Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

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revolting_peasant
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Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by revolting_peasant »

I'm playing HttT on Medium. I'm going through Island of the Damned for the loyal white mage, and I already have one (Elrian). I have a mage in Bay of Pearls who is about to level-up. I also have 2 Druids, one of them close to shydeness.
So,

- Is it worth it to make him a red mage instead of another white mage?
- Later on, is it a better idea to make him a silver mage or great mage? Teleoprt is a very interesting ability, but I don't know the rest of the campaign to tell whether or not it'll be at all useful.

... oh, and, same question if you go for Muf Malal's peninsula rather than Isle of the Damned.
Last edited by revolting_peasant on June 18th, 2016, 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MRDNRA
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by MRDNRA »

I'd say at least one would be useful in Siege of Elensefar, for taking out the undead more reliably.

An interesting choice to level up Elrian to White Mage, yes loyal healers are extremely useful, but I've seen on here before on at least one occasion loyal red mage can be levelled up to level 4 great mage (the same also being true of the elvish shaman line, one line has healing, the other line reaches level 4).

Silver mages are extremely useful not just for their teleport ability, but also their high magic resistance (50% resistance to cold and fire), and also their reliability in heavily damaging (for low level units to kill) rather than outright killing units (as very often happens with the arch mage/great mage path).

In terms of mages in HttT though, I'd say you don't actually need many, with elvish shamans once max levelled having very good movement even in caves (in both the druid and sorceress lines). Yes mages may be slightly more sturdy, but you're rarely going to want to expose either mages or druids/sorceresses anyway unless you're fairly certain they won't take much damage on the enemies turns.
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alexanderthegre
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by alexanderthegre »

The faster you get your hands on a red mage, the happier you'll be. Although, as MRDNRA said, elvish sorceresses are much more usefull, mages seem to be easier to level to me. As soon as you get 1 red mage, don't bother getting any more. Don't forget how useful elvish shaman's slow is.
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revolting_peasant
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by revolting_peasant »

Ok, I did it. He mopped up an Orcish assasin pretty easily. Now onto that horde of skeletons.
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beetlenaut
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by beetlenaut »

alexanderthegre wrote:As soon as you get 1 red mage, don't bother getting any more.
I don't agree with that. I make all but one of my magi red and finish with six or eight fully leveled. I usually get one quick white mage for illumination purposes (just one because most of your units are neutral), but I do almost all my healing with the druid line because once they are leveled, they are faster than white magi in most situations.

I used to think that arch magi were better than silver because they have better stats and another level, but the more I play, the more I favor silver. They are incredibly valuable for reinforcing where you need it, and because they can bounce from one front to the other, they cost much less sometimes.
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alexanderthegre
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by alexanderthegre »

beetlenaut wrote:
alexanderthegre wrote:As soon as you get 1 red mage, don't bother getting any more.
I don't agree with that. I make all but one of my magi red and finish with six or eight fully leveled. I usually get one quick white mage for illumination purposes (just one because most of your units are neutral), but I do almost all my healing with the druid line because once they are leveled, they are faster than white magi in most situations.
Well, the reason I said that was that magi take a very large amount of experience to level up. For players who have a hard time leveling fragile units (i.e. newbs), it's mostly a waste of time to feed xp to something that's going to die anyway.
But, if you can level 6 to 8 magi, by all means, go for it. :lol2:
beetlenaut wrote: I used to think that arch magi were better than silver because they have better stats and another level, but the more I play, the more I favor silver. They are incredibly valuable for reinforcing where you need it, and because they can bounce from one front to the other, they cost much less sometimes.
Agreed. Definately.
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by WanderingHero »

Yes, but make sure you raise some horseman or 2 missions coming very soon will be a real kick in the balls for you.
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

I played HttT twice (once on Easy and once on Normal), and I find it very useful if Elrian (the loyal mage you get in scenario 3) is a Great Mage. A loyal Great Mage is a bane to any foe and turned the tides in scenario 24. In addition he doesn't incur upkeep.
Druids and Shydes are better substitutes for White Mage, and Arch Mage is more dangerous compared to Mage of Light. So, I prefer Red Mages to White Ones.
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Elvish_Conquerer
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by Elvish_Conquerer »

