stupid idea?

[alsakari]

rather new to the game,I read about the "no-army-suicide-trick " thing.If you do this at the very start of the game,not only you get 100g,but also new initial troops.If you do this repeatendly,you end up with a lot of troops to start with.But does the losing battles count against you in the final score?If not,is not such a bad idea,is it

[loreangelicus]

An interesting application, and my initial reaction to this was it is too tedius to do for so little gain in gold and troops. And in this, I am both right and wrong.

I am right that the gold gain is not important. I just finished a game on impossible and ended up with 3 million in gold, and that would have been 6+ million had I not spent 3,600,000 gold in runes. So gold is not that important.

The troops gain is also not important not because of the amount, but the unit type. But this is where I am wrong. I only played paladin, who only got priests, bowmen, and peasants on a suicide attempt. Warriors similarly get bears, swordsmen and bowmen, similarly insignificant.

But mages get peasants, dragonflies and SPRITES. Sprites are great, but you only get a chance to buy them once you get to the elven lands, even if you are a mage. As such, I really thought the initial small stack of sprites you get is useless for a mage since you can't increase them unless you pick up the Sacrifice spell early.

I just tested your idea, you do get more sprites on a suicide attempt for a mage, and it is a good idea to build up a good reserve of sprites if you are playing a mage. Nice find man.

You should check first if you have the Sacrifice spell being sold at the initial continent of Darion though, as Sacrifice is still the best and fastest way of getting more troops of a scarce unit.

Oh, and there is no disadvantage that I know of in doing the suicide trick in terms of the final record (at least none that I know of). You do spend some time to run from King Mark's castle to the nearest enemy though, but that may be inconsequential as you have tons of spare time to clear the initial continent anyways, even if you are doing a 6-7 day run.

Again, nice find.

Anyone out there who could point out a disadvantage to this tactic for a mage game?

[alsakari]

thanks mate,coming from a veteran like you.I never regard SPRITES as a worthy unit(newbie!),well,I do now!I've started a few games as mage,never find sacrifice/resurrection in the 4 starting areas.I like MARAUDERS a lot,I love searching dead bodies for gold(search+gift=tonns of gold!).

[BB Shockwave]

Good idea! I think it's a bummer that you cannot get any elven units until you get to Elinia (with the exception of Werewolves who are guaranteed to be at Bogis' castle). by then I usually have a chosen army and I don't want to swap units that worked well.

[Arilian]

Originally Posted by alsakari

thanks mate,coming from a veteran like you.I never regard SPRITES as a worthy unit(newbie!),well,I do now!I've started a few games as mage,never find sacrifice/resurrection in the 4 starting areas.I like MARAUDERS a lot,I love searching dead bodies for gold(search+gift=tonns of gold!).

Yes but you have enough gold anyway.

IMHO sprites are TOO powerful. But at the beginning with the mage and no resurrect, no angua ruby, no whip, they are not that great.

[bucazaurus]

Originally Posted by Arilian

Yes but you have enough gold anyway.

IMHO sprites are TOO powerful. But at the beginning with the mage and no resurrect, no angua ruby, no whip, they are not that great.

Very true.In fact,a mage will clear out most of the stacks in starting continent,with the power of his spells. For a no losses game ,a Horseman it's a much more better choice then a stack of Sprites due to the higher initiative(+6) and health. As a bonus the Spirits of rage will level up much faster
due to the fact that all battles will be labeled as "Impossible"

[Zhuangzi]

Horsemen (from the King's Tent) are far and away the toughest unit available from level 1 (even if it is a pathfinding exploit), but Sprites will be worth their weight in gold as soon you complete the Anga's Ruby quest in Freedom Islands. I think it is +3 morale, +3 damage and +3 movement? You can't beat that. Works on Lake Fairies and Demonesses too.

[bucazaurus]

The OP is talking about the start of the game. Anga's Ruby quest can be done in day 4 minimum,from what i know. And getting Horseman from the Tent without killing the guards is not an exploit.

Developers quote :

"You can use obstacles and terrain features to enticing enemies away from the treasures they guard."

[Zhuangzi]

Well, I certainly do it all the time, but I still regard that particular stack as an exploit as they don't chase normally, i.e. they are pinned to the one location. It's just that they aren't quite as pinned as some other stacks are.

[bucazaurus]

There are three stacks in Greenwood with the same strange behavior.
One is on the hill near the mysterious stone.The second are the knights who guard the banner on the hill near king's Mark castle.And the third are the guys who guard the tent. They act like this because their aggro range . For god knows what reasons, it's settled to 1.