Strategies against the Skirmish AI

• #15 von Sefie1999AD am 07 Feb, 2016 23:32
• Banishing multiple heroes definitely works in version 4.2.1. When I get Gamling, the first thing I do is have Theoden banish him (poor guy! ), and when I get Theodred and the cooldown is finished, I banish him too.
  
  I haven't had time to play BFME2, but I'll try to get back to practicing Edain next week. I did a test run against Lothlorien with Rohan, and the combination of banished heroes + upgraded sentries + archers (later with Fire Arrows) seem to hold up really well against Ents, and the former two can also deal with Lorien's archer spam until I get cavalry.
  
  Speaking of cavalry, do you have any tips for when I should build them? Usually I fill my main base with 2 non-resource buildings, and the rest will be resource buildings. Depending on the faction, the other non-resource building is usually one that produces basic troops, and the other is an upgrade building. For Gondor, though, I go with Barracks and Archery Range since Blacksmiths provide the upgrades, and I usually build two Orc Barrackses with Mordor. This leaves no space for a cavalry structure. For Rohan, you can always construct an Assembly Point, but what about the other factions? Is it preferred to demolish a building inside the main base (if yes, then which one?), or should you secure an Outpost and build a cavalry structure there? This question is mainly aimed at Gondor and Dwarves.
• #16 von Odysseus am 08 Feb, 2016 01:28
• An early Gondor cavalry build can apply good pressure on your opponent, including the AI. You can usually sacrifice one resource building for this, especially Gondor, because they have so many build plots. Several farms will also reduce their cost, so that works quite well!
  
  Spamming your base with resource structures is usually cost-ineffective, unless you are always on the defensive or when you have walls.
  
  The only foolproof strategy against the AI, is studying its cheating patterns and capitalising on them.
• #17 von Elite KryPtik am 08 Feb, 2016 07:33
• Now for a less confusing response: I follow those same build patterns in my build orders, so well done. As Rohan, your 1 basic troop production building inside your base SHOULD be a stables. You can easily recruit peasants from outer farms, and of course there's the Assembly Point as well. No, you may ask, what about archers? Well, speaking seriously, if you are able to get out a couple of heroes and banish them, you can deal with ents. You will find cavalry a lot more effective at killing the archer spam, combined with heroes to kill ents. That's what my strategy is. Sidenote, always get Rohirrim of the Eastfold, they have a better formation and the same cost and stats as standard Rohirrim.
• #18 von Sefie1999AD am 27 Jun, 2016 12:49
• It's been a while, but there's one thing I'd like to know: how do you defeat a Hard/Brutal Isengard on a castle map, such as Fords of Isen II, with a 1000 credit start? I've seen Elite Kryptik do it with a 4k start, by hero rushing the AI right away and crippling the base, but you can't do that with a 1k start.
  
  I've noticed that the battles against Isengard are about fighting endless waves of Ballistas. The only way to stop the siege spam is to take down the Siege Works, but it's at the back of the enemy base, heavily defended by Arrow Towers. It's also next to a Warg Pit, and Warg Riders are pretty good at taking down my own Battering Rams and Catapults/Trebuchets/Ballistas. In those cases, a quick strike against the Siege Works just doesn't feel worth it, you might as well gather up a full army and take down the enemy base, but it will still take ages even with siege weapons.
• #19 von Elite KryPtik am 27 Jun, 2016 21:43
• That's far too generic of a question to be answered easily, as it matters a lot what faction the AI is and of course what faction you are. Isengard on Fords of Isen 2 is(excuse my language here) and absolute CUNT to fight though. I have played and beaten them as Gondor, it took me 5 hours and multiple saves and reloads when things became impossible. Now granted this was back when I was much worse at the game, but all I really did was weather the storm and level up my heroes until I could push out.
• #20 von Sefie1999AD am 28 Jun, 2016 21:03
• The AI is Isengard, as I said. The map is usually Fords of Isen II, as I like playing on Castle maps. So Gondor has a harder time? Which faction(s) do you recommend using against Brutal Isengard in FOI2? Gondor, Rohan and Dwarves are probably my strongest factions, followed by Isengard, followed by Mordor, Lothlorien and Angmar.
  
  5 hours and save & load sounds like a PITA, but I've seen you do it faster, for example here you used Rohan to beat Brutal Isengard in FOI2 in 32 minutes. The basics should be quite obvious: creep with your scout hero and starting units as much as you can, but don't upgrade outer farms as you'll lose them soon anyway, then fill your inner base, defend, upgrade your inner farms and units and get your heroes out. But do you have any tips for the moments when the AI has almost full map control and a superior economy thanks to its 2 Outposts, and you're being overrun by superior numbers and an endless Ballista spam?
  
  I'm sure you've got much better at the game, but the Brutal AI has also improved much in 4.3.x versions, as it gets spellbook powers 2-3 times faster than you and actually uses them, and unlike in 4.2, the AI fills its base with small Arrow Towers, which are eventually upgraded with Steel Bolts.
• #21 von Elite KryPtik am 29 Jun, 2016 01:33
• Well, as Gondor and Dwarves its going to be a rough time. Pretty much as any faction rushing them to prevent them getting map control is your best bet, this is extremely easy to do as Rohan, but more difficult as Gondor and Dwarves. I honestly don't play much against AI anymore, and as for surviving when they have full map control and 2 outposts, that's just down to micro and luck. There's not really any tips I can give for something like that.
• #22 von Alter Graubart am 01 Aug, 2016 23:39
• Hello Elite KryPtik and Odysseus,
  
  first of all thank you for all those tips you posted here! They helped me to defeat brutal AI's regularly, finally. But unfortunately, now with Rivendell I've got huge problems dealing with brutal AI's, especially against Angmar, since they are spamming hill men and catapults right from the beginning. Since the early game has always been the most difficult period of a match for me I'm heavily struggling with Rivendell, in that aspect. Most of the time, I'm playing on maps with camps not fortresses which makes this task even harder. Btw, I always use 1000 starting resources.
  
  Thus, could you please give me some tips concerning build orders, units, etc.? Thanks in advance!