Note: This guide was made by i r n00b, not me
I would like to start with some basic things:
1) Learn how to spell your shit. I see “Oceanos” and 2 words later I see “Caledria”. Cavalry is different from calvary, even though I know you little kids cannot pronounce “cavalry” thus resort to “calvary” which is 4yo level. All Greek counter/special units are apparently written in hieroglyphic, Egyptian minor gods are unpronounceable (Patch for cheaper farms?? Nephpthpys for A/E?? Bastet?? Jesus).
2) Learn how to LISTEN. My rate is higher than your rate, I know better. Don’t think you’re superior because you remembered all the training times and stats of every single unit/tech. You are not.
3) If you have been playing longer than 6 months and you’re still below 1750 you have no skill and you are a noob.
Now we got that out of the way, lets begin.
First I would like to introduce you to a basic model. You can have all the information you want, but without this model, which most pros do by nature (they are ‘naturals’), you won’t win games. If you are a noob, you are not a natural. The best example I have ever seen of a ‘noob’ is DeathAndPain, no offense to him. He learns by repeating the same strat with the same god over and over and over and over again day after day after day after day after year after year after year. What is his rate with Thor? It gets up to 1800, usually around 1750. Now that he is playing less due to a relationship his skill drops to 1650~1700, occasionally up to 1720. I stopped playing for months, not a single game at all. When I came back, I was still 1900. When I left I was 1900. The only things I suffered from were:
1) Forgetting hunting dogs
2) Forgetting how Atlanteans are OP
Now, if DaP had stopped playing for 3 months straight, he’d probably be 1620 Thor and would forget pretty much everything. Why? He doesn’t use the model.
To make it easier to understand, lets compare it with this:
(This is not a rant as to why DaP fails at AoT, I am just using him as an example. I have nothing against DaP and am pretty cool with him)
Imagine that AoT is one big book. Every game you play is a page of that book. As soon as you go quick setup and hit “Start game” and it goes “Searching…” it is picking a random page of that big book in front of you. Thor vs Isis (1720 rate) on Anatolia? Page 432. Thor vs Isis (1730 rate) on Anatolia? Page 433. Thor vs Loki on Marsh (1680 rate)? Page 1423. Now as soon as the game has started, or in our case the book has opened at page X, we start to “play” the game, or in our case we start to read the page. The better you are at AoT, (the better you are at reading,) the higher your chances are of winning (the higher your chances are at reading the page correctly). Easy, right?
Now what DaP has done is basically trying to remember the whole book. DaP can barely read. The book opens at page 251. DaP doesn’t know the exact contents of page 251. So DaP refers to page 248, which he does know, and page 253, which he knows a little. Will he win? Probably. The first pages of the book he knows by heart, because the lower the number of the page (the lower the rate, the easier the map) the better he has it memorized. Now, DaP’s book isn’t all that big, because he only plays 1 god. That’s less to memorize. Now when you force him to play Isis he will have to read. DaP is a very bad reader. DaP will lose to 1580 with Isis. DaP will win vs 1400s with Isis, because 1400s can’t read at all, or memorize pages of the book.
The first thing you have to do is learn how to READ. Eventually, you will automatically remember basic things of the page. Eventually, however, you will do all the reading and skip the parts that you have already memorized.
I am Thor vs Kronos(1830) on Oasis, I must up fast because I remember from page X that Kronos can krush and I remember from page Y that Oasis is usually low on food. I do, however, go double Ulf in the beginning because I remember from page Z that there are a lot of goats. ß- I MEMORIZE
It is especially good to go fast double Ulf because goats can be gathered from at the TC, which is safe, and as the Kronos will probably be rushing I will have a safe food supply. I could maybe harass some oracles on the way too. ß- I READ
The reason most of you fail at AoT is because you only memorize and suck at that, too. To help this, ON TO THE MODEL! (on a side note, I use models for virtually every single thing I do in life)
RAID1
RAID2
RAID3
BOOM1
BOOM2
BOOM3
ATTACK1
ATTACK2
ATTACK3
I shall explain:
R1 – Making raiding units
R2 – Moving to a location where you can raid
R3 – Raiding
B1 – Making villagers
B2 – Getting economy upgrades
B3 – Getting military upgrades
A1 – Making attacking units
A2 – Moving to a location where you can attack
A3 – Attacking
I assume everyone knows what is meant by “boom”. Raid is probably easy too, attack might be confusing, especially as people confuse raid with attack and vice versa, or just place them in 1 category. If you raid, you attack, right? Yeh, in theory. This is confusing so let me explain:
RAIDING is when you attack the enemy’s economy.
