Gameplay Strategies
Strategy Guide
This article was originally a forum post by veteran multiplayer
Jomungur. I've reprinted it here and have--from time to time--added my
own comments and strategies. My comments are in italics.
~ Angel Draco ~
Preface: Im leaving the AoW multiplayer scene pretty soon, so I thought
Id leave behind a little offering for newbies and anyone whos
interested. Most of the strategies and observations are from numerous
multiplayer games, a lot of them from the Starlance League. Multiplayer AoW
is a lot different from single player, so the information below may not be
helpful for single player games.
Multiplayer AoW games vary widely, depending on the options. The option that
will affect the game the most is whether you leave leaders on the map or off.
If you leave them on, you have to be prepared for the enemy having a
"superhero" unit (i.e., a hero with 10 attack, 10 defense and one or more
stun strikes). This drastically changes the game, as many superheroes can
wade through armies of level 1 and 2 units and sometimes higher ones. Later
on Ill share some strategies for designing your own superhero leader,
but for right now just keep in mind that if you play with leaders on, it is
likely youll have to deal with it. This can lead to some annoying
situations, especially if you dont like the whole game being centered
on a few units.
Leaving leaders off usually results in a slower paced, more balanced game
that many find appealing. Superheroes can develop, but only in the very
late game and they will have less deadly special abilities, which makes them
easier to take down. The disadvantage of leaders off is it makes it harder
for weaker races (either by troop quality or starting placement in a
scenario) to catch up with stronger races; leaders can often act as an
equalizing factor to help weaker races win a fight.
The other option that will significantly affect the game is whether TC
(tactical combat) is always allowed, or only vs. humans. In most multiplayer
games, TC is only allowed versus other human players, which means you have to
use FC (fast combat) against independents. I prefer the latter only because
of times sake, and also because if youre playing with leaders on
it keeps people from building up their leaders too fast (by using TC and just
using their leader on fights they wouldnt take on in FC). In any case,
its worth getting used to FC and how it works even if you choose TC
always. If you insist on using TC every single battle, youll probably
run out of players who are patient enough to play with you. The main thing to
keep in mind is that playing with TC always allowed will result in a faster
developing game (although ironically the real-time length of the game will be
longer) because having to play FC versus independents makes most players more
conservative.
Taking down the superhero
Theres no definite way to take out a leader who has 10 attack and
defense, many hit points, cold and lightning strike and other goodies. But
here are some ways I use that have been successful:
Leader building strategies
If youre playing with leaders on (and customizing them), its
important to build the best one you can. Leaders are key not only because of
themselves, but because they can help you amass independent cities faster,
increasing your wealth and allowing better quality troops to come out faster.
Getting out some level four units a few turns earlier than your opponent can
make a big difference. More importantly, your leader is your most vulnerable
target. If he dies, youre dead, so its worth building a strong
one.
There are lots of ways to design a good leader, a lot of which depend on the
map and which units you think youll face. For example, Snow Concealment
is a great pick on the Icedale map, although useless on a lot of other maps.
But aside from map specific concerns, the best leaders can optimally handle
all kinds of situations.
With that in mind, here a few questions to ask yourself:
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How is your leader going to deal with flyers?
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How is your leader going to deal with ranged units?
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Is your leader going to be able to deal with an early rush of level one units by your opponent?
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Can your leader handle going 1 on 1 with an enemy leader, both in the early game and later on (this happens a lot in multiplayer games)?
In a competitive multiplayer game, building leaders is all about how fast you
can advance them. Ive found I can build leaders faster than anyone I
play, so here are some strategies Ill share:
There is a snowball effect when playing with leaders that is important to
understand, especially in multiplayer. The faster you advance your leader,
the stronger he gets. The stronger he gets, the faster you can advance him.
So a little edge in the early game can really make a big difference by
day 20, when your leader is level 15 and your opponent is level 10.
Thats 50 extra leader points to spend!
Defense is probably the most important statistic for a leader. Assign at
least 7 defense to your leader, preferably 9. A 10 defense is not necessary
in the beginning, its not better than 9 when most troops youll
face have low attack values. I dont think boosting Spell Casting is
worth it in multiplayer games, until you get to level 12 or so. Spells are
not powerful or reliable enough in combat to justify spending points on spell
casting.
Spell caster heroes also dont advance nearly as fast as melee heroes,
which will hurt you later on. This isnt to say that spells are
uselessthey can make a big differencebut Spell Casting I should
be all you need in the early game.
Strongly consider taking either cold strike or lightning strike. These
strikes make a big difference at any stage of the game, regardless of whether
youre facing a horde of level 1 troops or a few really good ones. I
prefer lightning strike because of its greater chance to stun an opponent.
