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Posts from Defensive gameplay and other tactics.

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18 years ago
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Playing "Lords of the Realm" (which is the first of Heroes V, where I decided to try playing as a "Hero," before that, in the original and "Lords," I only played as a "Warrior"), I often had to run away from a strong enemy, retreat to a town, and then provoke him into a fight from there (sometimes even deliberately sacrificing part of my army so he wouldn't back down). Then, when he attacked, I had to put all my efforts into destroying his catapults, ammunition carts, flying units, and, if possible, archers and mages. And when it came to the point where the surviving archers and mages ran out of arrows and mana, the flying units were all dead, and there was nothing left to break down the wall – he would run away. He would run away even with over a hundred mana points, which he could have used to revive the flying units or otherwise harm me, even to the point of my defeat... but perhaps this is a bug – he would run away. I think that if it weren't for this "bug" or "non-bug," which helped me significantly, I wouldn't have been able to complete this add-on. I felt a particularly strong need for this kind of tactic in the missions "Brutal March" of Arantir (mission 2), "Hunting the Hunter" of Gotay (mission 5), and "Dark Paths and Deeds" of Zehir (mission 1). So, I would like to talk with you here about whether you have also played defensively in "Lords of the Realm," and if so, how often and in which missions? I would also like to know if the "bug" described above worked for you or not. And thirdly, I would just like to talk about all sorts of tricks, similar to the tactic of playing defensively – all sorts of different ones; those tricks that people look at and say, "necessity is the mother of invention." As an example, if you split a group of 4 water elementals, located in one hero slot, into 4 slots with one elemental each, the total amount of damage from their magic in a battle can be significantly increased. This is, of course, a crude example, and even a novice can come up with such a trick, but that's why I'm raising the topic – perhaps you will write something much more sophisticated here.
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18 years ago
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I think this tactic is already well-known, but I'll still explain it. When I play as Dungeon, I usually hire minotaur guards and, of course, dark raiders, plus other troops. So, during the battle, I send the minotaurs a little ahead so they can take the brunt of the enemy creatures' attacks. When the stack is attacked, I send the dark raiders to attack the enemy creature. When it's the minotaurs' turn to attack again, the enemy stack takes even more damage from 2 attacks with the "lizard bite" ability, and if you're playing with the hero Sorgal, the damage from the "bites" will be much greater. This is a simple but very useful trick.
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18 years ago
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By the way, I recently played on a duel server, and I was playing as Humans, although that's not important. The main thing is that my opponent, playing as the Fortress faction, sent his upgraded Lightning Elementals (I don't remember their exact name) behind my lines and cast the Berserker rune on them, which allows them to attack each nearby enemy without taking damage. As a result, he killed a lot of my units and won. That's how effectively you can use the Berserker rune!
In reply to Dracon Малласа
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18 years ago
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Dracon Mallasa;145197
By the way, I recently played on a duel server, and I was playing as Humans, although that's not important. The main thing is that my opponent, playing as Fortress, sent his upgraded Lightning Elementals (I don't remember their exact name) to my rear and cast the Berserker Rune on them, which allows them to attack each nearby enemy without taking damage. As a result, he killed a lot of my units and won. That's how cool the Berserker Rune can be used!
Yes, I've also heard about this trick. In my opinion, it's a very elegant maneuver, simple in its brilliance!
In reply to ViVoRANDUM
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18 years ago
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:smile16: Well, it wasn't exactly a tactical maneuver, but rather a funny incident:p
Yesterday, I was playing the "An Eye for an Eye" scenario in "Tribes of the East" as the Dark Elves. I attacked with 8 upgraded Minotaurs against 40 Golems. I didn't want to lose the Minotaurs, and I needed the resources (enemy difficulty level - medium). I ran around the Golems for half an hour, leaving 5 spaces between the units (Golem speed = 4), while the hero shot down one Golem at a time. As a result, I won without losing a single Minotaur:smile08:
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18 years ago
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vik 13;146601
:smile16: Well, it wasn't exactly a tactical maneuver, but rather a funny incident:p
Yesterday, I was playing the "An Eye for an Eye" scenario in "Tribes of the East" as the Dark Elves. I attacked with 8 upgraded Minotaurs against 40 Golems. I didn't want to lose the Minotaurs, and I needed the resources (the enemy difficulty level is medium). I spent half an hour running around the Golems, keeping 5 spaces between the units (the Golems' speed = 4), while the hero shot down one Golem at a time. As a result, I won without losing a single Minotaur:smile08:
By the way, about prolonged battles. In "Tribes of the East," in Arantir's campaign, there's a mission where the finale involves forming an alliance with the Orcs. On the left, there's an Orcish town that seems impregnable at first glance, because it contains hundreds of Cyclops and a few other creatures. But by using the "Necromancer's Mark" ability, you can take the town with an army that is 10 times smaller than the enemy's.
To do this, first, drive the Cyclops mad; they will kill all their allies. Then, using Blindness, Vulnerability, Necromancer's Mark, and Raise Dead (and all these spells are usually already known to Arantir by this time), you can gain levels 3-4 without losing mana or creatures in this battle (provided you are still far from the level cap). This method was not discovered by me personally, and the topic was already raised in the "Walkthrough of the Tribes of the East add-on" thread, but I won't be afraid to repeat it, because, in my opinion, this maneuver deserves public attention.
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18 years ago
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Great tactic! I managed to win 15 (or so) turns against 20 (or so) of them. There were two puddles in the center, and the distance between them was one cell. I ran between them, and my hero attacked (dealing 1 or 2 damage)!
