Just recently I turned on the game center on my iPhone and saw that there are achievements for Hero Academy. "Frozen Lake" achievement for responding with your turn within 3 minutes. Awesome
The other nod to the comic is one called "Take All Day Academy"
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JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
Just found a great strategy article on Dwarves from the james review. Looks like good stuff, but I'm still not sure what to do about single units rushing in in the early game (Void Monks, I'm looking in your direction). Point-blank gunner seems like a plan...
Just found a great strategy article on Dwarves from the james review. Looks like good stuff, but I'm still not sure what to do about single units rushing in in the early game (Void Monks, I'm looking in your direction). Point-blank gunner seems like a plan...
The gunner is your best bet since he does the most damage right out of the gate, and as a bonus he does physical damage which elves can't boost beyond their base resistance, if any. Second best is maybe the paladin, since she's got the highest health on the team and might have a better chance of surviving a turn.
Other just general strategies to dig out of a situation like that:
Spend a turn discarding all or most of your hand so you can try and get a gunner + scroll combo ready for next turn. He'll probably get some big damage on your crystal that turn but you'll at least be able to regain your footing in the match.
Deploy as many units as you can in a turn. He can't kill them all, and you'll have higher damage dealing potential next turn since you won't have to spend an action deploying someone new. Plus, you have a chance of drawing a scroll or a beer after playing so many 'cards'.
Say "What's that behind you?!" and hope he falls for it.
Just found a great strategy article on Dwarves from the james review. Looks like good stuff, but I'm still not sure what to do about single units rushing in in the early game (Void Monks, I'm looking in your direction). Point-blank gunner seems like a plan...
The gunner is your best bet since he does the most damage right out of the gate, and as a bonus he does physical damage which elves can't boost beyond their base resistance, if any. Second best is maybe the paladin, since she's got the highest health on the team and might have a better chance of surviving a turn.
Other just general strategies to dig out of a situation like that:
Spend a turn discarding all or most of your hand so you can try and get a gunner + scroll combo ready for next turn. He'll probably get some big damage on your crystal that turn but you'll at least be able to regain your footing in the match.
Deploy as many units as you can in a turn. He can't kill them all, and you'll have higher damage dealing potential next turn since you won't have to spend an action deploying someone new. Plus, you have a chance of drawing a scroll or a beer after playing so many 'cards'.
Say "What's that behind you?!" and hope he falls for it.
One of those points that I've only just learned myself when playing against Dwarves is that it's bad to pre-scroll. I like to do that, so I can drop a nasty attack on top of someone without spending the turn to scroll (usually allowing me to run away or get the stomp I wanted), but against the dwarves, it just means that they bubble or brew pre-emptively, and it makes it a lot harder to get a good scroll hit in.
Battle.net/SC2: Kwisatz.868 | Steam/XBL/PSN/Gamecenter: schmads | BattleTag/D3: Schmads#1144 | Hero Academy & * With Friends: FallenKwisatz | 3DS: 4356-0128-9671
Dracil/38th, can one of you post a screenshot of how the game is going? Let's make this more of a spectator sport!
(but do it during a replay so the things you have in your hand are blocked out!)
Please do this
Mnemonic anamnesis.
aka Grillaface
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Dracil/38th, can one of you post a screenshot of how the game is going? Let's make this more of a spectator sport!
(but do it during a replay so the things you have in your hand are blocked out!)
Please do this
Ah Sorry, I didn't check back here until now. All of my games are now over with the exception of AxenPA game 2 which has been going for 13 days waiting on his turn.
Dracil and I split the games, each taking one.
The game he won ended pretty decisively with all my troops being eliminated.
The game I won just ended right now with his forces being whittled down to a wraith.
Good games Dracil.
All of my matches are now done except for the AxenPA match as noted.
JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
So that finishes all the games in Group B, which leaves us with a tie for 2nd place. Both @corin7 and @38thDoE have 6 wins, which breaks down to 2 match wins (2-0 record) and 2 match ties (1-1 record).
Their match ended in a 1-1 tie, so to tie-break, I looked at how they fared against the rest of Group B.
While corin7 went 2-0 against @Dracil (who's just below them in the standings), 38thDoE had a 1-1 record.
That means that corin7 takes 2nd place in Group B and will advance to Round 2! Congratulations!
