Basic High Elf Druid Strategy

[Percy Jackson]

I am coming back to AoW 3 after a gap of a few years. I looked at some tutorials, and poked around with the settings in random maps for a while before starting the following:

A. Small Map (Manageable)
B. Single City, Metropolis, No Independent Cities, No Dwellings, No Settlers (Want to keep number of Units manageable, can't manage too many Units)
C. Two Allied AI-Emperors against me. Will tweak next game difficulty up or down depending on how this goes

I am playing High Elf Arch-Druid.
Wanted to confirm a few things:

1. I will get Tier 4 Unit as Horned God (Class Unit). Are there are any racial class 4 units? For any race?

2.
My Hunters start 2 ranks higher, have +1 ranged damage from Racial Governance, and +1 from Race (High Elf) for a a total of 8 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 12 Damage.
They have 4 upkeep per unit.

My Gryphons start with no bonuses, and have 16 upkeep per unit.

I have 100 gold per turn spare. Should I have 25 Hunters, or 12 Gryphons? In general, is 1 Gryphon worth 4 hunters? Also, managing can I manage so many stacks of hunters if I make them?

Note: If Hunters are better, I can change over my existing Gryphons to Hunters.

3.
My Arch Druid units will have Mana upkeep. What are the best ones to produce?

4.
If I produce a building/unit on a turn, and there is spare capacity, is it wasted?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

1. I will get Tier 4 Unit as Horned God (Class Unit). Are there are any racial class 4 units? For any race?

No, not unless you install mods. However, there are tier 4 units in dwellings and from the alignment-based specialisations. You can also summon them with secret spells, if you're lucky enough to find them.

Oh, and do note Druids can also summon King Reed/Shock serpents, so you get 3 summonable tier 4 units from the get-go, more than any other class.

2.My Hunters start 2 ranks higher, have +1 ranged damage from Racial Governance, and +1 from Race (High Elf) for a a total of 8 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 12 Damage.
They have 4 upkeep per unit.

My Gryphons start with no bonuses, and have 16 upkeep per unit.

I have 100 gold per turn spare. Should I have 25 Hunters, or 12 Gryphons? In general, is 1 Gryphon worth 4 hunters? Also, managing can I manage so many stacks of hunters if I make them?

Elven Hunters are extremely cost effective. But gryphons offer you tactical and strategic options that hunters don't. Their flight and greater speed lets you attack places hunters can't, both on the strategic map and in combat. The combination of first strike and Tireless (at gold medal) means can tie down and defeat many lesser units in melee. Their extra hitpoints and defences mean you are far less likely to lose gryphons, meaning you don't need to spend gold replacing them.

Numbers also have diminishing returns, because in practical terms you can't really attack with more than 3 stacks at a time. 4 hunters might outclass 1 gryphon, but 400 hunters won't outclass 100 gryhpons, because the gryphons will fight them on equal terms, one battle after the other.

Mostly you're somewhere between those extremes, of course. And having multiple cheap armies operating on multiple fronts is also very nice.

Bottom line for me though is that you're best off mixing it up. Use cheap units to bulk out your force, with a few expensive tough ones to give them muscle and open up new tactics.

Of course, as a druid you can also use summoned creatures in that role. But you don't get a lot of good flying summons, so gryphons still have their uses.

3.My Arch Druid units will have Mana upkeep. What are the best ones to produce?

It's partially random, for most summoning spells. But early on, try to get as many baby spiders and serpents as possible and evolve them. Baby spiders are great by themselves because of their web ability. Baby serpents aren't that great, but can evolve to become some of your strongest units. Spider queens aren't quite as strong in the late game, but wonderful when you get them, with some really nice special abilities.

(This is why Goblin druid is actually my favourite combo. Elves are stronger mechanically, true, but the idea of a Goblin swamp druid with an army of spiders is just too much fun.)

Other tier 1 summons are usually better used as scouts or cannon fodder.

I rarely use the second summoning spell much. The last summon creature spell can get you some amazing creatures, though. I typically prefer it to the horned god unless I have gazillions of mana.

4.If I produce a building/unit on a turn, and there is spare capacity, is it wasted

Yes. In Planetfall it is not, but in this game it's wasted.

[Percy Jackson]

Update on my game. I am still learning the ropes. Upgrades paths, etc.
One of the AI's took my throne city.

