Great Conqueror: Rome Equipment Analysis
Jan 21, 2022 13:39:38 GMT
best75, jonblend, and 4 more like this
Post by Kliment Jefremovitš Vorošilov on Jan 21, 2022 13:39:38 GMT
As with all games on the forum, there's alot discussion about generals, but little to none about items. And I'm not sure has a thread like this made before, atleast not before the latest updates, so I decided to rate atleast some of the items and artifacts and give a suggestion on what general to put them on. (This done assuming your lineup includes 3 cavalry, 3 infantry and 2 archers)
Also, this can also be a thread for discussion about the items and how I and you rate them.
As there are only 8 f2p artifacts and you can deploy upto 8 generals in conquest and late game campaign, I felt like giving a numeral rating would be quite stupid - they're all good - so instead I went with a verbal rating, which goes like this from best to worst:
Essential - A must have item, you should get as soon as possible and equip on your best general.
Excellent - A very good item, you should prioritise getting if you have sufficient generals. You should use it on of your best generals.
Good - A good item, you should consider if you have some medals. Equip them on one of your secondary generals who it suits.
Moderately useful - Not the greatest item, but not bad to fill the slot for one of your worse campaign generals
Unnecessary - An item with minimal usefulness, you can use it to fill the slot for the leftover though
These ratings tell how the item compare to other items, that fill the same slot, so for example the Dragon Tripod's and the Augustus Helmet's ratings are not comparable because they fill a different slot.
Please note that all artifacts obtainable from decisive battles are obtained after getting full 15 stars for the rebel side of the chapter listed.
Artifacts
Shield of Thunder - Obtained from the Spartacus Uprising decisive battle, Effects: 25% to increase defence by 100% when attacked - Rating: Unnecessary
Quite clearly the worst artifact out there as defence is pretty useless. He would probably best fit your third infantry general, because of infantry's good defence. Alternatively, you can do as I did and pair it up with the Augustus Helmet for your second archer general. And, if you're f2p, I can really suggest the latter and give your 3rd infantry the Pharaoh's mask. I just wouldn't advice giving it to any cavalry general, they deserve better.
Tutankhamun Dagger - Obtained from the Gallic War decisive battle, Effects: Recover hp that equals to 10% of dealt damage when attacking - Rating: Good/Moderately useful
This a really interesting artifact with the potential to heal more than the Eye of Horus. Only problem is, you won't be giving pure healing items to your most damage dealing generals - cavalry generals, except the third one maybe, because you want to maximize their output. For infantry, the problem is that they deal less overall attacking damage. I would give the dagger to either your second archer general or your third cavalry general. The former probably needs more healing, but the item will have a better output on the latter because of chase. Your choice.
Dragon Tripod - Obtained from the Caesar's Civil War decisive battle, Effects: Morale will always remain high, heal +15 hp per turn - Rating: Essential
The undoubted best artifact of them all. Everyone knows high morale is the best, and then 15 hp per turn to add to that. That is simply perfect! Nowadays the forum suggests you to focus your Commander on cavalry and give him about the skill set Hannibal has (Charge can be replaced with Plain fighting, March or Siege), and so do I. If you have a cavalry commander like that, I really suggest to give him this wonderful artifact along with the Golden Spear. Alternatively if you have Hannibal, you can put the combo on him. I guess it could also fit your Commander even if he's focused on another type though or Belisarius. After you upgrade the Golden Spear though,
you should give the Dragon Tripod to someone else who doesn't yet have guaranyeed high morale.
you should give the Dragon Tripod to someone else who doesn't yet have guaranyeed high morale.
Ganjing Sword - Obtained from the Sicilian Rebellion decisive battle, Effects: Attack +16, critical hit rate +15% - Rating: Excellent
I could have given essential, but I wanted to keep the rating unique. As you can obtain this item only from the notorius Sicilian decisive battle, it can really be a pain trying to get this eastern excalibur, but it is worth it for sure. I don't need to explain it, it is clear why this is so good, +16 damage and +15% critical rate speak for themselves. Once you finally get your hands onto this, I suggest using it on your second cavalry general - Belisarius in my case - to utilize cavalry's speed and chase. After upgrading the Golden Spear though, you should consider pairing it with the Spear.
