Oranos is often called overpowered. 'Just turma spam away, and you can easily make it to 1700+', has been said many times. But before you are able to make it to the 1700's with Oranos, you must learn to master him, that isn't too difficult though. Atlantean BO's are more easy to master and microing isn't that hard with Oranos, Oranos is a god which is quite easy to play to his best ability compared to micro-intensive gods as Set.

Oranos' Bonusses:

- With Oranos, you may build Sky Passages, buildings which make it possible to transport your units instantly across the map.
- All of your human units move 10% faster.
- You and your allies have LOS to every settlement on the map.

Technology:

- Safe Passage, a technology which makes Sky Passages cheaper, have more LOS, and have a ranged attack.

God Power:

- Shockwave, a GP which sends units flying, does little damage, but stuns units for 4 seconds you can use it 3 times.

God Path:

Oceanus vs. Prometheus: On water maps, Oceanus may be very useful, with the Servant and Carnivora, also, when you know you're going to be raided with cavalry, your already faster Katapeltes will be the ultimate Atlantean cavalry killers. Though overall, with a better MU and a better GP, Prometheus may be a better idea on non-water maps.

Theia vs. Hyperion: When attempting a Fast Heroic, Theia may be a very attractive choice because of incredibly fast and strong Contarius, and the Dryads. Also, the Stymphalian Birds are rather cheap, only costing wood and little gold, and effective against ground units and raiding, they are very good MU's. Hyperion might be a better choice on water maps, because his MU is extremely effective at winning the water for you. But since water battles usually don't go on until Heroic, Theia is usually a better choice.

Hecate vs. Helios: I always go with Hecate. Her Lampades just rule! Also, the Tartarian Gate, when used right, may be the final push, killing an opponent. Helios may be a good idea when using Siege weapons heavily, though I doubt this will happen too often. His MU is very good, is a little expensive, but a very powerful one nonetheless. He does have super towers. Vortex rulez too, though it may be tricky, because there will be no defense left. It would be a tie and the hardest choice, though my favorite is Hecate.

Archaic on water BO: (not recommended, just the one I use.)

- 1st Citizen -> Build dock, then Manor and then go to wood.
- 2nd Citizen -> Send to food. (preferably hunting)
- 3rd Citizen -> Wood.
- 4th Citizen -> Food.
- 5th Citizen -> Gold. (meanwhile you should have built a eco guild, a temple and a lot of fishing ships, for about every 8 ships a new dock)
- 6th Citizen -> Food. (from this point on improvise, if you think you might need a lot of turma's for example, adjust)
- 7th Citizen -> Gold.
- Advance through Oceanus at around 6:00. (you should go up at around 5:00)

(Get all necessary eco ups (Handaxe/Pickaxe) and try to make all your manors.)

Classical on Water:

- Expand economy through improvisation, it all depends on the opponent, the amount of hunting, the amount of Bireme's you're going to make, etc. etc.. BUT KEEP YOUR TC GOING.
- Create Bireme's and Servants (unless you've scouted and know that the enemy isn't using the water; which is rare)
- Build a 2nd TC and let that one make Citizens too, so you might need a bit more Citizens on food.
- Create a land army, which has to consist mostly of Murmillo's and Turma's. (also on this point improvise, ofcourse) Usually I make 2 barracks and 3 counter-barracks, sometimes 2 barracks, and 2 counter-barracks.
- This should all be accomplished before the 7:30 minute mark and attack the enemy at two sides, water and land, aggressively force him off hunting sites, gold mines and fishing patches. Keeping him busy, so that he won't attack you, but avoid his main army, unless it's very small and you are confident you can beat it.
- Keep raiding, avoid TC/Tower fire, avoid main army, and kill enemy civilian units and important buildings. Also don't forget about the Caladria, it's quite cheap and heals very fast.
- Fight him heavily on water, don't always avoid his water army, fight it, keep him microing, and keep killing fishing ships and docks (first ships, then docks) Servants should help fighting too, not only healing.

As you may have noticed, Oranos is one of the few gods that has a minor god which gives direct advantages on water. Oranos can be very powerful on water. But if you are really looking for an Atlantean god that's good on water, let me suggest Gaia, she may also go with Oceanus, wood income is better (Gaia Forest) and fishing ships are cheaper. Okay, let's move on to the land part.

Archaic on Land BO: (Just the one I most of the time use, you may decide to make 8 Citizens, putting one extra one food, giving you 4-2-2)

- 1st Citizen -> Food (preferably hunting)
- 2nd Citizen -> Food
- 3rd Citizen -> Food
- 4th Citizen -> Build Manor -> Eco Guild -> Build Temple -> Gold
- 5th Citizen -> Wood
- 6th Citizen -> Gold
- 7th Citizen -> Wood
Advance through Prometheus around 5:40 (so go up at around 4:40)

(During advancement get first line of eco ups and try to make all of your manors.)

Classical on Land:

- Keep TC producing Citizens and spread them equally.
- Get 1 or 2 Barracks and 3 counter-barracks up with a Food Citizen.
- Put Murmillo's and Turma's on auto-que. (unless the situation forces you to do something else, be flexible)
- While you are creating an army, build a 2nd TC.
- Make 4 or 5 Prometheans and together with about 10 murmillo's and 15 turma's, attack the enemy.
- Try and avoid the TC/Tower fire, avoid the main army, weaken his eco by destroying important buildings and killing enemy civilian units.
- Meanwhile push the offense, keep raiding with your faster turma's, destroy buildings, and wait for extra troops to be send in for aid. (that's why it's useful to have your murmillo's on auto-que) Don't use Turma's on buildings, use them for civilians and archers, use your Prometheans for buildings and murmillo's for small skirmishes and later for buildings too.
- Don't get popped and keep an eye on your eco, it's both necessary for keeping your army flowing out of the barracks. If you have extra resources, use them on eco upgrades.
- Build an armory around the 9 minutes mark, it enables a reasonable fast Heroic time, and research the pierce armour upgrade.

