Stonehearth has a simple military mechanic, and as you play, you find that the world can be very hostile.
Here are some tips to hopefully help you out on the comformation of a good army.
Starting: When you start make sure that your first footman has at least 5 body and 3 spirit (intelligence is not important). Once you have established a system of good food and balanced your resources with buildings (also having a good metalworking industry) you can start to be pickier (I use at least 4 spirit and 6 body hearthlings)
Weaponry and armor: I never use leather armor, as I recommend you to evolve and lvl up your blacksmith before anything. Look for fights so when you have the best weapons you can currently make done, your guards can take them. NEVER BE AFRAID OF BATTLE
Mining and metalworking should be your priority, and once you get an auto-sufficient town, dedicate AT LEAST THE 40% of you economical efforts to the army. Be ambicious, that is a good choice.
Healing: You start with a herbalist that heals guards once they are hurt and come back home, but as the enemies get tougher and tougher you might be sure that they come back home. For that, make at least two clerics (three if you feel like it). Clerics should have at least 2 or 3 body (to withstand a slight hit and run behind the rest of the army) and 3 or 4 spirit (the soldiers that deal damage should be encouraged by their fellow combat healer)
Footmen: The infantry troops for excellence. Footmen can wear (geared up to the max) decent armor but can hold a sweet, sweet sword that can deal 28 damage (twice the damage of the bronze maces in a single swing).
Footmen are great damage dealers and can withstand some hits, but they are not tanks, those are the:
Knights: COMMON MISCONCEPTION: Please OH PLEASE never think that knights are better than footmen, it is not a simple as “just OP”. The knight gives hope to the citizens, and boost his mate’s morale. I choose hearthlings with at least 5 body (not too many hit points, because it is compensated with its big armor) and 4 spirit (a charismatic tank). Knights are nothing more than steel-plated punching bags (very proud punching bags), as they have a lot of armor and border-lined mediocre weapons (the best craftable weapon for the knight has 18 attack). They are a distraction because the enemies AI tends to target higher health enemies, thus punching the Knight while Footmen and archers dealing REAL damage and both clerics are in his pocket healing him.
Archers: They are good for defense (can shoot from the top of a wall while the melee troops attack on the field) and good on offense. They should always be behind the higher health classes, as the archer is pretty much screwed if he has to melee combat. They are VERY useful if the enemy has support classes in their squad with low armor and low HP (AHEM clerics AHEM). Use them as an ambush class, The damage dealing troops focused on your melee troops, the archers are ignored. Let them go around the enemy’s army, get to the behind of their formation( where clerics usually hang out) and rain cold steel upon them. The requirements should be 4 body, at least 2 intelligence and at least 2 spirit
Army comformation: What I recommend is a balance of damage dealers, support and tanks, which would be
- 3 footmen
- 2 knights
- 2 clerics
- 3 archers
Structures: I highly recommend building:
- Walls/moats around your town. It will take time and effort, but it will be worth it
- Panic room: a room with many layers of doors and platforms between them (so archers and engineer’s gadgets can shoot down upon the ones knocking the doors. Build a big section of tunnels with food and treasures (your most valued items in the town) so if the enemies raid your main stockpile there is nothing of value lost there
I hope these tips helped you on conquering the world!
THanks for reading