Cold strike disables a unit for 3 turns, but has a much lower percentage of
freezing an opponent. If you have leader points to burn, you might consider
taking both although I dont think its worth it.
One overlooked skill is Regeneration. I always take it. It lets you build
your leader extremely quick, because you dont have to spend time and
mana healing yourself between turns. If your opponent doesnt take it,
youre almost assured of advancing faster than him.
First Strike is the second most important skill IMO after Regeneration. It
is incredibly powerful, especially late in the game with superheroes. First
Strike combined with Lightning Strike is an awesome combination and will
prevent most of your melee opponents from ever laying a glove upon you! For
this reason it is often banned. If you can pick up a magic weapon with First
Strike though, hold on to it for dear life!
You may also want to consider picking a resistance depending on the race
youre going up against as they dont cost many skill points
(5-10). If youre fighting Orcs, take Fire Protection to help you when
fighting dragons. If youre fighting the Undead, take Death Resistance
to protect against Reapers and Black Dragons. Take Cold Protection if
youre fighting the Frostlings. Poison Protection is an excellent
resistance to have as many races have a race with a poison attack (Orcs,
Goblins, Lizardmen, Azracs) and if youre poisoned, it will disable your
Regeneration power.
Lifestealing is a good pick, also, although I dont take it. Its
15 points but is superb for those battles when your leader is by himself
taking on hordes of level 1 units. It can also be a real lifesaver in the
beginning of the game. Its not so great if youre facing just a
few high level troops or another powerful leader, though, who can dish out
6-10 damage per strike.
Dominate is a favorite skill of mine. At 15 points, its expensive
but I prefer it to Life stealing. Late in the game, there is nothing sweeter
than capturing those level 3 units of the enemys and turning them
against their former owner. You can also dominate heroes! A favorite tactic
of mine is to combine Dominate with First Strike and Lightning Strike. The
enemy will attack me, but I will stun it, and can then attempt to dominate it
with no fear of retaliation. You really need to have the Bards Skill or a
unit with Bards Skill to keep those dominated units of an opposing alignment
from revolting on you. Dominate is not as effective in FC because the
computer will try and dominate everything, even if the enemy has a 10
resistance. It is much more effective in PBEMs when you will be fighting the
computer rather than another human 75% of the time.
A range attack is definitely worth considering. Its generally more
useful in FC than TC, but in multiplayer youll have to deal with FC a
lot. Not only will it let you deal with flyers in FC (except air elementals,
unless you have a wand or doom gaze), it gives you some free shots before you
engage in melee. I think hurl stones is the best range attack, since it gives
you 4 shots of 5 attack and 3 damage when you get Marksmanship IV. A few of
these will help even against Syrons in FC. Experiment with it, but I think
youll find a range attack really helps in FC. If you get a range
attack, keep in mind you need to get to Marksmanship III (preferably IV) as
soon as possible. This is because in FC, your leader will use the range
attack a lot, even if you have good melee stats; if you dont get
Marksmanship III, you are going to hurt your chances in FC. Also,
Marksmanship applies to all your range attacks, so if you choose hurl stones
in the beginning of the game and get Marksmanship IV, and then find a magic
wand, your magic bolts will now have a 9 attack and 5 damage ... not bad!
Hurl Stones (like Dominate and Lifestealing) is only available in the initial selection processes. If you dont want Hurl Stones, you can pick up a ranged attack (archer, poison darts) later in the game and spend your initial points on some other skill.
Dont pick Lifestealing and a range attack, at least not in the beginning of the game. Your lifestealing will be useless in FC, since your leader will always use the range attack on his turn and Lifestealing only works in melee when youre attacking. Having a range attack also lets you deal with air galleys ... without a range attack you are in serious trouble when facing an air galley.
If youre going to be fighting the undead, but arent going to
be choosing any Life magic spheres, consider taking the Path of Life skill so
that you can regenerate the land around your cities if a Reaper walks by with
its Path of Decay ability. Otherwise, you will be in serious financial
trouble long after the Reaper is killed because your cities cant grow
any farms on eh corrupted land and therefore seriously impacts the amount of
gold you will get from those cities.
If you get to assign a lot of leader points when customizing your leader (75
or more), consider spending 20 points just on movement in the beginning.
Its really only worth it if you choose air magic so youll have
haste; a hasted leader with 46 movement and regeneration can fly across the
map and build up extremely quick. Because of the snowball effect described
above, youll advance far faster than your opponent. The extra movement
is also handy in the late game; it can bail you out of tight situation and
let you defend strategic points with greater ease. And in TC its nice
because you can move with unbelievable range.
