Any Sisters of Battle guide or tips?

[Lampros]

I am clueless, and they seem very different from other factions? The lack of strong late-game vehicle options (and a way to heal them) is especially difficult for me to get a handle on.

[Grotzel]

1. Trust in the God Emperor of Mankind.
2. Trust in Sacred Rites, Sisters & Synergy (& a well equipped Saint Celestine).
There are many great options to buff well positioned infantry with hospitalers, imagifiers or heroes. The research that allows you to activate two rites per turn is excellent.

I think influence is pretty important for Sisters - both for rites and for the ability to produce and equip multiple heroes. Vehicles are a useful support (I especially like the Castigator), but you will definitely still need your infantry. I have heard some folks swear that the Avenger Strike Fighter is an excellent damage dealer, though. Healing options are of course a little limited (well, you do have the healing rite, regular healing and the option to equip heroes with the repair gauntlet). In any case, Sacred Rites are pretty good for vehicles, too.

3. Trust in the God Emperor of Mankind (obviously). You might need that for the end game phase ... Not necessarily the strongest moment for the Sisters as compared to the other factions .... on the other hand: how could those fiithy heretics and xenos posssibly withstand the power of faith and flame? (It IS safer to burn them earlier, though.)

[Stardustfire]

Im one of this ppl fond of the Avenger. also massing the warsuits is a valid option. you only need to rotate them alot and have each prioris (or any support hero as well, but i dont see much sense in the DIalogues and the other pure buffing units) at the front wear the repair gauntlet, because the suits dont count as inf but walkers. survivabilty of both units is boosted after you made the end game researches that let machines profit from the same damage reductions and other passive stuff as inf.
thnx to there Loyalty by Tile mechanic it helps a ton when you main city has a recaff field integrated.
i normaly do 2 sattelite outposts, one with maxing the merc production building (that i dont build in my main city) , preferable in desert, for sayed avengers or an ocassional Knight (but the later isnt great) , and one with only maxing out the machine halls as a second place for the warsuit production.

[Slowpork]

Sisters are all about infantry. It's not as tanky as drugged up Drukhari one but hidden in forests, SoB units are great (don't forget about Hospitaliers!).

Just like all other factions your heroes are essential for success. Some of the buffs later on can change the tide of battle (ex. destroying several enemy heavies, tanking their morale).

Their vehicles are underwhelming to be honest, so I usually only build Transport units and Avenger aircraft, it might seem fragile but it's damage is insane (how insane? Destroying 200+ hp city with 3 Avengers in one turn, that's how insane) paired with Dialogus buffs and Cannoness damage reductions/morale hits. Just don't leave it without cover, Avenger can easily be one-shot by enemy units.

You should focus on massing *Dominions early on (they just delete any infantry in cover/in the open), Retributors (again, with buffs they can nearly one shot Gorkanaut) for vehicles/cities, Celestian Sacresants for soaking up the damage. And, of course, heroes (at least a couple of each one, except for the Saint, she has a limit of 1 due to being unique).

Dialogus is not only good for temporary buffs but she also gives +1/+2/+3 armour to all your Infantry units when they activate their holy faith skills. Did you know that Saint with 16 armour and Saint Sacresants (as long as they don't attack, they also get an armour bonus thanks to Dialogus) is nigh unkillable? And iirc she also benefits from Ruins/Forest damage reductions.

For cities, due to their mechanic you can found 2nd and 3rd city nearly right away. Tiles give you loyalty, just pick a good spot without losing anything to water/outposts etc. Usually you can only build 1 pop building, so plan around that.

And, as others have mentioned, their Sacred rites (global factions abilites) might seem small at first but they are actually pretty potent. Just make sure you have enough Influence saved up. In mid game you get bonus to Requisition generation for one turn which can help you outproduce a lot of factions and paired with your cheap infantry, it's easy to spam Dominus/Retributors squads like there is no tomorrow.

The biggest problem SoB have as a faction is mobility...they are pretty painful to play on larger maps.

[Zonk]

Only thing I would add to Slowpork great summary is - equip you Dialogus with Vehicle healing items. That's their second biggest weakness ( after mobility ) since they don't have any units capable of fast healing vehicles

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Grotzel:

1. Trust in the God Emperor of Mankind.
2. Trust in Sacred Rites, Sisters & Synergy (& a well equipped Saint Celestine).
There are many great options to buff well positioned infantry with hospitalers, imagifiers or heroes. The research that allows you to activate two rites per turn is excellent.

