Newb seeking advice on troops, what next? (long)

[magritte]

Okay, so I just picked up King's Bounty: the Legend and have been enjoying it. It pains me to say it but it's a lot more fun than the recent installments of Heroes of Might & Magic. But I'm at a point where I'm not sure what to do next.

I'm a paladin treasureseeker level 5 with attributes (including equipment bonuses) of Might 5, Intellect 6, Magic 5, tilted toward mind and magic on skills mostly because I never seem to find might runes. I've been cautious to this point, pretty much only fighting weak and very weak enemies, though I've taken on slightly weaker opponents to complete quests. And I'm avoiding cyclopses entirely after my one combat with them, no matter how weak the computer tells me the stack is. But it looks like I'm going to have to take on some of the slightly weaker foes blocking my path (or cyclopses eek!) in order to progress, and I'm trying to decide which way to go.

I've completed these quests: Final Trials, Letters of Reference, Clear the Vegetable Garden, Recover the Plugens, Escaped Bear, Fishing Limits, Fishing Tackle, Speaking Stone, Invasion of the Thorns, Hunter and Wolf, Dragon's Tooth Tavern, The King's Brother, Kill the Ghost, Donations for the Temple

These three quests are in progress:
Lost Town Chronicles - spoke to the Witch, haven't gone to the crypt
Archmage Rezo - cleared bottom floor but not upstairs
Enchanted Love/Trouble in the Mill - got the ring but couldn't suppress the Keepers

These quests I've received but not followed up on: Carl and Martha, Blessing the Crypts, Fallen Dirigible, The Deserted Castle, Talking Bird, A Secret Weapon, Breeding Evil Beholders, The Cursed Child

So--thoughts on some quests that aren't too difficult to complete out of my list?

My other issue is troops. I started off the game just grabbing the first troops that came available to me and I've stuck with them but should probably make some changes. But there are so many possiblities, I can't make up my mind! I have over 20,000 gold to play with so that's not a huge limitation.

Here's what I have and my thoughts on them:

Archmages: 2. I could lead 4, but that's all that was available. I'm not sure I'm really getting the most out of them, but they're practically indestructible. Thinking of switching them out for something I can get more of, or possibly shamans or knights, though I'll be limited to two or three of them respectively.

Peasants: 196. Well, they're cheap and plentiful and in those numbers they do pack a punch. Since my usual battle plan is to let the enemies come to me they aren't completely worthless when the enemy ground troops arrive but I probably should get a faster ground troop to replace them with. Maybe marauders since I have two sources for them. Or those three knights. Or griffins or bears or...

Swordsmen: 28. They're plentiful, faster than the peasants (and the archmages can help them out will telekinesis) and I can't see any reason not to keep using them.

Priests: 19. Another plentiful troop. I'm not finding their healing skill particularly useful since I have the spell (and the skill: a waste), and other than the archmages my troops don't have that many hits to heal. I could pick up inquisitors instead, since resurrection seems likely to be more useful unless I invest in a lot of high level troops. I'm not sure how many of them I have available...only one source.

Bowmen: 16. I love bowmen and I could lead 19, but I can't buy any more. Which really sucks because I invested in training 2 and the flame arrow spell. Maybe I should replace them with the inquisitors instead of the priests? At the moment 16 is still enough to be useful and I can magic shield and stoneskin to conserve them but as I go up in level, they're not going to cut it unless I find another source.

Here's what I can buy from places I've discovered so far: Peasants, Robbers, Lake Dragonflies, Fire Dragonflies, Devilfish, Thorn Hunters, Cave Spiders, Venomous Spiders, Priests, Hyenas, Marauders, Pirates, Berserkers, Wolves, Swamp Snakes, Bears, Royal Snakes, Griffins, Inquisitor, Knights, Shamans.

So I have lots of options. I'd appreciate any thoughts on what my best choices would be.

[Sir Whiskers]

I'd suggest replacing the priests and peasants, and possibly the bowmen. Good options are Royal Snakes, Griffins, and Inquisitors. The first two are very cost-effective in terms of leadership required, and you should find inquisitors more useful than priests.

You didn't mention the rage chest. If you haven't activated the first two spirits yet, you should do so asap. Once you get Sleem's Evil Shoal ability, you'll be able to trash the ring keepers with minimal effort.

Enjoy!

[magritte]

Thanks for your reply. I decided to replace the peasants with royal snakes and the bowmen with inquisitors. I just found the magic school in the forest which means I have the rage chest and was able to fill up my quota of Archmages, so I've got six of them now. It's definitely a stronger team. Don't know quite how I'm supposed to activate the spirits, though. I finished a couple more quests (reunited the dragon and his love, treaty with the barbarians), and went back into the marshes to work on the crypts.

[Sir Whiskers]

Originally Posted by magritte

Don't know quite how I'm supposed to activate the spirits, though.

Click on your character, then the picture of each individual spirit. You'll be given various dialogue options, including how to have them serve you. Two will serve immediately - one has to be fed poisonous creatures, the other requires that you win a battle. The other two will join later, after you complete their requirements.