Managing stacks without Resurrect, Sacrifice, Gift, Hypnotize

[Vilk]

I'm trying hurry so I try minimize walk to refill stacks but I feel it tough now my mage is level 6 and worse I don't have anymore enough horsemen to continue use them.

What good tricks to manage stacks when you don't have yet Resurrect, Sacrifice, Gift, Hypnotize? I'm using Cardinal and that helps. But not much more, healing is now not really useful. I have various choices of units.

[DGDobrev]

Replay the battles, try to pick favorable areas and try to lose only the units that your inquisitor can resurrect. That's a lot to go around in hard and impossible, I know but... you have few options.

Another option is to try and restart the game and traverse greenwort, arlania, velarion and the swamp for good items and leadership flags whilie avoiding the fights. This is generally a good way to start a game.

[Vilk]

Ok thanks, I try do replay battle but sometimes I'm a little tired of it! About exploring first most area, I did it before attempting minimize time but didn't explored all area you quote. Also this will uncover items but only a minor part of all the scrolls in the area, most will come from chest.

I wonder what units is best to use. I have one reserve slot and use it for ghost, I also use hunter thorns, griffin, cardinal, Royal snake.

I'm close to get Higher Magic but not sure, at least I'll try it that soon and if I see it's not enough useful for the mana I have I'll reload.

[DGDobrev]

A nice tactic is to have royal thorns. The AI is a sucker for summoned weak units and loves to attack them. And besides, if there are any dead units around, the summoned thorns can summon even more thorns, and that's a landslide Your units multiply in no time. This minimizes the damage your main units take. However, in some games you may be unlucky enough and never get any thorns in the basic areas (I have that problem now).

Another option is to remember where the battle area was favorable. I fought like 10 battles in the swamp (one vs. Eghirra which was listed as overpowering) on the same spot where there is only 1 hex that the AI could occupy to hit my horsemen (are is 3 hexes wide). It was fun - destroying the hunters she had one by one, ressing the units that died, and then I had a full army vs. 1000+ peasants. With some magic spring, there were no problems defeating that army without any casualties.

That's for example

[Vilk]

Without gift/resurrection/sacrifice I don't see how you can resurrect, you have one resurrect with Inquisitor not more. Ok you only quoted an example of an area re use.

I tried your suggested trick to explore more area to see what spells there, lol in 4 attempts I didn't saw one of the spells I quoted. In fact I'm not that much surprised for resurrect and hypnotize, but too bad for gift and sacrifice. I had them in first area but with older game at normal level.

[DGDobrev]

Well, with those more than enough money you get from the raiding, with any luck you will get at least one of the spells. You have a lot of areas to look for them. Greenwort has 3 (castle, temple, mage tower), velarion has 3 (2 castles, mage tower), and there are many other buildings where spells are sold. In my eyes, healing is a great spell in the beginning. That's what's been keeping my horsemen alive even with 1 ressurrection from the inquisitors. Shield from archmages and heal. Unless the enemy stack is way too powerful (like those 678 peasants eghirra had in a stack) you will never lose even 1 tank.

[Vilk]

Totally agree with you about healing and horsemen. But now at level 6 healing is starting not be a good choice most often and I haven't enough horsemen to fill the stack.

Yes I should try use again the Archmage for the Shield and eventually continue use a little Horsemen.

About spells, with fake try, between 15/20, I got 3 times Gift and 3 times Sacrifice but never both at same time. I got Hypnotize once, never Resurrection. Too few attempts to be sure of anything but I found the 3 Gift in the Cemetery, 2 times on ground and once in the temple. I found the 3 Sacrifice in one of the 2 witch shops in swamp. I found the Hypnotize in the Magic Academy but I'm not fully sure for this one. I didn't explored any crypts and not often undergrounds.

In my current game I haven't explored fully the cemetery so I could have a good chance to still get Gift. I already fully explored the swamp so no luck for sacrifice that soon.

[Vilk]

Weird I forgot do the will test in the magic school, with a mage you can do it very soon and even with any character. After the test the magic school provides quite more spells to buy, and in my game there was Gift!

I regret the sacrifice that could allow increase my horsemen stack but Gift is clearly much more useful.

[Inso]

I have the same sort of problem, where I am starting to feel stupid.... When I read the no losses games on the board, and quick games. And I have issues beating the opponents without too many losses(of units I can't replace like Inqi's or archmages).

The first 8 lvl's aren't much of a problem, but now I went to the islands, and I have serious troubles beating the opponents(usually too many losses). I don't have gift/sacrifice/phantom/resurrect, my leadership allows me about 50 inqi's (@ lvl 10)but only got to buy 25(lost one, so now at 24, which becomes a burden because resurrect is not doing too much anymore). No really good tanks to take some beating and allowing for heals(had 3 knights, but they are slow, and 3/25 max stack is not really helpful, nor is 8/25 horsemen. Must say I have plenty of royal snakes though! 4 shops with large stacks of them(can literally buy 1000's of them....)

Also the best item I could buy so far is +1 to haste and slow spells, but no really nice offensive items(using the starting +1 weapon still). Am I being very unfortunate or just playing crap(at impossible mode btw).

Think I am going to give it a bit more try...(where can I buy the first cyclop btw? would give me sacrifice(questreward)).

[DGDobrev]

well, generally the first place that cyclops can appear as a recruitable unit is in the mines, which is a long way away from your current position in the game...

I can tell you this though. Never start a game where you are underpowered, with bad artifacts and spells unless you are willingly seeking a challenge, especially on impossible. You can get all you need in a game, but you need to be downright lucky. You may be hard pressed to compromise. I did reroll my paladin on impossible, but this time I did it right. I replayed the academy test a few times till I got off to a good start. By that I mean 2 good artifacts (+4 atk and +4 int for 50k each, giving 10 might/magic runes after 50 victories), a shield for 300 leadership, a belt for 150 leadership, +100 leadership regalia and a helm with +4 def, along with a nice big stack of knights (17, I found 4 more in the tavern in the swamps) in the horsemen camp. Although I'm lacking sacrifice, gift and magic spring spells, I'm positive they'll turn out somewhere. I also have only 26 inquisitors and only 8 horsemen, but let's hope I'll get more somewhere, or the sacrifice spell will come up sooner.

That I consider a good start of the game