Facebook Dragons of Atlantis Battle Mechanics Guide

Facebook Dragons of Atlantis Battle Mechanics Guide by Dreddnawt Mettlehead

Basic Principles

Here we see a single Battle Dragon assaulting a player castle defended by the Great Dragon:

“So what?” some may ask. Yeah, its pretty obvious a single BD cant kill a GD, but look closer. Dealt 206 Points of Damage means the GD took a 206 damage hit and lost 0% of its total Life. This kind of test proves several things:

1) This proves the RNG – Random Number Generator. The fully upgraded BD has base Atk of 300 (+50% for techs and +20% the General). Yet still does only 206 damage. Other BDs did different amounts. That fluctuation is the effects of the RNG.

2) Attacker gets initiative – randoms or no, this BD died the moment the GD got an attack. But you can clearly see the BD did get an attack in, so it had to have taken the first action.

3) Combat actions progress as Move then Attack. Each group of troops starts its action by checking to see if there are targets in range: if not, then they move forward; if so, then they dont move. They then check again to see if there are targets in range: if so, they attack; if not, they wait for their next action. This is how the BD can move to get in melee range and still attack to get the first hit.

3.5) While its not entirely apparent from the report shown above, we can deduce another rule of behavior from understanding #3. Ranged Troops stop moving when they have targets in range. Ranged troops will not continue to advance because when they check for targets and find some in range, they skip their Move phase and go right to Attack. Ranged troops will move forward only when they have NO targets in range. All other times they will stay stationary.

4) Attacker sets the Range – If the field is set by the unit with the longest range (as I previously believed), then there is no way the BD could have crossed a GD’s range and still get a hit in. So Battle Field Distance is set by the Attacking troops with the longest Range.

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5) And here we see there is still minimum field distance as I said before, Base Distance as set by melee troops is 500.

Mino base speed 275 + 100% (RD and Dragonry 10) = 550

A Mino can cross the 500 base Distance but a Giant cant.

Giant base speed 120 + 100% = 240 (2 turns = 480)

A Giant is able to withstand the first attack from the GD and move again, but still doesnt reach it to hit in the second turn. It takes 2 Giants to survive crossing the distance in order to get a single hit.

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Range Verification:

6) Battle Field Distance equals 500 (Base Distance) plus the longest Range of any Attacking troops. Melee troops have 0 Range, so Melee only sets a Distance of 500 (500+0). Bowmen with 1200 Range create a battle field with 1700 Distance (1200+500). Fire Mirrors set Distance to 2750 (2250+500).

Fully upgraded LBM moves 500, with initiative the LBM makes his move then Fires once before the Defending GD kills him.
Note: I also tested this with slightly less upgraded troops and found those Bowmen who couldnt cross 500 in their first turn got no attack on the GD.

Fully upgraded FM moves only 100 and cannot attack until the GD moves into range. But the GD will move up then attack to kill the FM.

Note the amount of damage this FM did in a single round before it died.

What we get from this is that starting Distance is Troop Range + the base 500 and not simply 500 OR troop Range.

7) Atk and Def damage for Great Dragons are NOT effected by the RNG either. Big Dragons do full damage with every hit.

The FM had 2250 Life but a lvl 10 GD killed it every time on the first attack because the GD was doing 2425 damage every time, or at least never less then 2250. I found as low as a level 6 GD with only lvl 2 Metallurgy could kill the FM in 2 turns. LVl 6 GD has 1055 Atk, Lvl 2 Metallurgy adds 10% making it 1160 Atk (1055+105). In two turns the lvl 6 GD does 2320 damage unless the RNG changes its value. No FM survived more then 2 rounds vs the GD so it must be doing full value of its atk stat every time.

I had to find a mid lvl GD thatd be weak enough not to kill the FM before the mirror could attack but strong enough to kill it in two rounds. The Dragon couldnt kill the FM in the first round but could kill it in 2. Using the weaker dragon meant the FM moved up 100 closing the distance from 2750 to 2650, it then couldnt attack because it was still out of range. The GD then moved up 1125 (due to tech lvls) closing the distance to 1525, then the GD attacks which hurts but doesnt kill the FM. The GD is now in Range of the FM who hits for 2785 before being killed by the GDs second attack.

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Also, while we’re on the subject, Ill debunk the possibility that defenders stay stationary behind the wall:

8) Battle Field Distance being set by attack only did throw a wrench in my other experiments that apparently showed Defending units moving out to meet attackers. However, I have now confirmed that Defending troops do move as normal regardless of the Wall.

