SETTLERS GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

Hello my name is rideofthevalkyrie or more commonly scuba_steve on AOM vanilla. Now I have played settlers for about 2 years now and over 2000 games of experience, I have taught many people who from nubs I turned into pros. I know that settlers is very disliked by the majority of supremacy players because it is simply easier to play but please avoid posting comments that undermine what this guide is about, which is helping people get better at settlers because they want to. I’ am also advocating that this be linked into the strategy guide library so I can easily tell people where to go see it. I’m not the best at settlers and never will be, there have been through history people who were freakishly good at it. Some names as a tribute include betamax, sesshomaru, kimbojones, recon, firecaptian, massacre_Profr, massacre_star, Firegoddes and Ulfsark00. I’m sure I have left several names out but moving on, settlers is a fun game that has brightened my day for these past 2 years and I want others to share that brightness. In this guide I hope to adequately provide the reader on how to do well at settlers in several aspects, not just a quick list of build orders or a one page listing of vague and poorly described tactics but a in depth treatise to settlers providing not only the aforementioned build orders but how to act to situations, how to have a ample enough economy to fuel your tactical desires, how to prepare for the long game of endless unit spamming. All of this will accumulate to you being the best you can be. I also implore you to make suggestions to add anything I have missed or improve on anything I have stated and please don’t be afraid to ask questions here or if you catch me online. My apologies if for what ever reason after I proof read this guide that grammatical or spelling errors occur or if I write something like “his base” when it could be a girl player so please bear with me. By the way as you have probably already noticed I am writing in formal prose so that everyone can understand. So I guess in conclusion just read it through and I hope that you get something out of it.

CONTENTS

1.0 What is settlers / differences from supremacy
1.1 The map

2.0 Build orders
2.1 Greek build orders
2.2 Six minute thirty second underworld
2.3 Greek navy

3.0 Egyptian build orders
3.1 70-90 man at eight minutes shifting sands rush
3.2 Egyptian fast heroic
3.3 Egyptian navy

4.0 Norse build orders
4.1 Norse general up
4.2 Norse rush three minute- four minute mark
4.3 Norse navy

5.0 Settler economics/ expanding

6.0 Military units
6.1 Unit combos
6.2 Unit micro
6.3 Value of siege
6.4 Navy micro
6.5 Myth units

7.0 Minor god paths
7.1 Greek
7.2 Egyptian
7.3 Norse

8.0 God powers
8.1 God power tactics/what not to do with god powers

9.0 Long games
9.1 Setting up for the long game
9.2 Stalemates

10.0 Free for all games

11.0 Anti underworld rush/ shifting sands rush tactic

12.0 Settlers tips

13.0 Acknowledgements

1.0What is settlers / differences from supremacy

Settlers is a fun three vs. three game in which u start on a small island grab your villagers put them into a boat and sail away. You then settle by building a town center pumping out fishing ships for food and more villagers for wood and gold then u create your army and destroy your enemy. So of course this is different form sup with the settling and that you start off with higher resources. The map that I shall be referring to in this guide is FAIR_SETTLERS3VS3. This version of settlers has lower resources then most other versions and no little cheats from edits.

1.1 The map

the settlers map is around 470 meters by 470 meters, it contains over twenty five town centers, 73 gold mines, forests as far as u computer screen can handle and a colossal amount of fish. These are the main places of settlement in settlers and I may refer to them through out this guide also other land marks that may be mentioned.



2.0 Build orders

Build orders are the order on which you build your building villagers, fishing ships and military. There are many build orders in settlers that are used to gain a specific goal or tactic in settlers or even counter tactics. I have here build orders for Greek with the gods Hades and Zeus, Egyptian with set and Norse with Thor and Loki. Build orders for Poseidon and Odin are not mentioned as these gods are rarely used, as they have severe disadvantages to the other gods, including Poseidon having no underworld and Odin lacking the bonuses and benefits of Loki and Thor. Isis and Ra will not be mentioned as these gods are not allowed for settlers because of Hathor rocs which defeat the purpose of having the layout and terrain of the map in the first place. However arguments can be made that underworld and shifting sands are just as bad but underworld is a physical building that can not move and is easily destroyed and shifting sands is a one time use only so they have been integrated into the game. Also fast mythic build orders will not be included in this guide because it is near impossible to have one, with being in different spots or being attacked early you can’t prepare for these things in writing so I have not written one. Now I must disclaim that build orders are strict and must be followed to the letter because they are not and shouldn’t be. Build orders can be followed to the letter but sometimes certain situations require little or big changes in the order of which u build. This is because settler is random and you can never predict what will happen in game. Also sometimes u may want to change the build order to fit your own style for instance in my underworld build order you may want to focus more on wood at the begging so to have more archers in your underworld, thus sacrificing a quicker underworld but having a stronger and more versatile one. So just remember build orders are more like guidelines then actual rules.

2.1 Greek build orders

Greeks have probably some of the greatest advantages in settlers including but no limited to underworld which allows them to transport vast armies from one place to another in seconds, strong units including myrmidon, toxetes, gastraphetes and mythunits such as medusa, carcinos and colossus. The following build orders utilize these advantages but it most be noted that these build orders are for the three main islands and the two spots situated in left cave. Anywhere else these build orders must be slightly modified to meet the conditions but I must stress that these are guidelines and are not needed to be followed exactly.

2.2 Six minute thirty second underworld

To perform a underworld at around the 6minute mark takes concentration and some luck. To do this you need to be on the three main islands you can do it from left caves but it will be a minute slower so a seven minute underworld if you like. This build order merely gets you to heroic at six minute you don’t have to underworld then if you want to build up a larger force first. A prerequisite for performing an underworld is a steady stream of villagers and boats so basically never stop producing villagers.

