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[Elemental]:WarofMagic:FallenEnchantress:LegendaryHeroes: Sorcerer King: Electric Boogaloo

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Posts

  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    The Sauce wrote: »
    I also got a much more interesting start this time. Last time I was at a corner of the map boxed in by ocean and Wildlands, so it felt very deterministic. This time I got a wide open start with tons of places to explore and no single obvious path forward. Yay choices! I have four cities and an outpost now with a level 8 hero.

    The game uses a thing called 'stamps' to generate maps. Stamps are basically small chunks of map that fit together against other stamps like jigsaw puzzle pieces to make a whole larger map. Within each stamp there are some other variables, such as places the stamp is allowed to have starting locations or resources. This is what a small stamp looks like. This is what a tiny sized map looks like with the stamps roughly sketched off. Here is a small map. Yes, the compass is actually a thing the game renders, yes it takes up a stamp's worth of map space, no I dont know why, yes I hate it too. Where am I going with all this?

    Two directions. First, some stamps have really fucking awful places to start on them. These three specific examples were actually done away with in the 1.02 patch, but they were pretty much game-enders. If you started up a new game and saw they were your starting points, you might as well just generate a new map (pro-tip: ctrl-n generates a new game with the same settings you currently have from within the game, so you can quickly re-roll a new game til you get a start you like). There aren't any stamps quite this bad anymore, but there are still some bad starts out there.

    Second, that DLC map pack I mentioned has a shitload of new stamps so random maps are even more varied and fun. I swear I'm not just shilling for Stardock here, but the map pack is pretty kickass and it's just 5 bucks so it's worth picking up.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    I don't really see any reason to get Wargs, though they're almost available to me now.

    Init bonus. Mount your archers and mages on them. Horses have movement and weight capacity to help melee types carry their tin pants up to the front line faster. Wargs have dodge and init to help mages and archers, who don't wear tin pants, sit in the back, dodge projectiles, and shoot their shooty things more often.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    Not that it's necessary; the monsters pretty much refuse to actually attack my settlements.

    One of the reasons I play high difficulty world. I love aggressive critters and dangerous lands.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    City #3 is edging up on Wildlands territory, though it's Mountain tiles. I'm not sure if the game will actually let the city try to take those borders.

    It wont. Wildland borders are absolutely un-movable by any force.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    Anyway, I think I can actually handle most of what that Wildland spawns
    The Sauce wrote: »
    level 8 hero

    You're just adorable.

    Cog on
  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Cog wrote: »
    You have to start a new game with the mod already enabled, to my knowledge. If you save, exit the game, and reload, and it still doesn't work, it will only work with a brand new game.

    Ah - thanks. Damn. Just when things were getting good, time to restart a new re-game! (I'd just started a new one for 1.30; at least I'm only a couple hours in, at this point. And maybe I'll get a better starting position than on a peninsula surrounded by swamps and hills. So. Slow.)

  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    Cog wrote: »
    Second, that DLC map pack I mentioned has a shitload of new stamps so random maps are even more varied and fun. I swear I'm not just shilling for Stardock here, but the map pack is pretty kickass and it's just 5 bucks so it's worth picking up.
    The map pack was also 66% off on Steam, so I picked it up for like $1.60 with the game :)
    Init bonus. Mount your archers and mages on them. Horses have movement and weight capacity to help melee types carry their tin pants up to the front line faster. Wargs have dodge and init to help mages and archers, who don't wear tin pants, sit in the back, dodge projectiles, and shoot their shooty things more often.
    I get that, but with the animals and my horse-mounted heroes, I have movement 4 on the overworld. If I put anyone on a warg then I drop to movement 3. Movement 4 makes me super happy.
    It wont. Wildland borders are absolutely un-movable by any force.
    And it won't instigate the Wildland either unless I move to attack it?
    You're just adorable.
    :p So far everything I've seen at least at the edges of that one has been winnable with my group, but if instigating it starts making it send out Epic shit then yeah I'd be in trouble.

    Are wildland levels pretty much always the same? When should you venture inside?

