Post by kanue on Feb 1, 2017 13:32:31 GMT
I have seen Erich von Manstein gives a recommendation on Li Hongzhang but it seems that no one actually cares about this general so I would like to write some of my thoughts about him.
General Skills
Li Hongzhang has a nice set of skill specially Archer Commander and Leadership. Archer Commander is probably the reason why he is worth considering (maybe the same goes for Nelson). With radius of 2 and duration of 3, his can contribute greatly to the line up with many archers. Thus, on this regard, he does the job as nicely as Nelson, with one exception that he can do it at a cheaper cost. Note that your Washington and Nobunaga still get same amount of bonus regardless of where it comes from. Leadership is what makes Nobunaga great and also make Li Hongzhang's lack is stat become less relevant. Now his attack is not only about doing damage but also cripple your enemy. I know that you have Nobunaga and he can do this but I do think that there are more than enough enemies that you want to crippled.
Lv6 Skill
Strike obviously makes him a horse-killer so now he has an additional niche to fit in (another niche is archery buff).
Stat
Having blue status is his one big downside. But as I mention before, his attack is not only about dealing damage, he can cripple an enemy, which will make an opportunity for other generals to follow up. If there is an enemy cavalry, Strike is more than enough to compensate for the stat. His inferior defensive stat can be mitigated by your (the player's) ability to avoid being attacked. He can attack enemies at range so the problem is only on the enemy turn that he needs to be positioned wisely.
Cost
900 medals for a 5 stars general is kinda good deal. Moreover, since he is blue, his skills are cheaper to upgrade. So basically, if the main damage dealers are Washington and Nobunaga and what you just need is Archer Commander buff, then he is he one for you.
Viability
In my opinion, he is very viable for most of cases. One main reason that he is ignored is because he is not an endgame general. But, hey, I do not think that most of us will be patient enough to reach the point that we buy/upgrade all generals who we considered 'endgame' in our 8 seats. So since we are not likely to reach that point anyway, so why do we care if one of the generals is not considered 'endgame.' In fact, he might be better choice to fill the 8th slot than any 'endgame' general because he is much cheaper.
Li Hongzhang VS Nelson
In order to make it easy to gauge his value, I'll compare him to Nelson.
Attack
Nelson has higher attack stat than Li Hongzhang (well, obviously). At lv60 Nelson has 743 Attack and Li Hongzhang should have about 6xx (I do not know exactly since I do not have him but the number should be around 600ish based on other blue archer). With purple weapon, Nelson's would be 800ish and Li's should be 700ish. That makes Nelson has about 15% higher damage than Li. The gap in percentage will decrease if they are equipped with Legendary weapon. So Nelson hit 15% harder in general but when the target is cavalry, now, Li will hit much harder due to Strike skill (Nelson loses his bonus damage on cavalry for 3 hex range). Li's advantage is not too situational since cavalry is not rare and you can always pick a target for him. So I do not think that the outut gap between the two is as wide as many of us perceive.
Range
Nelson has 3 hex range which makes him kinda unique. In my opinion, the best thing about that is the fact that he can hit enemy's archer without being counterattacked and attack a target on the other side of wall/mountain. It does not offer you much when fighting against cavalry and infantry. But still this is an undeniable edge that Nelson has over Li.
Defense
Nelson is much better in this regard. 3 hex range makes it easier to position him. General skill also adds Nelson HP but Li also has Defense Expert skill as well so that's up to whether you want HP or defense.
Skills
I am pretty sure that Leadership is more prefered to Navigator, and this somewhat makes up for Li's inferior stat. Both have Archer Commander but it is cheaper to upgrade Li's. It is important to note that the archer buffing role is not mutual exclusive, meaning that you can have both Nelson and Li in your line up and take turn popping that aura.
Cost
Li costs 900 medals and another 750 medals for upgrading him to elite unit. Nelson at 4 stars costs 2500, plus 1200 for upgrading to 5 stars, and another 1650 to be elite. In total, 1650 for Li and 5350 for Nelson to reach max level. And the fact that it is more expensive to upgrade purple general's skills than blue's comparable skills. So Li is much cheaper. And how much cheaper...? Well, Nelson's cost is about the same as Li and a piece of legendary item.
Disclaimer
I do not have Li Hongzhang myself since my line up focuses on using cavalry. All of this is purely based on my fantasy 'if I had Li, what would it be like' so I do not claim that what I think is accurate. I just wanna share my thought.
