How to play vs Nightmares - Revision history

Mystic x the unknown: /* Knalgan vs Nightmares of Meloen */ various fixes & improvements

2011-04-15T00:04:17Z

‎Knalgan vs Nightmares of Meloen: various fixes & improvements

Mystic x the unknown: various fixes & improvements

2011-04-07T01:32:45Z

various fixes & improvements

Mystic x the unknown: various fixes & improvements

2011-04-06T11:35:07Z

various fixes & improvements

FAAB: Add category how to play

2010-09-29T07:45:44Z

Add category how to play

FAAB: /* Drakes vs Nightmares of Meloen */ Fix some type

2010-04-24T09:16:15Z

‎Drakes vs Nightmares of Meloen: Fix some type

FAAB: /* General strategy against Nightmares */ Version 0.25.2

2010-04-24T09:03:57Z

‎General strategy against Nightmares: Version 0.25.2

FAAB: /* Northerners */ Version 0.25.2

2010-04-24T09:02:30Z

‎Northerners: Version 0.25.2

FAAB: /* Rebels */ Version 0.25.2

2010-04-24T09:00:08Z

‎Rebels: Version 0.25.2

FAAB: /* Undead */ Version 0.25.2

2010-04-24T08:59:11Z

‎Undead: Version 0.25.2

FAAB: /* Loyalists */ Version 0.25.2

2010-04-24T08:58:09Z

‎Loyalists: Version 0.25.2

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 == Knalgan vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
-When you get the Knalgan Alliance against Nightmares, you will be in control of the game. Just recruiting <i>Dwarvish Fighters</i> or <i>Footpads</i> will already be a test of your opponent's skill at playing Nightmares. He will have to combine the most efficient use of his units with some well thought gamble with <i>Unhatched</i> to get a game to play. Add some <i>Dwarvish Thunderers</i> and a <i>Dwarvish Ulfserker</i> even the most seasoned Nightmares' players will have a hard time.
+When you get the Knalgan Alliance against Nightmares, you will be in control of the game. Just getting <i>Dwarvish Fighters</i> or <i>Footpads</i> will already be a test of your opponent's skill at playing Nightmares. He will have to combine a very efficient use of his units and some well-thought gamble with <i>Unhatched</i> to stay in the game. If you add some <i>Dwarvish Thunderers</i> and a <i>Dwarvish Ulfserker</i>, even the most seasoned Nightmares' players will have a hard time.
-<u>Dwarvish Fighter:</u> with their dual blade/impact damage type, the <i>Dwarvish Fighters</i> are the purest anti-<i>Unhatched</i> units in the game, so get enough of them to control the <i>Unhatcheds</i>. When the time has come for you to attack, they will obviously be good at taking down anything around. Just make sure to keep them on good defense, when they have been cursed, they are still probably better sitting on their favorite terrain with a defense lowered to around 50% rather than running on worse terrain for cover. Hitting back the <i>Black Cat</i> who just cursed them is often the best they can do.
+<u>Dwarvish Fighter:</u> with their dual blade/impact damage type, the <i>Dwarvish Fighters</i> are the purest anti-<i>Unhatched</i> units in the game, so get enough of them to control the <i>Unhatched</i>. When the time has come for you to attack, they will naturally excel at taking down anything around. Make sure you keep them on good defense however. Even when they have been cursed, they are still probably better off sitting on their favorite terrain with defense lowered to around 50% than running over 30% defense terrain for cover. Hitting back the <i>Black Cat</i> that just cursed them is often the best they can do.
 <u>Dwarvish Guardsman:</u> slow, expensive and with low damage, you can't make enough use of his pierce attack to recruit any of them. As the <i>Dwarvish Fighter</i> makes such a good job at countering the <i>Unhatched</i>, you won't need the <i>Dwarvish Guardsman</i>'s steadfast either.
-<u>Dwarvish Thunderer:</u> his ranged attack, his good resistance and good hitpoints, the <i>Dwarvish Thunderer</i> is a good recruit. He will be mainly useful to stay in control at night when the Nightmares are pushing. When staying on mountain, he can stand well against <i>Unhatcheds</i> and has a chance to to massive retaliation on <i>Black Cats</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i>. His main offensive role will be to aim at <i>Life Thieves</i>, and if you meet many of these, the <i>Dwarvish Thunderer</i> will become a necessity.
+<u>Dwarvish Thunderer:</u> with his ranged attack, good resistances and good hitpoints, the <i>Dwarvish Thunderer</i> is a good recruit. He will be useful mainly for staying in control at night when the Nightmares are pushing. Remaining on a mountain, he can stand well against the <i>Unhatched</i> and has a chance to deal massive retaliation to <i>Black Cats</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i>. His main offensive role will be to aim at the <i>Life Thieves</i>, which, if numerous enough, will make the <i>Dwarvish Thunderers</i> a necessity.
-<u>Dwarvish Ulfserker:</u> with his guaranteed safe kill on the <i>Howling Darkness</i> and great chance to kill <i>Black Cats</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i>, the <i>Ulfserker</i> is an obvious good recruit to get. However, he can get drained to death by the <i>Life Thief</i>. In some circumstances the <i>Unhatched</i> can also kill him, so always make sure you can cover him properly before attacking. If there are some <i>Creepers</i> around, remember that a group of four or five (depending on traits) of them has a good chance to kill a full health <i>Ulfserker</i>.