Once you reach your chosen site of the ones mentioned do the following
•Send two villagers to create two docks (one on each), use your ulf before you send him off to mainland or down south, once they're done send them to wood
•Send one villager to make a temple
•Send one villager to make two store houses one near gold and wood (if the resource is close to your town center like the gold mine on rush island then you don’t have to)
•Send the rest of your villagers to build your town center
•Send your ulfsark to the main land via the boat he will be able to find more fishing spots or if your chose the left spots send him down south to find more fishing spots
•You should complete all of the above in under 10 seconds
•Once docks are built start creating fishing ships you should check on your docks so u can have a steady flow of ships
•Once the town center is built create two villagers and set the rally point on wood. Once your temple is built click to go classical both minor gods are fine. send four villagers to gold , one to pray on the temple if your Hades so u get 2 favor for peg then put the villager to wood and the rest of your villagers to wood
•So just to re cap you should have four on gold, one on temple to get 2 favor for peg than to wood, ten on wood after getting favor for peg if your Hades, two docks constantly creating fishing ships and finally you should be on the transition to classical.
•Before and just after you hit classical try and obtain the store house upgrades wood axe and pick axe. Do this with out disturbing you villager or fishing boat production.
•Again once you hit classical start producing villagers, in fact you should of one ready in queue before your at classical. Put two more to wood, so its twelve, now direct the villagers onto gold
•In the first minute after going classical try and obtain the first fishing upgrade pure seine.
•At around three minutes thrityish build an armory with one villager and some barracks with one or two villagers from gold but no later then four minutes this is because it takes forty seconds to build an armory with one villager then another minute to age to heroic
•Before u go start going heroic send one-two Pegasus over so you have a line of sight to place your underworld
•Once you start going heroic at around five minutes -five minutes 20 start producing hoplites from your three- four barracks if you have only three barracks I’d suggest building another. By six minutes you should be heroic and should have 4-8 hoplites don’t worry about upgrading them yet. As it is the same for sup build men before upgrades. Also try and obtain the second gold upgrade from the store house which is shaft mining.
•Once you hit heroic create a underworld from your base to theirs for more on how to use an under world efficiently check out section 8.1.
•Now keep producing villagers and troops and over power your opponent

For more on what to do after a build order check out section 5.0

2.3 Greek navy

Greek navy or navy in general in a hard concept for beginners to grasp, with navy you need to be on the ball 100% of the time to make sure your kicking his/her ass. This build order will allow you to perform a navy rush. It is mostly used on islands were if somebody is next to you, you tend to have to navy them. But can be used from left spots if you want to surprise those on the islands who were thinking of doing a underworld rush to you. I would just like to thank Fire_Captain, ulfsark00 and fire goddess who all took the time to teach me how to navy cause I could never do it.

Once you have reached your chosen site of the ones mentioned do the following
•Send two villagers to create two docks (one on each) once there done send them to wood
•Send one villager to make a temple
•Send one villager to make two store houses one near gold and wood (if the resource is close to your town center like the gold mine on rush island then you don’t have to)
•Send the rest of your villagers to build your town center
•Send your ulfsark to the main land via the boat he will be able to find more fishing spots or if your chose the left spots send him down south to find more fishing spots
•You should complete all of the above in under 10 seconds
•Make 6 fishing ships no more at the moment because you need the wood for triremes
•Once town center is built send four villagers to gold, rest to wood and none on temple (if your Hades you may want to consider putting one on for later)
•Again once town center is built your temple should be as well select a minor god and go classical
•During transition to classical try and grab the hand axe upgrade and pick axe from your storehouse
•Once classical make your triremes and attack. For more on how to navy look up section 6.3
•Keep making villagers to wood till 10, then one to gold, then two more to wood, then one gold and so on so u have a ratio of 2:1 however remember to make more fishing boats soon so you can get to heroic and finish him off with siege ships


3.0 Egyptian build orders

Egyptian is one of the most underplayed and underestimated civics in settlers, Egyptians have access to the most versatile range of units in the game, they have a hard anti infantry counter from the classical age. Let’s not forget elephants or phoenixes which tear up and strike fear in the enemy. Also upgrades thoth’s migdol upgrade valley of the kings allows the almost instant creation of elephants camels and chariots for quick unit deployment. Egyptians main rush tactic is the shifting sands rush; this rush is rarely used as it takes immense skill to pull off effectively. There have been great legends of this rush such as sesshomura also known as sess who is regarded as the best Egyptian player in settlers of all time, kimbojones, ulfsark00, Recon and yours truly scuba_steve. Now as I have already mentioned build orders for Ra and Isis will not be here as they are illegal gods in settlers because of rocs, furthermore Set is better then Isis in the long run in settlers depending on minor god choice.

3.1 70-100 man at eight minutes shifting sands rush

Shifting sands is the most effective rush Egyptian can do however it is the hardest rush of its kind, the immense concentration needed to pull off a successful shifting sand is monolithic. I attributed this build order to Kimbojones who was very good at rushing with set. Now I say 70- 100 men because the amount of men is heavily dictated by how many fishing ships you have and how fast you produce them. So getting the lots of fishing ships fast is key to the success of a shifting sand rush. On the three islands you can achieve 70-90 men by eight minutes flat on the left spots it will either be slower or have less men.

Once you have reached the chosen site of the ones mentioned above do the following

•Select two villagers and create two docks one on each
•Rest build town center
•Once docks are built start pumping out boats you want forty five -fifty boats by 5 minute flat(well that is the best case scenario)
•Once the town center is built select one of the laborers and build a mining camp near some gold, then do the same with other laborer but build a lumber camp near some wood. Again once town center is built send five Greek villagers to gold, rest go to wood
•Start pumping villagers to onto wood till you get to eleven
•Once you have pharaoh use him to empower wood
•Once your lumber camp is built get the wood axe upgrade and do the same for mining but with pick axe
•Once you have that eleven on wood start pumping onto gold and take one Greek villager off gold to create a temple
•So your economy should be around 30 fishing ships still rapidly rising, eleven on wood, seven -eleven on gold and one on temple. You should now be able to go classical at around three minutes thirty to four minutes from main islands. If not then you did not make fishing ships fast enough this point is critical you need to achieve a four minute thirty - five minute up time to pull off at 70-100 man shifting sands rush
•If u managed to go classical at the preferred time then once you hit classical get the first fishing upgrade which is pure seine. Then acquire the second gold up which is shaft mining. Then select your pharaoh and the seven Egyptian villagers form wood and spam 9-10 barracks I know that is a lot but you need that many. Then start pumping spearmen, axe men or slingers if you have spare wood non stop keep each barracks working as well as pumping villagers to gold non stop. Also when you can, make an armory and use to research scalloped axe if you can, remember men over upgrades. Once your building team from the barracks is done send them to gold. At around seven minutes use barracks to research medium spearmen, medium axe men upgrade and medium slinger upgrade if it’s worth it. Keep pumping men, then at around seven minutes fifty five seconds cast vision on the area of your choice then shift all your men and around 5-7 villagers and your pharaoh if you want to. Lastly click the button to go heroic when you can
•Shifting sands rush is very difficult to just get the amount of men but keeping your men alive and making more in your enemies base is just as hard look up section 8.1 for more information on this


