Military Scrolls

Scrolls are mostly found in chests. But there is a chance of getting them when you kill wild devils.
Just like a hero's skill, the scrolls can be divided into 3 category :
Military, Contest, and Political

In this post, we shall discuss only Military Scrolls
These scrolls help a hero improve in military fighting.
These include wild devils, attack/defense vs other players, as well as Floating Castle combats.

1. Inspiration 1 - 5
Do not confuse the number after 'Inspiration' with the scroll levels.
Inspiration 1 increases troop stats in the first round of combat.
Inspiration 2 increases troop stats in the second round of combat.
And so forth. So this naturally makes Inspiration 1 the most useful scroll, compared to say, Inspiration 5.
Also, note that you can use both Inspiration 1 and Inspiration 2 on the same hero!The enhancements are (80ATK, 8% HP, 200 speed) per level of the scroll.

2. Soldier Types Enhancements
I'm grouping the following scrolls in this category

• Hold the Field - Inf 4 (3% HP, 150 speed)
• Best Infantry - Inf 5 (6% HP, 100 speed)
• Sky Archer - Inf 6 (6% HP, 60 ATK)
• Golem That Ride - Cav 2 (3% HP, 80 ATK)
• Whirling Cast - Cav 4 (80 ATK, 100 speed)

All the above enhance a particular type of soldier, and only if they are in Slot 2, 3, and 4.
This is why in most formations (perhaps I'll discuss some of them in another post), slots 1 and 5 are considered 'small' slots.
If your hero commands one of the types above, this is probably the best military scroll.
The enhancements listed in brackets are per level of the scroll.

3. United Scrolls
I am uniting the following scrolls into this category.

• United Atk and Def - Inf 1 (54 ATK, 2% HP)
• United Defense - Inf 2 (5% HP)
• United Sally - Inf 3 (54 ATK, 100 speed)
• United Assault - Cav 1 (150 speed)
• United March - Cav 3 (2% HP, 100 speed)

The scrolls take effect if a particular soldier type exists in any slot.
Again, the scrolls are not exclusive. You can have United Assault and United March, and if you have both Cav 1 and Cav 3, you will have the effect of both scrolls.
The scrolls can also be combined with say, Sky Archer, to enhance Inf-6, as long as one of the other types exist.

4. Victory Rush
This scroll enhances the soldiers in a slot, if that slot defeated an enemy.
However, it is hard to tell from a report which slot was defeated by which, so it is hard to see the effect of this scroll.
The condition that the soldier must have defeated an enemy before they can be enhanced means this should not be the only scroll (or you may never defeat an enemy in the first place).
This scroll is probably best used in conjunction with another scroll.
It is also this scroll that suggest the formation 1-F-H-F-1 may be the best. In that formation, it is most likely that if an enemy is defeated, it'll be defeated by one of the 'F' slots, and hence maximizing the number of soldiers enhanced by Victory Rush.
The enhancement is (54 ATK, 100 speed) per level of the scroll.

Selecting ONE scroll

http://w5.hithere.com/html/7/28/795513b7-6ef5-4b08-9acf-bc88edbd05f2.html

I will use the combat above as reference.
Notice how after the very first round, the battle is more or less decided?
Most combat are decided on the very first round. There are exceptions, as always.
This makes any scroll that does not affect the first round very significantly less useful than others.
So if your hero will have only one scroll, choose :

#1 Inspiration 1 (80ATK, 8% HP, 200 speed)
#2 Soldier Types Enhancements
#2.1 Hold the Field - Inf 4 (3% HP, 150 speed)
#2.2 Best Infantry - Inf 5 (6% HP, 100 speed)
#2.3 Sky Archer - Inf 6 (6% HP, 60 ATK)
#2.4 Golem That Ride - Cav 2 (3% HP, 80 ATK)
#2.5 Whirling Cast - Cav 4 (80 ATK, 100 speed)
#3 United Scrolls
#3.1 United Atk and Def - Inf 1 (54 ATK, 2% HP)
#3.2 United Defense - Inf 2 (5% HP)
#3.3 United Sally - Inf 3 (54 ATK, 100 speed)
#3.4 United Assault - Cav 1 (150 speed)
#3.5 United March - Cav 3 (2% HP, 100 speed)

Victory Rush is out, as are Inspiration 2-5.
It should be clear that Inspiration 1 has the best stats compared to the other scrolls.
Also, Inspiration 1 does not limit the types of soldiers used.

