complete reference to conquer a level 10 npc
i. Disclaimer
http://i27.tinypic.com/dy3vo4.pngall i intend to do is to make place for a complete reference for a first timer and to share my experiences so that others can just take the lessons out of it. I wish to thank other posts without which i would not have taken a level 10 npc myself. Recently, i did some experimental hits to analyse and post the outcome of them for first-timers.
ii. Introduction
http://i31.tinypic.com/wa55bn.pnga level 10 npc is primarily taken for the level 10 buildings it has. Those 37 x lvl 10 farms (+ 3 x lvl 9) when coupled with 10 x lvl 10 lakes plus a decent politics hero like say 120 provide a food production of about 1.5m per hour. I have had experiences with several level 10 npcs. So, whatever is posted here will have those experiences, standing behind.
iii. Prerequisites
1. Troops
http://i28.tinypic.com/fzaul5.png
this depends upon two factors -
1. Proximity of your target level 10 npc from your attacking city(-ies)
2. Method you are able to choose for this process.
I. Single city method -
170,000 archers & 150,000 warriors [6-10 heroes] time taken: About 60 - 90 minutes(from hit#1)
ii. Multiple city method -
140,000 archers & 320,000 warriors [40 heroes approx.] time taken 1 - 2 minutes from hit#1
first wave aka spearhead wave should take down the fortifications and troops inside it. Some fortifications might still remain and regeneration will be higher initially. Second and third waves should be slightly bigger than the rest.
2. Extra town slot
http://i32.tinypic.com/13ygmj7.pngthis is quite obvious, however if you want to do this exercise while you are a marquis or duke and that you don’t have an extra town slot, you might depend on your attacks for the medal drops and thereby you await your next title during the course of action. This is absolutely fine as long as you need about 4 justice medals and 4 nation medals. If you need more, then you must be prepared with a few additional troops to prolong the attacking sequence.
3. Penicillin, corselet & war horn
http://i25.tinypic.com/1fg6k3.pngfor a first timer, these can be of great help, otherwise you must be prepared for the losses. Good attack hero can compensate for corselet and horn but penicillin has its impact in reducing losses.
4. Scouting heroes inside the npc
http://i27.tinypic.com/15g5m3t.pngwhenever you scout the npc, the hero inside it changes. Keep doing this until u find a hero with level less than 5 or so. He can still have an attack of about 80 or more which we are not so sure of. However, the point is we all expect a low level hero to be weaker than a higher level hero. At the end of scouting, you can launch your attack. This hero will remain the same throughout the whole process.
5. Technology levels
http://i25.tinypic.com/24ou3aw.pngarchery, mt, medicine & iw should be maxed out. Additionally, compass when maxed will be of use too.
6. Heroes to be sent
http://i27.tinypic.com/2z50pli.pngget ready with the heroes to be sent. All should have att greater than 100 or so. Based on the no. Of waves to be maintained in action, you will need about 5 to 10 heroes. If the hero for spearhead has an attack of ~150, it's fair enough to reduce losses. As per method#1, 6-10 heroes will be needed. As per method#2, 40+ heroes will be needed.
7. Buildings
http://i30.tinypic.com/14jyjd4.pngrally point – this building should be of level 9 min.(lvl 10 serves the best). For those who aren’t aware of, a level of rally point adds up 10,000 troops to be sent in a single wave.
feasting hall – for a similar reason as above(in this case the no. Of heroes engaged), this needs to be of level 9(min.) to make the best use of it.
Note: If you attack an npc in next tile of distance 1 mile, you will probably end up in a round trip of about 7 minutes. Since 1 minute is a nice gap to be maintained, you will need 7 waves in action to keep it going. However, if the distance is 3 miles or more, the round trip will be mostly 16 minutes or more and hence you need to space out wider which means you take more losses.
8. War ensign(optional)
http://i25.tinypic.com/20z7j86.pngthis is an item which can be applied by ticking the small checkbox located in the top left of marching window. This will include as much as 25% additional troops to be deployed out of a single wave, so this finds its use in the spearhead wave to take minimal losses. From the next wave onwards, don’t forget to un-tick it, else you keep losing this item unnecessarily. If you have only lvl 9 rally point, then this will prove to be of great use for the spearhead wave.
v. Some basics
1. Wave composition
a. Single city method –
the npc should be on next tile, ideally. If it's more than 3 miles away, then this method will have huge losses.
spearhead - 90,000~125,000 archers(approx.) (based on your rally point level and whether you have applied war ensign or not)+
rainbow (one of each other troop for the layering) (optional)
note: Before spearhead, a few waves of warriors can be sent but that doesnt give a big impact esp. Due to the high initial regen.
wave 2 - 3 –
20,000 archers +
20,000 warriors +
rainbow(optional)
after wave 3, –
10,000 archers +
15,000 warriors +
rainbow(optional)
b. Multiple city method
spearhead - 90,000~125,000 archers(approx.) (based on your rally point level and whether you have applied war ensign or not)+
rainbow (one of each other troop for the layering) (optional)
wave 2 - 3 –
20,000 archers +
20,000 warriors +
rainbow(optional)
after wave 3, –
7,000 warriors +
rainbow(optional)
detailed explanation of method #2 can be found
here, thanks to
arislan1999
note: Ballistae enter battle only at about 32nd round whereas the spearhead wave will be over at ~14 rounds. I, myself had them included which i realised as plain stupidity. Do not add ballistae to this process, ever.
2. Medals drop / wave timings balance
http://i25.tinypic.com/103a6o9.pngmedals drop only when a good no. Of troops are killed. The spearhead wave usually gets a medal (where you slaughter 400,000 warriors). In the subsequent waves, only fortifications regenerate, so you may not get medals. Troops regenerate as 40,000 warriors once in about 6 minutes where you can expect a medal drop. If you look out for more medal drops, you wud like to prolong the process, so you can maintain the wave gap as 2 minutes or so. Otherwise, it can be as less as that can be sustained. 4 justice and 4 nation medals are quite normal to be set as minimum expectations.
Note: Method#1 is apt for medal hunt. Method#2 is for advanced players and for long distance captures.
3. Loyalty reduction
the starting value is 91 at the level 10 npc. It loses 3-4 per successful attack(depends on the wave compostion) till the value goes down to ~60 and thereafter it loses 2-3 per attack, totalling to ~40 attacks.
4. Level up heroes when they return
http://i27.tinypic.com/1zvdf11.pngwhen a wave returns, don’t rush to send them back again. Check out the timings of the wave that has just marched out, level up the hero who has just returned and then send the next wave.
vi. Battle reports for reference
spearhead wave
other waves as per method #1
wave 2
wave 3
wave 4
.
.
.
Note: I hit a level 10 npc just for the sake of posting here, so didnt bother to proceed to take it. Other waves will be much similar to wave 4 (which will accomodate 40,000 warriors spawn in itself). In method #2, you will be taking it before the 40,000 warriors spawn.
vii. Technology levels applicable to the battle reports
military tradition - level 10
iron working - level 10
compass - level 10
archery - level 10
medicine - level 10
after this process, you can refer to
this for getting an idea of how to re-build a lvl 10 npc, thanks to
byronxan
comments/feedback welcome.