Wishlist: Assassinations

[llamabeast]

Because it's set up for a army situation, I want them to rest for 4 turns so they won't be fatuged and able to cast bigger spells when the scripting ends

Their fatigue doesn't drop by resting, unless they're already over 100 fatigue, in which case the scripting makes no difference. Or unless they've got an earth bless.

Who do you play MP with? I think assassinations are generally fairly rare in MP because in order to make a decent assassin you have to put a fair bit of effort in, which is probably more than the cost you'll cause to your opponent by killing a mage or two. There are exceptions of course, and things like Earth Attack are definitely common, although obviously they're pretty late game.

[Dorjan]

Originally Posted by llamabeast

Their fatigue doesn't drop by resting, unless they're already over 100 fatigue, in which case the scripting makes no difference. Or unless they've got an earth bless.

I'm on about top mages (the lower ones can die to assasins all the time, I don't care) they will have revig items always (normally around 10)

Originally Posted by llamabeast

Who do you play MP with? I think assassinations are generally fairly rare in MP because in order to make a decent assassin you have to put a fair bit of effort in, which is probably more than the cost you'll cause to your opponent by killing a mage or two. There are exceptions of course, and things like Earth Attack are definitely common, although obviously they're pretty late game.

Earth attack is very common. Which is 99% effective. And late game (turn 60ish on high research?) maybe, but I still think it makes the game very annoying if not unplayable when your best heroes are dieing to a random elemental, not becasue they got stomped or punched. Rather becasue they ran? I just think that is unfair.

Give an assasin a frost brand and whatever armour is best against the element your opponant best uses and you'll find them easily killing two. Little cost, high gain imo. Once they get smart then you've just taken out 5xmages worth of troops out of their army in paranoia. Whats worse is if you make them do that with basic assasins then send an earth elemental at their top mages (or their army) they are sure to run becasue of their new bodyguards

[llamabeast]

Because it's set up for a army situation, I want them to rest for 4 turns so they won't be fatuged and able to cast bigger spells when the scripting ends

Their fatigue doesn't drop by resting, unless they're already over 100 fatigue, in which case the scripting makes no difference. Or unless they've got an earth bless.

Who do you play MP with? I think assassinations are generally fairly rare in MP because in order to make a decent assassin you have to put a fair bit of effort in, which is probably more than the cost you'll cause to your opponent by killing a mage or two. There are exceptions of course, and things like Earth Attack are definitely common, although obviously they're pretty late game.

[Mithras]

Don't forget about patrolling and magic domes. Patrolling and high pd should clear out mundane assinations pretty well, especially if as you imply the mages that are getting assinated are with big armies. If your moving your armies the assisnations shouldn't be able to keep up, if your staying in one province then you might as well use that big army for something. If you don't have a big army then unscript the army wide buffs for something better at taking out assasins.

If its spell assasins that are bothering you then invest in some domes. Go for one that absorbs multiple hits or strikes back at the enemy, assasin spells are usually high level enough to make it worth hurting the caster.

Its all about having the right counters.

[Dorjan]

Originally Posted by Mithras

Don't forget about patrolling and magic domes. Patrolling and high pd should clear out mundane assinations pretty well, especially if as you imply the mages that are getting assinated are with big armies. If your moving your armies the assisnations shouldn't be able to keep up, if your staying in one province then you might as well use that big army for something. If you don't have a big army then unscript the army wide buffs for something better at taking out assasins.

If its spell assasins that are bothering you then invest in some domes. Go for one that absorbs multiple hits or strikes back at the enemy, assasin spells are usually high level enough to make it worth hurting the caster.

Its all about having the right counters.

Lets go for that shall we?

Moving army, (can't have domes since you are moving away and maybe no lab in new provence) so yeah, you avoid normal assasins but the magic ones get you.

Is dom3 meant to favour the defensive player? Just sit back, build domes and splatter your enemy with spells until they turn on auto AI?

[thejeff]

A couple points:
I think gem use in assassinations follows the same rules gem use anywhere else does: if the enemy is a sufficient threat gems may be used. I'm pretty sure mages always count as sufficient threat.

Fatigue does drop by resting. 5 pts back any turn you don't act. I use it scripting self-buffing thugs. Wouldn't bother with other mages, since I'd rather burn fatigue casting scripted spells than whatever the AI picks.

[Endoperez]

Originally Posted by thejeff

A couple points:
I think gem use in assassinations follows the same rules gem use anywhere else does: if the enemy is a sufficient threat gems may be used. I'm pretty sure mages always count as sufficient threat.

Fatigue does drop by resting. 5 pts back any turn you don't act. I use it scripting self-buffing thugs. Wouldn't bother with other mages, since I'd rather burn fatigue casting scripted spells than whatever the AI picks.

Great post, but... wow, really? Never heard about that.

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by Endoperez

Great post, but... wow, really? Never heard about that.

Base Reinvigoration is 5 points, whether you act or not. "Resting" allows you to bank those 5 points (or more if you have Reinvig items on). Still, unless your unit is intended for melee (thug/SC with self buffs) there is literally no reason to have them wait. Fatigue is Fatigue, if you don't burn it with scripted spells, the AI will burn it with who knows what. It's worthwhile to note, your mage will resume his script when he wakes up. So an A2 mage scripted to (Summon Storm Power), (Thunder Strikex4) will get 2 Thunder Strikes off, then pass out, then pop up and blow off another Strike, and once more for good measure. Dangerous if you are worried about your army routing, but then best script for that mage is still (Summon Storm Power), (Thunder Strikex2), (Spells), assuming you wanted evo spam, rather than other things. Anyway, after the second strike, he should pass out for 2-3 rounds, and then generally will cast lower fatigue spells as applicable, so he's never out for more than a round at a time, and can flee if/when needed. However if you leave him totally unscripted, he may do something totally inappropriate like spam Ghost Wolves when you have TONS of chaff already, and need your mages doing damage.

[Mithras]

From what you describe I think investing in cheap ways to prevent assisnations from occuring is a good idea. Dome all your mage concentrations, and places where you expect your mages to move to, (a couple of gems and 500 gold for a lab is cheap in the late game) and put your pd up in your fortress/have idle armies of chaff patrol. Its not a hundred percent effective but if you invest in vast amounts of pd all over your nation then you only have to worry about the elementals, which you can tailor script your mages for the earth elementals.

[Mithras]

How many 5 earth mages does your enemy have? Chances are not many.
Taking this into acount what can you do about them?
Get a fire mage to put up a dome of flaming death on an area which is often attacked (make a target out of it) a couple of earth attacks come in and the mages get fried. Your aponent decides they're better off using their mages to cast earthquake.

If you scout around a bit you can find the locations of these earth mages now spam seaking arrow/ mind hunt depending on your enemy and hey they don't have earth mages anymore.

Or you can just gear up your mages like you said. Or get a few large body guards that wont be trampled. Hey look a niche use for the iron dragon !

You can also recruit loads of week comanders as alternative targets. Killing onme indy comander is not a good way to use a 5E mage.

All in all I'd call earth attacks more of an annoyance than game breaking. And I bet astral corruption would really annoy you

Oh and experiment with SCs. When you get something that eats earth attacks for appertizers before chomping through a good sized, mage supported army, and that can teleport, come back and say that about defensive strategies. They of course have their own counters.