i knew sharing my screenshots would help! wow u guys are amazing - just by looking at the screenies you guys know my (poor) battle strategy.
yeh i use the dragon as the first line offense, while the mages & cyclops was 2nd line long-range. And I use my offensive spells like Fireball, Pole Axe to thin the larger mob numbers. If doing damage isn't good enough, I'll usually summon something in on the first round to give me added numbers on the battlefield, but usually my 2nd Tier summons isn't that great. So I guess either boost my Pheonix to level 3 or my summoning to level 3. Now I realize the cyclops should be front line. Thanks for enlightening me. I guess I could teleport the Cyclops out to the front to get into the thick of things.
As for paladins, because of their low numbers (and because I do not know where else to get them, I drained all at Debir) I don't send them out front line. So even while I can effectively hold more paladins, you guys think I should use them as 2nd offensive team? And yes sadly they were useful only for protecting the mages and casting the 1 resurrect spell which isn't enough to rezz a full team at times
Ok i will try to use Shield and stone skin combo on the paladin. Because I cannot cast them on my black dragon or cyclops.
As for the suggestion to change Paladin to Black / Dark Beholders, yes I actually do have a stack of beholders in my backup, but their low health make them vulnerable to enemy ranged units. But I do like their Sleep and Possession abilities. Would casting stone skin or shield help to keep them alive longer?
Are there other ways to survive a no-loss encounter? Buffing troops or using summoned creatures?