I'll put up the Round 2 setup as soon as possible. Good luck to all Round 1 winners!
I'll say it again: thanks for running this, Jacoby!
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JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
Round 2 GO!
Okay, we're ready to start Round 2! We've got 2 groups, which I've made to give a mix of player strengths (based on Round 1 results) and make sure that people who were in the same Round 1 group don't have to face each other again. The list are shown below.
Again, you'll have to start a game with everyone else in your group.
This time, however, there's only 4 people in your group, so you only need to start 3 games.
In the end, you'll have 6 games total, 3 as first player, 3 as second player.
It's still a good idea to send a message in-game to identify your game as a tournament game.
As in Round 1, the top two results (in terms of total games won) will advance to the Final Round single elimination tournament.
Their seeding in that round will be based on their results in Round 2, with Round 1 results as a tie-breaker.
There are some special rules for this round that should help with some problems from Round 1.
First, once you've made all your games, reply (via your group's PM) that you've done this.
Second, when reporting your game results, say whether it's your first finished game or your second. That'll help me keep all the results clear as I'm entering them.
Finally, I'm instituting a move timer. If a player's last move is shown as 3 days ago, that player is considered to have forfeited that game. Take a picture for proof in case, and report the win. I can give extra time if you need it, but you need to send a message here so everyone will know about the problem. We don't want to wonder what's going on, or slow the pace down to the point where people lose interest.
I'll PM this to each group like in Round 1. Good luck!
So, a fully upgraded knight, in late game, with a sword, is fucking beastly.
I managed to slip one forward by distracting my opponent with juicy, supposedly "high value" targets. By the time he realized he needed to kill my knight, it was too late.
Melkster on
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JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
Just found this article on Hero Academy's first turn advantage on Making and Breaking Games. Any first turn advantage isn't a problem in Rounds 1 and 2, but it might be in the Final Round (best of 3). The "first player takes 2 actions only" method seems best if we wanted to correct for first turn advantage. What do you think?
I'm not in the competition, but I'm totally up for the next one should it occur. I just feel like commenting
There is some advantage to going second, as well, in that you can react to the movements of player 1 while they are forced to act blind, with no idea of what "cards" you have been dealt. I don't think it's as strong as the FTA, especially on certain maps such as the single-crystal one, though. It serves to reduce the impact of the starting advantage a little bit.
I like the idea of reducing the actions for the first player, especially since it is something that can be done manually. When it comes to deploying troops, I'm not sure if the best choice is 2 or 3 actions to start, though. I think that the effect of this "handicap" also depends upon the map. (Has anyone got a description or screenshots of all of the different maps?)
Two actions only allows you to either deploy two troops, or deploy one and move it once. The second player can deploy 1-3 troops. So, the second player has a possible advantage of one more troop on the field. The second player will also be able to use a troop to reach their bonus squares to cover them, so that the first player can't hit them on their second turn. The first player will be unable to reach the typical bonus square that requires two moves to reach. This means that the second player will, at least on some maps where this applies, be able to guarantee that they can reach the opponent's bonus square and force the first player to push them off of it if they want to use it themselves. On the new map with the teleporter, it also means that the first player will be unable to cover the teleport square on their first turn. This again guarantees player 2 the ability to get a piece on player 1's side of the teleporter with one action to spare.
Three actions allows player 1 the ability to deploy 2 units with one spare action for movement, or deploy 1 unit and cover one premium square. It still means that they can't deploy three units, and will have a reduced range for movement. It seems, to me, that this is a good compromise that doesn't put player 1 in an extremely defensive position, but still keeps them from being able to use their 5 extra moves to get way ahead.
Note that I'm not trying to influence the competition here, I'm just discussing it, because it's a facet of HA that needs a bit of tweaking, but is clearly not trivial.
Battle.net/SC2: Kwisatz.868 | Steam/XBL/PSN/Gamecenter: schmads | BattleTag/D3: Schmads#1144 | Hero Academy & * With Friends: FallenKwisatz | 3DS: 4356-0128-9671
Sheesh, round 2 off to a splendid start. Whereas I have only negotiated one or two rounds with most players, Wonderpug has successfully obliterated me by round 14!
Wonderpug: He kills more opponents by day two, than most other players do in three weeks.
Haven't played since the end of the last round so i have no idea what to do with these teleport squares!
