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Autor Thema: Strategies against the Skirmish AI  (Gelesen 22496 mal)

Sefie1999AD

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Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« am: 15. Jan 2016, 00:35 »
Can you recommend any good strategies for defeating Edain's Skirmish AI? The AI seems to cheat with money, building a large army very early and rushing you with it. Being outnumbered often means I need to play defensively and retreat back to the base in order to fight back, but turtling has the risk of falling behind in economy and map control. The difficulty of the AI varies a lot within factions too: I can defeat Hard Dwarves relatively easily, but Easy/Medium Gondor feels a lot harder since the AI spams endless waves of units.

bookworm1138

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #1 am: 15. Jan 2016, 01:51 »
I usually play defensively (because i don't mind the battle lasting more than an hour). And this tactic worked well against brutal Mordor (was playing as Gondor).

Train archers to defend the fortress, and build a Signal Fire to summon the Southern Fiefdom units, who can be used to engage the heavier units Mordor spams (like battering rams, catapults and trolls - which they will). Depending on how strong your economy is (I usually have four resource buildings inside my fortress and a marketplace, though if you're more aggressive, farms will work as well: BE PREPARED TO DEFEND THEM AS WELL), you can then start expanding with a Ranger tent or Dol Amroth fortress, then build up a sufficient army with upgrades and heroes to push back and overwhelm Mordor. (by "sufficient" army, that can vary. I usually have no less than three heroes and armies - Aragorn, 2 Pelargir Troll-benders, 2 Lossarnach Axemen, 2 Ringlo Swordsmen and 2 Morthond Archers in one army, Imrahil, 3 Knights of Dol Amroth, 2 Dol Amroth soldiers and three Gondor knights in another, then Boromir, 2 Gondor spearmen, 2 Gondor swordsmen and 2 Gondor archers in the third, with all three armies fully upgraded - and a support group of 2 to 3 trebuchets)
« Letzte Änderung: 16. Jan 2016, 00:06 von bookworm1138 »
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."


Odysseus

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #2 am: 15. Jan 2016, 02:18 »
If you struggle against hard or brutal, here are a couple of things to consider. There are patterns in how the ai behaves. You can abuse those to your benefit. Often, if you face Gondor or Rohan they will quickly rush your base. Build a defensive tower ( the 500 cost one) and send your starting units to build resource buildings on your natural settlements (The closest to your base and the easiest to protect) 2 at the least, but 3 would be the average. Then, you can get your scout hero, depending on your faction, but after that, go for a few creeps if you can, to get more money to build the smaller towers around your base. Not all of them, but a couple to aid your main tower in damaging the enemy. Keep going for creeps until you can get a hero, and keep expanding a bit on the settlements. After that, and only after that, would I advise to expand your base, and instantly delete any non-upgraded settlement structures that are under attack and that are impossible to defend. Then, get another hero and a couple of troops after having saved up a bit, and keep them mostly behind your towers and gank (attack from a side or unexpected when the enemy is low on health) when you can to get exp for your heroes. Then, if needed, save up for a second tower or for upgrades. You should be able to figure it out from there.

Just a quick note, being aggressive against brutal ai and spammy factions is near impossible. You would need perfect micro.
“For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.”

Sefie1999AD

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #3 am: 15. Jan 2016, 18:17 »
Thanks for the hints! I have an additional question, though:

Build a defensive tower ( the 500 cost one) and send your starting units to build resource buildings on your natural settlements (The closest to your base and the easiest to protect) 2 at the least, but 3 would be the average. Then, you can get your scout hero, depending on your faction, but after that, go for a few creeps if you can, to get more money to build the smaller towers around your base. Not all of them, but a couple to aid your main tower in damaging the enemy.

If you have a castle with walls and a gate (so you're Gondor, Rohan, Dwarves or later Angmar), how do you defend there? Do you keep your forces inside the castle and its closed gate, exiting the castle only when battering rams and catapults appear, or do you keep your forces outside, creeping and defending settlements? A problem with castles is that you can't build cheaper 150 credit arrow towers, but you need to build the 500 costing towers.

