strategy for industrial faction

[Robert II. Flanderský]

Hello guys,

I love industrial faction, but somehow cant pull it off. Main problem are mystics, i get absolutely destroyed on their units.
When i try to build against it (tome of warding etc). I am lacking in other aspects.

I would say, for me its low medium, winning only because its AI and not every AI is playing magic. Once magic is introduced, i am screwed.

Any tips? Or just play something else?

[sisqo102]

Tome of warding shouldn't completely hold you back but there are also a few spell resistance things in the industry tomes. Adaptive armor in tome of transmutation. Spell tempered shields in another. There's probably other things. Should be a good start for basic magic resistance.

Make sure to engage magic units asap because they can't cast without moving. Don't forget to bring steelshapers because their defense mode buffs against magic damage.

Are you also getting outproduced? If there's any problems there you might refine your build orders and city placements etc.

It does seem like mystic is powerful in general and it may still be a counter-pick to industrious but hopefully something in here helps

[Fendelphi]

I guess it depends what exactly about the "mystics" your issue is?

But some general tips.
First off, do not rely on golems when fighting Mystics and Astrals in general. Their weakness to Lightning makes them quite vulnerable to most Astral units.

Wind Rager elemental is decent at dealing with them though. It has a weakness to Frost, but also has resistance towards Lightning(which is by far the most dominant damage type on Astral builds). Their high movement(40), Floating and -60% accuracy penalty to ranged attacks also makes them close distance fast and hard to damage with ranged attacks. And they hit resonably hard thanks to Frenzy.
The same tome also gives you Zephyr archers, which can penalize enemies grouping up.

Tome of Evocation is also good. Lightning damage counters Astral units(they are their own weakness, basically). Get lightning weapons or use lightning spells. The tier 3 Storm Spirit has a similar role as the Wind Rager, hard to hit from range, resistant to lightning.

Materium is all about outproducing your enemy. Your cities should develope faster in terms of buildings compared to others(lots of gold and production).