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| Thread: I love academy! |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 · NEXT» |
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted September 07, 2006 11:25 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 09:18, 08 Sep 2006.
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I love academy!
Doing a bit of scouting on 3rd week I allowed Jhora to get a little to close to enemy Wyngaal who also had exp logistics to get me that easily He had basic leadership and exp luck so his master hunters and war dancers killed my 10 mages,15 gargoyles and around 60 of my 75 gemlins before I could do anything.He also had some 6 unicorns and 4 treants Needless to say I retreated and he came to my town next turn.After a long battle(had no citadel) of raising dead on my 4 rakshasas(money issues you see ) I won knowing my hero had actually lost as my rakshasas had died a few times and raise dead doesn't resurrect true.
Then I get the message that I had gained a lvl and some artifacts and even got to choose my skills!Jhora was nowhere in sight so I checked the tavern and she was there lvld up with the artifacts waiting to be rehired again!
I admit that academy sucks a bit earlytime but summoning magic can get you out of even such tight spots.I guess raise dead had a reason to be lvl 2.I also noticed that getting wizard's reward has very helpful as it was the reason I could build capitol a day sooner which translates into 2000 extra gold.And thus being able to buy the rakshasas to save my skin However I suppose I'll have to take into account enemy logistics next time-just in case.
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Betruger
Known Hero
empowered mind
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posted September 08, 2006 01:14 AM |
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Building capitol one day earlier translates to additional 2000 gold
Besides I disagree about academy being weak earlygame. With all those stockpiles of mana and decent spellpower they actually rock the early game.
It's the Wyngaal guy who is a "little" overpowered. I guess you would have had no trouble at all defeating the very same army, but lead by a different hero.
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Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
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posted September 08, 2006 09:07 AM |
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Just skip Jhora (sucks in my humble opinion) and get the flamewielder guy if you really want easier earlygame. I don't know, is that extra point of initative at level 20 worth getting such a poor earlygame hero with poor special that won't help during the game?
Academy may not be as strong as other towns, but still it's quite fun.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted September 08, 2006 09:42 AM |
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@Betruger:You were right,my bad!Post edited.I'm not so sure about Wyngaal,he can be intimidating as his army will act first and may get some luck rolls but after the first round things get easier.Depends on his hunters I'd say.
@Doomforge:That's not the point.It's not as if she will get far ahead from other heroes but she usually plays before others and that can make a difference.I'm not sure if heroes receive the 0-0.25 adjustment but even if they do she has the advantage.And MAY well play before some 10 initiative casters as druids,archmages etc.But she also starts with sorcery,arcane training(inches away from counterspell) and eldritch arrow which suits my earlygame needs.Nathir is good but leaves not much room for other magic strategies and his special becomes of little use when armies grow.
Anyway the whole point is that with raise dead even when I lost in my town I still had my hero in the tavern which can be exploited.
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DragonLord3000
Known Hero
Romanian flamethrower
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posted September 08, 2006 10:33 AM |
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The mages do the job
Academy is not weak in the earlygame.When i was just about to end weak one i had to decide what building to build next?I choosed mage tower...next day i had 10 mages,but no gargoyle building,no golen building just gremlin!Golems i had by transfering them to NUR(my primary hero)from that wizard with golem speciallity!
Days later i had won no more than 8 consecutive battles(including horde of minotaurs,horde of golems,throng of horned overseers)with minimal loses,all due to my mages,and some hero spells!I just kept them out of harms way!!!
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hot peppers are an ilusion.they do not exist.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted September 08, 2006 10:53 AM |
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It's good for creeping,just have mages in one corner,gremlins in the other and 3 1-stack of gargoyles around them as shield.But you may find yourself vulnerable against other heroes since they neither have high att/def stats nor high spellpower to deal with threatening stacks.Takes some time to gain strength.On the other hand the combinations are simply amazing:Luck for soldier's luck and combo MotW-phantom forces,light/dark for a quick cast and then MotW-destructive or a combination of destructive-summoning for multiple raise dead,phantom forces AND destructive spells.