Elite KryPtik

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #4 am: 15. Jan 2016, 19:52 »
OK, where to begin. So you said you are struggling against Medium and Hard AI. Now, truly believe when I say this, that I mean no offence, but if that's the case your probably just not that good at the game yet. We all were bad at the game when we started, and really a lot of your skill will come from just playing and learning the strengths and weaknesses of each faction. That said, let me give some basic tips against normal and hard AI, then some tips for brutal.

So, firstly, the normal and hard AI do NOT cheat, at least to my knowledge. They pay the same for everything that you do. Its the brutal that can cheat. Now, against AI, they follow a similar pattern every time. They harass with some troops early on, then they hit you with a hero spam and some siege(if your on a castle map) This will happen with every AI on hard difficulty and up.

So for early game, you should focus on getting your scout hero and grabbing up some outer settlements and creeping. However, you will probably not be able to hold those outer settlements for long, so do NOT upgrade them unless you are sure the enemy is not going to attack them. Another thing you will notice with AI is that they always go for the same farm, or maybe a couple of different farms if they are defended successfully the first time around, you can exploit this easily.

Now, your next focus after you get some outer farms is to FILL YOUR BASE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! Unbuilt plots are wasting their potential, the faster you build up your base the better your economy will be. As Gondor, you should have at least 6 economy buildings, ideally 7, and then whatever military buildings you want at the front. As Rohan and Dwarves, you want 5 economy buildings, and an upgrade and military building. As Mordor and Isengard, you need 6 economy buildings, then 2 military buildings for Mordor, and 1 uruk pit and 1 armory for Isengard. Don't get wargs they are awful.

Now, as for your economy buildings, you should upgrade them based on what you need. If the enemy has the entire map and you are unable to take map control, get pantry 1 and resources 2. If, however, you have lots of good map control you may want to get resource 1 pantry 2, and build a big army. You should never put anything more than pantry 1 on outer farms, as they are so vulnerable for such an expensive upgrade. Also, NEVER get defensive measures, its a waste of money, especially against AI. Better to just get resource 2 and have the farm pay back what you spent quickly. I generally go for double resources on my outer farms close to my base, and pantry 1 resource 2 on the rest of the map.

Now, what troops should you get per faction?
Mordor is the easiest, get 2 orc barracks and spam spam spam.
Isengard can prove difficult, if possible try to get a Wildmen Hut and keep it alive, use it to get Wulfgar and spam some wildmen out.
Gondor is also pretty easy, you want a signal fire to get troops, try to protect it behind your base if possible, and then make a barracks and archery range. Now, I personally make 6 townhouses to get the full discount on tower guards, immediately upgrade my barracks and start spamming those, however some people prefer blacksmiths, so that's up to you.
Rohan is another easy one, just get Corrupted Théoden quickly and use his cruel taxes on an outer farm. This will make it produce more resources, and it will also upgrade faster and train troops faster. So use cruel taxes, upgrade it twice with production, then start spamming out those peasants. Make sure to effectively use Theoden's traitors ability as well.
Now for Dwarves. Now, your sub-faction depends on what the enemy AI has as their faction. If the AI is Mordor or Rohan, you want Iron Hills. If the enemy is Gondor, Isengard or Dwarves, you want Ered Luin. The reason for this is Iron Hills early game is much stronger due to their guardians having the charge ability, while Ered Luin is very strong late game because of their OP heroes. You want to get a travel camp behind your base and get veterans ASAP. That should be your main priority behind filling your base.

Now for all factions, if you invest in a hero, you CANNOT let him die. Losing a hero is a fatal mistake against AI. Fortunately, since the AI frequently targets your heroes above all else, you can easily play ring around the rosie with them. Use the hero to kite the aggression, and keep running him around your base while the towers pick the enemy to pieces. Additionally, AI absolutely LOVE to spam siege and try to kill your base with it, if you can get cavalry(except wargs) do it, they are incredible siege killers.

