Using Wrathful Skies w/ National Troops

Thufir · #1 October 17th, 2004, 05:36 PM

I've done some searching, and it appears (to my surprise) that both Thunder Ward and Storm Warriors provide only 50% SR. Does this mean that it is impractical to use Wrathful Skies in combat where there are substantial numbers of troops without natural lightning resistance?

It is possible, I suppose to cast both TW and SW (I would guess they stack), but that sounds expensive, in terms of gems, fatigue and casting rounds. Or perhaps w/ only SW or TW, do normal troops Last long enough w/ 50% res to make it worthwhile? Does anyone out there have experience using Wrathful Skies w/ normal troops and any combination of these spells?

TIA,

Thufir

Blofeld · #2 October 17th, 2004, 07:51 PM

I have a painful experience - my first use of Wrathful Skies.

Enemy besieged my castle with a force of an Arch Devil, 30 each devils and imps and a hundred infantrymen. I frantically teleported in anything I could.

My Air Queen with staff of Storms cast Wrathful Skies, Air mages cast Thunder Wards - pretty much every my troop had 50% shock resistance.

Battle didn't Last very long - about 10 rounds. Invading army was obliterated, as well as 12 of my commanders and all my troops, safe for a dozen crossbowmen and a few mechanical men. I lost loads of equipment. The only commanders which survived had air magic and cast Resist lightning, which gives 100 SR.

Never, ever use Wrathful skies with non-immune troops.
50% SR just isn't enough.

Peter Ebbesen · #3 October 17th, 2004, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Blofeld said:
Never, ever use Wrathful skies with non-immune troops.
50% SR just isn't enough.

...Unless you can cast mass regeneration and your troops have high base hitpoints, that is.

...But as a general rule, I must agree with you: Don't take anything along without SR when doing a Wrathful Skies attack that you cannot afford to lose.

alexti · #4 October 17th, 2004, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Blofeld said:
Never, ever use Wrathful skies with non-immune troops.

I would rather say "Don't use Wrathful skies with non-immune troops unless you're prepared to lose them"

archaeolept · #5 October 17th, 2004, 10:40 PM

it would be nice if it were more of a viable option to protect troops. even 75% resist would be ok, i think.

Thufir · #6 October 17th, 2004, 10:45 PM

Thanks for the replies, everyone. It's nice not to have to learn about this one by painful experience.

Chazar · #7 October 18th, 2004, 03:41 AM

I've also killed off my own army by that storm warriors and wrathful skies combo. Pretty effective!

I actually like it that there is no protection against WS: It not a support spell (except for 100%immune armies), but a great raiding spell!

Reverend Zombie · #8 October 18th, 2004, 10:17 AM

Used my Phoenix to cast it once, forgetting that, unlike the Virtue, he did not have 100% SR. Ooops!

At least he was in Dominion when he bit the dust!

Thufir · #9 October 18th, 2004, 02:11 PM

So does anyone out there have any favorite troop types to go with wrathers then? I know storm demons would be nice, but lets assume you don't have access to blood summons.

Taqwus · #10 October 18th, 2004, 02:22 PM

Mechanical men work, as would spring hawks, but the latter are fairly fragile against magical attacks. Hmmmm, Air-9 blessed units combined with a 50% ward spell should also work. As if Vans, Black Templars or Black Hunters aren't brutal enough...

An Air Queen wielding Tempest and accompanied by air elementals or sylphs is -very- thematic, but that's not a combination that can be fielded in numbers...