03-13-2012, 10:48 PM
SteveForge:
Everyone in these forums has likely seen bomber builds push through faction maps and Tartarus using a dancer, 3 buglars, and an all-splat attack like Maia, Daphne, or Sponde.
Some Athenians like to double-bomb with Dionysis (Mutiny Outbreak) and Herma (Sacred Stardust), while the Zues players may substitute Zues for a buglar when they get him (or even Thalia in a weak Dionysis-envy build).
Those of us who run mage builds however have no problems PvPing against such builds, I personally farm lv110 players with my lv100 build with little effort. The one critisim I get is that "oh yeah, but that cost big money" since you need books to make it work. I personally spent 300g on gettting my purple books so that really isn't a great arguement IMO. The cost of upgrades is fair however as you'll need bigger cloaks and armor to pass Tartarus than a bomber would.
The upside however is that you never have to commission a mount, so you get red cloaks twice as fast as BM users do. The armor is an effort, but you really only need 3 of them to do the job. Here's how I did it:
HEROS:
1) Snipers - your core attackers. You need at least 2 IMO.
Hephaestus (Poseidon M40, 500k) 110/83/113 washed to 157/137/232 Furious Pyromancer
Peneus (Poseidon M27, 270k) 74/28/97 washed to 106/51/217 Thunderstorm Mage
Epimethius (Poseidon M13, 38k) 53/18/91 washed to 80/44/210 Furious Hydromancer
Charon (Mercenary, House of Hades) washed to 64/50/194 Furious Pyromancer
You could hire Chiron or Hector, but I never did. These low level mages are best left alone IMO, not worth the training only to top out with lower hit rates and softer stats than prestige mages or Charon.
While Furious Pyromancers like Heph and Charon have high hit rates (~95%) they hit softer than other snipers. Heph has an added advantage that he tanks very well for a mage. Give these guys big books when you need too, but their hit rate means they can survive fine with low level books while you put the big books on your bigger hitters.
Furious Hydromancers like Epimethius (or Zues' Proteus 72/26/95, and Athenia's Cassandra 57/46/78) hit harder than the pyromancers given the same stats and books but do so less often (~75 to 80%). These are your brush clearers... a big gun you need. Epi and Proteus are must hires for any mage build... Cassandra is too lame to do you any good in Tartarus IMO.
Thunderstorm mages like Peneus (or Athenias Asteria 97/53/120, and Zues's Eurotas 54/33/93) hit even less often but pack the most potent punch of any mage type with the addition of 100% Chaos rate when they land a hit. Obviously Asteria is the top dog here, but even Peneus has decent stats if you wash him up. This attack is essiential if you want to own Dionysis/Thalia/Rhea builds as the hit-and-stun is vital to finishing off oppenents. Don't be afraid to put these mages out front opposing 1 or even 2 enemies. With decent armor and cloaks they'll survive plenty of rounds as they're hit rate is about 60% and the stun gets them a free round of no attacks each time they hit. When these mages land 3 or 4 in a row you can pretty much kill off any hero in the game while sustaining zero damage. Do not overlook these mages (especially Asteria).
2) Splat Attack Mages - you'll want at least 1 of these for clean-up duty, to put a 3rd hit on the sniper mages' target, and to reach back rows while snipers are working on front line opponents. These are your specialists that get brought in as needed.
Psmathe (Poseidon M15, 50k) 50/32/88 washed to 77/66/208
Telchines (Poseidon M24, 170k) 66/30/94 washed to 95/65/199
Meteroite Mages like Psmathe (or Zues's Boreus 79/45/107 and Athenias Morus 77/43/108) can be real solid additions to a mage build. Their ability to add a 3rd hit to the opponent the snipers are working on can mean the difference in a fight. I've rarely had success using 4 snipers and a healer... meteroite mages are useful in cleaning up left overs so snipers do max damage. Don't worry too much about losing these heros after the second or thrid rounds though, as you face fewer and fewer enemies, the total damage they deliver drops off as well. Its tough to finish a fight with a meteroite mage vs a full or even half-stack opponent hero, but they can project damge to otherwise unreachable areas while your snipers work on the tanks up front. I like to give these mages the biggest book I have to maximize damage early vs 5 opponents. Giving this hero a small book makes them much less effective at clean-up duties and softening back heros.
