Level all abilities first. Then I think run and armor are you best bet. Damage and crit only affect weapon damage (correct me if I'm wrong). And your health is taken care of with that passive ability.
Yeah thats what I was thinking to level all abilities first, then run isnt too important if you have like 10 seconds, and armour reduces knock down and damage taken. What should I really focus on crit damage or health? Also what kind of rune would I be best with?
--------------- MAGE THEORY --------------- Okay, just to point out this is 'my take' on the Mage. I am level 66 now, I think I have played enough to have a say. (* Warning, this is a lunatic rambling diatribe with little cohesion) First of all, the Mage is a TANK and can only be played as such. I am not going to talk about low level tree here, although you can figure out for yourself which skills do the most damage. The lightning is the big one, that is your main source of offensive power. The freeze has a very quick and friendly cool-down, and makes the Mage truly able to survive getting right in the mix at all times. The Mage is extremely technical to play, because although dancing to avoid strikes is EVERYTHING, so is standing still. With a +2HP/+12Armour Rune I get 13 HP/sec if I am standing still. Every second that you stand counts. You can swing away with your weapon during this time - the critical point to make about health regen. You want to position yourself and funnel in enemies so you can stand still as long as possible without getting mauled. I have poured a LOT of points into armour, which allows you to survive being a tank longer and also allows you to stand still and deliberately take a beating. Early game you WANT them to hit you as much as possible, to increase your health pool. Mid-End game, you need to avoid damage as much as possible, which gets very tough with a field full of archers, mages, snipers, etc. The way the Mage health pools grows means you have a bigger tank of gas to draw from, but it 'costs' more to fill it up. It is routine to swing into the entrance and pop three health potions in quick succession, and still only be three quarters full on health. Obviously you want to stay outside as much as possible, you can duck in and out when your freeze is up but it isn't worth popping a lightning if you are going to stay in the yard (building 21HP/sec in my current form). Speaking of lightning, it seems to stick to a fairly small area around you, and I believe the area is kind of 'tuned' so that the first few strikes are near to you and in front, and then they spread from there. The critical thing to take advantage of lightning is that you don't want to waste it, so don't just pop it because it is up. Wait until you know you are going to be wading into big group spread out. Also, on that note the Mage is always moving, except when he is standing still - when you are moving, you want to be running. I strongly suggest putting a handful of those precious points into running, I am about 8.6sec and with careful 'tap run management' I can run around a LOT. When you are in the backfield try not to run out of run - you need to make it nearly all the way back to kill Wraiths if you use units or take out Mummies on towers. Avoiding strikes is key, as the Mage is actually an incredible deep field tank. You want to herd anything that you can't kill in one or two hits into a timed freeze, that you can take quite a few swipes at before moving on. With careful timing you can keep a Troll frozen almost continuously. The big Mummies, you want to herd them around for sure, usually with a close tail of normal mummies. Avoiding strikes and hitting all the time is tricky with several of the enemies, especially Wraith and those guys dragging the big swords that almost glitch their own animation. The Mage has a shockingly long reach, learning the absolute limits of this is key to whacking down groups of mummies all caught at different attack animations. The best way to get in and out is a leap forward as you strike, which gives you serious reach. Then skulk back immediately, and dart in with the next swing. You should be able to swing continuously, and frankly every swing should be a hit on multiple targets past early game. For outright damage, I have trickled points in there but agonizingly because I wanted so much in Armour. I think I do about 120 damage right now, but I have also checked critical as much as possible and when one point will get you two crit points I have popped one in there, so... I am at about 42% Crit, and this can stand to go higher yet of course. The fireball is largely useless unless it is to pester someone into following you, or taking out one lone low end unit at the wall. I understand that fully kitted out this would kill a lot of enemies, especially as a normal Mummy 'two hits and a fireball' combo, but... I just can't spare the points. Timing your Freeze to Kiting of big dudes is obviously key. The worst enemy of the Mage is of course the enemy Mage, and the most important thing here is to make sure not to trigger their aggro towards you if they have just put up their bubble. That bubble is deadly, especially if you get more than one of them turned your way under their shields at the same time. Obviously you want to take these guys out as the primary target at all times, only the gold mine bombers are the bigger priority target (please sign the petition to have them made extinct as a species). Health management becomes everything in mid and late game. You have a huge pool, tons of armour, and you can calmly head back at any time to gulp a potion or perhaps stand for 20 seconds inside timed to your Freeze and Lightning cooldown. Walking out the door to an infested group and tapping the Freeze is a major thing for you and a buddy in co-op, whether you mean to stick around and beat the crap out of the stuff or head out on a sprint to the backfield. Only aggro what you want Kiting you, namely the heavy armoured skeletal swordsmen (and their Captains) and stuff like Mummies. Keep in mind the 