How To Play: Khalifate
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Gyra_Solune
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How To Play: Khalifate
How to Play Khalifate:
General strategies:
The Khalifate first and foremost has two major unique factors: almost all of its units have high performance on sand while faring poorly on forests, and several of its key units are of the exclusive Liminal alignment, meaning they are at their strongest during dawn and dusk. While ostensibly they are weak to impact damage, they rely on two different cavalry units that have the typical resistance to impact instead – similarly, while ostensibly they are a liminal faction, their hardest-hitting units are lawful. It can also be argued that Khalifate units gain more from leveling up than almost any other faction (excluding perhaps the undead and possibly elves) – their level 2 units are exceptionally competitive and if one can get a level 3, they will find it superlative in many categories. In general, they prioritize versatility and flexibility, with the all-purpose Jundi being the glue that holds most fronts together. They are, however, in general a bit expensive, and not all that great value per gold – positioning and formation is of exceptional import here.
*Jundi: Easily the Khalifate’s most prominent and useful unit. For 15 gold it’s a little low-powered, having 5-3 base melee and 6-3 range maximum during slightly awkward periods of the day. It is, however, fast, evasive on most terrain, and its roughly equivalent melee and range means it’s a safe option to defensively bear the offense of mostly any approaching unit.
*Arif: Despite its appearance as the faction’s main tanky melee unit, its costliness and middling power (equivalent to a lawful Orcish Grunt for a 50% higher price) relegate it to a slightly more specialist role that hinges on its unique properties as a marksman-equipped fighter. To get the most for your money, the Arif should be focused on fortified units in evasive terrain – in particular, entrenched ranged units that most factions couldn’t easily send their own defense-piercing mages to take on due to potential for heavy retaliation. These need to be used carefully – the Khalifate depends so much on its speed and skirmishing that a slower and more cumbersome unit can be difficult to use effectively.
*Rami: The other front-line liminal unit, the Rami is where the bulk of your ranged power will come from. They are slow for a cavalry unit but less restricted by terrain, being able to navigate hills and mountains with ease. They are arguably the epitome of the Khalifate gaining a lot from leveling up – upon promotion it either becomes one of the most devastating ranged units in the game with speed to match, or a mounted equivalent to the Jundi’s great versatility and general purpose usage.
*Naffat: Though stronger at ranged (and uniquely ineligible for the strong trait), the Naffat can put out a fair amount of melee retaliation as well. It is, however, very costly and fragile, slightly restricting it to a more specialty purpose – on this front, as a unit to counter enemies that would resist a largely blade and pierce offense, given its attacks are both fire-based.
*Khaiyal: An exceptionally potent melee unit, the Khaiyal is a resilient and powerful heavy cavalry type. Its lance is scary, and a group of these can rapidly shear off a more resilient enemy’s vitality, but it also has an equally viable option in the form of its mace, which will typically do about as much damage as the lance but covers most units that would otherwise resist the piercing damage.
*Hakim: Arguably the best asset the Khalifate has, the Hakim has one real purpose: it can heal adjacent units as effectively as a village. With one of these around a Khalifate advance can afford to push forward after taking a beating instead of needing to scatter and retreat to safe territory. Positioning these healers is key, since you can effectively decide a formation of units to have regenerate – especially potent given the Khalifate’s typical high HP and slight resistances. They are also not entirely defenseless in combat with a mediocre melee attack, but this isn’t especially useful except in especially particular situations.
*Falcon: On the surface seemingly identical to the Vampire Bats: a cheap level 0 flyer scout mostly good for grabbing villages early. However, it trades the more defensive draining attack of the bats for a somewhat interesting attribute, a 5-1 charge attack. This gives them a unique property as something of a guided missile kind of unit, since a large number of these sitting around will not cost upkeep. While a potentially potent strategy to either heavily injure a distant unit or catch a retreating one, it can be rather expensive to just throw away a large number of 12 gold units. This kind of tactic is best served for if things get desperate or you really want a dangerous level 2 or 3 enemy out of the way.
General strategies:
The Khalifate first and foremost has two major unique factors: almost all of its units have high performance on sand while faring poorly on forests, and several of its key units are of the exclusive Liminal alignment, meaning they are at their strongest during dawn and dusk. While ostensibly they are weak to impact damage, they rely on two different cavalry units that have the typical resistance to impact instead – similarly, while ostensibly they are a liminal faction, their hardest-hitting units are lawful. It can also be argued that Khalifate units gain more from leveling up than almost any other faction (excluding perhaps the undead and possibly elves) – their level 2 units are exceptionally competitive and if one can get a level 3, they will find it superlative in many categories. In general, they prioritize versatility and flexibility, with the all-purpose Jundi being the glue that holds most fronts together. They are, however, in general a bit expensive, and not all that great value per gold – positioning and formation is of exceptional import here.