3.2 Egyptian fast heroic

doing a fast heroic with Egyptian is a rare event for me as I would usually just shifting sand rush however if for instance your friend is getting into a nasty navy war having a heroic navy early would be quite an advantage, plus ancestors on sea just to be even more annoying. Also fast heroic could be for booming purposes or wanting to obtain migdol units quicker.

•Select two villagers and create two docks one on each
•Rest build town center
•Once docks are built start pumping out boats you want forty- fifty boats by five - six minuteish
•Once the town center is built select one of the laborers and build a mining camp near some gold, then do the same with other laborer but build a lumber camp near some wood. Again once town center is built send five Greek villagers to gold, rest go to wood
•Start pumping villagers to onto wood till you get to eleven
•Once you have pharaoh use him to empower wood
•Once your lumber camp is built get the wood axe upgrade and do the same for mining but with pick axe
•Once you have that eleven on wood start pumping onto gold and take one Greek villager off gold to create a temple
•So your economy should be around 30 fishing ships still rapidly rising, eleven on wood, eight- eleven on gold and one on temple. You should now be able to go classical at around three minutes forty to four minutes from main islands. If not then you did not make fishing ships fast enough this point is critical you need to achieve a four thirty - five minute up time to have a fast heroic
•Once classical grab your pharaoh and seven villagers form wood and build an armory then send them to what ever resource you think you need and go heroic once armory is done. You should be heroic by six minute twenty- six minute fortyish then it’s up to you.

3.3 Egyptian navy

Egyptian navy has a severe time disadvantage to its Norse and Greek counter parts of about forty- fifty seconds however with 800 wood starting off and Anubis snakes I’m sure you can make up for it. For more on Anubis snakes check out section 8.1

•Once you have landed at islands or left spots complete the following
•Two villagers make two docks one on each
•Rest build town center
•Ulfsark sent off to main land to find more fish or if on main land already send him down south
•Once docks are built create 8 fishing ships and send villagers to help with town center
•Once town center is built send all nine Greek villagers and one Egyptian villager to gold so its ten on gold and create two villager rally point the town center to wood
•Use the unused Egyptian villager to create a wood camp then a mining camp
•Once you have 100 gold take all the villagers off gold and make a temple
•Once temple is complete go classical and send five Greek villagers back to gold and that other Egyptian villager should be done on the camp so it should be six on gold. Then send the rest of villagers to wood so its 6 on gold and seven on wood
•You should compete the above in about sixty seconds
•When you get pharaoh send him to wood
•Also try and get mining camp upgrade pick axe and hand axe before you hit classical
•Once you hit classical start spamming kebenit ships and send a continuous stream of villagers to wood into you hit around the 13 villager mark. Then start evening it out so its ratio of about 11 villagers on wood to 5 villagers on gold, once again this ratio allows for a surplus of wood for more fishing ships so you can go heroic. For more on how use you navy ships in combat look up section 6.3

3.4 Alternate Egyptian Navy Rush

Now the above is ok but I have learnt a better build order. Which gets you to classical at the same time as somebody who is Greek or Norse does.

The basic idea is you make no docks first off. You make temple first then put 10 on gold to get the 100 gold back for two docks mean while you are going to classical like everybody else. You then adjust so before getting to classical you are making five-six fishing ships and you have 6 on gold and rest on wood with lumber camp and mining camp built in there somewhere.


4.0 Norse build orders


Ah good old Norse access to elvers, throwing axe men and lets not forget ballista these and many more make Norse a strong contender in settlers. However lack of underworld and shifting sands makes there rush on land a little more tedious but the ability for the military units to build makes up for this. Norse myth units such as jormund elver, fire giants and the kraken have been sometimes the key to many victories of mine and will be for yours. Build orders for Norse rush and navy work fine but could be better, Norse is my weakest and I’m trying to ask for better build orders around the place but have been unsuccessful as many don’t want to give up there playing secrets. So anyways read and enjoy.

4.1 General Norse up

General Norse is a slower classical then normal allowing for a strong economy into classical if you are not sure of what you are doing. The classical time should be four minutes twenty –four minutes fifty depending on which island you are then add one minute for left spots with this tactic you can also achieve a fast heroic time of around 7-8 minutes if you’re booming. or you can just do a simple 2 vils then go classical kind of thing which works just as well.

Once you have chosen your site from the ones mentioned

•Use two villagers to create two docks one on each
•Rest build the town center
•Send ulfsark to main land
•Once docks are complete send the two villagers to wood and start spamming fishing ships
•Once town center is complete send all Greek villagers to wood and the two dwarfs if you’re Thor to gold if you Loki send the two villagers. Then create one dwarf to gold
•Get hand axe and pick axe as soon as you can
•Create villagers to wood till fifteen then grab a Greek villager and your ulfsark to build temple build dwarfs to gold till you can go classical

Then its really up to you, you can fast heroic and boom or build up a massive army

4.2 three minute – four minute rush

there are many different version of the 3 minute ulfsark rush mine is essentially like any other version go classical as fast as you can send a ulfsark near enemy base on left spots build two long houses spam about 8-10 ulfsarks and start attacking at four minute flat.
The rush was made famous by skier who was an excellent Norse player. The idea was you attack them at four minutes or before catching them out before they have a military producing building up attack there wood and dominate them from there. The draw backs to this is you have to watch your eco to make sure you don’t get lazy and plum forget about it, also if they put a wall up on the two ways in to left spots where you put your docks if you’re going left then your screwed. Plus if they have a wall on the entrance to left spots again you’re screwed. Of course this is why many use Loki for this tactic to obtain Heimdall undermine.