Golden Mask - Free reward in the beginning of the game - Rating: Moderately useful
It's not the best, but it's 10 hp per turn for free. Use it on your best general until you get other equipment. Once you have completed your lineup give it to one of the "leftover generals" - your 2nd archer or 3rd infantry depending on who has the Shield of Thunder.
Art of War - Purchasable from the shop, Effects: Not negatively affected by terrain when marching, attack +12, defence +6 - Rating: Excellent
Too bad you can't read it but it's effects will still hit your enemies. The Art of War is at least in my opinion, the best artifact you can buy with medals with no less than 3 effects. +6 defence isn't that impressive for sure, but +12 attack is very good, only 4 less than the Ganjing gives and 3 less than Pompeii Gladius. Of course Ganjing has an additional +15% critical hit rate, but which only equals to +7.5% damage. In exchange for that along with the defence you get Antonius' talent. That's pretty cool, especially cool for legionaries. That is why you should give this one to your powerful but slow infantry general called Vercingetorix, although only if he doesn'thave any mobikity items already. Unlike the others mentioned before, you have to spend medals on this one, so you should preferably have already 2 generals of every unit type including Agrippa or Cleopatra before buying this. Also, I'd get the Golden Spear and Laurel Crown first too, but I definitely suggest to get Art of War as your 3rd medal purchase from the shop before the Golden Feather and Holy Grail.
Golden Feather - Purchasable from the shop, Effects: Mobility +3, recover 15 hp per turn - Rating: Excellent/Good
A very good item if you like mobility. Apart from that not that great, but the only artifact along with Art of War that improves mobility deserves an excellent rating. Maybe an excellent minus, not quite the level of Art of War and Ganjing, but better than Holy Grail and Tutankhamun. Still, mobility and hp recovery suit each other well as you can pull your general from the battlefield to heal. I suggest giving it to your first archer general, if he is not Attila, Caesar or Commander, that really is clearly the best option imo. Archers need mobility to keep up and survivability to survive. Do keep in mind that in DB however, the Golden Feather will likeloy make your general die faster and more probably, because it will reach the enemies before others. Don't buy the feather before you have 8 gold generals for campaign and get the Golden Spear, Laurel Crown, Consul's Scepter and Art of War from the shop first.
Holy Grail - Purchasable from the shop, Effects: Recover 25 hp per tun - Rating: Good
I don't have anything against healing items, they just won't be the best without other effects. If you have a working strategy, survivability isn't a problem in campaign and conquest. DB is completely doable without it although it helps. The Holy Grail would certainly be useful in Hero Legend but limited general slots forces you to leave out the Grail if you want to use the best items out there. I suggest giving this to Pompeius. He's fast so he doesn't need speed items, he's infantry so you don't want to use the high damage items and he doesn't have Roar so he doesn't need morale items. Also as I explain later, he is the best choice for the Consul's Scepter so a healing item is a good idea to keep the aura alive. It's not that Pompey's a bad general, the better items just suit other generals better. As for when to get the Holy Grail, you should have already 8 generals and all the items mentioned above with the Golden Feather and the Feather itself before you consider the Holy Grail.
