Mixed tournament guide

This guide was written for lower-level players participating in mixed-level team tourneys.

It contains some tips common to all factions.

Note: The greater is the difference between the combatants, the worse your FS/EXP ratio will be as the lower-level player. So, if you’re leveling up your character for the long term and avoiding high EXP gain, you may want to keep away from such tourneys.

1: Don’t rush into battle—listen to your ally. Both teammates should follow a concerted strategy, usually commanded by the higher-level player. So, instead of rushing into action, ask your partner for guidance. You may be a very talented strategic player, but your higher-level teammate will simply have much more combat experience. Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM.’

2: Your goal is not to deal damage but to help your ally do so. In mixed tourneys, always be prepared to play second fiddle. For example, your main damage-inflicting stack(s) (when battling same-level opponents) will have to re-purposed to use up enemy units’ retaliation and protect your teammate’s damage-dealing stacks.

3: Recruit more high-initiative, high-movement units, flyers and/or casters. Your troop lineup must be adjusted to your new supporting role and changed combat objectives.

4: Make all stacks at least 100 HP. When splitting your troops in the settlement phase, make each stack at least 100 HP. This way they will likely survive a single hit from the enemy’s Lord/Lady/Mages/Archmages/Druids/etc.

5: Ask your ally where to put your stacks to minimize damage to him/her. Meteor Shower does less damage if it covers more targets. Chain Lightning always jumps to the nearest stack. Take advantage of this by positioning your stacks in such a way as to minimize damage to your ally’s troops.

6: When attacking, go for lower-defense targets. Before you strike, compare your unit’s attack stat with the target’s defense stat. If the comparison is not in your favor, the attack should probably be avoided.

7: Try to kill small enemy stacks. The opposing team will often be similar to yours, i.e. made up of a higher-level and a lower-level player. As you do your specific job, try to prevent the opposing lower-level player from doing his/hers.

8: Stick to playing a supporting role until Level 12: You can’t hope to go head-to-head with high-level players until you reach at least level 12, where Citadel and key unit upgrades can be built.

9: Use Earthen Spikes strategically. For example, with a Dwarf teammate, you may be able to kill one unit off his stack so it can quickly use the Rune of Crusade. Earthen Spikes can also be used to reset Ghosts’ hit’n’miss counter. Make sure to ask your ally for guidance in such situations.

10: Use Wasp Swarm strategically. After reaching combat level 8, Wizards, Necromancers and Elves can use the Wasp Swarm spell to throw targets back on the ATB scale. This can be very useful tactically. A Barbarian’s Stunning Blow can achieve a similar effect.

With that covered, let’s move on to faction-specific tips concerning talents and recruiting.

Knight

Recruit Cavalry, Monks, Guardians/Swordsmen and Crossbowmen/Bowmen. Get a few Griffins for leftovers. Split the Griffins to use up retaliation, also split Monks into 2 or 3 stacks.

Swordsmen should usually be kept as one stack. Guardians, however, have the Shield Allies ability (reduce ranged damage taken by allies by 25%), so consider splitting a couple and putting them next to friendlies.

Remembering that Crossbowmen have Aimed Shot, don’t think twice about gunning down any enemy stacks that come too close.

Bowmen’s Volley can be great for resetting the hit’n’miss counter of a friendly Ghost stack and/or killing off single-unit enemy stacks.

Make sure your Lord/Lady has 5 SP and 5 Knowledge.

• CL 5: Basic Holy Magic, to buff up selected allied stacks.

• CL 6: Basic Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath—steal the show with Mass Rapid!

• CL 7: Same as CL 6, alternatively Basic Darkness Magic with Dominion of Mind.

• CL 8 and above. These levels allow for multiple combinations of Holy and Darkness magic so you’re free to mix-and-match them.

Necromancer

Recruit Ghosts/Apparitions, Death Envoys, Vampires, Liches and Skeletons. After combat level 8, give priority to Infected Zombies at the expense of Skeletons or Ghosts. Split Ghosts and Zombies into equal-sized stacks.

Infected Zombies have the Infecting Strike ability that is very effective at lowering enemy units’ stats.

As your Ghosts/Apparitions are Incorporeal, use them as to shield friendly ranged units and/or use up retaliations from enemy stacks.

Get about 5 SP and 5 Knowledge.

If you choose the alternate Necromancer class, get as many Nature talents as possible and use Wasp Swarm to slow down key enemy targets (-0:6 on the ATB scale on the Expert level). Put your upgraded skeletons with their Shield Allies ability (reduce ranged damage taken by allies by 25%) next to allied stacks. Don’t forget about your Darkness magic either. Sure, it’s only Basic, but go ahead and use your Delay or Disruption Ray if your teammate asks for it.