Once you have chosen your site from the three islands complete the following

•If on rush island get two villagers to make two docks one on each if not then use one villager on one dock
•Rest of the villagers go to build the town center
•Grab two villagers to complete a temple before town center is complete
•Your ulfsark should be on his way to the left spots landing area
•Once dock or docks are complete start spamming fishing ships
•Once town center is complete go classical under Freyja for forest fire or Heimmdal for undermine
•Again once town center is complete send the two dwarfs/ villagers of your Loki to gold then the rest go to wood
•Prolong having to get another ox cart as you need the food and wood for ships and ulfsarks
•Get hand axe and pick axe when you can before or just after classical
•Build another dock with your ulfsark when he gets to left landing spot if you only had one in the first place
•Once classical build one dwarf to gold then two villagers to wood then one more dwarf to gold after this put villagers on what is necessary
•Again once classical get your ulfsark who just about be done with your dock to make two long houses
•Once one long house is complete start spamming ulfsarks and keep spamming boats your need at least 20 boats by 4 minutes
•At 4 minutes or close to it take what ulfsarks you have and start attacking your enemy preferably his villagers. He/she should be thrown so off balance that the game will be yours but never forget your own economy


4.3 Norse navy

Norse navy is probably the strongest navy in settlers especially Thor’s navy with the ability to obtain fire arrows and cheap pierce upgrades right form the start. Norse navy is regrettably my weak point however the concept still stays the same advance to classical as soon as possible then maintain a constant eco to pump out longships.

Once you have landed at your chosen site of the ones mentioned complete the following

•Two villagers build two docks one on each dock
•Rest of your villagers build the town center
•Send two villagers to build a temple
•Once docks are done send the dock builders to help with the town center and create six fishing ships
•Once town center is done send the two dwarfs/ two gathers to gold depending if your Loki or Thor. Send all Greek villagers to wood go classical as soon as you have temple up
•Try and obtain wood axe
•Once classical start spamming long ships at your enemy but at the same time build one dwarf and two villagers to gold so its nine on wood and five on gold
•Then even it out so you have a 2:1 ratio of wood and gold, having hand axe will give the surplus for more fishing boats build your second ox cart when you can

For more on navy check section 6.3

5.0 Settlers economics/ expanding

In this section I shall discuss in regards to settlers economics and expanding, the importance of fishing in settlers, the ideal economy for all races and how to achieve this economy.

Fish in settlers is the life blood of your economy yet many players disregard the importance of fishing in settlers. With out fish you have no villagers thus no economy. Most people in settlers are happy with 20-30 fishing ships but with a population cap of 300 why would you be? Just think about some numbers here it takes 5 fishing ships with out up grades to produce 50 units of food every 15 seconds though this is dictated on how far away they are form the dock. So theoretically let’s say you want to spam three hoplites form three military academies and keep and steady flow of villagers. You would need 20 fishing ships how ever if you want to gain a surplus of resources to age or obtain an upgrade you would probably need another 5 ships so now its 25 ships. But wait what if you opponent is spamming hoplites back at you from 5 military academies. This means that he must have around 35 fishing ships, 25 for constant hoplite production, 5 for villager production and 5 to gain surplus to age or acquire an upgrade. So you can see that more fishing ships are needed with out even factoring in distance form the dock to fish, though fishing upgrades make up for this. This evidence suggests that fishing in larger numbers is essential to become an advanced player in settlers.

The concept of the ideal economy in settlers is what amount of villagers needed in settlers to provide a stable and surplus economy. The ideal economy for all races as I have found it over the years is.

Greek
40 fishing ships
30-40 on wood (this is dependant on if you are heavily in a navy battle with him or are producing a large amount of archers)
40 on gold
0-10 on favor (to be honest I have gone entire games with out using favor but having even one on the temple there just incase its needed is a good thing)

Egyptian
40-50 fishing ships (you need a large amount of fishing ships when performing a shifting sands rush but afterwards you can or should cut down on them for population room)
40 -50 on gold (depending if you’re making heavy gold to food units e.g. camel)
20- 30 on wood (of course this is dictated by navy or if your going heavy archers, Egyptian can get away with low numbers on wood because none of there buildings cost it)
For favor you should have all 9 Greek villagers praying and have all monuments up

Norse
30-40 fishing ships (I don’t know how I have just found Norse can get away with 30 fishing ships)
40 dwarfs on gold
30-40 on wood ( this is because I tend to produce throwing axe men and ballista instead of ulfsarks or raiding cavalry funnily enough this probably explains how my economy gets away with 30 fishing ships how ever different playing styles could require a different economy)
9 Greek villagers praying at temple

These numbers are of what my economy looks like in a normal game from the fourteenth minute to the eighteenth minute. Now as a side note Greek and Egyptian have a villager limit of 80 villagers however Norse can produce 80 gathers and 40 dwarfs but should stick to 30-40 gathers because you need population for military. Rapid expansion of your economy allows you to dominate the game with the ability to simply out produce your opponents and over run them. Therefore having a strong economy is essential in settlers to be able to out do your opponents and win the game.

Now achieving the ideal economy is very hard for newer players as most do not understand the concept of expansion. Expansion is a very necessary part of settlers for you need to expand your economy to do what we call ‘booming’. Booming is when you go to heroic age and create two or three more town centers aside from what you had, then you have then start producing as many villagers as you can from them as fast as you can increasing your resource production by as much 300%. You can tell when a person has boomed by looking at post game when you look at the timeline section and total resources you see the line indicating the amount of resources just sky rockets. There are two ways of expansion that a good player must do during game, town center and fish expansion. Now there are different methods of acquiring a settlement for expansion but first the settlement must have an adequate amount of resources near it for you to expand from it. The first method is of course simply building on a unclaimed settlement then building villagers form there, however the second method which is destroying a enemies town center is much more effective as you have deprived them of resources and acquired more for yourself. Places popular from town center expansion include in the southern corner as it is usually un settled or perhaps even big cave if it is not taken. As I have already previously stated the importance of fishing is great, thus you need to expand your operations for fishing by using your ulfsark to run around the map setting up docks here are the most popular places for fishing.



