Impossible Warrior - no losses?

[Zhuangzi]

Can it be done? Calinda did finish the game with zero losses, but I can't remember if it was with the Warrior or not. That's what I'm going to try for in my first game (I did play the Russian/English mod a bit) but I don't know if I'll manage without losses. Might be too hard for me.

Anyway, in the first 30 min of play I had a couple of challenges in ensuring zero losses. The two training fights I did by dismissing the weak troops and just using the paladins (you get the weak troops back anyway). But then in Debir I found a few of the early fights too difficult to achieve first time without losses. As a Warrior, you don't have access to ANY spells early (other than scrolls which I don't want to waste - except for a few Poison Skulls). I took Strength 1 (+1 attack), Experience 1 (+20 experience) and Scouting 1 by level two. The portrait artefact helps with morale for humans, so I stuck with a team of Swordsmen, Inquisitors, Priests, Bears, and Archers early on. I also got the shoes that give +3 mana and morale for Bears. So all of these units are at positive morale.

The problem is that without access to the spellbook yet, I am using the Dragon Kick a lot and hoping not to take more than 1 loss (which the Inquisitor can cover). No Healing as yet. So I have completed 5 fights without loss but I had to reload from a couple of fights where I lost a troop. The first goal is to get to 10 fights without loss so that I will get the first medal (+200 leadership).

This is good fun though. Very challenging. Any advice on how to mop up Debir without losses as a Warrior?

Another thing, if I buy a Royal Thorn (need 360 leadership first) will spawned Thorns that are killed count as losses?

[DGDobrev]

No unit, that is summoned during the battle, counts as a loss. So you can be sure that with 2 summoners in your army you have a decent supply of scapegoat units.

A good start to such game will be with an officers' batton. You will be able to afford it by the end of cleaning up of Debir. Any extra leadership is a boon in an impossible game, especially in the beginning. Another good thing is to use the green dragon or get the hunt ability ASAP. You need the cash, and any spare spells, wanderers' spells, etc. especially in the early game right from the start - preferably!

The party you can use to destroy anything on Debir (at least the one I'm usually using) is Swordsmen, Inquisitors, Priests, Archers and Royal Thorns. Once I get to Scarlet Wind, I usually check the camp protected by Hector Norb for paladins or knights to use as tanks. Then I get the Archmagi from the graveyard for Magic Shield - it helps a lot to minimize the losses if you have a good tank.

That's what I can contribute for now. A good army setup and a strong tank + magic shield can go a long way.

[BB Shockwave]

I did lose only 18 units on my Normal Warrior Walkthrough, and looking back now even those could have been avoided. It's much easier then in The Legend, actually - you won't face that many all-Dragon/all 5th level troops as there, except in Ultrax. (these cases are the worst because you cannot blind/Fear the last troop until you resurrect your own).

I advise you to re-start the game until you get Paladins in Debir or Scarlet Island (in the tent behind Recruitor Norbu, you can lure him away). They are great tanks, can resurrect troops. Another thing you'll need with them is the spell Phantom! And, stack up on items that give you mana - even as a Warrior, I had 87 Mana by the end of the game (Ancient Amulet helped a lot). It's needed for Resurrection and Time Back.

One thing I sorely missed from the Legend was Glot's Armor, there were so many uses and abuses of that skill.

[DGDobrev]

Just to note that Paladins may spawn in Debir Mage Tower only after you get the Amulet Of Revelations back to the Temple of Hope in Debir. So far they spawned in any one of my playthroughs, so it may be guaranteed. I'm not sure about that yet though.

[Zhuangzi]

Thanks for the tips, guys. So far so good - I have cleared out Debir except for that evil dude in the castle. He kept casting Phoenix which was really screwing with my no losses routine. I think it's 18/18 no losses fights now, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to reload a few times.

My tactic so far has been to prioritise Dragon experience, so I've taken two levels of Training and thus the dragon is already at level 6, even though Amelie is still level 4 (nearly 5). I took one point of Treasure Searcher as DGD recommended, and the rest of the points have gone into Crushing Blow (400-500 hit points, which is excellent for Debir). The problem for the Warrior early on is that getting spells scribed is really difficult. I finally managed to get Distortion 1 but I really could use Healing (obviously Order 1) or Phantom. The problem is that for the low hp units I am using it is hard to keep them all alive.

My leadership on leaving Debir for the first time is 820 and my team is Swordsmen, Royal Snakes, Priests, Inquisitors and 2 Royal Thorns. I really need Paladins and/or Royal Griffins sooner rather than later, because I can't keep up the no-losses with units with low hp.

Off to Scarlet Wind.

[DGDobrev]

Umm, I strongly recommend you get the dragon to 2 chests per battle if possible (costs 6 rage). I don't know how you're doing with the cash, but extra money will be crucial soon. A Paladin costs 1500, and if you find some cyclopses (great for no-loss victories as well) on Bolo island, you'll need the extra cash, as they are 5000 gold each - that is also provided you can get the leadership for them.

I hope you got a few items to boost your leadership in debir. Otherwise the game gets tough very quickly, especially on impossible.

EDIT: A few other things you can try:
- when you get to bolo island, go down into the catacombs, lure the R14-Gromozeka hero away from the chest and dash to take it, then return the amulet. That should spawn paladins in Debir. Oh, and don't forget to use the amulet. +50 leadership is still something.
- the phantom spell, sadly, is a long shot for a warrior. You will need the ancient amulet, or some other mana boosting item to make it effective, as you are low on mana, and a lvl 1 phantom spell won't provide a sufficient amount of paladins early on. And to boost the mana, you will need the money, as the ancient amulet (in the best case scenario) is 50k gold. The next thing that is imperative if you're going to be using phantoms is the Summoning skill. You MUST master it.
- All you need is lvl 1 in Training for the dragon, because the medals will take care of the rest (up to +50%). In my opinion, more than lvl 1 in the training skill is a waste of runes.
- as a warrior, level 3 rage is also a moot. Since you'll push up the Blood thirst skill (meaning you'll retain a certain amount of rage), more than lvl 2 in the rage skill is not needed.
- do now get overconfident with the dragon. Against bosses, you cannot summon him. This means you lose one great asset, and you need to compensate for it with troops and skills.

And of course, good luck