Ironman help (possible spoilers)
Mar 25, 2016 14:06:35 GMT -5
xdesperado, Kanly, and 1 more like this
Post by matrim on Mar 25, 2016 14:06:35 GMT -5
Another slow day at work has me thinking of a thread I could make to try an help people out with their ironman runs on any difficulty. Mostly this will be strategies against particular monsters or battles that I die to frequently but I will respond to any questions people may have too. I would love it if some of the other forum users could weigh in too about their strategies and maybe I could incorporate those into the thread (and my games!) too. As I plan to include fight specific details in this thread it may contains spoilers, consider yourself warned.
Giant Rats - Formidable, -armour curses work well on them and -res if you have access to elemental damage. I often use 1 AP weapons but will swap to 3 AP dual wield to bring higher numbers to take these guys down. 2h hammers really mess these guys up so if you have Fyona or Vraes (any 2h should work) then I suggest equipping these. -AP curses are pretty key on these guys as each one tends to take 1-2 rounds a piece to kill. These strategies work on beetles too, who can't hit as hard as the rats but are almost as defensive.
Deathkin - Thankfully rare, bringing down their AP needs to be the first priority. If you have -acc curses then put those on as well. After that is done bring down their dodge as much as possible. Parry helps too but their dodge score is the thing that is going to cause you to miss tons. They don't have tons of armour or res making curses that bring these down less of a priority. I generally take these guys out last because if you can get them to 1 AP then it is only 1 hit to worry about. Kill bowrats (especially) and other ratkin first (exception giant rats) as you can sink a couple turns into killing a deathkin and leaving others alive while you do that is deadly. At level 36+ these guys are VERY tough and can surprise you, they will hit all the time and dodge tons, be careful. In battles where they appear hang back, they tend to activate behind all the bowrats and veterans and sometimes will not move forward for 2-3 rounds giving you time to clean up the others. If you move forward into their formidable move range then you risk them activating and dealing with everything at once.
Ratkin Shaman - All of them have 6 range, use that to your advantage. Hang 7 spaces back (5 diagonal spaces is outside their range too) and force them to move into you (I especially try to get the diagonal, being 5 spaces away they sometimes move right next to you letting you get maximum attacks, this works for any 6 range monster btw). These guys unfortunately tend to activate first so you need to deal with them first. -dodge is important and they tend to have low armour, bring that down and they go down fast. Choking ash and punishing blades turn these guys into jello, use those and focus fire. I usually AP down them if I cannot 1 round kill them. If you can't one shot them take out the bowrats first, the shaman is only 1 attack, you lose ironman games when you start taking multiple hits.
Krete Archers - 8 range and highly accurate, these are the 2nd most common reason for me to lose ironman games. 7 diagonal spaces is outside their range and fortunately they have great MP causing them to move forward a lot if you hang back. If they do not cluster then do not be afraid to keep moving back to the 9 space safety zone, eventually you will out range some of them and they will stop activating then you can take out 1-2 of them slowly. If moving back is not an option, bring down their AP and accuracy and move your highest dodge characters next to them. Keep Kjartan/Vincent away, 2 or more hits will kill them. The worse situation is if they are shooting across difficult terrain, however in each case there has always been a safety zone to get the wizard to and then you can shoot them down with bows and spells. Knowing the spawns helps too. If you see Svenik lizards and non-savage (savage Krete are the non-armoured ones) Krete then there are no archers in that spawn (if they are savage Krete then archers can still be there). If you see melee Krete and no lizards or archers then move back 9 spaces from the closest black spot you can see because if your luck is like mine then that is where the archer will be. Not having a stealth lead while fighting in a zone with these guys is VERY risky, episode 2 and beyond they will target anyone in range and can easily kill someone in the opening round. I recommend stealth lead with at least 1 stealth item equipped (I equip 2 and unequip one of them mid combat), these guys have a high spot and may still win the roll, praying is all you can do if this happens.
Orcin Berserkers - highly mobile, medium damage, lots of attacks. These guys tend to spawn solo or with 1 other Berserker. I move the tank in front and keep the rest of the group 3 spaces back. A common strategy for these guys is to move to the back of your tank and because they have tons of MP they often can unload all 4 attacks, you don't want a non-tank to be targeted by those. After they move in constantly have a tank end the turn beside them, AP down them, and use elemental attacks if you can, they have strong armour. If with other orcs take them out last, they can take multiple turns and with 1 AP that is only a single attack or, if you are lucky, a weak heal and no attack to deal with.
Orcin Shaman - normal have 7 range, Ugo shaman have 8 range. 6 diagonal is out of range for normals, Ugo is same strategy as Krete archers. These guys will activate first and so need to be dealt with early. AP down them, a lot of the times the episode 3 ones will heal themselves (great, because no huge hit on you) which spawns a relatively weak ice elemental but the episode 2 ones will attack or curse you (from my experience cursing is more rare if they have 1 AP, I would say they curse 30%, attack 70%). Bring down their acc if you can. Kill before anything else, even javeliners and then try to move out of range of anything left after they go down. The normal shaman curse is not bad, the Ugo curse is -tank stats and will need to be removed.
