A lot of the cheesier no-loss strategies are two-part. Part one is an infinite-mana combo of some sort, while part-2 is a way of transforming that into infinite resurrection. Infinite mana combos usually rest on (ab)use of Mana Spring or getting infinite rage and transforming it into mana via Calm Rage or the Mana Accelerator. There's probably a dozen variations on a theme there, but most of them are fairly obvious. There's also a few creative ones involving summons and the Transmute and/or Holy Anger skills. If you've got infinite mana, Phantom, Sacrifice, Resurrection, and often Turn Back Time can all let you transform a Pyrrhic victory into a no-loss win.
The second big category of no-loss strategies relies on creating an invincible or near-invincible tank. Early in the game, Trolls at night will do this. You can combo items and spells on several level-4 and level-5 units to get 95% damage resist, then pair that with the Archmage shield and the Target spell (or just use the stack solo) to make a really tough tank. Invisible Emerald Green Dragons is a favorite of mine, although it takes a fair amount of leadership before you can get enough mana from them to keep re-casting Invisibility. A variant on this is the summoned meatshield. Royal Gryphons give you a nice summon for this purpose; early in the game, royal thorns can do well with this if you can get some.
The third major category of strategies is simply to not let them hit you. Whether it's using a high-level army and getting opposing units with Fear, using a solo stack that is very fast and just running away while you do your damage with spells, creative use of Trap, the Stone Wall, and other spells/abilities to stall the enemy, the Berserk spell... if the enemy isn't attacking you, you aren't taking losses.
There's a couple strategies that don't pigeon-hole neatly into these categories. Repair Droids are a unique and extremely powerful option for infinite resurrection, and a reasonably good combat unit as well. If you can get a high enough INT and enough Astral resistance (at least the Crown of Chaos from the Gift Bag), Armageddon becomes a terrifying spell to open up fights with. You can go from "badly outnumbered" to "where did everyone go" in just 2-3 turns. I suspect there's a few more in this group I've forgotten at the moment.
Fundamentally, all these tricks help, but they aren't enough by themselves. What will really swing things from "near-impossible" to "cakewalk" is careful thought and planning when you decide which items to equip. You want them to synergize... if you're going to equip some items that give physical resist, equip all the items you can that give physical resist. If you're going to get some +INT items, equip all the +INT items you can. If you're going to equip items that boost ranged units, equip all the items that boost ranged units. Equipping a few items boosting INT, a few items boosting resist, a few items boosting DEF, and so forth is just not as useful. You want your items to give you a strength, then play to that strength.
|
08-28-2011, 05:56 AM
Threaded Mode