'running Mummies' may be impossible to avoid as a first strike unless you waste a Freeze on them, it is sometimes better to take that first hit just to make them walk again - to avoid plunging you backwards into a mess. You will need to learn to see out the back of your head, so you can beat on mummies at the wall several times and then whirl around to smash back the three or four skeletons that you can kill with one hit. Make every single hit count, even if by learned fluke. The Mage has an extremely wide sweep of an attack, no matter what the animation is. When you have a couple of Mummies frozen angle around them as you are hitting them to soak in incoming stuff. You can hit two units quite far apart laterally with both of your strikes - learn the hitbox and use it all the time. In late game you will be forced to the wall, and you will be taking a serious lickin' every time you waltz out to beat on stuff. You need a little luck with your Lightning, the odd major strike on a Troll or Orc Chieftan makes all the difference. The Orc Chieftans are a perfect example of the ultimate Kite with the Mage - drag him around, take in smaller Orcs, and don't let them hit you. This means sweeping backwards back and forth in mid-field, watching out for enemy Mages and groups of archers to wade through and take out. Catapults are obviously always an important target, make sure when you dance in to take them out you spend the time to sweep the whole end of the field for anything else 'coming' and then get out before you lose a lot of health. Being way down on Health can get very dangerous in late game, try to careen around zig-zagging a little as you head back to the yard for a potion gulp (or three) and do NOT run out of run. You will be in trouble if you have aggro'd several archers before requiring a desperation run, so don't let your health get that low. Depending on wall/tower health, in early to mid game keep yourself topped up by standing still as much as possible. Position yourself so you can a couple of swipes and see the '+10' or more a second green numbers that mean so much. Don't waste a split second of it, and don't get hit on purpose for more than you gain. I barely have to look at my health until late game now. In Co-Op, the Mage makes a great switch up Tank that can take both the Wall and the outfield, and the Mage is definitely one of the guys you want to come revive your ass when you go down. Especially timed to a Freeze triggered LATE in the revive timer, so that the guy getting up has a chance to get the hell out of there. My Rune is as good as it gets, although a +2HP/Sec with a healthy Crit bonus would be nice too. I have tried damage/crit runes and although I am killing stuff a LOT faster I definitely don't have the huge pool of health at hand as much without a lot more work. The +2 per sec of Health at all times is huge. Sorry for ranting, my take anyway...
No, there should not be an EXP doubler in H&C. It is the only thing that money can't buy, and it should stay that way. When you hook up with a lvl 78 Engy in Co-Op, you know they are the real deal - they have put in the time. The multiplayer in this game is all about respect, and that respect comes from the blood, sweat and tears that a person puts into their character. Please don't go down 'that road', your hesitation tells me that you already understand. You already have the most incredible IAP system in place that I bet is 'working' for you guys as well as for us. The EXP doubler would just be a cheap stab in the heart to the modestly large group out there that have put in the hours already. You know why an EXP doubler would be wrong - follow your heart.
Man, I have to point it out . The Engy example defenetly is not the best one, considering the invincible wall glitch gaining exp, available ONLY to engineer .
Great comments about the mage!! I have a high level mage myself, and generally agree with you. The guy is freaking awesome. Huge health, great damage output etc. We differ on a couple of points though. While the fireball is generally of less use at higher levels, I find it is the perfect mage killer. If they put up a shield, just burn right through it! The fireball kills them in one shot. I think it's the only thing unaffected by the shield (please correct me if I'm wrong). You just need to avoid a return shot or two until they die. I also don't get the health rune thing. The +2hp/sec is well suited to the mage, but a +1 gold beats it hands down. With each rune over a 75 second period I can either earn 75 gold or 150 health. That gold buys me a 250hp potion, so every 75 seconds I'm 100 hp ahead. That's a hell of a lot over a good endless/co-op game. The gold cap limits it's usefulness somewhat, but the health rune is also no good if you're fully healed. The extra gold can be spent on units, health can't. You're spot on about run being critical. The other half of my gold rune is a +10 run - my mage is just a non-stop wrecking ball. For all those mages out there, I'd recommend put NO points into health. You get such huge health anyway, but the 20 health increase per 100 damage taken bumps it up in-game, and you are limited to around 1500hp. A +100 health rune (for example) is also pretty useless for the same reason. Has the damage related health increase been nerfed too? I thought it used to be 25?
+ infinity...although I did purchase the XP doubler for Block Fortress, but that's a different game, with no multiplayer...yet! Sweet...looking forward (yet again) for a new character!
3 different weapons on him! he is a punk as well It gonna be interesting finding out all these new abilities and heroes and these new units! Coming
There is no way the fully enhanced breaker ability on my CV is reducing damage by 90%. I'm still getting hit by trolls for 80-100 damage. Yet when I also fire up clockwork it immediately drops to 1 damage when it should only be a 35% reduction (stacked). Something is wrong with the calcs in the game. Can the clockwork defenders be changed to affect both heroes if two CVs team up together.