Susnstorm Mages like Telchines (or Zues's Helius 62/63/88 and Athenia's Akte 63/41/83) seem a little hokey at first. These are clearly mages that need to be max trained or close to before deploying in battle. Their hit rates seem to be influenced by a) element stat (washing helps), and b) troop grade relative to oppenent's grade. Since these do NO damage, the goal of these troop types are to stun 1 hero per round making this a 4 vs 4 fight. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but against a bomber build, or a continous BM hero, that 1 chaos can mean the difference between life and death. Stun them 1 time and your snipers get to hit him 4 times in a row... that's a short life span with no damage dealt. The other advantage to this hero is his ability to play meat sheild. While Telchines has a element advantage (making his hit rate a little higher than the other factions) Zues HElius can be used as a shield more effectively. I've seen TElchines deal chaos to every opponent in 1 round on 2 occations, but hits of 2 or 3 opponents are pretty common. As with Meterorite magtes, they're use later in battle is limited, as the hit rate makes it less and less likely to hit anything with only 1 or 2 oppenents remaining. Stuns win battles against healers, Mutiny Outbreak, Troop Recovering Attack, and continous BM users.... definitely a tool to have access to for a mage build. Give these guys your smallest book.
Cyclone mages like Syrinx (Poseidon M11, 25k) 42/17/90 and Zues's Ophion (M37) 94/34/118 have definte potential to do some serious stack damage at these high levels when NPC faculty rises well above 8000 per hero. They're fractional attack means you don't need a book for them (give them you're smallest book). I have Syrinx training up now for getting through Ragnarok, but I havn't used her in battle yet. At lower level maps she's simply unnessesary, and her fractional attack is even less potent than meterorite mages as stack sizes drops. Syrinx's stats prevent her from tanking out front, but Ophion's stats make him a worthy pick up IMO... especially as a tank/meat-shield who only really affects the first half of a battle.
3) Healer - an absolute must for mage builds. You are going to see big BM attacks on soft squishy mages... you will need to recover after every attack to survive to hit back. Don't question it, just do it... you need him (yes, there's only one so far... wait for the lv140 maps![[Image: wink.png]](http://forum.clapalong.com/images/smilies/wink.png)
). The other big reason for him? to tank up front. His stats are solid enough he can tank a spot for you when needed. Don't put him in the back, he's not going to win you any battles if he's the last one standing!
Asclepius (Mercenary, Beasts in the Wilderness) washed to 100/62/223
GEAR:
Cloaks: 3108, 3108, 2364, 2326, 2326 (3100, 2800, 2300x3 got me 72% though)
Armor: 1507, 1453, 1409,1086, 1075
Books: 778, 722, 657, 566, 523 (700,600,600,550,500 got me 72% through)
Note that the books arn't nearly as large as some people thought they'd need to be, but most of my heros are at or near max element wash. They're only about (G6)5 meaning there is plenty of room left for expansion (yes, that makes BM users very afraid![[Image: smile.png]](http://forum.clapalong.com/images/smilies/smile.png)
).
BATTLE REPORTS:So here they are... I'm missing a few early battles, so I threw in a Daphne-mage hybrid build from another league mate of mine.
01. lv100 Vanguard Force I http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105316096984
02. lv100 Vanguard Force II http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106021379323
03. lv101 Vanguard Force III http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106037081229
In these sample BRs from Slitherer, you see what early mage builds use... a splat-attack BM like Daphne is ideal IMO. The chaos limits incoming damage and the cavalry unit allows some dodging of BMs, limiting more incoming damage. Perfect for a mage build that requires defense and several rounds to pop through enemies.