*Jundi: Easily the Khalifate’s most prominent and useful unit. For 15 gold it’s a little low-powered, having 5-3 base melee and 6-3 range maximum during slightly awkward periods of the day. It is, however, fast, evasive on most terrain, and its roughly equivalent melee and range means it’s a safe option to defensively bear the offense of mostly any approaching unit.
*Arif: Despite its appearance as the faction’s main tanky melee unit, its costliness and middling power (equivalent to a lawful Orcish Grunt for a 50% higher price) relegate it to a slightly more specialist role that hinges on its unique properties as a marksman-equipped fighter. To get the most for your money, the Arif should be focused on fortified units in evasive terrain – in particular, entrenched ranged units that most factions couldn’t easily send their own defense-piercing mages to take on due to potential for heavy retaliation. These need to be used carefully – the Khalifate depends so much on its speed and skirmishing that a slower and more cumbersome unit can be difficult to use effectively.
*Rami: The other front-line liminal unit, the Rami is where the bulk of your ranged power will come from. They are slow for a cavalry unit but less restricted by terrain, being able to navigate hills and mountains with ease. They are arguably the epitome of the Khalifate gaining a lot from leveling up – upon promotion it either becomes one of the most devastating ranged units in the game with speed to match, or a mounted equivalent to the Jundi’s great versatility and general purpose usage.
*Naffat: Though stronger at ranged (and uniquely ineligible for the strong trait), the Naffat can put out a fair amount of melee retaliation as well. It is, however, very costly and fragile, slightly restricting it to a more specialty purpose – on this front, as a unit to counter enemies that would resist a largely blade and pierce offense, given its attacks are both fire-based.
*Khaiyal: An exceptionally potent melee unit, the Khaiyal is a resilient and powerful heavy cavalry type. Its lance is scary, and a group of these can rapidly shear off a more resilient enemy’s vitality, but it also has an equally viable option in the form of its mace, which will typically do about as much damage as the lance but covers most units that would otherwise resist the piercing damage.
*Hakim: Arguably the best asset the Khalifate has, the Hakim has one real purpose: it can heal adjacent units as effectively as a village. With one of these around a Khalifate advance can afford to push forward after taking a beating instead of needing to scatter and retreat to safe territory. Positioning these healers is key, since you can effectively decide a formation of units to have regenerate – especially potent given the Khalifate’s typical high HP and slight resistances. They are also not entirely defenseless in combat with a mediocre melee attack, but this isn’t especially useful except in especially particular situations.
*Falcon: On the surface seemingly identical to the Vampire Bats: a cheap level 0 flyer scout mostly good for grabbing villages early. However, it trades the more defensive draining attack of the bats for a somewhat interesting attribute, a 5-1 charge attack. This gives them a unique property as something of a guided missile kind of unit, since a large number of these sitting around will not cost upkeep. While a potentially potent strategy to either heavily injure a distant unit or catch a retreating one, it can be rather expensive to just throw away a large number of 12 gold units. This kind of tactic is best served for if things get desperate or you really want a dangerous level 2 or 3 enemy out of the way.
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Gyra_Solune
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Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Loyalists
This is a noted tricky matchup for the Khalifate – both factions are highly Lawful but the Loyalists have simply far greater stopping power for much less gold. What needs to be taken advantage of is their poorer mobility compared to your highly agile units, as well as the nature of Liminal units meaning they’re slightly less affected by unfavorable times of day than others. Move fast and work to either trap isolated units or simply move around the enemy’s forces – in this matchup the strategy from turn 1 should be less focused on engaging the army and more about putting pressure on the enemy’s leader, forcing the Loyalists to bunker down conservatively (giving you rein to take over more of the map and thus more gold for your own forces to break through), or spread out their formations and expose vulnerabilities. It needs to be done fast though – give the Loyalists too much time and they’ll be able to put up an effective map-wide wall of pain. Look for areas of desert on the map and prioritize luring Loyalists in positions where they would be unable to follow your own units passing them through this advantage in terrain.
*Jundi: A. Should be the core of your offense at all times. These guys can take most of what the pierce-heavy base of the Loyalists will put out and can dish back a fair bit of retaliation. What is more important though is their capacity to outmaneuver more or less their entire army, with higher movement and almost dwarf-like terrain costs. It is valuable to consider promoting these guys into a skirmishing Monawish over the more general-purpose Muharib as again, your priority is to slip through the cracks and pressure the enemy’s hero.