What happens if the destination warp square is occupied? Denial, Switcheroo, or Telefrag?
Alas, it's only Denial. I think the other two options would be much more exciting
1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
First game was a mad blitz on the asymmetric warp tiles map. Very close, I failed to take into account the attack suppression of the elf healer, he took a gamble that I didn't have a firebomb or sword in hand. The odds were on his favour but I got lucky and managed a sneaky nuke for the win.
Second game was a slaughter. He got a fully upgraded necromancer, I threw my guys into a Benny Hill conga line of death by constantly failing to take his massive range into account. I may need therapy now.
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JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
Sheesh, round 2 off to a splendid start. Whereas I have only negotiated one or two rounds with most players, Wonderpug has successfully obliterated me by round 14!
Wonderpug: He kills more opponents by day two, than most other players do in three weeks.
Did wonderpug win both games? These are things I need to know...
Is there a way to stomp a dead unit with a Necromancer rather than raising phantom? Same question would apply to a Wraith next to a dead body. Can he just move onto the tile rather than having to eat the corpse?
1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Just found this article on Hero Academy's first turn advantage on Making and Breaking Games. Any first turn advantage isn't a problem in Rounds 1 and 2, but it might be in the Final Round (best of 3). The "first player takes 2 actions only" method seems best if we wanted to correct for first turn advantage. What do you think?
That early turn advantage can be quite painful on the new Dwarf map. Knight on crystal + Archer on portal = dead forward crystal.
Yeah, I'm looking at you Jam Warrior!
1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Is there a way to stomp a dead unit with a Necromancer rather than raising phantom? Same question would apply to a Wraith next to a dead body. Can he just move onto the tile rather than having to eat the corpse?
Nope. I've certainly had many situations where I've wanted to do what you're saying (also: times I've wanted to move a priestess onto my own knocked-out unit instead of reviving him), but I also appreciate that the developers want to keep things really straightforward and streamlined. Tough tradeoff.
I'm not in favor of limiting 1st round moves, mostly because I'm not convinced the advantage is of any significance.
We could consider it as a home field advantage, giving first move rights to the higher tournament seed.
On another note am I the only one using Dark Elves? Every one of my other games is vs Council.. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. I went random in round 1 but decided to go DE in round 2.
Although I'm halfway done and @ 1-2 overall so my opinion may not be relevant, we'll see.
I'm not in favor of limiting 1st round moves, mostly because I'm not convinced the advantage is of any significance.
I think there's definitely a first turn advantage, but it's also true that going second gives you the advantage of reacting to what's on the board. First person has to deploy blindly. Still, though, on maps where crystals fall more easily (the one with one per team, and the one with the teleporter) I think the first turn advantage is very significant.
On another note am I the only one using Dark Elves? Every one of my other games is vs Council.. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. I went random in round 1 but decided to go DE in round 2.
I pretty much always play dark elves, but council is by far more commonly used in and out of this tournament. Council plays too straightforward for my personal tastes. Dwarves definitely qualify as not being straightforward, but their crazy-go-nuts crystal blitz style isn't a match for me, either. I think my favorite team probably has yet to be released.
If you're that worried about first turn advantage then rather than making it best of X make them play one game at a time alternating first turns and make the winner the first person who gets two games ahead.
Slower and possibly longer but hey, it's the final, it's not like anyone else will be waiting on them.
I'm interrupting this awesome thread of battle monologues to say I need more fellows to play with. Most of my previous ones got bored and quit. Start a game with ToyD if you want.
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JacobyOHHHHH IT’S A SNAKECreature - SnakeRegistered Userregular
edited March 2012
Originally, I was thinking that, with the finals being best of 3, the first two would alternate first player (as we've been doing), and the 3rd game would give the choice to go first to the lower seeded player.
Jacoby on
GameCenter: ROldford
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
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gaming_librarianTurn your face to the sun...Registered Userregular
edited March 2012
Hi all. I'm game pretty much all the time: I am also pretty terrible, but this game is fun and addictive, and I must play. I am Kenobi_80 if anyone wants a game.
Also, crappy post from phone is crappy....sorry for the edit.
Does the dark elf priestess debuff effect reduce the amount of the next heal if it's used on a healer?
I'm pretty sure that it does. I can't recall the specific instance when I saw that but I remember being pleasantly surprised that it was consistent. 99% sure on that.
