First thing first train train train. Always make troops when you can ! Try to get at least 2-3M pikes archers and swords to start as a good solid defense squad ! Also have at least 2 million scouts ! Now when you go to the horses HC all the way don't bother with reg C that's a waste. If you have the food to do it then get about 1 M balls, 1 M rams and then go crazy on cats if you can build them ! Lord Zaph
THE BATTLE
RANGE beats ATTACK.
ATTACK beats DEFENSE
DEFENSE beats RANGE.
ATTACK beats DEFENSE
DEFENSE beats RANGE.
UNDERSTANDING THE COMBAT SYSTEM PART I
PHASE ONE - TARGETING
*When you first enter into Combat, the player with with the Largest Range sets the distance between the two sides.
*When in range of more than one troop type, the order at which enemy troops are targeted is shown below in the Order Of Combat. The troops will attack the unit with the highest range from the other side as priority; they will only change their target if they kill their target entirely. If range troops are absent or killed the principle becomes that the troops with the highest Combat Speed become targeted first.
*TARGET SYSTEM:
Wall Defenses (Although they now tend to have lower range than most player's Cats, Ballistae and even Archers, they still get targeted before standard troops)
Siege Walls (They have a special skill which means they are automatically targeted first no matter what bonuses are applied)
The rest of the enter troop types Combat as follows:
Catapults
Ballistae
Archers
Scouts
Cavalry
Bloodthorns
Heavy Cavalry
Executioner
Pikes
Militia
Swordsmen
Supply Troop
Wagon
Rams
This Order of Combat can be altered if Throne Room Buffs or Debuffs are applied to a Player's Range or Combat Speed.
Just to be clear as I know this can be confusing for new players , if you are attacking with Non-Range Troops Only, you will attack their troops in this order:
Wall Defences
Siegewalls
Scouts
Cavalry
Bloodthorn
Heavy Cavalry
Executioner
Pikes
Militia
Swordsmen
Supply Troop
Wagon
Rams
Archers
Ballistae
Catapults
PHASE TWO - ENGAGEMENT
* The Engagement Phase's calculations use only Attack, Defense, Life and Accuracy. These stats can be greatly improved by your knight's combat skill, Guardians, items in your inventory, research and your throne room.
*When both sides are in range of each other, they both fire at each other at the same time, not one before the other.
*Layered attacks do not work in small numbers, sending 1 Scout, 1 swordsman, 1 Pike etc will not halt an approaching attacker or defender. The only time they stop a full wave from moving their full distance is when there are large numbers of them. You will all have seen the effect that placing Rams in front of ballistas has during attacks against Ponies or Foot Troops!
*The following calculation is carried out for each troop type that has successfully targeted an enemy:
(Attack - Defense) X Accuracy = Damage to Life per Combat Round
PHASE THREE - MOVEMENT
*If one side is not in range of an enemy troop, it moves forward according to it's Combat Speed:
Combat Speed = Base Speed + ((Research + Throne Room Buffs) - Throne Room Debuffs).
*It does so until it either gets in range of an enemy or has used up it's maximum Combat Speed allowance for that Combat Round.
*The first three phases repeat until one side has achieved victory and killed their enemy or until 100 Combat Rounds have occurred. Any troops left still alive on either side go back to their respective cities*
UNDERSTANDING THE COMBAT SYSTEM PART II
It used to be simple and we only needed to remember a few things;
Pikes kills
Cav 1:2
HC at 1:3
Scout/Cav Combo for reins, clear their Cats 1:1 or 2:1 depending on your Fletch and then send in a Ballistas/Ram Combo to kill all their ponies. We all knew what we had to do and we all had the same aim, get Fletch maxed out.
The Throne Room and Ascension has thrown a gigantic spanner in the works but the reality is, not much has changed, it is still warfare. There is a greater element of chance and also cunning to the game now but that means any player can now be defeated. All you need to do is play smarter, be ruthless and if your opponent makes just one mistake, punish them.
There are far too many tactics or strategies that can be used for me to list them all so I will just explain a few of the basics, it is up to you how you want to go about using them.