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • FoefallerFoefaller Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Entering a Wildlands might be safe-ish with a level 8 or so champion, but to actually clear a wildland (that is, complete whatever objective it has that will make it's border's disappear and let you find cites on it.) usually requires fighting an epic-level monster or engagment, which means having a deadly or epic-rated army of your own with champions that are at least level 15 or so... and I do mean champions plural, since in most cases we're talking about a behemoth monster that gets huge bonuses fighting squads vs. single character units/champions.

    Foefaller on
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  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    The Sauce wrote: »
    The map pack was also 66% off on Steam, so I picked it up for like $1.60 with the game :)

    Well that's pretty sexytime.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    I get that, but with the animals and my horse-mounted heroes, I have movement 4 on the overworld. If I put anyone on a warg then I drop to movement 3. Movement 4 makes me super happy.

    Can you imagine how people without Master Scouts live? I can't. I hate not having mounts, and I totally feel your pain here. You can research Tireless March to bring your stack back up to 4 moves or find/research longstrider boots. The problem with all those solutions is that you'll get back to 4 moves but know you could have 5 on a horse...

    I don't ride wargs either. :P
    The Sauce wrote: »
    And it won't instigate the Wildland either unless I move to attack it?

    I think you can lure monsters out via proximity without "triggering" the wildland, but the monsters do seem to go extra Rar Angry once you set foot inside and see the little cutscene. Most of this is from anecdotal observation, though, and its quite possible there's no code supporting this.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    So far everything I've seen at least at the edges of that one has been winnable with my group, but if instigating it starts making it send out Epic shit then yeah I'd be in trouble.

    They do tend to get a lot harsher toward the center, that's for sure, especially if it's one of those wildlands run by one of the old gods. You can totally nip in with some raiding parties, though, and take down some of the easier looking groups. The monsters there also don't play by quite the same rules as the rest of the world. Normal monster lairs have a guardian that sits still on the lair and generates groups of roamers. Wildland lairs don't have the lair guardian, and never spawn new monsters, but the roaming packs stay a little closer to home for the most part. However comma you can, especially with high movement, zip in and loot the lairs when the attached monster is a couple squares away from it. You can score some choice loot without too much risk like this. And once a monster has no home lair, it has no limit on how far it can roam anymore. Bad if the wildland is your next door neighbor. But if it's in someone else's back yard..... :twisted:
    The Sauce wrote: »
    Are wildland levels pretty much always the same? When should you venture inside?

    Any given wildland is always the same AFAIK. Some are harder or easier than others. Levels to take them on depends on the wildland. The Deorcnysse wildland is populated almost exclusively by armies of darklings that are pretty weak on the outskirts. But at the center of the wildland is a darkling city that is full of some nasty stuff, especially their casters. Once you beat them, you get the city as your reward, and it has really really good stats... anyway. You can start making small raids into the wildlands around the level you're at, 8ish, certainly. When you can actually defeat them depends on a lot of factors. Which wildland, your character, accompanying champions, your armies.. Middle to high teens at least, if you're cheesing tactics. Probably over 20 if you're fighting straight up. An honorable slugfest with Delin the Pyre of Man, for example, tends not to end well, but you can seriously cheese the fight with Vetrar Guardian of the Worlds End, cause he moves slow and takes a shitload of extra damage from fire. Blind + slow + flame dart + a horse and a pile of mana = dead god.

    Cog on
  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    You know, that brings to mind what may be a pretty awesome way to play the game (a self-imposed "challenge") -- have one "hero party" that only consists of your sov, other champions, and special allies like beasts and such. Only use this party to clear out monster lairs and wildlands, reaping the rewards for your realm. Battling AI players must instead be done with trained units (both in terms of defending your cities and in attacking theirs).

    Well, until LH swarming comes along and messes that all up anyway :)

    I think I'll get some more defenses in my border city before I start poking around that wildland. Maybe get to level 10 also. Pretty excited to go campaign it though! I don't even know which one it is. Last game it was some tomb. This one I haven't managed to see the name of yet.

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    The actual challenge would be doing that without heroes. Did you miss the part of the thread where I regularly beat the game on challenging+ settings with only my sov and without founding a city or even recruiting that champion that always starts near you? :P

    I do like the part where battling the AI players must be done with trained units. That would actually be pretty tough in the early-mid game, especially if your research didn't get you a tech advantage that could overcome sov/champ combat prowess. I should try a game where all I do is get my heroes to level 4, go path of the governor, and park them in towns.

