Human Army-Good Priest Tactics to Share?

[DeletedUser594]

Hi-
I've been using the Priest unit in the human army for a short while now. Mostly I've been putting them in if I think the battle is going to end in some sort of slug fest between my Paladin and their (Knight, Treant, Golum etc) and it's helped me win some battles I would have lost before. I already have the battle guide and the wiki page etc...wondering if any fighters have any insight, gems, tips, strategies, that would make Priests more effective/useful.
Thanks

 

[DeletedUser1029]

I came on the forum today exactly to see if this question had been discussed. So I will at least give it a bump and also share the one minor tactic I have discovered.

I have found they work well in marble provinces. Generally in marble provinces I yield my initiative because there is no way I will be able to attack on the first turn anyway. The priests are good for this tactic because the first round goes something like: I yield, they advance, then I use my priests to weaken their front line, so I can attack. This is especially useful when there are some barriers and they can only send a few units up at a time.

I am hoping to figure out how to use them in gem provinces, which are the ones my human armies struggle with most.

 

[DeletedUser594]

I am hoping to figure out how to use them in gem provinces, which are the ones my human armies struggle with most.

That's where I've been finding them most useful. They are great in fights that are going to come down to a couple of heavyweight high defense troops. I usually go with 1 Priest, 2 Paladin, 1-2 crossbow and maybe a cerberus. You need to take out the enemy archers right away. If you can get the fight down to your 2 Paladin + 1 crossbow against their 2-3 Knights then it's dancing the crossbowman as long as you can while the paladin and knights tee off. The paladin serve double duty providing obstacles to keep the knights off your crossbow for a while. The priest will knock off a few health points but more importantly weaken the knights defense. I've found that if I can get it down to that match up I can take out much higher ranked knights that simply ran my paladin over before. The Priest has been like an equalizer against heavy Knights and Treant. I find fighting with Priests in your lineup really interesting tactically, but the fights are rather drawn out and technical until the very end when you just slug it out. Have you noticed the enemy troops all but ignore the Priest?

 

[DeletedUser1029]

Thanks! I'll have to try this.

Yes, I have noticed they ignore priests. But most of my battles are in the 6th-7th ring right now where the AI is such that enemy troops attack my troop with highest initiative, and I wasn't sure if that changed.

How do you keep the cerebrus from attacking the crossbowmen when there isn't a lot of terrain to block?

 

[DeletedUser594]

C-bow has higher initiative so I start with him in a position that he can get clear. If there are no obstacles then I position him usually in slot 5 but it depends on terrain. If I can get him all the way to the end game it's a real help.
I assume you've seen the battle guide and know about setting your troops openening position by the order in which you slotted them? There's always a couple of spots the cereberus and enemy archers can't reach. If it's unavoidable to take a hit early I place a paladin.
here's a link for the guide just in case
http://tinyurl.com/nbzo7u8

 

[DeletedUser1029]

Thanks. I tried to follow your advice and ran into the issue where my paladins spent all their effort protecting my crossbowmen from the cerebrus instead of actually fighting. I've found it's easier not to use crossbowmen because the priest makes up for their advantage over the knights. I've started bringing 1-2 barbarians, 1-2 cerebrus, 1 paladin, priest in to gem battles and have found it works well.

 

[DeletedUser594]

Sounds like a good solution. I recently opened Paladin II so the knights aren't seeming so difficult at the moment. I think for this moment at least it might take a Knight in a small truck to beat the new troops but that will be short lived I am sure