Range is all conquering right? Wrong, every Combat Stat has it's own weakness and choosing the right TR set up is like a slightly more complicated game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
HERE ARE THE BASICS
1. Fully Range Throne Room. Range Troops Only.
Every card should be dedicated to beating your enemy's Range. Don't forget to use your TR Banners for added Siege or Ranged Range depending on what you are using. This should only be used if you know you have enough Attack without any extra TR boosts to beat your enemy and can be very risky when used as a defense against high Defense Buffed HC or Siege walls. I have based players who have used this defense against my high Defense Buff HC attacks.
Main Strengths = Against the Attack Buff TR. You have greater chance of getting the first hit in.
Main Weakness = A HC/Siegewall Combo attack with High Defense Buff could base a player using a Full Range Defense
2. Attack Buff Throne Room. All Troops.
Every card should be dedicated to Attack Buff and Defence Debuff, Life Debuff is great too if you can get it but not at the expense of the first two. Your Banners/Candles will give you your troop specific Attack Buffs such as Siege, Ranged, Infantry or Horsed. This can be very useful when used against any High Defence Buff attacks or even when attacking. Great TR to use when Scouting and can turn Cav into HC killers if you also outrange your enemy.
Main Strength = Used with enough Sacrificed Bals or Cats, HC Tank attacks become a stains on your city walls.
Main Weakness = with little defense, your troops will die fast so don't expect them to come back when using them to attack.
3. Defense Buff Throne Room. Foot and Horsed Troops.
You need high Defense Buff and Attack dDebuff as your priority along with troop specific boosts such as Horsed or Infantry Defense Buff. A little Life Buff and Accuracy Debuff won’t hurt and can sometimes be the difference between victory and defeat. Here's the deal, if you get your Defense Stat high enough above their Attack Stat, they can not kill you.
Main Strengths = Against the Range TR or low Attack Buffs. If you attack using this TR and they make the mistake of setting to defend, you could kill every single troop they have in one attack. I have taken out over 150 million might on numerous occasions using just HC and a high Def Buff TR.
Main Weakness = If they switch to an Attack TR and have Siege Defending, say goodbye to your ponies.
4. Range/Attack Throne Room. Range Troops Only.
Every card should be dedicated to beating your enemy's Range except for your Banner and your Candle. Your Banner (4th and 5th slot min) and Candle (2nd and 4th slot) should have either Ranged Attack Buff or Siege Attack Buff. The perfect Candle would also have Range in the 3rd and 5th slot but you then you can't always have everything. This is a balanced option for when you are unsure of your opponents TR or are facing different types of attack at once and do not have time to change TR's quickly. It is most often used when being reinforced so adding any defense or Life debuffs will only help.
Main Strength = It covers the bases and when used right, you can confuse the hell out of your opponent.
Main Weakness = The margins are finer meaning mistakes can happen. Best not to set to Defend with this, more an Attacking or Reinforcing option.
Before the TR, in the midst of the "Might makes Right' Regime, it was generally the people with millions of Catapults and tons of might, focusing on smaller players and trying to "bully" them into doing this or that. But, the winds of change blew through and brought with it the Throne Room. Enter the dreaded "Range". Now, might means absolutely nothing...of course, it didn't really mean much before, but a lot of people bought into the hype. It means even less now. Now, players have the ability to wipe out those same millions of Catapults with a few waves of Archers.
So, how do you deal with it when that high-Range person comes knocking on your door, I'll tell you:
1. Stop looking for Range items first and concentrate on defense.
if you are already behind the Range curve, continuing to try to play catch-up while they are continuing to clean out your cities is going to be a long, hard road. Range items are harder to find and Enhance/Upgrade than the other stat items. So, take a little vacation from the quest for Range and start working on the five other stats that help determine the outcome of a battle.
2. Speed up your troops.
- the reason Range is so devastating is due to the gap it creates between troops. That gap is what your troops have to get across in order to attack the attacker back. While they are doing that, the attacker is firing round after round of attacks at your troops, which leads to the high number of losses. Start looking for Combat Speed.
Range : Combat Speed Equivalent
10% range = 27% CS
20% range = 54% CS
30% range = 81% CS
40% range = 108% CS
50% range = 135% CS
60% range = 162% CS
70% range = 189% CS
80% range = 216% CS
90% range = 243% CS
100% range = 270% CS
BONUSES. Debuffs are of no use because once the high-Range troops have targets in range, they don't move anyway. Combat Speed bonuses will help your troops clear that gap faster, minimizing losses.