I think influence is pretty important for Sisters - both for rites and for the ability to produce and equip multiple heroes. Vehicles are a useful support (I especially like the Castigator), but you will definitely still need your infantry. I have heard some folks swear that the Avenger Strike Fighter is an excellent damage dealer, though. Healing options are of course a little limited (well, you do have the healing rite, regular healing and the option to equip heroes with the repair gauntlet). In any case, Sacred Rites are pretty good for vehicles, too.

3. Trust in the God Emperor of Mankind (obviously). You might need that for the end game phase ... Not necessarily the strongest moment for the Sisters as compared to the other factions .... on the other hand: how could those fiithy heretics and xenos posssibly withstand the power of faith and flame? (It IS safer to burn them earlier, though.)

Thanks! And yes, the economy (like the Space Marines) worries me; and their end-game units do not look all that strong either.

Originally posted by Stardustfire:

Im one of this ppl fond of the Avenger. also massing the warsuits is a valid option. you only need to rotate them alot and have each prioris (or any support hero as well, but i dont see much sense in the DIalogues and the other pure buffing units) at the front wear the repair gauntlet, because the suits dont count as inf but walkers. survivabilty of both units is boosted after you made the end game researches that let machines profit from the same damage reductions and other passive stuff as inf.
thnx to there Loyalty by Tile mechanic it helps a ton when you main city has a recaff field integrated.
i normaly do 2 sattelite outposts, one with maxing the merc production building (that i dont build in my main city) , preferable in desert, for sayed avengers or an ocassional Knight (but the later isnt great) , and one with only maxing out the machine halls as a second place for the warsuit production.

Thanks. This is just a general question and not specifically tailored to the Sisters, but when should you found the 2nd and 3rd cities? I've never had to worry about this, as the Space Marines are the only faction I've played past 100 turns, LOL!

Originally posted by Slowpork:

Sisters are all about infantry. It's not as tanky as drugged up Drukhari one but hidden in forests, SoB units are great (don't forget about Hospitaliers!).

Just like all other factions your heroes are essential for success. Some of the buffs later on can change the tide of battle (ex. destroying several enemy heavies, tanking their morale).

Their vehicles are underwhelming to be honest, so I usually only build Transport units and Avenger aircraft, it might seem fragile but it's damage is insane (how insane? Destroying 200+ hp city with 3 Avengers in one turn, that's how insane) paired with Dialogus buffs and Cannoness damage reductions/morale hits. Just don't leave it without cover, Avenger can easily be one-shot by enemy units.

You should focus on massing Dominus early on (they just delete any infantry in cover/in the open), Retributors (again, with buffs they can nearly one shot Gorkanaut) for vehicles/cities, Celestian Sacresants for soaking up the damage. And, of course, heroes (at least a couple of each one, except for the Saint, she has a limit of 1 due to being unique).

Dialogus is not only good for temporary buffs but she also gives +1/+2/+3 armour to all your Infantry units when they activate their holy faith skills. Did you know that Saint with 16 armour and Saint Sacresants (as long as they don't attack, they also get an armour bonus thanks to Dialogus) is nigh unkillable? And iirc she also benefits from Ruins/Forest damage reductions.

For cities, due to their mechanic you can found 2nd and 3rd city nearly right away. Tiles give you loyalty, just pick a good spot without losing anything to water/outposts etc. Usually you can only build 1 pop building, so plan around that.

And, as others have mentioned, their Sacred rites (global factions abilites) might seem small at first but they are actually pretty potent. Just make sure you have enough Influence saved up. In mid game you get bonus to Requisition generation for one turn which can help you outproduce a lot of factions and paired with your cheap infantry, it's easy to spam Dominus/Retributors squads like there is no tomorrow.

The biggest problem SoB have as a faction is mobility...they are pretty painful to play on larger maps.

Thanks - this is pretty comprehensive. On founding the 2nd and the 3rd cities: As I asked above, around what turns is "right away"? I've basically only played the Space Marines, so I don't really know the tempo of founding successive cities.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Zonk:

Only thing I would add to Slowpork great summary is - equip you Dialogus with Vehicle healing items. That's their second biggest weakness ( after mobility ) since they don't have any units capable of fast healing vehicles

Oops. Missed this. Yes, I noticed that. They also seem to have mediocre vehicles. It ain't going to be a pretty end-game scenario! ;)

[Slowpork]

Probably for most factions you should found the 2nd city as soon as possible. Especially if we are talking about factions who don't get penalized too much by loyalty debuff (pretty much all of them lol). On fast game speed with high wild life, I usually aim to have my second city around turn 20-25. Exception to the "as soon as possible" rule are moments when you are getting clobbered by enemies right from the get go. Founding second city might be tricky as bots really like targeting weak/new ones (I swear these bastards ignore fog of war in some cases).

