Hero Academy has taken FTG by storm and has everyone here enthralled by its strategic gameplay. As with most games, especially from the strategy genre, there’s a bit of a learning curve. Lucky for you, I’m here, and am ready to give a complete breakdown of Hero Academy, along with a few tips and pointers that will have you well on your way to your first victory screen.
Basic Gameplay
The general concept of Hero Academy is to be either the first person to break the enemies crystal(s) or to be the last army standing. Both options are quite viable to pursue, but one isn’t always as easy to achieve as the other.
Characters
There are two armies currently, with a third in production. The Council, a human race, and the Dark Elves. Dwarves, the third army, has early sketches, but are still probably a little bit of a ways off, so we’ll be focusing on the Council and the Dark Elves in this guide.
Council:
Cleric – The army medic. This class is going to be your bread and butter. The cleric is capable of healing hurt units or even picking up knocked out units for a second shot. In a pinch these units produce a decent amount of damage at a range. The Cleric has a movement of two and a casting distance of two as well.
Archer – This class is one of the Council’s heaviest hitters. Leave these guys at a considerable range and rain arrows on your target for maximum effect. While the Archer does have a melee attack it will only do a fraction of the damage her arrows will deal. The Archer has a movement of two and a range of three. Works well with a Cleric at her back.
Knight – Tanks with legs. The Knight is going to be capable of receiving a considerable amount of punishment, while dealing some decent damage as well. This class is probably one of the hardest classes to master in the game. Proper positioning and use of his knock back on attack is crucial to making complete use of him. The Knight has a movement speed of two and an attack range of one. Great synergy with the Ninja.
Wizard – These casters round out the Council with great utility plays. If the Knight wasn’t the hardest to master, the Wizard would be. Casting at a range uses a chain lightning that will bounce in unpredictable ways, hitting up to three enemies – including the crystal. Be aware that the targets must be adjacent to each other for the lightning to bounce. With both a movement speed and casting range of two, finding the correct timing to use this hero can be difficult and costly for either you or your opponent.
Ninja – The Council’s super unit moves fast, hits hard, and leaves before they know what hit them. The Ninja is extremely versatile, using shuriken at a distance, or katana in melee. While the shuriken will deal a considerable amount of damage, the katana will double it. This hero has the ability to change places with any other hero you own on the board. This ability allows you easy access both in and out of battles. Ninjas have a movement of three and a range of two. Teleporting changes the position of both the Ninja and whatever he’s replacing, so be wary of who you send where.
Dark Elves:
Priestess – This support class has a little bit more utility than the Council’s Cleric. While not healing as much as a Cleric, her attacks cause a debuff on her target that lowers their attack damage for a turn. Much like the Cleric, Priestess’ are great for getting other heroes back into the fight, but instead of healing the knocked out hero back up, allow the leach life all Dark Elves possess and try to make use of the debuff she has instead. Priestess’ have a move speed of two, an attack of two, but a healing range of three which allows her to stay far behind the front lines and away from long range attacks from Archers and Necromancers.
Necromancer – The Dark Elves’ mage plays a much different role than the Council’s. While the range is going to be an extra square than the Wizard, the spell is only single target. Necromancers come with the ability to raise the fallen back as Phantoms that do your bidding. This ability is key; as a normal attack you can finish off a knocked out hero before they get resurrected. This keeps the Necromancer at a very safe distance in fights normally. With a movement of two and a firing distance of three, make sure to keep him at max range when possible.
Phantom – The summoned creature created from a fallen hero. Basic pokers, very expendable. Allow these to charge in blindly and wear down a hero, since they are normally going to be surrounded by the enemy to begin with. Phantoms come with a speed of three and an attack range of one. They are also handy in situations to stand in front of a more valuable unit to block. Even though they don’t have much health can be vital in making an enemy waste a turn or two to eliminate them. Also good to stand on assault tiles after an enemy was previously there for a quick attack on a crystal by other fellow units.