Now, tips against Brutal. Brutal is tough, no getting around it. Some maps make the brutal AI incredibly tough. For example, try beating a brutal Isengard on Fords of Isen 2 as Gondor. It is no easy task. However, know that Brutal only pay 50% for everything, and I believe they also make more money than you. Nonetheless, as I said above they follow a pattern: small early game harassment, hero spam, siege spam. If you can survive the first hero spam you have basically won the match. Against Brutal, you will be completely unable to hold your outer farms, you must try and survive in your base until you have enough heroes and some upgraded troops, along with spellbook powers, to push the enemy back and take map control. Losing heroes is a death sentence. If you are on a castle map and have walls, you want to get wall catapults if you can spare the money, to snipe the enemy catapults. They will almost always go for your gate first, so keep this in mind. Hope all this helps :)
« Letzte Änderung: 15. Jan 2016, 20:13 von Elite KryPtik »
Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken! Shield shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride, ride to ruin, and the worlds ending! FORTH EORLINGAS!

Odysseus

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #5 am: 15. Jan 2016, 19:59 »
I was going to post something, but it seems Kryptik got here before me. Generally, what he said, +1 to that.
“For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.”

Sefie1999AD

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #6 am: 15. Jan 2016, 23:47 »
OK, where to begin. So you said you are struggling against Medium and Hard AI. Now, truly believe when I say this, that I mean no offence, but if that's the case your probably just not that good at the game yet.

Excuse me, but that's why I asked for help against the AI, to improve my gaming and confidence, rather than simply giving up and thinking I'm just bad at this game.

Zitat
So, firstly, the normal and hard AI do NOT cheat, at least to my knowledge. They pay the same for everything that you do. Its the brutal that can cheat.

I'll have to disagree here. The AI definitely cheats on every difficulty level, at least in Edain 4.2.1, and there is a very simple way to prove this: start a Lothlorien mirror with 500 opening credits and a friendly AI. With that little credits, you can't afford any of the inner structures. First the AI goes to claim the nearest settlement and builds a Mallorn Tree, which costs 200. By now, you should have about 350 credits. Now, if you look inside the AI's base, Easy and Normal build both Border Guardhouse and Forge simultaneously with their 350 credits. :o When you get 550 credits to build your own Border Guardhouse, the Hard AI is already building Galadhrim Quarters. The Brutal AI does this even faster.

That aside, thank you for your detailed advice. I don't want to quote all that, so I'll just quote the parts that I've done wrong.

Zitat
However, you will probably not be able to hold those outer settlements for long, so do NOT upgrade them unless you are sure the enemy is not going to attack them.

Zitat
Now, your next focus after you get some outer farms is to FILL YOUR BASE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! Unbuilt plots are wasting their potential, the faster you build up your base the better your economy will be.

Zitat
Now, as for your economy buildings, you should upgrade them based on what you need. If the enemy has the entire map and you are unable to take map control, get pantry 1 and resources 2. If, however, you have lots of good map control you may want to get resource 1 pantry 2, and build a big army. You should never put anything more than pantry 1 on outer farms, as they are so vulnerable for such an expensive upgrade. Also, NEVER get defensive measures, its a waste of money, especially against AI. Better to just get resource 2 and have the farm pay back what you spent quickly. I generally go for double resources on my outer farms close to my base, and pantry 1 resource 2 on the rest of the map.

My first error is upgrading and trying to defend the outer farms, which usually leads me to purchase resource 1 defence 2 for them. This depletes plenty of resources, which should be spent on building inner structures. My second error is building a Barracks and Archery Range (or their equivalents) first, and then building both inner farms and forces when I can afford them. My third error is starting to upgrade my inner farms right away, rather than filling my base with economy structures first.

As for upgrades, I usually upgrade my inner farms with double economy, except for 1-2 inner farms, which I upgrade with economy 1 pantry 2. Then I upgrade outer farms with pantry if I need more CP. Is this a bad idea?

Zitat
As Rohan and Dwarves, you want 5 economy buildings, and an upgrade and military building. As Mordor and Isengard, you need 6 economy buildings, then 2 military buildings for Mordor, and 1 uruk pit and 1 armory for Isengard.