+1. Mage used to be my fav. hero too (having a level 70 Mage myself), but it becomes less attractive after its special skills got nerfed with last update. Still fun to play, but not as satisfying as the shear damage from a maxed out CV with a few defenders pumping. Maybe Barbarian will be even better.
Yep, same thought. It's just a little off from where it was, but its noticeable. I'm leaving mine at level 70 and may not bother with it again, considering all the other heroes to tinker with.
Bad Barbarian! Aren't you supposed to learn good habits? Keep your back straight, or I'll whip out the ruler!
Hmm... An interesting theory about a +gold rune over a +HP. Honestly I have tried my best to make use of a +1Gold/X rune and it never seems to 'pay off'. The +2HP may not make sense mathematically, but you have to admit that it DOES allow you to stay out of the yard a lot more. By your math, to take advantage of the gold over the health you would need to dip into the doorway a LOT more often. Basically I can stay out, stay healthier, and not have to worry about my health more often. The one major flaw of the Mage is that you really don't ever do MASSIVE damage when you need to. You have to get lucky with lightning strikes to take down big stuff without a protracted Kite/beatdown. Because of this, the Mage needs to rely on help for damage. Obviously everyone wants a full spread of ballista towers that you keep alive, and to do this having all the dwarf bonuses up with a full complement of either blunders or riflemen (with their additional captains) is the way to go. I have had some good luck using peons and pikemen with their respective bonus huts up, but they only have survivability for a small part of mid game. In the End game, popping up a few Giants seems to help, and the Mage's special unit cockroaches are actually quite tanky in their own right but again none of this stuff really seems to live long when the big enemies are about. It is simply heartbreaking to try to put up ballistas/cannons and then watch them get clawed down without being able to stop it. In this respect, at the very end game the Mage becomes quite watered down. All you can hope to do is survive, and at the very end it will be your keep that goes down before you do - as it should be. Again, when the skies have darkened with Trolls and worse mobbing you on your own porch, your Freeze is about the only shred of dignity you have left.
Well, someone has done a fancy write up on the mage, I figure that I could do a write-up on the Ranger then too, before someone else does it before me >.< RANGER Well, as you guys all know, the Ranger focuses on high DPS rather than relying on its' skill. It is a very versatile unit that is well pretty beast in taking stuff out. First of all, it is very strongly advised that you learn how a Ranger works, learn how to calculate shots properly and practice killings things across the map a lot. Doesn't matter what, just kill, kill and kill. This allows you to gain the skills neccesary to be able to shoot a catapult without having to move closer to it. You also need to always be on the move. Move and shoot, never stop, unless it's a hard-hitter like a troll, because his hitbox is well, you need to take more time on him to take him down. Another thing you have to take note of is that the Ranger cannot take a hit. Less than 400 base HP at level 99 and 0 base armor, it's a weakling. So you always have to be careful of that. The active and passive skills of a Ranger are just amazing, although there is the questionable elven archers, which I dislike very, very much. See now, Bramble is what makes a Ranger truly shine. When you hit a normal enemy unit, he's stunned indefinitely when this skill is maxed. This allows you and your units more time to disperse more shots while the enemy just sits there like a sitting duck, waiting to die. Fire arrow comes first for an active, followed by hunter trap, since fire arrow allows a Ranger to be able to shoot through some 10+ units at one time. That means if you can one hit almost every unit in the game and have fire arrows on, you're somewhat a beast. Hunter trap is kind of a life saver if used properly. Let's say you're kiting a troll, you set up a trap ahead of time and lead him right into it and bam, he's trapped for quite some time. Marksman and Spreadshot are very, very incredible skills to have. Spreadshot gives you the ability to triple shot and if it happens at the right time, triple tick off three trolls for maximum kitage. Marksman, well marksman is just wow. Increases your damage by +225% the farther you shoot back. This means with high critical, you'll be hitting the 500's and so on. I myself, being a level 63 Ranger, have hit 900's on a troll, which is very, very awesome. So in short, just invest in everything but elven archer. A rune you should generally aim for is a damage/armor rune. I use a +35DMG/+7AMR Rune for my Ranger. I also put 3 extra points in armor making me immune from knockdown which is very useful. See a Ranger aims to hit fast and hit hard. Always remember to take advantage of your fun and what not. God, it's almost 3:00am... Well that's my 2 cents on Ranger
Cause I mostly ask questions, this time is a little contribution to the devs . It is about few bugs I encountered recently. The first image shows my income at zero, with one of my mines still presenting (after they destroyed it, it went to -1, but taking the screenshot crashed the game, so I can't add such). The second one, as you can see, shows 54/50 ground population. Not sure if it was actual units count, or just misdisplay. With best regards .
Little bragging Nice setup for units price, don't ya think? (Very, very lucky craft of -20% units price/ -12% units price rune).
