Promotional Upgrades

[shadow69034]

Hey not sure if anyone has posted anything yet but im looking for tips on promotional upgrades. I tend to just go with strength and medic for most units except Archers which get the garrison upgrade. I recently started to find that withdraw chances are good to have and wondering if there is a lot that im over looking. Any help?

 

[manu-fan]

City Raider for Axemen and Swordsmen early on.

Bombard and Extra Collateral damage (what's that called?) for siege weapons. I also like the extra collateral damage one for tanks!

Cheers.

 

[Ankh-f-n-Khonsu]

Agreed re CR, and the various siege-specific upgrades.

Generally, your best bet is to hold off on upgrades until you're actually about to use the unit in question. If you're facing off against an axeman, for instance, you're better off with Combat I and Shock rather than Combat I and II. Likewise Cover, Pinch, Formation, &c. Rather than attacking with your entire stack selected, choose the unit you want to attack with and promote him based on whom he's actually attacking in the moment. Another good reason to save promotions is that they provide 50% of missing hit points.

It's essential -- in my games, at least -- that some units have Flanking I and Sentry; most of my stacks will have at least one horsemen with those promotions, for the additional sight benefits.

Early explorers, be they scouts or warriors, will tend toward Woodsman I; Woodsman II is outstanding for those units, if they survive long enough.

 

[KMadCandy]

i tend to hold off using them until i know what i'm facing, and sometimes until after the battle for healing like a-f-n-k mentioned.

one thing i love to do is give units promotions that the things they upgrade to later on can't get (such as CR on melee units that will grow up to be riflemen). it's situational tho.

and i always try to get at least one chariot up to medic 2. i use a GG on him later on to get a medic 3 and never ever upgrade him. that way he's not the defender in the stack so he doesn't die. some folks prefer to do that with siege weapons. stack of doom + medic 3 = loveliness.

 

[svv]

Agree on city raider. If you're on attack, which you should be, it's what you want most. And it's great when you can promote them to a non-CR unit, like infantry or grenedier, when they've got CR-3 on there.

If CR is not available, I'll usually go combat promotions until I can get cover (anti-archer). Cavalry and gunpowder units late in the game I'll usually end up getting pinch (anti-gunpowder), even if the enemies don't have gunpowder units yet, for when they do.

With the Axemen and some others, I'll make some with combat 1 and shock, for defending against enemy melee units (either in the stack of doom or in the cities), and for going after the stray barbarian or other enemy trying to pillage in my fat crosses.

With the siege weapons, I've started doing city raider promotions. That way if I have to use them to reduce the enemy stack in the cities, they can do so with better strength. They'll even survive sometimes. I think the siege weapons bombard adequately without having to give them the bombardment promotion.

 

[shadow69034]

wow yeah i never knew a lot of that thanks guys.

I always give the upgrades right away so i tend to just give them all the same thing now i see that it is very bad.

Now i hear a lot about the medic 3 thing and im not sure if i understand that i like the heal while moving upgrade(sorry not technical) but what is the advantage of medic 3 does it heal others or something?

 

[svv]

Yes, units with either level of medic promotion increase the healing of all damaged units healing in their stack, and medic 2 also heals adjacent stacks. But, I think March (heal while moving) only works on the unit itself.

 

[shadow69034]

Oh i didnt know that i thought the medic upgrade was only for themselves but that is very helpful to know thank you and im guessing the more its upgraded the more healing the stack gets per turn?

 

[Stolen Rutters]

City Raider III is awesome when conquering cities. The generic Strength is different from the other promotions in that it improves your base strength rather than adjusting the opponent bonuses. For example, Str. IV improves your base strength by 40% in every combat, but city raider III reduces the enemy bonuses by 75% when you are attacking a city.

 

[cabert]

Oh i didnt know that i thought the medic upgrade was only for themselves but that is very helpful to know thank you and im guessing the more its upgraded the more healing the stack gets per turn?

medic 2 doesn't improve the healing rate, it does however allow the healer to heal units in adjacent tiles
medic 3 makes the healing faster indeed.