ATTACKING is when you attack the enemy’s army or structures.
If I send 20 RC to a gold mine and start attacking villagers, I am raiding.
If I send 20 RC to a place with 7 Hippikons and 4 Toxotes, I am attacking.
Now when you attack and kill units, you are, to some extent, also raiding. You kill units, he has to replace them, it hurts his economy. If the units had stayed alive he would not have wasted resources in replacing his army.
IF YOU ATTACK, YOU CAN ALSO BE RAIDING AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU ARE RAIDING, YOU ARE NOT ATTACKING.
Now, everyone starts at #1 in the 3 groups of the model with maybe 1 minor exception (you can make attacking units and raid with them e.g. Toxotes, it is not very effective however). In Archaic you should always start at B1. As soon as you get hunting dogs, you are in:
B1, making villagers
B2, getting upgrades
If you are in Archaic and build a monument as Ra, you are in:
B1, making villagers
B2, getting upgrades
Why? Monuments boost your favor rate. If you get Hand Axe, you boost your wood rate. Hunting dogs food rate, monuments favor rate. Easy, no? With Greek, it is just the same. Putting a villager on favor is like putting a villager on wood or food or gold.
Now, what you want to do is get in R3, B3 and A3 ASAP. When you are playing R3, B3 and A3 at the same time you have probably already won or are already winning. It also challenges the other player’s multitasking skills. In AoM non-expansion (Vanilla) you have to keep clicking units manually because of no AQ. This requires even more multitasking. R3 and A3 simultaneously are very dangerous because the other player will usually not react to R3, but rather to A3. Lets see… Imagine that the opponent is not doing anything, just being idle starting from 0:00. Not making villagers, scouting or whatever:
Oranos:
4:30, starts making:
1Promethean (Attack unit)
2Turma (Raid unit)
1Murmillo(Attack unit
Because of Oranos’ fast advance and his unit combination he hits R3 and A3VERY fast. In the meanwhile, he is in B1. Oranos players rarely do B2 early. So Oranos at, say, ~6:00 game time is in:
R3
B1
A3
He already has the power to win the game by attacking with his uber army. He can use his raiding units to attack because of focus fire or just as back up, too. He can also R3 because of lots of Turma.
Oranos:
5:45 2TC Archaic, starts making:
1Promethean
2Turma
1Murmillo
Oranos is in R3, B1 and A3 at ~7:30 with heavy B1 and a little B2 (extra TC (extra favor)) or B2 (extra TC, hand axe, pickaxe). Oranos has Shockwave, which gives him an extra strong A3.
Gaia:
Basic high hunt 5:05 BO with Hunting Dogs, Hand Axe, Pickaxe (and sometimes Husbandry), starts making:
2Turma
1Murmillo
Gaia is in R3, B1, B2 and A3 at 6:30 or so. Gaia, however, has a weak A3 compared to, say, Oranos. Her first gp, Gaia Forest, helps with B2 (it is basically an upgrade). Oranos’ first gp helps with A3 (you could use it for other purposes too, e.g. R3 but I don’t recommend it). An advantage for Oranos. Valor is better than Carnivora or Spider Lair. An advantage for Oranos. Oranos’ units are faster. An advantage for Oranos. Oranos has Prometheans that are better than Gaia’s Automatons or Caladrias. An advantage for Oranos. Gaia has better economy. An advantage for Gaia. Because Gaia’s A3 is weak she’ll usually be stuck in A1. Moving to A2, retreating, more A1 etc. If Gaia is playing vs Thor, R2 or R3 can be dangerous because RC can A3 the Turma while they are in R2 or R3.
“Wait… “Gaia has better economy is an advantage for Gaia” you say, but I thought we were talking A3?”
Remember that A3 and B123 help A3. In the end it all comes down to A3.
“But if I Loki rush a Thor player and spy his Ox Cart, then wipe out all his hunters he resigns. This is R3 but it finished the game. Therefor it is A3?”
