Playing on hard

mephi · Post by **mephi** » September 15th, 2006, 1:31 pm

hi, i started playing this game 1-2 weeks ago. i played it on easy. i finished the campaign HttT with mass of lvl 3 units. so i switched to hard. i read a lot of strategies and tips. i started the first lvl. trying to move smart and place my units on good positions(ok not very difficult), attacking at day and letting the npc elves work as cannon fodder. i got vanished. there were too many units from the nothern orc.

on easy the walkthrough seemd very obvious, but not on hard. what did i do wrong??

podunk · Post by **podunk** » September 15th, 2006, 1:46 pm

Didn't play on medium?

Hard is called hard for a reason - not being a smarty when I say that either. I played on medium for a long time before I won gracefuly enough to think I was ready for hard.

I get spanked pretty badly on hard. The computer has more resources and can afford more and higher level units, is more aggressive it seems at taking and holding villages so it's hard for me to win a scene and have enough money to carry into the next one.

PingPangQui · Post by **PingPangQui** » September 16th, 2006, 7:49 am

It has been a while since I played this scenario on hard (btw. I've never played in medium too). Playing on hard is hard but also has an advantage - your units level faster.

I don't remember how I managed the first scenario. But a here a few hints that might help.

1.) Go straight for the postsign with Konrad (go first west than north) - finish as fast as possible.

2.) Recruit only fighters (+ one or two healers) and level than them only into captains (recruit only once - I think thats pretty clear).

3.) Play defensive: try to attack only shouters with fighters, slow heavy melee units.

4.) Use Delfador in battle to finish up havy melee units - just don't let him die.

I hope this helps a bit.

P.S.: If you get realy cornered it might also be usefull to lure the enemy away from conrad by putty single units(s) away, i.e. play "stupid" with them so that the ai thinks - "oh easy pray I'll go for it".

Elvish_Pillager · September 16th, 2006, 11:24 am

No, Delfador is best used hitting full HP melee units so your others can finish them off.

Post by **zookeeper** » September 16th, 2006, 11:29 am

Elvish Pillager wrote:No, Delfador is best used hitting full HP melee units so your others can finish them off.

Which usually leads to either him miraculously getting all hits in, killing the unit in one go and grabbing all the XP, or missing at least three strikes meaning that he (or at least someone) most likely dies the next turn.

Post by **Zhukov** » September 16th, 2006, 12:03 pm

Ya, Delf is notorious for never acting like you want him to. It's practically become part of his character.

mephi · Post by **mephi** » September 16th, 2006, 4:46 pm

PingPangQui wrote:It has been a while since I played this scenario on hard (btw. I've never played in medium too). Playing on hard is hard but also has an advantage - your units level faster.

my units only die faster

Shiver · Post by **Shiver** » September 16th, 2006, 6:28 pm

Zhukov wrote:Ya, Delf is notorious for never acting like you want him to. It's practically become part of his character.

Really? He always lands three shots when I use him. That little Kalenz jerk, on the other hand...

williamager · Post by **williamager** » September 21st, 2006, 1:54 pm

Personally, I've been considering making a post complaining that Hard is too easy in HttT. I've been running through on hard recently, and haven't had any trouble with the exception of VoD, where it took me a few tries to be able to kill all three leaders. Yet I am by no means a good player, and on multiplayer I hardly ever win. I know multiplayer and single-player require different strategies, but I doubt that they are so different that I can be excellent at one and so dismal at the other.

I generally recruit two fighters, two archers, and two shamans for the first scenario. I send Konrad on the fastest route to the signpost, so he can leave if my other units are put in an undesirable position (he is usually guarded by the west leader's troops when near there). I use the fighters against the crossbows, and Delfador and the archers against heavy melee units. [/i]

Draciron · Post by **Draciron** » October 7th, 2006, 9:53 pm

Depends on the scenario. I actually find hard easier on some parts of campaigns. The reason is you level so many more troops. I played the first couple campaigns on easy, then went through the same campaigns on medium then on hard. Except for one campaign I really struggled with at first on hard I play the hardest level on every new campaign.

With this particuler one, fight as little as possible. The biggest challenge I had was really the turn limit. The fastest possible route means no fighting for your leader

This is a pain because I like to level my leaders ASAP. Until they are leveled they are very vulnerable. They are also useless to fight with until you level them. I use Delfador to blast a path for me. In the earlier version I had enough turns to swing all the way west and then go North. This became physically impossible in 1.1.10, just not enough turns. I tried repeatedly. Getting stalled for a turn by a wall of Orcs, then even when I blasted through the orcs and was not stalled once still ran out of turns. So I had to go North first then West. I recruited almost all archers. Stuck to the woods wounding troops with Delfador and finishing them with massed archers. I also left one unit in the sourthern village to keep the Southern Orcs completely out of the fight. This does 2 things. It means that the Western Elf doesn't waste units defending the South which means they kill the Orcs you want them to kill. The ones in the way that is. The other is that the Southern Orcs are taken completely out the game. The turn or two they spend killing my unit is enough that they never get anything but a wolf rider close enough to fight anybody. If you have a resillant unit, a fighter is best. Use that one. 2 turns of surviving in that village is plenty to take the Southern orcs out of the mix. If the Eastern Elves get run through sometimes you have to sacrafice a unit or two to block the eastern Orcs. Doesn't take much, the trolls move slowly. One unit can soak up the assasions attention and that gives you enough time to get through.

Plot out your leader's movement. Move Delfador and your vanguard ahead well in advance. Any delay and you run out of turns. So you have to punch through them quickly. If the Western Elves are not sending forces to defend the south they do a good job of clearing your way along the Western edge. So the only real challenge is at that mountain outcrop. Clearing a path past that and keeping the Orcs tied up there.

Glowing Fish · Post by **Glowing Fish** » October 8th, 2006, 3:02 am

Draciron wrote:Depends on the scenario. I actually find hard easier on some parts of campaigns. The reason is you level so many more troops. I played the first couple campaigns on easy, then went through the same campaigns on medium then on hard. Except for one campaign I really struggled with at first on hard I play the hardest level on every new campaign.

I find hard (or at least Medium) easier, but for different reasons. The enemy gets more gold, but they also get higher level units, which means they spend more initially and have a lot of upkeep, and can't keep on buying units. Which means you usually have a bigger mass of dangerous units at the start, but then the battle tapers off quicker.

Just my experience, YMMV.