Selecting TWO scrolls

Now, if you can open 2 scroll slots, which is the second scroll you should choose?
The first should again be Inspiration 1, naturally.
If you focus on only 1 type of soldier, then your choice is limited to :
#1 : Inspiration 2
#2 : Soldier Enhancements or United Scrolls (depending on soldier types)
#3 : Victory Rush

The choice is no longer as clear as comparing scroll stats.
Inspiration 2 needs 2nd round of combat.
Victory Rush only enhances the slots that defeated some enemy in previous rounds.
So again, I will not choose Victory Rush. Inspiration 2 is clearly better than Victory Rush.
But it is a tougher call between Soldier Enhancements and Inspiration 2.
I prefer Soldier Enhancements, again pointing to the same example combat, most battles are decided in first round. I'd rather have 80 ATK in round 1 AND 80 ATK in round 2, than just 100 ATK in round 2.

Selecting THREE scrolls

If you can afford the Intelligent Rune at 199 diamonds, you can equip the maximum of 3 scrolls on a hero.
If you have been following, the first 2 shall be Inspiration 1 and scroll of your soldier type.
The same comparison as above, Inspiration 2 is better over Victory Rush.
I prefer Inspiration 2.
However, consider this .. maybe filling in a slot with Inf 3, and using United Sally is not bad. You get 54 ATK, 100 speed (per scroll level) in round 1, vs 100 ATK, 200 speed (per scroll level) in round 2. This does have the disadvantage of slowing down your travel with Inf-3 speed. Hence my choice of Inspiration 2.

Hero's Equipment

There are many ways to get equipment for heroes, but here are my suggestions.

Level 1-9 : Trainee Set + Practice Weapons
You can get these from Wood Chests. These are the only chests where you can buy keys with gold.
It is possible to get Purple items too, so there is no reason to spend Arena Points on Hound set.
Once a week, you can get a Blue Trainee item by completing Tower of Fighter in Contest Pagoda.

Level 10-19 : Leather Set + Wood Weapons
You can get these from Leather Chests. You can get 3 keys daily, by complete Development Quests. It is possible to get Purple items also, so again, no reason to spend Arena Points on Mongoose set.
Once a week, you can get a Blue Leather item by completing Tower of Warrior in Contest Pagoda.

Level 20-29 : Steel Set + Iron Weapons
You can get these from Bronze Chests, but the keys do not come easy.
Purple items here are BoE (Bind on Equip), which means that once equipped by a hero, no other heroes can use it.
Completing the Tower of Gladiator gives a Blue Steel item.
Stores can sell Blue items, but you may have to refresh many times, hourly to get them.
Level 30 stores refreshes every 30 mins.
I will suggest buying from store a complete Steel set. And then get Falcon items from Arena.
For Arena items, there are no set bonus, so you won't need complete sets, just pieces.
From level 21-24, I'll stay with the complete Leather set. At level 25, I'll suggest switching to Falcon, minus the armor. At level 28, switch to Steel set to get the set bonus.

Level 30-34 : Chain Set + Steel Weapons + Wolverine Arena items.
This is when it starts to get tough. Blue items for this range are BoE. Buying these items for each hero can get expensive.
Here, I'll suggest buying only the weapon, and using the Wolverine Arena items.
If the Steel set is not needed by another hero, using the Steel set through level 34 is not bad at all.
The Tower of Champions give Blue Chain items as reward. So if you're down to a last piece to complete a set, shopping in store for the last missing piece is not a bad idea.

