How do I play? Beginner's guides

[abyaly]

The way of TAO is to create a unique formation and strategically overcome other people. (you can edit your formation by clicking the [Settings] button).

One must learn to control one's units effectively. A unit moves before attacking by default, but you can use the buttons along the top to make it attack before moving, attack without moving, move without attacking, or just change direction without doing anything else. Do not be wasteful. When a unit both moves and attacks, it must wait it's full recovery time before it can act again. When it attacks without moving or moves without attacking, it can act after half of it's recovery time (rounded up for attacks and rounded down for movement). So units with only one recovery time (knight, assassin) can move multiple turns in a row if they do not attack.

One must also master the use of the units at one's disposal. One should always look at the % chance of success before completing an attack, since attacking when the attack cannot possibly work is wasteful. For nonmagical units, like the knight, assassin, or scout, this will display a unit's chance to block your attack (a unit cannot block from behind, and their blocking power along the sides is half what it is from the front). If using a scout, this will show a 0% when there is a unit blocking the path of his shot. Magical units, like the dark magic witch and the pyromancer, cannot be blocked. Their attacks spread to more than one square, so when using them, be careful not to kill your own units unless it is a sacrifice you're willing to make.

One should place wards with care. Wards (lightning wards and barrier wards) are immune to nonmagical attacks, but the barrier ward is still vulnerable to them when focused. Neither is capable of movement, so they will remain where they begin. The barrier ward can focus to protect a friendly unit from harm, but be wary. The protected unit is also protected from healing, and will not move aside for the benefit of it's allies. Should it move or attack, the barrier will drop, and it cannot be healed while under this protection. The only thing that one can do to the barriered unit is paralyze it.

One must command the cleric with wisdom. The cleric can be the most useful unit in your arsenal if used right, but can be a complete waste if not used properly. To maximize your cleric's healing ability, heal when multiple units are damaged, as opposed to a single unit that is not immediately facing the threat of death. When a unit of yours is severely damaged, you can move it to a safe place instead of sending it on a last kamikaze attack. The cleric can heal it while healing your other units. Many people will try to attack your cleric, so it is advised to keep him well protected.

One should ph34r the enchantress. Try as he might, the cleric can save noone from paralysis. The enchantress paralyzes all units around her - friend or foe. Should all of your opponent's remaining units be paralyzed, you win. Be careful around an enemy enchantress. Attacking her will break her focus and free your units from her spell, but if she is fully recovered, she may just ensnare the would-be hero along with the others. Paralyzed friendly units will not step aside for their allies to pass through, so you will need to go around them. When paralyzed, a unit is also incapable of defending itself - it's block chance on each side is reduced to zero, and even wards can be hit by nonmagical attacks. Ranged units (pyromancer, dark magic witch, and scout) are your best defense against an enchantress.

The key to victory lies within an adaptable formation that can easily respond to many situations. A formation that is capable of acting both offensively and defensively to a degree greater than your opponent's. Yet a good formation can be useless to a person who cannot see the future. In order to determine the wisest move at a given moment, one must predict what an opponent intends so that you may act to stop him beforehand. One must weigh everything that the opponent could do on their next turn, and then move to stop the most undesirable action.

A win through deception is not a true victory. When one decieves an opponent into forefieting a match when that was not their intention, the numbers call it a win, yet both he and his opponent know he was not victorious. The way of TAO is to use strategy, not deception, along your quest for a high rating.

[kensai]

1. Cleric.

Good news:
The Cleric is able to heal every five turns - or every three turns if you don't move it. In perfect conditions, the Cleric could heal 120 HP worth (12 pts on each unit, assuming all are still alive and have taken at least 12 HP of damage to heal). Nothing (at least nothing Grey) can match that. It's also the only way to regain HP, so taking a Cleric to your formation tends to be widely considered a good idea.

Bad news:
The Cleric has no armor, no blocking ability, low HP, low mobility, and high waiting time. It can be killed with a single attack by the Witch, and most other combinations kill it with two attacks even if the Cleric heals between the attacks.

Conclusions:
The Cleric should be on the field, and well out of harm's way. Typically this means putting the Cleric in a back row corner. Locations other than the back row are risky, as there is no way to protect them from witchburn. Any back row location can be protected from witchburn by putting something four spaces in front of the Cleric.

Locations closer to the middle of the back row are possible as well. this allows the Cleric to escape to either side if attacked, but also doubles the possible routes to attack the Cleric. As the Cleric is rarely moved - never moved, if possible, as a Cleric that moves takes five turns to recover whereas a Cleric that only heals recovers in three - it makes sense to put something that does not need to move much to protect the Cleric. Some use a Knight. A Lightning Ward is the most common choice, as this way its inability to move becomes almost irrelevant in the early stages of the game.