18 years ago
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I haven't tried using Minotaurs to take down a group of Golems. If the opportunity arises, I'll give it a shot. However, I have repeatedly used Fairies or Cerberuses to eliminate groups of slow-moving units. But that's much easier than using Minotaurs.
In reply to ViVoRANDUM
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18 years ago
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ViVoRANDUM;146638
Speaking of drawn-out battles. In the "Tribes of the East" expansion, in Arantir's campaign, there's a mission where the finale involves forming an alliance with the orcs. So, on the left, there's an orc city that seems impregnable at first glance, because it contains hundreds of cyclops and a few other creatures. But by using the tactic of using the "Necromancer's Mark" ability, you can take the city with an army that is 10 times smaller than the enemy's.
To do this, first, make the cyclops go berserk; they will kill all their allies. Then, using blindness, vulnerability, Necromancer's Mark, and Raise Dead (and all these spells are usually already known to Arantir by this time), you can level up units to level 3-4 without losing mana or units (assuming you are still far from the level cap). This method wasn't discovered by me personally, and this topic has already been raised in the "Walkthrough of the Tribes of the East" add-on thread, but I won't hesitate to repeat it, because this maneuver, in my opinion, deserves public attention.
If you're talking about the Zogsox city, the first time I made the cyclops go berserk, and the result was disastrous. The cyclops first wiped out their own army, and then mine. I passed it like this: first, the warlords move and stop right at the gates, followed by the cyclops. Then, place berserkers on the warlords; they attack the cyclops, who in turn kill almost all of them. Next, cast blindness on the warlords; they block the exit from the city because the cyclops are behind them. Then, use Dominate on the centaurs and berserk on the rest, except for the cyclops, and try to place them so that they attack the cyclops, because the cyclops are the most dangerous thing there. After the orcish troops destroy each other, about 200 cyclops remain. Luck played a big role here; I was very lucky, although I had luck skill upgraded, but still, this rarely happens: the cyclops missed twice against the ghosts, and they retaliated successfully.
By the way, in this battle, Dominate cannot be cast on the cyclops; if it could, it would be much easier. And I also think that you can only pass this battle because it is not mandatory.
In general, this is a very striking example of the power of dark magic; you cannot take this city with any other magic.
In reply to Ратник
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18 years ago
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Warrior;147417
If you're writing about the city of Zogsox, the first time I made the Cyclops go berserk, the result was disastrous. The Cyclops first wiped out their own army, and then mine.
After they've wiped out their own army, you should blind them, slow them down, apply a vulnerability debuff, even reducing their defense to 0, and then apply the Necromancer's mark, and then carefully take them down bit by bit with units they can't retaliate against – Vampires and Air Elementals (if you have them), as well as their clones. You can stop being stingy with mana for summoning, resurrection, and blinding, because the Necromancer's mark is worth it.
In reply to ViVoRANDUM
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18 years ago
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ViVoRANDUM;146418
Yes, I've heard about this trick as well. In my opinion, it's a very beautiful maneuver, simple in its brilliance!
Every player using Dwarves aims for such a maneuver; it can immediately turn the tide of battle. They are especially effective at taking out archers with their lightning, and if they strike a couple more times, and if they're lucky... :smile14:
P.S. This rune is called "Battle Fury"... :)
In reply to ViVoRANDUM
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18 years ago
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ViVoRANDUM;147441
After you’ve defeated them, you should blind them, slow them down, and apply a vulnerability debuff, reducing their defense to 0. Then, use the Necromancer’s Mark and skillfully eliminate them bit by bit with units they can’t retaliate against – vampires and air elementals (if you have them), as well as their clones. You can now spend mana freely on summoning, raising the dead, and blinding, because the Necromancer’s Mark is in place.
After attacking the blinded cyclops, the blinding effect wears off, so you need to time it so that your hero moves in front of the cyclops, but this doesn’t always work. The damage that the orcs will inflict on the cyclops is incomparable to the damage that my troops will inflict on them, because their weakest unit is stronger than my entire army. By attacking with orcish troops, you kill two birds with one stone: you reduce the number of cyclops and also weaken the other units. I didn’t have any air elementals, and I doubt they could inflict significant damage on the cyclops. I agree that phantoms are very useful for providing cover.
18 years ago
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I was using the Avatar and Phoenix as cover. Cyclops can miss when targeting the Avatar. And I mostly used a minion stack to attack the Cyclops.
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18 years ago
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attacked the pyramid with golems (where the most powerful spells are stored) with a single imp.
There was an ability called "Cursed Land," I don't think I need to explain further.
In reply to Ратник
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18 years ago
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Warrior;147483
After the attack, the blinded cyclops lose their blindness, which means you need to time it so that the hero moves in front of the cyclops, but this doesn't always work. The damage that the orcs inflict on the cyclops is incomparable to the damage that my troops will inflict on them, because their weakest unit is stronger than my entire army, and by attacking with orcish troops, you kill two birds with one stone: you reduce the number of cyclops and also weaken the remaining units. I didn't have any air elementals, and I doubt they could inflict significant damage on the cyclops. I agree that phantoms are very useful for providing cover.
Even if the cyclops moved before the hero and attacked the vampires and air elementals, I would simply re-summon them and resurrect the vampires or re-summon the air elementals. Due to these frequent deaths, the health of the vampires decreased to 1, and this allowed me to resurrect 100% of their original number in one go; every cloud has a silver lining.

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