Lord of Ages Battle Mechanics Guide

Lord of Ages Battle Mechanics Guide by Canadaice99

Wilderness/NPC Battle Basics

During any battle against the computer at any wilderness, one must remember that the mechanics occur in turns. During each round, each unit has the opportunity to move and/or attack. The speed of the unit determines how far across the battle map it moves, and thus, which unit it hits first (or hits it).

For Instance
If you happen to send Calvary, Palladins, and Cataphracts against a Wilderness, you have Paladins with 1200 speed, Calvery with 1000, and Cataphracts with 800. This means graphically your troops would look like

{—-Cl
{——-Pl
{–Phr

after round one.

What does this movement speed mean?

All ranged units in the game so far have the capacity to shoot 12 range, or , all the way across to the other side. However, the ranged units will ALWAYS (with exception of other ranged units) aim at the fastest unit first. In the diagram above, enemy Bowman or Ballastas or Archers would aim at the Paladins first, then the Calvary, then the Cataphracts. If we continued to add more infrantry units, the ranged units would continue by hitting pikeman next, then workers, than transporters. In rare cases, if you are running again dual melee units and are using a substantial amount of phracts, the second melee unit may reach the pike, thus taking out the pike before the phracts (depending on the amounts you send) This simple bit of knowledge lends to the idea that attacking a wilderness Paladin heavy may indeed be INEFFECTIVE because they will be the first unit to be hit, thus losing their numbers and effective firepower against a wilderness with both mele and ranged units.

What is the order for ranged units?

When ranged fire upon ranged, they will work in reverse order, firing at the most powerful units (by attack) first. Thus, Theseus will be hit first, then Pults, Artilary, and finally lowly Archers.

Now that I know what units hit which, how can I properly layer my attacks?

LAYERING is the most important concept in LOA battle. Because the battle occurs in turns, and each unit only fires ones or moves once per turn, in essence, we can corralate that to a single pike man absorbing an entire turn of attack from an infinite amount of archers.

Lets start with Valleys as an example

Valleys contain roughly 1700-3600 Ballistae. These powerful ranged units are immobile and thus function like stationary ranged units. Each round, the Ballistae, given all its massive firepower, will only shoot at one single unit, while each unit YOU send gets either a turn to move or return fire. Because your ranged units immeadiatly fire, they inherently have an attack advantage because they can commence damage on the first turn. So how do we prevent your precious and expensive ranged units from being damaged, WE LAYER!!!

For example, For a Hero with Aprox 1000-3000 Attack (including equipment) I would recommend the following against a Valley

1 Worker
1 Transporter
1 Pike
2000-3500 Arch
1 Calv
1 Palli
1 Phract
2000-3500 Artilary
1 pult
1 Theseus

** Adding 1 Pult, 1 Transport, and 1 Theseus is not necessary once you have mastered the strategy, but recommended as insurance for new players

The concept behind this strategy is that your arch and Artilary will have EIGHT unhindered rounds to fire at the Ballistae while the Ballistae simply hits 1 of each of your layers each turn. For the most part, this can result in you losing 1-4 troops total.

TOWER STRATEGY!!!

The tower is a peculiar beast because it allows you to only use 500 troops, yet includes the opportunity to reset which troops your sending, which thus becomes THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can use. Initially, its important to note if you nation is getting any upgrades on that day such a attack, defense, or flexibility. Those three can contribute to performing better in the tower.

Now that we have a concept of layering, we can apply this to how we can advance the furthest in the tower. Remember that while you are attacking in the tower, the enemy will only have two different types of units each round. They may comprise of dual melee, one of each, or melee and ranged (or dual ranged).

The First 20 Rounds…

During these rounds (especially if your nation has an attack bonus) you should be able to get through them without a single reset if layered properly. The following is the troop layout I recommend

1 Worker
1 Transporter
1 Pike
50 Arch
15 Calv
50 Phract
5 Palidans
150 Artilary
212 Pults
15 Theseus

The reasoning behind this layering is follows. During the first 10 rounds, you will face exceedingly easy troops. As your spearhead, your Paladins, Phracts, and Calv will hit these troops first. The enemy will first attack your paladins. Because in the first couple rounds the troop amounts are single digit to low teens, your five paladins can with-stain 1-5 rounds of attack (depending on hero) thus providing a effective layer. Next, once your paladins are gone, your phracts and calvary with become the targets. By this time you should be at round 4 approx. 15 Calv should be able to withstand another 1-3 rounds of attack, while your 50 phracts provide exceptional damage while the calvary are blocking.

By the time the Paladins and the Calvary are gone, you can be at level 8 minimum and as far as 15. 50 phracts contain very high defensive prowess, thus the 50 sent can provide again, and adaquate buffer for your 4 ranged units to get free fire. Because if will take a multiple rounds of enemy attacking against your phracts, it is also possible that your pike will catch up and begin attacking alongside your phracts. If your hero is a high level (35+), i would recommend subtracting 5 phracts,10 arch, and 10 artilary, and add 25 pike so that you can have another effective attacking unit.

The number of ranged units I have chosen, 50,150, and 212, have been chosen because they best reflect the numbers that will most efficiently take out the enemy. If you sent, per say, 10 arch, 10 art, and 450 pults, you may have your pults wasting their fire against 2/210 of a single unit, wasting its potential. Spreading the firepower in the first 20 rounds, given you will not face more than 200 of a single unit, means that one round of direct ranged fire should eliminate one enemy troop type.

After your phracts are gone, you should well be near or beyond level 20.

KEY MOMENT

THE MOMENT you see your phract are gone during auto attack, click cancel, and do manual. When you are down to just one transporter or one transporter and worker, that is when you will click reset. This will prevent you from losing your Theseus troops, which will be the first to be targeted after your worker and transport are taken out.

Hope this has helped some!