<edit: email notification off. The tail of this thread has little to do with what was intended.>

[kensai]

2. Lightning Ward.

Good news.
The Lightning Ward does more damage per hit than any other Grey unit. It also has the most HP, second-best armour amongst all Grey units, 100% blocking on all sides which makes it immune to swords, daggers, and arrows unless paralysed. It has a nice range, and can kill Pyros and Clerics with a single shot. LW attacks are unblockable.

Bad news.
The Ward cannot move. It can be gradually murdered by Pyros and Witches as they outrange the LW. An Enchantress can paralyse the LW without getting attacked in return as its combined range + movement total more than the LW's range. As the Ward is immobile, the opponent can win without ever touching it. The high damage attack is meaningless if the opponent goes around it. The Lightning Ward only acts rarely.

Conclusions.
The Lightning Ward is basically a deterrent - a mine field. It makes it perilous for an opponent to come close, so most steer clear and go around. Consequently, the Ward is typically available when needed, and the opponent keeps going around it. It can provide a haven for your units to retreat to. It can stand a long time even under an all-out assault, so placing it in the front row can protect the Cleric from Witch attacks during the early stages of the game. The Lightning Ward is probably the main reason why Clerics die typically of hazards other than witchfire.

A foolhardy spellcaster that comes even close is likely to be blasted off the map after her (or his, with Pyro) first shot, which has no real effect as front row units have enough armour and HP to survive the damage until healed. Gold accounts, however, have the means to make a spellcaster (or even a Cleric) survive a (single) lightning hit.

[kensai]

3. Knight.

Good news.
Knights are awesome at melee. They are even more durable than the Lightning Ward as their armour reduces all incoming damage by 25%. Knight blocking ability is the best amongst non-constructs. They stop almost all blockable frontal attacks, and even their side blocking is better than the frontal blocking of Pyros and Witches. A movement of three spaces is considerable, especially in the endgame when there are fewer obstacles to go around. With a waiting period of 1, a Knight that does not attack can march every turn, which makes it hard to anticipate and even harder to stop. A Knight therefore has a reasonable chance of making it through the enemy lines to take out a Cleric with insufficient protection. Two Knights attacking together is even better - Knight A moves and attacks; on the next turn Knight B moves and attacks; then A again. As both members of the tag team are likely to be attacked, the Cleric can then heal them both, undoing 2 * 12 / (1 - 25/100), or 32 points of damage.

Bad news.
The Knights have the most limited attack form of all units, hitting only one adjacent space. They, like the Assassin, are very vulnerable to Enchantresses, and may have trouble when a Barrier is used against them. As the Knight attack is blockable, Knights can't damage Lightning Wards or inactive Barriers. They also have a hard time getting past the frontal defenses of another Knight (20% chance of a hit), Assassin (30%), or Scout (40%).

Conclusions.
Early on, the Knight is a defensive unit. Knights standing side by side are not likely to be hit from the flanks or the rear, except by arrows. Knights are good for attacking units with high waiting times and low blocking chances such as the Witch or the Pyro (and in the right circumstances, the Enchantress or the Cleric). They can weather out a spell hit well, and recover to attack again significantly faster than a hostile spellcaster can.

The turn after the Knight attacks can well be used to heal the Knight, which completely undoes the effects of a Pyro attack, and heals all but 5 HP of a witchfire blast. Knights in the endgame are very difficult to kill, and can take out most other units because they can walk twice on consequtive turns and then attack a unit that was seven spaces away. Seven spaces, incidentally, is more than the maximum range of a Scout arrow. It is also enough to hit a unit up to four spaces away in the flank, or rear if not in the same line or row as the Knight. Four spaces is the maximum range of spellcasting units, whose recovery times are so long that the Knight can perform the forced march to score a rear shot. Of course, spellcaster blocking chances are so dismal that a flank shot is often good enough. At a duel, a knight kills a pyro or witch almost certainly.

In a Knight vs Knight duel, as was spoken in an excellent article in the Strategy forum, it can be a good idea to go around the hostile Knight and attack from the rear rather than take the immediate opportunity of hitting from the flank. This, of course, depends on the circumstances. Let's consider a to the death duel between two Knights. For simplicity, let's say that the board is large enough so that the edges are irrelevant, and there no other units onboard.

