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| Thread: Heroes 6 strategy: Playing Sanctuary faction |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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Wolfsburg
Promising
Known Hero
... the Vampire Doc
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posted December 01, 2011 12:44 PM |
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Sanctuary has beenone of the easiest creeping factions so far. Priestesses really seem to be a core element and the back bone of a good neutral AI abuse. In one hand they have a extremelly useful ability and secondly they are offfensively not bad at all, and quite compensate for the lack of offensive power from the Kenseis and later Kirins (which are IMHO bad units anyway). I tend to upgrade them as soon as I can for they get a sweet initiative debuff and get generally more beefy.
The unit composition I've found to work better is the following.
1 - Against small walkers (in the bottom corner):
k-kensei p-priestess s-shark guard(or wazinabe) m-maidens
kk----
kk----
ps----
They will almost always go for the kenseis, which is that what you want, use defensive spells on them such as stone skin or regeneration and they will soak up unbelievable amounts of punishment. Is they choose your shark guards instead, heal them with your pristess. I usually don't attack with my melee units in this formation. I just defend and soak up punishment. Pristesses are the only thing doing damage.
2 - Against large walkers/flyers
kk------
kk------
p-------
Remove your sharks. Let the kensei eat it all up. Concentrate all your defensive spells on them.
3 - Against shooters
kk----
kk----
------
------
p-----
Find the best corridor for your kensei to reach the enemy shooters, if you learned a bit the mechanics of coverage, you may try to calculate a safer route hiding behind objects before you reach the opponent. Once the kensei are there get close to opponents and just stand your ground.
4 - Composition with snow maidens
skk------
mkk------
ps-------
Split your sharks into two stacks. Use maidens as a further offensive boost with a ranged attack.
Skills complementing that build:
Tactics - in order to place your units in a intelligent way before each combat
Reinforcements II-III - really boosts the number of priestesses which can then withstand the first volleys of range attacks without permanent losses.
Counterstrike II-III - Turns the kensei into even scarier defensive units.
Ambush - a must to booost your initiative in order to assure you always act first with your priestesses.
Pressed attack - A warcry that when attached to your priestesses will really increase the damage output of your girls in the early/mid game, allows you to take impressive amounts of enemies in the early game with just a handful of units.
Taunt - the cherry on top of the cake to make Kenseis more resilient (might only)
Toughness I-III - Further increases dmg-soaking potential of your units.
Archery I-III - in case you intend to focus on range attacks (wich I always do since stupid kirins just fly for sakes of animation and are virtually useless in sieges).
My favorite magic schools are sure enough defensive ones:
My favourite school is hands down earth. I use Stone skin and regeneration à discrétion in my combats. If you focus on earth you can use petrification later for crowd control. Erosion/earthquake can prove useful on siege situations where you are particularly vulnerable.
In case you go water there are some sweet damage spells as well as ice wall which is tactically interesting to prevent attacks on your units and give coverage to your shooters.
In case you go air, storm winds can really be helpful to minimize losses against ranged opponents while using lightning to windle down their numbers (specially good if you got lost of abilities to "soak" your enemies).
I never went light or fire with sanctuary so I cannot say much about that.
About reputation abilities I always go tears so I can't really say much about blood abilities. I think serenity is great for crowd control and tsunami does a lovely job preventing those small creature stacks reaching your army, plus soaking them all and making them vulnerable to bolts of lightning.
Thats it. Have fun and keep playing!
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pacifist
Famous Hero
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posted December 01, 2011 01:28 PM |
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Is there a place where the epilogue campaigns are discussed? because I'm doing the blood path one with Sanctuary and don't see it discussed anywhere.
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http://www.youtube.com/user/alkoriak#g/u
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enng
Tavern Dweller
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posted December 01, 2011 01:31 PM |
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Quote:
Is there a place where the epilogue campaigns are discussed? because I'm doing the blood path one with Sanctuary and don't see it discussed anywhere.
