Age of Mythology
In-depth FAQ
Hades Strategy Guide
Written by elbac2000
Version 1.16
===============
Version History
===============
1.17: I no longer play AoM, and I haven't played for a long time
either. For this reason I can't answer any questions by e-mail anymore.
A new message is posted in Sources and Contacting info.
1.16: The FAQ name has been changed to Hades Strategy Guide instead of
Greek/Hades FAQ.
1.15: I have added a whole new section on how to win with a wonder. I
have also added a sub section on how to use Gastraphetes. Enjoy!
1.08: I have added some line borders to make titles easier to see. The
Hades archers section has been added to, with three new sub-sections!
This is a minor update making it a plus .03 version increase.
1.05 First update: I have fixed spelling and grammar errors and added
more info and rewrote some of the food getting section (number 5 of the
table of contents). The minor God Path section was totally redone, with
lots of more info added. It was also divided up into sections (ex.:
6.1, 6.2). This is a semi-major update making it a 0.05 version
increase.
Introduction
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Hello, this is an in-depth FAQ on the Greek civilization mainly
focusing on the God Hades. If you want to know about how to use the
Greeks and Hades strategy wise, then you have come to the right place.
You will learn why Hades can help you and why he has many advantages
over other Gods. This guide will help in multiplayer battles against
friends or on ESO. I will go through Hades bonuses, God Powers, Minor
Gods and units. Hopefully reading this guide will help you become
better with Hades. Please head on down to number 7 on the table of
contents to contact me. I would love to hear about how this FAQ has
helped you!
Important! - This guide is written assuming you're playing another
person online. Some tips may not appeal to people playing the computer.
So thus it should help you in your online gaming, but feel free to use
the tips for campaign levels and single player games too.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS FAQ IS FOR GAMEFAQS.COM ONLY!!! YOU MAY NOT USE IT OR
COPY IT ONTO YOUR WEBSITE!
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Table of Contents
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1) The Greeks in general and general strategy
2) Hades in general
3) Hades' bonuses
4) Hades' archers
4.1) Regular Foot Archers
4.2) Peltasts
4.3) Gastraphetes
4.4) How to use Gastraphetes
5) Good ways to get constant food
6) Good Minor God path for Hades
6.1) Classical Age
6.2) Heroic Age
6.3) Mythic Age
7) Wonder Victory with Hades
8) Sources and contacting info
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1) The Greek in general and general strategy
--------------------------------------------
The Greeks are shown as the main civilization in the story line and are
frequently underestimated. Their superior technology and armor can be
used to your advantage all the time. Something very important to
remember is that the Greeks are the most well rounded group in the
game.
Remember this: Greeks = Well rounded
Egyptians = Defensive
Norse = Offensive
Some examples are walls. The Egyptians have four different stages of
walls starting at wooden walls and going to citadel walls. The Norse
have two stages and the Greeks have three placing them right in the
middle. The same with towers, Egyptians have four stages, Norse two and
Greek three. A Greek can defend themselves just as good, and even
better than the other races.
A Greek villager can get food, gold and wood at the same rate as a
Norse gatherer. The Egyptian laborers have a slightly slower rate so
thus they have the empowering ability. Greeks also build faster than
Egyptians and build at the same rate as the Norse. If you have ever
noticed, some Norse players are driven down to the last resort and turn
their gatherers into ulfsarks.
Well you might be saying, well I want to be the Egyptians since they
have better defenses than the Greeks and since I am not that good,
defenses work well for me. Well I have the answer to that on how you
can get as defensive as possible with Hades, just keep reading.
2) Hades in general
As I said in the last section how the Greeks have well rounded
defenses, I also mentioned that Hades has even better defenses.
Using Hades makes the Greeks even more well rounded. He includes
bonuses that help your defenses and offences equally. I even think he
is the best Greek God to use against the Norse. Hades is not useful in
the cavalry department, nor are the Greeks in general. What Hades is
best for is archers. Read the next section for the real reasons to use
Hades.
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3) Hades' Bonuses
-----------------
In my opinion Hades' God Power, Bonuses and technology are the best out
of all the Greeks. He has the perfect balance between offensive and
defensive.
Hades God Power:
Sentinels: This creates four animated statues that are slow but strong
archers. They can be used to protect your or an allies' town center.
Some people choose to not use it until they build other town centers in
the third age. I personally recommend it on your starting town center,
as this is your most important one. Sentinels can act as mini watch
towers in the archaic age. They can add extra damage to scouts and
against rushes. They are weak against hack and crush damage so watch
out and protect them as they don't do a good job of protecting
themselves. Overall this gives the enemy more work and a harder time
trying to take out additional defenses. If this God Power is used in
the archaic age it gives Hades the best defenses at the beginning of
the game! Perfect, there you go, something better than the Egyptians!