The FM would take 5 turns to move into range but as soon as it did it would get first attack and a fully upgraded GD would then kill it being they have the same range. A single FM vs a lvl 10 GD dies without damaging the Dragon so that shows the GD MUST move forward to get the first attack within Range. The fact that using a weakened and lower lvl GD to allow for the FM to get in a single attack proves Defenders do move as I originally stated.

Distance and Movement

The exact range of battles is variable based on the highest Range of any attacking troop type. Recent tests have shown that the Attacker sets the Range of the Battle Field. The Base, minimum, Battle Field size is 500, this is only seen when the attacking force is comprised of only Melee troops. Adding ranged troops on an attack increases the Battle Field in direct proportion to their Range. Ranged troops include Longbowmen, Fire Mirrors, Great Dragon, and Water Dragon.

Update: When Ranged troops are included in the attacking force, Battle Field Distance equals the maximum Range of the troops + base range (500). So fully upgraded Bowmen have 1800 Range, using them to attack sets the Battle Field Distance to 2300 (1800+500). If you add Fire Mirrors to that (Range: 2250) then the Field is extended even further to 2750 (2250+500).

Here are some Graphical Charts showing troop movement behaviors for several different scenarios. The range and number of rounds are not exact. Research and other battle field modifiers – such as Wall Resistance and Dragon Hearts – are not included. This is done intentionally to make it easier for me to display these results without mudding up the numbers more then neccessary.

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WHY DO MY DRAGONS DIE WHEN I SEND THEM WITH BOWMEN BUT NOT WHEN I SEND THE SAME TROOPS ALONE?

LBMs and BDs vs Anthros –
L = Longbowmen, B = Battle Dragons, E = NPC Melee, R = NPC Ranged

BDs alone:
1) B —– RE // Melee Attack troop only means Range starts very short.
2) —–BRE // BDs close in the first round, BDs take Damage from all Enemies but can potentially hit all Enemies.
3) —–BRE // BDs engage Enemies, BDs taking Damage from all Enemies.
4) —–BR // BDs finish off the Enemy Melee, BDs still taking damage from Ranged.
5) —–BR // BDs finish off Enemy Ranged. Victory.

LBMS alone:
1) L —– —– —– —– RE // Battle starts, no one in range so all move up.
2) –L— —– —– —E-R- // Melee enter LBM range, Melee begin taking damage.
3) –L— —– —– –E–R– // Melee continue to advance, Melee still taking Damage.
4) –L— —– —-E- –R— // Melee continue to advance, Melee still taking Damage.
5) –L— —– —E— -R—- // Hurlers enter LBM range, all Enemies taking Damage.
6) –L— —– E—– R—– // Enemies continue to advance, Enemies taking Damage.
7) –L— —E– —-R- —– // Enemies continue to advance, Enemies taking Damage.
8) –L— –E—- —R– —– // LBMs kill off last of the Enemy Melee, LBM finally in Hurler Range. Both take Damage.
9) –L— —– —R– —– // LBMs kill weakened Hurlers.

Mixed Longbowmen and BDs –
1) BL —– —– —– —– RE // Everyone is out of Range, all move forward.
2) –L— –B— —– —E-R- // BDs in range of Hurlers, BDs take damage
3) —-L- —– —-B- -E—R- // BDs in range of Hurlers, Enemy in Range of LBMs, All melee take Damage
4) —-L- —– —– BE—-R- // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage
5) —-L- —– —– BE—-R- // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage
6) —-L- —– —– BE—-R- // All melee in range of Everyone, All melee take Damage, BDs still taking damage from Hurlers.
7) —– -L—- —– —-BR- // With melee dead, Bowmen and BDs move up to finally attack Hurlers directly and kill them off.

Therefore, BDs are only exposed to prolonged attacks from enemy units when combined with Range. This is why you lose BDs when mixing them with ranged troops. For PvE, always segregate your troops for best results.

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WHY DO MORE OF MY DRAGONS DIE WHEN I SEND MY GREAT DRAGON THEN WHEN THEY ARE ALONE?

Great Dragon with BDs vs Mixed Enemies –

D = Great Dragon, B = Battle Dragons, E = NPC Melee, R = NPC Ranged

1) BD —– —– —– —– —– —– RE // GD Range starts the Battle at the longest Range possible.
2) —– –BD— —– —– —– —E-R- // All move forward.
3) —– —– —–DB —– —– –E–R– // Enemy Melee are now in Great Dragon range. Enemy Melee take some Damage.
4) —– —– —–D —– –B–E- –R— // BDs now in Hurler Range, BDs and Enemy Melee are taking Damage.
5) —– —– —–D —– —-BE- –R— // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
6) —– —– —–D —– —-BE- –R— // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
7) —– —– —–D —– —-BE- –R— // All enemy attacks are now focused on the BDs. BD and Enemy Melee taking Damage.
8) —– —– —–D —– —– –BR— // With Enemy Melee dead, your Dragons can now take out the Hurlers.