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=36474
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pacifist
Famous Hero
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posted December 01, 2011 01:35 PM |
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Ah, thanks but the link is for the individual campaigns not the final ones (the blood one and the tears one) or did I miss something?
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http://www.youtube.com/user/alkoriak#g/u
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enng
Tavern Dweller
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posted December 01, 2011 01:36 PM |
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Guys. How about your tallent points?
Mine is like this:
Note: I have lightning bolt from the beginning as my bonus spell
1. Logistics (Might)
2. Enlightenment (Might)
3. Reinforcements (Might)
4. Tactics (Might)
5. Regeneration (Earth)
6. Rush (Might)
7. Magic Affinity 1 (Prime)
8. Thunderclap (Air)
9. Stone skin 1 (Earth)
10. Stone skin 2 (Earth)
11. Regeneration Mass (Earth)
12. Pressed Attack (Might)
13. Frozen Grounds (Water)
14. Rockwalls (Earth)
15. Earth Elemental (Earth)
16. Petrification (Earth)
17. Teleport (Prime)
18. Ambush (Might)
19. Redistribution Aura (Light)
20.
I'm up for disussion 
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RollingWave
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 02, 2011 03:08 AM |
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Quote:
Guys. How about your tallent points?
Mine is like this:
Note: I have lightning bolt from the beginning as my bonus spell
1. Logistics (Might)
2. Enlightenment (Might)
3. Reinforcements (Might)
4. Tactics (Might)
5. Regeneration (Earth)
6. Rush (Might)
7. Magic Affinity 1 (Prime)
8. Thunderclap (Air)
9. Stone skin 1 (Earth)
10. Stone skin 2 (Earth)
11. Regeneration Mass (Earth)
12. Pressed Attack (Might)
13. Frozen Grounds (Water)
14. Rockwalls (Earth)
15. Earth Elemental (Earth)
16. Petrification (Earth)
17. Teleport (Prime)
18. Ambush (Might)
19. Redistribution Aura (Light)
I'm up for disussion
You should focus on one aspect or another, your going all over the place with this one and with no strong focus. You best spell by lvl 10 ends up being mass stone skin, which is kinda blah without a big army and more over you already have good defense with honor.
For Skrimish, go for thunder bolts or ice bolt asap for magic heroes, help you to defeat smaller neutural stacks fast. Frozen ground should be taken early as well, it's devastating on walkers. Pressed attack for Sanctuary is not a huge priority (it is for stronghold though), Stone Skin should not come before mass regen in almost any situation. and Rockwalls in general is blah. going thunderclap just for priestest when upgraded onces already do the same thing is pretty pointless. depending on the map you might want to reconsider enlightenment so early, since the difference is marginal against smaller stacks and for you to grab those fist few levels.
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ChaosDragon
Famous Hero
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posted December 02, 2011 07:28 AM |
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@enng
Build order always depends on the map, but priestess is the most important, so if you can only get 2nd hero and just 1 core dwelling, choose priestess.
As for skills choices, it's like what RollingWave said.
But imo the order is also depends on the map.
I'll state my opinion for magic hero, keep in mind that most of my opinion are for hero vs hero fight, not for creeping.
Don't take reinforcement, regeneration or priestess already compensate for avoiding loss and easy creeping.
Rush, this one depends on the map, if there are many shooter, can be good, still, i won't take it, especially if you can have sacred kirin in later stage of the game, better go for tactic 2 if you choose magic hero path tear.
Magic affinity is, well, depends on the map, sanctuary is one of the best creepers, most of the time you don't need hero magic at all in general map.
Thunderclap is good, but not necessity as explained above.
Leave pressed attack, rockwall, ambush and teleport. Pressed attack is, for sanctuary only useful in creeping but sanctuary creeping abilitiy is already top tier in this game.
Rockwall is useless, take ice wall instead if you badly want blocker or cover againts ranged attack in siege (sanctuary sucks in siege).
