I am still struggling to win a game

[The Sprinkler]

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed unfair that hero's and factions that can spawn enemies mid battle seemed OP, and you all had mentioned that all factions are OP in their own regard.
I thought I'd keep trying at the game, but I keep getting far outnumbered by the enemy. Am I missing something? Is the map "Feud of Three" just a really difficult map, and I should be trying a different one?

[Plasma Snake]

Try playing really conservative (especially in the beginning) and focus on gaining/retaining as many troops as possible, in the end it's a numbers game.

[ν]

Try one of the ranged focused factions to lose as few troops as possible (e.g. Order, the one with pandas I forgot the name, and Tide which also has melee units that retreat to avoid losses) or make a really strong caster hero that doesn't even need an army (Arcane is best for this). You can easily take a 500 man army with 100 good arabalists or a hero from the Arcane faction.

Make sure to also recruit heroes regularly from an upgraded tavern (once a week since their levels don't change until a new week) and just use their bodyguards to reduce enemy numbers, explore, or flank and take the enemy town.

[Mr W]

One of the most important buildings to build in all of your towns is the Infirmary, so that you can keep a lot of your lost troops to use in later battles. Also remember that you have to constantly fight to level your heroes.

[Franstastic]

It's very simple, fight all fights that increase your heroes power (Hero x troops=power), if you lose 10% of your troops and your hero gets 12% stronger it's worth it, any battle where the result is an increase in power it is always worthwhile.
This makes The skills devour, dragonking, bloodwarping, creation, and learning the most valuable skills on a hero.
Heroes with both Dragonking and devour are completely busted, creation and regeneration is also busted, bloodwarping and champion together is busted.
A hero with both dragonking and devour can easily reach over 1000Attack/defence

[Omni]

Originally posted by Franstastic:

It's very simple, fight all fights that increase your heroes power (Hero x troops=power), if you lose 10% of your troops and your hero gets 12% stronger it's worth it, any battle where the result is an increase in power it is always worthwhile.
This makes The skills devour, dragonking, bloodwarping, creation, and learning the most valuable skills on a hero.
Heroes with both Dragonking and devour are completely busted, creation and regeneration is also busted, bloodwarping and champion together is busted.
A hero with both dragonking and devour can easily reach over 1000Attack/defence

Is the Devour tracked? I swear I've used devour countless times and I've never seen the attack/defense go up; granted it was only on a large amount of minions and possibly bodyguards.

[The Sprinkler]

Originally posted by Franstastic:

It's very simple, fight all fights that increase your heroes power (Hero x troops=power), if you lose 10% of your troops and your hero gets 12% stronger it's worth it, any battle where the result is an increase in power it is always worthwhile.
This makes The skills devour, dragonking, bloodwarping, creation, and learning the most valuable skills on a hero.
Heroes with both Dragonking and devour are completely busted, creation and regeneration is also busted, bloodwarping and champion together is busted.
A hero with both dragonking and devour can easily reach over 1000Attack/defence

I'm currently trying a game as the Horde faction, with the skill Legion. I just learned Dragonking as well. I picked a different map and thus far I think I'm doing better.

Originally posted by Mr W:

One of the most important buildings to build in all of your towns is the Infirmary, so that you can keep a lot of your lost troops to use in later battles. Also remember that you have to constantly fight to level your heroes.

I've almost always built the infirmary as early as possible.

Originally posted by Sonata:

Try one of the ranged focused factions to lose as few troops as possible (e.g. Order, the one with pandas I forgot the name, and Tide which also has melee units that retreat to avoid losses) or make a really strong caster hero that doesn't even need an army (Arcane is best for this). You can easily take a 500 man army with 100 good arabalists or a hero from the Arcane faction.

Make sure to also recruit heroes regularly from an upgraded tavern (once a week since their levels don't change until a new week) and just use their bodyguards to reduce enemy numbers, explore, or flank and take the enemy town.

I attempted making a large number of ranged units my first time playing, figuring wiping out the enemy before they are in range would be a good strategy. I forgot to factor in spells though lol

Originally posted by Plasma Snake:

Try playing really conservative (especially in the beginning) and focus on gaining/retaining as many troops as possible, in the end it's a numbers game.

Since it's a numbers game, wouldn't one hero with all the troops be strategy?

[Franstastic]

Originally posted by Omni:

Is the Devour tracked? I swear I've used devour countless times and I've never seen the attack/defense go up; granted it was only on a large amount of minions and possibly bodyguards.

You should devour units with the highest power value, that's why it's so good with dragonking

[boho]

See https://steamcommunity.com/app/1656780/discussions/0/3184613366902875913/

[Woah!!!!]

Numbers in this game are not everything. while the macro game is essential to survive later, much of the combat is about the value that you get out of your units. getting high value out of lower powered units is how you can win near impossible battles. using spells like army of giants, holy light, and shield are good at squeezing value out of units that would have otherwise died quickly. a spell like evolve is also great at this since you can turn your stack of 200 anima into 200 random level 2 units though i would avoid using it on heroes where unit composition is key. which brings me to my next point. after some trial and error, i can conclude that going with all elite units is a bad idea. the same goes for a ranged majority and low level swarms. these strategies don't work as well as one would think because many of the units can't carry their own weight. even dragons fall quickly if they stand alone against an entire army. your units need to be able to carry each other and they can't do that if they are all the same. if one unit can be countered by an enemy unit, then having more of them isn't the answer. you want units that will protect one another from their respective counters, which will keep them alive longer and give you more value. i hope this helps. I know I didn't go into skills and stuff but i felt that this response was way too long already. If you want to know my take on skills though then tell me :)

[FaintPulse]

Originally posted by The Sprinkler:

Since it's a numbers game, wouldn't one hero with all the troops be strategy?

