Teach me, expert players of Armored Princess

[kcwong]

Originally Posted by impy

looking at your leadership, seems you are right in the middle of middlegame.

I've unlocked Elon, Nameless Island, the two Orc islands as well. I managed to defeat some stacks on them. I have 9 trolls, 7 cyclops, 3/5 reds, 5 greens and 4 blacks.

Originally Posted by impy

Of course, if you are not playing no loss game, there is nothing to worry about. But if you do later in the game this setup will get hit much nastier and you might not be able to keep up with time back requirements, dragons can only take so much.

That's true... the enemy stacks are getting bigger and bigger, sometimes even stoneskined trolls have trouble. In some fights my black dragons had about 100 HP left, doing nothing except opening chests and spewing fire every few turns.

I have no real preference for unit types though, I only want this to be a no loss impossible mage game. I am trying to kite on Elon... if there is an Elven Bow somewhere I will have the +9 Int set. There's a dress for sale that gives bonus to elven troops, so maybe I can switch to a full elven line-up.

Originally Posted by impy

Don't know how you spent your mind runes, but Voice of the dragon 3 is brilliant, gives +2morale to dragons, which is 20% to defence (i think..) which is percent based and means huge bonus to dragons surviving capabilities.
Neverthless, dragons are known as a very bad choice for end game bosses, but you are far from that.
Best of luck.

I have Learning III and Absolute Balance III, Neatness II, and their prerequisites at I. I still have about 20 mine runes.

Magic tree is almost maxed - Wisdom I, all magic schools III, Magic Light III, Destruction III, High Magic III, Transmute II, Thesis III, Linguistics II.

Might tree - Anger I, Dragon Training III, Rage Control III. About 8 might runes left.

[impy]

You see, you admit yourself your black dragons sometimes have hard time and therefore are not that useful. and it will not get any better as the game progresses. Maybe it is time to replace them. For example: take advantage of paladin's circle resurrection. Get archer unit which will stand right next to paladins and will get resurrected along with them at the end of the battle. Or get summoning units - royal griffins, demonologists, demons, dryads..that way you get expendable meatshield.
You will have to replace all 5th level units before end game battles anyway.

I do not follow your skills selection. Yes, even on impossible no loss game the middle game tends to be not-that-difficult, but still..
Mage character should specialize from the beginning.
1) Devastator : high intelect and mana, casting pretty much only damaging spells - geyser, death star, fire rain etc. This character ignores light magic, transmute, order magic and goes quickly after chaos 3, higher magic, concentration, destruction etc, hero equipment boosts primarily int/mana, mind tree also focuses on int boosters first.
2) Supporter :buffing/debuffing armies - summoning, battle cry, slow, fear etc. you name it. This character goes after distorsion, order, transmute, higher magic,summoning, while chaos, concentration, mana/int boosters are delayed. Mind tree - prayer, persuation etc.

Idea behind specialization is to excel in certain field.. As you can see from your chosen skills, you have bit of both; neither strong spellcaster or strong supporter. Your game maybe doable as it is, but if you are looking for perfection

But, I am suprised with your might tree skills.
Mage,as we know, does not generate as much rage as warrior, and apart from very rare dragon dive only casts mana acc., lightning ball + treasure. Now how many levels of pet dragon do you need to max out these 3 skills? 30 max. Is there therefore a need to boost dragon experience? No. Remember, you cannot use pet dragon in boss battles anyway. I personally go for rage around 50 only with mage, just enough to cast maxed lightning ball and have some decent calm rage. So Rage control 1, training 1 - but only as prerequisite for Anger 1-2. With rest of the runes you can either go after frenzy or boost your defence.

P.S. you do not mention to have concentration skill. I'm sure you have it. There is a reason why it is all the way at bottom of magic tree - it is one of the best

[kcwong]

Originally Posted by impy

You see, you admit yourself your black dragons sometimes have hard time and therefore are not that useful. and it will not get any better as the game progresses. Maybe it is time to replace them.

My black dragons got hurt because I sent them into biting a big but feared stack. Even with High Magic III sometimes I couldn't keep them all feared long enough, so I had to deal some damage fast. Of course I only do that when I calculate that my dragons won't die even on a critical hit.

I can still go a bit further with the dragons... though I've started seeing some big and tough stacks, like 2x20 Giants, 6 EGDs, about 200 Evil Beholders and about 100 Cannoneers guarding a map in Grand Canal, 14 Archdemons with lots of lesser demonic units in Abandoned Mines, and I know with my low leadership I won't be able to win without loss.

But still, it's my first time using so many dragons together, so I'll enjoy them as long as I can manage.

Originally Posted by impy

For example: take advantage of paladin's circle resurrection. Get archer unit which will stand right next to paladins and will get resurrected along with them at the end of the battle. Or get summoning units - royal griffins, demonologists, demons, dryads..that way you get expendable meatshield.
You will have to replace all 5th level units before end game battles anyway.

I kited around Nameless Island and got 57 Demonologists with me now, replacing 7 Cyclops. If I had to replaced Black Dragons I have near unlimited amount of Royal Griffins on several islands, and of course I have plenty of Paladins stashed in a castle.

