posted 13 March 2004 02:40 PM EDT (US)
At last, I get to do a Norse guide. For some strange reason, I find the Norse units (myth and other) more interesting than any of the the other civ's units (Personal opinion only). This guide will cover the Valkyrie which I think is one of the most important Norse units and also the single most important Norse MU. I'll justify this statement later on in the guide. Anyway, happy reading.
Special Ability: Heals any nearby friendly unit. Healing is at about 7 hp/sec for the stock valkyrie. The upgrade increases this by 50% to 10 hp/sec. Range is about 10(units). Some important points to note- 1. All units are healed at the same rate. Bonuses: 4x damage vs other MUs Cost: 200F 18Fv 4Pop This blonde can actually take care of herself. The upgrade, even though it is expensive (c'mon she's a blonde, what did you expect!) lets her kick some serious a** as well. It increases both her hack damage and her healing rate by 50%. That apart the Valkyrie has decent hp, great armour and awesome speed (which you can make the most of by taking Bragi and getting the Thuriasz Rune which boosts it past 6. 7 if you have the Thundering Hooves). The second upgrade is not really a unit specific upgrade. It increases the hp and speed of all your cavalry units including the valkyrie by 10%. This is very curious since I did not think that the Valkyrie counted as general cavalry. At least, the cavalry relic (tusks of the iron boar) has no effect on it. This seems a good upgrade to have later on in the game (when you can afford it) given the reliance the norse have on their RC and Jarls. Extra hp for these units means a better chance of survival and a better chance they can be healed by your valkyries thus improving your cost effectiveness. That said, both the unit and its upgrade are very expensive just like the Cyclops I did last week. The difference is that to provide effective healing, you do not really need that many of them. It's even better for Loki players because their Hersirs summon a good number of valkyries free of cost to provide adequte healing for your army. Furthermore, unlike the Cyclops, this unit will always be relavent because of its ability to heal. The really fundamental question that crops up with this unit is- should it be used as a fully blown combat MU, or should it only be used as a rear area healing unit also used for the occasional raids. I'll try and answer these questions in the tests. 1. 7 RC w/o the Valkyries lose to the Greek force in 20 seconds leaving 4 Hoplites and 3 Toxotes This test goes to show that the Valkyrie (even the stock one) is a useful rather than a brilliant combat unit which can still can change a battle. The Shieldmaiden Valkyrie is actually a pretty good combat unit capable of winning battles on its own. It is obviously a better ploy to use the valkyries in combat rather than use them to heal in battle in much the same way as one would use a Caladria. The one exception is to constantly heal big meatshield units against a Titan. This test also shows how well the Valkyries gell with the Raiding Cavalry. This combination is great as there is little difference in the speed of the two units. This can be a very potent force early on in classical and heroic scenarios. The Shieldmaiden Valkyrie The normal Valkyrie beats all classical MUs These tests show that the stock Valkyrie is a decent combat unit which is good enough against weak human units. The upgraded Shieldmaiden Valkyrie is an excellent combat unit which is particularly good agianst cavalry, MUs and infantry. They are also fairly useful against buildings. You really don't need any suggestions to say that this unit must be used for its healing. Combat wise- vs Greeks- Use along with RC for raiding tackling Toxotes. Also very good vs Hippkons and the Greek MUs. Massacres Centaurs. vs Norse- Excellent counter for the RC. One Valkyrie can take 5 RC with no problems. Also excellent against Throwing Axeman and Huskarls. vs Egyptians- Only use with human backup to take care of priests with. Still, they are useful vs Axeman, Slingers, CA and even War Elephants. vs Atlanteans- One more MU that is great to use vs Turmae. Also good vs Katpeltes (they do not get any bonus vs Valks) Arcus and Chieroballistae. Weak attie MUs will fall like ninepins against them. They only have problems vs Mythic MUs. ArtemisChimera (or is it the other way round) is coming back next week with an new Atlantean guide. I think he's doing the Automaton. We'll be doing alternate weeks now on. Let's stick with Norse for the next after week. Vote- EDIT--Thanx to all the people who pointed out that he Valkyrie was still in there.--EDIT [This message has been edited by ManticoreKiller (edited 03-14-2004 @ 10:09 AM).]