3. The Good Ol' Cav/Scout Defense
- it worked before the Throne Room and it works even better now. Before the TR, the attacker was guaranteed to get in 3 shots before your Cavalry could attack back (2 rounds while your cav move, then again in the 3rd round). Now, with the Combat Speed bonuses, your cav can clear the gap in 1 round and attack back in the 2nd. The Scouts are used as a buffer...they are higher on the attack priority list and are faster than Cavalry...so the high-Ranged troops will attack them first, allowing most (if not all) of your cav to make it to the fight. Please refer to range combat speed equivalent.
Most of know about militiaman bombs. Did u know sword bombs are more lethal?
Candy Bomb = 1 scout, 1 cat & the rest M&M's = kills scouts
Sword Bomb - 1 scout, 1 cat & Swords = kills 5 x more scouts!
Pike Bomb= 1 scout, 1 cat, 1 cav & the rest Pike = kills cavs
Equus Bomb = 1 scout & a full wave of hc = kills ground troops/cavs (not so hot against pike, balls & cats)
Ballsy Bomb = 1 scout, 1 sword, 1 cav, 1 hc & the rest balls = major damage (+ 2000 glory points) (needs 11 fletching but good if u r attacking equal or lower fletch, ie - u r both a level 10)
CATastrophic Bomb - 75k cats (or 100k), 75k pikes (or 100k)= kills a ton of ponies
4. Reinforce yourself
- You don't have to "defend". Move your Scouts/Cav to another city and use them to reinforce yourself with, they do not count against your embassy slots, so you can still fill your embassy with reinforcements from alliance members. KEEP ALL OTHER TROOPS IN HIDING!
5. Work on the other stats:
- Work on Life, Attack and Accuracy bonuses/debuffs. The range-reliant troops have poor Accuracy values against Cavalry, while Cavalry have good Accuracy values against THEM. Use that to your advantage...up your Accuracy and/or lower their. More Life for you equates to you losing less troops because it requires more "hits" to kill each Cavalry unit. Less Life for them means you will kill them faster and, again, reducing troop losses on your part. Reduce losses further by decreasing their Attack value and increasing yours.
It doesn't take a whole lot of Combat Speed to counter Range. And, once you feel like you have enough to keep your resources, your troops and the troops of your alliance safe...then, go back to looking for Range again.
*When you first enter into Combat, the player with with the Largest Range sets the distance between the two sides.
*When in range of more than one troop type, the order at which enemy troops are targeted is shown below in the Order Of Combat. The troops will attack the unit with the highest range from the other side as priority; they will only change their target if they kill their target entirely. If range troops are absent or killed the principle becomes that the troops with the highest Combat Speed become targeted first.
*TARGET SYSTEM:
Wall Defenses (Although they now tend to have lower range than most player's Cats, Ballistae and even Archers, they still get targeted before standard troops)
Siege Walls (They have a special skill which means they are automatically targeted first no matter what bonuses are applied)
The rest of the enter troop types Combat as follows:
Catapults
Ballistae
Archers
Scouts
Cavalry
Bloodthorns
Heavy Cavalry
Executioner
Pikes
Militia
Swordsmen
Supply Troop
Wagon
Rams
This Order of Combat can be altered if Throne Room Buffs or Debuffs are applied to a Player's Range or Combat Speed.
Just to be clear as I know this can be confusing for new players , if you are attacking with Non-Range Troops Only, you will attack their troops in this order:
Wall Defences
Siegewalls
Scouts
Cavalry
Bloodthorn
Heavy Cavalry
Executioner
Pikes
Militia
Swordsmen
Supply Troop
Wagon
Rams
Archers
Ballistae
Catapults
PHASE TWO - ENGAGEMENT
* The Engagement Phase's calculations use only Attack, Defense, Life and Accuracy. These stats can be greatly improved by your knight's combat skill, Guardians, items in your inventory, research and your throne room.
*When both sides are in range of each other, they both fire at each other at the same time, not one before the other.
