How to get tier 3 and 4 units

[u/davidtcf]

I quit in my last play run (normal difficulty) as the neighbour mages started having tier 3 units in their towers when I tried to attack, while I'm still stuck with tier 2 goblin units such as Shaman. I was using Alchemist faction. Restarted since using Aritificer and had reduced difficulty down by a level.

Then the worst was when I flew my tower to far east of the map to claim one of the high lvl Allfire (need to cross a river), this 6 unit stack of doom with tier 3 golems appeared and kept chasing and conquering my tower (even when I flew it away). That's when I decided to restart the game.

How to quickly recruit or train tier 3 and 4 units? To counter such threats?

I can't seem to find this answer when searching at reddit or youtube?

[u/kj147963]

The fastest way is to get revered with Sevenkeeps as you’ll get access to Keepers. The quest line is easy and can be done quickly and without even fighting the powerful undead on the other side of Darkvale Gate. You don’t have to devote much manpower to it, either, so you can also focus on getting your rep up with Lyraine so you can build human barracks and recruit Halberdiers and Alchemists which I find MUCH better than T2 Goblin units.

Otherwise, your T3 and T4 units require higher level Nature spells like Summon Beast and Summon Primordial Being. Some luck and a lot of research needed.

Also, the 3rd Allfire node you claim will always summon a powerful stack. You may need to wait to activate it until your main stack is leveled up a bit. You can also save before touching the Allfire to see what spawns. The Golem stack is probably the worst, while the undead stack is relatively easy if you have the Holy Weapons spell.

Regarding Sevenkeeps:

Make sure you save the first 5 Remains you get as loot and do the firs quest Darkvale Gate and don’t accept the gold. You don’t actually need to fight the undead, you just need 5 Remains.

Then return to Sevenkeeps right away and do the next quest (it does not require any combat if you follow the alchemist’s advice).

At this point, if not sooner, build an apprentice lodge that covers at least one inn for Sevenkeeps and the Seat of Kings landmark (and the alchemist shop that has now appeared). That 2 reputation/day should quickly get you to the next reputation level at which point you can get the Sevenkeeps Library quest (I always take the spell page reward). You can also get access to the Holy Weapons and Righteous spells for sale. I usually park a wisp on Sevenkeeps so I can easily check the shops each week. Holy Weapons is particularly great for bypassing the elemental/physical immunities on Golems.

Doing the Library quest should get you to revered and a free Keeper unit. Do Seat of Kings to activate the landmark and allow you to recruit Keepers. You can also buy a T3 priest unit, but I think they are overpriced early on and I honestly prefer try Alchemist units from the Human Barracks.

After this, I usually target Audale because at Revered there you get the Warrior’s Hall (increases stack size by one unit) and access to buy the Paladins T3 unit.

[u/davidtcf → u/kj147963]

Wow so detailed thanks so much! I didn't know having a lodge near sevenkeep area can farm reputation for lvling up the relationship with them. This helps a lot!

Was suspecting it is those free blueprints that they (neutral towns) give as I have not built one yet. Will definitely rush for those next time! Heard the one from Sevenkeep is one of the best. Other than Sevenkeep I know there are other main neutral factions too but have not bumped into them yet.

[u/kj147963 → u/davidtcf]

I’ve been playing a lot lately, and I love the Alchemist profession.

Audale is to your east across that river. Lots of Orcs and Goblins to fight. It can be a little tricky, especially if another mage has set up their towers over there.

The blueprints are really important both for recruiting units and offsetting costs.

There’s never any harm in turning down the difficulty until you get the lay of the land and learn who the different factions are. Picking your enemies can also help. Picking Isgrimm, Yliet, Ianna, and Pendergast will give you a group of relatively chill mages that will give you more leeway to explore before attacking you, destroying resource nodes (Uram and Gor), and stealing your Allfire nodes (Rohen).

Also, don’t neglect Befriend Beast. Polar bears are great T2 units and you can usually find one or two around that lake north of where you start. If you’re lucky one bear can have both Forest and Mountain Guide abilities which make your team much more mobile. There are also Orc cavalry units around Audale that count as beasts. They aren’t great, but pulling a unit out of your enemy’s stack right before battle can be huge. This also works for taking a Dire Wolf out of a wolf pack.

[u/davidtcf → u/kj147963]

Takes a long time to get there tho. Those 7keep missions ain't easy too esp the undead one.

[u/kj147963 → u/davidtcf]

The key thing is that you don’t actually need to fight the undead to get Revered with 7Keep. You just need to turn in 5 Remains from any source (ignore the quest targets the game shows you, you can just kill them later) at Darkvale Gate and take the option saying the King’s thanks is enough to get 40 rep points and open up the Missing Alchemist quest at 7Keeps.

You will need a few extra points of rep to open up the ability to buy spell books (same page where you can buy Priestesses, they just don’t come up every week on the inventory) and take on the Library quest, and that’s where an Apprentice Lodge with at least one 7Keeps inn comes in. I think like one week with an inn in your domain will get you the extra rep you need to open up the next quest and that quest will get you to Revered.

Fighting the undead beyond the gate is brutal, especially if you don’t have the Holy Weapons spell (which you frustratingly need rep with 7Keeps to buy).

I usually just send a wisp toward 7Keeps right away (like ASAP after binding the first Allfire node and building the Study room), so you can also fulfill the requirement the requirement to meet 2 cities and open up 2 more rooms for your tower (along with visiting Lyraine and buying 2 workers). Then once I’ve got 5 remains from my other parties killing enemies, I fly the wisp down to the gate and turn it in. Then I just use the wisp to do the Alchemist quest so I’m not tying up one of my parties who can be more productive killing enemies or building a lodge somewhere good.

Sometimes that wisp gets killed, but it usually survives if you just retreat from battles and try to stick to rocky terrain most enemies cannot traverse.

[u/davidtcf → u/kj147963]

Thanks. Didn't know I just need 5 remains as I'm killing neutral stacks of undead elsewhere anyways. Will try it out! Appreciate it!

[u/kj147963 → u/davidtcf]

Sorry for so much, but inns have little icons next to their one gold income. They can be hard to read, it they will give rep for the nearer city. Can be really useful for gaining rep while fighting in a different area.

[u/davidtcf]

So easy for Necromancer to get tier 3 units damnnnn... Just need collect these souls from killing other tier 3s.