- Important Question -
Why is this God Power better than Zeus' Bolt or Poseidon's Lure?
Well because it offers the most. When playing the game you can't be
concerned about the mythic age if you just started, so very rarely will
you be able to use bolt against Hel's Nidhogg or Osiris' Son of Osiris.
For example if you are playing Thor or Odin you can try to take out his
ulfsarks at the beginning which will set him at a big disadvantage, but
the chances of that happening are not one hundred percent. Poseidon's
Lure is not that useful especially if you are on a map that has a
bounty of animals already and the walk to them is not too far. You
might also want to fish or farm instead of hunt. Poseidon's Lure is not
bad but not essential and not always needed.
So after reading this, Hades has the best God Power. Sentinels are good
anywhere and anytime!
Hades' Bonus #1
All buildings have increased hit points and increased attack.
There you have it, an upgrade in itself. All building have 25% more hit
points. This may range from 100 to 1000 hit points. There is an
advantage and a slight disadvantage. The advantage is more defense more
you. It will take you opponent longer to take down your buildings
making them last longer. The disadvantage is that since they have more
hit points they take longer to build. This is not so bad since it is
free defense and the extra building time is only a few seconds.
The other half is increased attack for ranged buildings. This includes
town centers, towers, fortresses and even sentinels (but it's kind of
included anyways for sentinels). This is great since a lot people rely
on buildings like their town center for protection.
Hades' Bonus #2
When human units die they have a 20% chance of returning as a shade.
Great bonus! This gives the ability of free extra units. They count as
myth units and regular bonus damage against human units like regular
myth units. They are great to keep at your base while your army is
attacking or send them with your army. Any way you use them is a great
bonus to yourself. A unique Greek ability!
Hades' Bonus #3
All archer units do more damage.
This is the main bonus of Hades. Archers should now always have a part
in your army. All archers have 10% increased attack. I will cover the
archers in the archers section.
Hades' Technology
Vaults of Erebus
This technology gives you 0.75 of gold every second. It is great to
have this but you don't have to! Good for long games where gold runs
out. It costs 200 food so don't get it unless you have a lot of extra.
Like a mini plenty vault that cannot be stolen.
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4) Hades' archers
-----------------
Greek archers are the only true foot archer in the game. Egyptian
slingers are close but they use a different weapon and serve a
different purpose than archers. Archers should always be in your army.
There are three different types. Archers, Peltasts and Gastraphetes
which is only available to Hades. Archers counter infantry; Peltasts
counter archers and Gastraphetes also counter infantry but are also
effective against buildings.
Never have an army of all archers. They do not destroy buildings very
well as most buildings block 95% of pierce attacks. Archers are used to
take out the infantry your infantry is fights (if that makes sense).
They remain at the back of the army so they don't get harmed easily by
infantry. Archers don't come with a lot of armor so get them some hack
right away if your playing Norse and Pierce first if it's another Greek
or Egyptian. The copper weapons upgrade is not needed as Hades provides
archers with extra attack. Get that upgrade when you have a surplus of
resources.
If your opponent is Norse, archers will counter their units if they
don't use cavalry. Throwing axmen and ulfsarks are very weak to arrows
if they don't have shields.
4.1) Regular Foot Archers
These are the main archer unit for the Greeks. These units have a bow
and arrow and have a pretty good range.
Below is a table on how you should consider archers in your army.
If you are against...
Another Greek: Archers should make up one third to one half of your
main army. Greeks usually don't use too many horses, so your archers
stand more of a chance. Your archers will help get rid of his infantry,
so defiantly have them.
Egyptian: You will not need as many against these opponents. They
automatically get guard towers in Classical and your archers are
useless against them. Their starting archer unit will be a slinger.
These are like Peltasts; they will counter your archers. Have some
archers but much more infantry. Priests will also counter archers.
Norse: Archers should be at least half of your main army. Feel free to
add even more! Throwing Axmen and ulfsarks will fall to your pierce
attacks! Watch out for cavalry, so include hoplites too.
4.2) Peltasts
Peltasts become available at the Heroic Age. These are counter archers
who have a weak pierce attack against all units except archers.
Peltasts throw a long wooden javelin. Use Peltasts against other
archers; these include: Greek archers, chariot archers, Gastraphetes
and even throwing axmen. Since Peltasts are good versus numerous units,
include them with your archers.
4.3) Gastraphetes
Gastraphetes are only available in the Mythic Age at the fortress.
These archers, attack with a crossbow type weapon, which has a slower
reload time than the other archers. Gastraphetes are the only archers
who have a crush attack; giving them bonus damage versus buildings.
They can be used to counter all types of infantry as well. I find
Gastraphetes cannot replace your archers, but they are great backup and
are good in helping at destroying buildings. These are very useful if
you can afford to make room for them in your army. Gastraphetes can
outrange buildings making them great for attacking!
