The Elves
(RotWK)patch 2.01

Basic info: all elven units tend to lack armor and HP, making them the weakest of the good factions in terms of sturdiness. however, to compensate for that they have the best archers in the game, including the dreaded Mirkwood archers. Elves also excel at hit-and-run tactics since all their units have high speed and will stealth near trees (stealth excludes cavalry and builders).


Lorien Warriors (300)- the Lorien Warriors are the basic infantry of the elves. like all elven units, they don't stand well in head on combat with their Forces of Light counterparts and are better off used to harass farms of the enemy.

Lorien Archers (300) - These are the staple early and mid game archers for the elves. having an incredible fire rate and high damage output, they tend to be relied on a little more than necessary.

Mithlond Sentries (300)- These are the pike units of the elves, and are more valuable in an elven army than most people think. The major thereat to elves is cavalry, since the trampling damage tends to kill an entire battalion. Sentries prevent slaughter of your archers by cavalry and are meat shields for your archers against an attacking infantry force.

Mirkwood elves (800)- these feared archers are the backbone of elven late game. they have the highest price tag for a reason; they have the farthest range of all archers and have the highest damage output of all archers. note that when garrisoned in a tower, these archers can even hit siege units when being attacked. These archers will also stealth anywhere while standing still and have an elven cloak ability, which can make them temporarily invisible (can't even be seen by ivory tower.

Noldor Warriors (1500)- the hero battalion of the elves, these elves are basically fully upgraded Mirkwood elves with a switch weapon ability and a buff ability at level 7. Not the greatest hero battalion, but they are anti-trample, since when using swords they murder trampling cavalry. Also because of their high CP requriement, you are better off getting other units.

Rivindell lancers (450)- cavalry unit of the elves. Not the best cavalry, but still serves as a harassing unit and can trample enemy infantry. Note that elves have the most potent cavalry rush in patch 2.01 so use this every so often to surprise an opponent.

Lindon Horse Archers (450)- These are mounted archers that can trample. Nothing too good about them because they don't have superior range or damage output to be noted. There however is a trample bug in the 2.01 patch, which makes them kill whatever they trample. I've never used these archers before but by all means use them if you find use for them.

Ents (1000)- these are the siege units of the elves. ents have the ability to change from ranged to melee to defend themselves, but they are probably the weakest siege unit in the game. Taking I believe 500% damage from fire and another high percent from pikes, ents are only good if protected.

note: as smeagolfan always preaches USE STANCES, it allows you to keep your elves alive longer.

The Fortress

- The elven fortress is mainly a support base, it has little offensive power on its own and does not have the AoE projectile upgrades of a Dwarven, Angmar, or Mordor fortress.

Enchanted Anvil (500)- not very useful, if you can afford the upgrades you can usually afford to upgrade units.

Blessed Mist (1000)- allows units to stealth while within a radius around the fortress, allows units to safely rest until ready for battle.

Crystal Moat (1000)- decreases melee damage done to fortress good for late game and helps to prevent KODA or zerk blitzing.

Mystic Fountain (1500)- helps the elven heros heal faster and is a must when hero raiding

Encasing Vines (2000)- your basic HP and armor upgrade available to all races have.

Eagle's Nest (2500) Eagle (1500)- useful if you can afford it, though there is a bug in the 2.01 patch where if you get crystal moat you can't make an eagle.

Heroes
Elrond (2500)

*Self heal(level 1)
*Leadership(level 4)
*Farsight (level 5)
*Tornado (level 7)
*Restoration(level 10)

- One of the better elven heroes. Having the ability to heal, recharge friendly unit power timers, leadership, spy on enemies, and even tornado, a high level Elrond is a danger to any army. Elrond is more of a support unit, so don't attempt to go solo with him, he is better for buffing an army.

Thranduil (2500)

*Wild walk (level 1)
*Move unseen (level 3)
*Elven cloak (level 4)
*Dead eye (level 7)
*Thorn of vengeance (level 10)

- The sniper hero of the elves. his bow packs a punch and has extreme range, but at the cost of fire rate. most of his abilities involve stealth. his level 10 power, Thorn of vengeance, is game over for all units and even most heroes. the initial strike is bad enough, but it is followed up by meta impact damage. though his level 10 ability is great, he is hard to keep alive because of his low HP. Thranduil can solo only because he can hide, but when the enemy knows they are being shot at, move and find a new target.

Legolas (3000)

*Hawk Strike (level 1)
*Knife Fighter (level 2)
*Train Archers (level 4)
*Arrow Wind (level 7)


- A large price tag but still a good hero even at level 1. the initial ability of Legolas is hawk strike does good damage with a minor splash, good for killing retreating heroes or eliminating about half a battalion of soldiers. He also has a fair fire rate and high damage. His knife fighter ability is alright but is more for knocking down buildings or running away since it gives extra defense. Again, support unit that takes down larger foes such as trolls.

Glorfindel (1500)

*mount (level 1)
*blade of purity (level 3)
*wind rider (level 6)
*starlight (level 10)


- Probably the hero worth more then he costs. Glorfindel's mount allows him to get around easily and his blade of purity is similar to Aragorns blade master ability and can decimate buildings. He also has easy escape because of wind rider. Overall this is the hero you want to lead an assault or raid. He is also the first hero you should get.

