First ranked week, impressions

The first ranked week just ended. I managed to finish 6th with my wolven company , totalizing 30 victories, 6 losses and 1 draw. I admit i really like the fact that you can get cyans by playing in the 400 AP bracket and reaching the top 10 was quite a challenge and very entertaining. In the top 10 there were 4 lion teams, 4 wolf and 2 rams, showing that the balance isn't too bad. I managed to meet only 2 high ranked players (both playing wolven) so i cannot judge what made the other high ranked players that well performing (i heard a rumor about the ram player that he was playing with 5 undead archers ). Just for the records, these players were using: 5x fang+2xcross+1x RG with middle way while the other used 5xfang +1 PoB. In the end i had a highest win/loss ratio than them - the games played were more or less the same btw. What i was utilizing was merely 3 fangs, a grave guardian, a lonewolf and a rune guardian - so only 37% of my comp AP was based of basic units.

About the basic units zerg and their impact:
As a wolven I managed to win against the 5xfang +2x crossbowmen +x1 rune guardian lvl 4 comp two times (once i lost but i was too reckless) as well as against the other player with 6 melee wolven in a VIP map (he rushed in for my VIP and he ended up with all his units dead). I've also obliterated a lion company using only basic units (i think 4-5 archers + swordmen) and 1 mage. I think ive faced also a ram army with tons of units but i dont recall the result. Since im far from being perfect i also had my share of losses which i remember more or less and were never connected (beside 2) to a zerg of basic units.

Now...this is what i experienced as a WOLF player. I always felt i could handle the zerg comps which are very effective but can be handled by a well positioned Grave guardian.

I've to report however that i also tried to play ranked with my Ram list. I admit the list weren't super serious as i was testing a bunch of stuff but i remember clearly suffering the the wolf zerg lists, especially in VIP modes (note: i was not playing zerg ram). I didnt manage to find a lion zerg list but i encountered a ram (when playing ram) with only basic units and a necro, which ended up with me losing altough the game was quite close.

so what were your impressions?

i end up around 65th.Tbh im not a good player but i feel like Ram really have hard times if you dont play zergs+necro.

I like the current system of reward but i would like some explanations about the ranking system if possible.

i end up around 65th.Tbh im not a good player but i feel like Ram really have hard times if you dont play zergs+necro.

I like the current system of reward but i would like some explanations about the ranking system if possible.

from my experience Ram has to play zerg strategies or else has no chance in a VIP map as it can't bodyblock effectively. Wolven can get the middle finger in the VIP map if the Ram manages to block the chocke points and engages them but if your comp is based around few elite units , you are going to have a haaaaaaard time. Good luck if you play with your golem in a VIP map. Other than that Ram is quite strong in the dominion map as you can cast your skeleton puppets through the bushes + heal your units in the center while being undercover.

that said i add also one interesting fact which i fear is not so random. I normally queue for all 3 modes but i always have the feeling that i keep meeting certain players always on certain game modes (wolven players cough cough). This feeling is almost confirmed partially by the fact that when the message that warns me that some "constraints" are changed , i suddenly get a match...in the VIP map, for example.

Suggestion: 400 AP game modes can't be unselected OR keep the 400 AP only about deathmatch which i guess is the most "balanced" format at the moment.

My impression is that all this sound pretty boring and disappointing.

I played about 25-30 matches in total, however with two different companies to try some combinations so I did not get very far in the ranks.

I tried both Wolfen and Ram and as everybody else I firstly noticed that the elites units are now too expensive to be successfully played and lvled up.

My Wolfen army lost an Archer (thanks to the PoB increase in cost) and was not anymore so effective, passing from a 80-90% of victories before patch to about 40-50%. I feel that if I changed the PoB with 4 Fang Warriors (same AP value!!!) it would have been a pretty strong composition, but I didn't have the free slots and so I didn't try it.