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Unixmage
Known Hero
Demon Slayer
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posted September 08, 2006 10:39 PM |
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Edited by Unixmage at 22:44, 08 Sep 2006.
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For long battles this combo will beat anyone:
Your hero should act like the following:
1: Mass haste
2: motw on own units
3: 2nd motw on own units
4: Phantom forces on a 3rd unit (If you took too many losses ressurect now)
5: Ressurect 3 stacks at once whenever you need it or else more phantom forces or another mass buff
As for your units they should be positioned depending on who you're against and based on what you know they will try to do. Bunching up in the corners can be good defense but if they have powerful aoe you will take severe losses and spacing out can leave you vulnerable if the opponent has high speed high initiative units.
Note: This only works for those famous final battles where both sides have tonns of units and you will survive casting motw twice on your own troops.
Eventually your opponent will be irreversibly crushed.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted September 08, 2006 11:54 PM |
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I'd never place 2 MotW in a row,it gives too much of an advantage to the opponent.One on rakshasas is enough to make 2 clones and if you are lucky it will slow him down enough for you to go on relatively unscathed.And I never rely on having resurrection but if I get it too... To choose a magic school I take into account the enemies I'll probably face.Light for haven(say master of abjuration/wrath),destructive for dungeon(yes for sap magic) and dark for necropolis(master of mind or curses) seem to work fine.Summoning is my school of choice that I always get.
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Unixmage
Known Hero
Demon Slayer
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posted September 09, 2006 11:40 AM |
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Quote:
I'd never place 2 MotW in a row,it gives too much of an advantage to the opponent.One on rakshasas is enough to make 2 clones and if you are lucky it will slow him down enough for you to go on relatively unscathed.And I never rely on having resurrection but if I get it too... To choose a magic school I take into account the enemies I'll probably face.Light for haven(say master of abjuration/wrath),destructive for dungeon(yes for sap magic) and dark for necropolis(master of mind or curses) seem to work fine.Summoning is my school of choice that I always get.
As I said if you have the numbers to sustain any losses from casting motw twice you can easily win them all back with a triple resurrection. Sometimes you don't have the time to cast motw even once that's why starting with a mass spell is better.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted September 21, 2006 03:22 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 15:23, 21 Sep 2006.
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As of lately I found an interesting(though sick) combo with summoning magic.Requirements:
Summon phoenix spell
Arcane armor
Raise dead/resurrection
sorcery->arcane training
Master of conjuration
Archmagi(optional)
Luck->reistance(optional)
The basic idea is too buff a summoned phoenix to the point it cannot die First of all one must secure the spells:Mage guild 5 is a necessitity as is looting a dragon utopia/vault of the mages/pyramid or getting a tome of summoning magic(it will appear eventually in an expansion).Actually from personal experience I've seen that a dragon utopia will give you what you CAN learn so if you have one spell you'll get the other for sure(unless you already have another school in expert).Onwards:You summon the phoenix,cast arcane armor on it and righteous strength from the archmages and you are good to go!A LONG time later when it will have 100 or less hp you cast raise dead/resurrection to fully replenish its health losing just 20% of initial hp,ready for another round.Luck will make it more damaging while resistance will protect it from hostile spells.Sorcery will ensure you'll cast arcane armor fast and keep cloning rakshasas/genies/archmages while the phoenix is still alive.Finally arcane training and archmages will ensure you will have the mana to keep casting.
Counters:
So far I've found just a few.Necros have wraiths with harm touch so you may want to kill them first and cold death which always kills 1 creature(resistance/magic mirror can help though circle of winter can cause problems).Inferno has pitlords with vorpal sword(stay out of their reach and hope they won't teleport assault you) and permanent motd(with excruciating strike) which really hurts.Warlocks with emp implosion(perhaps lucky).Resistance won't help a lot so it may be a good idea to use counterspell before you summon the phoenix,maybe cast smthing else as a mass curse/blessing,waiting for shadow matriarchs to play first.And hope luck is on your side for this to work.