+<u>Dwarvish Ulfserker:</u> with his guaranteed safe kills on the <i>Howling Darkness</i> and great chances of instantly killing <i>Black Cats</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i>, the <i>Ulfserker</i> is obviously a good unit to get. His biggest drawback is he can be drained to death by the <i>Life Thief</i>. In some circumstances the <i>Unhatched</i> can also kill him, so always make sure you can cover him properly before attacking. If there are some <i>Creepers</i> around, remember that a group of four or five (depending on <i>ulf's</i> traits) has a good chance to kill a full-health <i>Ulfserker</i>.
-<u>Footpad:</u> with his double impact attacks he is a very convenient unit to have against Nightmares. The <i>Footpad</i> can attack on range the <i>Unhatched</i> for free hit (he has good chance of hitting once has <i>Unhatched</i>'s defense is below 50% nearly everywhere), while his excellent defense, good hitpoints and impact melee makes it difficult for the <i>Unhatched</i> to handle him when pushing.
+<u>Footpad:</u> with their two impact attacks they are a very convenient units to have against Nightmares. The <i>Footpad</i> can inflict free hits to the <i>Unhatched</i> with the ranged attack (has a good chance of hitting as the <i>Unhatched's</i> defense is below 50% nearly everywhere), while his/her excellent defense, good hitpoints and impact melee makes it difficult for the <i>Unhatched</i> to deal with him/her when pushing in.
-<u>Gryphon Rider:</u> while the <i>Gryphon Rider</i> is an awesome offensive unit, it might have a hard time when fighting Nightmares. He can easily be trapped by the <i>Unstable Elemental</i> or the <i>Howling Darkness</i>, which could potentially hurt him a lot due to his impact weakness. Even if it does tremendous retaliation on <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge, if the <i>Unhatched</i>'s trait give him a boost in blade resistance (lowering each hit's damage by 5 hitpoints), he will never think twice before charging him taking into account their difference in price (except at day time). Be prudent when using the <i>Gryphon Rider</i>, while most of the time, he only needs two hits on a <i>Black Cat</i> for the kill, putting to much hope on two hits on a 60+ defense unit, might be a gamble with <i>Gryphon Rider</i>'s 24 gold.
+<u>Gryphon Rider:</u> while the <i>Gryphon Rider</i> is an awesome offensive unit, it might have a hard time when fighting Nightmares. He can easily be trapped by the <i>Unstable Elemental</i> or the <i>Howling Darkness</i>, which could hurt him a lot due to the impact weakness. Even though he dishes out tremendous retaliation to <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge, if the <i>Unhatched</i>'s trait give it a boost to blade resistance (lowering each hit's damage by 5), it will never think twice before charging him taking into account their difference in price (except on daytime). Be prudent when using the <i>Gryphon Rider</i>. While most of the time, he only needs two hits to kill a <i>Black Cat</i>, putting too much hope into getting two hits against a 60+ defense unit might be a bad gamble with <i>Gryphon Rider</i>'s 24 gold.
-<u>Poacher:</u> the <i>Poacher</i> can give to your recruitment a different flavor. Best defense on forest, he can make use of this common terrain that Dwarves will avoid. He can supply some hit on the <i>Life thief</i> and retaliation on <i>Black Cats</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i> for cheap price. When the <i>Unhatcheds</i> get more frequent, the <i>Footpad</i> is a better recruit though, since the <i>Poacher</i> is such a juicy target for them.
+<u>Poacher:</u> the <i>Poacher</i> can give your recruitment a different flavor. Best defense on forest, he can exploit this common terrain that Dwarves will avoid. He can supply some hits on the <i>Life thief</i> or retaliation against <i>Black Cats</i> and <i>Scornful Watchers</i> for cheap price. When the <i>Unhatched</i> get more frequent, the <i>Footpad</i> is a better recruit though, since the <i>Poacher</i> is such a juicy target for them.
-<u>Thief:</u> the <i>Thief</i> can be best used to counter Nightmares when they put themselves on bad defense without making much damage. If the <i>Thief</i> can walk around and backstab anything, he will probably be able to make enough damage to make up for his gold. If one <i>Thief</i> got a kill, you might try to feed him with XP to level him. As <i>Thieves</i> have quite low hitpoints and bad resistance on nearly all Nightmares' damage, no need to get several of them as you can't reasonably hope you will get opportunity to backstab with several of them. Counting on a <i>Thief</i> based strategy is quite risky though, because they are very quick to fall under the <i>Black Cat</i>/<i>Unhatched</i> combination.
+<u>Thief:</u> the <i>Thief</i>'s best use is to hit Nightmares when they put themselves on bad defense, not taking much damage in the process. If the <i>Thief</i> can dart around and backstab anything, s/he will probably also make enough damage to prove a good investment. If a <i>Thief</i> gets a kill, s/he won't need much more XP to level, so you might try to feed him some. <i>Thieves</i> have low hitpoints, bad resistance to nearly all of Nightmares' damage and you can't reasonably hope to backstab with several, so there's no need to get too many. A strategy based on <i>Thieves</i> would be quite risky, as they are very quick to fall when attacked by a <i>Black Cat</i> & <i>Unhatched</i> force.
 == Loyalists vs Nightmares of Meloen ==

