Well... if we boast, then I'll do so too! I started the Cult campaign. First mission... I think I get lucky, but managed to keep my beetle and assassins and I ended it all within 8 days in-game. Now a bit worse case - limited turn. I really hate those, but... it's only second map, so I doub it will be too much triggering.

Who boasts? I'm new to the game..
Also, my fastest map has been like 20 days and my average is probably 3 times higher XD

Btw.. the Keepers will prevail! :P

;)

The first Cult mission kinda requires speed... and to be honest - you are able to do it this fast or faster.
And your puny rightousness won't prevail. Hail Meandor.

Also - I HATE halflings. That's the reason why I pick Cult. And Undead.

They have such a nice ending.
I picked them in my first playthrough of AoW and it made me feel and warm and fuzzy inside when I beat the game and got the ending. :-)


It is.
But lovely hell.

Well, until someone turns your nodes to fire ones and starts to summon hell hounds and phoenixes all over the map. Then it is just hell. :-)

OK... the second map is less fun. No excesive movements, no excess casualties... This triggers my Evil Overlord...

Well, they seem quite crap to me too.
After the first missions, however, they became less relevant.

.
T-they can do that? O_o'

Well, you can deal with them... but I prefer the Undead, and I assume I will bump into them faster via Cult than by the Keepers.
And sadly I need to almost restart the map and then, like they say - Rush B.

Just wasted 10 minutes reading this AAR thread. That PvP map was my high water mark and the beginning of the end for Vitek's self-esteem.

Halflings are pretty good.

Their swordsmen get Parry, and so make for surprisingly effective meatshields. Their Slingers are great when they get some medals, much better than most archers. Pony Riders are amazing because they are only slightly weaker than other races' cavalry, but cost half as much upkeep and can be spammed from every city very quickly. Halfling tier 2 troops aren't anything special, but their tier 3 troops are excellent. Rogues are excellent at guerilla warfare, with their stealth and wall-climbing and good missile and melee attacks. Eagle Riders are more scouts than warriors, but they're great scouts. And Centaurs are the best archers in the game due to their speed and marksmanship, and quite tough too boot. And the Leperchaum is perhaps the single most annoying foe to face. Every attack misses.


Sure, they lack muscle, and leperchaums aren't really worth the cost, but they're still one of the better races out there. I like their looks and style too, in this game, though I'm not a fan at all in later AoW games.

Halflings in AoW1, step 1: Ponies for everyone! Step 2: The angry halflings riding the ponies stab everyone.

Wait, wasn't 20 the hero max level??
I'm at 23 now :O

What is it, then? Which remaining skills should I get?
I've added Holy Champion (for undeads) and Mountaneering (so I can get rid\pass the ring).
How's Extra Strike?
Are these any worth: True Seeing, Marksmanship, Poison Darts (I have Archery), Turn Undead?

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Didn't dragons fire their breath, instead of going melee?
The last summoned one attacked me directly (before you told me about Dispel).
Casuality, or a side-effect of the Archery skill?

Btw, that halberd that I always transfer is great, because it also gives me magic strike against Wraits :D

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The game sometimes (rarely) makes a runtime error when teleporting over other units (town gate).
You notice it, because your hero is nowhere to be found and then a popup windows appears XD

And that's what I hate in them. Good thing I make sure to butcher every single one when I can.

Marksmanship is good. Extra Strike is useful, though expensive, and I almost always prefer round attack. The others are not really worth it.

However, you may also want to consider more hitpoints, more movement points and the Vision skill. Having Vision 4 on a leader makes a big difference. You can see about as far as a watchtower if you have that. This then lets you plan your attacks much more easily. Oh, and it's great for exploring dungeons and ruins and such. Dragons sometimes just attack in melee when their breath weapon is out of range. AI quirk.

As for magic strike: it's good to have, but you can just as easily cast Enchanted Weapon on your heroes. Very cheap at just 10 mana and 2 upkeep, and it lets you kill wraiths, as well as boosting your damage and attack in general. It's one of those spells that I cast on all units in my main stacks if I can afford it.

Oh, and have you been using the Haste spell? You can only afford the upkeep near the end of most maps, but when you do cast it on a stack of fast creatures, it's amazing.

Ok, thanks.
Round Attack seemed only good vs weak or wounded units, though.
Ah, so what's the real max level.. 30?

I often used EW, but somehow I didn't get that it gave me Magic Strike -_-
First Strike still seems good, however..

I always cast Haste on my heroes as soon as possible. : )

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Oh lol, a spirit just possessed one of my heroes?? :O
Can I counteract\remove that?
(I've reloaded for now)

Round Attack is always good. Not only can you hit multiple units in one go, but it does not allow for retaliation.

So, if your hero is fighting something tough like, say, a Syron, and you both attack normally, then every turn you'll attack 4 times and the Syron attacks 4 times. (2 normal attacks, 2 retaliations each.)

But if you use round attack, then you get to attack 3 times, and the Syron only gets to attack 2 times. (You get 2 retaliations and 1 round attack, he just gets his 2 normal attacks.) So you attack 50% more often than he, and stand a much better chance of winning.

If you have extra strike, you'll attack 5 times and he'll attack 4 times. Still an advantage, but you'll only 25% more often. (Extra strike only works on your own turn.) So Round Attack is usually the best option.

And it becomes even better when you have some disabling or debuffing ability, like Lightning Strike or Death Strike or something. (From a magic weapon or spell, or when you select it on character creation. Can't pick those on level-up, unfortunately.) Then you can debuff 2 or 3 enemies in one go.

At only 5 points round attack is a steal.

The only time not to use it is when you'll hit your own guys, when you REALLY need to kill something this turn and not later, or when facing missile troops. When you're attacking that ballista that won't retaliate and needs to die right now, Extra Strike really comes into its own. Oh, yes. First Strike is amazing. That halberd is definitely something to keep.