After a little scare, I took it back.
Killed 5 of his Tier III units. Didn't lose a single Tier III of mine.

[Percy Jackson]

I now have an Arcane Forge. What should I forge?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Whatever you want.

Generally, items from the forge are not as strong as those you find, but you can make some that are rare in dungeons.

Always useful: Wands of healing/nourishing meal/etc.
Useful for archer types: Hats of Seeking, Quivers of elemental damage X & Y
Useful for melee heroes without armour: armour of +2 def & armoured
Useful for heroes with first strike: Boots with tireless

[Percy Jackson]

Originally posted by Iguana-on-a-stick:

Whatever you want.

Generally, items from the forge are not as strong as those you find, but you can make some that are rare in dungeons.

Always useful: Wands of healing/nourishing meal/etc.
Useful for archer types: Hats of Seeking, Quivers of elemental damage X & Y
Useful for melee heroes without armour: armour of +2 def & armoured
Useful for heroes with first strike: Boots with tireless

I thought tireless would be useful for all heroes.

Does the forge make quivers?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

It's useful for all heroes, but a spellcaster or archer will benefit more from boots that bolster defenses. It's extra useful for heroes with first strike, because when retaliating first strike often means you get 1 more counter-attack than you otherwise would. Which is great, but will also drain your action points really quickly. So tireless becomes top priority.

Quivers and shields are the same item in this game and can have +Ranged damage in the forge, it just makes more sense to give them a quiver graphic. But if you want a shield to boost your bow instead, go ahead.

[Percy Jackson]

Originally posted by Iguana-on-a-stick:

It's useful for all heroes, but a spellcaster or archer will benefit more from boots that bolster defenses. It's extra useful for heroes with first strike, because when retaliating first strike often means you get 1 more counter-attack than you otherwise would. Which is great, but will also drain your action points really quickly. So tireless becomes top priority.

Quivers and shields are the same item in this game and can have +Ranged damage in the forge, it just makes more sense to give them a quiver graphic. But if you want a shield to boost your bow instead, go ahead.

Thanks. I didn;t know that First Strike meant one extra attack.
Then tireless is definitely important. and first strike is very useful.

How do you get first strike on a hero?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

It's only an extra attack when counter-attacking, and only when the enemy makes less than 3 attacks. But that is quite often.

Normally, the attack/counterattack sequence goes like this: Attacker, Defender, A, D, A, D

If the defender has first strike it goes: D, A, D, A, D, A

If the attacker only attacks twice because he needed to move, it goes: A, D, A D

Now if the defender has first strike and attacker attacks twice, it goes D, A, D, A, D. The defender still gets that third attack. But without tireless, the defender is now completely exhausted and cannot act on his own turn.

As for how to get first strike: Warlords and Rogues can get it on level-up, other heroes will need magic items. Weapons, mostly, though the gryphon mount I believe also gives it.

[Percy Jackson]

I just played a game, and I as loot from a site I got a raptor egg, and that gave me a raptor
mount.

But how do I get a gryphon mount for a hero?

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Two options:

1] Explore a lot of treasure sites and hope you find an egg.
2] Play a sorcerer and cast the invoke mount spell until you get lucky and summon an egg.

Essentially, it's random. There's lots of mounts (or eggs) you can find as random treasure, and many of them are pretty great. The raptor is one of the weakest, the strongest include stuff like Manticores and Cockatrices.

[Percy Jackson]

What are the best ways to handle healing?

I manage to defeat independent armies, but lose the occasional unit, and many of my units need to heal.
That slows me down in terms of hero progression.

Note:
1. Is moving with two stacks instead of one a better idea?That way I will have more force to bring/spread across.

[Cindeerella]

Originally posted by Percy Jackson:

1. Is moving with two stacks instead of one a better idea?That way I will have more force to bring/spread across.

I’ve been playing AoW only few hours on record, but from my experience. I’ve played Goblin rogue with hard enemies and weak armies, with army of only 1 tier and one tier 2 goblin support I was able to win against dragon + 5 wyverns with some loses (If I wasn’t imbecile I would lose even less). Thing is that I bring crows to the fight, that eats dragon breath at the start of combat. And if I played with crows better later on/brought more crows I could consistently take away dragon’s AP to make him less devastating on my army. So answering to your question, yes , even army of some fodder would drastically improve outcomes of very tough battles for your main force. After you meet computer that probably would be best option to move on his territory with at least 2+ stacks, that’s for sure. To keep him on bigger pressure, as AI always tend to have few armies guardiang city if cornered, from my experience.
Edit. Also regarding your first question, you can have Warlord hero with “Quick recovery?” skill (not good with names yet, sorry, that one that heals unit by additional 6 points of hp when hero leads an army) going near you (as second army) and you can simply give him injured creatures to have them healed twice as faster. Outside of combat I can’t suggest anything else so far, sorry.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

The best way to speed up your early game is to reduce the amount of damage you take, but that's easier said than done and will require practice.