If you are unable to get to any major fishing areas then go to the minor ones here



Fishing in the river ways is a good place to start and in the open sea, just remember any fish you can get is good fish. This shows us then that obtaining the ideal economy through expansion of town centers and fish is essential in winning settlers.

So in conclusion please do not underestimate the importance of fish in settlers, always try to reach the ideal economy for settlers and lastly expand your economy to do this.

6.0 Military units

Military is your sword in the world of settlers your economy may be your legs and your arms your shield even but sword is what will pierce your enemy and send him to his grave. Yes he will start shouting hacks or your so nub but you can simply say my screen says victory is yours what does yours say?

6.1 Unit combos

There are hundreds of different combinations of military units in settlers and in AOM in general. In theory if they are all the same size they should be equals in strength but as in the book animal farm “some are more equal then others”. What combination of units you use is of course in retaliation to what your enemy is using a counter combo if you will. Now we all know that generally infantry beats cavalry which beat archers which beats infantry. However what if your opponent is using a combination of the two and is there a combo that beats all. Here are some combos for each race and major god.

Greek

Greek military and strong but are expensive so don’t let them die easily also Greek have a times a very tedious military because you must make three different production buildings for the three main types of military units. That’s why making all the space you have count is important aspect of Greek military.

Greek Zeus

When using Zeus combinations that come to mind are the powerful myrmidon and toxetes/ peltasts, this combo is deadly against other cultures as the myrmidon has that 1.5 bonus against other cultures so therefore if a myrmidon has a attack of 16 he is really doing 24 damage though again this is only to Egyptian and Norse. However do not discount him against Greek for he is stronger then a hoplite but a hypaspist will kill one not with ease but will succeed. Once again however if you combine a myrmidon army with toxetes the toxetes will rip right through the hypaspists but if your combine the hypaspists with toxetes of there own then they will kill you. So then you switch to hippikons which will absorb the arrows of the toxetes and kill the hypasists. The lesson here is there is no unbeatable combo for Zeus on Greek, Zeus myrmidons will kill Norse and Egyptian so you will have dominance over other cultures but with Greek keep trying to make counters. You can make peltasts instead of toxetes but you must micro them on their archers or else there is no point. But out of pure interest I tested four myrmidons and four toxetes against four hypaspists and four peltasts. The result was the myrmidon team won with two toxetes left standing this goes to show that if you don’t micro your men then the team that should won may lose.

Greek Hades

Hades unfortunately doesn’t have the luxury of Zeus’s myrmidon however they have gastraphetes which I strongly recommend to have 5-10 of these in your army at all times for siege purposes. Here are some pretty common match ups for Hades against other cultures.

Against Egyptian

Use hypaspists/hippikons and toxetes/peltasts against the common axemen/spearmen slinger combo. Use hippikons if it’s a large area like the big plain out side left caves otherwise stick to hypaspists because hippikons will just stuck in each others way. Also only use peltasts if you are going to actively micro them against the slingers because slingers have that 1.25 bonus on hypaspists and peltasts have no bonus on axemen so they will be redundant.

Use hoplites and toxetes/peltasts on the camel/chariot combo again only use peltast if you’re going to actively micro them on the chariots.

Use hoplites/prodromos and toxetes/ peltasts on the epic chariot/ war elephant combo again only use peltast if your going to actively micro them.

Use hoplites/hippikon and peltast on the slinger and chariot combo

Use hippikon/hypaspist and toxetes/peltast on the axemen and chariot combo remember to actively micro your peltast if your using them.

Against Norse

Use hoplites/prodromos and toxetes against the typical raiding cavalry/jarls and throwing axemen combo

Use hypaspists and toxetes on the ulfsark/huskarl combo and throwing axemen combo, note that if he is using huskarls micro your toxetes onto his throwing axemen

Use heroes, hypaspists, toxetes and siege against the almost unbeatable Loki combo fire giants, hersirs, throwing axemen and ballista. Micro siege on ballista and fire giants also use heroes on any myth that are there.

Against Greek

There isn’t any combo to beat another combo, just use common sense if there going hoplites and toxetes go hypaspists and peltasts.

Egyptian

The Egyptians have vast military options they have everything from the humble spearmen to an archer on wheels (chariot archer) then what is practically a myth unit that costs no favor the war elephant. They require three buildings migdol stronghold, barracks and siege works. Now no matter what anybody says never go full migdol it just doesn’t work. Also you will notice I never mention camels in nay of my combos because simply I think that spear men and slingers do the job better

Against Greek

If he has myrmidon and toxetes just pray to set for some help………… just kidding spam axemen and chariots, if it’s an open area spam elephants/axemen and chariots.

Use axemen and chariots and or slingers against the typical hoplite/hypaspist and toxetes/slingers combo don’t forget to micro those slingers.

Use spearmen and chariots and or slingers against hippikon and toxetes/peltasts remember to micro those slingers

Against Norse

Use axemen and chariots/slingers against the ulfsark/huskarl and throwing axemen combo. If using slingers micro onto the throwing axemen

Use spearmen and chariots/slingers against the raiding cavalry/ jarl and throwing axemen combo. If using slingers micro onto the throwing axemen

Use about 10 priests, a few catapults, axemen and chariots against the Loki fire giants, hersirs, throwing axemen and ballista combo. Remember micro priests on fire giants and any other myth. And use catapults on there ballistas.

Against Egyptian

Use axemen and slingers on the axemen/spearmen and chariot/slingers combo. They key is to out micro there chariots and slingers with your own be very proactive about this

Use spears and chariots/slingers on the elephant and chariot combo. Micro slingers pretty please for me please.

Use spears and slingers/chariots on the camel chariot/slingers combo again micro your dam slingers.

