The Stone Golem is a key unit to many formations, and is often underestimated. While mainly in turtles, some successful anti-rushes have made use of the stone golem quite successfully. If you don¡¦t believe me, play Wayfaerer sometime. He¡¦s beaten incredible rushers with a stone turtle, and I still don¡¦t fully comprehend how he does it, but I¡¦ll do my best to explain it to you in this nice juicy review.

Note: Just like my other reviews, this is going to be mainly aimed at intermediate or advanced Tactics Arena players. It will be picture heavy, and it is going to cover mainly advanced strategies, while ignoring the really obvious ones that seem to be included in any other descriptions you find. The other Stonie (Stone Golem) review was incredibly brief, so if you really don¡¦t know anything about this unit, read that one first.

One more note: The majority of my advice will be based on turtle games. I will have a separate section dedicated to anti-rushes at the end, but for now, assume that I¡¦m talking about a turtle game, and not one that has turned into a one-sided rush game like many unregulated turtle games are becoming.

Let¡¦s start where you start: Making a formation. 99.99% of all pro-level Stonie formations include 4 other units that can immediately be stoned without any movement required. The only exceptions are formations that have a ranged unit in position to attack then immediately move into range to be stoned next turn. A form could theoretically keep the stone golem in the back for late game stoning only, but almost all of these forms still have units in range for the early stone anyway. This guide will focus on that giant majority of times; if you really want to make a unique form that involves action before stoning with the to-be-stoned units, you¡¦re really on your own in all regards.

Many people ask, ¡§What should I stone?¡¨ This is an important question, and it has a lot of variation available. Some units are much more powerful when stoned (scouts), while others gain very few benefits when stoned (cleric). Generally, you want 1-2 stoned scouts for excellent long-range capabilities. The other two spots can go to power units (Dragon, DSM, knight), or infiltration units (Muddy, Wisp, assassin even). In the appendix to this guide, you can see a list of all units, and their usefulness in being stoned.

So, now we have to figure out what kind of strategy you¡¦re going for. If you want an aggressive turtle, stone the units that are most vulnerable, or that you want to be most reckless with. The power turtle, like the one Warcow used to beat me down multiple times (though I¡¦ve beaten him once with only 1 unit lost when he used it! Haha, pwned noob), uses unstoned knights (which are a reckoning force of their own) in conjunction with stoned attackers to make a truly formidable force.



Muddy/Dragon/Two Scouts is commonly known as the ¡§Typical Stone Group¡¨, and is extremely capable on both offense and defense.

When stoning a ranged unit, in general, it lets you use it more aggressively. Still, you MAY NOT BE STUPID, and if it gets trapped or takes enough hits, it¡¦s still a goner. When stoning power units (knights, dragon, even assassins somewhat), you get to be really aggressive. Only avoid frosties and real death traps, and you get to do whatever you want with them. Against grays, I often just throw a stoned dragon at them to do whatever I want with, and after a shot or two run away. Stoned infiltration units (assassins, beast riders, muddies, wisps) should still be used cautiously. The stoning doesn¡¦t give them much more ability in the initial assault (it just ensures they live long enough), but what it does accomplish is the need to remove the threat.

Let¡¦s go into more detail on this, because it¡¦s a major point:

If you stone your muddy, he¡¦s still a muddy. He still moves 5 spaces, and still mud quakes in the same way. He will still put amazing pressure on your opponent if you move him within 5 spaces of a vital focus unit (Stonie, frosty, etc.), only the stoning makes it a little more difficult for the opponent to preemptively kill him.



In that shot, clearly the main pressure on the Furgon is the muddy. If he runs in and smashes, green has his opening with his scouts regardless of stone or not on the mud (Stone armor on the scouts makes a huge difference as to their capabilities, however). Still, if the muddy is stoned, then it is much more of a threat AFTER it smashes, because black cannot kill him as easily. This means either another smash, or a retreat for later. An excellent tool for a turtler, who needs to make the most out of each unit he has.

In general, when deciding what to stone, usually stay away from the power units until you have everything else down pat. You¡¦ll often see knights or dragons left unstoned, and yet they work just fine. Things like ranged units, I.E. scouts or ambushers, do really well stoned, as do infiltrators.

Next, you have to wonder where you¡¦re going to put the stone cluster. The back is usually the best, as it protects the stone golem the best. If you move the cluster up, you can get faster attack speed; however, it¡¦s also much more difficult to maintain the stone. Maintaining it is usually more important, especially in long games where a quick kill isn¡¦t possible. One row up will give you an aggressive advantage, but any more than that is usually impractical.

Note: According to many people¡¦s standards, including my own, placing your stone cluster up a row or two, without compensating by moving it over to the corner, is usually deemed unethical in turtle games. It gives you an initial offensive edge at the cost of defense, which goes against the basic premises of a turtle game. It¡¦s just my 2 cents on a turtle game, but many people concur.

