells don't have the same bite they did early on, and I haven't found the other spells I've got to be all that helpful. Call of Nature can be great but it's so unpredictable whether I get awesome royal snakes or worthless lake dragonflies. I've used helplessness a bit cause it's cheap on high defense critters. Precision and dragon arrows seem a waste because my archers do such piddling damage. My opponents keep casting things like Blind but I can't find it. I was thinking of trying Call of Nature and beef up the summoned troop with stoneskin and sending it out as a sacrificial lamb, but I feel like I need to bring in some of the other ground troops to get some.

My build so far
Heroism 1 rank (probably a waste--should I have gone for rage control and training maybe on my scarce might runes?)
Glory 2
Wisdom 2, Linguistics 2, Order Magic 2, Chaos Magic 1, Distortion Magic 1

My troops: Bowmen, Inquisitors, Ancient Bears, Sea Dogs, Marauders

Ancient bears are tough but seem a bit lacking in offense. I like Marauders a lot but they're a bit fragile, and I have trouble making maximum use of the sea dogs special. But it's the ranged troops that just don't seem to be doing much to me. The Inquisiitors resurrection skill sounded great and in the early game it basically prevented me from taking any losses, but now that I'm losing 5-10 troops in battles, they don't raise enough to make a difference. Other level 2+ troops I know where to find include beholders, snakes, swamp snakes (but no Royal Snakes, sadly), Berserkers, Priests, Bears, Repair Droids, Guard Droids. I can't fill my leadership quota of swordsmen (I think King Frederick only started with 40) and while I have found one source of Archmages, there are only four available.

So--have I spent my runes badly? Should I be casting different spells that I'm not recognizing the value of or are there just spells I haven't seen yet? Am I sweating the casualties too much? HOMM games have kind of trained me to avoid any losses, but maybe I'm worrying about it too much since I don't seem to be running out of money or troops (except for Swordsmen).

[J.B.]

The more the game continues, the more damage or destructive spells become less important for me. I prefer spells like Phantom, Trap, Magic Shackles, Slow, Bless or Teleport. For me it is important to slow down the enemy to take the stacks out with ranged troops. That's why I prefer Distortion Magic. I always try to get this to Level 3 as soon as possible.

Some spells, e.g. the Dragon Arrows become very effective/strong, when you choose a certain skill (Quickdraw in the Might-Tree). Or the combination of Awaken Dragon and the way you skilled you pet Dragon.

Regarding troops, it depends on the way you like to play...aggressive or passive, melee or ranged...weaken all or taking out one by one?

From what I see is, that you have a lot of weak (HP) troops, except the Ancient Bears and the Inquisitors. Do you have the chance to get Archmages and/or Royal Snakes. Griffins might be worth a try, too.

The Bowmen will be very effective with the corresponding skill in the might-tree (Quickdraw), because then, their initiative is higher, they make more damage (esp. with Dragon Arrows) and their Fire- and Frost-Arrows are very useful.

All in all Initiative is everything! There is a skill in the might-tree, Onslaught, that increases the initiative for you troops in the first round, which will often make the difference in losses or not, or in winning a hard battle or not. Secondly have a look on useful interactions/combinations of skills, spells, troops and your pet Dragon....the game offers a lot of them. Just a few examples: Crushing Blow (Pet Dragon) & Trap, Inquisitors & Phantom, Dragon Dive/Fiery Phantoms & Awaken Dragon, (Royal) Griffins & Glot's Armor, Dragon Dive, Teleport & Knights Surrond Attack, etc..

Try to check out the might-tree and the mind-tree as well for useful skills. Playing a Mage does not mean, that you should ignore skills from the other trees.

Maybe this link might help you to plan a little bit ahead the building of your character: http://www.celestialheavens.com/kingsbounty/hs-en.htm

BR

J.B.