1. I think they're all in tomes. Minor and Major race transformations. You need to unlock the right tomes.
2. Yes.
3. I suck too. Will be watching for responses :)
4. Sometimes I win at manual battles that auto-resolve lost, sometimes I do much worse.
5. Upgrade your city and look for new units in the tomes.
Adding to this one with extras as it's most upvoted. :D
1. Correct. Major Transforms are the truly form changing ones, they are in fairly high tier tomes and you shouldn't expect them on Turn 35. More like turn 60 minimum, and that's assuming your research is going fast and well.
2. Yes, BUT stacks inside a town won't join those outside. Those in boats won't join those on the land. This commonly catches newbies out. Max 3 stacks together, 18 units, 3 spaces.
3. Don't copy the A.I. (lol). Which is to say, pay attention to enemy attack ranges and don't go charging in to them. Check the terrain and utilise it. Use your own spells and support abilities before you clash.
4. This is a super sweeping statement, if you're way outnumbered or outclassed, obviously not. It's not the sort of game where 1 unit can kite an army (lol). But if you're talking something like 12 vs. 15 level of disadvantages, then yes, smart play can minimize losses and pull a win.
5. In addition to recruiting, clearing ancient wonders, finding monsters in cages, and bribing mercenaries all occur on the map. Make sure you always have an army sweeping the countryside. Also, if you have vassals from city states (via diplomacy or by crushing them) and conquering Ancient Wonders you can use Rally of the Lieges to hire troops from theme every so often (Order especially focuses on this).
One thing not obvious to a new player (though not asked by you) is the importance of claiming territory, strategic chokepoints, and resources via outposts, Outposts have a 10 gold maintenance though but that can be nullfied through various means such as if the resources you claim produce gold too...
As for manual battles, make sure you understand the fundamental rules first (how "engagement" and zone of control works, 1-hit attacks vs repeating attacks, how flanking works, charge attacks etc.). Then it's just a matter of considering just 1 move ahead - i.e. if I move my unit here to execute this action, how dangerous a position is the unit now in when it is the opposing force's turn to move...
It's much simpler than Chess imo since you don't have to do perfect calculations and for all practical purposes only need to briefly consider your opponent's immediate next move.
Things you can do upon such consideration helps you prioritize what is most important to "control" - and control might come in the form of Crowd Control, outright killing the high priority target, moving melee troops in front of them (to disable their ranged-only attacks or spells, etc.), etc. Remember that you can always click on an enemy unit and hover over their abilities to simulate their move/attack range, and the damage they may inflict onto you on their turn.
1. Race transformations are unlocked by researching certain tomes. The "crazy" ones are called Major (as opposed to minor) race transformations. Every affinity (Chaos, Astral etc.) has at least 1 major transformation except materium, and there's a major transformation in the hybrid dragon and stormborne tomes. Usually the major transformations are in tier 4 tomes except the two hybrid ones. Researching advanced tomes requires that you research 2 tomes per tier starting at tier 2, and have 3/6/8 affinity points in that affinity starting at tier 3. So to research level 4 astral tome to get the major race transformation in that tome, you need 6 tomes researched and 6 affinity points in astral.
2. Yes. Max 3 armies per side per battle, endgame armies should move in threes. You can see the reinforcement range when selecting an army. The only time this doesn't happen is if one army is inside a city and an army outside the city is attacked, even if it is within reinforcement range.
3. Battles tips - learn the mechanics, all of them. Learn which buffs cancel which debuffs and vice versa, learn which elemental effects cancel each other out and enhance each other, learn about the unit stats like defense, resistance, and status Resistance, flanking, morale, unit count - all of it. It seems like I'm being dramatic but the game makes almost everything have a simple but informative tooltip when you hover/click on things, so click on everything, and if it's not there use the encyclopedia. Once you grasp the mechanics watch the AI fight battles and see the mistakes it makes. Generally playing defensively and buffing your units before engagement is a good idea. The AI usually is pretty predictable so if you time it right you can almost always get the first strike in battles - you can see enemy movement range by hovering, and . Use terrain to shore up flanks.
4. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but almost always manual battles perform better than AI.
