Tips from an Alpha Player

[Cinth]

I won't claim to be the best player here.  But I do have a tip.  Read the tool tips for everything.  I mean EVERYTHING.

Ok 2 tips.  For tutorial players - in the blue set up turn (where you are left alone to do what you want) build a Barracks and read its tool tip!


Other Alpha players share your wisdom but don't blow it for everybody (yet)

[FroBodine]

What are we supposed to see?  That the blue barracks builds entirely different units, and they have different prerequisites?  This is such a fantastic idea. 

Or, were you trying to show us something else?

[Misery]

Ok, I've got one, relating to resources, since it took me awhile early on to fully grasp the importance of these.


Early on, it's most important to get the absolute basics up and stable, such as wood and rock and iron and whatever, but once you've gotten those going at a decent rate and have an extra city or two, you should consider getting some of the more "advanced" resources going.

Seers are very important for alot of things, providing incense that is generally used for lots of mythological units.  These can be important early on, all the way through to the end of the game, and provide you with alot of options and things you can use that can have huge effects, so Incense is one of the most important resources, but it's not the easiest to set up, yet it's best to get started on it early.   Build up some clay ASAP, as well as building a potter somewhere, as Seers require alot of clay to be built.  When you do place your first Seers, try to do so in a city that you can defend easily.

Diamond is another one that's important for the same reasons, so try to get some of that going as well.   There's also Moonstone and Sunstone;  neither of these are of any direct use (except for Hebe, on the Greek side, who needs a ton of Sunstone to be used) in the Age of Man, but you're going to want both as soon as the gods show up in the next age, and god abilities can be quite expensive, so it's good to get some of both built up a little before the end of the Age of Man.    It's important to remember that these 2 resources work differently than other ones do; Moonstone produces .33 moonstone per turn, so it takes multiple turns to produce just one of them, while Sunstone takes some of the already-produced Moonstone and CONVERTS it to Sunstone, also at a slow rate (.2 per turn).  I personally find that starting with 2 Moonstone buildings and one Sunstone building is best, and then I add a little to both of those over time when I can.   

Generally the Seers should come first though, before the diamond/moonstone/sunstone, but all 4 of these resources are very important for both factions.

[Cinth]

That the blue barracks builds entirely different units, and they have different prerequisites?

This.  I've seen a few players that have been lost as to what to build.  This should be providing you with some direction.  Also, there is a lot of information in the tool tips. 

[Misery]

One more small tip that's related to my earlier post:

If you've unlocked the Artist's Studio (found in the Other Buildings tab), use it!  It has a high lumber cost (50), but it's very worth it!  It doubles the production of both clay and incense in any town that it is placed in (can only place one artist per town).   Both clay and incense are very important if you're going to be using the stuff in the mythological tab, so this can be a huge help!  Building up some extra wood early on is a very good idea, in order to make it easier to place this particular building.

[Misery]

Ok, I have more here!

Over on the Steam forums, a user was asking for help in using the Norse VS the Greek, finding that the Greek tended to be more powerful, and that he was having trouble making good use of the Norse myth units.  Which is a problem, since for the Norse, their myth units are very important!  So, I wrote up a horrible blob of text giving advice about those units, and tactics on using them to their fullest extent, as well as some other general tips for the Norse.   Gonna copy/paste the whole thing here, since I ended up putting a ton of tips in here.

If any of this isnt clear or there's questions on it, feel free to ask.   Keep in mind:  These are strategies/tactics/tips that *I* came up with on my own, during my own games... they sure as heck are NOT the only way to use these units or approach the game!  If you've got other tactics that you find work best for you, then by all means, use them!  The game gives you ALOT of options when it comes to approaching different situations, and these tips are only one of many different ways to use things.



And with that, here we go, horrible text blobs coming up:



As a rule, I've found that for the most part, the balance ideas are MOSTLY correct.  But it's not always so easy to use different units to their fullest strengths!

The Light Elves, for instance:   These guys are MUCH better than I originally thought.  They're able to get off multiple shots at a distance for some pretty decent damage, they cause additional healing in nearby human units, and they have enough HP to withstand some hits.  Best of all though is that they have a low cost for a myth unit... you can use lots of these guys!  They're very efficient for their cost.

