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Stronghold units, continued Cyclops/Cyclops King
The cyclops is the second ranged unit available at the stronghold and is much more effective than the weak orc. The cyclops is the second-best ranged unit, with high attack and damage. The cyclops king gains incremental increases in attack and speed. Both types of cyclopes can attack walls during castle sieges as though they were catapults. Cyclops and cyclops kings attack as if they had the ballistics skill, which means they have a better than average chance to hit the wall they targeted and destroy them. Cyclops kings attack walls twice per round. This ability helps offset the barbarian hero's marginal chances of learning the ballistics skill. Building the cyclops cave is a cost-prohibitive endeavor because of the great ore and crystal requirements. The cyclops itself, though, is very cheap, although the cyclops king is an incredible 350 gold more! It might not be worth that much gold, but the cyclops king is a great ranged unit and should be a part of every stronghold force. However, given the choice between going up the behemoth path (wolf pen to cliff nest), or the cyclops path (orc tower to ogre fort), go with the behemoth track because it is actually cheaper. The ore and wood costs of the cyclops cave and ogre fort, respectively, are too high to be built in the first week, while the behemoth lair actually can be built that first week. But by the later game, definitely build up a large force of cyclops. Always be mindful of their hit points because they are rather flimsy for sixth-level troops. Bolster their defenses with stone skin and cast beneficial spells like precision and prayer to make them truly terrifying ranged attackers. Behemoth/Ancient Behemoth
The behemoth is a great brute that isn't very fast but has a devastating melee attack. It is also very cheap for a seventh-level unit and very easy to acquire on the tech tree. Within three turns you can get the behemoth, provided you start with a goblin barracks. In turn one, build a wolf pen. In turn two, build the cliff nest. And in turn three, you can build a behemoth lair. And assuming the standard starting resources, you'll be able to do just that and still recruit the one behemoth immediately. Then go rampaging across the countryside while your fellow castle and dungeon players are running around with weak archers and harpies. The behemoth has a special attack where it reduces the target's defense by 40 percent. It is actually a very powerful ability that can quickly set up enemy creatures for terrible subsequent blows. Let's assume your one first behemoth runs into a stack of three pit fiends, which have a defense of 13 (both dwellings can be built in the same time, producing those exact numbers after completion). A normal attack from that one behemoth would do from 36-60 damage (assuming the behemoth's attack of 17 and a minimum barbarian hero attack skill of 4). On the next attack, that behemoth would do 50-83 damage to the pit fiends because their defense was lowered to eight. At minimum damage, one pit fiend is dead, and at maximum damage, the whole stack is vanquished, with the behemoth suffering at most 28 damage, assuming the behemoth attacked first. (For a full description of how attack and defense factor into combat, read the combat section of this guide.) The ancient behemoth is even more powerful, with nearly double hit points and slightly higher attack and defense. Moreover, the defense reduction ability jumps from 40 percent to 80 percent! Go for the behemoth within the first week and then conquer every mine you see to get the necessary resources to recruit ogres and cyclopes. This strategy will work well to ensure that you get a huge jump on the competition in terms of territory and mines claimed. Beware of the later game, though, when other towns' seventh-level troops come into play. Angels, devils, the titan, and dragons are all more powerful than the behemoth or ancient behemoth, although the defense reduction ability is always useful. In the later game, it sets up enemies from far ranged attacks by the cyclops kings. The ancient behemoth is not too expensive, although you'll want probably one or even two crystal mines to support it and the cyclops. |
