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it is the best strategy game, not one of the best

it sounds like that you let yaka create a large army. as you will find this game, it is one of the most offensive strategy games. it means that you should not let your enemies have enough time to create high level units or even a large number of low level units.

using pioneers to rebuild structures or going to the right-side island is not recommended in this level. these tasks waste a lot of time.

one of the keys of this level is the centeral city. it is owned by yaka but is not well-defended. so you can easily capture it and then migrate it to humans in two first weeks.
also don't forget that most of tigran units have ranged attacks, so you need fast units such as cavalry or strong ranged attackers such as swashbuckler.

also there is a teleporter near your wizard tower. it teleports your units to the elven city. there you can use their help. elves are fast and quite cheap. also you can send a gladerunner to the west to capture a mine that is located behind the jungle.

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yaka starts with a large army so using forge blast on his cities doesn't weaken him against your attacks. also don't forget that yaka's sphere is fire and fire cats have fire protections (or fire immunity when they get silver medal) so casting fire spells on his units doesn't hurt him.

at the end, don't forget that aow2 is a well-designed mental game. it means that you should think about all things in a game to clear your way to perfection.

[This message has been edited by shade2003 (edited 06-15-2003 @ 03:51 AM).]

As with any good game there are actualy many valid methods to finish something successfully.

The above is a good way to play the map through quickly (and may not be a bad idea to have 1 or 2 units here and there for exploration with the above tactics).

I myself enjoy a long, relaxing, exploritive game. I have found several times that had I played a fast and furious game I would have missed out on some little things (like the spirit of life reward on that map for removing a fire node, which a pioneer can rebuild, on that side island) as well as a spell that can be reached via a teleporter (which interestingly puts you near Yaka's main cities). I also would have missed the elvin city... probobly.

anyway, if you want to play a slow and relaxed approach and also don't want to bother with sending troops back and forth then I sugjest, with that massive gold income, that you build a defensive group to sit on certain key choke points that lead to your heart.

at the main city (near where you started) I put a mixture of 2 knights (probobly could have just used swords men), 2 monks, 2 swashbucklers (you can exchange the 2 knights/swordsmen with 2 more swashbucklers) and 2 cannons/balistas.

That comes to a total of 8 and generaly can slaughter some of the largest attack groups if they have a wall to sit behind. I put these guys in towns and at towers near choke points. for choke points without a tower that I might attack with but not realy move much around (basicaly guarding an area) I had 4 knights, 2 monks, 2 cannons/balistas.

about cannons vs balistas, balistas do fairly well but cannons are better... basicaly if cannons are too expensive/slow to produce then balistas it is. as for the trebuchete (or whatever that is called), it can be quite effective but somehow luck is against me with them. The enemies trebutete almost always hits me but mine almost never hit them reguardless of enchantments or level of units.

Thats basicaly how I play all my maps, I expand out quick to take enough cities/resources to keep me happy (much as you did already) and then slowdown (sorta turtle) and start exploring. Also while exploring I generaly am continuing to upgrade my cities and build a massive attack force. (so gold is almost always low) I try to get one city up to teleporter status and have wizard tower 1 minimum on most of my cities (I go for coverage rather than every single city). That way if I need to deploy troops, they are out fast.

A hint about this tactic is you will want to play the game in simultanious on maps with 2 or more AI unless you have a fast system and even then probobly still. This tactic tends to allow the ai to continue to build up.

one last note, when defending you are best off controling the battle (saying yes) rather than not becouse FC (fast combat, saying no) gives the attackers the advantage (they only have 1 gate to kill and start out right near it virtualy speaking).

as far as Yaka moving troops back and forth, there ain't much you can do about that. He will push forward if he thinks he can win, and pull back when you change the odds. The only real options (to my mind) are to have troops nearby to retake what was lost if you loose, saturate the areas with troops (expensive!), have fast units to pursue yaka fleeing, or play fast and furious...

Biggest thing, have fun. With time you are bound to find your style

thanks guys i will definately be using all the tips that both of you were so kind to share with me.

i found it interesting what was said about the spirit of life reward, i laughed because i failed to realize that YES that fire node can very well be rebuild.

another thing i really improved at is how i spend my power. research vs mana. well when i first started playing aow2 i used to rush to build any structure that could improve my research, but learned that you can also further manage your research to get some super strong spells very early in the game. (especially if you have captured many nodes)

we live in a time where most video games coming out now is mostly eye candy and no real innovation behind it, well aow2 has managed to do this.

i love this game lol

Hi

i got this game a couple days ago and have been spyin round here alot, i finnaly registerd.

i am still on fire1 and lovin it..im with the whole explore EVERYTHING method. i started by tacking the big city right away then the elv city ect..then i made 1 pioneer and sent to the big city to the north (were your wizzy first comes down) and restored it. then i slowly explored while keeping heavy defence around the main passage ways so no enemys could get by. now im movin down the map slowly while other smaller partys are exploring.