Flanker vs Backstabber:
F: Attacks B in the flank. (60% chance of 17 HP damage)
B: Walks around the enemy knight.
F: Wait: 1
B: Attacks F in the back. (does 17 HP damage)
F: Attacks B in the flank. (60% chance of 17 HP damage)
B: Wait: 1
F: Wait: 1

Flanker acts four times, backstabber three times. Two flank attacks vs one rear attack. Which is better?

36% of the time, F hits twice.
48% of the time, F hits one and is blocked twice.
16% of the time, F is blocked twice.

100% of the time, B hits once.

Expected amounts of damage:

Flanker:
36/100*34 + 48/100*17 + 16/100*0
= 6.12 + 8.16 + 0
= 14.28 HP

Backstabber:
100/100 * 17 = 17 HP.

Of course, the issue is usually not how much damage is caused, but how likely it is that the hostile Knight dies first - but for a simple analysis, it is enough to say that in the long run, a strategy of backstabbing is more likely to do more damage per turn than flanking. Backstabbing might not be possible though, as a skilled player may find ways to deny it - using the edge of the map for example, or placing the knight's back against a friendly unit.

[kensai]

4. Assassin.

Good news.
Besides the Knight, the Assassin is the only very fast unit. With Wait: 1, the Assassin can move every turn. Decent HP and light armour give her quite a bit of durability, and 18 power makes her a power to be reckoned with; enough to take out the Cleric with two units despite a heal between the attacks.

The hit in all directions attack makes her a guerrilla that under the right circumstances can wound two (or even four!) units at a time, forcing the opponent to either choose which one to evacuate at the cost of the other, or to heal. If the opponent doesn't have the ability to heal, it can even make an attack hitting frontal shots against skilled blockers worth it, as the several attempts makes it relatively likely to score at least one hit despite bad odds (for example, the chances of scoring at least one hit when hitting a frontal shot vs a Knight and another Assassin is better than a chance to hit a Scout from the front (44% vs 40%).

The Assassin's main strength however is her running speed. No unit can match the ability to move four spaces per turn - every turn. Even the fastest Gold unit pales in comparison (5 spaces teleport every other turn.) This may well allow her to go behind enemy lines to attack the vulnerable support units (that is, the Cleric) and only be attacked once while at it. No Grey unit can stop the Assassin with one hit, except of course the Enchantress.

Four spaces is also enough to enable the Assassin to start a turn face-to-face with a unit, and end the turn stabbing that unit in the back.

If at less that 5 HP a solitary Assassin can self-destruct and cause 99 damage to all units in her normal attack radius (this is done by choosing her own space as the one to attack and then keeping the mouse button pressed until that space turns black). Taking out a Lightning Ward this way looks rather cool - unlike the normal assassin attack, the self-destruct blast is unblockable.

Bad news.
The Assassin has the same main weakness as the of the Knight; low reach, blockable attacks. It also has worse blocking ability and way less HP that the Knight. Getting the assassin in position to attack when at less than 5HP is such a rare feat that the upgrade is unlikely to make a difference to who wins the game - for Greys at least. It is hard enough to get the Assassin to 1-4HP, and harder yet to attack successfully when that has been acomplished. But when it works.. wow.

Conclusions.
The Assassin works well as a behind-the-lines unit, seizing opportunities, finishing off vulnerable units, and often, living to tell the tale. It can also function as a defensive unit almost as well as the Knight.

In a face-to-face bout with the Knight, the Assassin does roughly as much damage as the Knight using rear attacks. Due to the Assassin's lighter armour, the Knight does 20HP of damage per hit, which happens once per three turns; the Assassin does 13HP damage every second turn. That's 40HP damage vs 39 damage per six turns.

Alternatively, the Knight can attack every other turn, using flank attacks, matching the attack pace of the Assassin. 65% chance a flank hit gives an expected amount of damage of 13 HP per hit - exactly what the Assassin is guaranteed to do to the Knight with every rear attack.

The Knight has the asset that it can survive 39 damage while the Assassin is killed before reaching 39 or 40. The Assassin, on the other hand, can outrun the Knight, giving her the choice of the conditions of the duel - quite likely including the first strike.

[kensai]

5. Scout.

Good news.
The Scout moves far, and shoots farther. Unless something gets in the way, it can hit targets up to 10 spaces away by first moving four spaces towards the target and then firing to maximum range. As the greatest distance on the map is 16, this means that a Scout near the center of the board can fire an arrow towards any space onboard. At 18 damage per arrow, the Scout can kill a Cleric with two arrows, even if the Cleric does first aid on himself.