*Arif: B-. Use somewhat sparingly- the Loyalists do not have many terrain-focused units, and those that are pose limited threat. If going for a leader-killing strategy the Loyalists may try to send in Fencers to attempt the same for you – in which case Arifs find a great use in defense and countering those Fencers. Just as well, if the field is flooded with Spearmen, Arifs are a safe defense and offense to them, as they resist Pierce quite well.
*Rami: B. These can serve well in moving around Loyalist forces, being faster than the Jundi, but they’re also a bit more vulnerable to the pierce-heavy forces, especially Spearmen. While they can move over mountains, they merely get 40% defense as opposed to the Jundi’s 60%. As such, they should play a backup role to the Jundi.
*Naffat: C. The Naffat here serves a very common role - a specialist unit meant to take out one particular problem. In this case, these are the guys you send to take care of any problematic Heavy Infantry, who can become a rather imposing wall against Arifs and Jundis. It's expensive and a bit fragile though - use wisely.
*Khaiyal: C. At best they have utility in engaging the enemy while Jundis operate on the sides – but as a distraction, they’re fairly expensive and vulnerable to all the archers and spearmen. If Cavalry and Horsemen are a problem though, the Khaiyal can dispatch them well. They fare sort of okay against Heavy Infantry though.
*Hakim: B-. The healing has use in the above situations of holding off Loyalists, so a few of these are essential for defense, but it’s not as vital since the primary offense will be fast skirmishing, and the Hakim just cannot keep up.
*Falcon: C. The strategy of using these as guided missiles has great use when dealing with Loyalists and the more evasive mode of attack – they are useful to see where the enemy is going long before they can see you, and a charge of one is good to soften up enemies before they engage a defensive line or before they have to be engaged closer to the enemy’s base. However, the Loyalists are very melee-focused and the Spearmen especially can easily cut one down before it even can get in damage. If imposing Horsemen are a problem, though, the Falcons are a great option for cutting them down.
This is a noted tricky matchup for the Khalifate – both factions are highly Lawful but the Loyalists have simply far greater stopping power for much less gold. What needs to be taken advantage of is their poorer mobility compared to your highly agile units, as well as the nature of Liminal units meaning they’re slightly less affected by unfavorable times of day than others. Move fast and work to either trap isolated units or simply move around the enemy’s forces – in this matchup the strategy from turn 1 should be less focused on engaging the army and more about putting pressure on the enemy’s leader, forcing the Loyalists to bunker down conservatively (giving you rein to take over more of the map and thus more gold for your own forces to break through), or spread out their formations and expose vulnerabilities. It needs to be done fast though – give the Loyalists too much time and they’ll be able to put up an effective map-wide wall of pain. Look for areas of desert on the map and prioritize luring Loyalists in positions where they would be unable to follow your own units passing them through this advantage in terrain.
*Jundi: A. Should be the core of your offense at all times. These guys can take most of what the pierce-heavy base of the Loyalists will put out and can dish back a fair bit of retaliation. What is more important though is their capacity to outmaneuver more or less their entire army, with higher movement and almost dwarf-like terrain costs. It is valuable to consider promoting these guys into a skirmishing Monawish over the more general-purpose Muharib as again, your priority is to slip through the cracks and pressure the enemy’s hero.
*Arif: B-. Use somewhat sparingly- the Loyalists do not have many terrain-focused units, and those that are pose limited threat. If going for a leader-killing strategy the Loyalists may try to send in Fencers to attempt the same for you – in which case Arifs find a great use in defense and countering those Fencers. Just as well, if the field is flooded with Spearmen, Arifs are a safe defense and offense to them, as they resist Pierce quite well.
*Rami: B. These can serve well in moving around Loyalist forces, being faster than the Jundi, but they’re also a bit more vulnerable to the pierce-heavy forces, especially Spearmen. While they can move over mountains, they merely get 40% defense as opposed to the Jundi’s 60%. As such, they should play a backup role to the Jundi.
*Naffat: C. The Naffat here serves a very common role - a specialist unit meant to take out one particular problem. In this case, these are the guys you send to take care of any problematic Heavy Infantry, who can become a rather imposing wall against Arifs and Jundis. It's expensive and a bit fragile though - use wisely.
*Khaiyal: C. At best they have utility in engaging the enemy while Jundis operate on the sides – but as a distraction, they’re fairly expensive and vulnerable to all the archers and spearmen. If Cavalry and Horsemen are a problem though, the Khaiyal can dispatch them well. They fare sort of okay against Heavy Infantry though.
*Hakim: B-. The healing has use in the above situations of holding off Loyalists, so a few of these are essential for defense, but it’s not as vital since the primary offense will be fast skirmishing, and the Hakim just cannot keep up.