Also, the corners of the field are usually better. This eliminates a lot of scout LOS threats, and also reduces overall vulnerability of your formation. While center turtles can do fine, corner turtles usually work better. Keep in mind, a stone cluster can do very little without an entire turtle encompassing it; the stone golem is usually an all-or-nothing deal. Can¡¦t really go halfway, though you can be aggressive.

The next thing to worry about is when to stone. Unless you¡¦re in an EXTREMELY rare instance, do NOT use the stone cluster units in battle before stoning them. The few instances where stoning first turn is impractical are if you have to shrub to protect against an early attack, or if an enemy unit is in range of your lightning ward. If you have first turn, either one of these is acceptable. If you don¡¦t, then you need to consider what your opponent may do with his (presumably) stoned attackers against your vulnerable stone group. Still, a first turn zap is usually powerful.

Protecting your Stonie¡¦s focus is important, but not vital. Keep in mind: you can always restone, with a decent amount of inconvenience, but no real permanent loss. However, you cannot replace a lost frosty, furgon, cleric, or any other unit, and your opponent can certainly not do the same. If it comes down to sacrificing a scout to take out stone focus, regardless of which side of the deal you are on, keep in mind the gains vs. the losses.

For the most part, I will not sacrifice a unit to take out an opponent¡¦s stone focus, unless I am preparing to make an all out assault, and (s)he will not be able to restone while facing the assault. A muddy attack should not have the sole goal of taking out the Stonie¡¦s focus; it should also clear a path for more units to charge in for the attack. The only exception is if taking out the focus would allow for a more important unit to be killed, such as the dragon, or possibly two enemy units.

As a game progresses, you may lose your stone golem¡¦s focus. Unlike the previous Stonie review, I do not feel the Stonie loses its purpose at this point. You can continue fighting at a disadvantage, or you can go back and restone. Usually, your best bet is to maintain a semblance of defense with your Furgon and other units you don¡¦t intend to stone while regrouping; it works well, especially if you can delay your unit. It¡¦s a great tactic if your opponent made a daring sacrifice to take out stone focus.

Late game Stonie use: Many many people underestimate the stone golem late game. As attacks are highly limited, stoning your remaining unit can often put your opponent into an incredibly uncomfortable position. Furthermore, the Stonie can provide you with a mobile wall to protect frosties, or cut off side or back strikes, but that¡¦s truly late late game.



Stone golem rules with frosty and Furgon backup. It really makes an impenetrable wall.

When both players are missing many vital units, and it¡¦s really just makeshift army vs. makeshift army, stoning quickly can make a huge difference. Even if just one or two units, in the instance where a turtle game degrades down to a rush vs. rush, a nice little stoning can go a long way. Don¡¦t miss an important attack or move, but if it is between a 50% chance at doing some extra damage, or a 100% chance to protect a few of your units and/or force your opponent to go out of his/her way to break the focus, it¡¦s usually helpful to pursue the latter.

Sometimes you can use the Stonie (even if it¡¦s already in use!) to save a unit or two. I¡¦ve truly shocked opponents when I actually lose my own stone focus in order to stone a cleric or frosty, but sometimes it saves their lives. As noted before, loss of stone focus is not permanent, but loss of a unit is. If this gives me an extra 2 or 3 turns to block their scout or kill their scout/ambusher to save my cleric, it might be worth it. Never ignore this possibility.

Anti-rushes: A stone golem against an anti-rush is, first and foremost, a spot that is lost. Instead could go an attacking unit, like another knight, or a control-type unit, such as a frosty or furgon. However, it does help the rest of the units survive. Keep in mind, however, that a stone golem in an anti-rush will often play very little a role early game, as it is easy to break its focus with a muddy, ambusher, or scout. Despite this, late game the stone golem may rise from the dust, and give its owner a huge competitive advantage. This requires surviving that long, which is why I¡¦m going to recommend that intermediate or novice players should stray away from using a stone golem in an anti-rush. Only players who can really outperform a rush with only 9 unit spots from the beginning should consider it, because it really makes up for the loss once the units start dying. Also, it does provide an extra little boost in saving a cleric or other important unit, but this is usually a one-turn thing. Still, one-turn delays should not be ignored, especially when they¡¦re as renewable as this one is.

Appendixes:

Appendix A: Stoned Units

Knight: This unit has a lot of armor, so you¡¦re basically just stacking onto its defensive capabilities. While you¡¦re turning it into a beast of a creature, you¡¦re also probably leaving a much more vulnerable unit open. If you really just want raw power, go for it, but the stoned knight will probably get blocked off or the like and become mostly useless. It is really good for late game though if you want an incredibly strong unit.

Pyromancer: If you don¡¦t have a DSM, then this is really a waste. It will still die reasonably quickly, and do very little damage. With a DSM, you¡¦re basically just bombing with a Stonie. If the stone golem is in the back, then the pyros will get picked off really quickly. If it¡¦s in the front, then the focus will be taken out easily. It really isn¡¦t that good of a strategy to stone multiple pyros, and stoning a single one has been addressed.