04. lv101 Vanguard Force IV http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268897179
05. lv102 Vanguard Force V http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268913912
06. lv102 Oceanus - yeah, its missing. Sorry about that.
07. lv103 Hyperion http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268952475
08. lv103 Coeus http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291156025
09. lv104 Main Force Ia http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291165637
10. lv104 Main Force IIa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291172246
11. lv104 Main Force IIIa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291185563
Ok all of these pretty much follow the same game plan: Epi and Charon 1-2 punch their way through the most dangerous wing, while Psmathe helps out by dropping bombs from afar (safely tucked behind Asclepius). The center is tanked by Peneus as Heph was still training up and wasn't ready for battle. Peneus's stun is wicked and makes him tankable in this spot.
12. lv105 Main Force IVa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105316732332
This one is with Heph tanking the center role, while Peneus is being Ren'd for the final time. As a result, there was no way to limit the burning bulls all-splat attack while at the same time dealing with the titan axe on the top row. The answer? rehire Leucothea with crappy weapons and mount. She blocks and dodges on the bottom row while the mages do the heavy lifting up top. Probably the best blocker in the game, and the added advantage of a high dodge rate vs BMs. A must have hero for Poseidon players. If Peneus was ready for battle, he'd be bottom row to stun the burning bulls and limit incoming damage.
13. lv105 MainForce Va http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105317017988
Last battle without Peneus... Heph and Epi, the two biggest snipers I have are hitting 1-2 while Charon is center against a solo enemy.
14. lv105 Tethys http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041257765
Peneus is back while Heph is Renning for the last time. The Mutiny Outbreak sniper in the top row should have been the priority in hindsight, but punching through the bottom row seemed nessesary first.
15. lv106 Theia http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041269447
The Zues Blessing hero is, like most buglars, a low priority for mages. Also, the mage in the top row behind him is low threat to mages with high element wash. Focus was on killing the sneak raid BM user.
16. lv106 Rhea http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041277242
Penus >> Rhea. Plain and simple here. Put Penus opposite the healing hero, and put other snipers in line for a 1-2 punch.
17. lv107 Main Force Ib http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041306383
The lack of Heph means Peneus has to tank in center and try to punch through some heros solo while Charon and Epi are down below. Normally you'd want Heph in center and Peneus and Epi/Charon below to deal with the Titan Axe.
18. lv107 Main Force IIb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106066544879
Titan Axe in the center row means Penus moves up even though Heph is also available. Heph and Epi pound through the bottom quickly and help with the titan axe threat. Psmathe plays meat-shield at the end, but against 3 heros that's fine, she's pretty much done dealing out damage anyway.
19. lv108 Main Force IIIb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106224112674
The use of 4 BM users of lv108 means we need to do something about the buglar. Usually I ignore buglars until last, but the continous BM users here mean they're going to get charged no matter what I do. Solution? Bring in Telchines to stun them as much as possible. Telchines and the healer meat-shield in front of the titan axe while Peneus tries to stun and destroy the buglar. Epi and Heph clear out the bottom enemy and start working on the center row. Ideally they get it done quick and get back to full faculty before the healer dies off, then Heph can tank a few rounds while he and Epi pound away. This took a few days of buffing gear and finishing Telchines training (so he could tank better). I spent 2 days farming prestige from some soft purple Archenemies (most in the lv102 to 110 range) to get 600k prestige (M50) giving me 25% bonus on attack and defense (defense being the difference... M49 wasn't enough). This battle is a definite "wall" to break though... if you have the gear/ranking to beat this one all mage you will punch through the rest in 1 attempt if done right.
20. lv108 Main Force IVb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106226935873
The lack of any continous BMs in this one means Telchines is out, Psmathe is back in. Just pound it out.
21. lv109 Phoebe http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106226947677
Well... I goofed on this one. Heph went into battle 5000 troops low... and I won anyway. Peneus stuns the buglar while Psmathe helps the other snipers clear out their rows. You'll notice how Psmathe's usefullness drops off near the end as fewer opponents are left.
