King's Bounty: Mage Strategy Question

wolfing said:

problem with sacrifice was that you could have an infinite source of units of everything. One of the balancing factors in the game is the (low) availability of certain troops, but Sacrifice killed that factor.

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I suppose I never experienced it without it, but I did find the units generally pretty well balanced. The units I kept I kept more because they finished the combat quickly and more enjoyably than because they were ultimately more powerful. My main overpowered unit was the royal snakes and most of those I bought.

I like to play with the human units, but that's probably because of heroes. I'm guessing that any unit that can take a lot of punishment would be the best for a mage character. All I need is something that can live long enough til I kill everything with spells. I've been playing with knights and wouldn't mind a nice Cyclops or two.
I started over with another mage and it didn't get nearly as good equipment as my first mage. My first mage had over 3000 leadership with items at level 6. This guy has 1000 leadership and it makes a huge difference.

crpgnut said:

I like to play with the human units, but that's probably because of heroes. I'm guessing that any unit that can take a lot of punishment would be the best for a mage character. All I need is something that can live long enough til I kill everything with spells. I've been playing with knights and wouldn't mind a nice Cyclops or two.
I started over with another mage and it didn't get nearly as good equipment as my first mage. My first mage had over 3000 leadership with items at level 6. This guy has 1000 leadership and it makes a huge difference.

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The game is really randomized that way. I got all the way to the swamp with one playthrough and just gave up for lack of decent troops and equipment.

AFA durable units, one of the first ones I like to get are the Alchemists in the swamp, (and Polar bears hold up pretty well til you can get Griffins, Knights, etc.) My favorite over all units for the early/mid game are the Shamans in the Isles of Freedom. They soak damage, have a wide range of useful buffs and attacks and work well with the Phantom spell. Later, ents and demons are awesome.

magerette said:

The game is really randomized that way. I got all the way to the swamp with one playthrough and just gave up for lack of decent troops and equipment.

AFA durable units, one of the first ones I like to get are the Alchemists in the swamp, (and Polar bears hold up pretty well til you can get Griffins, Knights, etc.) My favorite over all units for the early/mid game are the Shamans in the Isles of Freedom. They soak damage, have a wide range of useful buffs and attacks and work well with the Phantom spell. Later, ents and demons are awesome.

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Shamans are my favorite unit of them all, although I must admit, they could use a little 'nerfing'. Like you said, they absorb good damage, they do some good damage too with their axe spell, which as a side effect also heals all your units, plus the 2 totems are the perfect AI magnet.
I never used ents though, don't remember why.

magerette said:

AFA durable units, one of the first ones I like to get are the Alchemists in the swamp, (and Polar bears hold up pretty well til you can get Griffins, Knights, etc.).

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Polar bears are great units for what they cost, better than Griffins imo. I used them all the way till Demonis.

wolfing said:

I never used ents though, don't remember why.

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Normal Ents are just ok, Ancients Ents are very good units, unless you're up against Demons or other fire-based creatures.

Ents are great units because of their insect swarm ability, and the AI is stupid so it is easy to fool it, like for ancient ents, just stay out of range of their insect swarm and they are harmless since they have a speed of one,,,, but of course the computer charges right on..... too bad about the AI in this otherwise great game.

Yes, the AI does some noticeably foolish things at times, but I'm usually glad because it generally comes at a moment when otherwise I'd be wiped out.

The thing I liked about ents(and ancient ents are better, as mentioned) is they are like having a stone wall that attacks--the amount of damage they can take is high, and the ancient ents have a re-arming special ranged attack that can really do some damage at close quarters. Also, using Phantom, you can protect archers or dryads completely. (This Phantom strategy was the one I used with my paladin, where you can't reduce enemy numbers as much before they get to your front lines--it might not be as effective as a mage where you have more power in the pure damage spells.)

Speaking of AI and balance, another thing is cost--as Lucky Day said earlier along, some of the most expensive high level units(like Archdemons) may do more damage but don't have nearly the staying power of the ents or even the shamans, and cost many times more.

magerette said:

another thing is cost--as Lucky Day said earlier along, some of the most expensive high level units(like Archdemons) may do more damage but don't have nearly the staying power of the ents or even the shamans, and cost many times more.

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Definitely, and the Archdemon is a great example of a disappointing high level unit. I thought the regular "Demon" unit was actually much more effective in large numbers, and I even used a stack of them in the final battle.

I'm just now to the Freedom Isles and the combat has gone nuts. I was fighting a few hundred troops, now every enemy has 2000+ creatures in it. A routine battle lasts 6 or 7 rounds. This is going to get monotonous fast, if I can't find a quicker strategy. On Darion, I just fireballed the ranged guys and formed a front with my soldiers. This isn't working, because I can lead 50 swordsmen and the enemy has 4 ranks of 200 or better in each group. Ouch! I don't find sacrifice to be too powerful at all. Without it, I'd lose all my inquisitors every battle. I'm going to need to change my strategy a bit. I'm a mage so my attack statistic sucks. I'm moderately decent on defense. I've got chaos and the branch with haste at level 2 ability. My heal is at 1 but I don't really have any heal spells anyway. I don't have phantom yet. I think I can get pygmy once I sell off some junk scrolls.

@crpgnut: Like I said, playing a mage on normal isn't much easier than playing a paladin or warrior on hard. You'll be okay--after a few of those Yoiks! encounters you get very adaptable! Sometimes you just have to do the few things you can in a new area and then come back later. I always get a boat and go scoop up all the easy stuff, and plan on a return trip when I can handle the swarms. Try to get the mass damage spell Geyser and upgrade it--it helps. .

I didn't use pygmy much myself. In the Order school, bless, magic pole axe and resurrection are the main ones I used. Distortion has the most varied and useful spells imo(including Geyser ), and Chaos the most destructive. Try to get to level three chaos & distortion as soon as you can (and I'd go with Order last;you'll need it later for resurrection)--but it isn't easy.
@JDR--totally agree. I found demons and to some extent green dragons to be the highest level troops I ever needed.

You nailed it, Magerette. It was Yoiks! for about 5 battles, then I leveled up and was matching them fairly well. I took care of the Lucky dude, and I thought I'd clear his immediate area up before heading back to King. I was playing the game like it was Heroes and treating a single death like it was a whole troop. Once I got over losing a few troops, it was much easier. I've dropped playing with humans and I just take whatever is available and has good hp. I've got orc catapulters, orc shamans, griffins, dwarven apothecaries, and royal snakes. This crew has killed most of the random monsters, though I've been leaving the ships alone. I'm either 11th or 12th level now. I have a heck of a time finding treasures. I've got one for a diamond, if I can figure out which island this is supposed to be I'm pretty sure another map is near the head Griffin dude. Still having fun with it, though the endless combat is starting to wear. I'd prefer a little more exploration/treasure hunting.