4.4) How to use Gastraphetes
When playing quite a few games in the Mythic Age, I have learned
something; Gastraphetes are your best friend! They are the perfect
siege weapons. With their crossbow type weapon they can inflict massive
damage to buildings. It is very important to get the Burning Pitch
upgrade at the armory that makes your archers do more damage to
buildings and ships.
I would get around 14-20 Gastraphetes as soon as you can. Always put
them behind other units, so include them in your main army. While your
front infantry defends them, you destroy and buildings you want. You
will watch town centers go down in seconds! This strategy works best
when going for a Wonder Victory, as they can attack your opponent
quickly to waist his time!
---------------------------------
5) Good ways to get constant food
---------------------------------
This is my food guild for the Greeks focusing on Hades' but can be used
with Zeus and Poseidon if you leave out his God Power, Lure.
- At the at the start -
When you begin, on no matter what level, always send your villagers for
the chickens first if not than berries. Meanwhile get you horse scout
to get as many of the herding animals as possible (goats, cows and
pigs). When your chickens or berries are out use those food gatherers
to build a temple. Then send them to the herd animals. At the same time
have about 4 on wood and 3 on gold. Advance to classical when ready
which is about 15-20 villagers and of course when you have the food.
- If the map has water with fishing -
If the map is a water one, with fishing, then build a dock closest to
an area with fish. Don't build your dock just anywhere, search around
for at least 1 to 3 schools of fish and have your dock built there. Do
this for additional docks too! The best fishing maps are Mediterranean
and Anatolia. Midgard is okay for fishing but there fish are not always
grouped together like the first two.
Be careful as you might get attacked by enemy arrow ships. Don't panic,
try to counter them and if you can't beat them then forget about
fishing and go to farming. I don't recommend starting a water war but
if you can handle it, go for it. Also, scout for if he has any docks so
you know to make arrow ships.
- Desert maps -
If there is no water but lots of food, such as Savannah, get nearby
animals but don't go too far. Go to the biggest herds of animals and
then go to farming. You will see it is a waist of time to keep on
moving you gatherers around the map.
- Regular maps -
If it is a regular map with no fishing and not that many animals, it's
farming time. Build 7 to 8 farms around you town center and get the
farming upgrade. I find this delivers the most constant supply of food.
- Wood is most important for food getting -
No matter if it is farming or fishing, you must get a ton of wood, as
they both require wood. So concentrate on wood as mush as possible.
Wood is important for buildings and archers too!
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6) Good Minor God path
----------------------
6.1) - First Minor Gods, the Classical Age -
I would choose Ares. He gives you one more upgrade than Athena and has
a better God Power. He gives you upgrades that make you units stronger.
* His God Power *
Pestilence, his God Power, stops military building from producing
units.
& His Myth Unit &
His myth unit, the Cyclops, is my favorite! They can throw units as
their special attack. They do crush damage along with hack damage.
!!!Important note about Cyclops!!!
Make sure to get Elder Cyclops who has twice as much attack! This is
great when attacking his base! With doubled crush attack your
opponent's buildings are in danger.
???Why is Ares better than Athena???
Athena's restoration isn't that useful as you can wait for the heroic
age and get Apollo's healing temples. Athena does include some good
defense technologies but getting armory upgrades can do the same thing.
These technologies would only be useful in longer games where you have
the time and resources to research these technologies. The Minotaur is
cheaper and weaker than the Cyclops. (You get what you pay for!) The
Cyclops has crush attack which the Minotaur lacks. Meaning the Minotaur
has no other purpose than a giant overpriced melee unit.
6.2) - The Heroic Age -
In Heroic, go Apollo, hands down. His upgrades help your archers, which
is perfect. You can also research temple of healing which makes temples
heal units that go to them. It only heals them one at a time though. He
also gives a research that can give units and buildings improved line
of sight
* His God Power *
His God Power, underworld passage, can be a game deciding factor or may
not be used at all. It creates a two way portal that transports units
instantly. It is most effective when cast at the back of your
opponent's main base.
& His Myth Unit &
The Manticore is a great archer who benefits from Hades. It is a great
addition to your archers. The Manticore has a special attack in which
it launches 6 darts which do 15 pierce damage each. If your wood supply
is good, getting one of these won't be a big problem.
???Why is Apollo better than Aphrodite???
While Aphrodite has very good researches, her God Power and myth unit
aren't as useful as Apollo's, especially when using Hades. The Nemean
Lion is another expensive melee unit. The Manticore is best because it
is an archer, meaning it doesn't take damage form the front line. It
also takes Hades' archer bonuses making it even stronger. Her God Power
Curse is not as effective and only makes about 10 to 12 pigs from
experience. It is not as much a game deciding factor like Underworld
Passage.
