OW's Guide to Midgard, Scales and Skinshifters

[Viajero]

Cool thanks. What about giant E and N blessed nations a la Utgard etc? Would those giants be useful against the midgard boys or would they be surrounded and decimated due to size diference factor and triple attack from the wolf shapes?

[13lackGu4rd]

skinshifters usually eat giants, especially in werewolf form, due to sheer numbers as you suspected. however giants with auras, such as Niefel Giants and their cold aura, should do fairly well with a standard E9N9 bless as long as you put up a decent number of them. the blessing gives them plenty of regeneration power and reinvigoration, the aura causes fatigue to the skinshifters, so as long as you can survive a few rounds of attacks from the skinshifters, shouldn't be too hard as long as you have enough to form a massive giant line, to not let the skinshifters completely surround your giants. after 2-3 rounds most of the skinshifters would be frozen from the cold aura, than it's easy picking but keep in mind that battle magic can change the odds, Fog Warriors, Mass Flight, Warriors of Niefelheim, etc would turn the tide in the skinshifter's favor, likewise you can bring battle magic of your own, say Mass Regeneration, Army of Gold, Weapons of Sharpness, etc. however once Warriors of Niefelheim(or its lesser variants) comes in play cold aura will stop working, which will make it a lot harder. that would be the time for alternative methods such as those Baalz mentioned

[thejeff]

Cold Aura still works under Warriors of Neifelheim or the smaller versions, doesn't it?
They give 50% cold resistance so the effect is lessened, but the Niefel Giants aura is so ridiculous it's still effective.

Of course, skinshifters don't exist in the early age and Niefel giants don't exist elsewhere, so the specific point is moot, except in Single Age games.

The main strength of the giant nations is SC/thug, not troops. It should be pretty easy to take skinshifters with giant thugs. They're not particularly high damage so high prot and a bit of regen will work well. You've got to hit them twice, which is a disadvantage. BoW will help. Does Fire Shield do damage on each attack (3x a round!) or each attack action?

[13lackGu4rd]

oh, I thought Warriors of Niefelheim gave 100% immunity not just 50%. and yeah, that will only work in single age mod, just gave it as an example on giants in general, didn't find any other giants with auras, don't think the Hinnom(and successors) have heat auras but not sure. as for thugs, not sure you'll have enough prot to survive against a mass of skinshifters, especially once buffed by say Strength of Giants and later Weapons of Sharpness. also, don't forget that the higher fatigue you acquire the higher the chance for critical strikes, and a few thugs facing a massive skinshifter army would acquire fatigue very quickly unless you got an E9 bless(and robes of the saint if not sacred) and plenty of reinvigoration items. Fire Shield will work to an extent I guess, but again, it won't be enough by itself.

[thejeff]

The manual has some of the large scale resistance spells at 100%, but they are all 50%.
For massive hordes you'd obviously need fatigue neutral thugs, (plus enough to pay down any buffing) or SCs.
Since Utgard was mentioned, I was thinking in terms of Baalz's Skratti: Quickened, berserk, life-draining, BoW, regenerating. Give them some decent armor and see how it goes.

[Festin]

As I learned from experience, when dealing with elite melee units, another good option is Quagmire. It will cause them to slow down and gain some fatigue. If possible, add Rigor Mortis+Darkness+lots of undead chaff for maximum effect.

[OmikronWarrior]

Originally Posted by Baalz

... they are 25 gold apiece so you can sometimes win on a gold basis even taking 2:1 losses.

25 gold? Hah, they're only 20 for Midgard!

Now to answer the original question... going toe to toe with Skinshifters is usually a loosing proposition. You can either Arrow them (though Storm and Arrow Fend makes this so very ineffective) or use a thug/SC strategy. Also, try to use your mages as effectively as possible, if your opponent isn't using their Air Mages Optimally, then you have a chance to win some major battles.

[Lingchih]

Nice guide Omikron. Thanks.

[chrispedersen]

One niche tactic to add.

Blood Galderman combine with V's for a pretty good linebacker communion.

Have a couple of masters with crossbows (Or retreat them with the Hellpower option).

Consider things such as hellpower, stone skin, personal luck, mistform. 4-5 of these guys can really cause a huge amount of damage.