Having some fodder is certainly helpful, as is keeping back injured units so they have time to heal. (Don't overdo it though, even summoned crows cost quite a bit of mana and could also be used to explore and grab gold and mana piles that are lying around.)

But the first priority is to get some healing for your army.

How depends on what you're playing, some class/race/specialisation combos have it much easier than others.

* Humans priests can heal, which makes them a nice beginner race. Halflings and Dwarf priests can also heal, but aren't as effective as the human priests.
* Creation magic has a healing spell. Sorcerers also get a healing spell, but it's more expensive. There's a few other healing spells but they're harder to get.
* Theocrats and undead can get lots of healing abilities for their support units. (Though the undead only get to heal undead.)
* Theocrat and Archdruid heroes can learn healing abilities. The Dreadnought gets a minor healing ability. Sorcerer heroes can (and should) learn that sorcerer healing spell. Druids and warlords can also get a passive healing ability.
* All heroes might get lucky and find a healing item. The item forge can make them, but you won't have that early on.
* Some races heal faster: Draconians always do, Goblins when standing on wetlands, Orcs get free healing when they win battles

As an Elf druid, your best bet is to get your leader the nourishing meal ability ASAP and the heal ability later. Also take Natural Healer. You have other sources of healing, but they generally arrive later. Also hang on to any items you find with a healing ability.

In combat make sure to always use your healing abilities as often as possible. (Which is usually once per battle.) If you have a wounded unit, it can be a great idea to attack a bunch of weak armies in a row and each time use the Nourishing Meal ability to heal him. (Works great as long as you don't then take more damage from the new enemies.)

Originally posted by Spirit Alpha:

consistently take away dragon’s AP to make him less devastating on my army

This right here is one of the most important ways to deal with tough enemies. It's even better to use tough units to take away enemy AP so you don't lose any units, but of course that's only possible later in the game.

[ItchyDani3l]

I don't want to spark any controversy, but I feel like the High-elf Druid combo is strong (?) in the early game because of the ability to charm independent animals.

You can build tier 1 armies faster because of this.

But they really really suffer in the endgame compared to other classes. The Horned God is an okay Tier 4 unit, but Sorcerer and Druid both have the issue of dividing Casting Points between summoning units (the only way to get a tier 4 mind you), and casting other useful spells.

Some of the most powerful effects in the game are end-game empire-wide spells, such as Armageddon.

Other classes like Rogue, Warlord, Theocrat, and Dreadnought can use production to make their tier 4 units, and save their casting points for city/empire spells.

Arch Druids can't compete when it comes to wars of attrition, where the victor is decided by production+casting per turn. In the endgame, there are not many independents around to farm either, and other players won't often have animal units to charm.

So basically, Druid is good for small maps, but not so much for giant maps.

Also keep in mind, production scales with empire size, but casting more-or-less does not. (Grand Palaces can help, but even in late game they are not common) So casting-based classes are always going to be more powerful balance-wise on smaller maps, and less powerul on large ones.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Production classes are indeed stronger in the late game. But they need to get to the late game for that to matter. Even on a large map, a strong early game means you can conquer a bunch of neighbours and then have 3 times as big an empire as your warlord neighbour. And then it doesn't really matter who has the best ultimate spell.

Generally speaking, if someone is casting an ultimate spell the game is pretty much over. They were designed to help you mop up a game you'd basically won anyway. Exceptions are very large maps where players deliberately (or accidentally) stretch things out by not fighting any wars for 150 turns, but the game kinda breaks down anyway if you do that.

But all in all I would agree that the Druid has the weakest endgame. Sorcerers at least can do fun stuff like teleport armies (only to their capital, but you can move your capital) or cast 3 hellfire spells in 1 tactical combat, and still have casting points to summon half a stack of units. Having your army float isn't quite as interesting.