Norse

The Norse military is based on two things speed and power. This is evident in the raiding cavalry or the humble ulfsark however what they gain in speed and power they lack in armor but if your go Thor his extra armory upgrades can sort of shift that problem aside. Also always have ballista in your army like 6-10 of them they are great at killing men and buildings. Norse in my opinion has access to the most deadly combo of all, the Loki hersir, throwing axemen fire giant and ballista combo. This combo is almost unstoppable and I hate to come up against it. I would like to say that I won’t be mentioning the above combo again as it beats everything pretty much however it all depends on how you micro it.

Against Greek

Use raiding cavalry/jarls and throwing axemen on the hypaspist and toxetes combo

Use huskarls/Bragi ulfsarks and throwing axemen on the hoplite/hippikon and toxetes combo

Use throwing axemen and raiding cavalry/ huskarls on the myrmidon/toxetes combo (pray you never have to see this combo)

Against Egyptian

Use a combo of raiding cavalry/jarls and throwing axemen on the axemen and slinger/ chariot combo

Use huskarls/Bragi ulfsarks and throwing axmen on the spearmen/camel and chariot/ slinger combo

Use a combo of raiding cavalry/jarls ,ulfsarks and throwing axemen on the chariot and war elephant combo by using raiding cavalry on the chariots while the ulfsarks go for the elephants especially if you have Bragi ulfsark upgrades. Or use a combo of huskarls and or raiding cavalry/ jarls and throwing axemen.

Against Norse

Use raiding cavalry/ jarls and throwing axemen against ulfsarks /raiding cavalry/jarls/ huskarl and throwing axemen combo

If he uses the Loki combo and you can’t do the same focus ballista fire on the fire giants and have hersirs and throwing axemen

6.2 Unit micro

All through this guide I always mention the term micro but what does it mean? Well it means to micromanage your units so they attack what they counter. So example archers on infantry. To micro with archers is easy because no matter what the unit sheet says range units are better then melee units. So in the middle of a battle select your archers by doubling clicking on one so selects all the archers in the area and right click on what you want to counter. But keep doing this, focus fire on one target at a time this will give you the edge in the battle. Also try holding down the shift key then go right clicking on a line up of targets so when your archers are finished killing a troop they will go attack another until you haven’t shift clicked anymore for them to attack. Though of course you must keep an eye on your economy and make sure your production buildings are still producing men. If you want to get faster at this try using hotkeys personally I only use two hotkeys select town center and create villager. My left hand does that every so often subconsciously so I never lose villager production. So if you want to, use hotkeys. Ok now micro when using melee units especially cavalry on archers is a little harder. This is because the units will get in each others way and slow each other down when trying to attack one target. So let’s say you have nine raiding cavalry against about ten toxetes you quickly select them all and attack the toxetes on there way there grab three raiding cavalry and attack a toxetes then do the same for the other six there, in three groups of three it is unlikely that they will get in each others way and slow each other down, thus increasing the efficiency when winning the battle. This goes for using cavalry on siege as well.

6.3 Value of siege

In settlers siege units have a place too as they are necessary in destroying your enemies buildings and other things. You need siege to attack buildings because they do it more efficiently then normal units also by attacking and destroying a production building you decrease his production of units forcing him to pull back to regroup. Siege also come in handy if you want to attack something that is far away perhaps you see a myth unit that will be trouble when it gets to the front line or a ranged hero attacking your myth. Siege units also take there place in destroying ships. One Greek catapult can eliminate a whole army of siege ships. The other type of siege which is the helepolis also has its use because if you set one up near the front line behind a barrier of men not only will it deal massive damage but will draw archer fire which it can take with its 95% pierce armor and high 650 hit points, this goes for the Egyptian siege tower as well.

So when playing settlers don’t forget to invest in some siege.

6.4 Navy micro

Micro in navy is really to be honest a pain in the backside however it is essential if you want to be king of the seas. There are a few obvious micro techniques firstly use all of your boats and attack there ships one by one. Secondly try and make them attack you near your docks at first this means that It takes longer for them to supply reinforcements weakening there navy overall. And lastly when the enemy is focusing fire on one of your boats send it backward thus making them follow it and your boats attacking them as they sail past. In navy it is also a must that you have equal or preferred more docks then your opponent so he cannot out produce you in ships. Also if you losing a navy battle at his docks or in the middle there is no shame in retreating living ships which is better then none at all. Another tactic is to build a tower near the battle scene towers eat arrow ships up alive and will turn the tide of the battle pretty quickly. Lastly if you have spare food and are Greek build some Pegasus and fly them over the navy battle your enemy vision will be obstructed so to it will be harder to micro, plus his ships will attack the Pegasus and not you boats.

6.5 Myth units

Myth units in settlers play a more minor role then they do in other games but are still worthy of me to write this section. I shall examine myth units that used in settlers quite often. I have left many myth units out because there use in settlers can sometimes be more of a hindrance then being helpful this is simply because in settlers tight spaces are common so they only good myth units are ranged and sea.

For Greek use the manticore or the medusa on land, as the range makes them useful especially the manticore in large numbers. Use the medusa on jormund elvers, kraken and any other sea myth unit for there special will turn them into stone. On sea produce the carcinos this super crab will rip through not only ships but other sea myth units like the jormund elver.

For Egyptian use the wadject early on but later they sort of become mediocre but if protected their 18 range and 16 pierce attack will hurt. Also don’t forget you have access to the phoenix you can use the phoenix on the front line to take out siege or cause mayhem in general or use them to go behind enemy lines and upset your enemy’s eco.
Of course don’t forget the leviathan and the war turtle as great sea myths to turn the tide of the battle.

For Norse use trolls and valkyrie in early assaults as they are both good. Troll for the range and valkyrie as a meat shield and healing powers. Don’t forget the power of the frost giant or mountain giant who though slow and will probably get in the way will act as a class 1 meat shield. And of course the fire giant with its high health nice attack and solid range should be in all Norse armies. At sea the mighty kraken will defeat your sea woes in no time with its instant kill ability. Lastly the jormund elver which is not only good at sea but used at choke points near water especially the four bridges on the map can hold back large armies with ease while you maybe are attacking him from another side.

7.0 Minor god paths

choosing the right minor gods in settlers can make or break you in a game so you need to plan or make educated decisions when it comes to using god powers or technologies. Here I have listed the best choice of minor god for the situation for all civics.