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 == Drakes vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
-If both teams were randomly picked, they will most probably be badly prepared for this very offensive match, but so you may, as the saurians you'll have picked early won't be your best weapons. The <i>Life Thief</i>, Nightmares best asset at attack, and the <i>Drake Burner</i>, your own nightmare killer, are both expensive recruits so each side would wait to know their opponent before recruiting them. So if the game is starting at dawn, it is very likely that the first night will be quite peaceful and you will have plenty of time to equip yourself in <i>Burners</i> for the next day.
+If both players chose random faction, Nightmares will most likely be ill-prepared for this very deadly match, but so might be you, as the saurians you'll have picked early won't be your best weapons. The <i>Life Thief</i>, Nightmares' best attacker, and the <i>Drake Burner</i>, your own nightmare killer, are both expensive and each side would wait to know their opponent before recruiting them. So if the game started at dawn, it is very likely that the first night will be quite peaceful and you will have plenty of time to equip yourself with <i>Burners</i> for the day.
-<i>Burners</i> and <i>Life Thieves</i> are the best enemies and two of one kind can kill one of the other every turn at their best time of the day. It shows how crucial the dusk will be for your Drakes, so be ready to retreat in time. As you are at least as fast as the <i>Life Thief</i>, if Nightmares has fallen back too much at day, you will have a easy retreat. If he has stayed close to you to prepare counter, retreat using <i>Drake Fighters</i> to cover your <i>Burners</i> from the <i>Unhatcheds</i>. That strategy might fail if Nightmares succeed at trapping you with <i>Howling Darknesses</i>. That is the reason why, using your <i>Drake Fighters</i> on them at day is the second objective you have to meet to keep the match going.
+<i>Burners</i> and <i>Life Thieves</i> are each other's nemesis' and two of one kind can kill one of the other every turn at their best time of the day. It shows how crucial the dusk will be for your Drakes, so be ready to retreat in time. As you are at least as fast as the <i>Life Thief</i>, if the Nightmares fall back too far at day, you will have an easy retreat. If they stay close to you to prepare a counter, retreat using <i>Drake Fighters</i> to cover your <i>Burners</i> from the <i>Unhatched</i>. This strategy might fail if Nightmares succeed at trapping you with <i>Howling Darknesses</i>. That is the reason why, using your <i>Drake Fighters</i> on them at day is the second objective you have to meet to keep the match going.
-Depending on the number of <i>Howling Darkness</i> turning to <i>Skirmisher</i> might be a decent alternative. Beside dealing free damage to the <i>Howling Darkness</i> when they are the most impetuous, the <i>Skirmisher</i> have additional benefits: dealing a lot of retaliation to not slippery <i>Unhatched</i>, getting high defense units that might requires Nightmares to get more <i>Black Cats</i>. On top of that, as saurians resist well <i>Life Thief</i>'s arcane, they can force Nightmares to turn to <i>Scornful Watchers</i> that are of not much use against your Drakes.
+Depending on the number of <i>Howling Darkness'</i> turning to <i>Skirmishers</i> might be a decent alternative. Beside dealing free damage to the <i>Howling Darkness</i> when they are the most impetuous, the <i>Skirmisher</i> has additional benefits: it deals a lot of retaliation to not-slippery <i>Unhatched</i>, it's high defense might convince the Nightmares to get more <i>Black Cats</i>. On top of that, as saurians resist <i>Life Thief</i>'s arcane, they can force Nightmares to turn to <i>Scornful Watchers</i> which are of not of much use against your Drakes.
-<u>Drake Burner:</u> he is <i>Life Thief</i>'s fieriest enemy. As you will definitely see many of them around, getting as much <i>Burners</i> as you can is a safe strategy. As only quick ones are truly faster than the <i>Life Thief</i>, when they can't reach any, they can also have a shot at the <i>Unhatched</i>. As both <i>Burner</i>'s advancement are awesome against Nightmares, you should try to level one.
+<u>Drake Burner:</u> he is <i>Life Thief</i>'s fiercest enemy. As you will definitely see many <i>Life Thieves</i> around, getting as many <i>Burners</i> as you can is a safe strategy. As only quick ones are truly faster than the <i>Life Thief</i>, when they can't reach any, they can also have a shot at the <i>Unhatched</i>. As both <i>Burner</i>'s advancement are awesome against Nightmares, you should try to level one.
-<u>Drake Clasher:</u> due to his slowness and his price, the <i>Clasher</i> is not the best buy against Nightmares. You can however decide to get one if Nightmares haven't any <i>Howling Darkness</i> as it can retaliate the <i>Unhatcheds</i> charge with one of his two attacks depending on their trait. When <i>Howling Darknesses</i> are around, their mobility and their cold attack will be devastating to the <i>Clasher</i> with no chance of retaliation. You don't want them to have such easy kills.