Red, and Arch magi are definitely useful. They are great for softening up units like level 3 trolls, Iron Maulers, Warlords, and all types of high HP units. I find Magi of Light to be invaluable in heavy undead situations. Healing, Curing, and Illumination are all incredibly useful. What I love specifically about the MoL is its morning star. This makes it a reliable unit when on the defense and makes a unit think twice about attacking one. At least one arch mage is worth it though. You might as well make it a loyal, considering you can level a non loyal to MoL and if you do get Moriemmeru, you'll already have a loyal MoL.
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maredi316
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by maredi316 »

I think it's very well worth it in Elensefar and that scenario when the abnoxious princess starts coming at you.
I tend to get all mages to be white(sounds awkrd), but I keep Elrian Red, and make him great mage. he's a tank and burns down resilient+strong orcish warriors/swordsmen if lucky.
I personally feel the more the healers, the better the situation, especially early, so few the shamans I level (prob1, maybe 2 because of my skill) would be druids.
The Elrian is my only Red till about Northern Winter. All mages that level up before that are white but Elrian.

I never considered a druid to be superior to the white mage, but that I probably true, I guess.
But it's still good to have a white mage as it shines in undead slaying, for druid heals and sorceress wrecks undead, but white mage does both by itself and also makes the undead fight worse when becoming Mage of Light.

I never cared for Silver, but how useful is it??? I don't know about its potentials at all, but seeing posts here I would try to make some Silver instead of Archies in EI, which I am playing right now
cerion
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by cerion »

I started off favouring red mages, but now I prefer the elf sorceress line when available because the Sylph's mobility and 70% forest defence are amazing.
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by Kaiserdrache »

Maybe I'm a little bit old fashioned, but for me mages are the icing on a cake.

The first mage I get on Alduin is my prime target for experience and I always make him a red mage. He's the one aimed to become an level 4 archmage. In Bay of Pearls I usually recruit my second mage and once again he'll become a red mage and later on a silver mage. Seeing that I get a loyal white mage for free in Isle of the Damned it's imperative for me to level my inexperienced mages up as fast as possible. Usually, by the time my troops arrive for the Siege of Elensefar I have Moremirnu (white mage) still on level 2, the loyal mage from Alduin on level 2 and another red mage on level 2.

An early red mage can make things far easier, especially if you level up Konrad fast enough to level 3. His leadership given to an level 2 red mage results in a 12-4 fireball attack that practically slices everything. Furthermore, aiming for a silver mage should be among your 10 top priorities as this unit can reinforce practically everywhere.
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Kymille
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by Kymille »

I never cared for Silver, but how useful is it??? I don't know about its potentials at all, but seeing posts here I would try to make some Silver instead of Archies in EI, which I am playing right now
I used to feel the same way, but now I love them. They are great lich/necromancer killers since they take relatively little damage and the ability to teleport is amazingly useful and different. Give them a try, I think you'll enjoy the change.
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lipk
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by lipk »

I never cared for Silver, but how useful is it??? I don't know about its potentials at all, but seeing posts here I would try to make some Silver instead of Archies in EI, which I am playing right now
The silver guys are just amazing. I'm playing (again) HttT right now, and all but one of my red mages are to become silvers. They're especially useful on the rather huge maps of HttT. You can send them to the farthest corners to captures villages, yet they can be instantly in the first line when you need them. They can very efficiently prevent enemy scouts from capturing your villages. Combined with a fast unit, they can assassinate the enemy leader. You can leave them behind to cover your back and get them out in a minute when needed. They're awesome.
His leadership given to an level 2 red mage results in a 12-4 fireball attack that practically slices everything.
It's only 10-4.
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TheScribe
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Re: Is a red mage worth it early in HttT?

Post by TheScribe »

lipk wrote:It's only 10-4.
Maybe he's remembering attacking a unit that has bad resistances to fire?
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