HttT - What should I be upgrading to?

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Shiver
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HttT - What should I be upgrading to?

Post by Shiver »

Hi, I'm new blue to this game. It looks fun, but I find myself restarting the first campaign over and over.

More specifically, I have a particular concern that hasn't been answered as far as I can tell. I did a search on "Elvish Captain" and didn't see a topic for this, so I'm wondering exactly what I should be upgrading my fighters into during the campaign. Should I go for just one Captain and a couple Heroes? Two captains? I'm not sure what a good arrangement would be. This doesn't just apply to captains, however. I don't know what to upgrade to have an optimal setup by the time I reach "Siege of Elensefar", the mission I keep getting my guys murdered on. Here are all the units I don't know what to do with:

Fighter -> Captain vs Hero?
Archer -> Ranger vs Marksman?
Shaman -> Druid vs Sorceress?
Mage -> Red Mage vs White Mage?
Scouts... should I use them at all, ever?
Horsemen to Knights is a no-brainer so don't even bother to go over that.
maliciouskorean
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Post by maliciouskorean »

i usually have my first few fighters go to heroes, but captains are good to have too. if an archer is strong, have him go to ranger, if he is dextrous have him go marksman. for shamans i have them become druids for healers, and mages to red mages for damage. also horsemen to knights isnt a no brainer, lancers are very good, they have 2 more movement than knights and 3 charge attacks, and having a few of them around is nessesary. i usually do not hire any scouts, because horsemen are better and gold is not as important in campaigns as in multiplayer.

i'm not really awesome at this game either, but thats my advice
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Baufo
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Re: HttT - What should I be upgrading to?

Post by Baufo »

That is what I usually do (the rare time I play campaigns):
Shiver wrote:Fighter -> Captain vs Hero?
I usually go for the captain even if a hero is a very usefull and strong melee unit with a neat ranged attack but leader ship (especially of the lvl 3 marshall) is kinda neat too to level lower units up. AFAIK most people prefer the hero though, I don't.
Shiver wrote:Archer -> Ranger vs Marksman?
You will need both. But strong archers should go Ranger.
Shiver wrote: Shaman -> Druid vs Sorceress?
If you like to use druids or white mages (You are talking about HttT, aren't you? Edit: Of course you are - forgot about the title:)) as healers is a question of personal preference IMHO. I usually chose the Sorceress since it is difficult enough to level a shaman up. And a lvl 4 Sylph is really neat.
Shiver wrote: Mage -> Red Mage vs White Mage?
Depends. The healer question see above. In other campaigns (like TRoW) you will want to get some white mages and in HttT they are also kinda usefull agains some undead you might face from time to time.
Shiver wrote: Scouts... should I use them at all, ever?
Sure you should. But since Elvish Scouts have not got an advancement tree the answer about advancement is obvious...
Shiver wrote: Horsemen to Knights is a no-brainer so don't even bother to go over that.tree the question about advancement is lapsed here.
I should found a No Knights Clan! Lancers for EVAR!! (at least in MP:)) But in campaigns you will rather have to chose between Paladin and Grand Knight. See the white/red mage question: Paladin for undead, Grad Knight for the rest. Oh and did I already mention that poor level 3 less Lancers can be very usefull too?
Last edited by Baufo on September 9th, 2006, 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again. -- Oscar Wilde
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Noyga
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Re: HttT - What should I be upgrading to?

Post by Noyga »

Shiver wrote:Fighter -> Captain vs Hero?
A Captain is really useful, get it first.
However you don't need a large number of captains, if you levelup more fighters, most should probably go for Hero.
No real preference, i would get both.
A druid is a really useful unit to have, i would probably choose druid more often.
A White mage is a really useful unit to have when you fight undead, so it'a always useful to have some.
However, if you tend to levelup a lot a mages, most should probably go for Red mage
Yes they are useful, but you don't usually need them in large numbers.
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zookeeper
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Re: HttT - What should I be upgrading to?

Post by zookeeper »

Shiver wrote:Hi, I'm new blue to this game. It looks fun, but I find myself restarting the first campaign over and over.
Don't worry, I think that's quite normal.
Shiver wrote:More specifically, I have a particular concern that hasn't been answered as far as I can tell. I did a search on "Elvish Captain" and didn't see a topic for this, so I'm wondering exactly what I should be upgrading my fighters into during the campaign. Should I go for just one Captain and a couple Heroes? Two captains? I'm not sure what a good arrangement would be. This doesn't just apply to captains, however. I don't know what to upgrade to have an optimal setup by the time I reach "Siege of Elfensar", the mission I keep getting my guys murdered on. Here are all the units I don't know what to do with:

Fighter -> Captain vs Hero?
Archer -> Ranger vs Marksman?
Shaman -> Druid vs Sorceress?
Mage -> Red Mage vs White Mage?
Scouts... should I use them at all, ever?
Horsemen to Knights is a no-brainer so don't even bother to go over that.
I usually level the first fighter into a captain, to get the very useful leadership ability as soon as possible (and later on try to level it into a marshal quickly, to get lvl3 leadership). I think I usually end up with about 2 heroes per every captain. Fighters are the units I mostly use as cannon fodder if I need some, so I don't level them up as much as other units. I don't think you'll need more than two captains/marshals in HttT, since you also got Konrad who you should try to level quickly anyway.