22. lv109 Mnemosyne http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106227020997
This one drives bomber builds crazy. The all-mech attacks are powerful against builds players who spend most of their dracs on offense or worse, on cloaks alone. You need 3 or 4 decent armor to do this right. Telchines or Psmathe work, I've beat it with both. The priority here is to put your biggest guns on the bottom row to stun or kill the Burning Bulls and line-strike catapults that do so much damage early. The weak center hero is tanked easily by Asclepius.
Note: If you don't want to mess with this one too much, and you're not opposed to a non-mage in formation, use The Kyrtin Method. Hire Achillies, fast track him a few times and stick him front and center in Boars Head, or even center, then put 2 big gun snipers behind him (Heph and Peneus?). He'lll take all the hits from the mech units, charge to full BM, and use Rally for invincibility after that. Easy win.
23. lv110 Themis http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106227040242
This is an easy kill for a mage build. A Total Defense hero (who sacrifices attack strength for valro/spirit defense), a Noc Blitz hero (again, not too bad attack, saps moral- no mage effect), and a Phantom Attack titan axe (no need for Peneus in the center). Epi & Penus pound the bottom and work their way through. Once a buglar is dead, the BM charge rate drops a lot since mages don't give out any free valor... 1 BM every 3 rounds as long as you don't have a buglar or continous fire BM user.
24. lv110 Cronus http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106232270219
Another suprisingly easy kill at M50 ranking. Penus trys his best to stop the buglar from fast-tracking the Troop Recovery Attacks from charging up, maybe 1 more round than normal. Telchines was brought in to stun the heros as much as possible. Using Psmathe or Syrinx for small hits really doesn't help much so she was pulled. Snipers and Stunners rule on this one. Peneus is the perfect hero here.
And that's it... Tartarus with a lv100 mage build. No crazy 2000 valor armors, no 4000 cloaks, no 1000+ books... just decent gear and reasonable hero placement. Now its on to Ragnarok. (By the time you get about 68% through Tartarus, a mage build should be able to beat Heimdall in Rahnarok... lots of weak Moral Supression enemies in that first 31% of the map.)
Everyone in these forums has likely seen bomber builds push through faction maps and Tartarus using a dancer, 3 buglars, and an all-splat attack like Maia, Daphne, or Sponde.
Some Athenians like to double-bomb with Dionysis (Mutiny Outbreak) and Herma (Sacred Stardust), while the Zues players may substitute Zues for a buglar when they get him (or even Thalia in a weak Dionysis-envy build).
Those of us who run mage builds however have no problems PvPing against such builds, I personally farm lv110 players with my lv100 build with little effort. The one critisim I get is that "oh yeah, but that cost big money" since you need books to make it work. I personally spent 300g on gettting my purple books so that really isn't a great arguement IMO. The cost of upgrades is fair however as you'll need bigger cloaks and armor to pass Tartarus than a bomber would.
The upside however is that you never have to commission a mount, so you get red cloaks twice as fast as BM users do. The armor is an effort, but you really only need 3 of them to do the job. Here's how I did it:
HEROS:
1) Snipers - your core attackers. You need at least 2 IMO.
Hephaestus (Poseidon M40, 500k) 110/83/113 washed to 157/137/232 Furious Pyromancer
Peneus (Poseidon M27, 270k) 74/28/97 washed to 106/51/217 Thunderstorm Mage
Epimethius (Poseidon M13, 38k) 53/18/91 washed to 80/44/210 Furious Hydromancer
Charon (Mercenary, House of Hades) washed to 64/50/194 Furious Pyromancer
You could hire Chiron or Hector, but I never did. These low level mages are best left alone IMO, not worth the training only to top out with lower hit rates and softer stats than prestige mages or Charon.
While Furious Pyromancers like Heph and Charon have high hit rates (~95%) they hit softer than other snipers. Heph has an added advantage that he tanks very well for a mage. Give these guys big books when you need too, but their hit rate means they can survive fine with low level books while you put the big books on your bigger hitters.