1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
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deowolfis allowed to do that.Traffic.Registered Userregular
So basically that one game I won against wonderpug was clearly an accident.
This game is amazing. While I'm not in the tournament I'm having a good time reading reports as people progress through.
I seem to enjoy playing DEs more than council so far and have yet to try the dwarves. I haven't found a good way to utilize the priest debuff. Anyone have good pointers?
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ani_game_bumOptimistic, Rule-Breaking Nice GuyThe Final World/DestinationRegistered Userregular
So one of the things I noticed about Dwarfs is the Annihlator is the only unit capable of magical damage and the physical debuff is permanent (even after a K.O., I believe). I'm still messing around with what the best Dwarf combo is on my side games but has anyone else found the Annihlator along with another unit a game-changer?
Also as a side note, does the knockback effect seem random to anybody, or does it matter if there is an another enemy unit occupying the space the knocked-back would have fallen to?
I seem to enjoy playing DEs more than council so far and have yet to try the dwarves. I haven't found a good way to utilize the priest debuff. Anyone have good pointers?
I haven't found it to be something I can make use of in every match, but it does have some great situational uses.
If you end up in giant unit pileup arms races, it can be useful to have her run out and tag all the enemy's forward units to greatly limit what they'll be able to accomplish in a single turn.
Or, if they've got even just a single high damage unit threatening you, running out and back to tag him can be enough to eliminate their hit & run possibilities. You can take 3 moves to tag him and use the other 2 to deploy new things or move units around.
If your opponent decides to pre-scroll (not attack the same turn they use a scroll) then tagging the scrolled unit with a priestess is an awesome thing to do. Their attack will still pack a punch, but it will not be as devastating as it would've been otherwise, limiting their ability to do the amazing one-turn moves a scroll normally makes possible.
The last twist I can think of is how you can turn a priestess into a surprisingly formidable attacker if you give her full upgrades. She does the same damage as an upgraded necromancer, but obviously lacks the range. But where the necro's range helps keep him out of trouble, the priestess's debuff can do the same for her. The debuff can make it so she'll survive counterattacks, and then with the soulstone thingie + damage upgrade she can heal back up with her next turn's attack. This works better if your opponent doesn't have a ton of units out, since that makes it too impossible for her to debuff all potential counterattacks.
Most of the time, though, she's best in the back just sticking to her healing job. Even though she doesn't heal for as much as a council cleric, I've grown to prefer the longer reach of the priestess's heals over the cleric potency. The range both helps her stay in safety and makes it easier for her to heal without wasting actions moving around.
wonderpug, thanks for the awesome reply. That was very informative. I have yet to encounter an opponent who pre-scrolls, but I've only been playing against random opponents so they probably haven't been that knowledgeable about the game.
Another aspect of the DE's I have been having trouble with is the wraith. I can usually munch a unit or two, but I have never got beyond that. It takes so many actions to deploy him, move up to a unit, hit it (or have something else hit it), eat it, then run it back to safety. When you have a wraith in your hand do you deploy it right away so you don't have to spend an action doing that later? I would think you would want to keep it a secret so your opponent would be less careful leaving his guy's forward enough to get knocked out.
Good games. Finished the second by taking out both crystals in one firebomb!
Good games. I have not faced such a single minded focus on crystal rushing. At first I was wondering what you were doing. You were losing a dude every round and then I was like wow, I am fucked haha. Well done sir.
Posts
The other nod to the comic is one called "Take All Day Academy"
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
The gunner is your best bet since he does the most damage right out of the gate, and as a bonus he does physical damage which elves can't boost beyond their base resistance, if any. Second best is maybe the paladin, since she's got the highest health on the team and might have a better chance of surviving a turn.
Other just general strategies to dig out of a situation like that:
One of those points that I've only just learned myself when playing against Dwarves is that it's bad to pre-scroll. I like to do that, so I can drop a nasty attack on top of someone without spending the turn to scroll (usually allowing me to run away or get the stomp I wanted), but against the dwarves, it just means that they bubble or brew pre-emptively, and it makes it a lot harder to get a good scroll hit in.
Please do this
aka Grillaface
Ah Sorry, I didn't check back here until now. All of my games are now over with the exception of AxenPA game 2 which has been going for 13 days waiting on his turn.
