War of 2012 Basic Combat Guide

War of 2012 Basic Combat Guide by Vastus

Ok, I get alot of people asking me about who hits who, what should I bring to a fight, and how much do I need to beat “that guy”. So I’m putting together this guide to help answer some of those questions. Please if someone notices any errors or has added tips, don’t be afraid to let me know. I don’t know everything and am happy to get the correct information whenever I can.

First off, let’s talk about hero stats:
Heroes come in a fairly large variety, you’ll hear things in chat like “Vit Inf” “Int Art” “VI Cav”. What this means is the stats and mastery of a hero. A Master Infantry hero will lend 100% of his stats to all Infantry troops under his command, whereas any other type of troop he commands would only get 25%. Now the stats themselves will be argued forever, it’s up to you what suits your play-style. Myself I favor Vitality on infantry because they are front-line and need to last long to protect the ranged. I like to have high Intelligence on Artillery to increase their critical chance and damage(this is where the big fights like temple are won). On Archery units I like to balance a bit between Strength and Intelligence to keep them packing a punch. Finally, Cavalry you want to balance Vitality and Strength so they last a decent time, and pack a punch for the enemy front line.

Now let’s get into who hits who first:
When you’re building a good army you need to consider what you’ll be fighting, scouting is absolutely critical here to reduce your losses.
First thing’s first, you’ll need a main infantry hero with strong vitality and fill him up with swordsmen(he’ll be taking the brunt of everything). Never stop leveling him, it will do wonders for your overall strength.
Second, you’ll need some ranged. Archers do decent damage but can’t take a hit very well. You’ll need to protect them with skirmishers. This is where the hero stats get important. Make sure you have one hero with Archer Mastery and that he is all Vitality. This guy is your ranged protector, yes you will lose many skirmishers over time, but they are much cheaper than the other ranged units.
Third, Artillery is a very big deal. They slow down your travel speed immensely, but can absolutely devastate your enemy. Ballista’s are wonderfull, their key use is to strike both a front row and back row enemy at the same time. The reason I say “key” is because this diminishes the enemy’s ranged damage continually during the fight. That’s where all their best damage is, hit it early and you will lose a lot less. Catapults are generally frowned upon because they lack the grace of the ballistas when it comes to targeting, but when you hit Imperial Age, they hit canons first.
Fourth, Cavalry is a little tricky to use in real combat, they tend to be expensive and die pretty quickly. This is where the scouting pays off though. If you see your enemy is very heavy on cavalry, you could send camel cavalry to do enormous damage. Very big tip here, Hussars are for FARMING ONLY. Do Not use hussars for fighting, think of them as pack mules, they are only good for picking up the loot “After” the fight is won.

I hope this helps some of you out with planning your fights, please let me know if there is any way I can improve upon this. I plan to make more guides as I get time. Good luck out there.