*Falcon: C. The strategy of using these as guided missiles has great use when dealing with Loyalists and the more evasive mode of attack – they are useful to see where the enemy is going long before they can see you, and a charge of one is good to soften up enemies before they engage a defensive line or before they have to be engaged closer to the enemy’s base. However, the Loyalists are very melee-focused and the Spearmen especially can easily cut one down before it even can get in damage. If imposing Horsemen are a problem, though, the Falcons are a great option for cutting them down.
Last edited by Gyra_Solune on January 22nd, 2016, 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Gyra_Solune
- Posts: 263
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Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Rebels
Quite the inverse of the Loyalist matchup, here the Khalifate does well to be more forward and offensive, as access to marksman on a tougher, pierce and blade resistant unit absolutely ruins the elves’ day. One has to be careful of their easy access to slowing attacks, however, and the Khalifate’s poor performance in forest tiles. Woses are a large threat here though – this matchup rapidly becomes a clash of very expensive units needing to be bought in greater numbers. Your primary units are going to be Lawful, with liminal capacity being minimal – therefore, attack at according times of day.
*Jundi: C. Still useful for dancing around the enemy and supporting offenses, but less so here due to more mobile elves being able to match, particularly the Scouts, who can stop an interloping party of Jundis in very short order.
*Arif: A+. This is the key to fighting the dodgy elves. Usage of marksman means them being in forests matters incredibly little, exposing the elves’ low HP and ineffectual attack types. They’re in danger from woses, though, and being slowed down by Shamans.
*Rami: D-. You aren’t going to get much mileage out of these guys, considering the elves have easy access to bows on almost all of their primary units.
*Khaiyal: D. Similar story to the Rami, but its greater resilience and offensive power offsets this a little. Still, not very worth it considering you’re already having to spend a lot on the expensive Arifs.
*Naffat: B+. This guy serves an important role here, and that is out of his capacity to ruin Woses both offensively and defensively, who would otherwise tear through a line of Arifs.
*Hakim: B. The elves are going to be healing a lot, and so of course you should use your access to these well. Since the slow Arif is your primary offense, the matching speed of the Hakim isn’t much of a concern.
*Falcon: C-. Useful for scouting as ever, but their charge attack is very likely to whiff on entrenched elves, and is ineffective on woses. Mostly useful for catching troublesome mages unaware.
Quite the inverse of the Loyalist matchup, here the Khalifate does well to be more forward and offensive, as access to marksman on a tougher, pierce and blade resistant unit absolutely ruins the elves’ day. One has to be careful of their easy access to slowing attacks, however, and the Khalifate’s poor performance in forest tiles. Woses are a large threat here though – this matchup rapidly becomes a clash of very expensive units needing to be bought in greater numbers. Your primary units are going to be Lawful, with liminal capacity being minimal – therefore, attack at according times of day.
*Jundi: C. Still useful for dancing around the enemy and supporting offenses, but less so here due to more mobile elves being able to match, particularly the Scouts, who can stop an interloping party of Jundis in very short order.
*Arif: A+. This is the key to fighting the dodgy elves. Usage of marksman means them being in forests matters incredibly little, exposing the elves’ low HP and ineffectual attack types. They’re in danger from woses, though, and being slowed down by Shamans.
*Rami: D-. You aren’t going to get much mileage out of these guys, considering the elves have easy access to bows on almost all of their primary units.
*Khaiyal: D. Similar story to the Rami, but its greater resilience and offensive power offsets this a little. Still, not very worth it considering you’re already having to spend a lot on the expensive Arifs.
*Naffat: B+. This guy serves an important role here, and that is out of his capacity to ruin Woses both offensively and defensively, who would otherwise tear through a line of Arifs.
*Hakim: B. The elves are going to be healing a lot, and so of course you should use your access to these well. Since the slow Arif is your primary offense, the matching speed of the Hakim isn’t much of a concern.
*Falcon: C-. Useful for scouting as ever, but their charge attack is very likely to whiff on entrenched elves, and is ineffective on woses. Mostly useful for catching troublesome mages unaware.
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Gyra_Solune
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Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Northerners
The Khalifate rapidly runs into a problem here, and that is how the cheap Grunts can match your expensive Arifs in a fight, and taking them on too offensively is asking for trouble. Your biggest danger is in being outnumbered – orcs can get a lot of power on the field for cheap. Keep your formations tight and advance slower than usual – far and away the most important thing is avoiding losing units and getting anyone surrounded. Make sure to keep the mountains for yourselves and don’t let the orcs run all over your hills.
*Jundi: B. The Jundi’s overall solid general purposeness is useful here. He can retaliate safely against anything the orcs throw out and dish it back to them. You’ll want many of these binding together your heavy hitters.