Dracil and I split the games, each taking one.
The game he won ended pretty decisively with all my troops being eliminated.
The game I won just ended right now with his forces being whittled down to a wraith.
Good games Dracil.
All of my matches are now done except for the AxenPA match as noted.
Their match ended in a 1-1 tie, so to tie-break, I looked at how they fared against the rest of Group B.
While corin7 went 2-0 against @Dracil (who's just below them in the standings), 38thDoE had a 1-1 record.
That means that corin7 takes 2nd place in Group B and will advance to Round 2! Congratulations!
I'll put up the Round 2 setup as soon as possible. Good luck to all Round 1 winners!
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
Okay, we're ready to start Round 2! We've got 2 groups, which I've made to give a mix of player strengths (based on Round 1 results) and make sure that people who were in the same Round 1 group don't have to face each other again. The list are shown below.
Again, you'll have to start a game with everyone else in your group.
This time, however, there's only 4 people in your group, so you only need to start 3 games.
In the end, you'll have 6 games total, 3 as first player, 3 as second player.
It's still a good idea to send a message in-game to identify your game as a tournament game.
As in Round 1, the top two results (in terms of total games won) will advance to the Final Round single elimination tournament.
Their seeding in that round will be based on their results in Round 2, with Round 1 results as a tie-breaker.
There are some special rules for this round that should help with some problems from Round 1.
First, once you've made all your games, reply (via your group's PM) that you've done this.
Second, when reporting your game results, say whether it's your first finished game or your second. That'll help me keep all the results clear as I'm entering them.
Finally, I'm instituting a move timer. If a player's last move is shown as 3 days ago, that player is considered to have forfeited that game. Take a picture for proof in case, and report the win.
I can give extra time if you need it, but you need to send a message here so everyone will know about the problem. We don't want to wonder what's going on, or slow the pace down to the point where people lose interest.
I'll PM this to each group like in Round 1. Good luck!
Group A
Group B
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
I managed to slip one forward by distracting my opponent with juicy, supposedly "high value" targets. By the time he realized he needed to kill my knight, it was too late.
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
There is some advantage to going second, as well, in that you can react to the movements of player 1 while they are forced to act blind, with no idea of what "cards" you have been dealt. I don't think it's as strong as the FTA, especially on certain maps such as the single-crystal one, though. It serves to reduce the impact of the starting advantage a little bit.
I like the idea of reducing the actions for the first player, especially since it is something that can be done manually. When it comes to deploying troops, I'm not sure if the best choice is 2 or 3 actions to start, though. I think that the effect of this "handicap" also depends upon the map. (Has anyone got a description or screenshots of all of the different maps?)
Two actions only allows you to either deploy two troops, or deploy one and move it once. The second player can deploy 1-3 troops. So, the second player has a possible advantage of one more troop on the field. The second player will also be able to use a troop to reach their bonus squares to cover them, so that the first player can't hit them on their second turn. The first player will be unable to reach the typical bonus square that requires two moves to reach. This means that the second player will, at least on some maps where this applies, be able to guarantee that they can reach the opponent's bonus square and force the first player to push them off of it if they want to use it themselves. On the new map with the teleporter, it also means that the first player will be unable to cover the teleport square on their first turn. This again guarantees player 2 the ability to get a piece on player 1's side of the teleporter with one action to spare.
Three actions allows player 1 the ability to deploy 2 units with one spare action for movement, or deploy 1 unit and cover one premium square. It still means that they can't deploy three units, and will have a reduced range for movement. It seems, to me, that this is a good compromise that doesn't put player 1 in an extremely defensive position, but still keeps them from being able to use their 5 extra moves to get way ahead.
Note that I'm not trying to influence the competition here, I'm just discussing it, because it's a facet of HA that needs a bit of tweaking, but is clearly not trivial.
Wonderpug: He kills more opponents by day two, than most other players do in three weeks.
Haven't played since the end of the last round so i have no idea what to do with these teleport squares!
What happens if the destination warp square is occupied? Denial, Switcheroo, or Telefrag?
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Here are the other Council/Elf balance changes you should be aware of:
First game was a mad blitz on the asymmetric warp tiles map. Very close, I failed to take into account the attack suppression of the elf healer, he took a gamble that I didn't have a firebomb or sword in hand. The odds were on his favour but I got lucky and managed a sneaky nuke for the win.
