Elf WH A/T - possible?

[iRnooB]

Okay, so as you can see from my name, I am a noooooooooob. Well kinda. It's been a couple ages...well...years since I last played. Found this game again and thought "SWEET!!"

Anywho, I've gone through the forums a little and re-read the guide a couple times, looked at some stratergies, yadeeyadeeya.

Come to find out, no one plays straight anything anymore. It's all hybrids...fine by me. So I decided I'd try something out, but think I should seek some advice before I make anything official :)

So without further ado. I'd like to ask..is an Elf War Hero (looked like a killer combo! Biggest spell book, -50% losses, +20% enemy casualties, QF :P), A/T possible for a returning player (I catch on quick, real quick).

I was thinking of running something along these lines:

15% Homes
10% Farms (those'll lower with some scienes - which i see in a different system)
15% Banks
15% Training Grounds
12% Guilds
08% Towers
15% Thieves Dens
10% Stables

Planning on running 60% Draft, 200% Pay rate, 3tpa raw, 45dpa raw in specs, and a full elite army.

I'm not running Barracks for the fact that my job is long and vigorous (I know...that's what she said :) ). So just using QF works wonders for me. My armies return about the time I get home from work (usually...sometimes).

But none-the-less, any advice or number crunchers here? I don't recall all the formulas or where to find them, so I'm not sure if this combo/set up will be a success...or a flop...

(I've also noticed honour is still the same as I can last recall....honour still play a big role?)

Anywho, I appreciate any/all the help :)

[alucard]

I ran Elf Warhero A/T this age. Not really by choice, it just fit in better with my KD's strategy than an A/M.

Overall it's a relatively weak strategy... Half of the benefits that elves get don't even help when you're a A/T. But it does work, and they are beasts in long wars due to the fact they can attack often and without much losses.

To really be a good A/T I think you do need barracks though, QF is a nice bonus but since you're not a Warrior your attack times will be rather high still... With rax's, however, your attack times can be as low as, or even lower than most warriors of other races. SO unless you got the time to attack often you may want to consider a different strategy...

My build was something like this, I tweaked a few things that I thought were lacking in my build so hopefully this ones even better than mine. ;P

8% farms
12% banks
15% TG's
10% Barracks
12% guilds
8% towers
25% TD's
10% Stables

I run 3.5 raw tpa, 1 wpa, and 60-65% draft rate although when my BE science got higher it was usually around 70% draft (we are in war a lot). In war, I switched my stables to forts so I could afford to leave less elites at home and keep my armies away at all times. Being a thief I could always steal horses to replenish the ones lossed anyways. With 10% rax+QF attack times were usually around 10.5 hours giving me more than enough time to do at least 2 attacks/day.

I found it pretty nessesary to have lots of TD's to be a successful elf thief due to the fact that you're not a dirty Gnome; thieves dont come cheap! And the -thief losses on them is nice to have. Also, never been a fan of Homes myself, but if you want to use them then I guess you could take away from the TG's and TD's... 12% banks is more than enough if you're an active thief, with 25% TD's I pretty much just stole anything I ever needed. ;P

Also, I love FoK. ;D
It's a great spell now that science is so pricey...

So overall it's a mediocre strategy with some very good perks. You're not a good target for anything, really. Thieves will leave you alone due to the fact that you have Clearsight plus high TPA, and wizzies won't bother you much if you keep your WPA above one and make good use of your great elven defensive magic. Your only real threat is heavy attackers...

[Ishandra]

Drop some TGs for forts, you'll gain more offence because you can replace some def specs with off specs/elites and you can send out more elites while maintaining the same DPA.

I can post the maths if you need it :)

I'd maybe drop towers as you get magic science as well, or if you can reliably steal/plunder some runes. Keep guilds high though for those self spells :)

Also I'd drop a little stables for a bit more TG/Forts.

[Realest]

only idiots mix tg and forts.

[Lead Pipe]

I dont think you'll be able to maintain enough theivery in war to make it worth trying, unless your opponents are real crappy.
3tpa with 15% theif dens can quickly turn to 2 tpa with 10% theif dens in war. So if thats not enough to op your opponents, dont bother going hybrid.

Instead, I'd be pure attacker. Elfs have racial bonuses against theifs and mages, combined with their lower combat losses, they are very durable.
Drop your theif dens to make 20% TG and 10% Forts. I think you'll also want 10-15% Guardstation for war, so phase out Homes/Banks as war approaches.

[alucard]

It does work, just like I said it requires you attack lots... And I will be the first one to admit that a pure elf attacker WH would probably do much better than a A/T WH, but it was still pretty fun to play...

Due to the fact you have 50% decreased losses in attacks, plus extra specialist credits, any money you get during war can go to training thieves. Since you usually gain more specialist credits from attacks than the troops you lose, you can continue to raise your army while still upkeeping at least 3 tpa. If you don't attack lots, your army will be lacking and you won't be able to make up the losses for hits against you with specialist credits, so you would have to spend money to keep your army in tiptop shape, therefore, like I said before this strategy only really works if you can attack lots.

[iRnooB]

Okay, so I'll go with just an attacker (still going to run 2 tpa. Always did as an attacker, probably always will).

Decided to up draft to probably 63% and about 66% when war comes around. Change the focus of my sciences to Income/Pop/Channeling in about that order...and switch my strat to:

10% Farms
15% Banks
15% TG's
10% Forts
10% Rax
18% Guilds
12% Towers
10% Stables

I'll probably keep Guilds pretty high up for awhile. Same with Towers. Once Channelings science starts making a noticeable difference, I'll probably drop guilds to about 15% and Towers back down to 8%.

Take that extra 7% and go with 17% TG's, 12% Forts, 13% Rax.

This sound like a better plan to anyone?

[Ishandra]

Sounds good :)

[toast]

you can run about 7-8% farms with science

10% racks should give you a bit lower then 12h atk times

no need to run 18% guilds in war. i usually go into with 10% and by the end of war it may have dropped to 1/2.

if your just going to get CBs and cast defensive magic 5% towers is more then enough.

with all that land saved id probably go for some homes, and maybe rise TG/Forts to 20/15

[Lead Pipe]

looks pretty solid iRnooB. Only thing i'll add is Tools is another good sci, and Guard Stations are nice in war. You could hold of building GS until war is immenent, then build the with new land, phasing out others.

[iRnooB]

@toast - Yeah, I'm planning on dropping farms down once science comes in (the three sciences I had mentioned are going to be my three top priorities, I'll get other sciences too :D ).

And the 18% Guilds is going to stay until I get close to my desired wpa, then I'll drop it down. And with the KD I landed in, I see myself spamming Storms/Greed/Pitfalls....so a littler higher than normal wpa will come in handy :) But as I had said, once I get closer to my desired wpa, they'll drop. Even possibly back down to the 12% ;)

@Lead Pipe- Thanks for your input as well. But in my opinion...Guard Stations are a wasted building. War isn't about land gained (unless you're still stuck in a Ghetto....like me!! haha), but about overall damage. I won't mind getting dropped 50%...just means I'm going to feed off of all the little guys and work my way back up lol.

But thanks all for your input in this matter. Helped out greatly :)