TLDR
Li Hongzhang might be worth considering
General Skills
Li Hongzhang has a nice set of skill specially Archer Commander and Leadership. Archer Commander is probably the reason why he is worth considering (maybe the same goes for Nelson). With radius of 2 and duration of 3, his can contribute greatly to the line up with many archers. Thus, on this regard, he does the job as nicely as Nelson, with one exception that he can do it at a cheaper cost. Note that your Washington and Nobunaga still get same amount of bonus regardless of where it comes from. Leadership is what makes Nobunaga great and also make Li Hongzhang's lack is stat become less relevant. Now his attack is not only about doing damage but also cripple your enemy. I know that you have Nobunaga and he can do this but I do think that there are more than enough enemies that you want to crippled.
Lv6 Skill
Strike obviously makes him a horse-killer so now he has an additional niche to fit in (another niche is archery buff).
Stat
Having blue status is his one big downside. But as I mention before, his attack is not only about dealing damage, he can cripple an enemy, which will make an opportunity for other generals to follow up. If there is an enemy cavalry, Strike is more than enough to compensate for the stat. His inferior defensive stat can be mitigated by your (the player's) ability to avoid being attacked. He can attack enemies at range so the problem is only on the enemy turn that he needs to be positioned wisely.
Cost
900 medals for a 5 stars general is kinda good deal. Moreover, since he is blue, his skills are cheaper to upgrade. So basically, if the main damage dealers are Washington and Nobunaga and what you just need is Archer Commander buff, then he is he one for you.
Viability
In my opinion, he is very viable for most of cases. One main reason that he is ignored is because he is not an endgame general. But, hey, I do not think that most of us will be patient enough to reach the point that we buy/upgrade all generals who we considered 'endgame' in our 8 seats. So since we are not likely to reach that point anyway, so why do we care if one of the generals is not considered 'endgame.' In fact, he might be better choice to fill the 8th slot than any 'endgame' general because he is much cheaper.
Li Hongzhang VS Nelson
In order to make it easy to gauge his value, I'll compare him to Nelson.
Attack
Nelson has higher attack stat than Li Hongzhang (well, obviously). At lv60 Nelson has 743 Attack and Li Hongzhang should have about 6xx (I do not know exactly since I do not have him but the number should be around 600ish based on other blue archer). With purple weapon, Nelson's would be 800ish and Li's should be 700ish. That makes Nelson has about 15% higher damage than Li. The gap in percentage will decrease if they are equipped with Legendary weapon. So Nelson hit 15% harder in general but when the target is cavalry, now, Li will hit much harder due to Strike skill (Nelson loses his bonus damage on cavalry for 3 hex range). Li's advantage is not too situational since cavalry is not rare and you can always pick a target for him. So I do not think that the outut gap between the two is as wide as many of us perceive.
Range
Nelson has 3 hex range which makes him kinda unique. In my opinion, the best thing about that is the fact that he can hit enemy's archer without being counterattacked and attack a target on the other side of wall/mountain. It does not offer you much when fighting against cavalry and infantry. But still this is an undeniable edge that Nelson has over Li.
Defense
Nelson is much better in this regard. 3 hex range makes it easier to position him. General skill also adds Nelson HP but Li also has Defense Expert skill as well so that's up to whether you want HP or defense.
Skills
I am pretty sure that Leadership is more prefered to Navigator, and this somewhat makes up for Li's inferior stat. Both have Archer Commander but it is cheaper to upgrade Li's. It is important to note that the archer buffing role is not mutual exclusive, meaning that you can have both Nelson and Li in your line up and take turn popping that aura.
Cost
Li costs 900 medals and another 750 medals for upgrading him to elite unit. Nelson at 4 stars costs 2500, plus 1200 for upgrading to 5 stars, and another 1650 to be elite. In total, 1650 for Li and 5350 for Nelson to reach max level. And the fact that it is more expensive to upgrade purple general's skills than blue's comparable skills. So Li is much cheaper. And how much cheaper...? Well, Nelson's cost is about the same as Li and a piece of legendary item.
Disclaimer
I do not have Li Hongzhang myself since my line up focuses on using cavalry. All of this is purely based on my fantasy 'if I had Li, what would it be like' so I do not claim that what I think is accurate. I just wanna share my thought.
TLDR
Li Hongzhang might be worth considering