• CL 5: Basic Darkness Magic, for debuffs of selected enemy targets.

• CL 6: Basic Darkness Magic and Dominion of Mind, for Mass Delay.

• CL 7: Similar to CL 6.

• CL 8: Advanced Darkness Magic and Dominion of Mind or Dominion of Pain, for mass destruction of enemy defense stats. While defense stats may be destroyed even without Spell Power, sometimes you’ll need precise debuffs too.

• CL 9: Advanced Darkness Magic, Dominion of Mind and Dominion of Pain.

• CL 10: Expert Darkness Magic, Dominion of Mind and Dominion of Pain.

• CL 11: Similar to CL 10.

Wizard

Max out your Gargoyles (HP+DEF+Movement), Sphynx (ATK+DEF+Movement), Mages (XP/DEF+Initiative+Morale), Genies (DEF+Initiative+Morale/Movement). Split Genies into 2-3 stacks and use the remaining slots for Mages. Depending on the situation, use stacks of 5 Gargoyles each instead.

Magic Fist does the same damage regardless of magic resistance, making it extremely effective at killing high-level creatures. In many situations your Lord/Lady should use the Fist instead of the Magic Arrow, as high-level players will typically have lots of magic resistance.

Be sure to stock up on mana: 60-80 for CL 7-9 and 100+ for CL 10+.

• CL 5: Basic Erudition.

• CL 6: Advanced Sorcery, to quickly kill off single-unit enemy stacks. That’s about all your Lord/Lady can do at this point.

• CL 7: Basic Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest. Magic Arrow, and later Lightning, will knock targets down on the ATB scale (similar to Barbarian’s Stunning Blow).

• CL 8: Similar to CL 7.

• CL 9: Basic Chaos Magic, Dominion of Tempest plus any other talent.

• CL 10: Basic Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire and Advanced Sorcery. Fireballs will now destroy enemy defense, so cast them wisely.

• CL 11: Similar to CL 10.

Elf

Max out Druids, Unicorns, Treefolk, Forest Keepers, and Elven Bowmen. Split Druids into 3 stacks. You may split off a couple Unicorns for using up enemy retaliation, but we recommend splitting Forest Keepers. On CL 5-7 you may want to hire a few Driads.

Driads can use Dispersion to dispel enemy buffs or ally debuffs.

Druids should cast Stone Skin to give allied units’ +9 defense.

Use Treefolk to bind enemies in place or use up their retaliation.

When your enemies are casters, keep Unicorns next to allied stacks to protect them with the Aura of Magic Proof.

Get about 5 SP and 5 Knowledge.

• CL 5: Basic Holy Magic, to buff selected allied stacks.

• CL 6: Basic Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath. Mass Rapid for the win!

• CL 7: Similar to CL 6.

• CL 8: Advanced Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath. Don’t forget to cast Stone Skin on selected allied stacks and use Dispersion.

• CL 9: Expert Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath. Druids cast Stone Skin.

• CL 10: Expert Holy Magic, Dominion of Wrath and Dominion of Renunciation.

• CL 11: Similar to CL 10.

Barbarian

Max out Rocs, Orcs, Cyclops, Ogres and Goblins. Split up Rocs, and split off a few Orcs. Your most useful contribution will come from your Lord’s/Lady’s strike on highest-level creatures, as it deals the same damage regardless of enemy creature’s defense.

Rocs are Transporters so they can ‘sling’ one of your stacks forward to block ranged enemy units or obstruct a passage.

Your Lord/Lady has Stunning Blow which knocks targets down on the ATB scale. Very useful most of the time.

• CL 5: Thrusting Might.

• CL 6: Thrusting Might and Basic Attack.

• CL 7: Similar to CL 6.

• CL 8: Thrusting Might, Basic Attack and Weighty Weapons.

• CL 9: Thrusting Might, Basic Attack, Weighty Weapons and whatever else you have points for.

• CL 10 & 11: Similar to CL 9.

Dark Elf

Max out Lizards, Hydras, Minotaurs, Dark Witches and Shrews. Chaos-casting Dark Elves will achieve the best results. Get as much mana as possible: 60-80 for CL 7-9 and up to 100 for CL 10+.

Lizard Charge lets them ignore 20% of target’s defense for each tile covered before the attack. If they move 5 tiles or more, enemy defense drops to 0%. This makes them very effective them against highest-level creatures.

