This game is BRUTAL - what am I doing wrong?

[NightMoor]

Hi all,

Now please don't laugh too hard, but this game feels way too hard right now even on Easy. I'm an old veteran of the HOMM games, so I'm not a total noob to this style of gaming (but I am a noob to King's Bounty: The Legend)

I'm playing a Knight, I'm at about level 6 or so now and I have to say the combat in this game is a total grind. Every battle in a "quest zone" like Snake's Underground, the infested Wizard Tower back in Greenwort, etc seems to bludgeon a big enough chunk of my army to death that I have to go back to monster shops to buy back to full. I'm talking 60% or more casualties very frequently. Random wandering monsters seem to be easier - I can sometimes kill these fights without a single casualty, but more than half the fights in this game seem to really drain me.

I've got Griffins, Bears, Swordsmen, Archers and Archmages in my army (or HAD archmages - the mage tower ran out of them now) and I've experimented with Ghosts, those dragonfly things, Priests and Peasants and nothing seems to really get me to that sweet spot where I can go through battles consistently with only 5-10% casualties in tough fights like I was used to in HOMM.

Please help me - what am I doing wrong? Are the combats in this game supposed to be this freakin' brutal, did I just pick a bad character class, or am I missing out on some key strategies that would really be helping me?

I really want to like this game since it essentially has all the combat that HOMM had without the tedious town building, but right now this game is kicking my butt...

Help!

[Ryastar]

Well, first of all, the wizard`s tower is meant for later in the game, more like level 15 than 6...

To help further, the first thing I must ask is do you have the rage box? You should have gotten it if you have completed the quests in the main story of the game (marked with a crown in your quest log). If not, drop everything and go for it. As a warrior (which I`m guessing is what you meant by knight), the rage box is your most powerful tool. An evil shoal at the beginning of the combat does wonders to destroy enemies and the stone wall ability can help slow down opponents. Second thing: I`m guessing from the troops that you said you used that you prefer melee troops over ranged. May I suggest a more range-oriented army? It is at its best in the early game. Usually my early game army consists of Archmagi (look around for more, try the mage academy in verlon forest), priests (unless you find horsemen, and there`s a trick to get them if you`re interested, without cheating, just taking advantage of the aggro range of an enemy troop), inquisitors (if you can find them), bowman, and royal snakes (guaranteed to be at the snake woman`s hut, which is located in the snake underground). This gives you a setup of 4 ranged attackers and one no-retal fast melee unit (or 3 ranged, one tank, and one no-retal, if you get horsemen). Tactics for this is standard slow, delay, and snipe. Kill enemy ranged troops first followed by the faster opponents. Use things like stone wall or the bowman`s freeze arrow to slow opponent. Attack with the snakes one turn and move them to safety the next. As a Homm veteran, you know the drill. Thirdly, make sure to invest in magic. Even though you are a warrior, you still need spell. Distortion magic is you friend, focus on getting it to level level 3. Order magic is also useful, and a little chaos magic would help too. Make sure to use spells such as slow to complement the tactics I mentioned above.

I think that`s enough advice for now, hope that helps. I can help more once you have responded to the above question and if you give me a general idea of what tactics you have used so far.

Good Luck!

Ryastar

[jwallstone]

What class are you playing? That changes playing style quite a bit. Also, have you gotten the rage box? That is one of the first things to do and helps a lot.

I'm also a HOMM veteran who got sucked into this game (and like it more than HOMM now). While it is true that they are similar in style, KB does require a slight change in strategy. I'll go into some of that later, but for now, realize that many areas are DESIGNED to be significantly more difficult. The Wizard Tower (in Arlania) and Snakes Underground are more difficult than surrounding wandering troops, the first one significantly so and the second one just a little bit more difficult. Part of the playing strategy is in fact figuring out what order to approach some of the areas and quests. You can't go stomping through the countryside quite like in HOMM. You can stick to Greenwort to start off safely, (minus a couple of tough Knight/Horsemen stacks), then Verlon Forest is generally good to approach next, then most parts of Arlania or the swamp portion of Marshan Swamp.