Ambush is useless (unless you are fighting sanctuary), as 2 units that you want to charge to your enemy asap is kirin and kappa, both of them already have very high initiative, maybe you want to charge your kensei, but doing it before protection from spring spirit is suicide, so leave ambush. Take it if you go againts sanctuary.
Teleport, reason is same with ambush, this spell works wonder in inferno though, beside, your troop can ride kirin mist to get to the front.
Retribution aura is good but for the most part if you rush, the 1st one you want to charge your enemy asap is kirins, since its hail storm attack is the most deadly single target attack in the game, next is kappa, but after using its ability, the value of kappa is the lowest of all your unit, if your enemy is focusing in kappa then they make the biggest blunder in fighting sanctuary, rest of your unit is better charging slowly to support kirin, if your kirin is focused, he won't receive damage high enough for your retribution aura to become useful (especially in later levels), if your kappa is focused instead, you better cast other spell than retribution aura, example are time stasis/petrify/summon element/buffs. If you desperately want to cast this, use it on kensei/shark guard, since those two are the most dangerous threat in sanctuary that is easy to be killed, priestess also dangerous but she is ranged, water spirit is also dangerous but she is tanky (even more than kensei or yuki ona).
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RollingWave
Adventuring Hero
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posted December 02, 2011 10:13 AM |
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I agree with almost everything there except maybe teleport, since as we all agree that Sanctuary is the worst siege faction, teleport is a considerable asset in this . try teleporting in you kappas with a big leap on a bunch of their units while you summon up elementals is a considerablly viable tactic in tough siege situation, (and to add more evil add in Yuki-Onna's frozen field around the Kappa or Elemental and let them have hell.) trading your kappa for their main range stack (espeically against necro or haven) is usually worth it. Inferno would be a tougher problem but seige is about the only situation where they're awesome at these days 
Given Sanctuary's lack of flier teleport is actually rather high in priority IMHO. and yeah, reinforcement is not a abosalute must but if your going the tear path it's still good to have most of the time. especially since even with magic hero your not actually going to never run out of mana before meditation, so it's a decent idea to pick up at least a couple non-spell moves as backups. and reinforcement is about the most general purposely useful one out there.
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feluniozbunio
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted December 02, 2011 11:42 AM |
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Yeah, leave pressed attack, we dont want you to be too good.
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ChaosDragon
Famous Hero
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posted December 03, 2011 07:38 AM |
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Good insight about teleport there.
Well, it depends on the situation i think, if you happen to be able to catch your opponent main army and fight them and then won, usually when you siege, you will easily outnumber them, usually summon elements are enough, this is true especially if you happen to win not only againts main army, but main army + main hero. He/she can retreat yes, still you'll outnumber them in siege. This only for 1v1 maps.
But i agree there that teleport can help making your units that are sitting duck in siege to go to the front and help finish the fight.
Though in hero vs hero, teleport is not necessary.
As for pressed attack, depends on the hero too, in case of magic hero, and hero vs hero fight, better cast other spell than this skill, especially in the early turns, but for might hero, pressed attack is good.
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Raelag84
Famous Hero
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posted December 06, 2011 07:37 PM |
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I don't know about you guys, but I have been having lots of luck with going on the offensive with sanctuary with this faction.
Going on the offensive lets me shut down enemy long range fighters, and really lets me control the enemy especially if I use some kind of CC with my attack.
Anyone else done well with just attacking the enemy.
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ChaosDragon
Famous Hero
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posted December 07, 2011 05:20 AM |
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So do we (read our explanation above).
Oddly enough, the best way to play sanctuary is offensive play. The creatures overall has good initiative and -initiative debuff. The only one that can beat it in initiative is stronghold, but then again sanctuary reputation ability can compensate for it. With such high overall initiative, it is a waste if you play defensive, though in specific situation it's better to play defensive.