Normal items
Consul's Scepter - Purchasable from the shop, Cost: 500 medals, Effects: Attack of legions in the surrounding 1 grids +15% - Rating: Excellent
Very simple, 15% aura buff, great. I would have rated it as good if hrabrimalitoster 's testing hadn't shown that unlike he other aura items, the scepter stacks with Cleopatra's aura talent and probably with Commander's uniforms too (all the ones you own are active no matter what you wear for the Commander btw). The high price of 500 medals mean however, that you should have as many generals as you need for campaign and all the medal-bought artifacts + the Laurel Crown and the Golden Spear. After getting it, I highly suggest you give it to Pompeius along with the Holy Grail. Here's why: First of all he's fast so he can keep up with cavalry and other speedy generals and boost their attack. Then infantry has good survivability especially when paired with Pompey's Shield Wall and potentially the Holy Grail and banner of Jupiter. Infantry is also the most common unit type and the easiest to replenish after being damaged which is also helped by Pompeius' speed. You will have atleast two good infantry units to work with almost everywhere. You can put Vercingetorix on the other and Pompeius on the other. Then last and maybe least, there aren't any items that would suit Pompey better. You want to give the Golden Spear and Laurel Crown to gens who need it more and make better use of them. Of course there are the other aura items, but Consul's Scepter is the best one and because of the reasons listed above Pompey is the best aura holder.
Golden Spear - Purchasable from the shop for 435(?) medals, Effects: Attack +24, critical hit rate +15% - Rating: Essential
This also one of those that don't need explanation. The other items' effects may sound cool, but the Spear's pure damage is just as good as you would think. You could say it's roughly equal to 8 additional damage points on all unit types for your general. Now, you may notice that it's almost the same as the Ganjing Sword. Why doesn't it have the same rating then. Well, first of all the Spear is better - by +8 damage. Also as I've said the ratings aren't comparable because the artifacts are better than the normal items. Also, you get the Ganjing for free so you won't have to worry about which one of the two to buy. As it is the best normal item, only possible contester being the Laurel Crown, if you have enough medals through tasks and DB or campaign you can buy the Spear as long as you have enough good generals to fill the slots for campaign. You should definitely pair the Spear with the Dragon Tripod on your best general, who would preferably be a cavalry focused Commander or alternatively Hannibal if you've bought it.
Augustus Helmet - Purchasable from the shop for 425 medals, Effects: Defence +12, health of the legion +18% - Rating: Good
As said before, defence is bad in the game so logically the Augustus Helmet is not the best of items. +18% health is only 3% more than the bonus of the Legionary Shield. Definitely buy all the artifacts and better rated normal items first and make sure you have enough generals and a good daily income of medals. If you decide to go for it instead of the Dragon Shield, which is almost equally good, I'd give it to either one of your archers, probably the second one. Infantry generals survive long enough with the natural survivebility of infantry and your generals' artifacts and skills. Then for cavalry you want to maximize damage. Your second archer shouldn't be getting any damage items and will probably die quickly if it gets hit.
Gallic Uniform - Purchasable from the shop for 415(?) medals, Effects: Attack of the unit and that of infantry legions in the surrounding 2 grids - Rating: Excellent plus (almost essential)
Probably the best of the uniforms and even better than the Consul's Scepter, for obvious reasons. On powerful generals the damge boost will come close to that of the Golden Spear. Only downside is that it doesn't stack with the Commander's uniforms, so don't give any of the uniforms to him. If the uniforms would stack, I'd put them above the Golden Spear. 2-tile range and buff to infantry - the most common unit type makes it the best of the three. To maximize the damage boosts, and to leave the Asian Uniform to your mobile archer, you should give it to your secondary cavalry general, who will be deployed often and is quite fast.
Asian Uniform - Purcahsable from the shop for 395(?) medals, Effects: Attack of the unit an that of cavalry legions in the surrounding 2 grids +15% - Rating: Excellent plus (almost essential)
Really the same as Gallicus Uniform. While infantry is more common, cavalry usually deals more damage and more often. Since it - atleast judging on the written effect - buffs the general holding it no matter what unit type it is, you should give it to a non cavalry general with decent mobility and survival.
Germanicus Uniform - Purchasable from the shop for 375(?) medals, Effects: Attack of the legion and that of archers in the surrounding 2 grids +15% - Rating: Excellent minus
Again same as the two uniforms above except for archers and slightly worse because of that. Archers die easily and are rare and slow so not a priority like the other two. I would still buy it at some point and equip on your third cav or infantry general.
Dragon Shield - Purchasable from the shop for 375 medals, Effects: Health of all legions +25% - Rating: Good
Pretty much the same uses and effects as the Augustus Helmet above. Again use it on archers and on other generals in hold the ground situations.