my hero is lvl 4 allready but my wizzy is still lvl 1..yeah i left him at home to mucth i guess. i found like 3 items plus i did a wargod quest anad a life nod quest.

this game is one of the best TBS ive played sice civ3(im a big fan of civ games)

i am curious what fire2 ius gonna be like

Quoted from fuse:

Wizards don't level up in AoW II

PS. Hi and Welcome!

hi fuse and daid,

your right this is the best strategy game out now. i also have rise of nations by microsoft, but the multiplayer is terrible.(lag, slow network) usually gamespy is alot better than that.

i'm interested in knowing more on how to defeat yaka very quickly so i don't give him enough time to raise a super army. there are times when it seems he has units all ovef the map lol

just when i think i have an area secured they attack one of my cities w/ one army (8 units) then once we get to the battlefield they have another army of 8 units. in additon to this i was told the battle was outside my domain, well we were fighting for MY city lol ( if that's within my domain then nothing is lol)

Also it never seems you have enough casting points. i chose to start with casting specialist 1 and then researched casting specialist 2. i was suprised to be only be able to get off one fireball spell.

Grr will i ever manage to beat this campaign?

[This message has been edited by skylander_X (edited 06-16-2003 @ 12:59 PM).]

My most used strategy for tackling large CPU armies is to simply let them attack my cities. CPU attacks because of superior numbers and that's when I get him. I could defeat an army of some 20-24 units with just 8-10 of mine. Trick is to let him breach your gate, then all of the enemy units rush this one gate instead of breaching others (which you can't defend with such a small force), and then u just take them out with your archers. It's also wise to have 1 or 2 mellee units (a simple 1st lvl swordsman/warrior will do) to buy you some time.

Well this may sound concieted, but I had three rather decent groups trapping Yaka with his remaining city being the capital by turn 16. Then I finished the map researched all available and decided to try out nature shrines for once, and got around 20 artifacts. I admitidly ended around turn 150 because I wanted to get some of the better artifacts but didn't.

based on the great insight given here i have decided to rush for catapaults in my cities and wait for yaka's army to attack until hopefully his number of armies decrease dramtically. It seems he is pumping units out of his cities 100% of the time.

I once used the fog cheat to watch yaka more closely and to my suprise he had like 3-4 cities with no defense while he had 2 more cities that was pumping like a iraqi oil well lol

Yeah I did it in like 25 turns, on my first go. I relied extensively on knights. i used them as hard hitters and when it looked like the odds weren't entirely in my favour I used support troops. You should be able to turn over one of the human cities you rebuild, just north of your main city (i.e the one with a wizard tower) entirely to knight production after suitable upgrades as it can produce them in 2 or even just 1 turn. Send them out in groups of 3-4 as heavy and fast raiders and capture the central and eastern cities. You will need to use these cities to start churning out city smashers. Knights should advance into Yaka's territory like lightening, and draw back if needed, and be backed up by increasing numberrs of your units, which should be getting there pretty damm fast seeing as the central city isn't very far away. Then just mix your units, like 4 knights with 4 archers (just an example, not very ideal). If you play long enough you can get the air galley which whoops major arse and negates most units, and also works as a transporter.

hmm very interesting bb i will try using more knights to see if i can smash yaka once and for all WAHAHAHAHAHA!!

i sure wish that i could watch some of your replays L dragon

: ) : D

[This message has been edited by skylander_X (edited 06-20-2003 @ 09:03 PM).]

Well i got to Fire2 and restarted that one a couple times. i managed to get all of the heros on that map..

i went and got the one by where you start, then called hero and got the frostling one, (i coulnt talk to him myself but my new hero could?) then i called hero again and got a orc, i could talk to him after i captured a orc town. so now im on fire2 with 4 heros..is that normal or what?

Knights and Swashbucklers. You only need those two units to win.

Taunt can be very useful.

Yeah taunt is surprisingly useful(taunt, surround except one spot, then watch the enemy get the "thousand paddle torture" as he tries no matter what to attack the taunter)
Ah what fun, I have had the game since a few days after it came out and I never used taunt until a little while ago because I thought it would be bad to have someone target you.lol. Oh well, anyway sorry that you can't see my game but.
If you want to know, I had three groups of 8. One consisting of 6 elven arhcers and two high priests. The other two knights a level 8 Belendor, two swashbucklers, two catmasters, and a monk. And the last being two firecats,two shredders, a hunter, and three human cavalry. Yaka was trapped, it was so funny.
Now I'm on earth one, but I haven't played aow2 for around 5 days.

My friends aren't available so I would accept multi-player games gladly. Just e-mail me or aim me same address(Llockedragon, e-mail is at yahoo.com)

Quoted from somebody who won't give a name:

Let's hope SM gives some value to the other units...