7.1 Greek

Classical

For Zeus go Athena if your going to underworld for restoration, plus if you think its going to be long game for Athena’s Aegis shield which increases pierce armor of infantry is a must and Hermes if your going to navy because of his ceasefire god power. For Hades go Athena for the same reasons as Zeus. Go Ares for his pestilence god power for underworld or navy mostly navy also his myth technologies are not too bad either. Enyo’s bow of horror is a must if you want those 13 attack toxets.

Heroic

Go Apollo for underworld enough said.

Mythic

For Zeus choosing between Hera and Hepheastus can be difficult. Go Hera if you need the extra navy power from carcinos and if you think the game is going to be short and lighting would help you make a quick push to victory. If the game is going to be long go Hepheastus especially when up against Norse or Egyptian as 18 attack myrmidons will be very helpful and the colossus the ultimate meat shield. For Hades I would normally go Artemies simply for earthquake and last upgrade for archers.

7.2 Egyptian

Classical

Go Anubis for navy for the snakes god power at sea. Though most of the time go Ptah for his good myth techs for you barrack units and the shifting sands god power.

Heroic

Go Nephthys is your struggling with navy as ancestors and leviathans would help well. If you feel its going to be along game go Sekhmet for her upgrades to your slingers and your chariots, as I love to have a 24 range chariot also a 73 attack catapult is not to shabby either.

Mythic

Go Thoth simply for phoenix, Valley of the Kings tech for instant unit creation at your migdol strongholds and lastly book of Thoth which is great because it evens up the gap between Egyptian villager efficiency to other villagers of the other races.

7.3 Norse

Classical

For Thor go Freyja because forest fire is just simply a useful god power for either getting places or stuffing up there wood when you navy them or in general. For Loki go Forseti if your planning on using hersirs a lot for the ‘Loki combo’ otherwise go Heimdall for his undermine god power and his safe guard tech of stronger walls and cheap towers as it is nothing to snuff at.

Heroic

For Thor I’am really divided as Bragi flaming weapons god power and his ulfsark upgrades are quite good however Skadi frost god power and throwing axe men upgrade isn’t bad either. So really it’s up to your judgment. For Loki I would go Njord for kraken and walking woods.

Mythic

For Thor either Baldr or Tyr as both have good reasons to go them. Baldr raiding cavalry upgrade and fire giants against Tyr’s jormund elvers and ulfsark upgrade. For Loki go hel her myth techs for your giants is overpowering and the Nidhogg which can be used at the frontline or to hurt their economy from behind.

8.0 God powers

God powers in settlers play a tremendous role in the game play and outcomes of a settlers match, as you have probably realized whole tactics has been designed because of a god power. I hope to sufficiently describe the uses of the following god powers that play prominent roles in settlers.

8.1 God power tactics

Greek

The Restoration god power is critical to any Greek player who is doing a underworld rush because as we know things can happen and its nice to know that you can heal your underworld if its in trouble. Lately i have found it very useful in navy. when you use it make sure its when its about 5 o n5 ships for more for effective use. All your damaged ships will be revived and will take no damage as his die. Make sure when you use this god power that you use it in away that it gets as many of your units and buildings as possible.

The ceasefire god power is a nice little god power if you are being forced to navy and need some time to build up ships or are starting to lose and your team mates are coming with assistance. Ceasefire is also useful when you have been shifting sands or underworld rushed and your army is in another place and you need time to get it back there. However make sure you check what your team mates are doing because cease firing when it is not necessary can upset your team if one of them was on the verge of breaking an enemy’s line and you prevented that.

The Pestilence god power is great for stuffing your enemy’s docks in a navy rush or your enemy’s barracks in a underworld rush. You can even use it agasint a Egyptian player who is shifting sands rushing you before he shifts if you get 5 barracks even that is 40 seconds of 5 barracks not producing men which equals 20 men less. You can also you pestilence on a person who is underworlding you by pesting there barracks back at home. However make sure you get as many production buildings as you can when using it.

The underworld god power is one of the most feared and hated god powers in settlers. Simply because the ability to make men appear in any number on almost any point on the map especially in your base would freak the hell out of you. Just make sure when you underworld rush that you do it near his wood gathers or more importantly his gold gathers because no gold equals no troops. However do not use underworld for the following reasons if he has earthquake or meteor god powers, frost or a very large number of ranged siege in his base waiting for you. If you know he has frost or lighting god powers and is inclined to use them when you underworld, send in a third of your army so he freaks and uses it on them then send in the other two thirds.

The lighting god power provides a quick way of killing your enemy’s army and allowing you to break through there line of men.

The earthquake god power allows you to damage or destroy your enemy’s buildings in a certain area. Try doing a Hades Fast Mythic use earth quake and underworld along with pestilence. When using this make sure you get as many buildings as you can in the radius.

Egyptian

The Anubis snakes god power should be used when you are being navy rushed. Use it near their docks or where the most fighting is likely to occur.

The shifting sands god power is Egyptians answer to the underworld rush. When using this god power make sure you shift your men in a clear area away from buildings or tress or else you will find half your army back at base. Make sure you bring villagers with you and once you shift get them to build 4-6 barracks and start making men to finish off your enemy. Do not shift is he has frost because he will freeze your army then surround it with his. So do not shift when they have a large number of archers in their base or if there is not enough sufficient room to shift and build barracks.

The ancestors god power should be used to help with a shift rush if numbers are down or if you want to take the town center out faster or it can be used to help with navy.

The meteor god power can be used as a anti underworld god power as it will 90% of the time destroy the underworld or it can be used to destroy enemy units and buildings to help break through the enemies line. But it can also be used to get to places especially into cave from the bottom, aim it as shown in the picture and it will destroy the tress and allow you to enter. I did this in editor which explains why I have bolt as well.






Norse

The undermine god power can be used to allow you to break a wall quickly if your doing a 4minute ulfsark rush or it can be used to help down a town center or fortress quickly and it can be used in navy to destroy a tower if the enemy has erected one.