Furious Hydromancers like Epimethius (or Zues' Proteus 72/26/95, and Athenia's Cassandra 57/46/78) hit harder than the pyromancers given the same stats and books but do so less often (~75 to 80%). These are your brush clearers... a big gun you need. Epi and Proteus are must hires for any mage build... Cassandra is too lame to do you any good in Tartarus IMO.
Thunderstorm mages like Peneus (or Athenias Asteria 97/53/120, and Zues's Eurotas 54/33/93) hit even less often but pack the most potent punch of any mage type with the addition of 100% Chaos rate when they land a hit. Obviously Asteria is the top dog here, but even Peneus has decent stats if you wash him up. This attack is essiential if you want to own Dionysis/Thalia/Rhea builds as the hit-and-stun is vital to finishing off oppenents. Don't be afraid to put these mages out front opposing 1 or even 2 enemies. With decent armor and cloaks they'll survive plenty of rounds as they're hit rate is about 60% and the stun gets them a free round of no attacks each time they hit. When these mages land 3 or 4 in a row you can pretty much kill off any hero in the game while sustaining zero damage. Do not overlook these mages (especially Asteria).
2) Splat Attack Mages - you'll want at least 1 of these for clean-up duty, to put a 3rd hit on the sniper mages' target, and to reach back rows while snipers are working on front line opponents. These are your specialists that get brought in as needed.
Psmathe (Poseidon M15, 50k) 50/32/88 washed to 77/66/208
Telchines (Poseidon M24, 170k) 66/30/94 washed to 95/65/199
Meteroite Mages like Psmathe (or Zues's Boreus 79/45/107 and Athenias Morus 77/43/108) can be real solid additions to a mage build. Their ability to add a 3rd hit to the opponent the snipers are working on can mean the difference in a fight. I've rarely had success using 4 snipers and a healer... meteroite mages are useful in cleaning up left overs so snipers do max damage. Don't worry too much about losing these heros after the second or thrid rounds though, as you face fewer and fewer enemies, the total damage they deliver drops off as well. Its tough to finish a fight with a meteroite mage vs a full or even half-stack opponent hero, but they can project damge to otherwise unreachable areas while your snipers work on the tanks up front. I like to give these mages the biggest book I have to maximize damage early vs 5 opponents. Giving this hero a small book makes them much less effective at clean-up duties and softening back heros.
Susnstorm Mages like Telchines (or Zues's Helius 62/63/88 and Athenia's Akte 63/41/83) seem a little hokey at first. These are clearly mages that need to be max trained or close to before deploying in battle. Their hit rates seem to be influenced by a) element stat (washing helps), and b) troop grade relative to oppenent's grade. Since these do NO damage, the goal of these troop types are to stun 1 hero per round making this a 4 vs 4 fight. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but against a bomber build, or a continous BM hero, that 1 chaos can mean the difference between life and death. Stun them 1 time and your snipers get to hit him 4 times in a row... that's a short life span with no damage dealt. The other advantage to this hero is his ability to play meat sheild. While Telchines has a element advantage (making his hit rate a little higher than the other factions) Zues HElius can be used as a shield more effectively. I've seen TElchines deal chaos to every opponent in 1 round on 2 occations, but hits of 2 or 3 opponents are pretty common. As with Meterorite magtes, they're use later in battle is limited, as the hit rate makes it less and less likely to hit anything with only 1 or 2 oppenents remaining. Stuns win battles against healers, Mutiny Outbreak, Troop Recovering Attack, and continous BM users.... definitely a tool to have access to for a mage build. Give these guys your smallest book.
Cyclone mages like Syrinx (Poseidon M11, 25k) 42/17/90 and Zues's Ophion (M37) 94/34/118 have definte potential to do some serious stack damage at these high levels when NPC faculty rises well above 8000 per hero. They're fractional attack means you don't need a book for them (give them you're smallest book). I have Syrinx training up now for getting through Ragnarok, but I havn't used her in battle yet. At lower level maps she's simply unnessesary, and her fractional attack is even less potent than meterorite mages as stack sizes drops. Syrinx's stats prevent her from tanking out front, but Ophion's stats make him a worthy pick up IMO... especially as a tank/meat-shield who only really affects the first half of a battle.