*Arif: B+. In a one on one fight with an Orcish Grunt, an Arif will likely come on top, as it resists blade and does the same damage, but it will only just prevail – and against two, it’s in a lot of trouble. You’ll want a line of these to repel Orcish attacks and guard your ranged units.
*Rami: A. These guys are a good source of reliable ranged power, being able to quickly move around the hills and mountains you’ll want to occupy.
*Khaiyal: B-. Khaiyals can push back at orcs even more effectively than Arifs, but they’re costly and much more vulnerable to a handful of archers. The problem is you don’t want to let orcs surround you and outnumber you, and that means you have to squeeze out everything you can from your gold reserves.
*Naffat: B. Keep a fair few of these in reserve for when daytime comes and you really need to hit the orcs hard. They’re also effective against trolls.
*Hakim: B+. While your ability to weather the orcs will come more from your formation than from healing, there’s no doubt that you want as many of your units covered by that +8 healing as you can.
*Falcon: C-. Be sparing with these – right away you need all the defensive and offensive power you can get, and there is very little you can really do with a falcon in a fight here – and given it costs equal to an Orcish Grunt, you really do not want to be throwing many of these out to take care of a single enemy.
The Khalifate rapidly runs into a problem here, and that is how the cheap Grunts can match your expensive Arifs in a fight, and taking them on too offensively is asking for trouble. Your biggest danger is in being outnumbered – orcs can get a lot of power on the field for cheap. Keep your formations tight and advance slower than usual – far and away the most important thing is avoiding losing units and getting anyone surrounded. Make sure to keep the mountains for yourselves and don’t let the orcs run all over your hills.
*Jundi: B. The Jundi’s overall solid general purposeness is useful here. He can retaliate safely against anything the orcs throw out and dish it back to them. You’ll want many of these binding together your heavy hitters.
*Arif: B+. In a one on one fight with an Orcish Grunt, an Arif will likely come on top, as it resists blade and does the same damage, but it will only just prevail – and against two, it’s in a lot of trouble. You’ll want a line of these to repel Orcish attacks and guard your ranged units.
*Rami: A. These guys are a good source of reliable ranged power, being able to quickly move around the hills and mountains you’ll want to occupy.
*Khaiyal: B-. Khaiyals can push back at orcs even more effectively than Arifs, but they’re costly and much more vulnerable to a handful of archers. The problem is you don’t want to let orcs surround you and outnumber you, and that means you have to squeeze out everything you can from your gold reserves.
*Naffat: B. Keep a fair few of these in reserve for when daytime comes and you really need to hit the orcs hard. They’re also effective against trolls.
*Hakim: B+. While your ability to weather the orcs will come more from your formation than from healing, there’s no doubt that you want as many of your units covered by that +8 healing as you can.
*Falcon: C-. Be sparing with these – right away you need all the defensive and offensive power you can get, and there is very little you can really do with a falcon in a fight here – and given it costs equal to an Orcish Grunt, you really do not want to be throwing many of these out to take care of a single enemy.
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Gyra_Solune
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Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Knalgan Alliance
This can be seen as a midway between how one deals with Rebels and Loyalists. The Dwarves are very terrain-reliant, which is something the Arif can safely contend with, but unlike the fragile elves, the basic Dwarvish Fighter is a lot hardier and capable of hitting back – and the terrain the dwarves are sitting on is exactly the terrain you want to be sitting on, making things more competitive. But dwarves are slow and easily outrun by your faster liminal units – for this reason, expect to see slightly more of their much faster outlaw units than normal.
*Jundi: A. Standard utility here, emphasized by how it can match the terrain mobility of the dwarves while having far more movement. Useful to tap at the dwarves to soften them up.
*Arif: B+. While the Arif is ostensibly good at striking at entrenched dodgy dwarves, the basic Fighter can hit right back quite hard. Arifs should more usefully be used to pick off the faster and dodgier outlaw units that can potentially give your Jundis a hard time.
*Rami: C. Somewhat situational here. A handful can be of use on occasion, as they can rapidly reinforce locations or isolate units, and they’re somewhat strong against the Footpads that are slightly more effective in this matchup. They’re not as hardy as the Jundi and can’t hold mountains as well, though, and the Thunderers can pose an enormous threat.
*Khaiyal: C-. Potentially not the best use of money – while powerful, the Khaiyal is inflexible and exceptionally prone to getting surrounded by dodgy outlaws it has a hard time with. They’re a good choice against the Gryphons, however.
*Naffat: C+. You mainly want to use these for their effectiveness against any troublesome Guardsmen about, the number of which depend on the specific strategy and map employed.
*Hakim: B-. Slightly less useful in this matchup, since you’re like to be running around a lot, but in key places these can be invaluable to units retreating from the hard-hitting dwarves.
