Binding is underpowered! (and being struck by lightning is harmless)

from Elemental Forums

I keep hearing how binding is an underpowered race ability, and how it's meaningless in mid/late game...

Well, one can argue that Air shard elementals make perfect scouts with their high move.

Some may tell you that Earth shard elementals' armor and regeneration can allow a champion to breeze through the first few levels.

Others will point out that Death shard elementals can get a lot of hit points and act as meat shields until the end. 

But you know what?  All this pales compared to the ability of crow demons to utterly kick ass, even mid game, even against decked out champions. 

How?  The elemental has the Thunderstrike ability, high move/initiative. The latter allows it to avoid combat by running around the battlefield, until it gets to act twice without anyone being able to hit it between the two actions.  The former allows it to teleport anywhere, and do minor shock damage to everyone around it.

So what, you ask?  Well, in one corner, we have Vasim, on Insane difficulty, with 30+ attack, 70+ armor,  100+hps, Rage, Burning Blade, and Candlecloak.  In the other corner, a basic crow demon, no levels, no enchantment. 

Examine the screenshot.  The crow demon will acts twice.  On the first move, it will land next to the champion, and shock him.  On the second, it  could get out of range.  Well, it will not have to, because it's done that twenty times already, and this time, Vasim is going down.

Cheesy?  Hell, yes! 

Tedious to pull off?  Are you telling me!?

A perfectly legitimate use of the unit's strengths?  Absolutely.

 

 

6,003 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

+ initiative on heroes will counter that.

 

Also , those thunderstrikes take mana I believe.  Good luck doing it over and over.

 

 

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

The Thunderstrikes do not take mana, and Initiative 27 is not found on champions all that often. 

Furthermore, unless you are talking about multi-player, the AI is not in a rush to counter anything. As a matter of fact, AI in .915 tends to put too much armor on heroes without giving them mounts.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Have seen this some times  before, more notably my sovereign gets to look like this now and then ^_^ so he can bash everything by running around in circles casting flame dart or using a staff for ranged.

A shame autoplay and AI have no tools to overcome such a foe (while a single unit cannot overcome it, 9 units on a combat field should spread out for less places to hide by the hit and run tactic.

Killing big monsters by running around a lake and casting flame dart is down right silly :)

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

This just points out yet another weakness of the tactical AI.  I'm pretty sure that champion has other means of inflicting damage than melee, but it doesn't use it because it thinks it can get to the Storm Crow in two turns.

He's got burning blade and candle-cloak so it sounds like he could take two turns to fire a couple flame darts and end the whole battle.

Also the tactic wouldn't work if the AI's champion wasn't all alone, grouping units being another issue the AI still has.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

Actually, the champion was not alone, there were two pioneers and two scouts to begin with, but of course, they did not last as long as the champion. This fight happened before turn 50, and the AI had not started churning out troops in earnest.  Cornering the crow demon may have been possible, but it would not have been trivial, even for a human.  The demon has Titan's breath and Thunder strike.

And of course, you are right, the champion could have destroyed the crow demon with two flame-darts, which it most certainly could cast.

And speaking of a weakness of the tactical AI, you also get the other side of the coin.  When my sovereign fights a forest drake, I have to click the whole thing through by hand, because if I let the AI handle it, it will happily blow through my mana reserves trying to take down a 400hp monster with 20hp-per-cast Storms.