Based on test battles involving the GD with other dragons, Id have to say the GD normally stops to attack when troops are in its range just like any other ranged unit. This is why you lose BDs when sending the GD with them. If the GD used melee unit movement behavior then it would stay out in front of the BDs and they would never take damage because the GD would be the higher priority target. The GD is a damage magnet, any enemy that CAN attack the GD, will. However, using the Great Dragon along with BDs shows the same results as adding ranged units to dragons does so the GD must follow ranged behavior.

Mixing Troop Types

WHY DO I KEEP LOSING DRAGONS EVEN WHEN I WIN BATTLES OVERWHELMINGLY?

Mixed Player Army vs Mixed Army –
M = Minos, L = Longbowmen, B = Battle Dragons, G = Giants, E = Enemy Melee, R = Enemy Ranged

1) MBGL —– —– —– —– REE // Battle Starts.
2) -G-ML— –B— —– –E-E-R- // Units move to close distance.
3) –G–ML- —– —–BE -E—R- // BDs engage long before others. BDs take damage from enemies.
4) —G-L- -M—- —–BEE —-R- // BDs now engaged against the ENTIRE enemy army. Longbows have stopped and are firing on Enemy Melee.
5) —-L-G —M– —–BEE —-R- // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
6) —-L- -G—-M —–BEE —-R- // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
7) —-L- –G— –M—BEE —-R- // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
8) —-L- —G– —-M-BEE —-R- // BDs still engaged, taking damage.
9) —-L- —–G —–MBEE —-R- // Minos finally arrive. Minos add damage to enemy but arent a high enough priority target to draw fire from BDs.
10) —-L- —– -G—-MBE —-R- // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
11) —-L- —– –G—MBE —-R- // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
12) —-L- —– —G–MBE —-R- // BDs and Minos still engaged, BDs taking damage.
13) —-L- —– —–GMBE —-R- // Giants finally join the fight, just in time to kill remaining melee.
14) —– -L—- —– -G-M–BR- // BDs move ahead again to engage the Enemy Ranged units.
15) —– —L– —– –G–MB- // Minos arrive to add damage and finish off Ranged.

In this example you can see how the BDs spend much of the battle doing the work themselves while waiting for the supporting Giants and Minos to catch up. Your BDs are NOT dieing because they are a weak or flawed unit, they are dieing because they are superheroes being left to fight impossible odds alone.

What you are seeing with mixed battles losing BDs is the dragons are up front taking damage from the ENTIRE enemy army while your other units are creeping across the battle field that has been extended due to your bowmen. The Giants especially take a long time to get to the front. So your BDs are doing all the work, your bowmen help with some dps but really just spread your army out even more, and the Minos arent powerful enough to draw enemy targeting away from the high threat dragons. In the end, your Minos and Giants help mop up the troops the BDs have been fighting the whole time.

Summarily:
BDs are hands down MY FAVORITE unit. I cant say enough good things about them. Those nasty little dragons are my bread and butter. Never stop building BDs. They are statistically the BEST unit in the game: they are 2nd in Atk only to Giants and massive numbers of Minos; they have the best cumulative defense by a large margin and you can only find a better single troop defense from Giants; their Life is again the cumulative highest of any troop type and is only beaten singly by Giants; their speed is only matched by other dragons; and their Load is only beaten by Swifts and ATs. So aside from Range, they come out 1st or 2nd in most every aspect. Overall, they are the statistically best unit.

For most cases, when it comes to mixing Dragons in with regular troops I would simply say DONT. You really have to plan your army to use BDs effectively in a mixed group. I wont give out advanced tactics since I concentrate on helping newbies and letting experienced players sort things out themselves so youll have to do some testing with different numbers to get it just right. I suggest using small armies of 100 or 1000 total troops rather then using trial and error on your whole army. But a good start to combining BDs into a mixed army for PvP is to have 35-50% BDs or more so they can handle taking the brunt of the damage throughout the battle. A good 10-20% Minos to bridge the gap between the Dragons and Giants help also. The LBMs can help provide ranged damage, but they will also leave the BDs exposed longer.

