Dreadnought's Guide
From The Five Pillars
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Contents |
Foreword
Dreadnought
If you are going to read my guide you might as well know a little about me.
I'm a war mage, not a ranker. Though it is important to know that learning how to rank will make you a better war mage and learning to war will make you a better ranker. All in all it depends on what you consider to be victory.
I also play red, or mountain magic, and I will write the guide from this viewpoint (a red war mage) but consider that many basic concepts are universal.
I have played this game off and on for many years now. I have been in guilds (WoD, TOY, 300) and even tried to start my own. I have even been a mentor in the past. When I tried to recruit new players I noticed a great many of them went inactive or did not understand basic concepts of the game.
Dreadnought's Guide
Many guides and other methods have been employed to prevent new players from becoming lost or discouraged and leaving. This guide is no such attempt.
I cannot teach you if you are not willing to use common sense. I can teach you what I know about the art of war in the realm of the Five Pillars.
The Five Pillars
Competition
In order to survive you must be competitive. This does not necessarily mean aggresive. The realm of the Five Pillars is a game (like most games) in which survival depends on your being a viable player, if you are weaker than every other mage on the server, you will not do well. Accept this. You must learn to be strong.
Fear
Do not be afraid of dying. Do not be afraid of losing battles. Do not be afraid of war.
That being said, avoid death at all costs. Lose battles only when strategically advantageous. Wage war to obtain victory.
Politics
There are many politics arising from the game which are most widespread in the forums. Note: Actions speak louder than words, and if you believe something be prepared to enforce it in-game on the battlefield.
Basics of Gameplay
Turns
Turns are your greatest asset. With enough turns, you can do anything. Without turns, you can do nothing. Furthermore, they are given on an equal basis to all players. In other words, use your turns wisely. But don't be afraid to use them! You have to use them to learn how to use them correctly!
The Game Screen
As you probably already know, the game is divided into three screens. Everything you need to effectively play the game can be accessed from these three games. The right screen gives you a detailed report, which you will want to refresh often (by clicking the symbol in the upper-left corner). It tells you, among other things, your...
- Total Net Power (an amalgam of everything which is you; your army, available mana, heroes, land, forts, etc.)
- Hostile Enchantment Status (an icon which appears when you are under the effect of enemy spells)
- Turns Left
- Available Resources
- Current Army
- Enemy Attacks (these are attacks that have occured within the last 24 hours, not that are occuring)
The left screen doesn't change. It is your menu. It gives you access to all the other screens you need to manage you kingdom, monitor your enemies, go to battle, etc. etc. Learn what all these links lead to and what can be done there! (I should not have to tell you this.)
War and Battle
Randoms and Rules of Engagement
These are not part of the game mechanics. However, they are so widespread and commonly accepted that you need to know what they are. A "random" is an allowed, politically-correct, once per mage per 24 hours, attack. This, in essence, allows you to attack other mages without starting a war. This results in a method for mages who have too much land to effectively explore for it take it by force from other mages without risking death in a consequent war. Whenever you are "randomed" you have the right to one politically-correct counter-attack, or counter. However, since most mages when selecting targets to "random" will (understandably) choose a weaker mage, you will want to check first, to see how powerful the opposing mage is, before you launch your counter. (If you followed my advice to explore the left screen menu, you already know how to do this. If not, I will tell that you can find it somewhere in your war room.)
Since these "randoms" must (of course) be mutually agreed upon, they are enforced by so-called "rules of engagement". If you break these rules of engagement, that is what gives grounds for war, or being hitlisted or deathlisted (these last two terms are self-explanatory). Some guilds/mages have strange RoE (rules of engagement) or even no RoE at all. This is a choice completely up to you. But remember, if one mage attacks another only once, it is often regarded as a random. (Use this to your advantage.)
Net Power and Counters
Total Net Power (NP) determines your rank. It also determines who you can attack. You can only (normally) attack mages within 80%-125% of your total NP.
When someone attacks you and kills your armies or takes your land you lose NP. When you lose more than a certain amount of NP within 24 hours, you go into "protection" which means that most people can't attack you. People can attack you though if they have counters on you.
When someone attacks you, uses an item on you, or uses a spell on you, you gain counters on that person (this, unlike the single counter-attack allowed you after a random, is part of the game mechanics) which means you can attack them regardless of their relative total NP and regardless of whether they are "in protection" or not. Since it is difficult to kill a mage before they go into protection, it is a common tactic to attack them until they go into protection, and then kill them the rest of the way by means of counters.
NOTE: Counters are given up to and not exceeding the total amount of damage (NP loss) you received. Example...
- Spirit Rider attacked you, you lost 10% NP.
- You attacked Spirit Rider (he lost, say, 5% NP).
Can you attack him again? Yes!
- You attack Spirit Rider (this time, let's say you pawned him and he lost 19% NP)
Can you attack him again? Maybe! Do you see why? You no longer have counters on him (24% > 10%) but you can still perform normal attacks until he goes into protection if he is within 80-125% of your NP range.
Creating an Army
There are three ways to get armies. I will list them from most effective to least effective.
- Summoning armies using spells.
- Recruiting armies using barracks.
- Hiring armies from the marketplace.
The problems with hiring armies form the marketplace are...
- Limited selection.
- Time delay before receiving units.
- Only small numbers of units available.
- Possibility of being outbid by another player.
The problems with recruiting armies using barracks are...
- Need to spend turns doing something else while X units are given per turn.
- Need to use land to build barracks in order to recruit more units per turn.
The problems with summoning armies using spells are...
- Requires turns and mana to cast spell.
- Must research required spell for the particular unit.
I highly recommend summoning armies. If you can master the art of summoning units and fashioning armies, you will become powerful indeed.
Stacking (Unit Positioning during Battle)
When marching into battle, you will notice that your armies line up in a certain order. Each type of unit in your army forms one stack. All of your stacks lined up in order forms your stacking (sometimes this is also referred to as a stack), or what your army looks like when entering battle. This is important because your first stack will generally hit (engage in combat with) the first stack of your enemy's stacking. So, for example, you would want to stack something that is strong against ice attacks on top (in the front rank of your army) if your opponent has frost beasts on top of his stack. This subject (of stacking) has been much studied and you can find many guides and suggestions on the matter. All the veterans know a lot about stacking.
Under construction.
This guide is a work in progress, I myself am still learning many things. Come, and let us learn together in battle.