Ice Giants are stupid powerful.  Seriously, these guys can have more health than the gods can, once they're leveled up.   These guys are one of the best ways to deal with a Greek army that's getting a bit out of hand;  a couple of Ice Giants dropped in among the human units can do monstrous damage.  The key with these guys is WHERE you drop them;  they cannot move very fast, after all!  Preferrably, drop them adjacent to the units you'd like them to attack.  These guys can also be used as siege units, but again, be careful with them.  Out of control ice giants can be hard to stop!

Trolls are very similar to Ice Giants, but they have one additional trait:  Splash damage.  A couple of trolls dropped among an enemy horde can do a ton.  I do think that they need the AP cost of their attack reduced though, so I might submit that suggestion to the devs.

Valkyries arent the easiest one to use, but they have a couple of good points to them.  Firstly, they have a huge AP pool available to them, allowing them to move super far and get in many potential hits.   They also totally thwart enemy auto healing, turning it into damage instead.


When using mythological units in general, it's important to keep in mind that there ARE limits to what they can do.  Ice Giants are powerful, but if you drop a single giant in among a horde of 20 enemy units, well, that's a bit too much for just one giant!   Even just by themselves, Norse myth units really are strong, but they're best used if you drop multiples of them.... just like with human units.   The key is learning how many to drop, and where to drop them.  Experiment a bit to figure this one out.

Also, the Norse have a very powerful ability you can use to enhance this, which is Norns.  Use this, and for 5 turns, myth units become entirely free.  This is a very, very powerful thing, allowing you to get out huge hordes of these guys if you need them.   Be careful with this though!  Go too far with it, and you could screw yourself over pretty bad;  the Greek units may be strong, but multiple rampaging Ice Giants can do tons of damage before they're stopped!

And yes, the "Eldhrimner", or the purple pot, can help here as well, bringing these guys (and the humans) back as soon as they die.

Also, if you have Heimdall around, he can make your Norse myth units stronger as well, by increasing their health max (though it affects the Greek ones as well).  His horse thing can give them more AP to spend, but it also does this to EVERY currently existing unit.  Timing is very important with that one, but if used right you can boost up the power of Norse units without boosting the Greeks too much.  It's not the easiest to use ability.   Heimdall overall is a very powerful and useful god, so it's a lucky thing if you get him.  He's a minor god, so he'll appear during the Age of Monsters.


Greek myth units arent actually as strong overall;  they're more expensive as a rule and harder to use because of it.  The Chimera, for instance, costs a rather nasty amount of Jewelery (a full 6!).  The Minotaur requires steel, and the Centuar needs not only horses (which can be a pain to get) but also a rather absurd amount of incense; he's SO expensive you probably wont be seeing him much.   And the one that doesnt cost much, Cerberus.... cannot move.  Or attack.  He's for defending chokepoints, and can ONLY do damage by counterattacks (on the plus side though, he cannot be hit from a range, and the counter damage is a full 4000 at level 1.  He's EXTREMELY situational though).   Greek myth units tend to not have as much versatility as the Norse ones, and typically they are NOT efficient for their cost, unlike the Norse ones.

I agree that the Minotaur needs a nerf, that's a point I'll mention to the devs, likely he'll get a change of some sort very soon here. 


As for human units, one thing that can help the Norse out is Singasteinn, one of their myth tokens.  It works on the first 5 human units to touch it, and it does 3 things:  1, it makes it so that their AP cost for attacking is only 1 point (which means LOTS more attacks per turn, particularly for ranged units), it gives them immunity to ranged attacks, and it gives immunity to counterattacks.  And the best part is:  It doesnt need jewelery or incense or something like that to be used, it only costs bacon.  And has a cooldown of only 6 turns.    Just be careful where you place it, as with all tokens of this type, the other side can grab it too if you're not careful!   The chair thing can help them too, the one with the name I cant possibly pronounce or remember how to spell.    Eldhrimner can help them as well.


If you're having trouble, one other idea is to use a School to increase the level of produced Norse units, without using one on the other side; this can be helpful for shifting balance, but you have to be careful with it.  Also, with the Greek, pay attention to the requirements for each type of unit;  by being selective of the buildings in each city, you can control what units are produced.

And finally, the Unit Up direct action is your friend.  It can be a very helpful thing.  It's usable on all units except gods.


So there, some basic advice, which I've taken from my own strategies that I use when I play it.  I hope that helps a bit!