3) Healer - an absolute must for mage builds. You are going to see big BM attacks on soft squishy mages... you will need to recover after every attack to survive to hit back. Don't question it, just do it... you need him (yes, there's only one so far... wait for the lv140 maps
). The other big reason for him? to tank up front. His stats are solid enough he can tank a spot for you when needed. Don't put him in the back, he's not going to win you any battles if he's the last one standing!Asclepius (Mercenary, Beasts in the Wilderness) washed to 100/62/223
GEAR:
Cloaks: 3108, 3108, 2364, 2326, 2326 (3100, 2800, 2300x3 got me 72% though)
Armor: 1507, 1453, 1409,1086, 1075
Books: 778, 722, 657, 566, 523 (700,600,600,550,500 got me 72% through)
Note that the books arn't nearly as large as some people thought they'd need to be, but most of my heros are at or near max element wash. They're only about (G6)5 meaning there is plenty of room left for expansion (yes, that makes BM users very afraid
).BATTLE REPORTS:So here they are... I'm missing a few early battles, so I threw in a Daphne-mage hybrid build from another league mate of mine.
01. lv100 Vanguard Force I http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105316096984
02. lv100 Vanguard Force II http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106021379323
03. lv101 Vanguard Force III http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106037081229
In these sample BRs from Slitherer, you see what early mage builds use... a splat-attack BM like Daphne is ideal IMO. The chaos limits incoming damage and the cavalry unit allows some dodging of BMs, limiting more incoming damage. Perfect for a mage build that requires defense and several rounds to pop through enemies.
04. lv101 Vanguard Force IV http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268897179
05. lv102 Vanguard Force V http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268913912
06. lv102 Oceanus - yeah, its missing. Sorry about that.
07. lv103 Hyperion http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105268952475
08. lv103 Coeus http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291156025
09. lv104 Main Force Ia http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291165637
10. lv104 Main Force IIa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291172246
11. lv104 Main Force IIIa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105291185563
Ok all of these pretty much follow the same game plan: Epi and Charon 1-2 punch their way through the most dangerous wing, while Psmathe helps out by dropping bombs from afar (safely tucked behind Asclepius). The center is tanked by Peneus as Heph was still training up and wasn't ready for battle. Peneus's stun is wicked and makes him tankable in this spot.
12. lv105 Main Force IVa http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105316732332
This one is with Heph tanking the center role, while Peneus is being Ren'd for the final time. As a result, there was no way to limit the burning bulls all-splat attack while at the same time dealing with the titan axe on the top row. The answer? rehire Leucothea with crappy weapons and mount. She blocks and dodges on the bottom row while the mages do the heavy lifting up top. Probably the best blocker in the game, and the added advantage of a high dodge rate vs BMs. A must have hero for Poseidon players. If Peneus was ready for battle, he'd be bottom row to stun the burning bulls and limit incoming damage.
13. lv105 MainForce Va http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201105317017988
Last battle without Peneus... Heph and Epi, the two biggest snipers I have are hitting 1-2 while Charon is center against a solo enemy.
14. lv105 Tethys http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041257765
Peneus is back while Heph is Renning for the last time. The Mutiny Outbreak sniper in the top row should have been the priority in hindsight, but punching through the bottom row seemed nessesary first.
15. lv106 Theia http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041269447
The Zues Blessing hero is, like most buglars, a low priority for mages. Also, the mage in the top row behind him is low threat to mages with high element wash. Focus was on killing the sneak raid BM user.
16. lv106 Rhea http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041277242
Penus >> Rhea. Plain and simple here. Put Penus opposite the healing hero, and put other snipers in line for a 1-2 punch.
