I’ve enjoyed playing the campaign. It’s no great shakes, but it gives you some direction and pointers on learning the game.
Yeah, the campaign is pretty fun, and give a nice intro to the background of the world, timeline, and factions. I guess this is what is called “Lore” nowadays.
Bleh. I bounced on the campaign after like an hour. Liking skirmish much better.
I felt like the campaign was pulling me in too many directions, where in the skirmish I can take my time, poke around, and figure stuff out at my own pace.
This ended up being me as well.
I didn’t know it either, thanks Vorm.
and I hadn’t bothered to check this, it’s very interesting.
Another thing I just learned is that when units hit the top experience level it’s not just an extra bump in stats but they can gain new abilities, for example my owls get extra evasion. now I wonder if it’s worth rotating max level units out of a stack with the commander who gives an experience boost. I’ve been leaving them there I guess out of inertia and because that stack usually fights the hardest battles, but the elite troops could help weaker heroes level up.
this morning I realized that I am enjoying the decreased unit count compared to AOW3. And I also think that I play better on the Xbox because I am more relaxed and take more time per move when sitting on the couch.
I don’t have a lot of experience with the game, so take this with a grain of salt. I did my first game as Dvar Promethean and it went pretty well. Dvar are slow and tanky. I played them that way and it seemed fairly straightforward with most units.
The biggest trick with them on the tactical map is paying attention to how many action-points an action takes. Like the Trenchers-Trench ability reduces you to one action point, so it costs nothing when you’re at 1. It also doesn’t end your turn. And Trenchers don’t have multi-attack, just one attack per turn no matter what. So you can move, trench, then attack all in the same turn. Maximizing units like that seems to be the Dvar’s jam (maybe that’s the case for other factions too? I haven’t played enough to know yet).
Seconding this. I think Dvar with Promethean sounds like a fine choice.
I kinda like these insect people with the genophage (or whatever it’s called) second ability.
Dude I love the Kir’ko with anything. They’re a great faction.
There are many choices, but I would probably say Vanguard and Celestian, with the APC as a commander pick, because you can have lots of healing very easily, and the Vanguard roster is easiest to parse and understand imho.
Kirko work well too as they have loads of innate healing, but Vanguard edges out imho in terms of being newbie friendly, because if in doubt, form a firing line with overwatch and grenades.
I agree with this, and I think they were designed to be the most accessible.
I also agree with the suggestion of the APC commander, I’m doing that now on my second attempt at normal difficulty and been really enjoying it. In fact, the commander now has enough saved skill points to learn advanced piloting so he can use a tier 3 vehicle I found, but I’m not sure I want to do that, because I’ve been been enjoying using him as a support and I haven’t picked any of the ranged-damage skills for him yet.
With a bit of luck you might find the healing drone as a separate, equip-able mod.
Keep in mind that healing is super, super important. Not just because duh, but because maintaining the velocity of murder with your main hero stack early in the game is a massive multiplier to your growth curve. The loot itself, plus conquering neutrals (or completing quests, if you’re that guy), and the XP for your heroes are all just huge.
Every strategic turn you waste healing or waiting for reinforcements is a turn you’re falling behind.
I spec Field Medic ASAP and drag a PUG along everywhere, no questions.
This might not quite be the primary imperative in the early game that it is in AoW3 due to lower neutral density, but it’s still very important without a doubt.
I would say the Dvar are noob friendly. Tier 1 Trenchers are very strong, especially once they get the improved trench mod that makes it more durable and auto-heals each turn. Line them up and take cover behind them. The Trenchers usually draw the fire. My sniper commander then destroys most of their units.
Dvar also have a lot of stagger which reduces enemies AP making them less dangerous the following turn.
Still not sure of the Foreman and Bulwark. The Bulwark for some reason never seems to get action. Maybe because my Trenchers and Commander get the kills.
Vanguard has a Colony Building “Combat Simulation Center” which gives +2 experience per turn to any unit which is currently on our next to the Colony. It’s unlocked really early on with a Level I Tech. Not sure if other races have something similar.
Disclaimer: I’ve never actually built it so I don’t know what limitations it has, if any. It seems potentially very good, but there’s always something else I need that I end up building instead.
Squeeeeee!
I love bulwarks! I have them on Overwatch behind the Trenchers which shred incoming enemies, and they could put out ridiculous amounts of damage after that.
The Assembly bastards with their melee/ranged combo were really annoying for my melee focused armies to deal with. Yes my melee dudes beat them in melee, but they have guns too! I am not excited to face down similar T3-level units.