Finally it works better after the armies have been weakened a bit.Wait until the damaging units are less before summoning making your phoenix harder to lose.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted August 19, 2007 10:48 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 22:51, 19 Aug 2007.
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Lol looking back at this thread reminds me of my once noobish ways and it's actually funny  My posting style has changed as well as my ideas and strategies.
The thread was meant for my personal ranting impressions which is why I remembered it again after a very important academy battle I had online.
Easily my second best battle 
Lately my preferences have been shifting to swift factions that can end a battle fast by dealing good amounts of damage within short notice - as dungeon and sylvan. I used to be drawn to academy because of its versatility, adaptability and creative strategies but now that I have a better insight in it I need a change - something faster.
But after today's game I realized that although I prefer more straightforward strategies there is no way I can appreciate a hard-won battle in the same way as with academy.
Academy is a series of interlocking links slowly building the chain that leads to victory. Every action according to your spells, early neutrals, available resources and (mini)artifacts creates a series of choices that in the end can come out as a perfectly executed plan. You don't just follow your impulses to attack but you slowly build the foundations of your future action.
In this game I used a combination of destructive, summoning and dark(sorcery and enlightenment included) against inferno. My opponenent was not lucky with his resources so he had not upgraded his hellhounds and nightmares but as a compensation he relied on (lucky)gating to overpower me though sheer numbers.
The game began with him moving his hell chargers to the other edge so that they would avoid my djinn sultans' attack but also be within striking distance of my titans on their next turn. The djinns cast decay on the succubi mistresses so my hero is free to cast a frenzy on the chargers. They attack the overseers that retaliate with luck My titans, archmages and master gremlins had initiative artie and managed to kill most of his familiars. Alastor had his units gate and cast mass confusion[note to self->this hero sucks your archmage's mana].
My rakshasas and golems cover the titans.
Second round comes with my titans killing most hellhounds and Jhora casting mass slow that also gets a few gates that have soon arrived. Djinns strike the devils and my mages get frenzied so they attack my titans. [second note to self->titans are immune to mind so they will retaliate regardless->archmages are toast ]
I pull off a mass confusion myself to even the odds(some 30 gated succubi had appeared in the middle ) just before the chargers attack the overseers for a second time this time they getting lucky in their attack Gates start cluttering the battlefield.
Jhora manages to make a minefield(firetrap) just before the chargers and having nowhere to pass through they set off most traps, 4 of the 30 remaining. Gated reinforcements start beating my sorry hide with no retaliation from that confusion that he recasts
During this time my titans get a full shot at the overseers, a few devils die and my titans can still shoot surrounded by 5 rakshasas, 70 steel golems and and 100+ master gremlins. A gated unit manages to get adjacent to them but the shots are almost over anyway.[note to self->don't ever forget an ammo cart you moron!]
Time for the 15 pitlords. A firewall makes them pass through it and hit a random mine that still remained. The once again unblocked titans get a shot and reduce them to 6. Alastor has already cast a mass decay and placed a mark of the damned on my titans. In turn I follow with an arcane armor to preserve them.
Alastor continues with curse of the netherworld that finishes my rakshasas so I start using raise dead to keep the remaining titans out of harm. They start using call lighning on specific units - 3 devils, 120 familiars, 6 pitlords, 3 overseers and 15 succubi remain of his original units while I seem totally lost. The remaining golems and call lightning finish the last 2 stacks, my titans perish.
In all this chaos I can already proclaim my victory. My hidden weapon implosion(with slippers ) targets the devils and...is resisted  Three castings later the game is over in my favour.