I've usually built double Hall of Warriors, Forge and Mine Shaft for Dwarves, and the remaining 3 slots will be Stonemasons. That's 4 economy buildings as opposed to your suggestion of 5. Will this hurt your economy too much? Usually I'm struggling with the Dwarves until I get Khazad-Dum veterans. The same question for Isengard: does a setup of 2 Uruk Pits, Armory and 5 economy buildings hurt your economy too much?

Zitat
Additionally, AI absolutely LOVE to spam siege and try to kill your base with it, if you can get cavalry(except wargs) do it, they are incredible siege killers.

That's good to know, as I usually have trouble fighting against catapults. What should Isengard and Lothlorien use against siege weapons, since their cavalry is quite limited?

Zitat
Against Brutal, you will be completely unable to hold your outer farms, you must try and survive in your base until you have enough heroes and some upgraded troops, along with spellbook powers, to push the enemy back and take map control.

This is also one of the things I've been doing wrong: usually I just build a scout hero, and later one mid/late game hero, when all the suggestions above have told me to build several (at least 3) heroes.

I'll do my best to learn from my mistakes and improve my gaming. I used to beat the Brutal AI (or whatever the highest difficulty was called) in BFME1, but that was over 10 years ago, and I haven't played BFME2 much, so I hope you'll forgive me for still being quite rusty with this game. :P

Elite KryPtik

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #7 am: 16. Jan 2016, 01:06 »
Its like I said, we all sucked at one point or another. There isn't anything to forgive.

Its news to me that all the different levels of difficulty AI cheat, I honestly thought it was only brutal.

Theres never any need to have more than 1 barracks with anybody except Isengard, due to how slow Isengard recruits units. With Dwarves if you get 1 barracks 1 forge and 5 eco you will be much better off(especially because then you can get max boost from stonemasons). As for Isengard, if you can keep your wildmen hut alive, then you don't need the 2nd barracks because you will have the wildmen spam. Ultimately I think even if you lose the hut, against AI, its better to have more farms and less barracks.
Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken! Shield shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride, ride to ruin, and the worlds ending! FORTH EORLINGAS!

Sefie1999AD

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #8 am: 16. Jan 2016, 14:28 »
Alright, better go with a stronger economy, then.

Do you have any strategies for Lothlorien? Usually I get 2-3 Border Guardhouses, Forge, Galadhrim Quarters and maybe Sanctuary (depending on how many Guardhouses I build). I try to get Banner Carriers as soon as I can, and get the Galadhrim Quarter upgrades for faster build speeds. I also like getting a Beorn Hut and enable the honey harvest whenever I'm not pumping out Beorns. With 4000 opening credits, building your inner base is straightforward, but what should you prioritize in with 1000 opening credits?

Elite KryPtik

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #9 am: 16. Jan 2016, 18:54 »
Just FYI, all the strategies I posted were for 1000 starting resources, because that's all that I play with.

Now, as for Lorien, raelly all you need are beornings for most of the game. They wreck everything, 3 beornings can quickly kill any hero in the game. As for strategy, the Lorien building combinations are entirely dependent on how you want to play. Personally, if its a castle map I get a border guardhouse, 2 galadhrim quarters, 1 sanctuary and 1 forge. Another great thing about Lorien is due to all the towers in your base you absolutely wreck the beginning armies the AI sends, so you don't have to waste troops defending yourself. I usually get Silverthorns for my base ASAP and just spam Beornings out, combined with a few Galadhrim for archer support.
Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken! Shield shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride, ride to ruin, and the worlds ending! FORTH EORLINGAS!

Sefie1999AD

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #10 am: 30. Jan 2016, 03:28 »
I've been learning to play with 1000 starting credits, and after a bit of adjustment, I really like it, as it gives the early game, scout hero and creeping a whole new strategic level. :)

Can I have some tips for defeating Hard/Brutal Lothlorien AI, or to be more specific, how to counter Ent rushes for each race? The battles against Elves seem to follow the same pattern: first troop spam (mainly Archers and Galadhrim), heroes at some point, and eventually they build an Ent Moot close to their base, and if I can't take it out in time, they'll just attack with endless waves of Ents, creating more Ent Moots along the way. Other races' siege weapons are quite easy to kill with melee units, especially heroes, but Ents are very good at defending themselves at close range. Spamming archers with Fire Arrows could work, but if I'm focused on getting heroes first, the chances are that I don't have the Fire Arrow upgrade yet when the Ent rush starts. Are there any other effective ways of killing Ents?