*Layered attacks do not work in small numbers, sending 1 Scout, 1 swordsman, 1 Pike etc will not halt an approaching attacker or defender. The only time they stop a full wave from moving their full distance is when there are large numbers of them. You will all have seen the effect that placing Rams in front of ballistas has during attacks against Ponies or Foot Troops!
*The following calculation is carried out for each troop type that has successfully targeted an enemy:
(Attack - Defense) X Accuracy = Damage to Life per Combat Round
PHASE THREE - MOVEMENT
*If one side is not in range of an enemy troop, it moves forward according to it's Combat Speed:
Combat Speed = Base Speed + ((Research + Throne Room Buffs) - Throne Room Debuffs).
*It does so until it either gets in range of an enemy or has used up it's maximum Combat Speed allowance for that Combat Round.
*The first three phases repeat until one side has achieved victory and killed their enemy or until 100 Combat Rounds have occurred. Any troops left still alive on either side go back to their respective cities*
UNDERSTANDING THE COMBAT SYSTEM PART II
It used to be simple and we only needed to remember a few things;
Pikes kills
Cav 1:2
HC at 1:3
Scout/Cav Combo for reins, clear their Cats 1:1 or 2:1 depending on your Fletch and then send in a Ballistas/Ram Combo to kill all their ponies. We all knew what we had to do and we all had the same aim, get Fletch maxed out.
The Throne Room and Ascension has thrown a gigantic spanner in the works but the reality is, not much has changed, it is still warfare. There is a greater element of chance and also cunning to the game now but that means any player can now be defeated. All you need to do is play smarter, be ruthless and if your opponent makes just one mistake, punish them.
There are far too many tactics or strategies that can be used for me to list them all so I will just explain a few of the basics, it is up to you how you want to go about using them.
Range is all conquering right? Wrong, every Combat Stat has it's own weakness and choosing the right TR set up is like a slightly more complicated game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
HERE ARE THE BASICS
1. Fully Range Throne Room. Range Troops Only.
Every card should be dedicated to beating your enemy's Range. Don't forget to use your TR Banners for added Siege or Ranged Range depending on what you are using. This should only be used if you know you have enough Attack without any extra TR boosts to beat your enemy and can be very risky when used as a defense against high Defense Buffed HC or Siege walls. I have based players who have used this defense against my high Defense Buff HC attacks.
Main Strengths = Against the Attack Buff TR. You have greater chance of getting the first hit in.
Main Weakness = A HC/Siegewall Combo attack with High Defense Buff could base a player using a Full Range Defense
2. Attack Buff Throne Room. All Troops.
Every card should be dedicated to Attack Buff and Defence Debuff, Life Debuff is great too if you can get it but not at the expense of the first two. Your Banners/Candles will give you your troop specific Attack Buffs such as Siege, Ranged, Infantry or Horsed. This can be very useful when used against any High Defence Buff attacks or even when attacking. Great TR to use when Scouting and can turn Cav into HC killers if you also outrange your enemy.
Main Strength = Used with enough Sacrificed Bals or Cats, HC Tank attacks become a stains on your city walls.
Main Weakness = with little defense, your troops will die fast so don't expect them to come back when using them to attack.
3. Defense Buff Throne Room. Foot and Horsed Troops.
You need high Defense Buff and Attack dDebuff as your priority along with troop specific boosts such as Horsed or Infantry Defense Buff. A little Life Buff and Accuracy Debuff won’t hurt and can sometimes be the difference between victory and defeat. Here's the deal, if you get your Defense Stat high enough above their Attack Stat, they can not kill you.
Main Strengths = Against the Range TR or low Attack Buffs. If you attack using this TR and they make the mistake of setting to defend, you could kill every single troop they have in one attack. I have taken out over 150 million might on numerous occasions using just HC and a high Def Buff TR.
Main Weakness = If they switch to an Attack TR and have Siege Defending, say goodbye to your ponies.
4. Range/Attack Throne Room. Range Troops Only.
Every card should be dedicated to beating your enemy's Range except for your Banner and your Candle. Your Banner (4th and 5th slot min) and Candle (2nd and 4th slot) should have either Ranged Attack Buff or Siege Attack Buff. The perfect Candle would also have Range in the 3rd and 5th slot but you then you can't always have everything. This is a balanced option for when you are unsure of your opponents TR or are facing different types of attack at once and do not have time to change TR's quickly. It is most often used when being reinforced so adding any defense or Life debuffs will only help.
