Solitary Swordsman

[WhoseYerLilith]

MmmLilith- That strategy was pretty much based on common sense, and isn't as effecient as it could be. I was kind of expecting something different.

My comments on it:

I'd definitely take out the water shields and put in two more spells/creatures/items simply because you can buy water shields on the stage naturally. I'm very surprised that you didn't include an Archbishop in that deck to remove the Peaces and Fogs that the girls will slap down. A better idea instead of using all the negative status spells is to include a Hyde or two to give enemies paralysis, or use Suppression to just get rid of Peace and Fog once and for all. I wouldn't have included Sink since you can buy Anti-Element on the stage as well which would take away the HP bonus without affecting chains. I'd also replace Anubias with Sea Bonze as your deck isn't really based on destruction, but hey if it worked for you- great!

This is one of the earlier medals I got- I tried to tackle the really hard ones first- I tried about 8 different strategies before finding one that worked and even in the end I also had to succumb to Old Willows. Putting out the Marble Idol really helped during my triple battle with Goligan-Selena-Whirlwind since Selena and Whirlwind generally play with 4 creatures of each (Gremlins, Sages, Nikes, Cait Siths, Etc, Etc) and I used Quanze as my board of choice for the substantial red area.

[MmmLilith]

Well, it's good to see different strategies out there.
I personally think worrying about the Peace spell of Selena is a waste of your time, especially when you can get Selena to cast Peace on her own or allies' creatures.
The Water Shield in a water deck is EXCELLENT!. YOu get full attack protection/neutralization (besides scrolls) and you get to attack too!
Moreover, I got the intended medal on my first attempt.

Should the PS2 or PS3 have an online Culdcept, I would love to have a go at experienced human players.

[s6]

I worry about Peace only when I play Selena and Luthien at the same time - need that income! The 10g spell that removes effects is good to have when you play those two together (in case someone doesn't want to play Archbishop). It *is* fun to watch Selena cast Peace and Fog on her creatures and better yet, her allies' just to remove something else.

I usually cast Peace only on creatures near the castle. Thankfully, only a couple of characters use Land Protect cards (Mullyn is one). Fog is a waste of time, and so are Disease and Binding Mist, since most story characters cast something else on their creatures. Temperance is useful for many creatures (strong ones, like Lords). Evil Blast, even if it's expensive, is most effective...especially two and/or combined with Magic Bolt. Byebye - and go secure the territory.

I'm trying to remember how I earned Solitary Swordsman...seems like it was one of the easier medals. I just got it this past week...

[s6]

Second that! The computer is just too predictable sometimes to be much fun. It would certainly be engaging to challenge some of the Cepters on this board ;D

MmmLilith said:

Should the PS2 or PS3 have an online Culdcept, I would love to have a go at experienced human players.

[WhoseYerLilith]

Hell Yeah! That would freakin rock!

[Thumpasaurus]

The CPU gets VERY dull to play... I'm hating trying to earn Victor Among Victors because of this. The only reason I still play this game is because matches with other people are so much fun.

[Nykkel]

s6 said:

Fog is a waste of time, and so are Disease and Binding Mist, since most story characters cast something else on their creatures. Temperance is useful for many creatures (strong ones, like Lords). Evil Blast, even if it's expensive, is most effective...especially two and/or combined with Magic Bolt.

And of course, Temperance and Evil Blast are a combination just made for each other. "I set your creature's MHP to 30! Now I blast your creature for 30 damage! Ha!" Wish I had more than one Evil Blast... completed the set of cards, and still only have one. Feh.

I do take issue with your statement that Binding Mist is a waste of time, however. Binding Mist is great against opponents who don't cast things on their own creatures, and good in a different way against those who do. Gives you something obnoxious to overwrite their Wing or Vitality or whatever with. The Paralyze ability is very powerful and useful.

[s6]

Yeah, Temperance + Evil Blast! Devastating.

I somehow managed to collect 3 Evil Blasts and at least 6 Magic Bolts (a waste after 4). I need 2 more Land Protect cards, though to be really efficient.

I'm sticking with "waste of time" on Binding Mist simply because most story characters (in my experience) keep something in the book, which they of course draw right away to cast over top of paralysis (like Ryvern's Regeneration, Leo's Vitality, or Selena's Fog, for example. Zagol doesn't hold anything).

More effective is Hyde (especially two or three parked along the causeways that you can use every time you pass over Hyde) for casting paralysis before knocking out the enemy creature completely. Also Nike, who is good for attack (and usually defense).

Nykkel said:

And of course, Temperance and Evil Blast are a combination just made for each other. "I set your creature's MHP to 30! Now I blast your creature for 30 damage! Ha!" Wish I had more than one Evil Blast... completed the set of cards, and still only have one. Feh.