For SoB, you should probably go for 3rd city when you reduced the loyalty penalty somewhat in your first 2 (and scouted ahead/cleared potential good spots). I usually try to never go below -10 loyalty as you basically losing 20% of all city output and that's significant.

Also, not SoB specific tip but more of a general one, try to clear the forest/ruins tiles around your cities (be careful not to clear Holy Sites), helps defending them in case digital bastards come knocking at your door.

[Zonk]

Second city should be "as soon as possible" for Tyranids / Orks .. for others it should also be fairly quick because economic boost from 2nd city far outweighs loyalty loss.

Regarding 3rd city - for me it varies from game to game. It depends what's you loyalty, what situation is on the map, where are other players ( I play mostly against humans ) and how agressive they are. Also if You are playing Eldar / Drukhari You have to secure that location first because if you lose that city there is no rebuilding.

My general rule of thumb is to build 3rd city ( and more ) when my loyalty won't drop below -6 with Loyalty building already in the pipeline.

[Stardustfire]

Sisters have alot of Leway to do there satelite citys very early, thnx to the Loyalty by Tile Mechanic i already mentationed. so i do the 2 extras asap, the one that shoud do the merc units (flyers) get a crane because of the late research and higher buildcost of the building, the one for the machines just starts up building the machine halls without a crane.
also because the very few builslots it is adviceable to have no outpost tile or to much rocks at the tiles of the satelites.

[Lanosa]

As a seasoned Adepta Sororita, I can give you some good tips.

1. When you have the unit that create cities (not know their name in English), not create it immediately, use it to heal the other units, their healing spell can be casted every turn for free. Also, search sacred sites with them for resources.
2. Saint Celestine is a walking Goddess, just below the God Emperor. She can keep herself alive in a battle with low-tier units around her, and can hold her ground against high-tier units. Also, her ultimate (level 6 spell) can be casted anywhere (while you can see the target with other unit, even ally units)
3. Aside Saint Celestine, your other main use for influence are the rites. Don't hesitate use them if needed. You can only use 1 each turn though. (2 after a research)
4. When you can create planes, use them. They are really strong, and can fire up to 3 tiles away, many cities and units can't reach that far.
5. Plan carefully where build your expansions. Aside other factions, Adepta Sororitas's expansions can only expand 1 tile away (the capital can expand further)
6. Never lose your faith to the God Emperor, and you will win every fight.

[Stardustfire]

1. When you have the unit that create cities (not know their name in English), not create it immediately, use it to heal the other units, their healing spell can be casted every turn for free.

not sure what mods you use, but at me it costs movement and the action in vanilla. like at any other healer unit in the game (exept Eldar where it only cost the action) .
and what strange advice is that in teh first place? dont build citys, heal units?
its like saying dont use Engine Seers to Build Imp Guard Citys, use them to repair Vehiles instead in the first 100 Turns.....
the only exeption to not build a city asap with a hospitalis is when you have a sacred ground on the way to the construction side or very near to it. a sacred ground delivers normal around 35-50 research points, what means when it is 40+ a T1 is instant researched.

[Hellbishop]

Dastatic has a great starting tips video for the Adeptas Sororita faction. I learned quite a bit even though i had been playing for a bit already.

https://youtu.be/mc1pbbZqGy0

[Lanosa]

Originally posted by Stardustfire:

not sure what mods you use, but at me it costs movement and the action in vanilla. like at any other healer unit in the game (exept Eldar where it only cost the action) .
and what strange advice is that in teh first place? dont build citys, heal units?
its like saying dont use Engine Seers to Build Imp Guard Citys, use them to repair Vehiles instead in the first 100 Turns.....
the only exeption to not build a city asap with a hospitalis is when you have a sacred ground on the way to the construction side or very near to it. a sacred ground delivers normal around 35-50 research points, what means when it is 40+ a T1 is instant researched.

You completely misunderstood what I said. While you fight, your units get injured. Instead make them retreat for some turns to heal, make them retreat and use Hospitals to heal them and make them go back to battle instantly. And I have vanilla game, not movement required to use the spell (it still spend it if you not use it), when I said "for free", I meant it costs 0 influence. And I said "not build instantly", meaning do it later. Is it that hard use the brains?