Re: AK Encounters

From: minnotte@stat0.stat.rice.edu (Michael Minnotte)

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1993 18:37:27 +0000

In article <Mgu5YRa00iV1I8_pdZ@andrew.cmu.edu> Stephen Mark Glicker <sg20+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>I've been playing this game for awhile and I have NEVER been able to
>come out alive from an encounter. I've come pretty close, but I always
>fail. I've even sent in my visiting heros for Valhalla and even they
>fail all the time. And I'm not even going after those really tough guys,
>like these demons and dragons I keep running into.
>
>Anyone have an advice out there? It seems impossible to beat some of
>these monsters, let alone the regular characters. Great game otherwise.

Well, I can give you some suggestions.  I've defeated many monsters in
Adventurer Kings.

1) Don't even think about going after any but the wimpiest monsters
(werewolves, bigfoots, gargoyles, most giant insects, _some_ renegade
humans) until you have melee-3 and at least one magic-3.  Melee 3-4
will give you a chance against most non-spellcasters without the
magic, but it's sometimes hard to tell which monsters are spellcasters
(renegade archers and swordsmen usually are, I just ran across a werewolf
which fireballed me).

2) Start with a spell in your best magic to stop or soak up their spells.
Spiritwrack is best for this, then hand of death, then mirror image.
Telekinetic storm or fireball are better than nothing, as if you damage
your opponent, he'll possibly blow his spell, and if you really want to
cast telekinetic storm, do it early, before he can close with you.  High
level (at least 3) is more important than which spell you use, both to
increase your chances of casting successfully and to make sure you go
first.  Most, but not all, monster spellcasters seem to be level 2 or
below, and you really want to get the jump on them.

3) With good archery, consider firing for your second, maybe 3rd action.
Again, you need to get it off before your opponent closes.  If you've got
low (1-2) archery, and lots of good magic, blow off the archery and keep
chucking spells.

4) With a lot of good magic, use a few more spells, but don't get so caught
up that you don't melee.  After your damage spells are gone, you have to
melee to kill the opponent.  One tactic I like is something like
(psychic blast, melee, melee, ice suspension, melee) which, if I've got
decent psychic and elemental magics gives me a pretty good chance of 3-4
free attacks on the other guy.  On the other hand, telekinetic storm followed
by fireball will kill almost all characters and many monsters, so if you've
got them, give them a try.

5) Pay attention to restrictions and special conditions on your spells.
If you're going against an undead creature, your spiritwrack, hand of death,
and kill enemy spells will be useless.  But that's ok, use your holy symbol
and control undead spells; they're suddenly much more useful.  Likewise,
don't cast fireball on an underwater creature, but go out of your way
to cast ice suspension on a flying creature.

6) Magic items can be really useful.  Weapons can make up for some lack of
melee (plus they're usually worth victory points and have other nifty
powers).  Spellcasters can be very useful, depending on the spell. (Needles
of the Black Mage are great - kill enemy until he dies; very useful against
dragons.)

7) Finally, if you've got a character with good white magic and another
with good thief aptitude, don't neglect theft!  Your thief will probably
die a number of times, but that's what resurrect is for.  Once your thief
gets to 3-4, he has a good chance of getting treasures from demons,
devils, dragons, liches, and other monsters I'd never take on in a straight
fight (at least if I had a choice).  And the Prince of Thieves title
is really nice (10 extra gold/turn skimmed off the thieves' guild).

If you want to let me know what your characters have got and what monsters
you can see, I can try to suggest match-ups that you've got a decent
chance against.

Hope this helps,

Mike Minnotte

minnotte@math.usu.edu   <- preferred

References

AK Encounters
Stephen Mark Glicker <sg20+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Tue, 16 Nov 1993 04:37:49 +0000