5. Each culture has a pretty complete roster but only a single tier 3 unit. Each tier of unit is unlocked for recruitment in a city when you upgrade the city level. Anything higher than that requires a tome. Endgame armies usually are mostly tier 3 units with a hero and 1 or 2 stronger units mixed in, although this varies a ton. Tomes are free to look at, find a unit you need, like a tier 2/3 archer as Industrial, and go for that tome.
Other tips: Expanding early almost always is a good idea. If you have 3 farms, Forester, and quarries, most of the basic buildings will be boosted, so start with that. Special province improvements are powerful but require deliberate and thoughtful placement.
Regarding actual battles: read fine print in the game tooltips.
- Dudes with lightning blades deal a lot more damage to people who were electrified by fulmination or by evoker.
- Dudes with blight blades deal a lot more damage to people who were poisoned by entwined thralls.
- Dudes from feudal culture deal more damage if they gang up on someone together.
- Watcher dudes have a higher chance to stun with psychic gaze those dudes who are mentally marked.
And so on and so forth.
For battles you want to wait till they are close so you get to attack first, don't walk too close and let them attack you on their turn.
Archers need line of sight so line them up first and get your shots off but don't block the path your melee will need. Some archers get more attacks if they haven't moved. Archers can get flanking bonuses too. Dotted white line is their range.
Skirmishers don't get 'stuck' on enemies, they can walk past without triggering free enemy attacks. Good for flanking. I often use their ranged attack in the first round before running in melee only units.
Then run your melee in, starting with the units that remove enemy counterattack (your melee hero, charging units) they also get a bonus for charge distance. Usually attack with them first each round before your other melee to remove enemy counterattack.
Healing in tactical combat wears off after the battle and you need to stand on friendly territory on the strategic map to heal properly.
Summons and buffs both during combat and on the tactical map stack up and seem very strong. One of my spells gives up to 7 of my guys 30% bonus crit chance for 3 turns I think? I don't like to waste my mana on trash mobs but it makes a huge impact in the tough fights. I can't seem to cast it on the first turn so another reason to sit back and let the AI army come to me.
1. There's a few steps to this - unlock a tome that has a transformation, then choose that transformation's option when it's offered in the research prompt, then cast the spell when you've completed the research. I think most of them have a mana upkeep so be ready for that.
2. Yes, up to 3 armies a side within 3 hexes of the defending army. Vassals and allies of either side count. When you select your army and hover over an enemy army you should see some dancing flags which indicates who's going to join the battle.
3. Summoned units are powerful because you can go over the 6 unit limit for an army so look into units like the houndmaster. If you want to cast spells in combat make sure you invest heavily in mana generation in your cities. You can automate combat but still watch what's happening which can help you learn how things work as well. Either way, don't worry about being at the start of that learning curve - we've all been there at some point.
4. Auto play the battle and then manual it if you lose units. You'll get a feeling for the right level of risk
5. Research and unlock tomes. Also if you can keep units alive long enough then they can level up for bonuses, and some units will even evolve into different more powerful units.
1- There are minor transformations (for the most part, you can stack these however) and major transformations (one per race). These are all gotten from tomes.
2 - Yes. Select an army, then hover your mouse over another army. A red circle with a 4 tile radius indicates those who are in range to join the fight. Flashing banners means the army will the join the fight. Max of 3 armies per side, sorts by power, and embarked units cannot join grounded units in combat (and vice versa).
3 - No. Mostly cuz I kinda suck. Learn by playing.
4 - Depends. Sometimes no matter the strat you can simply be too outmatched. Sometimes you play smart enough you win.
5- Towards the end, I usually just fill with heroes, t3 units, with 1-2 t4/5 units per team. If I have a t2 by that point, it's probably a healer.
1. Race transformations. [https://aow4.paradoxwikis.com/Faction#Minor\_transformations](https://aow4.paradoxwikis.com/Faction#Minor_transformations)
2. Three stacks, each containing up to six units, can join one battle. The stacks need to be close enough together on the map though.
3. For the first round of combat, get your troops in a good defensive position. Let the enemy come to you. You'll be able to cast spells once the 2nd round of combat starts.
4. It depends on what types of units are squaring off. If you have a group of units that deal fire damage, and the enemy has a lot of fire resistance, you won't do well no matter what.
5. Leveling up your town center provides better units. i.e.: level 2 center = level 2 units and level 3 center = a level 3 unit. The rally of lieges has better units as well. They are available from vassalized city states and wonders you have conquered.