Bad news.
While the Scout is probably the best available to Greys, there is only one. Golds have two, but this is not on the list of unit drops. Scouts are relatively fragile, amongst the top two priorities for most opponents to kill (the Cleric, of course, being the other top priority target). Despite 40 HP and 60% (30%) blocking, Scouts are fairly fragile. Arrows can be blocked, and require line-of-sight.

Conclusions.
Learning what shots are doable and what are not is something a player really needs to know. There's an excellent thread about it in the Strategy forums, which is as close to a must read as any in the forums.

As the Scout can move up to four spaces, it is mostly possible to hit any target up to eight spaces away from some angle. However, some of the shots can be suicidal for the Scout. Knowing exactly what is doable and what is not, what counts as a frontal / flank / rear shot and what does not, is information that for me more than once has meant the difference between a won bout and a lost one.

There is only one real trick shot to learn; a target one space to the side and four to the front can be hit even if there is a blocker in front of it - by aiming at the space behind the target.

The Scout needs to be kept alive (and preferably well). This can at times be hard. Knights can rush a Scout from up to seven spaces away - moving two turns in a row, they reach the Scout before it can act again after a shot, even if they start the first move from outside a bowshot range. Spellcasters and hostile Scouts are threats as well, and an Assassin can reach a Scout from eight spaces away. The Barrier helps keep the Scout alive, as do blockers, threats against potential attackers (such as a Lightning Ward or a friendly Enchantress near the Scout).

Golds can make the Scouts more durable by giving them Rock Golem's focus armour. Two armored Scouts are imo amongst the deadliest threats that any Gold can attack with.

[kensai]

6. Barrier.

Good news:
The force field that a Barrier can project makes a unit proof against any attack, blockable or not. The Barrier has a range of six, the same as a Scout, which allows it to target most of your units - only those who have gone deep into enemy territory are outside its range. Unlike the Scout, the Barrier needs no Line of Sight, so it can be kept far from the frontline. When inactive, the Barrier has 100% blocking.

Bad news:
Barriers are relatively fragile, having only 32HP. The protective field is likely to be disrupted by Scouts. If the Barrier is in use, it can be attacked normally - and typically dies with only two or three hits. A protected unit is safe also from the Cleric's heal, so the very unit that would often need healing the most does not benefit from it. A unit protected by the Barrier force field can still be paralysed, even though it can't be damaged.

Conclusions:
The Barrier requires some finesse to use. When used correctly, it can be awesome. On the offense, it allows a unit to rush towards the enemy to perform an attack, and then be safe from deadly retaliation. On the defense, it can keep a vulnerable unit alive. The Barrier - Enchantress combo is notorious enough to merit its own thread in the Strategy forum. The Chanty keeps the hostile units frozen, and the Barrier protects the Enchantress until she's ready to freeze even more hostile units.

[kensai]

7. Enchantress.

Good news.
The Enchantress is downright awesome. Unblockable, barrier-penetrating, focus-breaking, and able to totally neutralize one more units regardless of how many hit points they have. In a one-on-one fight, the Enchantress can only be defeated by one unit type (the Frost Golem).

Bad news.
Chanties take some practice to be used well. They have no blocking ability, and though they have 35 HP, they can be taken out with two arrows.

Conclusions.
This one is definitely my favorite unit. It can freeze one or more hostile units in place. If a Knight or an Assassin is sent to rescue the trapped ones, the Enchantress can freeze that unit too without releasing her earlier prey. On the other hand, the Enchantress is helpless against ranged attacks. Keeping her as the last line of defense until the ranged units have been eliminated, and then using the Enchantress to trap the remaining units makes a sensible strategy.

Enchantresses and Barriers work very well as a combo. The Barrier gives Enchantress time to recover after freezing hostiles - the very thing that the Chanty needs against melee troops.

[kensai]

8. The Dark Witch.

Good news.
Mobile, powerful, unblockable. Often surprisingly lucky in blocking. High range.

Bad news.
Too slow to get around a friendly unit, too clumsy to shoot around it. Low HP, dismal blocking odds. Wait: 3 makes it difficult to use her safely.

Conclusions.
The Witch is excellent for finishing off wounded targets, being even more powerful than a Knight, and unblockable for good measure. The Witch can kill an unarmoured Cleric from full HP with a single shot if the opponent has not put an obstacle where she can perform the attack. As the Witch is slow and fragile she needs friendly units to keep her alive.

