How Loki got Orthus' Axe

[KillerClowns]

funny story I thought I'd share. I don't know if this is a bug, intended, or most likely, just a new (albeit bizzare and very limited) strategy. I should start by saying that from playing Dawn of War as the Orks, I've learned one thing... send enough units at something, regardless of strength, and sooner or later it will die. "Infinity" is usually enough.
Why do I tell you this? I was playing a game as Keelyn, and was exploring the desert outside my pleasant little mountain valley with Loki. By sheer luck, I bumped into Orthus, wandering the wastes. Then, I had this idea. I summoned a puppet and attacked Orthus. It did no damage. Orthus attacked Loki, Loki fled. Summon another puppet. Did a very slight bit of damage. I repeated this a few times, switching to defense when the battle moved to a grassy hill, slowly whittling down the great Orthus to nothing and nicking his axe.
With 2 puppets.

 

[thewyrm]

I once used Loki to lure him all the way across the map back to Jubilee. Took like 33 turns.

 

[Polobo]

Does the killing unit get an XP boost from killing Orthus or were my odds just that bad? I got something like 45-50XP on the unit that dealt the killing blow (Str 3 warrior), only lost 4-5 of them total.

 

[MrPopov]

I believe killing any unit with "hero" gives a big XP boost, or perhaps it's just the actual hero units (IE, not grigori adventurers)

 

[Sarisin]

Yeah, but don't kill Orthus if you have 100XP (non Raiders trait Civ) - very frustrating to not get anything.

I enjoyed reading your strategy with Loki and his puppets. I have to say, though, not playing the Belseraphs in my first game Loki and his puppets has replaced the spreading hell terrain as the most annoying feature of the game! I am so tired of hearing "Here I Is!" that I want to throttle that clown!

 

[smurven]

Don't kill him even if you have raiders trait and have 100xp. You will only get 1xp from him, which is still a waste.

 

[cabbagemeister]

Probably the puppets shouldn't be able to attack. I don't think I would enjoy that feature if AI Loki was doing it to my leveled Lucien or Rantine.

 

[MiKa523]

Yeah, I also think puppets shouldn't be able to attack.
You can even kill Hyborem (with "fear") and the Red Dragon with them, if you don't have the courage spell yet.

 

[odalrick]

If Orthus had been bright enough to heal occasionally, he'd be able to survive indefinitely against one puppet per turn.

I'm not saying I think puppets should be able to attack, I have no opinion on that. Just that barbarians are really stupid.

 

[Sarisin]

I thought Orthus was going to be given the March promotion to assist him in healing?

In my first game, he appeared, but I never heard from him again. Turns out much later in the game I found him in the same city as Acheron.

IMO, the raging barb option, except for early game, is broke. Orthus turtling up in a barb city is just another example.

 

[xienwolf]

IMO Labrascum and Raging Barbs ought to be two opposite sides of the scales. In Labrascum you start with barbarian cities and they will be almost another Civilization. In Raging Barbs they should not be allowed to have ANY cities (yes, that means they raze all cities. Yes, that sucks for the player who loses a city. No, it doesn't matter that it sucks because they will have chosen the option). Keep the Barbs from having cities and they ought to finally rage properly (maybe double their spawn limit as well)

 

[Goodgimp]

I'm playing a game on normal, around turn 280, where I'm still getting assaulted by about 7-8 barbarian units a turn. I don't mean that I can see 7-8 at a time, I mean I'm getting attacked that many times per turn. My civ isn't big, maybe 3-4 cities. I've hardly been able to expand due to a virtual carpet of barbarians.

So yea, Raging Barbs is workin' pretty good in my games! Having multiple units with over 300 exp (I have Raider) at this stage is pretty awesome.

 

[Pyr0mancer]

As for XP, I believe any unit tagged as a 'World Unit' gives 4x the standard base XP, before additions like Raiders or Valor. By standard base XP I mean the XP you would get from killing a non-World Unit at the same % chance of victory. At low-% kills this can easily be 50+ XP (I've had 65 once), which sets your victorious warrior up for single-handedly wiping out the next 3-4 civilizations he finds

 

[Ksi]

If you do it long enough he'll eventually get march.

 

[dot]

IMO Labrascum and Raging Barbs ought to be two opposite sides of the scales. In Labrascum you start with barbarian cities and they will be almost another Civilization. In Raging Barbs they should not be allowed to have ANY cities (yes, that means they raze all cities. Yes, that sucks for the player who loses a city. No, it doesn't matter that it sucks because they will have chosen the option). Keep the Barbs from having cities and they ought to finally rage properly (maybe double their spawn limit as well)

With all respect, Sir xienwolf, but what you suggest about the raging barbs would be pure hell!

Spoiler :

And I would definitely check that box more often.

 

[Sarisin]

IMO Labrascum and Raging Barbs ought to be two opposite sides of the scales. In Labrascum you start with barbarian cities and they will be almost another Civilization. In Raging Barbs they should not be allowed to have ANY cities (yes, that means they raze all cities. Yes, that sucks for the player who loses a city. No, it doesn't matter that it sucks because they will have chosen the option). Keep the Barbs from having cities and they ought to finally rage properly (maybe double their spawn limit as well)

Outstanding suggestion! I have been saying for awhile that the raging barb option is broke except for a brief period in the early-mid game. The barbs show up late and disappear early.

Instead of roving, raging barbs, you get squatting barbs who defend cities, lairs, goodie huts, etc. Instead you often get a plethora of Bears who cannot enter your territory, clog up the open spaces, and, I think, prevent normal barbs from spawning.

I think allowing the capture-happy barbs to raze only would help solve this problem. They get enough cities through spawning and Barbarian Lands if you select that. Of course, this would also likely please those who complain the counter doesn't increase quickly enough!

 

[offworld]

The AI killed Orthus with Loki in my last game. A puppet grabbed the axe and off course two turns late it lay abandoned. I moved to the axe location but since I'm pretty new to FFH I didn't have a clue how to pick up the axe or whether that is even possible. Anyway eventually Keelyn grabbed the axe with a more permanent unit.