Haldir (1200)

*toggle weapon (level 1)
*leadership (level 6)
*golden arrow (level 10)



- Haldir is best used as a support unit. his leadership ability allows raiding forces to do more damage. Haldir's weapon switch ability is good so he can join swordsmen or archers and provide both with his leadership. his low melee attack prevents him from destroying buildings on his own but combining him with pikes/swords allows him to do wonders. due to low HP and the fact that the enemy will target him first in a group, it is best that he is set in defensive stance.

Arwen (800)

*mount (level 1)
*heal (level 2)
*flood (level 10)

- she is probably the weakest hero in the game, Her slow melee attack prevents her from doing damage to buildings and makes killing units difficult. If you insist on using her, then her heal ability is a hero support and if you ever get her to level 10, her flood can take out front line infantry.

General Rush
-BO>> 2x mallorn>>Barracks>>Lorien Warrior>>mallorn>>Lorien Warrior/Archer...

The elven rush most often used is a combination of of a sword and archer battalion or simply a raiding sword battalion. this allows you to raid your opponent's resource buildings. depending on your opponent's initial attack, you may want either archers to defend your own RBs or get another raiding sword battalion. Around mid-game, you will have to decide whether to get an early hero (glorfindel) or tech up to mirkwood archers, this is at your discretion.


The Lancer Rush (only early game)

BO.

2x Mallorn Tree>>Stables (hidden or next to fortress) >>Lancers>>Barracks...

Explanation

Many players will not expect a cavalry rush from elves and you will hopefully catch your opponent off guard and destroy a few RBs before he can make a counter. Aim at his RBs farthest from his fortress and keep out of the fort's arrow range. use Rally Call, clumping, and Stances to quickly eliminate the buildings and run to the next/next ideal RB location.
A Few tips.

-Rally Call is a MUST! You're Lancers cannot hack it without upgrades or Rally Call, you need at least one of those to make them an effective force.

-USE THOSE STANCES! If you aren't hitting buildings, defensive stance...if you are, aggressive. Simple as that. Lancer HP is low enough, leaving them on neutral stance will only hasten them to the grave!
-KEEP YOUR STABLES INTACT! this rush leaves your temporarily without defenders, so if your opponent ignores your raiding, you will need to keep your stables from harm by building it either in an obscure location, or by building it adjacent to your fort.

Mid to Late Game

Elves have the silverthorn arrow upgrade for late game. This upgrade is the largest threat to any player (since it deal magic damage), once elves get silverthorn arrows they need to focus on keeping enemy cavalry away from their precious archers. In an army go heavy on pikes unless you are facing dwarves or goblins, since their cavalry consist of few units and are not very good (but beware because battlewagons can crush many units before slowing down, concentrate fire on the wagons before engaging a main dwarven force. Elven heros are fairly cheap and if allowed to level up, they can be a big problem. Elrond and Glorfindel are the best/most often used hero pair for late game. Mirkwood archers are a must late game since their damage and range can kill most units and even heroes.

small tips that can make a big difference
Go for the builder -if you see an undefended builder next to a RP you are raiding, hit the builder first, the time and money needed to replace a builder far outweigh the costs of making another RP
notice opponent's unit patterns- if you see your opponent go archer heavy or lack pikemen, get some cavalry, it will force them to change their unit combination and allow you a temporary advantage
wall hubs save builders- If your builder is in your base radius and you are unable to protect it with units quickly enough, hav it build a wall hub. walls don't take much damage from melee or archers, so if your opponent attacks the hub, you should have enough time to get rescue force over in time. After the matter, you can demolish the wall to reimburse yourself for half the resources.
beware of dwarven mines and goblin tunnels- it may be more beneficial to check your perimeter for a mine/tunnel rather than raid right out of the barracks
hit high level enemy RPs- as your RPs level up, they give you more resources, hitting your opponents higher level RPs is more damaging to their economy than hitting a level 1 RP.


Elven Power Tree

tier 1: rallying call, heal , farsight
tier 2: enshrouding mist, arrow volley, elven wood, Tom Bombadil
Tier 3: summon eagles, cloud break, summon ent allies
tier 4: sunflare, flood

(these are in order as they appear on the power tree)

Rallying call- 50% damage and armor to battalions good for raiding and for close identical units such as mirror matches

heal- 200 radius and heals 60% of units health excluding monsters and machines

farsight- reveal part of the map and reveals stealthed units

enshrouding mist- like cave bats,except debuffs enemy and stealths your units

arrow volly- kills unupgraded units

elven wood- gives allies armor and eliminates enemy leadership while on the area

Tom Bombadil- enemy players will normally retreat when they see him, unless they have an army. Tom is good at taking out a few batallions.

summon eagles- summons 2 eagles

cloud break- stuns enemy units for a time and also gets rid of darkness and freezing rain

summon ent allies- summon 3 ents

sunflare- kills units and damages buildings within a large radius

flood- a better version of sunflare and does more damage to buildings.


Recommended power trail: Rallying Call >>>Enshrouding Mist >>> cloud break >>> Flood

explanation: Rallying Call is useful anytime throughout the game, enshrouding mist is similar, but debuffs the enemy and can be used to hit a fort if the enemy has no defenders. Cloud Break gives you time to turn the fight in your favor or just blitz your opponent's fort and finaly flood is the better of the 25 cost PP and does good damage to a fortress.

*important*
I know you may be tempted to just save points and take the path right up to flood, but don't sacrifice your advantage by not using power points to get appropriate powers (such as heal if you get heroes)


I hope this guide helps
-Nenya0619

[This message has been edited by nenya0619 (edited 04-27-2009 @ 06:17 PM).]