The Witch works very well with the Barrier - perhaps used so that the Witch moves forth, burns, is attacked, then saved by the Barrier until she's ready to either withdraw or to die in exchange of making a crucial high priority kill (e.g. a Cleric or a wounded Scout). Alternatively, the Barrier can be used to protect a unit that the Witch shoots through.

[kensai]

9. The Pyromancer.

Good news.
Quicker to act again than a Witch. Able to hit several targets at once. Unblockable. Nice range. Can fire over friendly units. Boosted significantly by the Dragonspeaker Mage (a Gold unit).

Bad news.
Low HP and low blocking ability, though both are better than those of the Witch. Sadly low damage potential - 15 HP, reduced to 11 by Knight armour, makes it a wasted effort to attack a wall of knights as a Cleric can undo all that damage with a single heal.

Conclusions.
Pyros are great if your opponent can't heal for some reason. 15 HP attacks on several targets do add up rather fast. Pyros can overload a hostile Cleric, making it necessary to heal. Still, it is usually sensible to heal often anyway, so creating the right circumstances can be a challenge.

There are those who really like the Pyro, and others who agree that in the right hands, a Pyro can be awesome. Others still consider a Pyro a waste of space.

[kensai]

That concludes the set of units available to a Grey.

The formation in which those units, and the way they are used, makes the difference.

The first unit in the formation is the Cleric. While I've seen some without a Cleric on the field, more often I've seen those with two. They tend to be difficult to defeat, but slightly more vulnerable to Enchantresses as they usually have one ranged unit less. Clerics heal so much damage during a bout that it is hard to imagine a unit that could do as much damage to the opposition.

The only place where a Cleric is safe from a frontal Witchburn is the back row - with a unit at the matching position in the front row to keep the Witch from getting where she'd need to go to be able to attack. This for all practices prevents the Cleric from being killed with a single shot.

The unit far in front of the Cleric should be something that benefits from being close to the enemy lines from very early on, and is durable enough not to be forced to leave that position while the risk of the hostile Witch remains. Knights and Lightning Wards provide both benefits. A LW can get off a lucky shot from the front row, taking out an aggressive spellcaster immediately.

With the Cleric safe from witchburn, the next likely causes of death are a knight rush or scout arrows. Scouts require a line of sight, so a row of burly knights in the front makes life hard for them. Enemy Knights need a path into their target, and this can be denied by a friendly Knight who camps in the path of the enemy. Knights are awesome units, so while a decision not to use all three is possible, it needs careful consideration. Knights only take 75% of the damage done to them, and have 50 HP, so they are definitely durable. They also have strong attack and low range, which adds a reason to putting knights close to the front line.

The Barrier is a nice unit in the middle of the friendly forces. If not active, it prevents a unit from passing or hacking through. Its combo potential is excellent, and range sufficient to allow it to be used for frontline support as well.

The Scout is the best unit there is. A definite addition. However, the choice of where to put it is less clear. On one hand, it can pose a threat of arrows in the back so having it flank the enemy is a welcome prospect. On the other hand, having one's Scout killed is a major setback, so it should never be left defenseless. For starters, it should be at a place where the Barrier can, if need be, protect i.

For endgames and emergencies - the Enchantress. To be placed somewhere safe so that she will still be available when required.

The last two positions are for unit drops acquired before (e.g. a second Cleric), Pyros and/or Witches, or possibly an assassin or two. These are more durable than Clerics and Chanties, and less deadly to lose than the Scout. Semi-safe positions behind the Knights and the Lightning Ward are a possible place to put this kind of units. The high blocking ability of the assassin makes it reasonable to treat her early on simply as an extra knight. The exact choices depend on preference, style, strategy, and availability of units.

Here is a sample Turtle formation that requires no drops at all.

http://img61.exs.cx/img61/5915/turtle7.jpg

[kensai]

In gameplay, some rules of thumb may be called for.

When attacking with a unit, know **why** you are attacking. Forcing a unit to retreat is a valid reason to attack it. is forcing a heal but ONLY if there's a follow-up plan to make the most of the time when the hostile Cleric is gathering his strength again - that is, eliminating a unit that is currently at full HP (and thus does not benefit from the heal) before the Cleric can heal again. So is forcing the opponent to defend a unit with a Barrier. And most of all - the best reason to attack is that there's a reasonable expectation that the attack leads to an enemy casualty is a very valid reason to attack. If these conditions are not met, don't attack; move so that the conditions are easier to meet on the next turn. If your unit moves without attacking, it's waiting time is reduced to one half, rounded down.