Laurel Crown - Purchasable from the shop for 215 medals, Effects: Morale of the legion is always high - Rating: Essential
There's no need to explain this, high morale is just too good, and that for only 215 medals. You should equip it on a very good general, probably someone with Assault/Roar/Advantage. Personally, mine's on Vercingetorix, but I understand if you want to give it to Belisarius/Mithridates instead.
Military Map - Purchasable from the shop for 185 medals, Effects: mobility of the legion +3 - Rating: Good
Although, I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of extra mobility, it's obviously nice. The thing is, that it's only +1 mobility conpares to cartage so it often won't make a big difference. Also, kind of a waste of a slot, I'd rather have a crossbow instead, but a good item, when there's a situation when you need alot of mobility and a relatively cheap item too.
Gallic War - Purchasable from the shop for 165 medals, Effects: not negatively affected by terrain when marching on land - Rating: Good
Same as Military Map really, not an item to regularly use in combat, but certainly can come handy in certain situations, so once you can get a decent amount of medals from tasks amd DB, not a bad buy if you have 10 generals and the better items, including all 'artifacts'.
Fasces of Power - Purchasable from the shop, Effects: 15% chnace to increase defence by 100% - Rating: Unnecessary
1. As said, defence is bad, just use a Centurion Shield.
2. This item is horrible, even if defence was good; conisdering an average heavy unit has around 20 defence, Fasces of Power gives on the long run only 15%×100%×20 = 3 defence on average. That is the same as Leather Armour which LITERALLY COSTS LIKE 2000 COINS!
2. This item is horrible, even if defence was good; conisdering an average heavy unit has around 20 defence, Fasces of Power gives on the long run only 15%×100%×20 = 3 defence on average. That is the same as Leather Armour which LITERALLY COSTS LIKE 2000 COINS!
Pharaoh's Scepter - Purchasable from the shop for 65 medals, Effects: not damaged by the grid on fire - Rating: Moderately Useful
In normal use, pretty useless considering fires aren't that big of a problem. If badges didn't exist though, this item could be useful in Hero Legend/Epic War, but Fire Suppression exists so not the most useful item.
IAP items reviewed (considering upgrades)
Please note this is not an advice on which items to buy or to buy items at all, just giving my opinion on them based on their effects.
Eye of Horus - Effects: Regain 75 HP per round - Upgrade: 25% chance of reducing enemy morale when attacking
Before upgrades, Eye of Horus is undoubtedly the best of the three old IAP items and probably even after it. Rumour is really good and maybe a bit too unexploited in GCR considering the new "Hellish" monsters.
Gram - Effects: Attack +30, Durability of cities -25% - Upgrade: Can unleash lava on the enemy
Okay so I pay around 5€ for a two in one Pompeii Gladius that can destroy cities? Really?!? Well...if you pay some pure metal you can "unleash lava"... Really? What was Easytech thinking when they made this item, just use a Crossbow instead.
Shield of Achilles - Effects: Defence +25, recover 35 HP per round, immune to damage from the grid on fire - Upgrade: Morale of the legion is always high
Three effects with varying usefulness make it an alright item when bought, but the upgrade makes it compete with Eye of Horus for the number 1 spot of the three old IAP items. Not sure how necessary and irreplaceable it is by free items though.
IAP bundle
Shennong Tripod - Effects: Regain 40 HP per round - Upgrade: Recover HP that equals to 10% of the damage dealt when attacking
Goujian Sword - Effects: Attack +32, 50% chance to increase morale when attacking - Upgrade: Critical hit rate +18%
With the upgrade, this item becomes the best item at healing, so if you don't care about rumour, there's not really point in buying Eye of Horus.
Goujian Sword - Effects: Attack +32, 50% chance to increase morale when attacking - Upgrade: Critical hit rate +18%
The only IAP lower spot item, and a very good one too. Insane damage and crit boost paired with the morale buff make it almost a second Golden Spear. Considering how good the Shennong Tripod too is, the discount bundle is by far a better deal than the other 3 items.
