Unit Review: Barrier Ward

[TaoParis]

This might be lame...

Barrier Wards are used on the field to raise impassable shields around any units. Their powers are taken from unknown magic stones fixed strongly to them, and the only way to break their barriers is to attack the barrier ward.

The Barrier Ward has 32 hp life power. It’s power is to make a barrier around any unit in its range site. It has no armor which means you can attack it with full strength. When the Barrier Ward is not under cast of a barrier it may not be attack since it has 100% blocking on each sides. Once you have used it powers you have to wait 2 turns before being able to use it again. This unit can not move, it stays at the spot you set it. Its target range is 6 away, this means you can barrier up to 6 blocks away from the Barrier Ward.

The spell of the Barrier Ward will remain until the Barrier Ward is attacked or the unit being protected attacks or moves. To win a game, you do not need to kill the Barrier Ward.

While a unit is being protected by the Barrier Ward it can not be healed. You can paralyze/freeze the unit even if it is under a barrier. The Barrier Ward is very recommended is turtle formations. This is also a good unit to use when you have a long recovery unit that has low ho power left and you need to win a game, or when you have a Enchantress and you paralyzed a bunch of units that can make you win, so you barrier it.

-TaoParis

[Megabyte]

while I suppose it's always nice to see an evaluation, what exactly is your purpose in posting this?

[death rico]

my point of view on the bw is accually a good unit to have... it can save your game in a turn.many people think it sucks because its a ward and doesnt move..but if it is used properly it can be deadly.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Barrier Wards are awesome in grey sets, but I haven't found them very useful in a gold game. They are best used in my opinion to cover your ranged units when they get damaged and are in trouble. They are great for keeping a scout or a witch covered so you don't lose them, or in a witch's case, possibly allow you to deal one more hit before being killed.

[Match Strike]

Please read this. (http://www.tacticsarena.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21900)

[Megabyte]

I've found the barrier ward is surprisingly effective if used in conjunction with casters, even in gold setups, Sesh. Gold players tend to be falling into routines, when they play long enough. They have a hard time adapting to setups outside of their standard box.

While I agree that it's primarily a support style unit, you can very easily incorporate it as a main concept in your setups (just as you can with any unit, if setup appropriately and the proper skills are used).

One of my fav setups using them made use of 2 barrier wards and the DSM.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5510/dsmbarriercp5.jpg

Not an exact replica of the setup I use, but close enough for you to get the basic concept. There's a lot of room for variation, it's mostly the placement of the barrier wards that needs to be consistent (exactly 6 spaces apart for maximum range and overlap).

This was one of the first gold setups I ever actually made, way back in the DSM's first introduction (and one of the few that I ever used with the DSM at all). Still works well to this day. It just came to me as the simplest of notions...DSM = good fire power + spread, but limited survivability due to it's long wait and low hp/defense. So, what's the way to fix that? Stony and a barrier ward, obvious solution. But 1 barrier ward is rarely enough to cover a large area and ensure protection, plus barrier wards themselves go down easy once used. Solution, 2 barrier wards spread out enough to overlap and cover each other, as well as most of the board.

Limited offensive power, but you get a large range of coverage between the 2 barriers, and can even "double coat" a unit by using a barrier on the ward which barriers a unit. This makes it so that your units are basically safe and can't be overrun by a large offensive barrage (at least not very quickly).

When I usually use this setup, the casters are usually the last units to die if I play it right.

my point of view on the bw is accually a good unit to have... it can save your game in a turn.many people think it sucks because its a ward and doesnt move..but if it is used properly it can be deadly.

It actually isn't deadly to anything, in and of itself. Plus more often than not, it's simply a delay or distraction tactic.

Your effort IS appreciated, but in this section basic tactics are sorta considered a given for all reading here. It's expected that you've played the game and understand all the basic unit concepts.

So simply telling that stats and capabilities of a specific unit is rather...pointless. Especially with all the units having reviews for them in the FAQ, and the unit stats page providing all the basic info. If you want some ideas for guidelines, read the other sticky on unit reviews themselves. A little hint, if your review of the unit is shorter than just the guide stickied on how to actually do a proper unit review, you probably aren't being thorough enough or providing enough information in general.

Now if you gave some more examples of tactical uses of the barrier, incorporating some screen shots to demonstrate, THAT'D be something.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/5510/dsmbarriercp5.jpg


Interesting set. I might have to give that a whirl on Rev. or something. A mage bomb looks like it would tear that to pieces though. Good thing not too many people do that on Rev. though.

[ks5bns]

barrier wards are best when use with chantys.....
however in gold u should not use chantys becoz u have a frost golem....
Personally i think furgon is well better it u want to protect units....
furgons and frost golems make a better combo then bw and chanty.....