No. You did R3, but it finished the game because the Thor player knew instinctively that he would not be able to fend off A3 after the R3. This is an example how R3 benefits A3. He has less economy; he can make less attacking units or buildings and therefor it makes your A3 stronger than his A3.
“I rushed a Thor player as Loki on Marsh but he owned me hard… I thought Loki > Thor?”
Loki’s hersir (faster, spawn MU, main unit can be made in Archaic) >>>>> Thor’s hersirs. An advantage for Loki.
Thor’s B12 (cheaper Dwarves, start with 2 Dwarves, Pig Sticker, Dwarven Mine (can therefor up faster)) >> Loki’s B12. An advantage for Thor.
Thor armory > Loki armory. An advantage for Thor.
Heimdall > Freyja/Forseti. An advantage for Loki.
Now the longer the game goes on, the stronger Thor’s A3 gets. Of course, Loki’s A3 gets stronger too, but Thor’s A3 gets WAY stronger whereas Loki’s A3 gets a LITTLE stronger. Think: choice between Skadi and Bragi whereas Loki’s Njord is pretty much worthless. If he goes Skadi he can get Winter Harvest, which increases B2 or Huntress Axe, which increases A3. If the Loki goes Bragi, he can get Swine Array, which increases A3. If the Thor player doesn’t make cavalry this upgrade is useless and hurts his B2/B3. If the Thor player does get cavalry but also gets Huntress Axe it depends on stats and whatnot. Anyway, this is a general guide, not a guide to Loki vs Thor. So lets continue:
I hope you people understand the model now. R3 and B123 benefit your A3, and with A3 you win games. If you goldstarve your opponent, you take a massive shot at his B23. Basically, you completely disable his B23 or you hurt it really bad (think: market trading) that he will lose in 99% of the case. Why? If you disable his B23 you pretty much disable his A3. The only A3 he has left is either:
1) A godpower
2) Units that he had left from the time where he still had B23, or MUs that don’t cost gold
3) Buildings that he created from the time where he still had B23 (think: Migdol, tower etc.)
Vs Egyptians, you can even disable their B1 if they don’t have (enough) farms by a goldstarve. If you disable their B23 and yours is not disabled you have all the time of the world to prepare A3. The victim will know this instinctively and resign (most of the times). When a player resigns before A3, he knows that he will lose A3 due to action X done by the enemy. Whatever action X is.
Traps
There are certain traps. If you have 25 Hippikons that are medium, and you do not have Bow Saw researched, you might want to get Heavy Cavalry (400f 200g) instead of Bow Saw (250f 150g) if you feel that you need Heavy Cavalry for whatever reason. I would usually get Bow Saw faster, however. The logics are very easy to understand. Bow Saw is cheaper, so get it first. Of course you should always use common sense. You are Thor and have 20 Ulfsarks and 10 TA? Get Medium Infantry before Copper Weapons because it benefits you more. Have 15 Ulfs and 15 RCs? Get Copper Weapons. As Isis you probably won’t be getting Bow Saw on low food if you attempt a FH. Remember, it is all about A3. Why does the Isis not go B123 but instead ages to Heroic? Because her A3 gets boosted to sick levels once in Heroic.
Now, there is also a defensive model.
Raid Defense1
Raid Defense2
Raid Defense3
Attack Defense1
Attack Defense2
Attack Defense3
Let me explain:
RD1 – You rely on luck. You hope that your opponent won’t raid where you are gathering for whatever reason. No LOS, he is too busy, he has no units etc.
RD2 – You have something to save your villagers. Atlanteans have the ultimate RD2, Manors.
RD3 – Your opponent won’t raid you at spot X even if you have no military units there. Why? Maybe because he has 20 RC and you have 6 crenellated towers around your goldspot.
AD1 – He cannot attack you because he doesn’t have the correct units.
AD2 – He cannot attack you because your army is superior.
AD3 – He cannot attack you because he needs all his forces to repel your attack, you have the offensive.
Of course, you want to go RD3 and AD3 ASAP. This does not mean that you should build 4 towers at your gold spot ASAP and ‘waste’ 800 gold that you could’ve used on farms B23. 4 towers at your gold spot will not increase your A3, it was just an example to get you to the point. Why do Isis players build a Migdol next to their 2nd gold? To secure it. Less raiding = better A3.
