Best Heroes, and party composition

[madocs]

I am level 9 in my current run.

Ignoring morality and religion,
Which heroes are the best? You put a lot of effort into the early knights, but wonder if you should focus on certain ones more. Will they be replaced later?

I read something that said the heroes gained later in the game are better than the ones gained earlier. Is that Correct?

And it leads me to my next question: How do people like to run their parties? Which is the most fun, or the most OP?

I run with:
1) Mordred or a Sage or a champion
2) Champion
3) Vanguard (or marksman)
4) Arcanist (If sage replaces Mordred, I was then thinking of using another #3)

What are your thoughts on composition?
Especially with thoughts towards end game?

I am trying to figure out who to kill and who to leave in my party, and who I should focus on.

(I have gone christian rightful, but made Merlin rightful instead of old faith in editing the heroes config... mainly because I like the arcanist class)

[kbiz]

After all is said and done, I think Kay, Morgana, Isolde, and Guinevere make one of the strongest parties available.

In the early game, Kay, Dindraine, Ector, Mordred

Mid-game, Kay, Merlin, Dindraine, Mordred. Just kidding. Get Dindraine out of there! Grab a vanguard or play Isolde.

Late game, Kay, Morgana, Merlin, Mordred. Or Kay, Morgana, Isolde, Mordred.

Strongest heroes late game: Kay, Morgana, Merlin, all sages, pre-nerfed vanguards, White Knight.

[madocs]

So sages are strong? Good to know... I have yet to use too many
I always try and make sure I have a spellcraft and perception guy in the group

[kbiz]

Originally posted by madocs:

So sages are strong?

Yes, late game sages are very strong. Not by themselves. But when paired with champions and vanguards. Especially champions.

Two sages only though. Your last character should be an arcanist. You want some distance damage dealing and debuffs like Death Hex.

Lots of people consider the power of individual knights in isolation. You want to consider power as a party instead.

[pascal.difolco]

I'd be wary of Vanguards mid game, especially against Sidhe, they're not effective and get killed quite easily...

[Feremir]

I´ve finished the game on very hard and I can share some of my experience with the game...
Early game just go for what you got not much to add...

The best heroes are : Lancelot,Tegyr,Balin,Guinevere and Morgana.(and Mordred ofc)
Marksmen are worthless,4 ap for a basic attack is just trash.
Champions are also trash,they lack mobility and the only good one is Lancelot,reason beeing is his skills are really strong and also his support skills.
Vanguards are the best,you wanna use hide+jump= insane backstab damage especially on late game where you´ll get bonus damage + extra movement,extra ap for each kill.
Arcanists:Morgana is the best arcanist,her CC (ice magic) is just superior to fire.
Sage:Guinevere,her freezing attack,teleport,inspire+wish of death is just aswesome.
I´ve also tested Morgawse;she can be good but lacks the teleport skill,you can use the ring of teleportation tho.

The thing is,end-game wise you need at least to kill 2-3 mobs per hero and have your tank(Mordred) getting all the damage/aggro.The heroes that I mentioned above are just superior in every way.

Side note:keep Sir Ector for the Enchanted Tower and events.

[kbiz]

Originally posted by Feremir:

Marksmen are worthless,4 ap for a basic attack is just trash.
Champions are also trash ....

Nice job on Very Hard.

Someone should compile all the great quotes about marksmen. I love to hear the first time everyone says it.

However, champions are the best class. Full stop.

[Feremir]

Originally posted by kbiz:

Originally posted by Feremir:

Marksmen are worthless,4 ap for a basic attack is just trash.
Champions are also trash ....

Nice job on Very Hard.

Someone should compile all the great quotes about marksmen. I love to hear the first time everyone says it.

However, champions are the best class. Full stop.

The problem with marksmen would be:
Shoot-it´s a 4ap skill that does 100% damage,even when it´s fully upgraded doesn´t get much better.
Poisoned Arrow-the damage reduction is insignificant and the damage over time too.
Fire Arrow-It´s "meh".
Dash-Is somewhat good.
That´s the reason why marksmen dosen´t compare to the other top tier heroes.
The least bad marksmen would be Sir Bors, for me the "smothering shot" skill stands out.

Champions: Sir Lancelot has the best skills.

Ice spikes:Outstanding AoE
Assault:good for closing in and chain kill
Lone Wolf:more damage
Inspire:A buff that helps the entire party,best skill in the game

Now compare Lancelot skills to the others,the only one that comes "close" would be the Black Knight,since his usefull skills are: power attack, leap attack,earth shaker and extra area damage.Sir Kay and White knight also comes to more or less the same level as the Black Knight.

The problem with champions is when you compare their skills to the vanguard´s ones.
Skills like :jump,hide,throwing dagger,jump attack,backstab,assassination and master assassination are the skills that makes vanguards stand out from other melee classes.
Even the basic skill,"strike" cost 1 extra ap for champions.For me there is not much reason to use them outside early game.
That´s the thing in the mid to end game you need to kill and cc mobs as fast as possible since everything tends to hit very hard that´s the reason for my top tier heroes.