Second game was a slaughter. He got a fully upgraded necromancer, I threw my guys into a Benny Hill conga line of death by constantly failing to take his massive range into account. I may need therapy now.
Did wonderpug win both games? These are things I need to know...
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
That early turn advantage can be quite painful on the new Dwarf map. Knight on crystal + Archer on portal = dead forward crystal.
Yeah, I'm looking at you Jam Warrior!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
Nope. I've certainly had many situations where I've wanted to do what you're saying (also: times I've wanted to move a priestess onto my own knocked-out unit instead of reviving him), but I also appreciate that the developers want to keep things really straightforward and streamlined. Tough tradeoff.
We could consider it as a home field advantage, giving first move rights to the higher tournament seed.
On another note am I the only one using Dark Elves? Every one of my other games is vs Council.. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. I went random in round 1 but decided to go DE in round 2.
Although I'm halfway done and @ 1-2 overall so my opinion may not be relevant, we'll see.
aka Grillaface
I think there's definitely a first turn advantage, but it's also true that going second gives you the advantage of reacting to what's on the board. First person has to deploy blindly. Still, though, on maps where crystals fall more easily (the one with one per team, and the one with the teleporter) I think the first turn advantage is very significant.
I pretty much always play dark elves, but council is by far more commonly used in and out of this tournament. Council plays too straightforward for my personal tastes. Dwarves definitely qualify as not being straightforward, but their crazy-go-nuts crystal blitz style isn't a match for me, either. I think my favorite team probably has yet to be released.
Slower and possibly longer but hey, it's the final, it's not like anyone else will be waiting on them.
Switch: nin.codes/roldford
Also, crappy post from phone is crappy....sorry for the edit.
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."
I seem to enjoy playing DEs more than council so far and have yet to try the dwarves. I haven't found a good way to utilize the priest debuff. Anyone have good pointers?
Also as a side note, does the knockback effect seem random to anybody, or does it matter if there is an another enemy unit occupying the space the knocked-back would have fallen to?
lol, Don't worry, I don't think we should count your matches with suicidal dwarf experimentation toward our w/l record.
I haven't found it to be something I can make use of in every match, but it does have some great situational uses.
If you end up in giant unit pileup arms races, it can be useful to have her run out and tag all the enemy's forward units to greatly limit what they'll be able to accomplish in a single turn.
Or, if they've got even just a single high damage unit threatening you, running out and back to tag him can be enough to eliminate their hit & run possibilities. You can take 3 moves to tag him and use the other 2 to deploy new things or move units around.
If your opponent decides to pre-scroll (not attack the same turn they use a scroll) then tagging the scrolled unit with a priestess is an awesome thing to do. Their attack will still pack a punch, but it will not be as devastating as it would've been otherwise, limiting their ability to do the amazing one-turn moves a scroll normally makes possible.
The last twist I can think of is how you can turn a priestess into a surprisingly formidable attacker if you give her full upgrades. She does the same damage as an upgraded necromancer, but obviously lacks the range. But where the necro's range helps keep him out of trouble, the priestess's debuff can do the same for her. The debuff can make it so she'll survive counterattacks, and then with the soulstone thingie + damage upgrade she can heal back up with her next turn's attack. This works better if your opponent doesn't have a ton of units out, since that makes it too impossible for her to debuff all potential counterattacks.
Most of the time, though, she's best in the back just sticking to her healing job. Even though she doesn't heal for as much as a council cleric, I've grown to prefer the longer reach of the priestess's heals over the cleric potency. The range both helps her stay in safety and makes it easier for her to heal without wasting actions moving around.
Another aspect of the DE's I have been having trouble with is the wraith. I can usually munch a unit or two, but I have never got beyond that. It takes so many actions to deploy him, move up to a unit, hit it (or have something else hit it), eat it, then run it back to safety. When you have a wraith in your hand do you deploy it right away so you don't have to spend an action doing that later? I would think you would want to keep it a secret so your opponent would be less careful leaving his guy's forward enough to get knocked out.
Good games. Finished the second by taking out both crystals in one firebomb!
Good games. I have not faced such a single minded focus on crystal rushing. At first I was wondering what you were doing. You were losing a dude every round and then I was like wow, I am fucked haha. Well done sir.