The Hobbit: KoM Battle Mechanics Guide

The Hobbit: KoM Battle Mechanics Guide by KhorelisSylvari

When considering basic battle mechanics I hear time and time again players asking the same question:

Is attacking things based on Might vs. Might?

The answer is yes and no. Might is not necessarily calculated in battle at all except in regards to the different tiers of troops (Tier 2 troops are twice as strong as Tier 1 and Tier 3 are stronger than both Tier 1 and Tier 2 combined). In battle, might is calculated for each individual troop instead of your total army size. Might is only a collective number showing how strong your troops are in their entirety. For instance, if you have 400 Archers, your might would be equal to 1600. Attacking someone does not mean that you have 1600 might versus whatever their might is unless you attack with ALL 400 archers.

The first group of things that are calculated into battle is: Research levels in both Honed Blades (increases Troop Attack by 5% per level) and Vigor (increases Troop Health by 5% per level), the level of the Hero you choose to lead your army (the higher level hero, the more attack and health bonus your troops have)*, and active consumable items (Combat/Shield Runes). Lastly the type of troop used against the enemy is taken into consideration. Some troops are stronger or weaker against certain others. Also different “Tier” troops offer different levels of attack power and life. The list of troops and which each are strong and weak against as well as their listed attack rating, life, load, upkeep, etc. are listed in the Troop Types section. Logically you want to send an army that is built around what their troops are weak against.

-* Unknown if Hero level provides a health bonus to troops. It does however provide an attack bonus.

Attacking

In terms of attacking, the weaker Tier troops always fight first. For instance, if you send 400 Elven Archers (Tier 1) and 400 Siege Crossbows (Tier 2), the Archers will be the first to fight and die before any of the Crossbows engage the enemy. Think of this as 3 different “lines” of troops to your Army. Tier 1 is the front line, Tier 2 is middle, and Tier 3 is rear. Because of this reasoning it is smart to build a lot of Tier 1, a considerable amount of Tier 2, and a reasonable amount of Tier 3 when shaping your army. Damage will be soaked up by the Tier 1 (and part or all of your Tier 2 troops depending on the size of the enemy), leaving your stronger troops to finish them off (unless of course you have underestimated your enemy and get defeated).

Defending

Defending has the same mechanics as Attacking, however you cannot choose which troops defend. You have two choices when facing an attack:

1) Leave all troops hidden
2) Leave all troops unhidden.

When defending, it is either all or nothing. Using your best judgment you can usually tell if you will be defeated just by the type of troops that are incoming in relation to your own. If you think you have a for sure defeat on your hands, leave your troops hidden (The reverse to this is also a known tactic for getting easy defeats on attacking enemies – See the Defense section of Basic Battle Tactics below). There is no sense in being zeroed in both troops and resources/gold. Let them take the resources so your troops can fight another day. Make sure to pay close attention to your Watch Tower and keep it upgraded if you are expecting attacks.

Basic Battle Tactics

Middle-Earth is a vast world of strategic war and dominance of the battlefield. That being said, it requires a degree of strategic skill to be successful in battle. The following is an explanation of various Basic Battle Tactics that can prove useful in any scenario. Often players formulate their own strategies to counter these basic strategies. I will provide a brief overview but will leave it up to the rest of you to come up with your own strategies to dominate your foes!

Scouting

When attacking an enemy it is best to scout them first. Scouting them gives you an overview of their city and what you are up against should you decide to attack them. Scouting works on any encampment or Wild on the World Map (Other players, Goblin Camps, and Wilds). Depending on the level of your Watch Tower, Scouting can provide the following information:

Level 1Warns you of an incoming attack
Level 2Increases Scouting Efficiency (Speed/Information)
Level 3Tells you the time until arrival of an attacking opponent
Level 4Tells you the level and alliance of the attacking opponent
Level 5Tells you a rough estimate of the troops in the attacking army
Level 6Tells you the troop types of the incoming army
Level 7Tells you a rough estimate of each troop type of the incoming army
Level 8Tells you the exact number of each troop type of the incoming army
Level 9Tells you the level of the Hero leading the attack
Level 10Tells you the exact research levels of the player sending the army

Note: When scouting another player that has Might but does not show any troops, this is because that player has their troops hidden. In this case it is best to match up your might versus theirs in an effort to decide whether to attack them. You have no other way of getting the information about their army and if they are paying attention to their Watch Tower, they can quickly unhide their troops and give your army a good run for their money.

Attacking

When attacking an opponent as said above, it is best to scout them first. After you receive the information about their city and/or army it is best to do the following. First look and see which type of troops they are sending. Using the table above, match up the ones they have and see what they are weak against. This information allows you to better select which troops to send. Find (or train) your own troops to match everything that the opponent’s army is weak against and send them over! Doing this provides a much higher chance of success. It is best to send at least 1000 more troops than the opponent has for each troop type. For example, if they have 1000 Elven Archers and 500 Elven Militia, send 2000 Mounted Dwarves and 1500 Axe Throwers. Unless you have a level 10 Watch Tower (which a lot of players won’t due to the requirement of a Hobbit Building Crew) than you will be unable to tell the research levels of your target. Research levels play a considerable part in battle. If you do not have a level 10 Watch Tower, it is smart to overcompensate rather than underestimate and have your entire army wiped out.

Defense

I will first start by saying that it is best to get your Watch Tower upgraded to at least level 8 as soon as possible to receive all of the most important information about an incoming attack so you know if your army will be able to withstand it. The only defense is information about your incoming army. Most attacks will take place over a very short period of time. Most people don’t even know they are being attacked until after it’s already happened and they check their mail. This is due to the Watch Tower not having Push Notifications. You must pay close attention to your Watch Tower if you are expecting attacks. Having the information as soon as it becomes available is your best weapon to defeating your enemy. The best defense is also just keeping your troops hidden. If the enemy does not know what to expect from your army short of a Might score, they could be in for a very interesting surprise should they decide to move forward with an attack. If you believe that your army is capable of defeating an incoming army, choose to unhide them and watch as your enemy gets torn apart and left speechless on the battlefield.

Most often players will send out very small armies to “get a feel for” or test your city. This is done with 1 troop, usually a Supply Cart or Porter. If this happens, and you have a decent amount of resources and/or gold to be taken, be prepared to receive a full attack and make the appropriate modifications to your city. This could mean training more troops, upgrading your City Wall, upgrading Barracks to train faster, or all of the above.

Wall Defenses are moderately helpful from what I understand since the recent update. However, they still don’t seem to be great enough to stand up to armies on their own. It is best suggested to keep your troops unhidden if you have wall defenses. This can also prove to be disastrous too because you will often lure people searching for a wall to destroy. Until this theory is tested further or until wall defenses become a lot more helpful to stopping an attacking army, it is suggested to keep all of your might in troops rather than wall defenses.

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2 Responses

  1. Tom says:

    Great info…I lost a battle and it says my Hero is out of the city. Will I ever get him back?

  2. Aerith says:

    Your page says that, ” Depending on the level of your Watch Tower, Scouting can provide the following information.”

    Scouting information is not affected by your watch tower information. It is affected by your research level of Far Seeing. The information reveled per level is also different from the list you have, as the list you have matches what is reveled for the watch tower levels. For example, you cannot get information on hero levels from a scout and level 10 Far Seeing gives no additional bonus.

    Watch tower will revel information on incoming attacks only. There only affect on scouting is reducing the likelihood of an enemy scout being successful. An incoming scout is less likely to succeed if you have a lvl 9 watch tower, meaning that player may have to scout you 2-3 times before they get a report.

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