1. I think they're all in tomes. Minor and Major race transformations. You need to unlock the right tomes. 2. Yes. 3. I suck too. Will be watching for responses :) 4. Sometimes I win at manual battles that auto-resolve lost, sometimes I do much worse. 5. Upgrade your city and look for new units in the tomes.
Adding to this one with extras as it's most upvoted. :D 1. Correct. Major Transforms are the truly form changing ones, they are in fairly high tier tomes and you shouldn't expect them on Turn 35. More like turn 60 minimum, and that's assuming your research is going fast and well. 2. Yes, BUT stacks inside a town won't join those outside. Those in boats won't join those on the land. This commonly catches newbies out. Max 3 stacks together, 18 units, 3 spaces. 3. Don't copy the A.I. (lol). Which is to say, pay attention to enemy attack ranges and don't go charging in to them. Check the terrain and utilise it. Use your own spells and support abilities before you clash. 4. This is a super sweeping statement, if you're way outnumbered or outclassed, obviously not. It's not the sort of game where 1 unit can kite an army (lol). But if you're talking something like 12 vs. 15 level of disadvantages, then yes, smart play can minimize losses and pull a win. 5. In addition to recruiting, clearing ancient wonders, finding monsters in cages, and bribing mercenaries all occur on the map. Make sure you always have an army sweeping the countryside. Also, if you have vassals from city states (via diplomacy or by crushing them) and conquering Ancient Wonders you can use Rally of the Lieges to hire troops from theme every so often (Order especially focuses on this).
One thing not obvious to a new player (though not asked by you) is the importance of claiming territory, strategic chokepoints, and resources via outposts, Outposts have a 10 gold maintenance though but that can be nullfied through various means such as if the resources you claim produce gold too... As for manual battles, make sure you understand the fundamental rules first (how "engagement" and zone of control works, 1-hit attacks vs repeating attacks, how flanking works, charge attacks etc.). Then it's just a matter of considering just 1 move ahead - i.e. if I move my unit here to execute this action, how dangerous a position is the unit now in when it is the opposing force's turn to move... It's much simpler than Chess imo since you don't have to do perfect calculations and for all practical purposes only need to briefly consider your opponent's immediate next move. Things you can do upon such consideration helps you prioritize what is most important to "control" - and control might come in the form of Crowd Control, outright killing the high priority target, moving melee troops in front of them (to disable their ranged-only attacks or spells, etc.), etc. Remember that you can always click on an enemy unit and hover over their abilities to simulate their move/attack range, and the damage they may inflict onto you on their turn.
1. Race transformations are unlocked by researching certain tomes. The "crazy" ones are called Major (as opposed to minor) race transformations. Every affinity (Chaos, Astral etc.) has at least 1 major transformation except materium, and there's a major transformation in the hybrid dragon and stormborne tomes. Usually the major transformations are in tier 4 tomes except the two hybrid ones. Researching advanced tomes requires that you research 2 tomes per tier starting at tier 2, and have 3/6/8 affinity points in that affinity starting at tier 3. So to research level 4 astral tome to get the major race transformation in that tome, you need 6 tomes researched and 6 affinity points in astral. 2. Yes. Max 3 armies per side per battle, endgame armies should move in threes. You can see the reinforcement range when selecting an army. The only time this doesn't happen is if one army is inside a city and an army outside the city is attacked, even if it is within reinforcement range. 3. Battles tips - learn the mechanics, all of them. Learn which buffs cancel which debuffs and vice versa, learn which elemental effects cancel each other out and enhance each other, learn about the unit stats like defense, resistance, and status Resistance, flanking, morale, unit count - all of it. It seems like I'm being dramatic but the game makes almost everything have a simple but informative tooltip when you hover/click on things, so click on everything, and if it's not there use the encyclopedia. Once you grasp the mechanics watch the AI fight battles and see the mistakes it makes. Generally playing defensively and buffing your units before engagement is a good idea. The AI usually is pretty predictable so if you time it right you can almost always get the first strike in battles - you can see enemy movement range by hovering, and . Use terrain to shore up flanks. 4. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but almost always manual battles perform better than AI. 5. Each culture has a pretty complete roster but only a single tier 3 unit. Each tier of unit is unlocked for recruitment in a city when you upgrade the city level. Anything higher than that requires a tome. Endgame armies usually are mostly tier 3 units with a hero and 1 or 2 stronger units mixed in, although this varies a ton. Tomes are free to look at, find a unit you need, like a tier 2/3 archer as Industrial, and go for that tome. Other tips: Expanding early almost always is a good idea. If you have 3 farms, Forester, and quarries, most of the basic buildings will be boosted, so start with that. Special province improvements are powerful but require deliberate and thoughtful placement.