17. lv107 Main Force Ib http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106041306383
The lack of Heph means Peneus has to tank in center and try to punch through some heros solo while Charon and Epi are down below. Normally you'd want Heph in center and Peneus and Epi/Charon below to deal with the Titan Axe.
18. lv107 Main Force IIb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106066544879
Titan Axe in the center row means Penus moves up even though Heph is also available. Heph and Epi pound through the bottom quickly and help with the titan axe threat. Psmathe plays meat-shield at the end, but against 3 heros that's fine, she's pretty much done dealing out damage anyway.
19. lv108 Main Force IIIb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106224112674
The use of 4 BM users of lv108 means we need to do something about the buglar. Usually I ignore buglars until last, but the continous BM users here mean they're going to get charged no matter what I do. Solution? Bring in Telchines to stun them as much as possible. Telchines and the healer meat-shield in front of the titan axe while Peneus tries to stun and destroy the buglar. Epi and Heph clear out the bottom enemy and start working on the center row. Ideally they get it done quick and get back to full faculty before the healer dies off, then Heph can tank a few rounds while he and Epi pound away. This took a few days of buffing gear and finishing Telchines training (so he could tank better). I spent 2 days farming prestige from some soft purple Archenemies (most in the lv102 to 110 range) to get 600k prestige (M50) giving me 25% bonus on attack and defense (defense being the difference... M49 wasn't enough). This battle is a definite "wall" to break though... if you have the gear/ranking to beat this one all mage you will punch through the rest in 1 attempt if done right.
20. lv108 Main Force IVb http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106226935873
The lack of any continous BMs in this one means Telchines is out, Psmathe is back in. Just pound it out.
21. lv109 Phoebe http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106226947677
Well... I goofed on this one. Heph went into battle 5000 troops low... and I won anyway. Peneus stuns the buglar while Psmathe helps the other snipers clear out their rows. You'll notice how Psmathe's usefullness drops off near the end as fewer opponents are left.
22. lv109 Mnemosyne http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106227020997
This one drives bomber builds crazy. The all-mech attacks are powerful against builds players who spend most of their dracs on offense or worse, on cloaks alone. You need 3 or 4 decent armor to do this right. Telchines or Psmathe work, I've beat it with both. The priority here is to put your biggest guns on the bottom row to stun or kill the Burning Bulls and line-strike catapults that do so much damage early. The weak center hero is tanked easily by Asclepius.
Note: If you don't want to mess with this one too much, and you're not opposed to a non-mage in formation, use The Kyrtin Method. Hire Achillies, fast track him a few times and stick him front and center in Boars Head, or even center, then put 2 big gun snipers behind him (Heph and Peneus?). He'lll take all the hits from the mech units, charge to full BM, and use Rally for invincibility after that. Easy win.
23. lv110 Themis http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106227040242
This is an easy kill for a mage build. A Total Defense hero (who sacrifices attack strength for valro/spirit defense), a Noc Blitz hero (again, not too bad attack, saps moral- no mage effect), and a Phantom Attack titan axe (no need for Peneus in the center). Epi & Penus pound the bottom and work their way through. Once a buglar is dead, the BM charge rate drops a lot since mages don't give out any free valor... 1 BM every 3 rounds as long as you don't have a buglar or continous fire BM user.
24. lv110 Cronus http://b5.clapalong.com/?fid=N201106232270219
Another suprisingly easy kill at M50 ranking. Penus trys his best to stop the buglar from fast-tracking the Troop Recovery Attacks from charging up, maybe 1 more round than normal. Telchines was brought in to stun the heros as much as possible. Using Psmathe or Syrinx for small hits really doesn't help much so she was pulled. Snipers and Stunners rule on this one. Peneus is the perfect hero here.
And that's it... Tartarus with a lv100 mage build. No crazy 2000 valor armors, no 4000 cloaks, no 1000+ books... just decent gear and reasonable hero placement. Now its on to Ragnarok. (By the time you get about 68% through Tartarus, a mage build should be able to beat Heimdall in Rahnarok... lots of weak Moral Supression enemies in that first 31% of the map.)