Tips for using dogs?

[Professor Von-Wulfen ]

They seem expensive, can they be controlled once set free?
Also is there a class that is best suited to use dogs?
Cheers

[Tephros83]

Originally posted by Baron Von-Wulfen:

They seem expensive, can they be controlled once set free?
Also is there a class that is best suited to use dogs?
Cheers

They tend to go for the closest opponent, and I think they will prefer one in the direction you release them over a similar one the other way. They cannot be controlled or called back after that.

There are sort of 4 ways I use them. When enemies are fleeing and you can't catch them, the dogs move more tiles per turn and are more likely to catch them before they reach the map edge. If all enemies are fleeing, there's no risk in doing this other than maybe friendly archer fire.

A similar way is when enemies are withdrawing but not fleeing. The dogs have high initiative, so will usually go first. Withdrawing enemies will fight back, and dogs are kind of fragile. With armor they can usually survive a few turns vs things like knives, so then your men can catch up and kill the enemy the dog was delaying.

Another way is in emergencies. Enemies prioritize killing dogs more than they should, so the dog can distract the enemy and save your brother.

A 4th way is to disrupt ranged units, so that they are forced into melee and your men can advance without getting shot. I rarely do this since the dog will likely die, maybe in certain goblin fights esp with overseers.

Houndmasters release dogs as confident, boosting defense and hit chance by 10%. Houndmasters are a good melee background in general and are more often found in cities with kennels.

[Abel]

Sadly, no, the options are very limited. You can't even recall them once they're let free. Yes, they cost a lot, so you should only use them to save your recruits, to chase targets that can be easily killed or even if threatening, that would give you more than what would cost a Dog.

Best Dog users are close to the action, usually have spare APs and don't take too many hits (otherwise they get Bandages). Houndmasters let their Dogs out with Confident Morale if memory serves.

[EroticOnion23]

How do you put armor on your doggos??

[Estieukua]

Some come readily coated in armour; others don't. Apparently, after having it put on, the armoured ones keep it on for the rest of their lives ...

[EpyonComet]

First reply nailed it. I always keep my six front-liners (well, five now since one has the Undead charm thingie) outfitted with armored dogs. Of course, I don't use them unless it's for one of the four situations mentioned, but when those do pop up, they are invaluable in my experience.

[Kohl the Enchanter]

they really come in handy when dealing with a large numbers of orc warriors, keep some of them occupied while the others go to my two handers

[gnorf73]

Another good way to use them is in really difficult fights where you have a lot of ranged units. Similar to slowing down withdrawing or retreating units, they can slow down a charge and allow you to get more shots in before melee begins.

[Professor Von-Wulfen ]

Cheers all for the great advice. I bought an an armored dog last night, put him with my archer. The archer tried to retreat too late and was almosd dead when i released his dog, dog killed 2 of the 3 attackers, survived and saved my bacon :)

[Abel]

Nice! Dogs can sometime do wonderful work! More often than not though, mine get killed.

[Professor Von-Wulfen ]

Originally posted by Abel:

Nice! Dogs can sometime do wonderful work! More often than not though, mine get killed.

I think as i had droped most of the enemy armor the dog tore through them :)

[Hollow]

War dogs' core value lies in their ability to force the enemy to prioritize targeting them and save that valuable few turns for your mercs, no matter it is for retreating or attacking. You use dogs to save your merc's life or as tactical distraction. They are not useful in early-mid game when everything is easy. But they are extremely useful when trying to save your merc from mercenaries and goblins, or avoiding a painful hit from orc beserker while your two hander giving them the finishing blow. But your units have to have enough mobelization perks for this to work. (such as rotation and footwork) Never expect dogs to actually taking down anything, and take their life as a expandable. In late game a few 258-500 crown war dog is nothing of value comparing to your level 11 elite mercs.

[Shashaveli]

Armored wardogs are useful as tactical release or massed release. They can force morale checks on enemies and are quite useful against goblins. Also - distracting necrosavants, keeping a zombie horde dead. They are not so useful vs orcs, because the orcs WILL gut them quickly and get confident status from the kill.

[Noog]

I use them to chase fleeing opponents, as meatsheilds, or to get bonuses while surrounding.

I only buy armored ones

[Professor Von-Wulfen ]

I think as this is my new play-through, as soon as I find a hound-master ill hire him and get an armored dog. I have found a town with a large kennel but no hound-master to hire. I have had a few battles since then and plan to revisit the town to see if i cant find me a good hound-master :)

[Shashaveli]

Just 1 wardog won't do much, except for chase down fleeing foes at the end of battle. It can still pay for itself by catching a couple of brigand marksmen :)