Main Strength = It covers the bases and when used right, you can confuse the hell out of your opponent.
Main Weakness = The margins are finer meaning mistakes can happen. Best not to set to Defend with this, more an Attacking or Reinforcing option.
Before the TR, in the midst of the "Might makes Right' Regime, it was generally the people with millions of Catapults and tons of might, focusing on smaller players and trying to "bully" them into doing this or that. But, the winds of change blew through and brought with it the Throne Room. Enter the dreaded "Range". Now, might means absolutely nothing...of course, it didn't really mean much before, but a lot of people bought into the hype. It means even less now. Now, players have the ability to wipe out those same millions of Catapults with a few waves of Archers.
So, how do you deal with it when that high-Range person comes knocking on your door, I'll tell you:
1. Stop looking for Range items first and concentrate on defense.
if you are already behind the Range curve, continuing to try to play catch-up while they are continuing to clean out your cities is going to be a long, hard road. Range items are harder to find and Enhance/Upgrade than the other stat items. So, take a little vacation from the quest for Range and start working on the five other stats that help determine the outcome of a battle.
2. Speed up your troops.
- the reason Range is so devastating is due to the gap it creates between troops. That gap is what your troops have to get across in order to attack the attacker back. While they are doing that, the attacker is firing round after round of attacks at your troops, which leads to the high number of losses. Start looking for Combat Speed.
Range : Combat Speed Equivalent
10% range = 27% CS
20% range = 54% CS
30% range = 81% CS
40% range = 108% CS
50% range = 135% CS
60% range = 162% CS
70% range = 189% CS
80% range = 216% CS
90% range = 243% CS
100% range = 270% CS
BONUSES. Debuffs are of no use because once the high-Range troops have targets in range, they don't move anyway. Combat Speed bonuses will help your troops clear that gap faster, minimizing losses.
3. The Good Ol' Cav/Scout Defense
- it worked before the Throne Room and it works even better now. Before the TR, the attacker was guaranteed to get in 3 shots before your Cavalry could attack back (2 rounds while your cav move, then again in the 3rd round). Now, with the Combat Speed bonuses, your cav can clear the gap in 1 round and attack back in the 2nd. The Scouts are used as a buffer...they are higher on the attack priority list and are faster than Cavalry...so the high-Ranged troops will attack them first, allowing most (if not all) of your cav to make it to the fight. Please refer to range combat speed equivalent.
Most of know about militiaman bombs. Did u know sword bombs are more lethal?
Candy Bomb = 1 scout, 1 cat & the rest M&M's = kills scouts
Sword Bomb - 1 scout, 1 cat & Swords = kills 5 x more scouts!
Pike Bomb= 1 scout, 1 cat, 1 cav & the rest Pike = kills cavs
Equus Bomb = 1 scout & a full wave of hc = kills ground troops/cavs (not so hot against pike, balls & cats)
Ballsy Bomb = 1 scout, 1 sword, 1 cav, 1 hc & the rest balls = major damage (+ 2000 glory points) (needs 11 fletching but good if u r attacking equal or lower fletch, ie - u r both a level 10)
CATastrophic Bomb - 75k cats (or 100k), 75k pikes (or 100k)= kills a ton of ponies
4. Reinforce yourself
- You don't have to "defend". Move your Scouts/Cav to another city and use them to reinforce yourself with, they do not count against your embassy slots, so you can still fill your embassy with reinforcements from alliance members. KEEP ALL OTHER TROOPS IN HIDING!
5. Work on the other stats:
- Work on Life, Attack and Accuracy bonuses/debuffs. The range-reliant troops have poor Accuracy values against Cavalry, while Cavalry have good Accuracy values against THEM. Use that to your advantage...up your Accuracy and/or lower their. More Life for you equates to you losing less troops because it requires more "hits" to kill each Cavalry unit. Less Life for them means you will kill them faster and, again, reducing troop losses on your part. Reduce losses further by decreasing their Attack value and increasing yours.
It doesn't take a whole lot of Combat Speed to counter Range. And, once you feel like you have enough to keep your resources, your troops and the troops of your alliance safe...then, go back to looking for Range again.