    As far as your wildland goes, there is always The Pit of Lost Voices on the map, as it's part of the quest victory path. If all you can see is an impenetrable mountain range, it might be the Pit you're bumped up against. There's no danger in waking it up, there's a huge quest series you have to complete to even get in and nothing will come out. Curgens Tomb sounds like what you had last game. You get used to seeing a few different ones, and I think some are more common than others. I really like the Ruins of the Imperium with all the scrap golems.

    Another fun thing to do in the game is look out for the Arena of Slakhanan quest site. It's practically a wildland contained in a single square. You fight progressively harder matches against opposing armies for progressively better rewards. There are no turns between to recover, you simply fight and fight and fight. You can choose to stop whenever you want, but once you do, the Arena disappears forever.

    I wont spoil the end, but if you manage to win clear through the arena, the reward delivers. But it might actually be harder than quite a few of the wildlands. You need one hard fucking army to get through it. Or totally solo it with your uber-sov. :rotate:

    Cog on
  • Zombie HeroZombie Hero Registered User regular
    This game is incredible. That is all.

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  • RaernRaern Registered User regular
    I bought this in the Steam sale, and I'm really liking it.

    So the latest patch apparently just changed pioneers to have a gold cost instead of population. Which as people noted overpowers the Wealthy trait a bit for early city spamming. I was going to avoid it, then decided for fun to totally break it before trying something else. So I made Colonia, an Empire and Leader combination with Adventurer/Betrayers and Wealthy/Stealth. Basically I could send out endless pioneers, grab all the city sites, and all the heroes. Which lead to a ridiculously easy win.

    So then after a couple of games with more balanced leaders I realised I needed to raise the difficulty. I went up two notches since I suspected one wouldn't be enough.

    And there was Colonia, now my enemy, and growing at an insane rate. It had something like 200 score when I had 60 and was about to start some wars.

    I think I created a monster.

  • ExcisionExcision Old Sport Registered User regular
    Just won my first game last night playing as Lizardmen with Stormworld mod. Conquest for the win!

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  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    I'm lazy and haven't gotten around to buying the map pack DLC yet; do we know how (and if) that interacts with the upcoming Expandalone?

  • KiasKias Registered User regular
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    I'm lazy and haven't gotten around to buying the map pack DLC yet; do we know how (and if) that interacts with the upcoming Expandalone?

    Not sure, though I can't imagine the maps not being compatible with the expansion. It looks like the core game is the same, just incredibly enhanced.

    But, no official word that I have seen

    @draginol would be the one to clear this up.

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  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    Kias wrote: »
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    I'm lazy and haven't gotten around to buying the map pack DLC yet; do we know how (and if) that interacts with the upcoming Expandalone?

    Not sure, though I can't imagine the maps not being compatible with the expansion. It looks like the core game is the same, just incredibly enhanced.

    But, no official word that I have seen

    @draginol would be the one to clear this up.

    My hilariously/sadly thorough and constant scouring of the forums has me quite aware of the official word, which is:
    Kael wrote:
    People who have purchased the map pack will also receive it for Legendary Heroes.

  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    All your Legendary Heroes news distilled by my thirst for information and condensed into a more frothy and rich liquid, which I now shower down on you:

    The beta is being delayed one more week because there's a bunch of neanderthals out there still running 32 bit OS's and Stardock is seeing if they can make the "huge" map size run in 32 bit. They were able to make it work, but they had to put in a pop-up warning that it'll run like crap/maybe crash.

    Soren Johnson, the designer of Civ IV, is on board at Stardock "at least for a while" to oversee game design. That's a bit exciting, though its apparently not for FE/LH stuff, and we probably won't see direct fruits of his labor for a year or two.

    As long as there's "a strong demand" for FE updates as well as LH, both games will continue to receive support.

    We're supposed to expect LH gameplay videos this week.

    We totally got a nod from Brad for the swarm mechanic. Thanks for the mention, Brad!