Use mostly BDs in a mixed army and take on targets the BDs could potentially kill alone so they are capable of withstanding prolonged attacks, otherwise segregate your army. Mixing in dragons essentially relegates your other troops to being Dragon support but it can work. Giants dont help Dragons much when Ranged troops are in play. There are a lot of ways to use mixed armies but adding dragons to regular troops, especially ranged troops, can be disastrous if you arent careful.

Range and Speed

WHY DO I KEEP LOSING GIANTS EVEN WHEN I WIN BATTLES OVERWHELMINGLY?

LongBows and Giants –
L = Longbowmen, G = Giants, E = Enemy Melee, S = Enemy Speed, R = Enemy Ranged

1) GL —– —– —— —– REES // Battle Begins, bowmen set the range.
2) -G-L— —– —S– –E-E-R- // Units move to close distance.
3) –GL— –S—- —-E- -E–R– // Speed moves way in front, enemy forces are spread out crossing the distance.
4) –L-GS– —– -E—E- –R— // Speed reaches the marching Giants first and must face your Bowmen and Giants alone.
5) –L-GS– —E– –E— -R—- // Speed is killed off while Enemy Melee continue to spread out.
6) –L–G- E—– E—– R—– // Movement continues, Enemy Melee spreads farther.
7) –L—GE —E– —-R- —– // Giants engage the first wave of Enemy Melee, Enemy Ranged can now reach the Giants.
8) –L—GE -E—- —-R- —– // Bowmen and Giants take down the 1st Melee wave.
9) –L—GE —– —-R- —– // The second wave reaches the Giants just in time to see their comrades finished off.
10) –L— -G-— —-R- —– // With all Enemy Melee divided and conquered, the Giants and Bowmen now advance on the Enemy Ranged to finish the job.
…~…
15) —-L- —– —-GR- —– // Several turns later, if the Bowmen didnt kill them first, the Giants reach the Ranged and quickly wipe them out.

In this scenario, the Giants slow speed actually helps them by allowing the enemy to spread out across the battle field as the differences in unit speed become more apparent. The Giants and their Bowmen support can engage and kill each enemy troop type 1 wave at a time instead of having to fight the whole force at once. This is what makes Giants with Ranged such a deadly combination.

Against Anthros, however, youll find you can lose Giants. That is ALSO because of their speed. The hurlers will, over time, wear down and kill some of the giants before the lumbering brutes can cross the field to finish them off. Dont use Bowmen on camps, dont use Giants on camps, expect some losses if you use that combo against ranged units with heavy melee protection.

Note: Pay attention to the first few rounds where the LBMs are exposed with their Giants behind them. Upgraded Player Speed units can cross even an extended Battle Field and attack the bowmen before Giants can move into position to protect them. You must be careful using this combo and be aware of what you are up against. To prevent losses to your Bowmen, you can mix in 10k Minos or so that will get in front of the Bowmen and hold back enemies until the Giants can move up. Alternately, you can use FMs with Giants instead of Bowmen to eliminate the problem and insure advancing enemies need to cross farther distances.

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HOW DID MY DRAGONS KILL RANGED TROOPS BUT NOT THE MELEE TROOPS?

Swifts vs Ranged –
S = Swift Strike Dragons, E = Enemy Melee, R = Enemy Ranged

Note: Remember, Im not including Research bonuses to speed for Swifts but Dragonry AND Rapid Deployment BOTH effect the Speed of ALL Troops.

1) S —– RE // Battle Begins, Melee Swifts set base distance 500.
2) —–SRE // Attacking Swifts close the distance in the first turn, BEFORE the melee can move out in front to protect the ranged units.
3) —–SE // Swifts easily kill their PRIMARY TARGET, the Ranged troops. (Swifts will always attack Ranged units first unless there are enemy Swifts in range)
4) —–E // The weakened but satiated Swifts are normally owned by Melee troops and dont survive to celebrate their success.

The above shows that speed can overcome battle field extension to leave ranged troops exposed before their melee protectors can get into position to block the fast moving dragons.

You may notice all my charts have shown the Ranged troops starting each battle IN FRONT of their melee counterparts. It is my theory that all troops begin at the same distance until their first move. This explains those many reports in which we have seen Swifts kill ranged troops without first having to go through the melee troops. Note that this scenario is still a THEORY, as I havent yet proved it concretely.

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Tip: If you can read between the lines youll find most everything you need to build a balanced and versatile army is now in this thread. PvP Attack, PvP defense, PvE attack, Melee movement, Ranged behaviour, and Battle Field effects are now covered.

Good Luck and Happy Gaming.