What troops to replace Royal Snakes?

[Roman]

I have been using Royal Snakes almost from the beginning of the game (pretty much as soon as they were available). Being at level 15 now and with supplies gradually starting to diminish, I wonder what troops I should use to replace them? Royal Snakes are just amazing - they don't have high leadership requirements, they have respectable hit points and other statistics, their attacks don't elicit retaliation, their "Lunge" ability is useful, they are immune to poison and they are are venomous. What's not to like? I have 'upgraded' all my other troops though (apart from Bowmen, but I will probably start using Elves/Hunters soon), and rotated others, some even several times, so I am wondering if I am missing something - some great replacement for Royal Snakes. Or are Royal Snakes going to rule the battlefield until the end of the game?

I should note that the supplies are nowhere near critically low yet (a considerable number of resupplies is still possible), but I am thinking ahead, as I have recently been venturing into higher-level areas than I probably should be and the rate of losses has, of course, increased in these places.

[Zhuangzi]

If you really want to keep using Royal Snakes, then you will need to use either Resurrection or Sacrifice. You should find Sacrifice around somewhere. You can get yourself a stack of something weak (eg Peasants) and go into an easy fight with a view to replacing the Peasants with Royal Snakes.

I think everyone acknowledges how good Royal Snakes are in the early game, but I think you'll find that there are tons of useful units to be found, especially in Ellinia (hint hint)

[Stever717]

One thing I learned is that in KB you rarely ever use the same troops for any long periods of time. Think about what you are using royal snakes for ( tanks, range attackers or quick killers) and look for other troops that can replace them. Save your game and try out a few new ones, use auto combat and see how the AI uses them. If you don't like what you see reload and try again. At the moment I am using necromancers , vampires and black knights with griffins and dryads but I am done with the demon areas and need to change troops again. Remember that new areas may need new styles of fighting.

[wolfing]

Originally Posted by Roman

I have been using Royal Snakes almost from the beginning of the game (pretty much as soon as they were available). Being at level 15 now and with supplies gradually starting to diminish, I wonder what troops I should use to replace them? Royal Snakes are just amazing - they don't have high leadership requirements, they have respectable hit points and other statistics, their attacks don't elicit retaliation, their "Lunge" ability is useful, they are immune to poison and they are are venomous. What's not to like? I have 'upgraded' all my other troops though (apart from Bowmen, but I will probably start using Elves/Hunters soon), and rotated others, some even several times, so I am wondering if I am missing something - some great replacement for Royal Snakes. Or are Royal Snakes going to rule the battlefield until the end of the game?

I should note that the supplies are nowhere near critically low yet (a considerable number of resupplies is still possible), but I am thinking ahead, as I have recently been venturing into higher-level areas than I probably should be and the rate of losses has, of course, increased in these places.

I never used royal snakes in my 2 runs. You can use the cheat (I consider it a cheat, it's too cheesy to be by design) to get all the troops you need using Sacrifice so don't worry about it. In my case, I never used royal snakes. Instead I used bowmen, swordsmen, guardsmen, wolves, ancient bears in the beginning. If you can find ancient beholders get them! (sadly, couldn't find many in my 2 games). Then when I reached the islands I switched wolves and ancient bears for shamans and catapults, then in the dwarven lands I got cannoneers instead of catapults. In the later stages I pretty much used shamans (these stayed with me all the way to the final battle), all types of dragons and demons.

[kadrzys]

I think I'm the one who'll be using Royal Snakes for whole game. I find them very, very and even more very but I think it was just my luck because I was able to get 2x Royal Snake Ring and Snake Boots in my game. With froggy wife I got my Rotal Snakes at 67atk, 12-16 dmg and I can lead 360 of them. I use them as quick killers, best combinaton for me is bless in first turn and quick kill most annoying stack (f.e 10-15 Black Dragons with one hit, can get them because of high initiative first turn, tactics 2 and 4 speed because of +1 from Snake Boots). Second turn I cast Phantom on them and Timeback so I got full stack once again (heavy hits from other melee and ranged units) and nice 100+ Phantom ready for second wave of enemy melee. Since this turn I cast Phantom almost all the time and snipe out with original stack. At the end of fight (3-5 turns) I'm able to cast Ressurect as many times as needed (I got +9 mana every turn^^) and end fight with minimal or even no loses. I just defeated Xeona this way with only 4 Unicorns lost^^ I was thinking for a little time to divorce Feanora and merry Xeona for her 2x weapon slot but I can't give up with those snakes^^

[Roman]

Yeah, Royal Snakes are made of pure awesome!

Any replacement would need to have the no retaliation ability for sure - that is simply an invaluable ability. I guess I will scour the Elven Lands for some troops that could fit the bill. If there won't be any, I will keep on using the RS.

It's a pity there are no 4th level snakes to take the place of Royal Snakes (or at least I assume there aren't).

[Ish]

Originally Posted by Roman

Yeah, Royal Snakes are made of pure awesome!

Any replacement would need to have the no retaliation ability for sure - that is simply an invaluable ability. I guess I will scour the Elven Lands for some troops that could fit the bill. If there won't be any, I will keep on using the RS.

It's a pity there are no 4th level snakes to take the place of Royal Snakes (or at least I assume there aren't).

For sure they are very useful near the beggining.

Along with seadogs & shamans they are the best units upto the freedom isles.

[JDR13]

Originally Posted by wolfing

I never used royal snakes in my 2 runs. You can use the cheat (I consider it a cheat, it's too cheesy to be by design) to get all the troops you need using Sacrifice so don't worry about it. In my case, I never used royal snakes. Instead I used bowmen, swordsmen, guardsmen, wolves, ancient bears in the beginning. If you can find ancient beholders get them! (sadly, couldn't find many in my 2 games). Then when I reached the islands I switched wolves and ancient bears for shamans and catapults, then in the dwarven lands I got cannoneers instead of catapults. In the later stages I pretty much used shamans (these stayed with me all the way to the final battle), all types of dragons and demons.

Ancient Beholders? I've heard of Beholders and Evil Beholders, but never "Ancient" Beholders.

[kadrzys]

for sure he meant Evil Beholders, simple mistake

[xxspectrexx]

I used RS all the way through the entire game with the frog wife(in frog form). I have not found a unit that can come close to putting them down. Definitely the best unit in the game in my opinion. Coming in second would be the dragons. Also if you happen to have a stack of Archmages they just complete the RS package because of their shield.