Troops and AW's

[Algenon]

Hello. I am trying to find a way to give my troops a better chance to win/survive Spire and Tourny's. Is it better to increase the army, add Armory's or increase AW's? All help greatly appreciated.

 

[The Fairy]

To make your troops stronger:

Craft the fire phoenix and artifacts and pet food. Yes, it is expensive, but worth it if you fight a lot. Fully evolved all troops are 50% stronger when fed.

Use 5 day booster buildings:
Dwarven armorer from spire: all troops get 50% stronger.
Unleashed unit upgrade from crafting: all troops 25% stronger
Enlightened light ranged: lr troops 50% stronger
Magnificent mage multiplier: mage troops 50% stronger

Level wonders:
Mm/Sanctuary: increase health for all troops
Needles: lr stronger
HF: hm stronger
DA: mages stronger
Toads: hr stronger
VS: lm stronger

 

[Raccon]

Hello. I am trying to find a way to give my troops a better chance to win/survive Spire and Tourny's. Is it better to increase the army, add Armory's or increase AW's? All help greatly appreciated.

Also consider other factors that affect difficulty levels in tournaments and spire. There are experienced players here who can provide you with more detailed info but, as far as I know, clearing too many provinces, adding too many city expansions as well as the number of AW's and their level can make your fights much harder.
As The Fairy mentioned, the fire phoenix is your best friend when it comes to fighting. Check the MA religiously and start crafting phoenix artifacts whenever you see them so you'll have a few phoenix artifacts ready by the time a fire phoenix showed up in MA. Save up as many spell fragments and blue prints as you can for your phoenix artifact crafting purposes so you can evolve your fire phoenix quickly.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Also consider other factors that affect difficulty levels in tournaments and spire. There are experienced players here who can provide you with more detailed info but, as far as I know, clearing too many provinces, adding too many city expansions as well as the number of AW's and their level can make your fights much harder.

Actually, all of that stuff makes the tournament and Spire more expensive, but not harder, as in the difficulty of a fight. The same fight for a chapter 3 player and a chapter 13 player or a chapter 19 player is identical in base difficulty. What is different is your squad size, based on those factors, and how far your troops will last.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

It also helps to be able to replenish your troops fast. That is where the brown bear and supply and time instants help. Early on I would cater too, to help with troop losses if you can.

 

[Kataphractos]

As far as Armories go: it's generally a good idea to have at least two Armories, upgraded as high as you can get them. But remember that Armories only affect the size of your "training squads", not the squads you send out into combat. To put it another way: Armories affect how many troops you can train all at once. This means that if you don't visit your city very often -- say, once a day, or once every two days -- you might want to build as many as three or four Armories, to make up for not constantly collecting small batches of troops.

All that being said, Armories don't directly help your troops survive...they just help you replace those troops faster. Like Fairy said, if you want your troops to last longer, your best option in the early game is to build the "Sanctuary" Wonder if you're playing as humans, or the "Martial Monastery" Wonder if you're playing as elves. At the same time, check the "Crafting" tab in your Magic Academy, and keep an eye out for either the Fire Phoenix (even though it needs to be upgraded and then fed for best effect), or the Unleashed Unit Upgrade building (bear in mind it stops working 5 days after you place it).

 

[i8sh]

If you really want your troops to last longer - learn to manual fight and all of the nuances that go with match-ups and terrain. A good place to start here on the forum is reading Mykans guide (https://us.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/mykans-guide-fighting-guide.4205/). It does get much easier with time and practice.

I agree that the fire phoenix/brown bear are pretty essential, but you can usually do the 1st 8-10 provinces in the tournament with neither. I have also found that numbers are sometimes better than brute strength so focus on AWs that can help you to achieve more troops that you regularly use. Just remember that if you decrease your training time, you might need to either add armories or increase the armory AWs (bulwark or shrooms) to make sure that your troops are being trained 24/7. Which AW is actually the best has been discussed at length here in the forum and we all have slightly different opinions.