Causing damage for the sake of causing damage is not a sufficient reason to attack - at least, it is not while the opponent can heal. The first 12 HP of damage that an unwounded unit takes are not really damage. The Cleric heals every unit, so if three instead of one unit has taken damage, this merely makes the Cleric look good. The Cleric, however, can't bring back the dead, so concentrating fire on a single unit is preferable to widely spread havoc.

Focusing on softer targets first makes sense.. if the position allows it. Ranged units are often softer targets than melee units and contraptions. They tend to recover slowly after a move or especially a move+attack, have less HP, worse blocking odds, and little if any armour. This makes pyros, scouts, and witches more inviting targets than knights and lightning wards - the latter of which mostly need not be attacked even once during the bout. When the fragile targets are out of the way, the Enchantress can freeze the knights into table ornaments so that the victory celebration can commence.

Wasting units is a loss, but exchanging kills is not. A vulnerable, badly wounded unit deep in the enemy territory is fairly cheap to lose as this eliminates the expenditure of keeping it alive (e.g. maintaining it indefinitely under a Barrier). Therefore, attacking with it so that it takes down an enemy units as it falls makes sense. You lose a unit that at the time is relatively worthless; the opponent loses something good.

Sometimes it is not possible to save a unit, but as its last action, it can ensure that the opposition also loses a unit. A tradeoff is often not a loss, especially is the rate of exchange is good.. e.g. a knight that kills the enemy Cleric at the cost of its own life (or even wounds the Cleric so that the Scout can finish the Cleric off with an arrow and live to tell the tale) is quite a bargain. Knights can take so much damage that they nicely often can drag another unit to the grave with them as they fall. Scouts, however, are easy to lose after even one careless oversight, as they vulnerable against an attack by nearly anything else.

[ReNeGAdE]

1. Making an account
Ok so you've found this site, and want to start playing. To start up choose 'Play Online' from the links along the top of the page. Hit 'Play Tactics Arena Online'. Ok now choose a server to create your account on. You may not pick Revelations, this is a gold only server. I will cover gold accounts later on. The other servers are all the same. Characters are non-transferrable between servers, so if u want to play with a friend, find out what server they use. Go ahead and hit 'New Account' and create your account.

2. Ok, so now I'm online
Alright games are made by having two players join the same arena on oppisite sides. Click on either side to move your avatar onto a space. You can either find an arena with one side full and one side empty and join this, or go to either side of an empty one and wait for someone to join. If you chose the first option, and nothing happens, try another square, the other player most likely just finished a game and hasn't left the arena yet. At the end of every game you will be dissconnected and must re-login. A draw may occur if both you and your opponent go 3 turns in a row without attacking with a unit. There is a ranking system to this game. type /stats to view your current stats. If you wanted to check my stats for example you would type /stat ReNeGAdE. You gain stats for winning, and lose stats for losing. If you lose to someone with much higher stats than you, you won't lose much, but if you win, your stats will jump royaly, as theirs come down quite a bit.

3. What does this button do?
Once in a game you will see a row of buttons on the top right of your screen. In this order this is what they do: Move Stage, Attack Stage, Change Direction, End Turn, Surrender. You may attack before you move if you wish. If you use the change direction command your turn will automatically end after you use it. Moving gives your units recovery, attacking gives your units more recovery, so don't attack unless u will hit something. Hold the surrender button for a second or so to end the game in defeat for yourself. The change direction command is used to help maximize blocking. Each unit has its blocking chance listed under it's health, and can be seen when u hover your mouse over the unit. Wards have 100% blocking from all sides, only attack them with magic units. All other units have halfed blocking from the sides, and 0% blocking from the back. If a block is successful it will change to face the direction it blocked in.

4. Formations and Avatars
After playing with the default formation for a couple games to get the feel of the game, feel free to hit 'Settings' while in the lobby to change your formation, unit colour, and avatar. To choose an avatar drag the desired unit to under the word 'Avatar'. Under that there is a colour pallet to change the colour of your avatar and units. There is also a trash can on the screen, **DO NOT USE THIS**. It deletes your unit. There is no way to get it back. If you get full on units you will have enough experience to choose a unit to delete. This is not needed for a long time. You may have a maximum of 10 units in your formation at any time. Play around until you find something you like. In the next section I show what each unit does, some tricks, and some strategy.

5. Units
In this section I will list information on how to use each unit. For specific stats use the listings on the TAO web page.

Knight:
This is your brute force unit. It has high blocking so always make sure to face the direction from which an attack will come from. These units also have high damage, and high health, but are relatively slow and have no special abilities. Use 3 Knights togethor to rush an enemies formation to disrupt it and kill spellcasters quickly.