My Ram army was focused to try out the Golem and I won about 50% of my battles in the 400AP range, tied 20% and lost 30%. I tried both this combinations in that AP range: Golem + 2lvl2 gargoyles or Golem + 5 lvl1 archers. The latter one is very effective against Lion and Ram armies since the enemy has to come close to your golem to attack your archers, while the first one is better against Wolfen army that otherwise will simply kill all your archers in a couple of turns. Another nice composition is with a Necro healing, 2 Warriors and an archer but I still have to try it.

PS: I don't know if it was intended as it is, but I won cyans (3 each) for both of my companies!!! Very nice, so trying more than one company wasn't a complete waste of time!

EDIT: I discovered that everybody got twice the reward for the first week rank... 20 cyans if you were in the top 100... knowing that I would have probably used only one company (as I will do this week!)... just to know, Deep Blue, did you get also 100 cyans instead of 50?

As in every other topic: I think Elites have had their price increased as they should have, except they received, for most of them, not needed stat changes that make them less interesting than several grunts.

There's also the stupid issue of some totally unbalanced grunts: Fangs that are too cheap by 5 points, Swords that are too cheap at level 2...

i got 100 cyans yes. There was an error on cyanide's side...they are aware of it and it won't happen next time, im afraid

Hello, I was that Ram player with 5 archers. The comp I ran was 4 lvl1 skeleton warriors, 5 lvl1 skeleton archers, 1 lvl4 necro with heal and putrefy and 1 lvl3 necro with morbid explosion and mana regen. I found that if I went against most comps, I won quite easily (barring some really horrible misses). Right now, I feel that Gargs and Skull need a slight buff to even be considered useful, because right now 10 lvl 1 skeletons seems a lot better than 2 lvl1 Skull, while being a little cheaper. Gargs are decent but just don't quite fit in the current play style Ram seems to lean towards. Add in the rather cheap-for-their-value necros which need a wall to cover them and they just don't seem worth it.

Paladins and Priests seem in a good spot, and Golem, like other legendaries, should stay in 800s for the really fun matches.



Now, If I use the horde tactic and they have an aoe lvl4 Lion mage, I cry a little on the inside.

i got 100 cyans yes

So you have already 160 free Cyans... and that is more than i can spend to be hones - i bought 100 once and i still have above 100

there should be more things to buy definetly

Hello, I was that Ram player with 5 archers. The comp I ran was 4 lvl1 skeleton warriors, 5 lvl1 skeleton archers, 1 lvl4 necro with heal and putrefy and 1 lvl3 necro with morbid explosion and mana regen. I found that if I went against most comps, I won quite easily (barring some really horrible misses). Right now, I feel that Gargs and Skull need a slight buff to even be considered useful, because right now 10 lvl 1 skeletons seems a lot better than 2 lvl1 Skull, while being a little cheaper. Gargs are decent but just don't quite fit in the current play style Ram seems to lean towards. Add in the rather cheap-for-their-value necros which need a wall to cover them and they just don't seem worth it.

Paladins and Priests seem in a good spot, and Golem, like other legendaries, should stay in 800s for the really fun matches.



Now, If I use the horde tactic and they have an aoe lvl4 Lion mage, I cry a little on the inside.

Gargoyles are more than fine imo. Sneak attack + hardboiled make them very hard to kill. I saw a comp with 3 of them and it was quite effective. They also fit the playstile as you are suppose to surround the enemy with your zerg before using the gargoyle + it is an iconic unit of the Ram in confrontation. I wonder if putting a limit of 3 basic units in the 400 AP bracket will make comps a bit more diversified. I mean, i played with a non zerg strategy and i got my nice win/loss ratio but i can see becoming a problem if all the players switch to a (mindless) zerg.

@DW; yes im tempted to make either a priest comp or a paladin focused one, too bad i cant seem to find quickly games thanks to the matchmaking system =/ I guess i've to wait for the next patch to decide.