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enng
Tavern Dweller
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posted December 07, 2011 02:05 PM |
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Edited by enng at 14:11, 07 Dec 2011.
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Same here.
Sanctuary is very good to defend the castle. But in the open wild it´s better to play offensive.
If you are chosing the tears way, you have benefits whit the serenity and tsunami spell.
Usually i send of my tsunami in the first round. After that i go whit kirin. If you have "tactics II" you can go all the way to your enemy in one move. Hopefully u reach a shooting enemy.
After Kirin you can move along whit your other troops all the way to the oponent, because back of Kirins tail there is read squares that is give you improved movements.
The spells i use after first round is "serenity" (but it dosn't work at necro) and "summon water elemental" to block shooters.
So yes, i find the offensice way to be the best.
Questions
1.
Are you ever using the "ICe armor"? If yes, then when?
2.
About the "kenshi". Do you guys find this creature usefull when you are playing as magic hero? I dont like the "Kenshi". It's dying to fast. But the benefit whit this guy seems to be when you are hitting the same target in a lot of rounds. Then he is spamming his sword on your enemy.
3.
How are you guys playing in the first rounds? And what kind of spells are you using?
BR
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Raelag84
Famous Hero
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posted December 07, 2011 05:34 PM |
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When I play I usually try to use only offensive abilities first to get enemy numbers down thereby decreasing their capabilities. So I would use ice armor on my kenshi (good offensive weak defense so they need the shield) along with some healing spells afterword.
I like upgraded kenshi I find they are very useful with good moral. Moral has been getting a bad rap lately but kenshi it is good for getting that extra hit in so you can use their special ability easier.
I too find the Kirin's cloud ability useful, but I have refined its use slightly.
With a magic hero I summon an earth elemental to help get in the enemy's way (I have yet to try a water elemental). Then send my Kirin.
With a might hero I enhance the speed of my the Kirin with the haste spell or the "heroic charge battle cry" and send it down in a diagonal line from the top or bottom corner to attack someone. This diagonal line gives me a little more cloud to work with.
If my Kirin gets a moral boost I then send along the enemy line to attack someone else so I have more cloud to work with. Now what I do next should only be done if you have advanced counter strike.
I send my troops into clouds and then I send them through more clouds (if possible)to the enemy line WITHOUT attacking. I then have one more turn which I spend "waiting". By activating the wait command I have increased my troops ability to attack. Should the enemy attack me first they will get chewed up by increased attack power and counter strike. Then after the wait I unleash a barrage of attacks. Note this move is also useful with the "destiny skill" because anything that increases your attack power is useful even if it is only by a little bit.
Note that if you are playing as a magic hero then having your long range troops can be useful as well as it increases their attack power.
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ChaosDragon
Famous Hero
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posted December 07, 2011 06:58 PM |
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@enng
1. When i have shalassa frozen breath. Or when i play defensively, ice armor combined with mass stone skin can give massive boost to might defense, just be sure to take the perk that give +1 duration of chilled effect.
2. Useful, even with magic hero, though it die fast indeed if you played it wrong. When using magic hero, you must wait your kensi to receive buff from mizu kami before charging your foe with them, because it will give your kensi 15% resistance to all form of damage (magic and might damage). Keep in mind, that if you do this, your mizu kami and kensi can form a synergy, mizu kami is more tanky than kensi and has higher initiative, therefore you use your mizu kami to soak retaliation from a stack, then you use your kensi to attack it too, after gaining 1 more attack againts that target you can leave your kensi alone to engage that target. Use your water healing from priest on kensi, so that it will affect mizu kami too, allowing her to help other sanctuary unit by soaking retaliation.