[Ace490]

Originally posted by Feremir:

I´ve finished the game on very hard and I can share some of my experience with the game...
Early game just go for what you got not much to add...

The best heroes are : Lancelot,Tegyr,Balin,Guinevere and Morgana.(and Mordred ofc)
Marksmen are worthless,4 ap for a basic attack is just trash.
Champions are also trash,they lack mobility and the only good one is Lancelot,reason beeing is his skills are really strong and also his support skills.
Vanguards are the best,you wanna use hide+jump= insane backstab damage especially on late game where you´ll get bonus damage + extra movement,extra ap for each kill.
Arcanists:Morgana is the best arcanist,her CC (ice magic) is just superior to fire.
Sage:Guinevere,her freezing attack,teleport,inspire+wish of death is just aswesome.
I´ve also tested Morgawse;she can be good but lacks the teleport skill,you can use the ring of teleportation tho.

The thing is,end-game wise you need at least to kill 2-3 mobs per hero and have your tank(Mordred) getting all the damage/aggro.The heroes that I mentioned above are just superior in every way.

Side note:keep Sir Ector for the Enchanted Tower and events.

Have to almost completely agree with Feremir's assessment here. I never used any champions after the mid game because they don't synergise well with the rest of the team and just offer too little crowd control. They might be useful if you have that trinket or armour that allows them to teleport to the next enemy on kill but I never got one. Guinevere's teleport is great to control ranged enemy units and she is even better to control the enemy backline than the vanguards if it is spread out. I personally prefer having Morgawse in my team since she has such a strong set of skills to deny enemy damage and steal APs which becomes essential when you can't take out enemy mobs quickly enough anymore. Find some stuff to reduce her skill cooldowns and spam ice shield, then freeze, stun and shock. She can lock down 3-4 enemies at the same time without taking any damage at all while the rest of your team cleans up the battlefield.

[madocs]

I recently played with a defender, I think Sir Pelegyr? His taunt was incredible, and then to watch my vanguard who was already behind the mob before they moved in on him, just backstab about 4 units to death in the one turn was awesome!

Does anyone use defenders apart from Mordred end game?

Otherwise sounds like mordred, Lancelot (champion) ,Tegyr (vanguard) ,Balin (vanguard) ,Guinevere (sage) and Morgana (arcanist).

I like the fact that a champion can solo one or 2 units on the side by himself (like an off-tank)... I guess that ability is less important end game.

[kbiz]

Originally posted by madocs:

Otherwise sounds like mordred, Lancelot (champion) ,Tegyr (vanguard) ,Balin (vanguard) ,Guinevere (sage) and Morgana (arcanist).

No. Kay, Morgana, Isolde, and Guinevere. Hear me now, believe me later.

Champions are the most powerful class. And Kay is the most powerful champion.

Yes, there is one on this forum that uses two (2) defenders late game. Maybe he will see this thread.

[kbiz]

Originally posted by Feremir:

The problem with marksmen would be: ...

I completely agree with you about marksmen. No one knows marksmen suck when they first play the game. It's a discovery process. And then everyone discovers it. What's funny is how everyone expresses it for the first time on the forum. It's pure gold to me.

I don't deny you have a good strategy. There are a number of good strategies.

Yes, Lancelot is the typical favorite champion. It's been expressed over and over. Assault and Inspire.

But you guys have to appreciate that a good champion can rampage. And no one does it better than Kay. Wipe a battlefield turn one.

[kbiz]

Originally posted by Ace490:

They might be useful if you have that trinket or armour that allows them to teleport to the next enemy on kill but I never got one.

A teleport ring is a level 5 relic. You have at least 3-4 attempts to get it from the enchanted tower before party level 12.

It's true, a champion shines with the teleport ring. But it is not needed.

[Tom Cormie]

I think the marksman would need to hide, in the 2nd Tier, and a mastery for shoot which reduces AP to 3. Hiding would keep him/her safe between rounds, and the surprise would increase his damage. After all these changes, I think it could be used in the late game as well.

[Feremir]

Originally posted by kbiz:

Champions are the most powerful class. And Kay is the most powerful champion.

Sir Kay is usefull at early game because he got the cleave skill early on,aside from that he doesn't bring anything speacial or unique as a character;after you get the other knights there is no reason to use him.
There is also another problem,he´s a neutral character,meaning it will be hard to level up his loyalty so you'll miss the 20% damage + extra ap later on the game.

[Feremir]

Originally posted by madocs:

I recently played with a defender, I think Sir Pelegyr? His taunt was incredible, and then to watch my vanguard who was already behind the mob before they moved in on him, just backstab about 4 units to death in the one turn was awesome!

Does anyone use defenders apart from Mordred end game?

Otherwise sounds like mordred, Lancelot (champion) ,Tegyr (vanguard) ,Balin (vanguard) ,Guinevere (sage) and Morgana (arcanist).

I like the fact that a champion can solo one or 2 units on the side by himself (like an off-tank)... I guess that ability is less important end game.

Aside from Mordred you can also use the Red Knight,Sir Galahad and Sir Percival.They're are good but Mordred still have a better skill set.