Nah, I ended up summoning Phoenixes and creating Fairy Dragons, oh yeah lots and lots of Druids ...

lol your right saber

alot of the lvl 1 achron and undead units are weak. however i learned to conquer a magic vault and city upgrade with hardly no losses. at the most i'd lose 1 unit. i summoned 2-3 wild boars lol since they have 7 attack they are pretty strong early game.

retreating is also very useful when done properly, it keeps the cpu from targeting my weaker units.

the dwarven wizard with the eyepiece is the best for earth spere.

[This message has been edited by skylander_X (edited 06-26-2003 @ 07:33 PM).]

Skylander, tsk tsk. No wizard is better than others for certain spheres. The only difference is that for some reason the human wizard(whoever you choose) has swimming for some reason on some stages.

again, which means some wizards ARE better than others

thank you sir

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Not to bash your post; I think this whole thread is great. But as to your statement above, it is false. I would say that 99% of AOW2 is taken directly from Master of Magic and Warlords 3 Darklords Rising.

I cannot think of one thing that AOW2 has that MOM and/or W3DLR doesnt have. I think AOW2 has improved on many of those old games' features, but it is false praise to call it innovative. AOW2 has much better graphics. That is true.
But that is also an improvement in the technology sphere, not really what one would call innovative, especially as there are many games already out now with superior graphics.

I am hooked on AOW2, dont get me wrong. It may very well replace my addiction to the previous two games. But lets call a spade a spade.

Detah,
Ruler of 2D

[This message has been edited by Detah (edited 02-18-2004 @ 12:14 PM).]

Hey there. I am also having trouble with the first scenario. After about 7 tries, I was finally able to isolate yaka to is one capital city. However, i was completely unable to knock him out of there.
I've gotten pretty great at exploring in multile directions, hunting down groups of his units, stealing cities, etc, but man. i could NOt get this guy out of there.
he had 8 units in the city and one just outside it. i sent a cleanup crew at the one outside the city and ended up fighting the whole city. are adjacent hexes supposed to add units to a battle? cuz i'd never noticied it happening before.
anyway, i ended up throwing about 30 units at that city and got completely pasted each time.
Do i just need better units? do i need to lure him out of the city? (actually he's out of the city now, since i have no units left). I guess i'm just no good at sieging a held town.
any step-by-step plans of attack would be helpful.

What Units are you using to attack and what kind of Units is Yaka using to defend?

IIRC, in Fire I you can get Warlords and Manticores. If you get enough of those you shouldn't have a problem defeating Yaka.

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Fire 1? IIRC, there are no Orcs in Fire 1.

Elves, Tigrans, and Humans, yes, but no Orcs.

[This message has been edited by Lord Ben (edited 07-20-2004 @ 11:45 PM).]

Oops - did I confuse this with Fire 3? It has been a while...

Don't think I had to do anything special in Fire 1 if I can't even remember it. If you have a 300% advantage in numbers, you should be able to beat Yaka, even if you have mostly level 1 Units and he has several lvl 3's.

Remember in AoW2, you could force the AI to split up it's forces between the Walls in a siege if you attack from at least 2 sides, even with a single unit, and leave at least 1 empty hex between the attack groups.

Bah, I just went to the point where I kept casting Forge Blast on his last city until I got to the point where I was satisfied enough to attack.

Of course, I had Casting Specialist III and Channeler at the time.

it was the first time i played fire 1... i got to the point where i captured all the cities except yaka's tower and the one neext to it. i had massed up an army of hell dogs, cavalry, knights, cat riders, and some other fast units. i hate having to chase infidels. then here comes yaka with about 8 each of catriders, prowlers, shreders and those cats that throw fire bolts. i just holed up my units in the center city where there where a couple balistas and catapults and yaka's army ran away. Then i chased him with my fast units. and here is where it gets weird: yaka's units stopped near the tower just outside his city. my units ran out of move points right next to them. i ended my turn and hoped yaka would attack, so that i can get the advantage of moving first. insted, he sent his units in every little direction. in the end, i just killed 3 groups of 4 or 5.
so i just dispersed yaka's units without having to fight them as a whole, and i have no idea how i did it.
maybe cuz i was playing on easy?

More likely because the AI doesn't know what it's doing. It's a common complaint that the AI splits it's stack allowing the player to take out small groups without any losses.

Some things the AI does pretty well, but sometimes it seems to act just completely bone-headed.

huh...
i was thinking maybe the ai thought the odds were against it and it couldn't outrun me, so it split its forces to prevent too many losses. but that would be a really smart ai.

True, except it didn't recognize that you were still able to catch up with it's split up forces.

But this has also been observed where a player couldn't have defeated the combined AI force, but when that army was split it was destroyed piece by piece.

this is a common aow2 strategy.mass ranged units and stick some of them in a tower by where the enemy units are coming from.then put a scout out to watch and catch them before they get to the tower.depending on the size of the army decide whether you should retreat you tower peoples back or fight them there.

Having 8 archers in a watchtower in friendly domain works very well if you have the chanelling points. Sit and wait for them to come, and fairly soon you can have 8 gold level archers.