Oranos in Heroic:

You should go up to Heroic around the 12 minute mark, so you don't have to go as soon as you have your armory up, but you have to be quite fast. Because if your murmillo's and turma's don't finish the job, you may need the help of Theia's hero Contarici and 20 range (!) Arcus. They're very powerful, and they reinforce each other, but they're expensive, so it's important to keep your 2 TC's producing Citizens, which should give a powerful economy. Keep pumping your powerful Heroic barrack units, together with Counter Barrack units and don't forget to upgrade eco, armour, and heavy line for your units. Don't forget about your Dryads! Keep your enemy on the defensive and just flood them with units. For this it's important that you have enough TC's. Take 3 or more, if you've got the freedom to do so. By advancing fast and crushing the opponent's Classical army with your better and Heroic larger army, You should have map control, only to be reinforced by your Sky Passages.

Oranos vs. specific civilisations

Oranos vs. Greeks:

This is normally a piece of cake, Greeks can't do much vs. Oranos if you play it right. You have to advance at 5 minutes and raid them, then raid them some more. Make sure you have got your barracks flowing, so that you can mass turma's and murms. Don't forget about your MU, since they only have 4 heroes and they can't be everywhere all the time. When you play vs. Zeus, expect a lot of MU. For this it is smart to go with Prometheus for Valor. Tower up near gold mines, and watch out for a Centaur raid. Try to take map control, the Greek can't do much then. The only thing that can really bother you is the 3:00 minute Minotaur/Villie rush. If you find your Greek opponent advanced at 3:00, try to find their forward temple. Expect about 15 villager and 2 Minotaurs coming for your weaker TC. When this happens, repair your TC, because if you advance and you get one villager building a Counter Barrack, he's screwed because your Turma's can hunt him down and leave him with nothing. It's difficult to fend off though.

Oranos vs. Eggy:

Expect a FH and try to raid them on gold heavy. He'll probably come with Camels and Chariot Archers, later on Elephants, backed by powerful siege and when facing Isis, an Eclipse + Ancestors combo. Prepare for this, by making heroes at places where he is likely to use the combo. Kata's are your best friends vs. his army, because they counter Camels and Elephants and the siege. Mix in plenty of Turma's though and try to flank their CA before they do too much damage to your kata's. Keep raiding them on gold, but also on wood. If you find evidence that they'll stay in Classical and fight there, you should have Cheiro's as your main unit and turma's as support unit backed up by a few murmillo's. Also mind the Ra vill rush. Egypt is a though opponent for Oranos.

Oranos vs. Norz:

Upgrade your towers right after the advance, build extra and arm them with Crenellations, you are going to be raided hard. Oceanus' Kata upgrade is very handy, as it will chase down those pesky RC. Further more make Turma's as a main unit and some Cheiro's, if you micro them, you'll be fine. If you can find their forward base, it would be of great advantage to you. Don't let them take map control and keep booming out of two TC's.

Oranos vs. Attie:

This is always a guess, mostly decided by skill, try and think of what you would do. A FH is an option because it will give you access to Contarius, which are of great help against his Turma's/Cheiro's. You will probably be raided, so it isn't a bad idea to upgrade your towers. Raid back, and especially try to hit the vills collecting the resources he needs to build counters to your army. A Fast Claim on a Forward TC is probably a good idea. If he is Kronos or Gaia, expect them to use their specialities and try and use your own: Shockwave, speed and Sky Passages!

Oranos vs. Kronos / Loki rush:

Oranos is virtually powerless vs. a good Loki rush. What you might do yourself if you see it coming is advance fast, wall off chokepoints, get some Cheiro's and upgrade towers. Your TC is weaker so you are more vulnerable. Kronos rush... Advance early and just expect it... you yourself can defend in the way he attacks, hero your Oracles and advance fast, your vills are stronger too, so you might live it out. (Remark: only advance earlier then normal if you know for sure that he is rushing you with a 3:30 rush. Otherwise, he'll have a economic advantage.)

Conclusion:

Only if you practice, practice and then practice even more, you should have perfect times, perfect adjustments to each sort of opponent, map or weird situation and never ever have an idle TC, because that is what feeds your army. If the battle might drag on, go Mythic. Upgrade you eco and military, also armoury ups. Don't forget the eco ups as it will allow you to delete some vills to make room for military.

Oranos is a very powerful god, such as any, when used right. (Auto-que helps though, lol) Always keep an eye on your economy, 4 idle Citizens are 12 villagers doing nothing! Also keep producing them, you can make 30, until you have to upgrade to heroes, normally, you don't have to do so. Eventually you want your Citizens to take about 40% of your pop slots, you should be able to get 160 pop slots so there is enough left for your army. It isn't always a good idea to make hero Citizens, because they cost an extra pop. slot and they aren't collecting that much more. Also don't forget about your Sky Passages! It's a bonus, utilize it.

Well, I hope this guide is of use to somebody,

C ya,

FFC_Lucyano

[This message has been edited by Lucyano (edited 06-28-2004 @ 01:18 PM).]