SAB CA said:
My initial desire was to abuse everyone online with Nadia / Academy units... but man do they seem SO underpowered in Online play! Granted, I haven't tried everything... But there's a lot of "Delaying the inevitable...." feel with Cyrus and Nadia!
Yeah. I honestly feel that Academy is bottom tier. Their best core unit is the gremlin, which is only good for defence or wall destroying. Mages are too slow, Djinns's special ability can both aid and hinder. Rakshasas are good for limiting an opponent's spell, and Titans and Phoenixes are moderately useful. Nadia's spell is probably the 2nd worst in the game due to its random nature. Cyrus is a little better, but still it doesn't do direct damage to the enemy hero.
How I feel the factions stack up:
1) Griffin: Slow, but they have the best walls and the hardest hitting units. Varkas using only Angels is almost unstoppable. When linked and with his spell active, an Angel can do 200+ damage in a single shot. And when there's 2 Angels out in the field at once it's almost impossible to stop.
2) Sylvan: Fastest units, and they have the 2nd best walls. Anwen gets a direct damage spell that hits for 49 if completely unblocked. Dual charging Unicorns is the best chance for stopping Champions. Findan's spell with a Treant makes for fast games and unpredictable comebacks.
3) Heresh: Unusual abilities, poor walls. Fiona's spell is good direct damage while Markal's is useful in a pinch for defence. People who pick them in multiplayer like to pick the Spider Cloak as well, which makes for very fast games swinging in either way. Spider Cloak + Death Knight makes it almost impossible for the opponent to make any sort of attack, and the resulting damage from the Death Knight's attack almost always results in an instant death.
3) Sheogh: Jezebeth's spell is probably the worst in the game. Aidan's is better, but is better used as a game ending spell rather than for normal offence, since it destroys all your walls. Nightmare cascades can end the game very quickly, as quickly as the 1st cascade itself. Sorcerors are one of the two units that can effectively stop a champion, but getting them to arrive on the field takes a little luck.
5) Academy: The only real use I can think of them is for double Djinns with the Djinn sash equipped to kill off champions quickly. But otherwise I feel they have the worst walls, and are terrible.
SAB CA said:
So Transformation Gem Only works well when it's just Mages, and no second Champion/elite, in my experience. And am I to understand the Artifact that causes "Enemies to SHATTER when hit by Djin's ice" means dual Djinn attack means instant KO on the first creature in a row, regardless of HP?
I'm not sure if it just KO's the first creature in a row, but yeah it works regardless of HP. I try to save two Djinns up and use them on Champions. But since the freeze effect only lasts for 3 turns without fusing Djinns, your 2nd Djinn must activate latest by the next turn.
If you have problems in MP, try practicing setups with yourself with a 2nd controller, since quick battle doesn't let you choose your opponent. Since there are some godly setups you can also try to anticipate your opponent's choices and counter pick your faction.
Other general tips: Always link your attacks. Linking increases your MP very quickly. Never put down too many walls. Once you get yourself walled in, you've got no more space or units left to organise an offence or a defence. If the opponent has a champion that hasn't started charging yet, pressure it as much as you can. When they have a champion charging, depending on the champion, either take it down with as much fire power as you can or build walls and hope to survive or, if you have fast units, ignore the champion completely and focus on killing the opponent hero before the champion activates.