Achievement Discussion

[TopCat]

Then chalk it up to an AI difference between USA and JPN versions because I am NOT wrong about having performed this multiple times.

[Thumpasaurus]

topcat said:

Then chalk it up to an AI difference between USA and JPN versions because I am NOT wrong about having performed this multiple times.

Yes, I believe you are telling the truth, but like I said the only explanation is a difference between versions, because having played the US version a great deal, I have seen the AI take the most ridiculous convoluted paths, and endlessly loop the same fort to avoid leveled-up Kelpies (and saw it happen for a good 200 turns while playing this match). There is just no way to use just 1 to collect tolls on this map in the US version.

[Thumpasaurus]

Oh also, for reference on Meltia's books:

"Hades" = has scrolls
"The Earth" = no scrolls

Handy to know if you go with Reflection instead of Fistfight on this one.

[Fluff]

Mar 1, 2008 13:42:22 GMT -5 Thumpasaurus said:

topcat said:

1)Yeah, it's probably Zanadol. I haven't looked at the map recently so I still don't remember the name.

Okay, I just played this match, and with regard to point 2 and 3, I must say that I was absolutely right about this. She will avoid leveled up Kelpies AT ALL COSTS. She will go whatever route will avoid them, even if that means never going to either castle. There is simply no way a single Kelpie can get you tolls on this map, and I must STRONGLY recommend that anyone trying to set this match up consider another board. You can still win on this board, but you won't be getting tolls unless you set up several Kelpies that effectively block all paths (which is a lot on this map).

If you do use another map, make sure it has a lot of empty squares since you've got to take up a lot of room with your creatures. When I did this, I didn't notice that I only had to have all 13 idols on the board at one point in the game, not necessarily win with them all on the board.

I still used Zanadol, but I packed an extra Kelpie. Barricade the top castle, since that's the one she'll return to when she exhausts. One Kelpie at the intersections of the large loop and each of the small loops will ensure that she stays in one of the small loops. This gives you a lot of room to work in and makes it easier IMO, since you know where to go to get in a battle with her creatures.

[thesideburns]

Just played a marathon game to unlock several avatar parts at once.

I played on the grid map full of intersections, against Meltia, who used her deck with no scrolls (or spells, obv).

Here are the requirements I met in this single 3-4 hour match:
had my magic exhausted and won
paid 20 tolls and won
paid at least 3,000 in tolls and won
destroyed 10 creatures at once
won with 90,000+
won with a level 5 land of each color
received 3,000 in a single toll
successfully invaded 20 lands

here's a general run-down of my deck/strategy:

first, i walked around being useless and paying tolls whenever possible, while laying down a Nil, and Shrink-ing any enemy creatures that looked kinda big. When there were at least 10 creatures out, I used Nil and an Insect Swarm to kill everything.

my next goal was to start laying creatures and buying lots of symbols before leveling anything up. besides Nil, I had only a few creatures in my deck:

Boggart for the big toll achievement,
Mirage for perfect defense,
Kelpie for occasional stoppage (most got Cockatrice'd),
Fey for growing ST,
Lichenoid for growing HP.
Aspidochelone for late game pwnage,
Soul Collector for late game pwnage,
Necromancer for reviving things (meh).

Important combos included...

Fat Body and Mutation followed by Fistfight for ultimate defense.
Fey to pump up strength of one creature, Paralysis and Chariot to cause a path of destruction.
Quicksand and Holy Word 0 to get some consecutive big tolls.
Aurora to pump up the symbols once I got bored of buying them every lap.

Had a few items but I hardly needed to use them.

The only avatar part I set out to get but didn't was the one for successfully defending 20 times. Meltia just wasn't attacking that much, and I was ready to finish the match after 4 hours. I got to 90k a little before I got to 20 invasions, so by the time I got that 20th kill, I decided to just hit the castle.

I recommend using a pad and paper to keep track of tolls paid / invasions / defense, because this type of match is too long to keep count of all those things in your head.

If anyone knows a story mode opponent who likes to attack against stacked odds, lemme know.