Fury of Pharaoh - Effects: Attack +20, when attacking the grid will catch fire - Upgrade: Critical attack rate +12%
Not much to say really, a really solid item you get for any IAP, but not anything game changing F2P players wouldn't survive without, which is, in my opinion very well done from Easytech.
Item upgrades
(Under editing...)
Unlike with the unupgraded items I won't really rate the upgrades, but I'll put them in 5 tiers in terms of importance, which will actually kind of work as a rating.
Right now f2p players can get up to 65(?) pure metal though, so it after you've got the important upgrades, the rest won't matter that much.
I will also talk about which general to use the item on for the higher tier items.
Tier 1 (most important)
Golden Spear
High morale, again, is just great. The upgrade lets you to give your first gen the Spear and the Ganjing Sword. Should be the first item you upgrade. It also let's you to give your Dragon Tripod to another general if you had it paired with the spear.
Shield of Thunder
Again, you get high morale and the worst artifact becomes one of the best. And again, absolutely worth the 4 pure metal. Use it on Mithridates, Vercingetorix, Belisarius or an IAP equivalent.
Ganjiang Sword
As Theron of Acragas well said, you get a Golden Spear and a Tutankhamun Dagger in one item. That is obviously great, allowing you to heal up to 100+ hp per hit, although you can't except to get that regurarly.
To best use its healing abilities it should be paired with Golden Spear on a strong and preferably a cavalry general who attacks often.
To best use its healing abilities it should be paired with Golden Spear on a strong and preferably a cavalry general who attacks often.
Tier 2
Augustus Helmet
This shouldn't be a surprise as to why to upgrade it. With the upgrade it offers now a great damage buff alomg with the improved survivability, so it's a great item especially for light armoured archers and generals you want to attack with often. For those reasons, it's probably suited best for Mithridates VI and alternatively Attila.
CaduceusEveryone who's played WC4 knows rumour is great and also in GCR it can be a big help in fighting gods. Being a purely upgraded version of Golden Feather/Holy Grail and unlike the two others having a useful upgrade it can be used over those on the generals previously using the others. In Epic War, it could be used to make a debuffer general, making sure the general can reach the enemy and deal rumout with aome other effect of the unit. For that reason it's also great on Huo, Han Xin, Hasdrubal and Hannibal.
Tier 3
Laurel Crown
Asian Uniform
Consul's Scepter
Tutankhamun Dagger
Dragon Tripod
Gallicus Uniform
German Uniform
Gallic War
Tier 4
Dragon Shield
Military Map
Golden Mask
Augustus Armour
Art of War
Tier 5
Golden Feather
Holy Grail
Africanus Uniform
Banners
For the banners I will use the same colour rating system as with the items. I won't be writing all the effects of every single banner under them so I'll just put a table here with all the effects. Effects up to level 4 up the written skill a level and at level 5 the general holding the banner gains the written talnet along with it's original talent.
Banner of Apollo
Overall a great banner. Cav Com and Assault are arguablythe two best skills for cavalry, Hide doesn't matter and Charge is an alright skill although I doubt many generals who will hold the banner will have it. The talent is good as well. Due to the skills it boosts, Belisarius and a Cavalry Commander are the best to hold it.
Banner of JupiterThis one is undoubtedly one of the best banners you can get. Although it there's really only one good skill it boosts, the talent is so great it makes up for it. You should use this banner on Pompey or possibly Labienus if you really want to. An exception would be situations where you don't use Pompey (the second best f2p, non-Commander infatry general), but you want to have the talent or that you have an infantry Commander.
Banner of VulcanThe one and only banner for the great Vercingetorix and the only banner that has 3 good skills. And again an alright talent.
Banner of MinervaAn okay banner for Arminius and Huo if you look at the skills with a solid talent as well. The reason why the banner isn't better, is that all the 4 skills are kind of mediocre.