    Cog on
  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    Is this game programmed in OpenGL? My 3D Vision doesn't detect that the game is running.

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    From what I could dig up, I'm going to give you a shakey 'no' on that? I'm not really fully familiar with video API's, but my understanding is that Elemental was done in DirectX and not OpenGL.

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Cog wrote: »
    Kias wrote: »
    Elvenshae wrote: »
    I'm lazy and haven't gotten around to buying the map pack DLC yet; do we know how (and if) that interacts with the upcoming Expandalone?

    Not sure, though I can't imagine the maps not being compatible with the expansion. It looks like the core game is the same, just incredibly enhanced.

    But, no official word that I have seen

    @draginol would be the one to clear this up.

    My hilariously/sadly thorough and constant scouring of the forums has me quite aware of the official word, which is:
    Kael wrote:
    People who have purchased the map pack will also receive it for Legendary Heroes.

    Thanks!

    Bought'd. Of course, it'll be awhile before it matters, because I'm well into my 1.3X game, but them's the breaks.

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Cog wrote: »
    All your Legendary Heroes news distilled by my thirst for information and condensed into a more frothy and rich liquid, which I now shower down on you:

    The beta is being delayed one more week because there's a bunch of neanderthals out there still running 32 bit OS's and Stardock is seeing if they can make the "huge" map size run in 32 bit. They were able to make it work, but they had to put in a pop-up warning that it'll run like crap/maybe crash.

    Soren Johnson, the designer of Civ IV, is on board at Stardock "at least for a while" to oversee game design. That's a bit exciting, though its apparently not for FE/LH stuff, and we probably won't see direct fruits of his labor for a year or two.

    As long as there's "a strong demand" for FE updates as well as LH, both games will continue to receive support.

    We're supposed to expect LH gameplay videos this week.

    We totally got a nod from Brad for the swarm mechanic. Thanks for the mention, Brad!

    That is an outstanding shout-out. Congrats!

    Lt. Iolo's First Day
    Steam profile.
    Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
  • MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    Cog wrote: »
    All your Legendary Heroes news distilled by my thirst for information and condensed into a more frothy and rich liquid, which I now shower down on you:

    The beta is being delayed one more week because there's a bunch of neanderthals out there still running 32 bit OS's and Stardock is seeing if they can make the "huge" map size run in 32 bit. They were able to make it work, but they had to put in a pop-up warning that it'll run like crap/maybe crash.

    Soren Johnson, the designer of Civ IV, is on board at Stardock "at least for a while" to oversee game design. That's a bit exciting, though its apparently not for FE/LH stuff, and we probably won't see direct fruits of his labor for a year or two.

    As long as there's "a strong demand" for FE updates as well as LH, both games will continue to receive support.

    We're supposed to expect LH gameplay videos this week.

    We totally got a nod from Brad for the swarm mechanic. Thanks for the mention, Brad!

    That is an outstanding shout-out. Congrats!

    Yeah, look at you go! :^:

    Steam/LoL: Jericho89
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    Even a blind squrrel finds an acorn once in a while. :bz

  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    So I get the Syndicate Mobilization event, and suddenly there's about 8 armies parked right outside my new far-away city (which itself is near a Wildlands I just entered). I try attacking an army consisting of nothing but a group of 3 Syndicate Elites (rated Medium compared to my Strong), auto-resolve, and I lose everything.

    Taking control manually, I immediately Slow them, Haste all my dudes, and attack them with Counter-immune dudes that then back off before the Elites get a turn. I don't get hit, the battle takes about 15 minutes, and I win flawlessly.

    ...Now this really feels like Master of Magic >_>

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • gjaustingjaustin Registered User regular
    It happens the other way too.

    For example, I find that beating a Bone Ogre is nearly impossible early in the game. Unless I auto-resolve which results in me killing it with minimal casualties.

  • IncindiumIncindium Registered User regular
    Oh crap... I finally read the OP after reading along with new posts in this thread for a while. I really need to find a free weekend where I have time to install this game and be consumed by it.