*Falcon: B. Keep more than a handful of these around, both to help deny mountains to the dwarves and to keep on the lookout. Burning them to shear away the HP of the somewhat tough dwarves can be useful, but take care to only use this when they’re in unfavorable terrain.
This can be seen as a midway between how one deals with Rebels and Loyalists. The Dwarves are very terrain-reliant, which is something the Arif can safely contend with, but unlike the fragile elves, the basic Dwarvish Fighter is a lot hardier and capable of hitting back – and the terrain the dwarves are sitting on is exactly the terrain you want to be sitting on, making things more competitive. But dwarves are slow and easily outrun by your faster liminal units – for this reason, expect to see slightly more of their much faster outlaw units than normal.
*Jundi: A. Standard utility here, emphasized by how it can match the terrain mobility of the dwarves while having far more movement. Useful to tap at the dwarves to soften them up.
*Arif: B+. While the Arif is ostensibly good at striking at entrenched dodgy dwarves, the basic Fighter can hit right back quite hard. Arifs should more usefully be used to pick off the faster and dodgier outlaw units that can potentially give your Jundis a hard time.
*Rami: C. Somewhat situational here. A handful can be of use on occasion, as they can rapidly reinforce locations or isolate units, and they’re somewhat strong against the Footpads that are slightly more effective in this matchup. They’re not as hardy as the Jundi and can’t hold mountains as well, though, and the Thunderers can pose an enormous threat.
*Khaiyal: C-. Potentially not the best use of money – while powerful, the Khaiyal is inflexible and exceptionally prone to getting surrounded by dodgy outlaws it has a hard time with. They’re a good choice against the Gryphons, however.
*Naffat: C+. You mainly want to use these for their effectiveness against any troublesome Guardsmen about, the number of which depend on the specific strategy and map employed.
*Hakim: B-. Slightly less useful in this matchup, since you’re like to be running around a lot, but in key places these can be invaluable to units retreating from the hard-hitting dwarves.
*Falcon: B. Keep more than a handful of these around, both to help deny mountains to the dwarves and to keep on the lookout. Burning them to shear away the HP of the somewhat tough dwarves can be useful, but take care to only use this when they’re in unfavorable terrain.
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Gyra_Solune
- Posts: 263
- Joined: July 29th, 2015, 5:23 am
Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Drakes
Drakes throw a wrench into the usual hit and run tactics, in that they operate in much the same way and can catch up to your units with ease – and they have cheap skirmishers right from level 1. The best method of approach is to focus on taking them head-on. In this matchup most of their units have solid utility, and so do most of yours, so be ready to recruit just about anything.
*Jundi: A. You’ll want these to match the drakes’ typically equal mobility and propensity to mixed-attack. They serve to both cordon off places you have more prone units approaching, and to generally harass enemies with, though Clashers are a very big wall there.
*Arif: B+. The main thing the Arif has going in this matchup is the ability to dispense with the dodgier Saurians who are weak to blade attacks – depending on the opponent’s strategy, this might be most of their units or very few. Otherwise the Arif is not very effective.
*Rami: A. As the Naffat’s fire attack is extremely weak against drakes, this will be your primary ranged attack. It’s absolutely brutal to Fighters and is more or less your best offensive option to the Clashers, though highly prone to being counterattacked the next turn.
*Khaiyal: A+. The Khaiyal’s lance is rightfully terrifying to many Drakes and its impact attack is secretly terrifying to Saurians. In this matchup the Khaiyal has great value and can take on most anything offensively – but defensively it’s lacking. You’ll want to keep these in reserve to strike opportunistically. Do note the Khaiyal’s weakness to cold – Saurian Augurs can potentially be troublesome.
*Naffat: D-. The Naffat’s fire attacks are ineffectual against drakes, and while arguably useful against Saurians, the Arif is simply more reliably able to take them down while just as well being hardier and cheaper, along with being more resistant to their spears.
*Hakim: A. You’ll be fighting more traditionally and head-on here, and placing the Hakim correctly is far easier.
*Falcon: B-. Their piercing charge is potentially powerful here, and it’s very much an option against particularly persistent Clashers, but Sky Drakes can flush them out easily with their accurate fire.
Drakes throw a wrench into the usual hit and run tactics, in that they operate in much the same way and can catch up to your units with ease – and they have cheap skirmishers right from level 1. The best method of approach is to focus on taking them head-on. In this matchup most of their units have solid utility, and so do most of yours, so be ready to recruit just about anything.
*Jundi: A. You’ll want these to match the drakes’ typically equal mobility and propensity to mixed-attack. They serve to both cordon off places you have more prone units approaching, and to generally harass enemies with, though Clashers are a very big wall there.