 

[Yogi Dave]

clearing too many provinces

Clearing provinces has no effect on either troop requirements or difficulty. Placing expansion does increase the number of troops you bring to battle, but not difficulty. And, I wouldn't worry about that until later in the game as you can't really grow your city without more space. Some people have found very specialized cities that are good for scoring high in tourneys without growing their size.

All that being said, Armories don't directly help your troops survive...they just help you replace those troops faster.

Armories make your training stack larger which means the training queues won't run dry as often. That lets you get better sleep and fewer worries while working but doesn't directly help replace troops faster.

Increase training size AWs:
Dwarven Bulwark: Based on your squad size (Not tourney squad size, the one shown in the Army Camp tab of the 3 training buildings)
Shrine of the Shrewdy Shrooms: Based on the sum of the levels of your armories.

Shorten training time AWs:
Needles of the Tempest: Barracks
Victory Springs: Training Grounds
Flying Academy: Merc Camp

In my opinion, the most important AW for doing better in tourneys is the Sanctuary/Martial Monastery since it increases defense for all troops. What good is going into battle if you can't survive, especially since the mist walker gets 1st shot. Overall, the best building is the Fire Phoenix when fed since is increases attack for all troops. Even at level 1 it helps save troops.

 

[Gkyr]

@Algenon
The important point here that has not been mentioned:
You have a choice of Catering to win a tournament encounter (called 'Convincing' to win a Spire encounter) by wagering Goods instead of fighting.

All of the advice that you asked for is the advice that you have received, and it is all one-sided about fighting. All from experienced players.

After a while, we all build up the abilities that we need to fight our way all the way through Tournaments and to the top of the Spire.

Beginning players do not have these abilities and they have to Cater and Convince for most encounters in Tourney and Spire until they get to a certain point. Please look up help videos for Elvenar Spire in Youtube and elsewhere and they all, with a few exceptions, teach you how to effectively Convince your way, at least 2/3 of the way to the top of the Spire. They concentrate on Convincing for a reason: that is the most effective way open to beginning players.

You need to find the balance of Catering/Convincing and fighting that is comfortable for you while you build up your fighting abilities; they will increase over time.

Finally, Elvenar is a game of resource management. You need to build the basics. If you run out out supplies, goods, population or culture, you will stall. You will become 'tech-locked' (stalling in the progression of the research tree). You first need to manage your resources sufficiently so that you have enough to Cater and Convince as well as build.

 

[Yogi Dave]

You need to find the balance of Catering/Convincing and fighting that is comfortable for you while you build up your fighting abilities; they will increase over time.

Very true. It is a balance. You need to be able to do both and know which method is best for each encounter. A bad mix of enemies that you can't cover 4 of their stacks with a good match (only ever use 2 troop types unless you really know what you are doing, but 1 type is best) is a good indication to cater. Even when you have coverage, the lone enemy may call for catering. Examples when at fairly high levels: A mage is called for, but the lone enemy is a mist walker, or for heavy range being the best, but they have a priest or blossom mage. If you are having to use the light or heavy range troops for fighting, they will always sustain damage, so need more frequent training. Consider catering. If the goods required will deplete your stores more than is good for your city, consider fighting. There is also the point where you have to say, "Nope, I'm done." At least in a tourney after doing the 1st round you can just skip that prov each round. In the spire, it becomes a showstopper. This is just the tip of the tip of the iceberg. The Battle Help section is a good place to look for more specific info.

For newer players, the tourney is very easy to fight and cater through prov 5 and pretty easy to fight in through prov 10 due to the changes made about a half year back (or more?). However, it can be very difficult to fight to clear provinces since at least 4 years. That begins to change in chapter 5.

 

[Algenon]

Thanks to all. (way to strain my few remaining grey cells) I will try all suggestions and hope for the best.