+<u>Drake Clasher:</u> due to his slowness and his price, the <i>Clasher</i> is not the best buy against Nightmares. You can however decide to get one if Nightmares haven't got any <i>Howling Darkness</i> as it can retaliate the <i>Unhatched</i> charge with one of his two attacks depending on their trait. When <i>Howling Darknesses</i> are around, their mobility and their cold attack will be devastating to the <i>Clasher</i> with no chance of retaliation. You don't want them to get such easy kills.
-<u>Drake Fighter:</u> the <i>Drake Fighter</i> is necessary to cover <i>Burners</i>' retreat at the end of the day as they will give maximum retaliation to <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge and they are relatively cheap. They should not however try to shield off the <i>Life Thief</i> as they won't be able to survive the whole night. When attacking, the <i>Drake Fighter</i> should focus on the <i>Howling Darkness</i>, the <i>Black Cat</i> or the <i>Unstable Elemental</i>, but don't forget his fire range can cheaply harass the opponent's <i>Life Thieves</i> if you have no better target.
+<u>Drake Fighter:</u> the <i>Drake Fighter</i> is necessary for covering <i>Burners</i>' retreat at the end of the day as they will deal high retaliation to <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge and they are relatively cheap. They should not however try to shield off the <i>Life Thief</i> as they won't be able to survive the whole night. When attacking, the <i>Drake Fighter</i> should focus on the <i>Howling Darkness</i>, the <i>Black Cat</i> or the <i>Unstable Elemental</i>, but don't forget his fire range can cheaply harass the opponent's <i>Life Thieves</i> if you have no better target.
-<u>Drake Glider:</u> faster than the <i>Drake Fighter</i> with better defence and an impact damage type that can scare away the <i>Unhatched</i>, the <i>Drake Glider</i> can be used for holding off the Nightmares when <i>Burners</i> are retreating. During attack at day time, they will be useful mostly for trapping the Nightmares at dawn and prevent them from fleeing too easily. As they are not as efficient as the <i>Drake Fighter</i> at dealing damage to the <i>Howling Darkness</i> the role they can play is still secondary and you should not recruit too many of them.
+<u>Drake Glider:</u> faster than the <i>Drake Fighter</i> with better defense and an impact damage type that can scare away the <i>Unhatched</i>, the <i>Drake Glider</i> can be used for holding off the Nightmares when <i>Burners</i> are retreating. During attack at day time, they will be useful mostly for trapping the Nightmares at dawn and preventing them from fleeing too easily. As they are not as efficient as the <i>Drake Fighter</i> at dealing damage to the <i>Howling Darkness</i> the role they can play is still secondary and you should not recruit too many of them.
-<u>Saurian Augur:</u> the <i>Augur</i> with his low hitpoints and cold damage doesn't not play a big role in this matchup. He will have trouble getting away from the <i>Unhatched</i> and Drakes won't have really time to protect him. Because the damages dealt are so heavy, his healing skill is minored in interest. His cold ranged attack should be used on <i>Unhatched</i> or anything else that he can kill. You may take your chance and feed him with kills as at level 2, the <i>Soothsayer</i> will be able to cure <i>Black Cat</i>'s jinx.
+<u>Saurian Augur:</u> the <i>Augur</i> with his low hitpoints and cold damage doesn't play a big role in this match-up. He will have trouble getting away from the <i>Unhatched</i> and Drakes won't have really time to protect him. Because the damages dealt are so heavy, his healing skill becomes less practical. His cold ranged attack should be used on <i>Unhatched</i> or anything else he can kill. You may take your chance and feed him with kills as the level 2 <i>Soothsayer</i> will be able to cure <i>Black Cat</i>'s jinx.
-<u>Saurian Skirmisher:</u> Depending on the number of <i>Howling Darkness</i> the <i>Skirmisher</i> might be a good choice for recruitment. Nearly as fast as them, doing free damage on melee, they beat them in price. However, due to Saurians' weakness on both cold and impact, keeping them alive might be a difficult task. Hence it is only possible if <i>Howling Darknesses</i> are enough to guarantee a target before <i>Skirmisher</i> dies.
+<u>Saurian Skirmisher:</u> Depending on the number of <i>Howling Darkness'</i>, the <i>Skirmisher</i> might be a good choice for recruitment. He's nearly as fast as them, doing free damage on melee, and beats them in price. However, due to Saurians' weakness to both cold and impact, keeping them alive might be a difficult task. Hence getting him is only advisable if there's enough <i>Howling Darknesses'</i> to guarantee a target before the <i>Skirmisher</i> dies.
 == Knalgan vs Nightmares of Meloen ==