Valkyrie (Norse Classical age MU)
Melee MU with capability to heal other units
Available directly to players who choose Freyja (Odin/Thor). Loki Hersirs also generate Valkyries in combat so all 3 major gods have them
Can be upgraded to the Shieldmaiden Valkyrie by researching the
Can also be given extra hitpoints and speed by researching
Stats (Stats of the Upgraded unit with a breakup of how the upgrade affects the original unit ):
HP: 375 (412 with Thundering Hooves)
Hack Damage: 18 (12 + 6)
Hack Armour: 60%
Pierce Armour: 55%
Crush Armour: 80%
Speed: 5.50 (6.38 with Thundering hooves)
2. A unit heals at the same rate no matter how much damge it or the Valkyrie has taken.
3. The range of healing does not affect the healing rate.
4. Naval and siege units can be healed.
5. Titans and Nidhogg cannot be healed.
6. The healing can only affect one unit per Valkyrie.
7. A unit engaged in combat must be explicitly targeted to be healed while it fights.
8. A Valkyrie being healed by another Valkyrie heals other units at only 20% of the original rate.
9. A single unit can only be healed by 1 Valkyrie. No combiantion healing
10. Contrary to what I thought, Valkyries do not heal better in larger groups.
Note: all human units have full classical upgrades (Medium All and Copper All)
The Valkyrie is blessed with a huge amount of hack armour and it shows. The stock valkyrie takes 13 seconds to whack the hoplite ending up with 305 hp left. It does 8 damage per second to the hoplite taking only 5 damage itself.
The Shieldmaiden Valkyrie takes just 8 seconds to do the deed and ends up with 335hp. It does an impressive 13 damage per second to the hoplite. This shows that the upgraded valkyrie is a very effective combat unit. 2-3 of them could be initially be teamed up with 10-12 RC and later on with a similar force of Jarls to provide a self healing and powerful raiding unit capable of taking out a small base with ease.
This test is to find out whether the Valkyrie is better off as an active healer (healing a unit in combat) or if it is better taking part in the combat. I've tested the RC with and without the Valkyries. I've also conducted the test for both the stock and the upgraded (Shieldmaiden) Valkyries. In the cases where the Valkyries take no part in the combat (active healing), I count the group killed if all the RCs are killed. To make it simple- i've tabulated the results-
2. 7 RC with 3 Valkyries actively healing lose to the Greek force in 25 seconds leaving 3 Hoplites and 3 Toxotes
3. 7 RC with 3 Valkyries fighting beat the Greek force in 25 seconds with 4 RC and all 3 Valkyries surviving
4. 7 RC with 3 Shieldmaiden Valkyries actively healing lose to the Greek force in 28 seconds leaving 3 Hoplites and 2 Toxotes
5. 7 RC with 3 Shieldmaiden Valkyries fighting beat the Greek force in 20 seconds with 6 RC and all 3 Valkyries surviving
This unit really rules vs all MUs. They get a HUGE 4x bonus vs MUs. This is similar to what Atlantean heroes get! In this test I used an upgraded Valkyrie (w/o Thundering Hooves)
The Bull Minotaur's special does not effect the Shieldmaiden Valkyrie. The Valkyrie does 26 damage per shot (1 per second) to the Bull Minotaur which is one of the meanest Classical MUs out there. The Bull Minotaur manages to do 18 damage per second to the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie wins with 37 hp left in 22 seconds
Bull Minotaur
Giant Killer Einherjar
Heiracosphinx
Cyclops
This test is to show the utility this unit has while raiding. I've put together a typical late Heroic self healing raiding party. The Valkyries and the Jarls sucessfully destroy both buildings and kill the hoplites in 98 seconds losing 3 Jarls and a Valkyrie in the process. This shows that the Shieldmaiden Valkyrie/Jarl combination can be very useful especially if you research Thundering Hooves. Their good speed is invaluable in such a role.
The Valkyrie is a good, though somewhat expensive combat unit. The upgrade makes a world of difference to this unit as a fighter and is not all that expensive given that it costs gold not food. Overall, the Freyja package is pretty good. Trolls are excellent ranged MUs but the Healing Spring is too slow and too immobile to be useful. Einherjars are brilliant MUs but unless you are playng Loki (who doesn't get the choice), you are better off going with Freyja given how crucial healing is to the Norse player. Even then, Loki Hersirs will always summon a few Valkyries in combat to provide you with all the healing you need.
The Valkyrie is an almost indespesnsible unit for the Norse player. The reason for this is the fact that a Norse player must fight nearly all the time to be effective. A Norse player who does not raid early will have a huge disadvantage later in the game. Later in the game, you need a lot of favour to afford the powerful but expensive myth techs and units the Norse get. For this, you must fight as often as possible. The Valkyrie's healing will not only save you a lot of resources by healing units damaged in combat but will also prevent you from losing your expensive MUs. As a combat unit, the Valkyrie can hold its own. Still, would I take it if it could not heal? I don't think so.
Einherjar
Troll
Battle Boar
Frost Giant
Mountain Giant
Kraken
Fenris Wolf
Fire Giant
Jormund Elver
Try making your choice in
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Author of Myth Unit Ratings, A Guide to the Nemean Lion, A Guide to the Valkyrie, A Guide to the Cyclops and A Guide to the Chimera
but i say 