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The Library > Strategies and Battle

Techniques and Attributes are only a part of a Vassal's strength. Without a coherent Strategy, a Vassal cannot hope to win in any combat.

Strategies consist of a number of Condition/Response/Priority "Triplets". A Vassal's Strategy may have only as many of these Triplets as it has points in Tactics. (That is, a Vassal with Tactics 4 can have, at most, 4 Triplets in its Strategy.)

Each Triplet is a guideline by which the Vassal decides which Technique should be used at a given moment.

There are a number of Conditions to choose from, ranging from "I have less than X% my total HP" to "The battle has been going on for less than Y seconds" to "Always", and several others.

The Response is a Technique which the Vassal knows, and should cast if the Condition is met.

Finally, the Priority sets how likely the Vassal is to use this Response, instead of another, in the event that more than one Condition is met. The Priorities available are Low, Normal, High and Absolute.

Example 1 - A Strategy That Works

For example, consider this Strategy:

  1. The time is 0 seconds / "Shell" / Absolute
  2. Always / "Icicle" / High
  3. Always / "Wash" / Low

Triplet 1 says that if exactly 0 seconds have elapsed, then "Shell" should be cast. The "Absolute" Priority means that this must be done if the Condition is met.

So the Vassal with this strategy will always cast "Shell" first thing every battle.

Triplets 2 and 3 both have the "Always" Condition, meaning they will always be considered, however "Icicle" has been given High Priority, while "Wash" has been given Low Priority.

These two Triplets result in the Vassal always casting either Icicle and Wash at random, but with Icicle being cast more often, since it has been given a higher priority.

Note that even through Triplets 2 and 3 are always considered, Triplet 1's "Absolute" Priority means that Shell will be cast at time 0 instead of anything else.

Example 2 - A Strategy That Doesn't Work, and How To Make It Work

Here's an example of a Strategy that may not work as expected:

  1. Always / "Carnivore" / Absolute
  2. My health is below 30% / "Zephyr" / Absolute

Triplet 1 says that Carnivore should Always be cast, Absolutely.

Triplet 2 says that in the event that the Vassal has less than 30% it's Hit Points, it should cast Zephyr - a healing spell - Absolutely.

The problem is that in the case of Absolute priorities, the first one whose Condition is met will be cast. Since Triplet 1's is "Always" and "Absolute", Triplet 2 will never even be considered.

Either of these Srategies would work better:

  1. Always / "Carnivore" / High (anything other than Absolute, really)
  2. My health is below 30% / "Zephyr" / Absolute

Or:

  1. My health is below 30% / "Zephyr" / Absolute
  2. Always / "Carnivore" / Absolute

Final Example - Techniques with Cooldowns

Some Techniques have a "cooldown" time. Such Techniques, once cast, may not be cast again until the cooldown time has elapsed.

The Technique Shell has a cooldown of 6 seconds, while the Technique Boulder has a cooldown of 0.50 seconds. Here is a sample strategy which takes advantage of these cooldown times:

  1. Always / "Shell" / Absolute
  2. Always / "Boulder" / Absolute
  3. Always / "Erupt" / Absolute

Example 2 showed us why having several Always / Absolute triplets can prevent other Techniques from being used as expected. Sometimes, however, it can be made to work for us, since if a Technique cannot be cast, its Triplet will be ignored.

A Vassal using this strategy will cast Shell at the very beginning of the battle, and every (approximately) 6 seconds afterwards, when its cooldown time has elapsed. In between casting Shell, the Vassal will alternate between Boulder and Erupt due to Boulder's 0.50 second cooldown.

Some Miscellaneous Tips

Priority only comes in to play if two or more Triplets' Conditions are met - if only one Triplet's Condition is met, it will be used no matter what its Priority is.

Triplet order does not matter except in the case of Absolute Priorities - if multiple Triplets with Absolute Priorities have their Conditions met, the one listed first will be used.

If no Conditions are met, the Vassal will cast one of its Techniques chosen completely at random. It doesn't have to be one that's mentioned in one of the Triplets; any Technique the Vassal knows is a possibility.

After 60 seconds of battle time, the battle is declared a draw, and the Vassal which has dealt the most damage wins (if this somehow ties, the winner is chosen randomly). Some Techniques can shorten or extend the battle time.