*Arif: B+. The main thing the Arif has going in this matchup is the ability to dispense with the dodgier Saurians who are weak to blade attacks – depending on the opponent’s strategy, this might be most of their units or very few. Otherwise the Arif is not very effective.
*Rami: A. As the Naffat’s fire attack is extremely weak against drakes, this will be your primary ranged attack. It’s absolutely brutal to Fighters and is more or less your best offensive option to the Clashers, though highly prone to being counterattacked the next turn.
*Khaiyal: A+. The Khaiyal’s lance is rightfully terrifying to many Drakes and its impact attack is secretly terrifying to Saurians. In this matchup the Khaiyal has great value and can take on most anything offensively – but defensively it’s lacking. You’ll want to keep these in reserve to strike opportunistically. Do note the Khaiyal’s weakness to cold – Saurian Augurs can potentially be troublesome.
*Naffat: D-. The Naffat’s fire attacks are ineffectual against drakes, and while arguably useful against Saurians, the Arif is simply more reliably able to take them down while just as well being hardier and cheaper, along with being more resistant to their spears.
*Hakim: A. You’ll be fighting more traditionally and head-on here, and placing the Hakim correctly is far easier.
*Falcon: B-. Their piercing charge is potentially powerful here, and it’s very much an option against particularly persistent Clashers, but Sky Drakes can flush them out easily with their accurate fire.
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Gyra_Solune
- Posts: 263
- Joined: July 29th, 2015, 5:23 am
Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Undead
As is typical of the Undead, the biggest challenge you face here is that their resistances force you to buy far too many of your most expensive units and adopt uncomfortable tactics to take them on. Your mainstays are not very useful here – and the Naffat exists almost solely for this particular matchup.
*Jundi: C-. Both of their attacks are poor against most Undead units. A few of these are useful just because they’re a good option to rush at any expose Adepts, but be sparing with them.
*Arif: D+. The Arif is doing very little good here, especially with the more expensive units you’ll be relying on. Its only real utility is in swatting down annoying bats.
*Rami: D-. Even less effective than the Jundi here. Its attacks are largely useless, and it cannot even strike at Adepts well, given its primary attack will result in it taking massive casualties. Useful mainly for penning in units to keep them close during the day when your more powerful Lawful units can strike, but this is arguably a very expensive roadblock.
*Khaiyal: A. Here’s where the Khaiyal’s deceptively powerful mace comes into play most dramatically. It’s an absurdly powerful option against nearly all of the actual undead units, and has enough speed to reliably retreat when a Ghoul comes into play, while also being able to punish exposed Adepts. Keep in mind that the Khaiyal is somewhat weak to Cold, however, so Adepts and Ghosts will be able to hit it harder than normal.
*Naffat: A+. This is basically the entire reason the Naffat is in the faction. Undead are immensely troubled by fire and the Naffat is your only viable ranged option against them. It’s also more or less the only thing you have that contends with Ghosts, but then it’s arguably the single best counter to the Ghosts in the game, being able to punish its pesky draining attack while also having an even more powerful ranged to decidedly take it down.
*Hakim: A+. This is more useful almost for the property of how healing at least delays poison’s effects – it means Ghouls will be relegated to being merely very weak melee units that can’t even safely contend with the imposing Khaiyals. Leveling up the Hakim brings it curative capacity as well – this is somewhat more easily done since the Hakim’s impact attack is a fair bit more effective here.
*Falcon: B+. Standard scouting utility, but its charge attack is more than useless against most undead units…however, it’s an exceptionally good way to get rid of troublesome Adepts – arguably one of the best ways you can catch them while they’re hanging at the rear, since their lack of a melee attack means a swarm of Falcons can charge in fearlessly. Have a fleet of these in reserve.
As is typical of the Undead, the biggest challenge you face here is that their resistances force you to buy far too many of your most expensive units and adopt uncomfortable tactics to take them on. Your mainstays are not very useful here – and the Naffat exists almost solely for this particular matchup.
*Jundi: C-. Both of their attacks are poor against most Undead units. A few of these are useful just because they’re a good option to rush at any expose Adepts, but be sparing with them.
*Arif: D+. The Arif is doing very little good here, especially with the more expensive units you’ll be relying on. Its only real utility is in swatting down annoying bats.
*Rami: D-. Even less effective than the Jundi here. Its attacks are largely useless, and it cannot even strike at Adepts well, given its primary attack will result in it taking massive casualties. Useful mainly for penning in units to keep them close during the day when your more powerful Lawful units can strike, but this is arguably a very expensive roadblock.