Shrews, thanks to their high movement and initiative, are great at blocking ranged enemy units and obstructing passages.

Dark Witches can delay enemies and destroy their defense. Consider splitting them up into multiple stacks and targeting the higher-level opponent’s main damage-dealing stack to decimate their defense.

• CL 5: Elemental Call.

• CL 6: Elemental Call and Sorcery.

• CL 7: Basic Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest. Or, Elemental Call and Dominion of Mind.

• CL 8: Basic Chaos Magic, Dominion of Tempest and Elemental Call. Dark magic may be a viable alternative.

• CL 9: Similar to CL 8, or Expert Chaos Magic.

• CL 10: Advanced Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire and Elemental Call.

• CL 11: Basic Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire, Advanced Sorcery and Elemental Call.

Demon

Max out Imps, Wolfhounds, Nightmares, Horses and Succubae. Imps will help by draining your opponent’s mana, especially if they’re a caster. If you bring more than 40, split them up. Wolfhounds/Cerberi are good at using up enemy retaliation. Hell Horses should block passages and use up retaliation. Don’t forget about the special faction ability, Open Gate: blocking ranged enemy units is simply a must, plus you’ll have more stacks to use up enemy retaliation.

Hell Horses’ Fear Attack is good to have, but don’t build your strategy around it.

Get 5 SP and 5 Knowledge to play as a buffer type. As a caster, stock up on mana: 60-80 for CL 7-9 and up to 100 for CL 10+.

• CL 5: Basic Dark Magic.

• CL 6: Basic Dark Magic and whatever else you can afford.

• CL 7: Basic Dark Magic and Dominion of Mind. Or, Basic Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest.

• CL 8: Advanced Dark Magic and Dominion of Mind. Or, Basic Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest. Don’t waste any talent points on Hellfire as it will just drain your mana.

• CL 9: Advanced Dark Magic and Dominion of Mind. Or, Advanced Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest. Or, Advanced Attack, Battle Fury and Striving Speed.

• CL 10: Advanced Dark Magic, Dominion of Mind and Dominion of Pain. Or, Advanced Chaos Magic and Dominion of Fire. Or, a combination of talents based around Striving Speed.

• CL 11: Expert Dark Magic, Dominion of Mind and Dominion of Pain. Or, Advanced Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire and Advanced Sorcery. Or, a combination of talents based around Striving Speed.

Dwarf

Max out Ursaries, Spearmen, Priests, Dreadbanes and Brawlers. Split off some Brawlers/Ursaries. Split Priests into 2-3 stacks and cast Evasion as appropriate. Remember, you’ve got lots of runes! The Rune of Magical Attraction is great for stealing enemy buffs. The Rune of Agility can help block ranged enemy units or use up enemy retaliation. The Rune of Elemental Intangibility can, with some luck, let your stack last a couple of turns in enemy territory. The Rune of Resurrection is especially effective when your stack is down to almost zero.

Frontier Ursaries have the Paw Knock ability, which increases with each tile covered before the attack. Use it wisely.

If your ally is a Chaos caster, he/she will be very happy if your Priests can cast Judgment on enemies.

Spearmen’s Mayhem ability can sometimes turn the tides of battle. And although the chances of activating Mayhem are slim, Spearmen should always attack the most dangerous enemy stack.

Get about 5 SP and 5 Knowledge as a buffer type. As a caster, stock up on mana: 60-80 for CL 7-9 and up to 100 for CL 10+.

• CL 5: Spare Runes.

• CL 6: Spare Runes, Basic Holy Magic.

• CL 7: Similar to CL 6. Or, Basic Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath.

• CL 8: Basic Holy Magic, Dominion of Wrath and Spare Runes. Or, Basic Chaos Magic and Dominion of Tempest.

• CL 9: Similar to CL 8.

• CL 10: Advanced Holy Magic, Dominion of Wrath and Dominion of Renunciation. Or, Expert Holy Magic and Dominion of Wrath. Or, Basic Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire and Spare Runes.

• CL 11: Expert Holy Magic, Dominion of Wrath and Dominion of Renunciation. Or, Advanced Chaos Magic, Dominion of Fire and Spare Runes.

ALWAYS LOOK FOR GUIDANCE FROM YOUR HIGHER-LEVEL TEAMMATE. DON’T HESITATE TO ASK THEM QUESTIONS OR RUN YOUR MOVE SUGGESTIONS BY THEM.

We hope these tips and hints will bring you more victories in mixed-level team tourneys!

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