DrHouse93

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #11 am: 30. Jan 2016, 04:41 »
I partially quote the post of Selfie1999, because I freaking HATE the Ent spam more than anything else (especially when playing as Isengard). Today I managed to beat a brutal, but it had the handicap, so is not a real victory xD

Odysseus

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #12 am: 30. Jan 2016, 15:39 »
Zitat
I've been learning to play with 1000 starting credits, and after a bit of adjustment, I really like it, as it gives the early game, scout hero and creeping a whole new strategic level. :)
Now this is what we like to hear! Keep going like that!

The trick to dealing with Ents is the spam of archers. Even without fire arrows, they can already take care of an ent or two if you get out multiple. Pikes are also useful, but archers/crossbows do more damage to them. Most Ents the ai sends will try to melee your buildings, so you have time to land some volleys with your ranged units on them. Lothlorien has no real cavalry, so your archers will only really suffer from Beorningers and other archers. It's all about the micro in those cases :). Abuse the ai by simply keep moving a target that is under fire out of range, and the enemy will follow that squad until it dies.

With Isengard, it's very difficult to really do anything aggressive early on against the ai with 1000 resources. Personally, I would say that it is impossible, because Isengard's early game is the weakest of all factions against a resource cheating AI. So, build a tower in your base, expand on a couple of settlements 3-4, and safe up for a hero. Preferably Ugluk, because he has a heal. Keep your Isengard scouts alive and get them to level 2, where they will have arrows. Depending on the map, you want to have either 1 or 2 towers in your base, and garrison them with level 2 scout uruks. They will destroy ends with their arrows. They will also level while in the tower. Keep expanding some smaller sentry towers in the meantime, and build up your economy in the base. Delete your outer settlements if they are unprotectable, to gain some resources back. Do not upgrade them! Only if they are safe or close to your base/easy to protect. Then, while your hero is levelling from dealing with other units than ents, unless to save your tower, you can probably get another hero out in the meantime. From there, you should have a pretty solid base to deflect enemy infantry, ents and heroes altogether. I would opt for Ugluk and Lurtz because they work very well together. From there on out, if your base still stands (it should), start teching up with your uruk pit. Spam out archers and when in level 3 war machine, equip them with shields. From there, you will gradually retake the map and the game. This is the strategy I employ most of the times and it has never failed me yet. I would avoid Lumber Camps, it makes Ents go berserk and suddenly they become even more dangerous, because they will have more speed.

Mordor has it the easiest, they can get quick access to fire arrows. Usually you can already outspam your opponent with orcs to gain more map control. If your base is in dire need, build a Defensive Tower and have Sauron influence it. Fire Arrows everywhere haha! Even on the smaller towers! The Barricade Spellbook Power is very useful as well. Cirith Ungol orcs and Black Uruk-hai archers are pretty awesome too, but a bit expensive. Your call.

Rohan, well, it's a bit tricky. What I can say is that Gamling's Fire Arrow ability here, is beyond important, much more so than the horn in this match up (which is usually more important in all the other matchups). Ah...the beauty of the Edain mod. From there, you can either focus on archers and spear throwers backed up by (Corrupted) Theoden or get Theodred with Sentry Towers. You can also rush for Cavalry archers, but it is a bit risky. Combining them towards mid-lategame is always a good idea. There is room for some creativity here, but make sure you always expand as quickly as you can, but with moderation so that you get a decent clash flow. This applies for each faction. Oh, and always defend your base with sentry towers. Even one ent can take down an unprotected base quite quickly.