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    Nintendo ID: Incindium
    PSN: IncindiumX
  • MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    Trying to get Procipinee off the ground. I'm convinced that she is the weakest faction, but I do really like that Arcane Monolith spell. Idea right now is to get Leatherworking then rush Economics for roads to outposts; seems rickety, but roads everywhere is nice. Also, even in my current game that's going OK I forgot about her enchantable robe, so there's room for improvement.

    Steam/LoL: Jericho89
  • MordaRazgromMordaRazgrom Морда Разгром Ruling the Taffer KingdomRegistered User regular
    I have shamefully devoted way too little time to this game after I got it working.

    I'm kind of afraid, afraid for my wife and my kids, because this game just hits all the right buttons. I'm still trying to trudge through as a summoner, but I'm going to have to restart, my lack of knowledge has kind of borked that game now.

    Monster Hunter Tri code/username: 1MF42Z (Morda)
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  • DranythDranyth Surf ColoradoRegistered User regular
    You know, as much as I loved Master of Magic, I really should start playing this game... since I got it free and all, and have been keeping it updated. Now I have to look into what this Legendary Heroes thing is too...

  • MordaRazgromMordaRazgrom Морда Разгром Ruling the Taffer KingdomRegistered User regular
    It's especially shameful for me, because I LOVED Elemental, the original that everyone seemed to pooh-pooh on, and played it for a LONG time.

    Monster Hunter Tri code/username: 1MF42Z (Morda)
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  • FoefallerFoefaller Registered User regular
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    Trying to get Procipinee off the ground. I'm convinced that she is the weakest faction, but I do really like that Arcane Monolith spell. Idea right now is to get Leatherworking then rush Economics for roads to outposts; seems rickety, but roads everywhere is nice. Also, even in my current game that's going OK I forgot about her enchantable robe, so there's room for improvement.

    IMO the only problem with Procipinee's faction is Procipinee. Create a new Sov that has takes into acount the fact that you will unlock all the magic schools for your sov or any champion through research eventually (i.e. not spending 6 points to have 3 schools of magic in the beginning) and pick up imbuned (+2 more mana per turn) and you'll transform Pardien from one of the worst factions to one of the best.

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  • V1mV1m Registered User regular
    Cog wrote: »
    Answered in LH FAQ.
    If you purchased War of Magic before 10/31/2010 then you will be receiving Legendary Heroes for free. If you will be receiving Legendary Heroes for free you will receive an email from Stardock when the beta starts.

    You need to have bought WoM before Nov 2010 or have a time machine so you can buy WoM before Nov 2010.

    Awesome :)

  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Incindium wrote: »
    Oh crap... I finally read the OP after reading along with new posts in this thread for a while.

    I really need to stop being lazy and get the OP updated for LH too.
    It's especially shameful for me, because I LOVED Elemental, the original that everyone seemed to pooh-pooh on, and played it for a LONG time.

    What is this I don't even
    Foefaller wrote: »
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    Trying to get Procipinee off the ground. I'm convinced that she is the weakest faction, but I do really like that Arcane Monolith spell. Idea right now is to get Leatherworking then rush Economics for roads to outposts; seems rickety, but roads everywhere is nice. Also, even in my current game that's going OK I forgot about her enchantable robe, so there's room for improvement.

    IMO the only problem with Procipinee's faction is Procipinee. Create a new Sov that has takes into acount the fact that you will unlock all the magic schools for your sov or any champion through research eventually (i.e. not spending 6 points to have 3 schools of magic in the beginning) and pick up imbuned (+2 more mana per turn) and you'll transform Pardien from one of the worst factions to one of the best.

    Exactly on point. There's nothing wrong with Pariden, but Procipinee is a turd. She takes the three elemental schools that have no easy access to direct damage and blows a shitload of her point allotment on three elemental schools that she can buy for dirt cheap after some tech research. Summoner is "nice" but hardly something I'd build a strategy around (Sorry, MordaRazgrom), and doesn't come into it's own until she's packed on several levels and spell ranks -- also known as actually fucking unlocking some summon spells.

    Her crown is really the only completely positive thing she has going for herself. Everything else nice about her comes from her faction. Re-create her with fire and any other one or two spell schools (suggesting life since she can research books for the other elements), drop summoner for something more castery like warlock and/or attunement and proceed to faceroll.