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 == General strategy against Nightmares of Meloen ==
-The faction of Nightmares of Meloen is chaotic (except <i>Creepers</i> and <i>Unstable Elemental</i> that are neutral). It is composed of quite fast units with many specials or abilities. For this reason, if you command a lawful faction you have to follow strictly the day/night cycle. They can hit quite hard at night but on the other hand they have several units with low resistance or low defense. So according to the recruitment you did, you should be able to counter with some result at your best time of the day.
+The Nightmares of Meloen faction is chaotic, except for the neutral <i>Creepers</i> and <i>Unstable Elemental</i>. It is composed of quite fast units with many specials or abilities. For this reason, you have to follow the day/night cycle strictly if you command a lawful faction. They can hit very hard at night but on the other hand they have several units with low resistance or low defense. This means that, depending on the units you recruited, you should be able to counter-attack with good results at favorable time of the day.
-The Nightmares of Meloen don't have particularly efficient units to hold on villages. Taking into account the high price of some of their units (<i>Life Thief</i>, <i>Howling Darkness</i>), you can try to win with your economy, getting their villages earlier, holding your villages longer, by preventing them to have enough gold to buy expensive units. They have some cheap units too, but depending on which faction you play, these sometimes lack of efficiency to hurt you.
+The Nightmares of Meloen don't have particularly efficient units to hold villages. Taking into account the high price of some of their units (<i>Life Thief</i>, <i>Howling Darkness</i>), you can try to win through economical dominance. When advancing and retreating, capture their villages earlier and stay on yours for longer, denying them the gold to buy their expensive units. They have some cheap units too, but depending on which faction you play, these sometimes lack the  capability to efficiently hurt you.
-<u>Unhatched:</u> as this unit will charge to inflict maximum damage, you should screen your ranged specialists so it can't reach them. To do so you might rely on different units according to its trait as each trait give it some resistance bonus for some damage type. If you succeed to have the <i>Unhatched</i> able to attack only on your melee fighters, it might decide to do so, but will most likely receive retaliation. Get ready to finish them on your turn if the time is right.
+<u>Unhatched:</u> as this unit will charge to inflict maximum damage, you should screen your ranged-oriented units so it can't reach them. To do so you might rely on different units according to its trait as each trait give it some resistance bonus for some damage type. Should it attack, having your units arranged so that the <i>Unhatched</i> can only reach your melee fighters will most likely mean heavy retaliation damage for it. Get ready to finish them off on your turn whenever possible.
-<u>Black Cat:</u> with its magical attack and the jinx special, the <i>Black Cat</i> is one of the first unit you may want to kill if you are not Undead. It benefits of high defense but her pretty bad resistances help to kill her in a minimum of strikes when your best time of the day has come. After it has hit you, <i>Unhatched</i>, <i>Life Thief</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i> will most likely follow to inflict heavy damage.
+<u>Black Cat:</u> with its magical attack and the jinx special, the <i>Black Cat</i> is one of the first units you may want to kill if you are not Undead. It benefits from high defense but her rather poor resistances help with killing her in a minimum of strikes when your best time of the day has come. After it has hit you, <i>Unhatched</i>, <i>Life Thief</i> or <i>Scornful Watchers</i> will most likely follow to inflict heavy damage.
-<u>Life Thief:</u> arcane melee with drains, we all know from those pesky <i>Ghosts</i> that units of this kind are not easy to handle. <i>Life Thieves</i> will be seen in any matchup but against Loyalists. Fight them with ranged fire or arcane, slow them or run away from them as they are rather slow. As their defense and their physical resistances are lower than the <i>Ghost</i>'s, countering them with any range unit is good enough to deal with its additional hitpoints. Even the usage of blade or pierce melee can be acceptable from high defense, if you fight under an advantageous time of day.
+<u>Life Thief:</u> Arcane melee with draining. Thanks to those pesky <i>Ghosts</i>, we all know  that units of this kind are not easy to handle. <i>Life Thieves</i> will likely be seen in all match-ups save the Loyalists one. Fight them with ranged fire or arcane, slow them or run away from them. As their defense and their physical resistances are lower than the <i>Ghost</i>'s, countering them with any range unit is good enough to deal with the extra hitpoints it steals. Even the usage of blade or pierce melee can be acceptable from good defense, if you fight on an advantageous time of day.
-<u>Scornful Watcher:</u> his ranged attack turns arcane resistance into weakness. For this reason, he will be Loyalists worst enemy and will be seen in numbers against Knalgans or Northerners. Slow and weak, Nightmares will have to cover him with his tanks. Your ability to win will often be measured by your ability to clean your way to hit him.
+<u>Scornful Watcher:</u> its ranged attack turns arcane resistance into weakness. For this reason, it will be Loyalists worst enemy and will also be seen in numbers against Knalgans and Northerners. Slow and weak, Nightmares will have to cover it with their tanks. Your ability to win will often be measured by how well you can clear the way for attacking the watcher.
-<u>Howling Darkness:</u> as an expensive unit without melee attack, the <i>Howling Darkness</i> is an ideal target when you are countering, but as it is fast and skirmisher, go for hitting the unit when you have a good chance to kill or it will slip through your net. It will often be use to support <i>Unhatcheds</i> and <i>Life Thieves</i> on offense to reduce your retaliation and can be a threat itself at night especially against the cold fearing Drakes.
+<u>Howling Darkness:</u> as an expensive unit without melee attack, the <i>Howling Darkness</i> is an ideal target when you are countering, but as it is fast and skirmisher, go for hitting the unit when you have a good chance to kill or it will slip right through your net. It will often be used to support <i>Unhatched</i> and <i>Life Thieves</i> on offense to reduce retaliation and can be a threat itself at night especially against the cold-fearing Drakes.
-<u>Unstable Elemental:</u> this versatile unit can be used as a scout mostly in its tornado form that you can find in plain, road and castle. It will most likely never fight in this form and will prefer to move to hill or forest when he is ready to fight. Up to you to accept or not the challenge as it will be much slower in those forms. The <i>Unstable Elemental</i> most disturbing use is when it moves behind your lines and take a defending form (quake, bramble or eventually whirlpool), cutting your retreat. The slow ranged attack of the bramble form, obviously combines well with <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge at level 1 and berserk at level 2.
+<u>Unstable Elemental:</u> this versatile unit can be used as a scout mostly in its tornado form that you can find on plain, road and castle. It will almost never fight in this form and will prefer to move to hill or forest when it is ready to fight. It's often up to you to accept the challenge or not, as it will be much slower in those forms. The <i>Unstable Elemental's</i> most disturbing use is when it moves behind your lines and take a defending form (quake, bramble or possibly whirlpool), cutting your retreat. The slow ranged attack of the bramble form, obviously combines well with <i>Unhatched</i>'s charge at level 1 and berserk at level 2.
-<u>Creepers:</u> if you are not playing a chaotic faction, this unit should not change much in your strategy. You should keep trying to catch units with more hitpoints at your best time of the day, so that you don't waste too much fire power to kill this cheap unit. If you are chaotic though, you may have to adapt in order to cope with those pests that can hit you when you are at your weakest. When attacking <i>Creepers</i> on melee, target the ones with few <i>Creepers</i> around so that you reduce the retaliation. When they form a chain, you can consider breaking it in two to double their upkeep.
+<u>Creepers:</u> if you are not playing a chaotic faction, this unit should not make you change your strategy. You should keep trying to catch units with more hitpoints at your best time of the day, so that you don't waste too much fire power on killing this cheap unit. If you are chaotic though, you may have to adapt in order to cope with those pests that can hit you when you are at your weakest. When attacking <i>Creepers</i> in melee, target the ones with fewer <i>Creepers</i> around so that you reduce the retaliation. When they form a chain, you can consider breaking it in two to double their upkeep.
 == Drakes vs Nightmares of Meloen ==