Orc Warlords - hard hitters, highly accurate. Not much of an issue for me because I always use Kincaid for my ironman but with a Vraes tank you will need to be full HP every round till these guys go down. Shaman first, then Javeliners, then 3 AP orcs, then these guys is the kill order. Always make sure he has 1 AP, if he attacks twice or his full 3 times he can easily kill your tank.
Giant Rats - Formidable, -armour curses work well on them and -res if you have access to elemental damage. I often use 1 AP weapons but will swap to 3 AP dual wield to bring higher numbers to take these guys down. 2h hammers really mess these guys up so if you have Fyona or Vraes (any 2h should work) then I suggest equipping these. -AP curses are pretty key on these guys as each one tends to take 1-2 rounds a piece to kill. These strategies work on beetles too, who can't hit as hard as the rats but are almost as defensive.
Deathkin - Thankfully rare, bringing down their AP needs to be the first priority. If you have -acc curses then put those on as well. After that is done bring down their dodge as much as possible. Parry helps too but their dodge score is the thing that is going to cause you to miss tons. They don't have tons of armour or res making curses that bring these down less of a priority. I generally take these guys out last because if you can get them to 1 AP then it is only 1 hit to worry about. Kill bowrats (especially) and other ratkin first (exception giant rats) as you can sink a couple turns into killing a deathkin and leaving others alive while you do that is deadly. At level 36+ these guys are VERY tough and can surprise you, they will hit all the time and dodge tons, be careful. In battles where they appear hang back, they tend to activate behind all the bowrats and veterans and sometimes will not move forward for 2-3 rounds giving you time to clean up the others. If you move forward into their formidable move range then you risk them activating and dealing with everything at once.
Ratkin Shaman - All of them have 6 range, use that to your advantage. Hang 7 spaces back (5 diagonal spaces is outside their range too) and force them to move into you (I especially try to get the diagonal, being 5 spaces away they sometimes move right next to you letting you get maximum attacks, this works for any 6 range monster btw). These guys unfortunately tend to activate first so you need to deal with them first. -dodge is important and they tend to have low armour, bring that down and they go down fast. Choking ash and punishing blades turn these guys into jello, use those and focus fire. I usually AP down them if I cannot 1 round kill them. If you can't one shot them take out the bowrats first, the shaman is only 1 attack, you lose ironman games when you start taking multiple hits.
Krete Archers - 8 range and highly accurate, these are the 2nd most common reason for me to lose ironman games. 7 diagonal spaces is outside their range and fortunately they have great MP causing them to move forward a lot if you hang back. If they do not cluster then do not be afraid to keep moving back to the 9 space safety zone, eventually you will out range some of them and they will stop activating then you can take out 1-2 of them slowly. If moving back is not an option, bring down their AP and accuracy and move your highest dodge characters next to them. Keep Kjartan/Vincent away, 2 or more hits will kill them. The worse situation is if they are shooting across difficult terrain, however in each case there has always been a safety zone to get the wizard to and then you can shoot them down with bows and spells. Knowing the spawns helps too. If you see Svenik lizards and non-savage (savage Krete are the non-armoured ones) Krete then there are no archers in that spawn (if they are savage Krete then archers can still be there). If you see melee Krete and no lizards or archers then move back 9 spaces from the closest black spot you can see because if your luck is like mine then that is where the archer will be. Not having a stealth lead while fighting in a zone with these guys is VERY risky, episode 2 and beyond they will target anyone in range and can easily kill someone in the opening round. I recommend stealth lead with at least 1 stealth item equipped (I equip 2 and unequip one of them mid combat), these guys have a high spot and may still win the roll, praying is all you can do if this happens.
Orcin Berserkers - highly mobile, medium damage, lots of attacks. These guys tend to spawn solo or with 1 other Berserker. I move the tank in front and keep the rest of the group 3 spaces back. A common strategy for these guys is to move to the back of your tank and because they have tons of MP they often can unload all 4 attacks, you don't want a non-tank to be targeted by those. After they move in constantly have a tank end the turn beside them, AP down them, and use elemental attacks if you can, they have strong armour. If with other orcs take them out last, they can take multiple turns and with 1 AP that is only a single attack or, if you are lucky, a weak heal and no attack to deal with.
Orcin Shaman - normal have 7 range, Ugo shaman have 8 range. 6 diagonal is out of range for normals, Ugo is same strategy as Krete archers. These guys will activate first and so need to be dealt with early. AP down them, a lot of the times the episode 3 ones will heal themselves (great, because no huge hit on you) which spawns a relatively weak ice elemental but the episode 2 ones will attack or curse you (from my experience cursing is more rare if they have 1 AP, I would say they curse 30%, attack 70%). Bring down their acc if you can. Kill before anything else, even javeliners and then try to move out of range of anything left after they go down. The normal shaman curse is not bad, the Ugo curse is -tank stats and will need to be removed.
Orc Warlords - hard hitters, highly accurate. Not much of an issue for me because I always use Kincaid for my ironman but with a Vraes tank you will need to be full HP every round till these guys go down. Shaman first, then Javeliners, then 3 AP orcs, then these guys is the kill order. Always make sure he has 1 AP, if he attacks twice or his full 3 times he can easily kill your tank.
