Shock Wave and other touch spells

[Gaslov]

How do I get my commanders to use touch spells? When I script it, they just use something else since no enemies are in range.

Also, on the topic of newbie questions, do the effects from Copper Plate and the spell Charge Body stack? For example, would an enemy be struck twice? And do these effects work on things like Mirror Images? In other words, would an enemy striking a mirror image with Charge Body get hit by the lightning bolt or does it only work if he hits the real mage?

[brxbrx]

have them attack for a turn first. that way they'll close some distance

[13lackGu4rd]

touch spells are usually used by thugs with the right magic paths, using the touch spells instead of a weapon(frost/fire brand being the most common). you cast a few buffs before that, than attack once than cast spells, which will automatically use the best touch spell available to said commander as long as he's in range of enemies.

[llamabeast]

I doubt that Copper Plate and Charge Body stack. Or rather, I think that the mage will refuse to cast Charge Body if he's wearing Copper Plate, because he already has the effect (unless he's already been hit).

[Jarkko]

Originally Posted by brxbrx

have them attack for a turn first. that way they'll close some distance

Good advice for SP and raiding PD only (if the PD is not mostly archers).

In MP your opponent will have all his troops at Guard Commander or Fire Large target, except that one militia with orders ATTACK (or that 1 PD who will attack by default). Your thug buffs up, attacks and kills the lone lone militia (or PD member), then notices nobody is in the neighbourhood and proceeds to summon Phantasmal Warriors until eventually the enemy archers knock him out

[brxbrx]

Originally Posted by Jarkko

Good advice for SP and raiding PD only (if the PD is not mostly archers).

In MP your opponent will have all his troops at Guard Commander or Fire Large target, except that one militia with orders ATTACK (or that 1 PD who will attack by default). Your thug buffs up, attacks and kills the lone lone militia (or PD member), then notices nobody is in the neighbourhood and proceeds to summon Phantasmal Warriors until eventually the enemy archers knock him out

sooo, have them target the archers?

[13lackGu4rd]

Originally Posted by brxbrx

sooo, have them target the archers?

but you can't do that. turn scripting only allows you to "attack" (none), "attack archers" is only available as a finishing script, which means he'd keep on attacking and not casting touch spells. what you can do is not use those thugs by themselves, but rather with an army or at least mage support, so a lone militia or a small group of blockers will be decimated by your army/mages in 3-4 turns than you can send your thugs to their real army to use touch spells on. still, smart scripting from your opponent can minimize that as well, by scripting groups of decoys, not just 1 group of blockers, than it'll be time to switch tactics.

so yeah, it's possible, though tricky to use, and it's best used to raid unsupported PD with minimal gem investment.