What mTPA are the (Faery) T/Ms running up near the top? I figured most of them settle in at around 15 mTPA, but I'm not playing there, so I know it is just a guess. So if I top out at 6 mTPA... they've got a 5:2 ratio against me... IMO, not good enough. It'll stop some, but WTs would work just as well. But if I'm up at 9 mTPA, I don't really care about a 15 mTPA faery, because the 3:2 ratio isn't good enough for them to damage me much. Now I'm able to op the attackers that rely on WTs (though losses are a problem!) and the T/Ms still don't bother me because our WT attackers are better targets.

If you tell me the strong warring kingdom T/Ms run 24 mTPA... ya, I'm not gonna run 16 mTPA, the offense loss is too big. If the T/Ms only ran 12 mTPA... getting 8 mTPA isn't hard later in the age, and that's enough to find some good targets with. The offense loss isn't that high, I'd usually "gamble" on the thieves to pay for themselves. Somewhere in the middle is the "break even point" where they hybrid stops being better.

Remember to, player skill *does* factor in. I'll stop trying hybrid a lot earlier that some, because I'm decent at it, but not great. If I stunk, I'd never bother trying, and if I always knew how to light an enemy up with thieves, I'd stick with it longer. Player skill + T/M mTPA are the two big drivers of if A/t works.


If your war strat centers on deep chaining, you want A/Ts and pure A generally, because you need NS. If you plan to max gain (for a win) the A/t and A/M is naturally stronger because you will do an econ kill/contain setup. And, as noted in my kingdom sitting at the 50/50 bubble... if you getto flail, anything active works.


And as is typical in most of my "suggestions", moderation is key. 25 A/ts is totally dumb, agreed. Maybe the T/M mTPA factor pushes the A/t (and A/T) out at top play, maybe not. But anywhere except the top an A/t should be seriously considered, even if it is decided against due to personal strengths. And I, at least, would stick a strong A/t player into that role even at the "top", though I grant 'tis a hair's difference either way.