For the first two weeks, this is what I do. All new troops, all experience, all items go to my primary hero. I make sure my primary hero gets at least one fight per day (mana can be a bottleneck on this point if you’re engaging enemy stacks that are difficult enough to require casting).

I’m not sure my Tavern strategy is perfect, but: I typically build a Tavern D2 or D3 of W1. I buy a new hero the day I build it, no matter the selection. I strip that hero of its troops and send them to my primary hero. Secondary hero now goes around and collects scattered resources in the vicinity / follows the primary hero to pick up the resources nearby indie fights. My primary hero does not waste actions on collecting resources. I upgrade Tavern on D7 of W1. If the new choice is good, buy. If not, wait for D1 of W2, when the selection resets.

With that primary hero’s stack, I win the game basically. Troops are either ferried forward or moved independently. Secondary heroes with bodyguards or smaller stacks can pick “Easy” and “Moderate” fights in the backfield while primary hero continues to push forward/explore.

Meta things to make your win on Normal easier:

• Set “Starting resources” and “Scattered resources” to “High” in the advanced options when generating new map.
  
• There should be other options in the advanced menu you can tweak for an easier starting experience.
  
• Play on a large map with only one enemy faction. Time and space.
  
• Wherever you spawn, after you purchase your D1 troops, make sure there is an “Easy” or “Moderate” fight in your starting hero’s immediate vicinity. If not, restart. I restart during W1 pretty often if I realize I botched my open or just got dealt a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hand with map gen.

[Power Button]

Originally posted by The Sprinkler:

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed unfair that hero's and factions that can spawn enemies mid battle seemed OP, and you all had mentioned that all factions are OP in their own regard.
I thought I'd keep trying at the game, but I keep getting far outnumbered by the enemy. Am I missing something? Is the map "Feud of Three" just a really difficult map, and I should be trying a different one?

I don't know about you, but are you playing on normal or harder?

This is my first win for normal difficulty since day-one purchase. I don't know if the normal difficulty is nerfed but it's easier than the last time I played it. Or am I getting better? dunno time to test it on challenging.

But I know my mistake:
1. I never pay any attention to bodyguard skill, hence I neglect to build champion statue until very very late game.
2. I always focus on securing nodes in the cost of my main army (you can secure them with hero with bodyguards skill)
3. I didn't notice that town-portal skill is there
4. I didn't know that there's no hero limit so you can hire them as many as you can, pick one with good bodyguard skill and instead of being outnumbered you outnumber the enemy.

[The Sprinkler]

Originally posted by Power Button:

Originally posted by The Sprinkler:

So, I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed unfair that hero's and factions that can spawn enemies mid battle seemed OP, and you all had mentioned that all factions are OP in their own regard.
I thought I'd keep trying at the game, but I keep getting far outnumbered by the enemy. Am I missing something? Is the map "Feud of Three" just a really difficult map, and I should be trying a different one?

I don't know about you, but are you playing on normal or harder?

This is my first win for normal difficulty since day-one purchase. I don't know if the normal difficulty is nerfed but it's easier than the last time I played it. Or am I getting better? dunno time to test it on challenging.

But I know my mistake:
1. I never pay any attention to bodyguard skill, hence I neglect to build champion statue until very very late game.
2. I always focus on securing nodes in the cost of my main army (you can secure them with hero with bodyguards skill)
3. I didn't notice that town-portal skill is there
4. I didn't know that there's no hero limit so you can hire them as many as you can, pick one with good bodyguard skill and instead of being outnumbered you outnumber the enemy.

In regards to the bodyguard skill, if I only have my starting hero and I have that skill, does the skill become useless? As well, if my main hero is the strongest unit, and I have a second hero who is weaker, does the bodyguard skill on my main hero also become useless?

[Lucy!!]

Best strategy is to start with Tavern, get two heroes and group all the units into the best hero option you have preferably with unit growth/retention, mobility, or spellcasting. Use your off heroes to scout for preferable jungling routes and gathering resources. Use your main force to take easy fights and level up. The other thing is decision making, it's better to farm xp and get items than it is for capturing resources early because you need to snowball as fast as possible. In combat do your best to minimize unit losses, use the terrain to force choke points, have your forces in a corner or far back as possible to utilize range. Play the skirmish mode to work on strategy, unit counters, and how to best utilize your army compositions.

[Nefaro]

Originally posted by Sonata:

Try one of the ranged focused factions to lose as few troops as possible (e.g. Order, the one with pandas I forgot the name, and Tide which also has melee units that retreat to avoid losses) or make a really strong caster hero that doesn't even need an army (Arcane is best for this). You can easily take a 500 man army with 100 good arabalists or a hero from the Arcane faction.

Make sure to also recruit heroes regularly from an upgraded tavern (once a week since their levels don't change until a new week) and just use their bodyguards to reduce enemy numbers, explore, or flank and take the enemy town.

Horde has some great mid-to-high power ranged unit options. A pair of them have ranged AoE attacks plus they don't get penalized in melee like most ranged units. Dual-purpose!

[Mr W]

The Horde also has the Nomads, which are budget heroes that can't get extra troops. That may not seem great, but since they may have the Bodyguard skill you can use them as extra expendable troops.