Archers are tricky - marksmen and sharpshooters die very easily, but their bow attack is excellent (especially against mounted units). I don't use rangers much, since I don't see them as especially good at anything (I like specialists).

Shamans - I get a druid or two first, then sorceresses if I happen to level any shamans after that. I don't think you need sorceresses much in HttT, since you have magi. But druids are useful as healers and slowers.

Magi - hard to say. I'd probably go for half and half red magi and white magi.

I hardly ever try to seriously level scouts, as I somehow always manage to get them killed. They're not good combat units, so it doesn't IMHO matter much if you use a lvl1 scout for scouting instead of a more costly lvl2 or lvl3 scout.
Shiver
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Post by Shiver »

I heard Sorceresses blow away Drakes. Do you ever fight them in HttT? That's kind of the deciding factor in whether I make them or not.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

Shiver wrote:I heard Sorceresses blow away Drakes. Do you ever fight them in HttT?
Nope.
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Baufo
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Post by Baufo »

zookeeper wrote:
Shiver wrote:I heard Sorceresses blow away Drakes. Do you ever fight them in HttT?
Nope.
No reason not to get it. It does not only blow away Drakes but nearly everything.
I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again. -- Oscar Wilde
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

Baufo wrote:
zookeeper wrote: Nope.
No reason not to get it. It does not only blow away Drakes but nearly everything.
If you get a sorceress, you don't get a druid. That's a good reason.
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Post by Elvish_Pillager »

Fighters - the first one always goes to a captain. After that, quick ones are usually captains and strong ones usually heroes. If I already have two or three captains, I usually make only heroes.
Archers - Nowadays, always Marksman if it's Dextrous or Resilient. Usually marksman otherwise. If it is not dextrous, is not resilient, and is strong, I'll sometimes make a Ranger, but Rangers are much, much weaker now than they used to be.
Shamans - Druids are nice. Get druids. If you want sorceresses, field LOADS of shamans so that you can get lots of Druids as well as sorceresses.
Scouts - sometimes useful. In general, levelling them up is not a great idea.
Mage - like fighters. A few White Magi are a good idea, then get all Red Magi. Unlike fighters, traits don't make much difference, although I usually like Resilient Red Magi and Intelligent White Magi.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, sending me private messages won't work. :/ If you must contact me, there's an e-mail address listed on the website in my profile.
commander keen

Post by commander keen »

If a shaman's dextrous then go for a sorceress, or if she's resiliant then go for a druid.
Shiver
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Post by Shiver »

After a lot of pressing the "LOAD GAME" button (Argh!) I was able to beat The Siege of Elensefar. It pretty much came down to: Five tanks, two knights, two white mages, two red mages. I have previously played the scenario with archers. Don't use any, they are worthless in that scenario.

So I think the best policy with Elvish fighters is to make one Captain and the rest as Heroes. In conjunction with the commander, you pretty much have enough leadership to give lowbies damage support whenever you need it.
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Post by Elvish_Pillager »

Shiver wrote:I have previously played the scenario with archers. Don't use any, they are worthless in that scenario.
Had you used archers in previous scenarios, you might have gotten a Marksman, which would be quite effective here.
It's all fun and games until someone loses a lawsuit. Oh, and by the way, sending me private messages won't work. :/ If you must contact me, there's an e-mail address listed on the website in my profile.
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Post by JW »

To me the Archer is the most important unit in HTTT. Massing Marksmen/Sharpshooters is one of the quickest ways to take out an opposing living force. Mages take so much xp to level and they have 1 less mp, so I generally don't find them as useful against the orcs and Loyalists.
Shiver
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Post by Shiver »

Elvish Pillager wrote:
Shiver wrote:I have previously played the scenario with archers. Don't use any, they are worthless in that scenario.
Had you used archers in previous scenarios, you might have gotten a Marksman, which would be quite effective here.
You presume too much. I have 2 marksmen in tow but prefered not to use them. They're nice against orc melee but once those are done and the skeletons start pouring into the city, the mages are 10x better. I should also mention that one of my White Mages came out with Resilient/Intelligent as traits and has slightly more HP than my Marksmen. Naturally, this guy gets to take part in every battle.
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