Banner of VenusImagine this, you complete a long and hard chapter of Hero Legend to be awarded with...this... It doesn't buff a single even half good skill, two mediocre and two awful ones (considering this goes to Surena/Drusus, so Hide will be bad). The talent itself isn't as bad as you'd think but from all 3 unit types archer is no doubt the worst to have the talent, since they don't deal much counterattack damage at all.
Banner of NeptuneNormally, this banner won'thave any use at all, but I rated it good since on waters, it's all you can ask for.
Banner of MercuryAlthough, it only has two skills that will likely ever activate, Besiege and Advantage, the good talent and the good skills make it an overall good banner, it's just overshadowed by the banner of Mars. Drusus, Mithridates. IV and Commander would be the best holders.
Banner of JunoI was thinking about giving a Useless rating but since Engineer and Cav Com are considered so good by many we'll go with a yellow. Apart from Cavalry Commander, not the best but not the worst skills. An alright banner for Antony, and a great banner for speedrunners due to Engineer being a great city cracking talent.
Banner of MarsA great and a decent archer skill + an absolute monter talent, high morale and fire immunity as well. In my opinion, definitely a worthy reward for completing the second last chapter of HL. Mithridates IV and Commander are by far the two best holders.
Badges
Since there's only 12 badges and all of them are quite good, it's hard to give a rating like with other equipment, but my advice to badges would be this:
1. There are 3 essential badges for each unit type, which are Eagle Cohort (especially for Vercingetorix, Spartacus and Hannibal), Holy Damage (endgame is all about fighting monsters, so basically free damage) and the guard badge for the unit type (+20% legion health is always nice). These 5 badges are also ones you should always buy if they're available from the shop with coins.
2. Defence Formation for archers and Riding Master for Cavalry are also good badges, but not quite as good as the others mentioned above and possibly not even better than some mentioned below.
3. Then what about the remaining 5? They're also great in certain situations but not must haves for all your generals, here's an overview on them listed in a rough best to worst order, although they have different uses and aren't directly comparable:
-Defence in Depth: can be a very good badge especially in Epic War where you have excess money you can use to build trenches and fences. You just have to remember to build them though.
-Disease immune: I really like to have this on my Commander (cavalry) so I can use him to kill Anubis and Goblins without fear of plague damage, but it's not a badge you'd by any means need on your whole lineup. Great for Belisarius.
-Firefighter: Same as disease immune, good to have on some gens who can take on Dragons and Volcanoes without fear of fire, but not anything you'd need on your whole team.
-Warship Modification: Great, but you aren't going to use modified warhips too often.
-Siegecraft: Same as DiD, theoretically good for Epic War - except who really needs a badge for taking cities?
1. There are 3 essential badges for each unit type, which are Eagle Cohort (especially for Vercingetorix, Spartacus and Hannibal), Holy Damage (endgame is all about fighting monsters, so basically free damage) and the guard badge for the unit type (+20% legion health is always nice). These 5 badges are also ones you should always buy if they're available from the shop with coins.
2. Defence Formation for archers and Riding Master for Cavalry are also good badges, but not quite as good as the others mentioned above and possibly not even better than some mentioned below.
3. Then what about the remaining 5? They're also great in certain situations but not must haves for all your generals, here's an overview on them listed in a rough best to worst order, although they have different uses and aren't directly comparable:
-Defence in Depth: can be a very good badge especially in Epic War where you have excess money you can use to build trenches and fences. You just have to remember to build them though.
-Disease immune: I really like to have this on my Commander (cavalry) so I can use him to kill Anubis and Goblins without fear of plague damage, but it's not a badge you'd by any means need on your whole lineup. Great for Belisarius.
-Firefighter: Same as disease immune, good to have on some gens who can take on Dragons and Volcanoes without fear of fire, but not anything you'd need on your whole team.
-Warship Modification: Great, but you aren't going to use modified warhips too often.
-Siegecraft: Same as DiD, theoretically good for Epic War - except who really needs a badge for taking cities?
(Also, this is heavily influenced by me playing and finishing hero legend over the last weeks.) 