Note: I know that I am breaking the rule posting for a banned forum member, but this is a legit guide, and it is not a spam topic like i r noob usually posts.
-yoma
I would like to start with some basic things:
1) Learn how to spell your shit. I see “Oceanos” and 2 words later I see “Caledria”. Cavalry is different from calvary, even though I know you little kids cannot pronounce “cavalry” thus resort to “calvary” which is 4yo level. All Greek counter/special units are apparently written in hieroglyphic, Egyptian minor gods are unpronounceable (Patch for cheaper farms?? Nephpthpys for A/E?? Bastet?? Jesus).
2) Learn how to LISTEN. My rate is higher than your rate, I know better. Don’t think you’re superior because you remembered all the training times and stats of every single unit/tech. You are not.
3) If you have been playing longer than 6 months and you’re still below 1750 you have no skill and you are a noob.
Now we got that out of the way, lets begin.
First I would like to introduce you to a basic model. You can have all the information you want, but without this model, which most pros do by nature (they are ‘naturals’), you won’t win games. If you are a noob, you are not a natural. The best example I have ever seen of a ‘noob’ is DeathAndPain, no offense to him. He learns by repeating the same strat with the same god over and over and over and over again day after day after day after day after year after year after year. What is his rate with Thor? It gets up to 1800, usually around 1750. Now that he is playing less due to a relationship his skill drops to 1650~1700, occasionally up to 1720. I stopped playing for months, not a single game at all. When I came back, I was still 1900. When I left I was 1900. The only things I suffered from were:
1) Forgetting hunting dogs
2) Forgetting how Atlanteans are OP
Now, if DaP had stopped playing for 3 months straight, he’d probably be 1620 Thor and would forget pretty much everything. Why? He doesn’t use the model.
To make it easier to understand, lets compare it with this:
(This is not a rant as to why DaP fails at AoT, I am just using him as an example. I have nothing against DaP and am pretty cool with him)
Imagine that AoT is one big book. Every game you play is a page of that book. As soon as you go quick setup and hit “Start game” and it goes “Searching…” it is picking a random page of that big book in front of you. Thor vs Isis (1720 rate) on Anatolia? Page 432. Thor vs Isis (1730 rate) on Anatolia? Page 433. Thor vs Loki on Marsh (1680 rate)? Page 1423. Now as soon as the game has started, or in our case the book has opened at page X, we start to “play” the game, or in our case we start to read the page. The better you are at AoT, (the better you are at reading,) the higher your chances are of winning (the higher your chances are at reading the page correctly). Easy, right?
Now what DaP has done is basically trying to remember the whole book. DaP can barely read. The book opens at page 251. DaP doesn’t know the exact contents of page 251. So DaP refers to page 248, which he does know, and page 253, which he knows a little. Will he win? Probably. The first pages of the book he knows by heart, because the lower the number of the page (the lower the rate, the easier the map) the better he has it memorized. Now, DaP’s book isn’t all that big, because he only plays 1 god. That’s less to memorize. Now when you force him to play Isis he will have to read. DaP is a very bad reader. DaP will lose to 1580 with Isis. DaP will win vs 1400s with Isis, because 1400s can’t read at all, or memorize pages of the book.
The first thing you have to do is learn how to READ. Eventually, you will automatically remember basic things of the page. Eventually, however, you will do all the reading and skip the parts that you have already memorized.
I am Thor vs Kronos(1830) on Oasis, I must up fast because I remember from page X that Kronos can krush and I remember from page Y that Oasis is usually low on food. I do, however, go double Ulf in the beginning because I remember from page Z that there are a lot of goats. ß- I MEMORIZE
It is especially good to go fast double Ulf because goats can be gathered from at the TC, which is safe, and as the Kronos will probably be rushing I will have a safe food supply. I could maybe harass some oracles on the way too. ß- I READ
The reason most of you fail at AoT is because you only memorize and suck at that, too. To help this, ON TO THE MODEL! (on a side note, I use models for virtually every single thing I do in life)
RAID1
RAID2
RAID3
BOOM1
BOOM2
BOOM3
ATTACK1
ATTACK2
ATTACK3
I shall explain:
R1 – Making raiding units
R2 – Moving to a location where you can raid
R3 – Raiding
B1 – Making villagers
B2 – Getting economy upgrades
B3 – Getting military upgrades
A1 – Making attacking units
A2 – Moving to a location where you can attack
A3 – Attacking
I assume everyone knows what is meant by “boom”. Raid is probably easy too, attack might be confusing, especially as people confuse raid with attack and vice versa, or just place them in 1 category. If you raid, you attack, right? Yeh, in theory. This is confusing so let me explain:
RAIDING is when you attack the enemy’s economy.