Level 35-39 : Soldier Set + Great Weapons + Wild Boar Arena items.
Definitely use Wild Boar Arena items, unless it is your top hero and you want to pamper him/her. You may also want to consider skipping this weapon and wait for level 40.

Level 40-44 : Valor Set + Mercenary Weapons + Crocodile Arena items.
Again, use Crocodile Arena items. If you skipped the Great Weapons, consider getting these weapons, especially your top heroes.

Level 45-49 : Fury Set + Guard Weapons + Shark Arena items.
Here you may get Fury items from Tower of Champions. Again, since they are BoE, you probably only want to buy the missing last piece to complete the set. For all others stay with the arena items. If you got the Mercenary weapons, consider skipping the Guard weapons.

Level 50-54 : Guard Set + Royal Weapons + Tiger Arena items.
Here, unlike the previous levels the complete set is available at level 50, and you get no upgrades until level 55. So you really want to buy the whole set and equip it at level 50. This is also the final weapon you can get, short of buying from Shops with diamonds, so you don't want to miss this weapon. It is costly, at 18720 gold, but since it is the last weapon and will may last you all the way, you don' t want to miss this upgrade.
Blue Guard items are the rewards from Tower of Eternity, but it is not easy to complete this tower. When you do, it is again worth considering buying the last item in stores to complete the set. If the missing piece is boots, armlets or legguards, these Green Guard pieces are also available in Arena Rewards.
Otherwise, Tiger Arena items will do as well.

Level 55-59 : Knight Set + Leopard Arena Items
If you are using Tiger Arena items, you will want to upgrade each item from level 55-59 with Leopard Arena items.
If you completed the Tower of Eternity, you can get an extra reward from Contest Pagoda (button to the left of 'Rank'). That item will be a Blue Knight item. Unfortunately, you cannot buy missing pieces from stores nor Arena rewards. I am still missing the Knight's Helmet to complete my first Knight Set.

Level 60-64 : Lion Arena Items
There you go, short of buying from shops with diamonds, Lion Arena items are the best you can get. 3 of the Green Zealot items are available in Arena, but they do not complete the set.

Level 65-69 : Marsoon Arena Items
Worth the upgrade, just leave the lion items for the heroes below.

Level 70 and up
I'm so close, but no .. I am still waiting for my first level 70 hero. :)


So, a recap, looking at this from a different angle :

Chests
Wood chests, buy keys for level 1-9 items.
Leather chests, complete daily devleopment quests for level 10-19 items.

Pagoda
Tower of Fighter : Level 1-9 items.
Tower of Warrior : Level 10-19 items.
Tower of Gladiator : Level 20-29 items.
Tower of Champion : Level 30-34 items.
Tower of Eternity : Level 45-49 items.
Extra Reward : Level 50-54 items.
Do them weekly.

Arena
Blue Arena items are not as good as Blue Set items.
They do not have Set bonus, so you do not need to wait for complete set for upgrades.
But they are more 'affordable', since these items are not BoE.
When you need to buy a, let's say level 49 arena item, do NOT use your level 49 hero.
Instead, use your lowest hero above level 40 to buy the level 49 item.
This way, hopefully when the level 49 hero reaches level 50, hopefully he has enough arena points to buy the complete Tiger Set.

Stores
Shop here especially for your last missing piece.
Stores refresh every 1 hour. Level 30 stores refresh every 30 mins.

Color of Equipment
I received a question on color of equipment for stores and realized I was not clear here.
Do NOT settle for anything except Blue items. Work hard on refreshing all the stores.
No black items. And the only Green items you want to consider are "fillers" from Arena Stores. And only the last piece to complete the missing set.

Combat Triangle

Unlike other RPG games, where the Warrior beats Mage, Mage beats Ranger, Ranger beats Warrior (much like rock-scissors-paper), this game is more complex.
The combat triangle in this game is not really a triangle.
Instead, there are 4 types of attack (Infantry, Armor, Cavalry, Range).
That means there are also 4 types of defense.
I'll use (Inf, Arm, Cav, Rng) respectively to denote the attack/defense types.