I do take issue with your statement that Binding Mist is a waste of time, however. Binding Mist is great against opponents who don't cast things on their own creatures, and good in a different way against those who do. Gives you something obnoxious to overwrite their Wing or Vitality or whatever with. The Paralyze ability is very powerful and useful.

[Korvan]

Just got this medal last night using an all blue deck, with you guessed it, Kelpie. Playing on the Holy Alter map, I managed to get one Kelpie on a level 5 land on each side of the castle. One of my oppenents ended up getting drained of mana and was stuck. Every turn he would land on the Kelpie, lose all his mana and get sent back to the castle, right between the two Kelpies. After and about 15 turns, he drew a Drain Mana card and drained me for over 8,000, enabling him to break out. But at this point, even after the loss I still had enough to win and was two turns away from the castle.

The early part of the game was challenging, but once the Kelpie's were established it was a cake walk. Poor AIs, they had the cards to win if only they would use them properly.

[sedjtroll]

I dunno about the 3 on 1 battle (haven't tried it yet), but I did play against 2 story characters in VS mode and won, and I didn't get any medal for it. Is there some special condition you have to win that under?

- Seth

[Daimaoh34]

Two reasons that might have costed you the medal:

1) Did you buy any symbols during the game? If you did, that's why you didn't get the medal. I had the same thing happen to me a while ago.

2) Did you have the 2 story characters allied together? On the setup screen, did you have the 2 story mode characters with the same button (triangle or square) over their head?

Hopefully it's one of these. Otherwise, I can't explain why you didn't receive the medal.

[thesideburns]

WOOOOOOOOOT.

after 10-15 failed attempts at this medal, i finally got it! yayyyyyy, so happy. here's how i did it, for anybody who's having as much trouble as i did.

map: Dunnan
magic goal: 10,000 G (sudden death OFF)
versus: Zagol, Morroc, Whirlwind

deck:
====
1 Cleric (for killing Morroc's greys)
1 Sanctum Guard (symbols never hurt)
1 Bunyip (50ST is good)
1 Dagon (blue boost)
4 Kelpies (the key to winning this damn medal)
1 Lilith (for some first strike killin when you need it)
1 Mad Clown (boost)
1 Sea Bonze (to hold down a land til kelpie gets there)
2 Shell Creeper (neut. red+yel, aka most of my enemies' creatures, so good for land-grabbing and holding)
1 Vision (hard to bolt, neut. yel, good for attack or holding down a land til kelpie gets there)

3 Counter Amulets (defense, but helpful for some invasions, like vs Colossus)
4 Gaseous Forms (def.)
3 Gremlin Amulets (more useful for invading, esp. w/Sanctum)
1 Talisman (got this baby at 45 medals, and its amazing. destroys enemy's item, neutralizes attack, and casts land protect on defensive creature)
4 Water Amulets (my only offensive item in the book)
1 Water Shield (it's the only one i have)

2 Banishing Ray (to kill Morroc's greys)
1 Cure (in case a Kelpie is bolted... out of these enemies, only Whirlwind had 1 or 2 bolts in his deck)
1 Drain Magic (always useful)
3 Evil Blasts (easier than invading...)
2 Growth Body (pump up that kelpie)
3 Holy Word 10 (crucial in the beginning of the game when the enemies own most of the land)
1 Influence (cheap color-changing)
3 Magic Bolts (duh)
1 Meteor (just in case an enemy land gets too big)
2 Sink (yay blue)
1 Telegnosis (i ended up discarding this one, probably not necessary if you're playing on such a small map, but sometimes you wanna level up your blue land and put a kelpie on it in a single lap, rather than waiting to go around)

strategy:
Like most people on this thread have said, abuse those kelpies. this is doable even if you only have one in your deck. just take a blue land and hold it down with something that's hard to kill (in my deck, vision, shell creeper, bunyip). once it's AT LEAST lvl 4, swap in the kelpie and protect it with all you've got.

other tips:
- only use defense items for one land: the land your kelpie is on (or wherever you plan to put it)
- grab any land you can, especially with a cheap creature that neutralizes stuff (shell creeper). it's one less land the enemy can level up, and it's one more non-kelpie land you can sell in case you hit a nasty toll. just don't waste any money leveling up these other lands.
- my deck was only 30% creatures, which is enough, if the deck shuffles in your favor. with this sort of deck composition, expect plenty of bad shuffles leading to discouraging losses, but know that when it shuffles well (a few cheap creatures early, with a kelpie 1/3 of the way into the deck) it'll be a piece of cake.
- only invade if you know you can win. otherwise just minimize damage and pay the toll.
- a small map is crucial, as it minimizes the advantage your enemies can get by owning more lands. i found zagol, morroc, and whirlwind to be the easiest combo of enemies because there were no direct damage spells aside from maybe 2 Bolts in Whirlwind's book. their creatures were limited to red yellow and grey, and whirlwind and morroc paid most of my tolls without invading, thus saving me from having to use my precious defense items. the only spells cast on me during this match were the occasional Silences, which don't matter much, since all you're trying to do is survive a few laps and get one kelpie on a leveled up blue land.
- don't set the limit any higher than 10,000 G. if they're nearing this amount and you dont have your kelpie in place yet, you're screwed anyway. plus, if you screw up and accidentally lose your only blue land or kill you're only kelpie, it's REAL easy to suicide your way to a quick loss. this made my many losses along the way less painful.