Scout:
This is your pure ranged unit. Decent health, mediocre damage and blocking rate, good movement. Stay as far away from enemy units as possible and pick off your enemies from afar. If fighting a Frost Golem, stay out of range of it's paralyze spell, this is devastating for a scout. Line of sight applies, which means you cannot shoot through other units to get to your target. Chances are you will accidently hit one of your own units a couple times until u get the hang of it. There are trick shots, which are shots that look like they won't work, but do. They are as follows, where O is an empty square,S your scout X the enemy unit that gets hit, T the targeted tile, and B any other unit. If there is no 'T' that means you must target the space that your enemy is on.


O X
B B
S O


O T
O X
O B
O O
O O
S O


O T
O X
B B
O O
S O


O X
O O
B B
B B
O O
S O


Cleric:
You only healing unit. Put it at the back of your formation. When you heal, reduce recovery time from 5 to 3 by not moving, but move if you need to to escape.

Pyromancer:
Use it's cross attaxk pattern to your advantage, get the most bang for your buck. Keep this unit out of lightning ward range, it will be killed is a single hit. This unit tends to block a lot when the chances are against it, but don't depend on this.

Assasssin:
Attacks every square around it, but not angles. This attack will hit your own units so be wary. If this units goes in with knights it can be devastating. Keep it from being hit until it has dealt its damage. Try to keep it alive if possible. This unit has great attack and movement, but low health and armor.

Enchantress:
This is your paralyzing unit, until you get a gold account and get a Frost Golem. it will paralyze your own units as well, so be careful. It hits everything within 2 tiles range, but must stay in focus to maintain concentration, so only use if enemy scouts are gone. If you get hit, concentration is broken. I'll let u figure out some fun strategies on your own.

Dark Magic Witch:
Deals heavy damage to 4 units in a straight line. Very low health, no armour, high recovery, and relatively low movement. Suicide this unit to kill a cleric in one hit at the start of the game and severely handicap your opponent. Keep this unit away from lightning wards.

Barrier Ward:
Has a huge 6 tile range, and 100% until it uses it's ability. Creates a barrier around any unit that stops attacks from hitting it. Focus paralyze spells can go through the barrier. The barrier is broken if the ward loses focus or the barrier'd unit moves or attacks. Use this to bide time for low health units that the enemy is about to kill. Beware of scouts.

Lightning Ward:
3 tile range, devastating damage. Any grey account formation should have this until you are an experienced player and wanna try other things. Kills most spellcasters in one hit. Don't waste it on knights unless u need to stop a knight rush. Never use if it looks likes a lure so your opponent can move in a caster while your ward is in recovery. This ward takes a long time to kill. 4 turn recovery, use accordingly.

All other units you see are gold account only units, and you can figure those out if you choose to get a gold account.

6. Gold Account vs Grey Account
Any account you create at the start will be a grey account. Gold accounts cost $5 US a month to maintain. Grey accounts will be deleted in server whipes, which are pretty erratic, although are supposed to be once a month. Gold accounts give you an extra scout, stone, frost, and mud golem, a dragon tyrant, beat rider, Dragon Speaker Mage, and furgon. These are great units. Gold accounts will beat most grey accounts because of these unit advantages. Read the instructions on the play online portion of this site to learn how to buy a gold account.

7. Unit Drops
about 5 times a day, a red message will appear if you are logged in, stateing that if you are in a battle and win, you will get one of several different units including Clerics, Pyromancers, Dark Magic Witches, Barrier Wards, Enchantresses, and Assassins. If you are not in a battle, its too late dont bother. If you are in a battle but lose, too bad try again next time. If you are in a battle and win, CONGRADULATIONS! check your settings for your newly aquired unit.

8. What NOT to do!
People will try to scam you. Guarenteed. Do not press f5, alt+f4, or ctrl+r. These will all reset your application. f11 gives you fullscreen mode, this is not a scam. There is no way to trade units, restart games, trade accounts, etc. Don't give out your password in any circumstance, game staff will never ask for it. If someone is imitating a game staff member take a screenshot and send it to DivineRight. If you have a problem with the game, visit the Bugs or Suggestions portion of the forums and read the stickied post saying wut not to mention, chances are it's been mentioned many times before.