Impaler – This hero is going to be the mirror to the Archer from the Council… Sorta. While the Impaler comes with a ranged attack it’s more of a utility attack then anything. Getting in close and hitting the enemy hard is going to be the Impaler’s job. Using her chain hook pull enemies off special tiles and deals maximum damage at a close range. Impalers have a movement of two and a range of two.
Void Monk – The heavy brawler of the group, Void Monks will take a beating, and serve it right back. Though they have less health than the Knight, this hero comes with a melee splash attack that hits all enemies adjacent to the original target. Void Monks are most effective at either dealing massive damage to clumped enemies, or protecting their allies.
Wraith – The Dark Elves super unit, while small at first, can become an insane beast capable of dominating the field. This hero can be special summoned to the field on top of a fallen enemy, which in the right hands, can position the Wraith perfectly. Wraiths have what you can call a snowball effect; it starts off small, but if the ball gets rolling it can become a huge deal. To get this proverbial ball rolling, the Wraith must consume fallen heroes, though they don’t have to be enemies. Wait patiently with this hero and take opportunities when they arise, using either yours, or your opponents units.
Advanced Strategies and Tips
- Controlling the special tiles on the board is going to be extremely advantageous. Archers or Impalers work well on the attack tiles, Knights and Void Monks protect the extra crystal damage tiles well, and the support classes do well to stand on the defence tiles, as they are often first targets.
- Hero Academy is a constantly changing game during play. What might have been a great strategy two turns ago may be an awful idea this turn. Stay flexible and remember that there’s two ways to win: break the crystals, or kill the army.
- Make use of the ability to see the amount of reinforcements your enemy has. Tap their portrait next to their health bar and you’ll see if they have more troops and/or items that could debunk your plans.
- The redo button is an extremely useful tool, make sure to abuse it as much as possible. Replay your turn, try different moves, use different combinations. There’s no limit, so don’t be shy about pressing that button a few times.
- Buff items, while helpful for any unit, can be used in much more specific situations than realized normally. Instead of throwing random gear out on your first units, try cycling through your reinforcements and get units into place first. Then buff up.
- Make note of resistances and what units do what kind of damage. For instance Knights have a 20% resistance to physical damage, so Wizards and Necromancers are going to be more effective than Archers and Impalers.
Race Specific Strategies
Council:
- Using the Ninja and his teleport effectively can mean all the difference in a match. Putting a Knight on the front lines gives you a solid teleport partner to switch in, deal some damage and pop back out before the Ninja can be focused down. Having a Cleric next to the Ninja also adds the bonus of being able to heal up the Knight when he teleports back before sending him back out to get beat up.
- Keep Wizards in reserve for when you see groups of enemies form. Pull forward to do some damage, but remember that they are extremely squishy, so make sure they are in a safe place by the time your turn ends.
- The Councils Inferno spell is extremely potent in doing area affect damage along with getting rid of any knocked out champions it scorches. Try to save them for when you really need to wipe a unit from the board.
Dark Elves:
- The Soul Harvest spell can be extremely helpful, but can also easily misused. Make sure to wait for the right opportunity to revive all your knocked out units. A single, almost completely dead revival ,isn’t going to do much in the way of turning the tide of battle.
- Use the Priestess to her full potential. See a fully decked Archer? Hit her with a blast from the Priestess to make the damage next turn a little more tolerable. It may save a unit.
- The Wraith starts out extremely fragile, and will always be target number one. Try to keep it in the back for the first few feedings, using your own fallen troops to get it up to speed. Then punish your opponent for losing their window of opportunity.
Hero Academy is all about adaptability. Like Chess you have to see three moves ahead, where all your pieces are, and how to best play each piece’s role. Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to becoming head of your class in Hero Academy, and your first victory screen.
Good luck!
If you have some cool strategies and tips, please post them in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you.
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