    Cog on
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Patch 1.4 changelog? Patch 1.4 changelog.

    Memory leaks, crash fixes, some AI tweaks.. The changelogs tend to grow as time passes so we'll see what new and exciting things may or may not get added.

    There was one highly amusing note though.
    City defenders will no longer be teleported out with the Call of the Titans spell
    :o

    Cog on
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    Geth really fucking weirds me out sometimes.

  • MordaRazgromMordaRazgrom Морда Разгром Ruling the Taffer KingdomRegistered User regular
    This weekend I shall dedicate to Elemental. i shall conquer the world with my shadow wargs :P

    Okay maybe I should do something a bit more friendly to a early player. What would be a good choice? I want heavy focus on magic and, hopefully an army of magic users...although I don't know if that would work terribly well.

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  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    Hoo boy, I'm glad I had that Elites battle to get me used to some cheese tactics!

    After wiping out the Syndicate and clearing the Wildlands of everything but its scary level 18 megaboss, I blundered into a Dragon Eye quest (difficulty rating: Epic). I actually had the "find 2 eyes" quest for awhile but had no idea how it worked. I accidentally began a subquest chain to get one of the eyes, thinking it to be just picking up some other quest chain.

    Suddenly I found myself in battle with Free Riders. A large army of them, with multiple units that were stronger than the combined might of my entire army. My sov is only level 13, grouped with a wolf, Kitty, and other heroes at levels 13, 9, and 8 (the latter being a Bard -- I have Henchmen). My best weapon has 16 Attack, and my highest defense score is 18. These Free Rider troops had two 10x7 attack squads, a 28x3, three groups of archers (5 per squad), and two defensive units that would take an average of 2 damage per attack from me.

    Expecting to reload, I went ahead and tried it out to see how close I could get to winning. I put up Guardian Wind, Hasted all my dudes, Slowed all theirs, and started pounding at their archers and the skirmishers (10x7 group) while avoiding their big hitters. I had one hero (my level 9) constantly throwing the Heal spell around, and I used my multiple turns between each enemy turn to dance in and out of their range (all their units had only 2 move, while all mine had 4). I relied on counter-immune attacks (either recharge skills or counter-immune weapons; I don't actually have any archers of any sort, nor do I have any damage spells).

    About forty-five minutes later, I found myself having won the battle with only my sov going down in an ill-conceived counter-attack.

    I sure was feeling good about myself, for about twenty seconds before the game threw me right into Battle Part 2. This time the enemy had two beast units (move 4, huge attack potential when all 3 per unit was alive) and a giant statue, but thankfully only 2 archer units. And my sov was magically back to life with around 1/3 HP.

    I repeated my strategy, adding some kiting this time and focusing on the beasts first instead of the archers (hit those second). My defensive hero took a beating, but my massive Initiative advantage let me slowly recover with Heal spam. Another 45 minutes, another victory, THIS one flawless!

    On the one hand, it's kind of amazing how much you can cheese this stuff.

    On the other hand, I walked into the first battle with over 750 mana. I walked out of the second with about 125. Good god.

    I'm going to focus on improving mana production now (I have a bunch of nodes I only built the first upgrade for, not seeing at the time a good reason to upgrade to the +1 mana production version). Once I get my total back up, maybe I'll see how well I can cheese that Wildlands boss. I don't think it has ranged attacks, just splash damage... But its 107 or so attack power is still really scary.

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    This weekend I shall dedicate to Elemental. i shall conquer the world with my shadow wargs :P

    Okay maybe I should do something a bit more friendly to a early player. What would be a good choice? I want heavy focus on magic and, hopefully an army of magic users...although I don't know if that would work terribly well.

    Empire faction, fire + death magic, warlock background, attunement trait, that mage staff if you have the points. Death, death, death, flaming poison death. Choose path of the mage, take all the +exp% and evoker traits offered. You can take The Decalon in your faction for access to all the other elemental magic schools. Win the shit out of everything, mana allowing. The early game can be bumpy due to mana starvation, so you might want your initial champion to be a meatcake to stand in the way of your frail ass.
    The Sauce wrote: »
    On the one hand, it's kind of amazing how much you can cheese this stuff.