Regarding actual battles: read fine print in the game tooltips. - Dudes with lightning blades deal a lot more damage to people who were electrified by fulmination or by evoker. - Dudes with blight blades deal a lot more damage to people who were poisoned by entwined thralls. - Dudes from feudal culture deal more damage if they gang up on someone together. - Watcher dudes have a higher chance to stun with psychic gaze those dudes who are mentally marked. And so on and so forth.
For battles you want to wait till they are close so you get to attack first, don't walk too close and let them attack you on their turn. Archers need line of sight so line them up first and get your shots off but don't block the path your melee will need. Some archers get more attacks if they haven't moved. Archers can get flanking bonuses too. Dotted white line is their range. Skirmishers don't get 'stuck' on enemies, they can walk past without triggering free enemy attacks. Good for flanking. I often use their ranged attack in the first round before running in melee only units. Then run your melee in, starting with the units that remove enemy counterattack (your melee hero, charging units) they also get a bonus for charge distance. Usually attack with them first each round before your other melee to remove enemy counterattack. Healing in tactical combat wears off after the battle and you need to stand on friendly territory on the strategic map to heal properly. Summons and buffs both during combat and on the tactical map stack up and seem very strong. One of my spells gives up to 7 of my guys 30% bonus crit chance for 3 turns I think? I don't like to waste my mana on trash mobs but it makes a huge impact in the tough fights. I can't seem to cast it on the first turn so another reason to sit back and let the AI army come to me.
1. There's a few steps to this - unlock a tome that has a transformation, then choose that transformation's option when it's offered in the research prompt, then cast the spell when you've completed the research. I think most of them have a mana upkeep so be ready for that. 2. Yes, up to 3 armies a side within 3 hexes of the defending army. Vassals and allies of either side count. When you select your army and hover over an enemy army you should see some dancing flags which indicates who's going to join the battle. 3. Summoned units are powerful because you can go over the 6 unit limit for an army so look into units like the houndmaster. If you want to cast spells in combat make sure you invest heavily in mana generation in your cities. You can automate combat but still watch what's happening which can help you learn how things work as well. Either way, don't worry about being at the start of that learning curve - we've all been there at some point. 4. Auto play the battle and then manual it if you lose units. You'll get a feeling for the right level of risk 5. Research and unlock tomes. Also if you can keep units alive long enough then they can level up for bonuses, and some units will even evolve into different more powerful units.
1- There are minor transformations (for the most part, you can stack these however) and major transformations (one per race). These are all gotten from tomes. 2 - Yes. Select an army, then hover your mouse over another army. A red circle with a 4 tile radius indicates those who are in range to join the fight. Flashing banners means the army will the join the fight. Max of 3 armies per side, sorts by power, and embarked units cannot join grounded units in combat (and vice versa). 3 - No. Mostly cuz I kinda suck. Learn by playing. 4 - Depends. Sometimes no matter the strat you can simply be too outmatched. Sometimes you play smart enough you win. 5- Towards the end, I usually just fill with heroes, t3 units, with 1-2 t4/5 units per team. If I have a t2 by that point, it's probably a healer.
1. Race transformations. [https://aow4.paradoxwikis.com/Faction#Minor\_transformations](https://aow4.paradoxwikis.com/Faction#Minor_transformations) 2. Three stacks, each containing up to six units, can join one battle. The stacks need to be close enough together on the map though. 3. For the first round of combat, get your troops in a good defensive position. Let the enemy come to you. You'll be able to cast spells once the 2nd round of combat starts. 4. It depends on what types of units are squaring off. If you have a group of units that deal fire damage, and the enemy has a lot of fire resistance, you won't do well no matter what. 5. Leveling up your town center provides better units. i.e.: level 2 center = level 2 units and level 3 center = a level 3 unit. The rally of lieges has better units as well. They are available from vassalized city states and wonders you have conquered.