noobquestions of quite experienced player

[Invincible]

I am playing this game for quite a while now and can win on H/H, but I still have some questions. The questions seem to be quite dumb but I dont have an answer for them.
1) How can I turn off the fog of war so I can see all cities and armies accross the world? (toggle_fow_off didnt work)
2) Why is the defense value of units seperated within 3 different parts (shield, skill and armor)? Is this because some units are effective against armor or does it not make very much difference?
3) Are spearman the most effective unit to fight of units which come from ladders on your walls because they have the fastest attackanimation?
4) Can archers shoot down elite units with heavy armor just as easy as they can shoot down peasants?
5) Which units are prefered to use ladders and towers? Units with a relatively high defense but lower attack or high attack/low defense?
6) Are spearman more vulnerable to missilefire then other units?

I post this thread in the Stainless Steel forum because that is the mod I play and things could be different in the vanilla version. Thanks in advance for a reply!

[ImKyleJames]

Hey man, might only know one of these lol. .but I'll try on the rest:

1. toggle_fow (no off or on, just entering it once more does the trick)
2. I think that has to do with different forms of attacks, and if shield actually blocks from a certain side or not. Like, sometimes it uses it, sometimes it doesn't, depending on the situation. Also, Skill is there since the unit can learn in battle how to better defend theirselves, how you get a higher D or offense from experiance.
3. Hmm.. never thought of that one honestly, but ya I would assume spears are best for the main defense of the wall, flanked by swords, that's what I do anyway.
4. No, trust me sometimes you empty shot after shot and they just wont go down!! Lol.. and peasants.. lol they can drop like flies! ^^
5. I use expensive units with towers, and cheap ones with ladders to swoop around the side. The ones swooping with ladders tend to be more exposed to fire and die more easily, so your best units should be in the tower, just my opinion. (also, best unit being best offensive unit other than your few shock infantry, whom u might also want to be in ladder.. or w/e I dunno lol I mean your most common elite fill)
6. Hmm.. another good one, I'm not sure but I would think they are more vulnerable than armoured footman, but then again, they are hard to shoot down when coming right for you, kinda gotta shoot from the flank to get them.





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7. Do priests do their job while in cities, or must they be out in the field??

(hehe, always wondered.)

[Invincible]

Thanks for your answers James! Priest will probably do their work within cities too. But I dont understand your answer on question 5 well. The point is: should i use good attacking units to assault the walls (with a ladder or tower, I dont care) or units with strong defense.

[ShockBlast]

Thanks for your answers James! Priest will probably do their work within cities too. But I dont understand your answer on question 5 well. The point is: should i use good attacking units to assault the walls (with a ladder or tower, I dont care) or units with strong defense.

I think he said he week units(spear milita/sargent spearmen etc)with ladder and strong(with higher armor or stronger attack) with tower.

Mate a unit with a shied like a dismounted Feudal Knight has a higher armor but smaller attack,a Zweihandler has bigger attack because he has a 2 h sword and a lower defence because he doesn`t have a shield - he uses both types of units on a tower.
The 2h units are considered shock units.

I try to use shock troops in towers and cheap units with ladders.

Keep in mind that 2h units can finish off other troops faster thus they are better for attacking and for defending a 1h+shield unit(a dism. Feudal Knight or a dism. Imperial Knight for example) is better because he has bigger defence.
The dism. Imperial Knight can be a good attack unit because of the effective vs armor maces they use.
If the faction doesn`t have 2h units use effective vs armor units.
About 6) spearmen doesn`t take more dmg from missile fire BUT pike units take more dmg form missile fire.

I hope it helpes.

[Mr.Elendig]

In my experience, high defence combined is best for attacking/defending walls. And in later years, having a unit with +ap helps alot.

Most of the time I don't fight on the wall tho, during defence I prefer to stay at the placa and turn the streets into a shooting galery for my bows and engines/cannons, and when attacking I usualy bring some engins/cannons to take down the wall in a couple of places. (while sending some fodder up on the walls on the other side, as an distraction.

[IceBeast]

I can explain the three different defense types a bit better

Defense works based on two factors, the type of weapon used and the angle of attack. Angle of attack works as follows:

If your unit is attacked from the front, you get 100% of your Armor, Skill and Shield stats.

If your unit is attacked from the side (left or right), you get 100% Armor and Skill, and 50% Shield stats.

If your unit is attacked from the read, you get 100%, 0% Skill and Shield stats.

Weapon Type works as follows:
Armor Piercing Weapons ignore 1/2 of your targets armor.
Missiles ignore skill (and AP Missiles ignore 1/2 of your targets armor.)
Gunpowder ignores skill and shield and 1/2 of your targets armor.

Hope this helps,
Ice

[Invincible]

You definately made things very clear. I also didnt know what shock units are but now I know. Really thanks for sharing your knowledge ShockBlast!

Edit: Great explaination IceBeast! That is what i needed!