    On the other hand, I walked into the first battle with over 750 mana. I walked out of the second with about 125. Good god.

    Its debatable if this was really cheese or not, considering you blew ~625 mana in 2 fights. It sounds like you were just lucky you had the resources to bail yourself out with, though with a dash of "the AI is kinda easy to kite".
    The Sauce wrote: »
    Once I get my total back up, maybe I'll see how well I can cheese that Wildlands boss. I don't think it has ranged attacks, just splash damage... But its 107 or so attack power is still really scary.

    The wildlands can be a total crapshoot. One might be a cakewalk for your army but that same army would get stomped in another. Their sheer variety keeps them from having a single winning formula, aside from "level 25 sov". They used to be a lot easier, but one of the recent patches cranked up spell resist on the bosses. If you have a high mastery, you should be "okay", but otherwise you're going to have to have something that can stand in with it for at least a couple rounds, and that generally requires a lot of levels.

    Cog on
  • KeemossiKeemossi Registered User regular
    Hm, have to try this again. Played last some months ago, and it was.. ok I guess? So many choices that were either obviously best or way too weak, though. Master's Affliction was a really awesome mod that made the game much more fun, but it didn't really feel ready either.

    I hope there's some way to get the new expansion for reduced price on Steam for owning FE, though I've FE only via Stardock and the key isn't redeemable on Steam. Stardock likely won't have many sales on their store, so I'd rather have the game on Steam for things like that cheap map pack..

  • DranythDranyth Surf ColoradoRegistered User regular
    Finally got around to actually playing a game of this... got destroyed, but I'm not sure what the fuck happened near the end. Magnar basically declared war on me and came to kick my ass. The first attack, I had a lot of units including my Guardian Statue, a bunch of Royal Guards (custom unit), a couple of extra archer groups and then my sovereign, my one champion and Royal Archers (custom unit). I fought off that attack easily.

    The next attack, which was in the same turn, all I had was my sovereign, champion, a couple royal guards and my royal archers... even though I didn't lose any units in the previous attack. No idea where my Guardian Statue went or any of the other units. I managed to repel that attack, but just barely and I lost a bunch of units. Then a third attack came and all I had were my hurt sovereign and champion and the royal archers and I lost.

    Really weird. It's not like I had a chance to move out of my city or anything, they all happened one after another, so I don't know why I seemed to lose my city defense bonus and such.

    Regardless, I didn't really do anything, just sat with my starting city and researched stuff. I didn't really explore, found new cities or even make many units until near the end, so I suppose I didn't really have much of a chance anyway.

  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Dranyth wrote: »
    Really weird. It's not like I had a chance to move out of my city or anything, they all happened one after another, so I don't know why I seemed to lose my city defense bonus and such.
    Were all the combats in the same turn? Like, a bunch of seperate enemy armies all attacked you at once and you fough them in successive battles without an "end turn" between? Either way, that sounds kinda unusual and it might be worth posting on the FE support forum as a possible bug.
    Dranyth wrote: »
    Regardless, I didn't really do anything, just sat with my starting city and researched stuff. I didn't really explore, found new cities or even make many units until near the end, so I suppose I didn't really have much of a chance anyway.

    Yeah, if you don't land grab in the early game, the AI will swamp you through sheer numbers, and you'll fall woefully behind in research.
    Keemossi wrote: »
    So many choices that were either obviously best or way too weak, though.

    MoM was very much the same way, if people recall. High elves? You made longbowmen and eventually magicians. Halflings? A clown car full of slingers solved all woes. High men? Paladins up in this bitch. Dark elves? Make whatever you want you cheating fuck, all your units have ranged. Oh and then make Warlocks in the end game. Beastmen? Kill yourself and start a new game.

    The problem is exacerbated in FE by the lack of unique unit options per-faction. In MoM there were obvious best choices, but at least you could play a different faction and have a shitload of new units to pick the obvious best choice from (or slog through the crappy ones until you're able to make the best one finally). There was a lack of balance but it didn't matter because there were a lot of utterly unique unbalanced factions to play with, so it didn't get old/tired.