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	The first one is to rely on <i>Troll Whelps</i> to control the <i>Unhatched</i>. As a consequence, Nightmares will recruit <i>Life Thieves</i> to heal on them while inflicting enough damage with <i>Troll Whelp</i>'s arcane weakness and his low defense. On your side, you will recruit <i>Orcish Archers</i> to beat the <i>Life Thieves</i> down. You still have to recruit some <i>Orcish Grunts</i> as he is still the best unit to hold strategic places against the <i>Life Thief</i>.		The first one is to rely on <i>Troll Whelps</i> to control the <i>Unhatched</i>. As a consequence, Nightmares will recruit <i>Life Thieves</i> to heal on them while inflicting enough damage with <i>Troll Whelp</i>'s arcane weakness and his low defense. On your side, you will recruit <i>Orcish Archers</i> to beat the <i>Life Thieves</i> down. You still have to recruit some <i>Orcish Grunts</i> as he is still the best unit to hold strategic places against the <i>Life Thief</i>.
	The second path you can go is to go for a maximum of <i>Orcish Grunts</i>. If so, be ready to see <i>Black Cats</i> and <i>Scornful Watchers</i> coming in to take at them. They will be covered by <i>Unhatcheds</i> that you will target with some <i>Orcish Assassin</i> to disrupt his organization, and still some <i>Orcish Archers</i>. As poison will be often used and you will face ranged units, the <i>Wolf Rider</i> can bring additional tactics that can help getting a kill or extend the effect of poison on a trapped unit.		The second path you can go is to go for a maximum of <i>Orcish Grunts</i>. If so, be ready to see <i>Black Cats</i> and <i>Scornful Watchers</i> coming in to take at them. They will be covered by <i>Unhatcheds</i> that you will target with some <i>Orcish Assassin</i> to disrupt his organization, and still some <i>Orcish Archers</i>. As poison will be often used and you will face ranged units, the <i>Wolf Rider</i> can bring additional tactics that can help getting a kill or extend the effect of poison on a trapped unit.
		+
		+	[[Category:How to Play]]