Assigning leader points as you gain levels is a difficult art to master, but
usually makes a big difference. Some things to keep in mind:
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Raise your defense to 9 or 10 as fast as you can.
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If you have First Strike + Lightning Strike, you should build up your defense to 4 and then pump up you attack rating to 7 or 8, because with First Strike, the higher attack rating means youll have a greater chance of hitting the opponent and stunning them before the enemy even gets a chance to swing at you, therefore your defense doesnt even come into play.
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If you have a range attack, build marksmanship before melee attack unless you think youll fight an enemy leader soon, in which case attack will be more useful than marksmanship.
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Dont neglect hit points, theyre extremely important...even having 12 instead of 10 makes a big difference in FC. Basically, if you know it will be awhile before you face an enemy leader, then concentrate on hit points and your range attack: these will help you in FC, which help you advance faster.
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When fighting an enemy leader, attack and resistance become very important. If you have a low resistance youre likely to get screwed if you get hit by another leader; theyll usually have at least one deadly strike ability that will test your resistance (cold, lightning strike, ect.).
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Do not underestimate the value of Parry and Round Attack. Both only cost 5 skill points and are incredibly valuable. Parry lowers the enemys attack by 2, and Round Attack doesnt let the enemy get in a retaliatory strike. Plus, you can attack multiple opponents when they surround your hero.
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Your damage value can make a big difference in any combat, but its so expensive I wouldnt focus on it until late in the game. Hopefully you can pick up some artifacts and spells that will help your damage.
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Think twice, even three times, before going at it with an enemy leader 1 on 1. Theres just too much luck involved to make it a sure thing, even if you have a few levels on him. I almost never attack a leader 1 on 1 even if Im stronger; I usually try to bring some heavy-duty backup which
can make a big difference. It just isnt sound strategy to make a move where you have a 20% or 30% of losing the game due to luck. On the other hand, lots of people seem to like to attack your leader 1 on 1 so you do need to be prepared for such a fight if it happens. And if
youre losing big, sometimes you have to roll the dice and just risk it if the opportunity becomes available.
Once you develop a super strong leader, you may find yourself having to deal with the other side of the coin: your opponent also has a super strong leader. Because of what I mentioned, its rarely worth it to go 1 on 1 with an enemy leader. Here are some my strategies for tackling enemy leaders that are super-tough:
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Air galleys. This is the most reliable hero killer Ive found. It doesnt have morale, and human cities tend to be on most maps so its available a lot. Many heroes dont have a range attack or high HP, so they are helpless against this level 4 unit. Even with a range attack, heroes find it tough to fight them. A gold level air galley had a high defense, tons of hit points and Marksmanship III with ballista bolts. Ballista bolts, if they connect, do an incredible amount of damage. See more on ballistas below. Its helped by the fact that players who go for the superhero strategy tend to go right into enemy territory without backup forces, making them prone to an galley coming at them. If you can, cast liquid form, bless and enchanted weapon on your galleys to make them almost unstoppable to enemy archers and ballista.
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Entangle spell. A lot of super heroes will concentrate on defense and attack, neglecting their resistance. Entangle has a high attack value, so even with an 8 resist you have a 50% of being entangled. Remember that Entangle can be dispelled by a cleric of a second hero if you have one.
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Nature Elementals. NEs have the most deadliest attack in the game: Entangle Strike. It has a high-percentage to hit and incapacitates you for 3 turns. Because of this, NEs have gained the reputation as "hero killers." A 20th level hero should fear a single NE, let alone a pack of them, who possibly have had Stone Skin, Bless, and Enchanted Weapon cast upon them.
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Dispel Magic. Ive won many fights with this spell. Heroes will beef themselves up with spells like Bless, Enchant Weapon, Stone Skin, Dark Gift, and Liquid Form. Dispel Magic only costs 5 mana, has unlimited range in TC, and has the potential to wipe all these enchantments away in one shot. Ive had leaders who had 10 attack and 10 defense drop to 9 attack and 7 defense, which makes a big difference. Earth magic users seem particularly susceptible, since they often rely on stone skin with that extra +2 defense. This is a perfect spell if you have a secondary caster in the mix. Dispel magic is also useful to take away entangle and other effects from your own leader. If youre fighting on the water and you Dispel the Water Walking from your opponent, all you have to do is retreat and hell die of drowning once the global screen comes up.
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Ballistas. A lot of heroes also neglect raising their hit points. If you have a defense of 10 and are hit by a ballista, it will do maximum damage every time (try it for yourself). Ballistas get two shots, which makes them good for taking out leaders. 3 Ballistas have an 11% chance of killing a leader with 10 defense and 10 hit points in the first round (if they get their shots off)! This is part of the reason why ballistas are so devastating in FC.
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