wraith lords vs flaming arrows

[wailoktam]

thanks to the advice of many helpful ppl in this forum. i have some initial success in creating the following sc(?)s

1. wraith lord + fire brand + lantern shield + horror helmet + robe of invulnerability + boot of quickness + pendant of luck + ring of regeneration

2. wraith lord + fire brand + charcoal shield + spirit helmet + robe of invulnerability + boot of quickness + pendant of luck + rog

I say initial succcess because they can hold off some chokepoints only for a few turns. The AI is in fact pretty smart and send mages casting flaming arrows. My scs usually die after a handful of wins against armies of a hundred or two. When it comes to armies of 400+, they usually come with mages that cast flaming arrows.

Any solution to this? Would sending an air mage with the sc casting rain and storm helps? I am afraid my mage would get killed. Would ordering the mage to cast these two spells and then flee works? Would choosing a different shield help protecting my wraith lords against flaming arrows?

[Meglobob]

Fire resistance perhaps...

[Teraswaerto]

Robe of Invulnerability is not the best choice IMO, expensive and you don't need it. Red Dragon Scale or Elemental Armor would be better + give fire resistance.

[DrPraetorious]

Fire resistance is obviously not his problem - he's already got that at 100% in config 2, if you look at his equipment. The issue is that flaming arrows are magic weapons, and punch through his etherealness even if he is fire immune.

I'm confused - are you asking how to win, or are you trying to win only with a single supercombatant? Did I miss the other thread?

You need magical support. You can either send in mages and have them retreat (if you just want to know how to win) or use a SC chassis that can cast spells (for example an arch-devil.)

In general, I'm pretty pleased with how dominant supercombatants aren't in the current edition of the game.

I still make them and they're still useful, but you put them in with your armies.

[silhouette]

If I recall it was a Dom2 bug that fire resistance (even 100%) does not protect against flame arrow damage. From his build 2 with fire brand and charcoal shield I suspect this may still be the case in Dom3. Someone want to test?

Yes, bringing a buff and run mage for storm or arrow fend would work vs arrows. Any form of air shield item would also be a great help -- I would recommend a silver hauberk if you don't need other resistances. Other common air shield items are the shield of valor, and robe or amulet of missile protection.

If your builds are not working as well as you want, experiment some with your defense and offense. Try a vine shield and snake bladder (good on an undead SC vs mortals, but not reverse). Or a sword of swiftness, shield of valor, and bone armor. Or boots of flying (attack archers) and let them shoot at each other for friendly fire fun. Keep researching construction and the toys get better. If you have a lot of gems, try empowering one with an additional path, to save an item/slot (cast fire shield, or air shield, or luck, or quickness, or ...)

Sill

[Taqwus]

If you're dealing with massed archers and insist on minimizing troop use... why not a Staff of Storms / Tempest, or casting Darkness (assuming that they're not undead archers, which probably have darkvision...), or a screw-the-battlefield item like Woundflame or the Unquenched Sword?

[Nick_K]

The unquenched sword won't actually kill an enemy army. Against flaming arrows you'll probably still die. Woundflame is great, darkness or storm should also work although you need the mage & gems.

The robe of invulnerability can be good if he has a big forge bonus. I was pumping them out with my EA ulm pretender (no innate forge bonus) using 'forge of the ancients' and the 'hammer of the forge lord'.
The shield of valour (earth/air) gives air shield which will stop most missiles. You can also get air shield from a misc slot (amulet of missile protection) or from the silver hauberk armour.
Flight might help against archers, but off the top of my head I don't know what the best items for it are.

[KissBlade]

Do you have soul vortex scripted? Also try the second configuration but swap spirit helm with horror helm, robe + boots for jade armor + flying shoes. Set your guy to the very back of the battlefield and script soul vortex and attack archers. With the combination of missed friendly fire + horror helm and soul vortex and chill factor, you stand a good chance of routing the archers in one or two rounds.

[SlipperyJim]

Does a Ring of Regeneration actually work on a Wraith Lord? I thought undead beasties couldn't regenerate....

[KissBlade]

They can't be healed. You're thinking of lifeless. Which is occasionally on some undeads.