[Megabyte]

I disagree with every one of your statements.

[ks5bns]

why ?

[rabbi]

This might be lame...

Barrier Wards are used on the field to raise impassable shields around any units. Their powers are taken from unknown magic stones fixed strongly to them, and the only way to break their barriers is to attack the barrier ward.

The Barrier Ward has 32 hp life power. It’s power is to make a barrier around any unit in its range site. It has no armor which means you can attack it with full strength. When the Barrier Ward is not under cast of a barrier it may not be attack since it has 100% blocking on each sides. Once you have used it powers you have to wait 2 turns before being able to use it again. This unit can not move, it stays at the spot you set it. Its target range is 6 away, this means you can barrier up to 6 blocks away from the Barrier Ward.

The spell of the Barrier Ward will remain until the Barrier Ward is attacked or the unit being protected attacks or moves. To win a game, you do not need to kill the Barrier Ward.

While a unit is being protected by the Barrier Ward it can not be healed. You can paralyze/freeze the unit even if it is under a barrier. The Barrier Ward is very recommended is turtle formations. This is also a good unit to use when you have a long recovery unit that has low ho power left and you need to win a game, or when you have a Enchantress and you paralyzed a bunch of units that can make you win, so you barrier it.

-TaoParis

Yeah, what exactly is the point of this thread/post? I'm sure everyone is aware of the BW's capability and its flaws. We don't need you to give a full description of it!

[Megabyte]

why ?

tell my the "why" on your statements, and I'll tell you why I disagree

You made statements with no backing, I already made statements and backed them in earlier posts.

[ks5bns]

barrier wards are best when use with chantys.....
however in gold u should not use chantys becoz u have a frost golem....
Personally i think furgon is well better it u want to protect units....
furgons and frost golems make a better combo then bw and chanty.....

Barrier wards are best with chanty because after the chanty has paralyzed normally it would wake it three turns before i could move again .. also having low hp it cannot take many hit. if u barrier it the oppenet has to attack it first and the war will many squares away. it will a while for them to hit it by that team u can paralyze again or better still wait for a knight to go hit you so u can paralyze them as well.

frost golem is better then the chanty in my personal opinion it has much more range and much more hp and can move more often. (less turns it has to wait)
Because they have this range u can place shrubs in front of the frost golem after it has paralyzed and it will take oppenet a very long time before ur golem is hit.

this is my personal opinion. u happy now i gave reasons
my grammar sucks which is why i dont normally write a lot

[Megabyte]

Barrier wards are best with chanty because after the chanty has paralyzed normally it would wake it three turns before i could move again .. also having low hp it cannot take many hit. if u barrier it the oppenet has to attack it first and the war will many squares away.

You just described casters use with a barrier ward as a whole, not just the chanty. This is an argument for use with all casters, which is contrary to your point about it's singular use with the chantress. It's an equally effective tactic to use a DSM/witch to charge the opponent, barrier, then get another nuke in.

frost golem is better then the chanty in my personal opinion it has much more range and much more hp and can move more often. (less turns it has to wait)
Because they have this range u can place shrubs in front of the frost golem after it has paralyzed and it will take oppenet a very long time before ur golem is hit.

Actually, with 3 movement and 2 cast range (meaning you can get a unit 5 spots away), the chantress is only 1 range less than the golem (with it's 2 movement and 4 range for 6 spots).

Reversely, with the enchantress you arguably don't need shrubs for most of it's situation uses, because you can charge a group of units and freeze them all in a go. The shrubs merely cover over the weakness of the Frosty in that it can only paralyze one unit at a time.

The higher HP and shorter wait is granted, but it can't move as far in a turn, and has a significantly weaker capability. You can only paralyze that one unit still, every time your frosty can move, while the chantress can paralyze more and more units that move into her range.

this is my personal opinion. u happy now i gave reasons


Yep, this is the strategy section after all. Opinions are great, but we all have one, so if you have nothing to back it there's not point in posting it here. Kudos on taking the time to reason your points for the rest of us.

Note, I'm not arguing the superiority of either unit, merely presenting the neutral view that each has it's place.

[Histrionics]

:] Chantys are teh bomb. I never play without mine!

[rabbi]

Im quite the frosty whore:p

[Faulty Logic]

I use the b-ward in very different sense from a lot of people..... I use my b-ward to barrier my opponent's units.

I.E. an enemy scout that just attacked... If I barrier it, that guarantees 2 turns without it being able to heal.

If my opponent really needs to heal the scout, then I have two turns to deal un-heal-able damage b/c my opponent wont heal b/c then he/she wont heal his/her scout.....


also if he/she does heal, then I can un-barrier his scout and can attack it while his/her cleric waits 3 turns to get back on track.....

it works really well for me..... also works with long wait units like an enchantress or mages....