 

[shadow69034]

oh sweet thats good to know i appreciate the feedback. Ill have to try haveing the medic in a squad and the rest as specific to their defenders

 

[carl corey]

You will need some all-purpose attackers anyway. If you're facing a city with both Melee and Ranged units in it, giving a city attacker Cover will likely make a Melee one defend, and if you have Shock you'll probably face a Ranged one. That means one promotion out the window. So it's best to give them City Raider promotions and leave the specific promotions for field defenders. If you *do* want to give specific promotions take into account that you're likely to meet more ranged and gunpowder city defenders, rather than melee or mounted ones.

Also, don't hold on too much on the promotions, as you want to have some good stack defenders while going for a city. It's really frustrating to see your City Raider unit defend and lose just because you haven't upgraded another one to Combat I/Shock or Combat II/Formation. I've had a Samurai lose against a Shock promoted Horse Archer. Man that sucks.

 

[Ankh-f-n-Khonsu]

Yes, units with either level of medic promotion increase the healing of all damaged units healing in their stack, and medic 2 also heals adjacent stacks. But, I think March (heal while moving) only works on the unit itself.

Can somebody confirm the latter? I've assumed that's true, but have wondered...

 

[carl corey]

It's true. March only helps the unit that has it to heal on the same turn it moved/attacked/etc. And as you don't really want a Medic unit to fight, you won't need March for it.

 

[shadow69034]

ah well now that i know ive wasted several upgrades (giving almost everyone in my stack at least medic 1) I should fare a little better against the ai altough im nowhere close to where you guys are dominating i have mad a lot of progress in the past week (although still trying to get a grip on the better AI they are ruthless)

 

[Infantry#14]

i use to promote my cavalries flanking 1 and 2 then later with a grea general tactics, but too bad you cant get 100% withdrawl chance

 

[KMadCandy]

oh sweet thats good to know i appreciate the feedback. Ill have to try haveing the medic in a squad and the rest as specific to their defenders

here's an article about healing if you're really interested.

the bottomline for my thinking is that medic 3 rocks since it heals all units in the same or adjacent tiles 25% more than they'd heal on their own. this applies only when the other units don't move (which includes no pillaging) of course. the medic 3 can in fact heal them (but not himself) if he moves, even if he doesn't have march. keep in mind that all mech inf start off with free march, so i rarely use any promote attacking units that direction.

as carl said, you don't want the medic fighting/defending at all, he's pure support. so i put medic 3 on a *very* weak unit and never upgrade him. it's a waste of the "free upgrades" feature of the GG but i consider worthwhile, i do it early on (usually my first GG) and benefit game-long.

a note about siege weapons: four current-era cats/cannons/whatever with the accuracy promotion can get any city's defenses down to zero in one turn. you can get acc by going bombard 1 -> accuracy or CR1 -> accuracy. if i have siege weapons i dedicate 4 (or 8 for two SoDs) for bombard+accuracy and don't attack the city with those guys. i promote the others (including replacements made during the war) with the CR line. i love when attacking cats i was sure were suicide retreat, exp yay!

agreeing with a-f-n-k once again (is it okay to call you that? do you prefer ankh? i'm lazy), early on i like to get a couple horsemen Sentry. this is particularly helpful with the fact that for medic 3 healing the hurt units need to not move, and some will be outside your new city, at least one will be inside. sometimes sentry gives insight into whether resting a turn is safe.

i love playing with promotions. it's a fun aspect of the game for me and as you learn/experiment with that, it will add to your military success and the fun you have.

 

[shadow69034]

Wow thank you kmad i will deffinatly check out the link it wouldnt come up here at work because of filter but ill read up on it when i get home because i feel like i waste a lot of time waiting for my units to heal durring war and not enough time attacking so that should help out

 

[Ankh-f-n-Khonsu]

here's an article about healing if you're really interested.

Great article, thanks for the link. I had failed to grasp the value of the Medic III until reading this, and so have never gotten around to promoting one -- I tend to throw my generals into cities and have them instruct or build academies. My next general is going to be a Medic III.

agreeing with a-f-n-k once again (is it okay to call you that? do you prefer ankh? i'm lazy), early on i like to get a couple horsemen Sentry. this is particularly helpful with the fact that for medic 3 healing the hurt units need to not move, and some will be outside your new city, at least one will be inside. sometimes sentry gives insight into whether resting a turn is safe.

Whatever is easiest for you to type.

I also like Sentry for pillaging units; if there's a choice of which plot to destroy, it's nice to know which ones are nearer, and which further, from enemy combatants.