    If FE is sticking with the limited unique units, they're going to HAVE to balance the generic unit options to make everything attractive and useful. MoM had the luxury of mostly ignoring balance through sheer variety.
    Keemossi wrote: »
    I hope there's some way to get the new expansion for reduced price on Steam for owning FE, though I've FE only via Stardock and the key isn't redeemable on Steam. Stardock likely won't have many sales on their store, so I'd rather have the game on Steam for things like that cheap map pack..

    You can buy LH for $20 if you are a FE owner; you'll get a Steam key for it regardless of what platform you originally bought FE on.

    Cog on
  • CogCog What'd you expect? Registered User regular
    edited March 2013
    "But Cog," I hear you ask, "when do we get to see a video of LH?"

    Here, waste 30 minutes of your life:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ZwiQqFjC8&feature=player_embedded

    Hover mouse to show path and turns to travel = good

    Growth determined by excess food = good. Towns got a lot more important, especially early game.

    Swarm's implementation is really neat. If your have adjacent units in combat, they both attack when one does. The days of solo-sov'ing look totally solved, and bringing support troops looks essential.

    Hinted that Path of Governor might be adjusted into a role of General or Overlord, where it gets bonuses for either being parked in a city OR leading an army full of troops, while not actually being a strong combatant himself.

    Battles start at close quarters, but ranged units start the fight further away from the front line, to keep them protected.

    Cog on
  • Fleur de AlysFleur de Alys Biohacker Registered User regular
    Hoo boy. Things seem like they're back in Bizarro Land in my game!

    So I took out the Wildlands super-easy by abusing Slow and Haste again (the boss literally never got to hit me, and I even counterspelled his two Fireball attempts). It seems like you can stack the Slow condition if it's from different sources. I had three (Slow, Chaos, and Ice Elemental). However, I can tell that without some abusive mechanism, I would have had zero chance against this guy.

    Anyway, I'm cruisin' at 100 power over the next strongest faction, Resoln. An AI took out Altar, but everyone is friends with me because they're scared and I'm happily trading with everyone. I'm thinking that the master quest might be a fun way to finish the game, and I guess (probably wrongly) that this Dragon Eye thing is part of it. So, I get the second Eye, go back to the original statue, and get annihilated by a trio of dragons. I get completely obliterated; it's not close. I do almost no damage, I can't stop their assault, most of my army is dead before I can move.

    Alright, so level 16 is far too low for that, so I'll keep on explorin'. I'm teching up slowly -- I have Research / Production speed on Epic (because I'm on a Large map), so my equipment options are pretty bleak. I finally get magic staffs, so I design some warg-riding fire mages and horse-riding ice mages to put onto a second army (alongside some horse-warhammer dudes and some warg-spear dudes, all led by a new level 7 hero I recruited). This army actually winds up with a whole lot more offensive power than my main army (and I only have units of size 4), mostly due to the number multiplier, but they also die a whole lot faster (due to lack of tactical options), so it's a fun and completely different sort of weapon. I think it's time to swap my wolf for one of these new units, though (I do have one of the horse warhammer units in my main at this point).

    Then, all of a sudden, Resoln is building the Towers. They have two of them out of nowhere, and the third is almost finished. I go to the tech tree screen to see how they managed it, and there to my surprise is the tech happily waiting for me to choose to research it. It's like three levels before the final magic tech, but it lets you almost instant-win the game. The buildings are cheap, the spell is cheap, and even at Epic research speed, it's trivially available before I unlock Chain Mail and decent weapons. I can barely handle a Wildlands, I can't touch Dragons, I have shitty equipment, but I can win the game almost at will, and nothing can stop me.

    Well, unless Resoln gets there first. So I declare war, march my two doomstacks into their territory, and utterly obliterate everything they have at absolutely no contest.

    What's going on here? The first half of this game was pure magic, but the second half seems like a confusing mess. Why is the Spell of Mastery so easy to complete? Is there something not mentioned in the tooltip descriptions of the components in the tech screen? Three cheap buildings, a final maybe kinda long to build building, and a 250-mana spell that takes a mere 10 turns? All available right at the mid-game?

    I gotta be missing something. Right?

    Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
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