ATTACKING is when you attack the enemy’s army or structures.
If I send 20 RC to a gold mine and start attacking villagers, I am raiding.
If I send 20 RC to a place with 7 Hippikons and 4 Toxotes, I am attacking.
Now when you attack and kill units, you are, to some extent, also raiding. You kill units, he has to replace them, it hurts his economy. If the units had stayed alive he would not have wasted resources in replacing his army.
IF YOU ATTACK, YOU CAN ALSO BE RAIDING AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU ARE RAIDING, YOU ARE NOT ATTACKING.
Now, everyone starts at #1 in the 3 groups of the model with maybe 1 minor exception (you can make attacking units and raid with them e.g. Toxotes, it is not very effective however). In Archaic you should always start at B1. As soon as you get hunting dogs, you are in:
B1, making villagers
B2, getting upgrades
If you are in Archaic and build a monument as Ra, you are in:
B1, making villagers
B2, getting upgrades
Why? Monuments boost your favor rate. If you get Hand Axe, you boost your wood rate. Hunting dogs food rate, monuments favor rate. Easy, no? With Greek, it is just the same. Putting a villager on favor is like putting a villager on wood or food or gold.
Now, what you want to do is get in R3, B3 and A3 ASAP. When you are playing R3, B3 and A3 at the same time you have probably already won or are already winning. It also challenges the other player’s multitasking skills. In AoM non-expansion (Vanilla) you have to keep clicking units manually because of no AQ. This requires even more multitasking. R3 and A3 simultaneously are very dangerous because the other player will usually not react to R3, but rather to A3. Lets see… Imagine that the opponent is not doing anything, just being idle starting from 0:00. Not making villagers, scouting or whatever:
Oranos:
4:30, starts making:
1Promethean (Attack unit)
2Turma (Raid unit)
1Murmillo(Attack unit
Because of Oranos’ fast advance and his unit combination he hits R3 and A3
R3
B1
A3
He already has the power to win the game by attacking with his uber army. He can use his raiding units to attack because of focus fire or just as back up, too. He can also R3 because of lots of Turma.
Oranos:
5:45 2TC Archaic, starts making:
1Promethean
2Turma
1Murmillo
Oranos is in R3, B1 and A3 at ~7:30 with heavy B1 and a little B2 (extra TC (extra favor)) or B2 (extra TC, hand axe, pickaxe). Oranos has Shockwave, which gives him an extra strong A3.
Gaia:
Basic high hunt 5:05 BO with Hunting Dogs, Hand Axe, Pickaxe (and sometimes Husbandry), starts making:
2Turma
1Murmillo
Gaia is in R3, B1, B2 and A3 at 6:30 or so. Gaia, however, has a weak A3 compared to, say, Oranos. Her first gp, Gaia Forest, helps with B2 (it is basically an upgrade). Oranos’ first gp helps with A3 (you could use it for other purposes too, e.g. R3 but I don’t recommend it). An advantage for Oranos. Valor is better than Carnivora or Spider Lair. An advantage for Oranos. Oranos’ units are faster. An advantage for Oranos. Oranos has Prometheans that are better than Gaia’s Automatons or Caladrias. An advantage for Oranos. Gaia has better economy. An advantage for Gaia. Because Gaia’s A3 is weak she’ll usually be stuck in A1. Moving to A2, retreating, more A1 etc. If Gaia is playing vs Thor, R2 or R3 can be dangerous because RC can A3 the Turma while they are in R2 or R3.
“Wait… “Gaia has better economy is an advantage for Gaia” you say, but I thought we were talking A3?”
Remember that A3 and B123 help A3. In the end it all comes down to A3.
“But if I Loki rush a Thor player and spy his Ox Cart, then wipe out all his hunters he resigns. This is R3 but it finished the game. Therefor it is A3?”