**I'd highly reccomend saving this medal for one of your last!!! this one's quite difficult, and you'll need a well-balanced deck with plenty of good defense items. i got a lucky shuffle and even lucker with the fact that zagol got his wussy deck. so, to everyone suffering through these 3v1 battles, GOOD LUCK!#nosmileys

[TheSynapZe]

Here's an example of AI Cepters who can use Card Shops and use them well.

I went for this medal last night on Keldar with an all-Water deck (natch) vs. Selena, Whirlwind and Najaran. I had a Land Protected, Level 4 Kelpie on the space in the soutwest area adjacent to the Card Shop (which a foe would have to pass over twice). Neither Whirlwind or Najaran would even go down that way unless the landed on the Card Shop exactly; Selena on the other hand galumphed down there twice, didn't fight the Kelpie, and got bankrupted twice. I was a mere 1000G from winning when Whirlwind finally landed on that Card Shop and I thought "I have three Water Shields on my person, I've got this in the bag". He buys a Fire Explosion from the shop and I grimace slightly. Then Najaran lands on the same shop and buys another one.

Holy (expletive)!

I quickly use Telegnosis and swap out the Kelpie for a Vision and in the resultant fiery holocaust only the Vision and my Dagon survived. I had to build up my power base practically from scratch, re-swap the Kelpie back in, and climb back to the top. Fortunately I did just that (bankrupted Selena one more time) and won with no more than 3000G more than the alliance.

I think that perhaps if I had put the Kelpie down lower somewhere than it actually would have been easier, since Whirlwind and Najaran might not have been pressed into purchasing Fire Explosions. I don't know. Solitary Swordsman was my 49th medal and that's what matters to me.

[Cleric]

I took the advice here and used the Keldar map for the Solitary Swordsman medal... I was lucky to have unlocked it on the first chance. I fought against Selena, Whirlwind, and Zagol. I did pretty poorly against them during the beginning game... for me, it's definitely the kind of match where I have to set the goal high in order to bide my time and wait for the correct circumstances to form.

TheSynapZe's post had me thinking about Kelpie placement, and its affect on the use of card shops... the more I think about it, the more I think I had my Kelpie in a good place. It was in the North area, on the water side near the castle. If I recall correctly, there is no shop at all in the North area, so I don't think the computer oppenents ever anticipated the Kelpie whenever they landed on the card shops. None of the characters ever bought anything, in fact. Also, since both Selena and Zagol wanted the fire squares in the North area, they were very eager to pass through that part of the map, rather than avoid it just because of the Kelpie.

The only unfortunate aspect was that there's no square that the opponents have to pass over twice in the North area, so they would only pass over the Kelpie once per lap. Still, it worked for me.

I think blue is currently my favorite color to play with... the main reason is because there's so many creatures in blue with neutralizing ability. Plus, I really like certain abilities of some of the others, like Kelpie, Hyde, Sea Bonze and Vodyanoi...

It's kind of off topic, but I also won the 'Powder Eater defeats Dragon' medal on the Keldar map. I played an almost all blue deck, with a couple Powder Eaters and possibly a few neutral cards--against Najaran. I had a Vodyanoi on a leveled-up multi-colored land (the map sells Quintessance in the Southwest Shop... came in handy to lower Najaran's chains and tolls) next to her Dragon. I used Hyde to Paralyze the Dragon, and Vodyanoi to attack it (but not kill it), until it was damaged enough that a non powered-up Powder Eater could be exchanged onto the Vodyanoi's square and would destroy the Dragon with a nice weapon. I think I purposely passed through the area over again to make sure I could move the Powder Eater before she had a chance to switch out the Dragon or anything, but a Telegnosis or Revelation would have worked too. She killed the Powder Eater later, but the medal was mine.

So yeah, blue decks on the Keldar map make for good medal huntin'!

-- Cleric

[drelor]

Wow this was a hard metal. I got it on dunun or whatever against goligan, selena, mulyn. It took about 8 tries and I used, of course, a speed old willow deck. like you guys said, all luck!
And booker. 39 down, 11 to go!