Cleric: Stoning this off the bat is a waste. Stoning it as a clutch situation is really really intelligent, as mentioned above.

Scout: Stoning scouts is incredibly powerful, and often taken advantage of. They become much more similar to ¡§Shock troopers¡¨ than delicate archers, and can survive much longer thanks to it. Stoning scouts is so incredibly helpful towards turtling, I recommend stoning at least 1 scout in almost every turtle.

Assassin: A stoned assassin is a very unique unit. It has infiltration capabilities, but its lack of teleportation makes it less effective. Against a gray it has potential, but in gold vs. gold matches, a stoned assassin usually accomplishes little. I managed a decent turtle/counter-turtle form that made use of 3 stoned assassins to break through shrubs, but it fared poorly against aggressive turtles, as the assassins die quickly to stoned predators when they lose their armor. Still, a single stoned assassin can be put to good use, especially when a player must obsessively avoid the 4 to 1 hp zone.

Enchantress: Enchantresses in general don¡¦t work well in gold forms, and this is no exception. With all the range, they gain little benefit from stone armor.

Witch: Nice power with a nice little kick, this actually works pretty well against grays and newer golds. Back before aggressive turtling wasn¡¦t as predominant, these could actually be put to use. Now that stone breaking has been reduced to a science, it is less effective. Keep in mind, the witches are still incredibly vulnerable, with an adjusted 40 hp and 17 hp healing rate.

Barrier Ward: I don¡¦t believe I¡¦ve ever seen this done before. Pretty much a waste of a stone spot, only do this if it is really late game and vital to keep the ward alive. Don¡¦t waste an early game stone spot for this.

Lightning Ward: Don¡¦t stone this (unless it¡¦s the natural result of stoning another vital unit). Ever. There really isn¡¦t any reason for the lightning ward to even BE close enough to the golem to be stoned, until much later in the game. At this point, only stone the ward if it¡¦s just a side benefit of stoning another unit, or if you really do have a turn to kill and NOTHING beneficial to do with the golem. Otherwise, this is just a bad choice.

DSM: This actually has a lot of potential. A stoned DSM can be a nice powerful defender, who might have knight or Furgon protection while using his range and splash to take out potential attackers. Or, he could play into an offense, aiding other slow moving attackers. It takes work, and careful protection, but it does work.

Dragon Tyrant: The most often stoned power unit, he really is a beast when given +30. Consider him a moving tank, incredibly difficult to take out when stoned. He can still be used unstoned, so only really stone him if you want the tank or have nothing else to stone.

Beast Rider: While the Beast Rider¡¦s effectiveness is maximized with a stoning, that doesn¡¦t mean the Stonie is maximized with a Beast Rider. I.E. a Beast Rider works best when stoned, but there are much better things TO stone. Unless playing a classical turtle game where infiltrators are really necessary, go for the more effective units, like wisps and muddies, over this guy.

Furgon: As much as I love the Furgon, he really doesn¡¦t need stone armor to be used to the max. Unless you¡¦ve lost your other stone cluster unit(s) or you desperately need to save him, this guy can handle himself.

Wisp: A must for a stone cluster. If you¡¦re going to indulge into the splendors of the wisp, it¡¦s really best to stone him. It¡¦s the difference between 32 hp and 46 hp, and it makes this guy live a lot longer. Don¡¦t really use him unless you¡¦re good with him, or you¡¦re learning to be good with him, because otherwise he tends to become a one hit wonder, stoned or not. However, for people who can really use him correctly, the stoning allows for you to ignore minor hits and keep on going with him.

Muddy: A great stone, it lets him jump in and out as you please, and even if he is paralyzed, it¡¦s a heck of a lot harder to finish him off with his armor. Read above for more info.

Frost Golem: Except in really defensive turtles and/or late game crises, the frost golem can usually withstand enough attacks without armor to be okay. Just use the stoned units to protect him, and stone him later on when you have time.

Golem Ambusher: He¡¦s good to stone, but it¡¦s not really vital. With his movement and minimum range, you should usually keep him in back anyway, and if he¡¦s close enough to take hits, he¡¦s usually useless. Still, as a siege weapon, or as a defensive weapon, stoning him lets him live a little bit longer, and perhaps kill a few more enemies. Stoning him can be worth it depending on your goal.

Note: According to many people¡¦s standards, including my own, using a Golem Ambusher in a turtle is considered unethical, as it has too much of an advantage without LOS. It¡¦s just my 2 cents on a turtle game, but many people concur.

Appendix B: HP/Damage Calculi

Adjusted HP: Base HP / ( 1 ƒ{ (Armor/100) )
For example: Stoned knight: 50 / ( 1 ƒ{ (55/100) ) = 50 / (.45) = 111 (approx.).
Adjusted healing: 12 / ( 1 ƒ{ (Armor/100) )

Factor attacks as if the armor was nonexistent and the base hp were the adjusted one, with a little bit of rounding involved.

Thanks Wolf-Boy and Bludhoundz for their assistance.