Post by saltin on Mar 19, 2015 4:02:18 GMT
This version of the guide is for archives only,please see the newer updated version above.
Generals skills are divided into several groups,some are combat stats modifiers,some are offensive/defensive and the final group are utility:
Group A,Combat stat modifier skills:
*Explosive(art),surprise(cav),formation(inf)*, all increase attack upper limit by 1.
*Ballistic (art),mobility(cav),infantry tactics* all increase attack lower limit by 1.
So artillery,infantry and cavalry all have the same 2 damage increase skills,one help the maximum damage and the other the minimum damage.
For example,take a simple militia,it's basic stat is Attack= 1-5 (we will keep the country and item stats modifier out for simplicity) if you add a general that has the Formation and Infantry Tactics skills the militia stat will change from base line *Attack=1-5* to *Attack=2-6* this means that the general just *doubled* the minimum damage and increased the max damage by 25% .The skills that increase minimum damage are better than the skills that increase max damage even though on average the damage is the same (simplification because of the "soack" defense value of the unit attacked).
Group B,Combat non-stat modifier:
These skills will not change the basic stats of the unit but can still have a combat effect:
*Defensive art*: when triggered,this skill will reduce damage received from an attack to 1 health lost..like a super strong enemy general that normally hit for 50,would simply hit you for 1 point of damage.You can see a bluish icon float away when the skill kicks off.The skill might be buggy though,during testing I often got hit for 1 without the icon.Estimated random chance of trigger might be in the range of 15%
*Assault art*:I haven't tested this skill much but it should be opposite to defensive art,so random chance to inflict (estimated) over max 150% damage .
Defensive art apply to any unit your general is assigned to.
*Bugle(inf),strike(cav),accurate(art)*: these 3 skills all have the same function,they reduce "evasion" of the unit you are attacking.They are all class specific.Since units never miss in EW4 we can only assume that reduced evasion really means the skill reduce defense and increase the likelyhood of larger damage hit.
*Mass Fire*: probably the best skill,only available to infantry but other kind of units can substitute the "snare drum" for the same effect.Normally your damage is tied to your heath so when your hps go down your damage go down too but with this skill your damage is not affected by your health.While this skill is fantastic and is better than any other skill it is still not worth 2 other good skills.
*Leadership*:great skill,your morale will not be reduced,very handy for all,particularly for cavalry as they often penetrate into enemy line to hunt down artillery and then
find themselves encircled.
*banner*:very questionable skill,I tested with the fairly expensive +2 flags and was not able to see any significant combat improvement.The hps regeneration flag does not even register on the units like the very similar regen "tent" item.This is suppose to help neighboring units,but the catch is most of the time friendly units are not sitting side by side but are away busy trying to encircle enemy units so will not benefit.Avoid this skill,most likely broken.
*Spy *:great skill but but very specialized,huge damage to fortifications only.
*Fireproof*:Dubious about this skill,I think it might be an ok starter skill but it doesn't look like the fire damage is hps percentage based,meaning when I look at high ranking general that is on fire it doesn't seem like the damage from the fire is that significant.Ok on ships I guess.
Group C Utility skills:
**Movement related skills** Geography,Engineering etc..the more mobile the quicker the mission finish,it's all good.
**Convenience skills**:Nobleman,war master etc..these skills speed up Rank and nobility gain and while this is nice they are absolutely not worth a combat or even a good utility skill.In testing one of my war master general maxed top rank quicker but was only 2 ranks ahead of other generals.These skills obviously becomes obsolete and useless when you achieve max rank.
**Trainer skills**:used for regrouping (basically making 1 permanently gone to to add 1 star on another general).Note that some trainers are used purely as throw away generals while other can be used as temporary place holder generals.Trainer prices can vary by a lot with the expensive ones in the mid 5xx medal and the cheaper ones mid 2xx.
**Economic skills**:these skills can also be substituted with items/books,they can make certain campaigns easier,simply by allowing you to make more money and upgrade building for cheaper.For greater effect use these skills in combination with a 5 stars merchant General.Also Mdog reported a successfull strategy using these skills to achieve the difficult 30 turns games (to unlock last 2 princess).
Useless skills:Transport,Disguise,Trench etc..
**Navy skills**:Navy? really? Yawn,we talk about ducks some other time ok? :-)
Now the question is,why does ***Napoleon General*** seem so strong and impresses so many players when his skills aren't really top notch?
He cheats..sorta.The reason is twofold:
**1/**when you meet him in conquest or campaign he is often commanding heavy artillery or elite guard cavalry for example and guess what? French heavy artillery (and ottoman too) has the best stats in the world they have an additional 2 points in min_max damage,this is as if Napoleon had 2 free bonus combat skills,same goes with the French guard cavalry,these are 3 points stronger.Any general commanding these op French units would look stronger (The game mention this effect and hints at Britain having better battleships for example,this also makes British navy generals look stronger)
**2/**The 2nd reason is notice and look at Napoleon rank and nobility as early as the 2nd or 3rd campaign,it will be vastly higher than yours.If you "grind" and level your rank and nobility to match his he will no longer seem formidable, on the contrary he would more look like a wet soacked dripping kitten!
K ,then TLDR, cya in in HQ.