Originally Posted by impy

I do not follow your skills selection. Yes, even on impossible no loss game the middle game tends to be not-that-difficult, but still..
Mage character should specialize from the beginning.
1) Devastator : high intelect and mana, casting pretty much only damaging spells - geyser, death star, fire rain etc. This character ignores light magic, transmute, order magic and goes quickly after chaos 3, higher magic, concentration, destruction etc, hero equipment boosts primarily int/mana, mind tree also focuses on int boosters first.
2) Supporter :buffing/debuffing armies - summoning, battle cry, slow, fear etc. you name it. This character goes after distorsion, order, transmute, higher magic,summoning, while chaos, concentration, mana/int boosters are delayed. Mind tree - prayer, persuation etc.

Idea behind specialization is to excel in certain field.. As you can see from your chosen skills, you have bit of both; neither strong spellcaster or strong supporter. Your game maybe doable as it is, but if you are looking for perfection

I made some mistakes reporting my skills - it's only Dragon Training 2, and I have Scouting III. Transmute is maxed, and my future magic runes are going into Concentration.

Early on I focused as a protective spell caster - keeping my stacks stoneskined, enemies feared, tough creatures helpless, etc.

Once I get all spell scrolls developed I invested in Intelligence and Mana increasing skills. I have around 40 Int. without equipping much Int artifacts. I have two Advisor's Dress, though with the Trolls and Dragons I prefer Slippery Cuirass and Leather Dress more, making them extremely tough.

I started casting more offensive spells late, hence I still have a little bit more spell uses to go for Fire Mage III and Trapper III medal.

Originally Posted by impy

But, I am suprised with your might tree skills.
Mage,as we know, does not generate as much rage as warrior, and apart from very rare dragon dive only casts mana acc., lightning ball + treasure. Now how many levels of pet dragon do you need to max out these 3 skills? 30 max. Is there therefore a need to boost dragon experience? No. Remember, you cannot use pet dragon in boss battles anyway. I personally go for rage around 50 only with mage, just enough to cast maxed lightning ball and have some decent calm rage. So Rage control 1, training 1 - but only as prerequisite for Anger 1-2. With rest of the runes you can either go after frenzy or boost your defence.

I had extra 10 might runes from the banner, hence I decided to spend more on the might tree for more max rage and faster rage gain - that translates to more mana during fights, and I can use dragon egg for meat shields or distraction.

My reason is that a bigger rage pool can't hurt... and I don't have a use otherwise for those might runes. All the big mine rune eaters in the magic tree are already maxed.

I use my dragon for digging, mana orb, egg and an occasional kick (mostly for traps) or lightning. Lightning didn't come up as upgrade choice as often as I'd like... I got offered kick, wall and egg more.

Originally Posted by impy

P.S. you do not mention to have concentration skill. I'm sure you have it. There is a reason why it is all the way at bottom of magic tree - it is one of the best

No I don't have it yet! But it's my next magic skill to get. I don't have any problem with mana flow before (and still don't), hence I delayed getting it.

[Petwin]

Impy wrote:

Mage,as we know, does not generate as much rage as warrior, and apart from very rare dragon dive only casts mana acc., lightning ball + treasure. Now how many levels of pet dragon do you need to max out these 3 skills? 30 max.

I totally argree with the skill use. Alas, to max them out can take a long time if the 3 upgrade choices per level are all for different skills. A lot of dragon levels are "lost" to upgrading Lava Call and Stone Wall.

[impy]

Just to clarify the pet dragon issue.
One of the features how pet dragon gains experience is - it gains exp. quicker if hero level is higher than dragon level. Try it. Start a new game, kite, and start in debir level 10+. You'll see your dragon gaining exp. MUCH quicker and that happens without your input = increasing his experience gain.
Point is, you'll finish the game level 50-60, so your pet dragon will if you use it here and there, at least 40+. Now do not tell me, you will not max out tresure skill, mana acc, and lighting ball in 40 levels. If you are struggling, do not pick up skills of limited use - mystic egg, wall..at all. That way you increase the probability of getting the "right" upgrade choice.
So there is no need to boost dragon exp. for mage. Spend might runes somewhere else

[kcwong]

Latest save uploaded to Box.net

I added Archmages back to my army, taking red and black dragons out from reserve only when needed (Fear continues to be very powerful in battle).

I somehow forgot to learn Linguistics III... but I can get it next and that will be very soon. I have plenty of might and mind runes to go around - and important skills that need them are already maxed.

I wonder if I can unlock Skull of Death this late... but I gotta try, +5 Int from one artifact is not something to be missed.

I'll also need to equip that bird skull and get the new spells (Armageddon, plus Ice Snake and Geyser on Reha).

Chance to get Elven bow looks pretty slim at this point... so no hope for +9 Int and an elven army. There are some demon artifacts and lots of demon troops to buy though, so maybe I can try that.

[impy]

you need to max out 2 very important skills.
1) pet dragon mana acc. There will be plenty of paladin's resurrection later and concentration 3 even with wanderer scroll +mana/int might not to be able to keep up. Btw. I always carry some phantom scrolls in the backpack in case i run out of mana.
2) Summoner. I have it maxed out even with warrior character. It raises the number of phantomed paladins and increases summons from griffins and demonologists.

Get ready for Elenhel fight coming soon