Gondor has it a bit harder here. You could go for the Gondor Archers, but I prefer to go for the Ithilien Rangers. They do high amounts of damage versus ents, even without fire arrows. Beregond is pretty much a must too, to protect your buildings. Gondor's cavalry is fantastic against Lothlorien, so you can still get them, but avoid engaging ents and pikes with them. Gondor's base is also packed with turrets that will nicely defend your base against ents.

About the Dwarves, there is not much point in explaining that now, since in 4.3, all of them will be completely overhauled.

Lothlorien mirror: Quite easy, your archers will nicely do away with ents if you kite them. Your base will also do quite well against them. Since Lothlorien is usely going to be outnumbered, upgrading your base with Silverthorns and being more defensive is a priority. Lothlorien gets a lot of resources from their base anyway, so the settlements are a little less important.

I am pretty confident that you will see what works and what does not work, and you'll figure out the trend in how to deal with ents and that you adjust your strategy accordingly. Ents hate focus fire, as do most high value and high hp single units, but for a siege unit, Ents are unique in that way, for being (very) fragile to arrows, which the other siege units are not.

(PS. Angmar: Coming soon^tm :P.)

Hope this helps a bit!

Kind regards.
“For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.”

Elite KryPtik

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #13 am: 30. Jan 2016, 18:03 »
Odysseus had a lot of good strategies, but forgot something pretty important about Isengard.

Not only does Isengard have the 3rd strongest early game, behind Rohan and Mordor, but they have Wildmen Axe Throwers which can be upgraded with torches, AKA dead ents. Shame on you for forgetting this Odysseus :P

As for Rohan, by the time the Ent spam starts coming out you should have at least 3 heroes who have been banished by Théoden, doubling their damage, who can easily clean up ents.

Dwarves can clean up ents pretty easily because of how quickly they have access to Fire Arrows. Just build an armory and you can get it immediately. Axe Throwers with Forged Blades also do heavy damage against Ents.

Final point: You are NOT going to win an archer spam against Lorien. It is important to have lots of archers, like Odysseus said, but you also must keep other troops types. If possible for your faction, get cavalry, they can wreck anything Lorien has, even the Lorien Pikeguard. Just watch out for Mirkwood Sentries.
Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken! Shield shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride, ride to ruin, and the worlds ending! FORTH EORLINGAS!

Odysseus

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Re: Strategies against the Skirmish AI
« Antwort #14 am: 30. Jan 2016, 18:59 »
Kryptik is somewhat right. Wildmen are pretty sick against Ents, although, the reason why I didn't mention them is because I find them unnecessary versus the AI, somewhat risky and quite map dependent. Wildmen are extremely potent in player versus player because stealing resources from your opponent is something you always want to do if you can, but against AI, it's not very important. The AI gets what it wants regarding resources. Besides, I find Wildmen axe throwers rather cost-ineffective against the AI. Wildmen scale poorly against Lothlorien Archer spam because they are outranged from the beginning, they cannot be healed, and an ent can, if properly positioned, take out an entire battalion in one swoop. Uruks on the other hand scale very nicely. They can take some hits and their piercing crossbows do insane amounts of damage.
Actually, I find Lothlorien's second biggest weakness to be arrows. Their troops cannot get heavy armour and all their siege units are vulnerable to arrows (Beorningers were made more vulnerable to arrows remember?). Finally, I didn't mention the mixing of your troops because I thought it was self-explanatory, but if not, then yes, having a good mix of troops is always good.

Playing against a brutal AI, especially on small maps, is all about the early game. Very few factions (Gondor with cavalry, and Mordor with double barrack orc spam) can effectively pressure early game against a spamming brutal AI, so it's much safer to build up than to be agressive. In short, it's much safer and you get more action too :). It's funny, because when playing online, you kind of want to do the opposite, and pressure your opponent instead of defending. After all, the best defense is offense ^^. Basically, everything Kryptik holds very true in pvp, but not everything is waterproof against the AI simply because they spam so much. Try a small map like East Bight, it can be quite challeging :).

Off-topic perhaps, but you can banish multiple heroes? I never seemed to got that to work, strangely. Perhaps it is a bug in the current beta, I will have to check that in the internal. Thanks for the info!
“For so sworn good or evil an oath may not be broken and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world's end.”