droids are NOT overpowered:-)

[impy]

Originally Posted by Zechnophobe

'easily offset by belt of the winner'? That's... a composite end game item you likely will never see, or only after defeating Scrounger! Also, it is still -1 movement compared to it!

Also 30% to the stats of a level 4 unit is rarely all that much. I don't recall the beefiest level 4, but I think it might be around 30 attack defense? Probably less. And that's only +9 attack and Defense. That's MAX. I can find decent items for that slot that give good bonus', that don't decrease my speed by one, and effect my dragons or cyclopi or whatever.

Zechnophobe, this thread started as a discussion about pretty much single unit challenge - droids, black knights, vampires..That's how my answer should have been understood, i was not talking about standard gameplay & line-up. Besides, I did not say steam armor was the best, but it is certainly amongst the best. Debate which armor is the best in standard gameplay heavily depends on opposition. When fighting Gremlion upgraded magician cowl is probably the best. For regular fights I always liked slippery cuirass etc.

On the lighter note, I started this laid back playthrough aiming for high level intellect mage, no kiting, no scanner.
So far in Verona, and I cannot believe my luck
Debir - novice dress
Scarlet - skull of pain
Bolo - novice staff
Rusty - novice dress 2, battlemage helmet, hand of necropolis
Verona - novice staff 2, usurer's ring, ring of mind, ancient amulet, 2 x bronze ring.
That's extra 38 intellect so far guaranteed.
find savegame at level 1 attached, if anyone is looking for playing int. oriented mage

[Fatt_Shade]

As you said solo unit challenge, steam armor can be good item for many fights.
I wonder how come so far no1 mentioned solo Paladin stack. Good tank, easy to resurrect, and kicks ass against undead and demons. They have crappy initiative and speed, but easily fixed with Adrenaline skill, and if you manage to get Inquisitor`s blade they would go to 176 leadership/unit. But this challenge would be best for Paladin hero and his +40% physical dmg medal.
Last game i played with Warrior and found 2 Battle axe`s, and Drill which got my paladins to 27-33 basic dmg, and with Hell breath spell +52% fire dmg (3rd lvl give 40% but with Firestorm necklace it get`s to 52%), which finally was 40-50 physical/fire dmg on 4th lvl unit . For Paladin hero this could go up to 45-56 ,for only 220 leadership Better then some 5th lvl units !
So far only units that can compare with him are Royal thorn (f...ing hard to keep alive) with Crown of blackthorn 40-60 basic dmg (61-91 with Hell breath for 380 leadership/unit), and ofc his Majesty and Royal highness overpowered Black knight 20-27 basic (43-64 with Rising fury and Hell breath for only 120 leadership/unit 3 times less then those unit above).

I might try this next play through. Paladin hero, Paladin unit Companion Gaudi/Agraves (not sure which is better). Question is next : to use Inquisitor blade for bigger army (-20% leadership cost=25% more units), or Drill/Battle axe for nice dmg (would be 30-37 basic dmg this way) but no Att bonus (untill Frenzy kicks in after couple of turns in fight). It`s obvious to go for Blade, but high dmg Paladin is just hilarious to look

I`we read on some other treads that some ppl go solo Bone dragon. I get it easy to resurrect with Evlin, and pretty low leadership for 5th lvl. But i dont get it how they kill plants/undead/droids ??? Very high poison resistance=Bone dragons have hard time killing any1

As for your save file, thx might try it. I saw somewhere on forum that 70+ int mages make 12-20k dmg with Black hole per turn, damn

[Fatt_Shade]

Originally Posted by impy

On the lighter note, I started this laid back playthrough aiming for high level intellect mage, no kiting, no scanner.
So far in Verona, and I cannot believe my luck
Debir - novice dress
Scarlet - skull of pain
Bolo - novice staff
Rusty - novice dress 2, battlemage helmet, hand of necropolis
Verona - novice staff 2, usurer's ring, ring of mind, ancient amulet, 2 x bronze ring.
That's extra 38 intellect so far guaranteed.
find savegame at level 1 attached, if anyone is looking for playing int. oriented mage

Nice int items, and thx for save file but why o why pink pet dragon and skipped training ground ?
For high int mage, green dragon would be better, and those fights can get you to firemage medal faster and some chests could get something even better, i have once found mithrill shield in second chest in battle. And free +1 att/def items are better then no item at all until get/find some better ones. Also you get free lvl after training and runes to get you started.
Dont get me wrong, thx for save and sharing good luck with int mage build (i personally have never seen 2 novice dresses in game, 2 princess yes but never novices). But you made some weird choices on start my man