Smoother normal game play - warrior, paladin, or mage

[loreangelicus]

Originally Posted by ivra

If the primary goal is a quick and efficient fight, then I think a mage using Armageddon + Time Back is the way to go. I was able to complete the fight against Moro in just 4 turns with no losses. Of course, the downside with this is that there is no time to dig for treasures and that you tend to be empty of mana when the battle is over... Also, the strategy does not work for bosses.

Out of curiosity, has any of you managed to down Moro in fewer turns with no losses, using another strategy?

More info here:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=13933

Hi ivra, I did get to read on your armageddon-time back tactic before, and was thinking of doing a variant of it if ever I do a mage playthrough.

I think that you may have something here, and maybe you just need to lessen the casting of armageddon so that you don't kill them TOO QUICKLY; to give you time to dig up treasure and generate mana.

Perhaps this tactic could be done with red dragons instead of archdemons? I have read somewhere of someone finishing the game with just a single stack of reds, and someone is even attempting to finish the game with just a single red dragon. That way, you don't need to change lineups against bosses, although I doubt doing a chain of armageddons would take out the high hit point bosses on impossible difficulty.

It took me 13 rounds to take out Moro Dark at no-loss using the undead-droid lineup (see attached screenshot). I did dig up all 3 chests though, and it was far from being a serious battle (1 attempt). It is also a sustainable tactic, you could easily end battles with max rage and mana, very handy if you are chain-fighting 5 consecutive hero/boss battles using Ancient Knowledge.

[ivra]

The focus was on doing a quick battle. I only tested it. Since I want to dig every battle in my games, I agree that it needs to be slowed down so that to does not end too quickly - but that is easy with archdemons since they are the quickest unit in the game. In terms of the quickest possible battle (not including bosses) I cannot think of a quicker strategy. Armageddon + Time Back is very efficient.

I do not think it will work with a single red dragon. The reason is that a mage with a high int does too much damage even with Armageddon 1 (they have no resistance against astral damage). The dragon will die and the battle is over. But using a single red dragon and casting spells like Death Star and Geyser might work. The reason I bring a full stack of archdemons when using the Armageddon strategy is that almost half of the stack dies from friendly fire In theory any stack will do as long as it survives the armageddon and the enemy attacks. It might even be doable using peasants!

[Zechnophobe]

I honestly don't recall exactly how long my last fight with Moro was. But a full power Fiery Phantoms each turn probably went through his black dragons pretty quick (Those are the hardest of his stacks to kill).

I am guessing it took more than 4 turns though. Maybe 5 or 6.

Also, in regards to Speed and Black Knights:

BK's do a lot of damage per hit, but you only get one attack (plus retaliation) per round, and it only hits one person. Black/red Dragons will almost always hit at least 2 people on their turn, and then light them on fire for more damage. You can also cast Oil Mist if you need more raw damage (Great against demons). In fact, all dragons have at least one way to hit more than one target on the first turn.

And between Bone and Black/Red, your opponents will often be both on fire, and poisoned.

[Harlekin]

Hi all!

I started a hard warrior, because I basically rampaged through The Legend on normal difficulty, so I thought I need some challange. Well, I got it. I got so much I'm stucked

I completeley cleared the starting island, Scarlet Wind, and Bolo, and almost everything at Rusty Anchor. But I don't stand a chance at Verona, I totally got pwned there. So I went back to Rusty, sacrificed my army for a new navigation chart, but useless, because a) don't have enough money to fully refill my army b) I got pwned at those other two islands too...

I clearly do something wrong, because while you guys doing 7-day-no loss runs on impossible, I'm happy if I have the half of the army after a battle which I've had before.

I'm level 14, my army:
-2 evil beholders, so that i can put to sleep two stacks of units
- royal snakes
- ancient bears
- polar bears

[Zechnophobe]

Well, I've said it many times over now: The hardest part of the game is the (Rusty/Early Verona) part of the game. You will find many people who got stuck in just that area. Search around a bit for more detailed advice, but here's a few quick tips:

1) Get the green dragon from Rusty Anchor
2) Pillage like mad. Sneak around enemies and take the loot near them, especially on verona which is very large and heavily laden with goodies.
3) Make sure you are using a good, generally high level, army. (Note, if you are losing a lot of units against slightly stronger foes, you are either in need of some better tactics, or in need of a better army.)

[ckdamascus]

Originally Posted by ivra

The focus was on doing a quick battle. I only tested it. Since I want to dig every battle in my games, I agree that it needs to be slowed down so that to does not end too quickly - but that is easy with archdemons since they are the quickest unit in the game. In terms of the quickest possible battle (not including bosses) I cannot think of a quicker strategy. Armageddon + Time Back is very efficient.

I do not think it will work with a single red dragon. The reason is that a mage with a high int does too much damage even with Armageddon 1 (they have no resistance against astral damage). The dragon will die and the battle is over. But using a single red dragon and casting spells like Death Star and Geyser might work. The reason I bring a full stack of archdemons when using the Armageddon strategy is that almost half of the stack dies from friendly fire In theory any stack will do as long as it survives the armageddon and the enemy attacks. It might even be doable using peasants!

Yes, armageddon is clearly what I was looking for in regards to a fast battle. Unfortunately the loss of mana after the battle does hurt the strategy somewhat with regards to really smooth and fast.

Perhaps... just perhaps a rage heavy mage can do it? Mana accelerator + calm rage = armageddon? Hopefully have enough reserve mana for time back too.

Then the rest time between battles might not be too bad.

With hero battles, I sometimes cannot get all the chests because it is too dangerous, especially if the enemy hero casts offensive spells.

I think once you get the key spells and runes, you don't "really" need chests / money.

That said, have you considered the gift mod pack? I believe I could get 70% astral resistance right now with the warrior with the crown and ghost armor. I can also get it with my mage game (woohoo, maybe I should go do that!).