Dryads are good for winning battles through attrition but would undoubtly die in great numbers against heroes and range units. Since most KB-L players use agile strategies (unlike the A.I., we don't win the entire game in one fight) to win, I don't think Dryads are actually that popular to get.

But on the other hand, enemies with lots of Dryads can be scary especially during mid-late game (i.e. Sonya).

Interestingly, my experience is exactly the opposite. Dryads are excellent at winning battles with minimal loses.

Lullaby, even if it works on only 2 or so stacks, is invaluable at letting you divide the enemy and take them out one by one (use phantom lvl 1 to gain an extra 3 turns of lullaby). This ability can't be stressed enough.

Similiar, the initiative song with a largely elf army allows a player to kill or at least cull the enemy before they even move.

Thorns provide a very good damage sink to minimize loses to your true troops.

Dryads aren't all that great when looked at on their own (their damage and HP is low for their leadership). It's what their abilities do that make them great. No retaliation and soaring are just cherries on top.

I am mostly refering to lategame battles where dragons, large shooter stacks, and all high-level-lineups are involved. But on the other hand, if you have Dryads in early and mid-game, there'd be no challenge at all. :-P

By the way, I've never used Dryads so my assumptions on their utility are pure speculations.

Look at my post on a fight in Murock (level 29) in this thread, then give it a try. I was thinking that one of the reasons Dryads are overpowered is because the Lullaby has 100% effectiveness and doesn't have a leadership requirement. Therefore one Dryad can put a whole army to sleep. Maybe this should be tied to leadership in the way that Evil Beholder's Hypnosis skill is?

The fights in Murock are so easy anyway... The toughest fights I had are in the Labryinth and Demonis, especially the stacks with lots of Level 4 and 5's.

I hope that was ironic. Dryads have the best HP to Leadership value of all troops (except Griffons combined with -30% leadership regalia) and they have a very good damage to leadership ratio beating most higher level units. Not counting items like Anga's and Isshara's Whip. They are probably one of the most versatile troops. Unfortunately a bit on the slow side without Anga's.

I'll take your word on it on the HP. I was typing from pure recollection.

I will say that both HP and damage per leadership calculations have to be adusted somewhat for attack and defense values differences between units, as those effect greatly the overall damage dealing and surviveability of a units.

But I'm all on board for the dryads are WAAY above average units bandwagon.

Dryads are one of the few units that have more HP than Leadership requirement. Also the damage of most lev 5 units is actually fairly poor compared to most lev 1 units even considering the difference in attack. Also low level units benefit more from Isshara's Whip giving in some cases a more than 50% damage boost.

As well as that item that boosts their hp.

I am no gaming genius, but playing on normal I find difficult enough, and I think that's what makes this game great -- different parts can be easier for one class or another, the different classes have real differences, and if you can find a way to "beat" the game using one class or item, meh, play something else. I've found plenty of these games impossible to play -- or let's say not worth playing -- because of the endless need to refight the same enemies on the same maps in order to build up enough level for that boss monster, or basically the game "runs on a rail" -- there's no real choice involved, you just follow the train to the end of the line. Great game, IMHO, because it's fun and filled with humor. I'm getting a lot out of these tips, because I suck so badly as a gamer ;) Most fun I've had since the original Dungeon Siege (which had LOTS of hidden secrets -- something this game could use more of, but it presents secrets in a fun way).