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 Depending on the number of <i>Howling Darkness</i> turning to <i>Skirmisher</i> might be a decent alternative. Beside dealing free damage to the <i>Howling Darkness</i> when they are the most impetuous, the <i>Skirmisher</i> have additional benefits: dealing a lot of retaliation to not slippery <i>Unhatched</i>, getting high defense units that might requires Nightmares to get more <i>Black Cats</i>. On top of that, as saurians resist well <i>Life Thief</i>'s arcane, they can force Nightmares to turn to <i>Scornful Watchers</i> that are of not much use against your Drakes.
-<u>Drake Burner:</u> he is <i>Life Thief</i>'s fierest enemy. As you will definively see many of them around, getting as much <i>Burners</i> as you can is a safe strategy. As only quick ones are truely faster than the <i>Life Thief</i>, when they can't reach any, they can also have a shot at the <i>Unhatched</i>. As both <i>Burner</i>'s advancement are awesome against Nightmares, you should try to level one.
+<u>Drake Burner:</u> he is <i>Life Thief</i>'s fieriest enemy. As you will definitely see many of them around, getting as much <i>Burners</i> as you can is a safe strategy. As only quick ones are truly faster than the <i>Life Thief</i>, when they can't reach any, they can also have a shot at the <i>Unhatched</i>. As both <i>Burner</i>'s advancement are awesome against Nightmares, you should try to level one.
 <u>Drake Clasher:</u> due to his slowness and his price, the <i>Clasher</i> is not the best buy against Nightmares. You can however decide to get one if Nightmares haven't any <i>Howling Darkness</i> as it can retaliate the <i>Unhatcheds</i> charge with one of his two attacks depending on their trait. When <i>Howling Darknesses</i> are around, their mobility and their cold attack will be devastating to the <i>Clasher</i> with no chance of retaliation. You don't want them to have such easy kills.