The forest fire god power has two main uses ruining people’s wood/ wood gathers and getting to places. You can damage people wood and wood gathers when you’re rushing them with navy to give the edge or when you’re rushing them on land. The most effective place to use it is rush island wall off the little passage way shown on the map in section 1.1 then burn their wood and they will be stuffed. In getting to places forest fire can be used to get to bottom corner from the right side, it can be used to get to or from rush island to island next to rush. It can be used to get to cave from the bottom however you must remember to invoke in the middle of the area or else it won’t go all the way through both sides.

The frost god power is very good as it freezes all the units in a certain area for 40 seconds. This is especially useful against underworld rushes and shifting sands rush. You cam also use it on his economy if you want to stall it for a bit.

9.0 Long games

A long game in settlers is defined as a settlers match between two teams or in a free for all match where most parties have tried to rush each other but have failed and now have expanded there economies and there land use dividing up the map. To win a long game takes skill, patience and a constant level of enthusiasm. You need these three because most players will be bored by the 40 minute mark will get sloppy with forgetting about their economy or making units to enter the fight. I hope to explain in the two following sections how to set up for a long game and how to how to end stalemates.

9.1 Setting up for the long game

At around the 16 minute mark if you haven’t destroyed or badly crippled your enemy or enemies you should start thinking about the long game. This includes building as many military production buildings as you can in your land this also includes docks every dock space you can build on build a dock, also moving your army up to the front line to stop him invading your land. You need to do this because if he destroys your forward base and you have no infrastructure in your empire it will collapse. In settlers there are areas on the map that don’t have much room for buildings. If your front line base could be bigger try bringing up villagers to cut away wood so you can support more buildings in the area failing this try and reorganize your buildings to allow more to fit and making it easier for troops to move through to the battle scene.

There is a lot of gold in settlers however around the one hour mark you will start to see it all rapidly disappearing which is why you need to set up a trade route with your market when you’re down to your last three gold mines. Put the market a fair distance away from the town center and start running about ten trade caravans. Also don’t be afraid to kill off some villagers for military pop but only do this if you’re getting more resources then is needed to support your army.

Walls and towers are some of the most important tools for along gamer if your empire has several different entrances and you want to focus on one entrance, heavily wall and towers the others off 3 layers or even 5 layers of walls filled with towers should do the trick.

9.2 Stalemates

Stalemates how I hate stalemates, when your army and their army are simply not gaining ground. To end stalemates there are several options that you can try with section 9.1 you should try to reorganize you forward base to allow faster troops production so to overwhelm him with sheer numbers that never seem to drop. You can also delete villagers allowing for more military pop. Or you can heavily fortify your forward base then start attacking a weaker entrance to there base that is more valuable land wise. By doing this you will gain more land and distract them.

10.0 Free for all games

The key to wining a free for all game is finding a corner building up an army and pushing your way out of it when the time is right. There is an art to winning a free for all and is not something I can easily describe on the internet. Just like in long games which are what essentially free for alls are. You need to make sure you survive the early rushes then expand your empire rapidly and build the infrastructure along the way so you don’t collapse from the inside out. In settlers the key two places to control is both the left cave and the big cave once you have these life becomes easier. You can hoard all the resources you want from big cave whilst launching your assault from the left cave heading south. In free for alls it is necessary to avoid getting the two vs. one situation. To avoid this it is advised you start in a corner like area to avoid being attacked from behind. Also when crushing somebody and they plead “don’t kill me yet oh please don’t kill” don’t listen just destroy them before them become a problem later. You don’t make friends in a free for all.

11.0 Anti underworld rush/ shifting sands rush tactic.

The good old underworld and shifting sands rush works every time doesn’t it? Well it doesn’t have to; this section is especially aimed at the player or players who take the left caves. If you are certain you going to get underworld or shifting sands rushed here are some tips to avoid getting owned.

•Go classical after making two villagers
•Once classical have a steady stream of boats pumping around four on gold if your Greek/ Norse and six on gold if your Egyptian
•Wall off your wood and place your production buildings close to your gold miners and start producing a steady stream of men. For Greek have a ratio of three toxetes to two hoplites. So you should have around 20 boats and 15 on wood and as many as you can on gold. For Egyptian have the same three slingers and two axemen which is around 18 boats 16 on wood and again as many as you can on gold. For Norse is depends on what your making but defiantly have around 15 on wood and as many as you can on gold remember you don’t always have to make dwarfs to mine gold villagers are ok too.
•With the above point try and even out your economy so to get the best production of men so you have close or to no resources left and if you’re getting a surplus make another production building.
•With shifting sands rush try as well to build every where you can if your Egyptian as well its easy cause some buildings are free.
•Remember don’t forget economy upgrades try and at least get pick axe and hand axe.

When they underworld your precautions will make sure they can’t harm your economy and since they had to go heroic you will have a slightly larger army which should be more archer orientated so to cut down their more infantry based army.

12.0 Settlers tips

The following are just a collection of general tips and more or less a sort of a recap of what I have said in previous sections which can be added to later if you have any suggestions

•When buildings your town center select it and you can set a rally point where you want your starting villagers to go so to save time
•Don’t always preoccupy your self with battle scenes remember your economy the thing that is fueling these battle scenes
•Never stop making villagers
•Always expand
•Underworld near gold and wood
•Always shift in a clear space
•When Hades you can use your helepolis which can garrison 5 people on you’re the sentinels from your sentinel god power. you can garrison them inside and then turn them into practically a mobile tower

Please make suggestions for more tips in settlers

13.0 acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge firstly Matt for creating the settlers map. I would also like recognize ulfsark00 who influenced my game play in valuing expansion, who taught me to navy and made me get into using Egyptian. I would also like to acknowledge Fire_Goddess who showed me that Zeus is really good and is what made me change from Hades to Zeus and taught me to navy. Sesshomaru for developing and mastering the shifting sands rush also I would like to not only acknowledge but thank kimbojones who shifting sands build order made me go from a 50-60 man shift to a 70-100 man shift. Fire_captian who not only showed me how to navy but was a good friend to me when I was new to settlers. And lastly Aok_predator who I taught from a little nublet and turned into an expert who then went on to develop and prefect the five minute ten underworld build order.

[This message has been edited by rideofthevalkyri (edited 11-11-2010 @ 01:11 AM).]