6.3) - The Mythic Age -
It's up to you in the Mythic Age. I will list the good and bad of each
Minor God and you can make the decision because they are both good
decisions. Artemis has one good attacking God Power but the rest is
useless. Hephaestus is more balanced and has a much better myth unit. I
would lean more towards Hephaestus.
* Hephaestus *
God Power: Plenty
This creates a Plenty Vault which gives you food, wood and gold every
five seconds. This will give you a great advantage as gold mines start
to run low. This can help you create a massive army. The bad part is
that it can be stolen from you. If you're beaten in the area near your
opponent will gain control of it. Be sure to protect it and place it in
a safe area.
Myth Unit: Colossus
It is one of the best myth units in the game. It has a very strong
attack and tons of hit points. Its unique feature is that it can heal
it self by eating from gold mines and trees. Maybe you can try to eat
your opponent's gold mine! They can be upgraded to Silver Colossus and
Gold Colossus.
Technologies: Forge of Olympus which makes armory upgrade 75% cheaper.
Weapon of the Titans which makes unique units have 10%
more attack.
These technologies are great for those upgrades you haven't yet got.
* Artemis *
God Power: Earthquake
The God Power can decide a game or it can add the finishing touches. It
deals a crazy amount of crush damage to buildings, so cast it around
his military buildings. It does very little damage to human units. This
is the most damaging God Power to buildings for the Greeks.
Myth Unit: Chimera
A melee lion type unit that has a special attack that can blow fire. In
terms of melee myth units this one doesn't match up against the
Colossus. You can research Flames of Typhon which gives them 30% more
attack, 20% more hit points and their special attack does 30% more
damage.
Technologies: Plague Arrows: this gives archers 15% more pierce attack.
Trierarch: this gives Triremes 20% more crush armor.
Plague Arrows is not necessary because I would think your archers are
strong enough by now. Trierarch is only necessary if you are going to
be doing naval battles; otherwise it is useless since you don't always
have a map with water on it.
-------------------------
Wonder Victory with Hades
-------------------------
A great way to win a game is by a Wonder. This type of game is for
players who have sometime to a longer game, which lasts about an hour.
Using this strategy can give you the opportunity to frustrate your
opponent and have a little fun instead of always going for a military
victory, at which you have a better chance of losing. I will run you
through the tasks on how to win with a wonder.
Archaic Age
Your main goal is to get to the Mythic Age as fast as possible. You
will need to farm or fish in order to get the necessary food in time.
Lay down your Sentinels at your main base.
Classical Age
I would get Athena instead of Ares because her God Power will help heal
your Wonder or buildings later in the game. When you reach Classical,
get watch towers and their upgrades, build a few more. If your opponent
rushes in Classical, try to hold him off and building towers will help
you. Concentrate on your resources and favor. No upgrades at the armory
are required.
Heroic Age
Get Aphrodite, as Curse will help get rid of invaders and her
technologies, Golden Apples and Divine Blood are very important.
Golden Apples makes your villagers gather favor 15 percent faster and
Divine Blood makes your villagers build and move faster as well as
carry more resources. Build three fortresses and more towers, but leave
room for your wonder. Start making walls too.
Mythic Age
Get Hephaestus as the Plenty Vault will give you resources to help get
you wonder faster. You don't have to start your wonder yet; I would get
everything you need first, such as TONS of fortresses and towers. Now
upgrade your towers fully and your walls too. Build multiple layers of
walls, but not to close to each other as they will take splash damage
if they are to close. Start your wonder and keep creating villagers
that are rallied to the wonder. Get the two technologies at the town
center that will give your buildings more hit points and make them more
resistant to siege damage. Now make an army, you cannot defend with out
one! Get the units that you like best. I would recommend hoplites and
Gastraphetes as well as all the heroes. Gastraphetes can attack your
opponent to get rid of his buildings really quick. Check section 4.4 on
how to use them. Once the wonder is complete keep building anything you
can. Towers, fortresses, town centers and walls will all do. Don't
stop, keep telling your self that you don't have enough defenses. Don't
forget your army. I hope you win and you probably should unless he has
a sick amount of siege and maybe even Gastraphetes. I have only lost
once when building a Wonder, I have also won at the last second and
only because may wonder lasted because of the extra hit points, so
remember that. I hope this helps.
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8) Sources and contacting info
------------------------------
I hope you have enjoyed this in-depth FAQ and have learned a lot on how
to use Hades. Information for this FAQ was found on AOM Heaven at
http://aom.heavengames.com/
Edited note:
Sorry, but I don't play AoM anymore, so I'm afraid I can't help you
anymore by e-mail. My FAQ is as much as I can help you, so I hope it
helps you.
Thank you.