Assuming you had the courage to read until now take a look how many spells I used. I used every single available spell from my specialized schools and each was crucial to this battle. We both made mistakes but in this battle I saw an amazing order of things, result of my preparation in all these hours. It is hard to not appreciate this even if you eventually lose. This is why the satisfaction of winning this battle with another faction will almost never be the same.
With this thread my focus changes to other factions but I'm glad I witnessed this first - a fitting endgame.
Sanyu will be smiling when he sees this
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dschingi
Famous Hero
the guy with the dragon golem
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posted August 20, 2007 01:54 AM |
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Edited by dschingi at 01:56, 20 Aug 2007.
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I have to admit I never dared to take 3 schools of magic, mostly 2 and rarely 1. Maybe I'm too slow at creeping early for getting 3 schools up fast. A downside is that you can't rely so much on getting spells from utopia/vault, though.
Anyway sounds like a funny battle, congrats for winning.
I just wonder why you haven't used MotW, be it for implosion/frenzy on enemies or arcane armour/raise dead (and maybe phantom if you got it) on your own units.
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Doomforge
Admirable
Undefeatable Hero
Retired Hero
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posted August 20, 2007 09:32 AM |
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Quote:
Lol looking back at this thread reminds me of my once noobish ways and it's actually funny
that's why I don't like to look at my old posts. Makes me feel ashamed that I was THAT newby once..
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted August 20, 2007 09:34 AM |
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Edited by Elvin at 09:36, 20 Aug 2007.
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Yes, I rarely take more than two but by level 18 it's not that hard. Actually the only ability I took was arcane training and I'm grateful as I ended up with around 30 mana remaining - should have taken intelligence to be sure I'll be safe next time. I got exactly 20 knowledge to give my units a chance to play before the familiars(and the init boosting artie for casters) but I was lucky too.
At first I did consider motw+frenzy but as the units were set it would not really weaken them just delay them and the initial mass spells were more useful. As for arcane armour by that time my mana was getting low and raise dead.. I guess I could have used it on the titans to raise them too but their shots were soon over so it did not matter - it was around that time that I realized I could end the game with 3 implosions.
Oh had and had earthquake instead phantom forces.
The only thing I regret was not using motw with implosion - yes I did forget it then - but I had been playing since morning and it was afternoon I just totally forgot it although it felt progressively satisfying with one implosion after the other 
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JoonasTo
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted August 20, 2007 12:35 PM |
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How do you even find battles that even?
Usually I know the second the match starts how it will end.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted August 20, 2007 01:36 PM |
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I suppose you must find players of your level. In toh I have fought some battles that could have gone either way but I have been crushed within 2 rounds too Still learning and collecting good moments
I hope some of my saves won't be corrupted with 2.2, I'd like to have a replay of some particular battles.
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Olo
Hired Hero
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posted August 20, 2007 02:04 PM |
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I wonder why you didn`t choose light magic.Ressurection, Anti-magic,all mass spells. Summoning magic is good for creeping but for final battle ...
I never develop 3 magic schools(Too much magic oriented hero isn`t the best choice )That`s my 2 cents
Anyway it seems like you had nice big battle
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted August 20, 2007 02:18 PM |
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Yeah that's rare for me to get more than 2 schools but summoning is always in. The other is usually dark or destructive with light only for big battles. In this particular case I was not offered light early so I had to make do with what I had
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guarder
Supreme Hero
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posted August 20, 2007 03:45 PM |
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do you love academy...
I too. Acadeemy is best (after my oponion)
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phoenixreborn
Promising
Legendary Hero
Unicorn
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posted August 20, 2007 03:52 PM |
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Quote:
How do you even find battles that even?
Usually I know the second the match starts how it will end.
The devil is in the details. I've had some battles that I've lost when I usually could have won if I had played it slightly differently, but who knows things might have happened differently.
Lol @Elvin forgetting the ammo cart, you don't always notice it has been destroyed.
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