9. Joining the TAO Community
You may have noticed that there are clans online. To join one, simply find the clan's leader by asking around, and see if you can tryout. Dont spam that you want a clan. Play for a day or two at least before trying to get a clan. If you ask to join a clan and somebody sends you an invitation right away, dont accept it. It's either a really crappy clan, or the person is trying to get rid of leadership of the clan so he/she can join a real clan. If you get stuck with leadership of one of these you will not be able to join another clan, so BEWARE. Another way to join clans is to go to the Clan Recruitment section of the forums. Now you notice that many people have signatures on their forum accounts. To get one simply go to user cp, a button under the banner at the top of your screen. Then edit profile, and find the section where u can enter a signature. Commands will be explained there. If you want a banner, find a banner maker and ask them to make you one, or if you think you can, make one yourself. I am a banner maker so PM me if you want one.

[kensai]

I tend to see the same mistakes done more over and over again. Perhaps making a list of them helps people avoid them in the future.

1. Don't charge a lightning ward with a spellcaster.
(I see this more often than not. A nice row of knights and a LW. Either a pyro charges to burn three targets or a witch hits the row from one end. Lightning ward kills the spellcaster, cleric undoes the damage. LW's hurt when they hit, so remember their range, and consider that area a mine field - especially for pyros and witches. If you want to hit the LW with a spell, remember that both the pyro and the witch outrange the LW and can therefore attack it without deadly reprisal - IF they attack four spaces away.)

2. Focus your attacks.
(Wide-spread havoc may be fun to do, but it only serves to make the hostile cleric look good.)

3. Don't needlessly leave your own units in harm's way.
(Without a very good reason, that is. If they are alive, they can be healed. So keep them alive by not putting them in positions where they get killed. Scouts and spellcasters tend to die this way. Sometimes clerics too, especially with hostile witchburn.
BUT: It is not necessary to keep all 10 units alive, so taking a hit - or even allowing a friendly unit to perish - is at times a good move. For example, a wounded unit may be able to drag a hostile unit to the grave along with it, hitting two units badly may force the opponent to realise that one Barrier is not enough, a charge by the hostile lightning ward may require the first unit to perish. However, in these cases some caution is called for - is the advantage really worth it? Will the hostile unit go down, is there enough backup to the charge to justify giving up a unit?)

4. Use your army rather than only a part of it.
(Not good forgetting half your army on the sidelines. The active five units face 10 hostiles. Once they are dead, the other five still face 10 units. Not all units need to rush the enemy, but they can still have an effect on the game. For example, a solitary enchantress near to the Cleric is a good deterrent to a Knight rush against the healer, which enables you to attack with slightly less concern for a counter-attack.)

5. Don't attack without a good reason - and DON'T move your cleric unless you really, really have to.
(Because of recovery times. A good reason to attack is to kill the hostile piece, or force your opponent to defend it or to pull it back. Damage for its own sake only means your units take more time to recover. As for clerics, it takes two extra turns for the cleric to recover if you do. Instead, move other units to eliminate the need for you to move your cleric. On the other hand, a dead cleric heals no one.)

6. Remember blocking - flank and backstab.
(Especially knights. Only one sword, arrow, or dagger attack hit out of five hits them from the front, making them attack mostly a wasted move plus potentially a risk. Assassins are almost as bad targets with their 70% frontal blocking. Contraptions with 100% blocking on all sides are immune to swords and arrows - unless focusing or paralysed. Sometimes heavy magical barrage is the best course of action to take down a lightning ward. Sometimes rushing past it does the trick - it can only fire rarely. Usually the best way is to simply go around it. Range 3 is not all that much for an immobile piece.)

7. Keep your units together so they can work together.
(Solitary units invite flank and rear attacks. Due to recovery times, they can generally only wound, not kill, unless they recover fast and the target is fragile - e.g. knight vs cleric.)

8. Look for openings.
(An opening can mean a flank attack opportunity, a way to push a unit past enemy lines, open shots for the Scout on spellcasters. In brief, they are opportunities to take advantage of / to deny the enemy.)

9. Know what you and your opponent are doing.
(Having a plan helps you move your units efficiently. Knowing what your opponent is up to helps disrupt his plan.)

10. Look out for...
(Especially the Scout, the Enchantress, and the Barrier. Know how to use them and watch out for their hostile counterparts. Each of those are very good at taking advantage of momentary lapses of attention, and is awesome when used as a part of a combo. The Barrier may look innocuous, but used by an expert, it is amazing. Barrier + Enchantress means a focus that freezes your units, typically for so long that the game is effectively over or the paralyzed unit dead when the lock is released, if it ever will be. A Barrier can protect a unit so that a Witch can fire through it without damaging the friendly unit - that can mean that your Lightning Ward is taken out. Barrier + Scout means two incoming arrows fired from the midst of your position - it can even mean a dead cleric with no chance for you to take out the Scout. )