Continuous attacks till a unit is dead?

[javadave]

I've read the guides and searched the forum but the answer evades me. I'm a noob but so glad I found this game.

So playing against my brother on the iPad...I was undead and he was the dwarves. Once in a while a unit will attack more than their alloted slots. They would attack until 1 of the 2 units were dead...sometimes 10+ swings. For instance my bone archer chased down a unit of his and computer selected the knife, instead of the arrow which he could not retaliate. I decided to go with the knife since he was almost dead and wanted to rub it in. Took my bone archer about 8 swings but did kill him. Didnt bother me when I had the upper hand but some puny meele of his took out my sorcerer hero this way.

So what causes a unit to have continuous attacks until 1 of the 2 die? I just dont know but need to factor it into my gameplay.

Thanks in advance.

[styles1005]

It's a weapon special called "Berserk." A unit using an attack with Berserk swings continuously until 30 rounds of attacks have passed or one of the units dies. The Dwarves are the only mainline faction to have it; the unit that uses it is called the Ulfserker and advances to the Berserker. Your bone archer probably chose the knife because the bow wouldn't activate berserk, being a ranged attack, and thus didn't have as good a CTK.

[javadave]

Thanks so much. Its a nasty little skill that I wont soon forget

[Dixie]

Be wary if you play dwarves, though, as these units aren't exactly cheap (19 gold). They are great for taking down mages or archers, but losing one to, say, a spearman (14 gold) is well... a poor move.

Anyway, happy ulfing

[donkey_noob_trash1]

Thanks so much. Its a nasty little skill that I wont soon forget

Javadave... you will find, the more you play Wesnoth, that the Knalgans are pretty much the best "specialist" faction. In other words, their units are the best at their respective roles. I have played and beaten top-ranked LADDER players with just spamming nothing but footpads. Kid you not. It's because they're the best scout-unit that money can buy, essentially. Gryphons are the best flying unit you can get, pretty much. It's been demonstrated that they just flat out dominate on Weldyn Channel. The Ulfserker unit (commonly referred to as the "ulf") is a multi-role unit. He can finish off damaged units, flat out dominate ranged-based units, and pose a leader-assassin threat for weak melee leaders. Thieves just do sick amounts of damage, if you can backstab at night. Fighters are awesome at level 1, and god-like at level 2. Thunderers... I don't really use that much, but they're great for picking off units that stand on poor terrain. And guardsmen are fantastic for holding villages and mountains. Top to bottom, they just kick total butt.

My favorite combination with the knalgans lately has been footpads and gryphons, because it basically makes an extremely mobile, yet powerful, army. But have fun experimenting!

[Hulavuta]

Yes, factor that into a strategy, but keep in mind that only one unit in default has that attack. It's level 2 does too, but I'm counting that as one.

And, also keep in mind that the factions are balanced. The above post mentions that the Knalgans faction has many advantages, but just keep in mind that all factions are equally powerful in different ways. For example, the Dwarves have bad defense unless they are in mountains, and lack a good ranged attack until higher levels (excluding the Thunderer, but that's his "specialty"). (Maybe caves too, but I never really play maps with caves)

[donkey_noob_trash1]

Yes, factor that into a strategy, but keep in mind that only one unit in default has that attack. It's level 2 does too, but I'm counting that as one.

And, also keep in mind that the factions are balanced. The above post mentions that the Knalgans faction has many advantages, but just keep in mind that all factions are equally powerful in different ways. For example, the Dwarves have bad defense unless they are in mountains, and lack a good ranged attack until higher levels (excluding the Thunderer, but that's his "specialty"). (Maybe caves too, but I never really play maps with caves)

I would agree that all mainline factions are equally powerful in different ways, when averaged across all the wesnoth maps... or at least the ladder maps... but I would just highlight the fact that what I meant in my above post was that they are probably the faction with the most "specialist" level 1 units. Let's take a look at the knalgans' special units: thief (special ability backstab), guardsman (special ability steadfast), and ulf (special ability berserk). Now let's look at the northerners' special units: assassin (special ability marksmanship and poison).

[Caphriel]

You forget the troll's regeneration

[monochromatic]

And the possibility of dwarves getting healthy.

[Thrawn]

Thanks so much. Its a nasty little skill that I wont soon forget

Javadave... you will find, the more you play Wesnoth, that the Knalgans are pretty much the best "specialist" faction. In other words, their units are the best at their respective roles. I have played and beaten top-ranked LADDER players with just spamming nothing but footpads.
...
My favorite combination with the knalgans lately has been footpads and gryphons, because it basically makes an extremely mobile, yet powerful, army. But have fun experimenting!

[levity]
So it's your fault they are nerfing the footpad (again)?! Curse you... >_>
[/levity]

[sLaughter]

Yes, factor that into a strategy, but keep in mind that only one unit in default has that attack. It's level 2 does too, but I'm counting that as one.

And, also keep in mind that the factions are balanced. The above post mentions that the Knalgans faction has many advantages, but just keep in mind that all factions are equally powerful in different ways. For example, the Dwarves have bad defense unless they are in mountains, and lack a good ranged attack until higher levels (excluding the Thunderer, but that's his "specialty"). (Maybe caves too, but I never really play maps with caves)

I would agree that all mainline factions are equally powerful in different ways, when averaged across all the wesnoth maps... or at least the ladder maps... but I would just highlight the fact that what I meant in my above post was that they are probably the faction with the most "specialist" level 1 units. Let's take a look at the knalgans' special units: thief (special ability backstab), guardsman (special ability steadfast), and ulf (special ability berserk). Now let's look at the northerners' special units: assassin (special ability marksmanship and poison).

In that case, Loyalists have more special abilities: Spearmen (First Strike), Horsemen (Charge), Fencers (Skirmish), and Mages (Magic)

My point being I'd be loathe to say Knalgans are a more "specialized" faction just by counting the number of special abilities their units have. What is true, however, is that they have some units that are arguably better at their jobs than any other unit in the game (I'd say the Guardsman, Gryphon, and Footpad) and a unit that has a job nobody else has, the Ulfserker.

[Sapient]

Faction recommendations based on playing style:
http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 60#p223960

Loyalists are the faction known for versatility/adaptation style while Knalgans are well-rounded for different playing styles. This makes sense when you consider how many weird but frequently successful recruitment strategies people have found for Knalgans.

[darksaurian]

javadave, for a fun time attack an adept with an ulfzerker.

[TheSilentOne]

ulfserkers are very good units, but you have to take very good care of them , as soon as they enter the battle, they become number 1 targets, so you have to be a very good strategist. You will see that in your first games you will lose the ulf with incredible ease.