*Khaiyal: A. Here’s where the Khaiyal’s deceptively powerful mace comes into play most dramatically. It’s an absurdly powerful option against nearly all of the actual undead units, and has enough speed to reliably retreat when a Ghoul comes into play, while also being able to punish exposed Adepts. Keep in mind that the Khaiyal is somewhat weak to Cold, however, so Adepts and Ghosts will be able to hit it harder than normal.
*Naffat: A+. This is basically the entire reason the Naffat is in the faction. Undead are immensely troubled by fire and the Naffat is your only viable ranged option against them. It’s also more or less the only thing you have that contends with Ghosts, but then it’s arguably the single best counter to the Ghosts in the game, being able to punish its pesky draining attack while also having an even more powerful ranged to decidedly take it down.
*Hakim: A+. This is more useful almost for the property of how healing at least delays poison’s effects – it means Ghouls will be relegated to being merely very weak melee units that can’t even safely contend with the imposing Khaiyals. Leveling up the Hakim brings it curative capacity as well – this is somewhat more easily done since the Hakim’s impact attack is a fair bit more effective here.
*Falcon: B+. Standard scouting utility, but its charge attack is more than useless against most undead units…however, it’s an exceptionally good way to get rid of troublesome Adepts – arguably one of the best ways you can catch them while they’re hanging at the rear, since their lack of a melee attack means a swarm of Falcons can charge in fearlessly. Have a fleet of these in reserve.
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Gyra_Solune
- Posts: 263
- Joined: July 29th, 2015, 5:23 am
Re: How To Play: Khalifate
Khalifate vs. Khalifate
The nature of the Khalifate being half lawful, half liminal, half mounted, half on foot means triangles of resistances and weapon types can get a bit tangled. It becomes obvious what can counter what unit – getting there is the hard part.
*Jundi: B-. Its standard all-purposeness works somewhat well here, but the entire faction resists its blade attack, and the bow is only largely useful against Khaiyals.
*Arif: C. Again, blade resists turn against the Arif here. If your enemy is on mountains or using lots of Falcons then this is a good buy, but it’s going to struggle.
*Rami: B. A little more specialized and focused and henceforth more useful. Leveling these up should be a priority, since the bow will tear into lesser Ramis and Khaiyals – or, one can opt to promote it into a Qanas, which is marvelous at contending with most anything that can be thrown at you, though less specifically effective.
*Khaiyal: A. A Khalifate unit either dislikes impact or dislikes pierce, and the Khaiyal is the king of both. On both sides who wins is going to be decided by who best utilizes the Khaiyal’s superior offensive capacity.
*Naffat: C-. Not very useful except to get at the occasional misplaced Rami, which is something the Falcons can do a little better. It’s simply too fragile in most cases.
*Hakim: A+. Still more or less the most decisive advantage the faction has is a unit that can heal everyone around it so well. If the enemy has it and you don’t, expect to lose in a war of attrition. If the other way around, expect it to be the primary target of the enemies. Protect them and do your best to expose any the enemy has.
*Falcon: C. Its charging is mostly useful for Ramis, and of course you want to be aggressive in grabbing territory with them. Otherwise the promise of a fleet of falcons is not very useful here.
The nature of the Khalifate being half lawful, half liminal, half mounted, half on foot means triangles of resistances and weapon types can get a bit tangled. It becomes obvious what can counter what unit – getting there is the hard part.
*Jundi: B-. Its standard all-purposeness works somewhat well here, but the entire faction resists its blade attack, and the bow is only largely useful against Khaiyals.
*Arif: C. Again, blade resists turn against the Arif here. If your enemy is on mountains or using lots of Falcons then this is a good buy, but it’s going to struggle.
*Rami: B. A little more specialized and focused and henceforth more useful. Leveling these up should be a priority, since the bow will tear into lesser Ramis and Khaiyals – or, one can opt to promote it into a Qanas, which is marvelous at contending with most anything that can be thrown at you, though less specifically effective.
*Khaiyal: A. A Khalifate unit either dislikes impact or dislikes pierce, and the Khaiyal is the king of both. On both sides who wins is going to be decided by who best utilizes the Khaiyal’s superior offensive capacity.
*Naffat: C-. Not very useful except to get at the occasional misplaced Rami, which is something the Falcons can do a little better. It’s simply too fragile in most cases.
*Hakim: A+. Still more or less the most decisive advantage the faction has is a unit that can heal everyone around it so well. If the enemy has it and you don’t, expect to lose in a war of attrition. If the other way around, expect it to be the primary target of the enemies. Protect them and do your best to expose any the enemy has.
*Falcon: C. Its charging is mostly useful for Ramis, and of course you want to be aggressive in grabbing territory with them. Otherwise the promise of a fleet of falcons is not very useful here.