3. Depends, seems you ask about magic hero, i assume yes. If magic hero, either tsunami or serenity or any spell that can block shooter (if that shooter are dangerous), for example is summon water elemental spell. This is one of the best elemental i think, most people say earth is the best, but using water elemental, you can block shooter and freeze melee unit, this disable 2 unit, ok earth can also do this but the one petrified by it cannot be attacked, so imo the water elemental is better since the frozen one can still be attacked. Other opening are time stasis, mass purification (only againts sanctuary), ice bolt, frozen ground and ice wall (rare).
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xerox
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
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posted December 07, 2011 08:14 PM |
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Yes, it is funny how Sanctuary was announced as this defensive faction that focused on enemies one by one, when they kinda play the opposite of that.
Sanctuary has become my favorite faction to play as. All of their units add something good and interesting to the faction.
Magic Tear is really good, I have reached over 90% Might Defense with my Kirins with Stoneskin. But personally, I am playing Sanctuary Might Blood atm (though I suspect using the pretty much the same strategy with magic Tear might be even better)
Turn 1: Heroic Charge on Kirins + Hailstorm Breath = instant death for an enemy stack = cleave which gives Kirins another attack and perhaps Morale. Rampage triggers and Kirins get over 100 Attack.
After this, Kappas (potentially with the Kirin's mist) leap to the enemy, shooters if possible. I then charge in with all of my melee creatures and cast Spirit Link + Cleansing Waters on Kirin.
I use the Counterattack skills to maximize the damage from the opening.
Turn 2: Reinforcements on Kirin + Mizus through the Spirit Link. That gives over 5 additional Kirins, which is like 1500 health and 500 damage. All my melee creatures are at the enemy lines.
Turn 3: Twin Fangs (double attack!) on Kirin + Mizus through the Spirit Link. With that and all melee creatures at the enemy, it's likely that more stacks will go down resulting in more Cleave (which is really nice, like +10 iniative, +35 morale and one more turn).
Turn 4: To increase Kirin's survivability, I either use Taunt (doesn't work against Undead) which basically makes creatures around the Kirin deal 90% less damage to it, Stoneskin which gives +40% Might Defense through the rest of the combat or, if my Kirins are getting focused down, intimidation.
I also usually pick up Ice Bolt as it is a really nice situational spell and one of the few CC's Might Heroes got.
Ice Wall can also be a nice CC.
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forest001
Known Hero
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posted December 09, 2011 10:17 AM |
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Quote:
resulting in more Cleave
i think cleave is once per combat for first blood
Quote:
Stoneskin which gives +40% Might Defense through the rest of the combat
it lasts 3-4 turns i think.
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted December 09, 2011 11:44 AM |
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Quote:
i think cleave is once per combat for first blood
Actually, Cleave also triggers on summoned and resurrected stacks (which is a bug, if you'd ask me), so more Cleaves are possible. But since the Spirit Link of the Mizu's on the Kirins shares the beneficial buffs, the Mizu's also get the Cleave if Kirins get it - so multiple cleaves are possible, even within the boundaries of the game.
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forest001
Known Hero
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posted December 09, 2011 11:56 AM |
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Quote:
Actually, Cleave also triggers on summoned and resurrected stacks (which is a bug, if you'd ask me), so more Cleaves are possible. But since the Spirit Link of the Mizu's on the Kirins shares the beneficial buffs, the Mizu's also get the Cleave if Kirins get it - so multiple cleaves are possible, even within the boundaries of the game.
@summoned stacks, yes they enter combat with clean sheet, they start combat anew and benefit from second cleave counterstrike etc. and yes i think it's a bug.
also about cleave and mizu, it will go to waste anyway (free action i mean) so not a huge benefit here.
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VodevilX
Hired Hero
Skeleton Jack
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posted January 19, 2014 09:19 PM |
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2 questions:
first,
Does puppet master work on sacred kirin? It is not working, because it shouldn't by design, or simply because bugged? Or am i just missing something?
second,
Special on higher level adds def and + % HP.
So am I getting handicapped at healing myself, after using it and gaining + % HP? This one i don't know, haven't tested just came to mind.
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