No. You did R3, but it finished the game because the Thor player knew instinctively that he would not be able to fend off A3 after the R3. This is an example how R3 benefits A3. He has less economy; he can make less attacking units or buildings and therefor it makes your A3 stronger than his A3.
“I rushed a Thor player as Loki on Marsh but he owned me hard… I thought Loki >
Loki’s hersir (faster, spawn MU, main unit can be made in Archaic) >
Thor’s B12 (cheaper Dwarves, start with 2 Dwarves, Pig Sticker, Dwarven Mine (can therefor up faster)) >
Thor armory >
Heimdall >
Now the longer the game goes on, the stronger Thor’s A3 gets. Of course, Loki’s A3 gets stronger too, but Thor’s A3 gets WAY stronger whereas Loki’s A3 gets a LITTLE stronger. Think: choice between Skadi and Bragi whereas Loki’s Njord is pretty much worthless. If he goes Skadi he can get Winter Harvest, which increases B2 or Huntress Axe, which increases A3. If the Loki goes Bragi, he can get Swine Array, which increases A3. If the Thor player doesn’t make cavalry this upgrade is useless and hurts his B2/B3. If the Thor player does get cavalry but also gets Huntress Axe it depends on stats and whatnot. Anyway, this is a general guide, not a guide to Loki vs Thor. So lets continue:
I hope you people understand the model now. R3 and B123 benefit your A3, and with A3 you win games. If you goldstarve your opponent, you take a massive shot at his B23. Basically, you completely disable his B23 or you hurt it really bad (think: market trading) that he will lose in 99% of the case. Why? If you disable his B23 you pretty much disable his A3. The only A3 he has left is either:
1) A godpower
2) Units that he had left from the time where he still had B23, or MUs that don’t cost gold
3) Buildings that he created from the time where he still had B23 (think: Migdol, tower etc.)
Vs Egyptians, you can even disable their B1 if they don’t have (enough) farms by a goldstarve. If you disable their B23 and yours is not disabled you have all the time of the world to prepare A3. The victim will know this instinctively and resign (most of the times). When a player resigns before A3, he knows that he will lose A3 due to action X done by the enemy. Whatever action X is.
Traps
There are certain traps. If you have 25 Hippikons that are medium, and you do not have Bow Saw researched, you might want to get Heavy Cavalry (400f 200g) instead of Bow Saw (250f 150g) if you feel that you need Heavy Cavalry for whatever reason. I would usually get Bow Saw faster, however. The logics are very easy to understand. Bow Saw is cheaper, so get it first. Of course you should always use common sense. You are Thor and have 20 Ulfsarks and 10 TA? Get Medium Infantry before Copper Weapons because it benefits you more. Have 15 Ulfs and 15 RCs? Get Copper Weapons. As Isis you probably won’t be getting Bow Saw on low food if you attempt a FH. Remember, it is all about A3. Why does the Isis not go B123 but instead ages to Heroic? Because her A3 gets boosted to sick levels once in Heroic.
Now, there is also a defensive model.
Raid Defense1
Raid Defense2
Raid Defense3
Attack Defense1
Attack Defense2
Attack Defense3
Let me explain:
RD1 – You rely on luck. You hope that your opponent won’t raid where you are gathering for whatever reason. No LOS, he is too busy, he has no units etc.
RD2 – You have something to save your villagers. Atlanteans have the ultimate RD2, Manors.
RD3 – Your opponent won’t raid you at spot X even if you have no military units there. Why? Maybe because he has 20 RC and you have 6 crenellated towers around your goldspot.
AD1 – He cannot attack you because he doesn’t have the correct units.
AD2 – He cannot attack you because your army is superior.
AD3 – He cannot attack you because he needs all his forces to repel your attack, you have the offensive.
Of course, you want to go RD3 and AD3 ASAP. This does not mean that you should build 4 towers at your gold spot ASAP and ‘waste’ 800 gold that you could’ve used on farms B23. 4 towers at your gold spot will not increase your A3, it was just an example to get you to the point. Why do Isis players build a Migdol next to their 2nd gold? To secure it. Less raiding = better A3.
Note: I know that I am breaking the rule posting for a banned forum member, but this is a legit guide, and it is not a spam topic like i r noob usually posts.
-yoma
[This message has been edited by Yoma (edited 07-22-2007 @ 02:53 PM).]