Only after leveling a bit and completing easy quests (go talk to this person, bring this item here, etc), can you attack some of the tougher enemies. This is one big difference with HOMM. You cannot simply wait a week to buy more troops. You have to level up your hero to gain leadership to buy more troops to increase in power, which requires strategic thinking about the order in which to approach the game. In some sense, heroes lag behind the army in HOMM, as you get more troops each week, you can take on stronger stacks and get experience; in KB, your army lags behind the hero as you have to develop your hero before you're able to get a larger army.

That being said, one helpful tactic to learn is dodging enemies. Your hero is much faster than all enemies (be careful of beholders, vampires, and other fast stacks though), and with a little practice, you can learn how to dodge given just a little open space. The AI is rather stupid and will simply move toward your hero's last position for a short duration of time before changing direction. With dodging, you can run around each new area you enter and collect all the leadership flags, giving a nice boost to your army. Doing so in each new area helps you conquer the troops in the area.

Anyway, hope that helps, I'll try to write more later.

[NightMoor]

Thanks for the advice guys - and yes, I meant to say I am a Warrior. I think getting that Rage spirit has got to be my next step. I've been dillydallying around when I probably should have gone for it right away.

I think my second problem is that I went into Arlania right after clearing Greenwort, which by your accounts seems to be skipping the next easiest place (Verlon Forest). I've already cleared the above ground in Arlania but I'm going to head to Verlon to see if it's a bit more up to my level. This game could definitely use a marker or a "Min. Level X recommended to enter" message before certain areas.

I've noticed the combat system allows for a lot more complexity and strategy than HOMM - for instance you can move a few squares and still set up a defense, or wait and do your attack later even after moving. Very cool, I have to get out of my HOMM mindset and start to take advantage of these new possibilities.

[Stepsongrapes]

Originally Posted by NightMoor

This game could definitely use a marker or a "Min. Level X recommended to enter" message before certain areas.

The game does have it- in the form of the messages you get when hovering over enemy stacks. Unless you're a very experienced player with clear tactics in mind, don't take on challenging stacks.

You'll need to get in the habit of probing for best "path" to minimize losses. Throughout the game, areas will open up before you may be fully ready. Even the early game requires a bit of back-and-forth between the areas, as even the easiest area will have one or two fights that you have to reserve until you're stronger.

As you get better at the game, you may find that you tackle things in a different order than you did in a first play through, because you're actually better at the tactical part of the game and can take on tougher challenges.

So use the challenge rating messages and avoid battles that cost you too many losses. Barrelling ahead and trying to sweep entire areas in one pass is a sure way of losing.

[NightMoor]

Hi guys, just a quick update - you were so right: Verlon Forest is a cakewalk and the "tougher" bosses are about on par with the basic fights I was getting in the other zone.

I've also picked up the rage box but still have to bring it back to the king - once I do that does it show up in my spellbook to use a Spirit?

On a side note, I also tried starting out a Mage recently and it seems so much easier to just nuke everything with fireballs and have enemies give you back mana when they hit your guys via Magic Spring. I may have to give it another go with the Mage!

[Elwin]

No,rage is not a spell. Its something different.As a warrior u should go directly for it at start.Once u get it u can talk to the spirits. They dont serve as soon as you get it. First u must do something for them.The easiest is sleem because u must bring him some poison creature and feed him. 40 poisonous spiders is enough. Second one is Zerock u must win a fight to get him. Next 2 will be available later in game, in dwarf land

On easy and normal if u go on high int and mana offensive mage you dont really need an army , you will win everything with spells.Either fire rain nukes or demon portal with one invisible unit.

[Vilk]

Originally Posted by Stepsongrapes

The game does have it- in the form of the messages you get when hovering over enemy stacks. Unless you're a very experienced player with clear tactics in mind, don't take on challenging stacks.

To manage that better I feel a good way is to learn soon the scouting skill. Sure the game provides a global difficulty information but with this skill you can temper it with more information.