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−	== General strategy against Nightmares ==	+	== General strategy against Nightmares of Meloen ==
	The faction of Nightmares of Meloen is chaotic (except <i>Creepers</i> and <i>Unstable Elemental</i> that are neutral). It is composed of quite fast units with many specials or abilities. For this reason, if you command a lawful faction you have to follow strictly the day/night cycle. They can hit quite hard at night but on the other hand they have several units with low resistance or low defense. So according to the recruitment you did, you should be able to counter with some result at your best time of the day.		The faction of Nightmares of Meloen is chaotic (except <i>Creepers</i> and <i>Unstable Elemental</i> that are neutral). It is composed of quite fast units with many specials or abilities. For this reason, if you command a lawful faction you have to follow strictly the day/night cycle. They can hit quite hard at night but on the other hand they have several units with low resistance or low defense. So according to the recruitment you did, you should be able to counter with some result at your best time of the day.

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 <u>Wose:</u> you can recruit some <i>Woses</i> as he is excellent at countering the <i>Unhatched</i>'s charges or taking them down at day time. While he is resistant to most Nightmares' attacks, he is very weak when facing the <i>Life Thief</i> who can inflict heavy damage with its arcane melee while getting healed from drains. As the <i>Wose</i> is as expensive and slower then the <i>Life Thieves</i> you can't afford to let him fight them alone and should back him with <i>Mages</i>.
-== Northerners ==
+== Northerners vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
 Both factions do have tremendous melee heavy hitters: the cheap <i>Unhatched</i> and the cheaper <i>Orcish Grunt</i>. Relying on them to make a breakthrough is quite a gamble and the best way to keep in control of the game is more than often making the best use of the ranged fighters, the <i>Scornful Watcher</i> for one side, the <i>Orcish Archer</i> for the other. Due to the threat they represent, they will be the focus of the melee unit tactics.

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 <u>Walking Corpse:</u> the use of <i>Walking Corpse</i> is mainly for obstructing, screening off <i>Dark Adepts</i> and <i>Skeletons</i> from their foes. You can also place them around units that are holding a position to reduce the number of spots available for attack. On attack, they should focus on <i>Creepers</i> and <i>Unhatched</i>.
-== Rebels ==
+== Rebels vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
 When Rebels realize they are playing against Nightmares, their first idea will be to get some <i>Woses</i>. While this is a good idea, the best is too wait for dawn or second night to get one, so that Nightmares are at the closest to launch the counter. When you get your <i>Wose</i>, you need to get some <i>Mages</i> quickly. They will make <i>Life Thieves</i> think twice before pushing at the end of the night when your <i>Woses</i> get engaged. At other time of the day, better to keep recruiting Elves, mostly cost efficient <i>Elvish Fighters</i>.

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 <u>Spearman:</u> as always, the <i>Spearman</i> will be the first recruit to turn to. He can both retaliate hard on the <i>Unhatched</i>'s charges and do severe damage to the <i>Scornful Watcher</i>. His low price allows you to get enough to protect efficiently your <i>Mages</i> from the threat of <i>Unhatcheds</i>. Combining with <i>Cavalryman</i> is a must though, as you want to diversify your damage type to leverage on the resistance bonus of the <i>Unhatched</i>'s trait and get more speed to chase Nightmares down when the day comes.
-== Undead ==
+== Undead vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
 Having to fight Nightmares is one to the toughest experience for Undead. Unlike what they are used to, Undead in this matchup will play by counter-attack as the ability of make the most damages is not on their side. While you will be relatively safe on the ranged front, the <i>Unhatched</i>'s impact will break your <i>Skeletons</i> in piece, the <i>Life Thief</i>'s arcane will tear them apart while the cheap <i>Creepers</i>' banding is an additional threat to your <i>Dark Adepts</i>. So you will have to turn on the survival mode as soon as possible, recruiting <i>Ghoul</i>, <i>Ghost</i>, <i>Walking Corpse</i>, still some <i>Skeletons</i> and <i>Dark Adept</i> for the counter.

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 <u>Thief:</u> the <i>Thief</i> can be best used to counter Nightmares when they put themselves on bad defense without making much damage. If the <i>Thief</i> can walk around and backstab anything, he will probably be able to make enough damage to make up for his gold. If one <i>Thief</i> got a kill, you might try to feed him with XP to level him. As <i>Thieves</i> have quite low hitpoints and bad resistance on nearly all Nightmares' damage, no need to get several of them as you can't reasonably hope you will get opportunity to backstab with several of them. Counting on a <i>Thief</i> based strategy is quite risky though, because they are very quick to fall under the <i>Black Cat</i>/<i>Unhatched</i> combination.
-== Loyalists ==
+== Loyalists vs Nightmares of Meloen ==
 When Loyalists' player realizes he faces Nightmares of Meloen, his attention should constantly be focused on the <i>Scornful Watcher</i>. The large range of Loyalists' melee units can be used to bring them down before night. As your opponent will try his best as zocing you out from getting at his <i>Watchers</i>, recruiting a bit of any melee units is one important step to ruin his strategy.