So here are the attack/defense type of each soldier.

Soldier Type	Attack Types	Defense Types
Infantry-1	Inf	Inf + Arm + Cav
Infantry-2	Inf	Inf + Rng
Infantry-3	Rng	Inf + Arm + Rng
Infantry-4	Arm	Arm + Rng + Cav
Infantry-5	Inf	Inf + Arm + Rng
Infantry-6	Rng	Arm + Rng + Cav
Cavalry-1	Cav	Inf + Rng + Cav
Cavalry-2	Cav	Inf + Arm + Rng
Cavalry-3	Cav + Arm	Inf + Cav
Cavalry-4	Rng + Cav	Inf + Cav

Any cavalry can beat Infantry-5, since all cavalries has Cav attack, and Infantry-5 does not have Cav defense.

Cavalry-3 and Cavalry-4 are harder to beat, since they have 2 attack types.
For Cavalry-3, the primary attack is Cav, and Arm is the secondary attack.
For Cavalry-4, the Rng attack is higher than the Cav attack.

To counter Cavalry-3 and Cavalry-4, the best type is Infantry-4.
Infantry-4 has defense for Cav, Arm and Rng, and their attack is Arm, which Cavalry-3 and Cavalry-4 has no defense against.

And to complete the loop, Infantry-5 beats Infantry-4.

Summary of the combat triangle ::
Cavalries >>> Infantry-5
Infantry-4 >>> Cavalry-3 + Calvalry-4
Infantry-5 >>> Infantry-4

Since we have 10 soldier types and 4 attack/defense types, above 'triangle' does not describe the whole story.
What about Infantry-6? How do you defeat Cavalry-1 and Cavalry-2?

When you draw out the complete picture, it'll probably be a big mesh.
Anyone wants to help me draw the Combat 'Mesh'? :)

Military Hero Skills

This is the second game blog that I am creating. The first one is on the game Fallen Sword, and can be found here. If you're interested in playing Fallen Sword, please use my referal link here.

So let's get started. My first post will be a hero's skills, specifically a hero specializing in military.
There are 10 military skills, but depending on the type of soldiers you intend to use, they may or may not be applicable.

Since this discussion is race neutral, I'll reference the soldier types as Inf-1 to Inf-6 for infantry, and Cav-1 to Cav-4 for calvary.

Inf-1, Inf-2, Inf-4, Inf-5
Increase attack with Weakness Locate and Improved Charge.
Increase armor with Armor Proficiency and Mobility.
Increase speed with Quick Draw.
5 skills total. 155 skill points to max them all. (39 levels worth of skill points)

Inf-3, Inf-6
Increase attack with Weakness Locate, Improved Charge and Precise Shot.
Increase armor with Armor Proficiency, Mobility and Parry Training.
Increase speed with Quick Draw.
7 skills total. 217 skill points to max them all. (55 levels worth of skill points)

Cav-1, Cav-2, Cav-3
Increase attack with Weakness Locate and Spirited Charge.
Increase armor with Armor Proficiency and Mounted Combat.
Increase speed with Instant Mounting.
5 skills total. 188 skill points to max them all. (47 levels worth of skill points)

Cav-4
Increase attack with Weakness Locate, Spirited Charge and Precise Shot.
Increase armor with Armor Proficiency, Mounted Combat and Parry Training.
Increase speed with Instant Mounting.
7 skills total. 250 skill points to max them all. (63 levels worth of skill points)


Note, the total skill points above include the points needed to meet any pre-requisites, if any.

If you aren't sure what troops you want to use, it should be clear that you cannot go wrong by starting with Armor Proficiency and Weakness Locate. Those 2 skills apply across all soldier types.
It is interesting to point out that the long range types (Inf-3, Inf-6, Cav-4) gets extra skills, but that also means you will need more skill points to max the them, naturally.