How to be Good in Multiplayer

If you want to choose a "viable" army to fight with in online battles in attila you first must know about the fundamentals of unit types. Unit types are the various classes of units that the player has a choice over. For example, unit types include things like spears, swords, bows, slingers, axes, melee cavalry, shock cavalry etc. You can tell the difference between the unit types as a symbol will represent each unit type with an appropriate symbol. Spear unit types will be represented with a spear symbol, sword unit types will be represented with a sword symbol, melee cavalry unit types will be represented with a sword and horse, etc.

Now that you know about the different types of units, lets go through all of the unit types available in the game and discuss their strengths and weaknesses in battle. Lets enter our first unit type available to the player, the general unit type.

General unit type
The general unit type lets the player choose what unit will protect your general in battle. Your general is a very important unit when your army is considered. The general comes with an ability of your choosing to use in battle and his presence among men on the battlefield can inspire troops and help raise morale. Your general unit is to be protected at all costs as his death will provide a severe penalty to the morale of all of your men on the battle field. If a unit's morale falls low enough, they will flee from the battlefield. It's best to keep your general behind your lines as he is most protected there.

Most players insist on having a cavalry general (on horse) rather then a foot general (on foot). Having your general on horse back allows him to move around the battle field much quicker and avoid danger easier as a result. However you don't need to bring out a horse general and are just fine using a foot general as long as you postion him properly behind your army throughout your battle. Cavalry generals often come at great cost, so if you want to be more cost effective with your army it might be a good choice to purchase a cheaper general on foot and simply remain cautious with his placement during the battle.

Pike unit type
Pikes have a simple function in Atilla. They guard frontlines in your battles. Postion them facing your enemies and in pike formation to make the best use of them. Any unit charging head on into pikes will take heavy casualities, especially if it is a cavalry unit. Pikes can be countered through any ranged attacks or by being attacked from behind.

Spear unit type
Spear units function similar to pikes in that they are used to guard fronts in the battle however they also have an important part on the field with stopping enemy cavalry. Spears can also double for purposed targets to attract enemy missile fire. This is due to the fact that spear units generally have better armour and shield defence then other units. Spears will generally lose to any sword or axe unit they engage.

Sword unit type
Swords are your basic infantry engagement unit. They will fair well and have good odds at beating every other unit in the game. Sword units can be beaten by a superior unit in its type, or through axes, cavalry charges or elephant charges and sometimes missiles if the unit has a low missile block chance or low armour.

Axe unit type
Axes are an excellent melee infantry to bring into battle. They boast great armour penetrating damage which lets them tear through any armoured enemies in their path. Axes, like swords will usually fair well against every other unit in the game. However given that they are generally better then many other sword units they hold a greater importance on the battlefield as your typical ravaging unit. Protect them and unleash them at the right time to destroy your enemies infantry. Axes will be beaten through enemy cavalry charges, elephant charges and usually missiles. Axes generally have a lower missile block chance making them more susceptable to missiles then most sword units. So make sure to keep them away from enemy missile fire and use them for engagements with enemy melee infantry.

Archer unit type
Archers are great missile units to field in battle. The advantage they have over other missile units is that they have greater range which can play a huge factor in battle where you can hit your opponent but they lack the range to fire back. While they boast greater range they don't do as much damage as other missile units. To use archers effectively, fire on enemy units with low missile block chance, enemy melee infantry to weaken them before you engage them, enemy general, enemy cavalry and enemy missile units if you want to get them out of the way. Archers are only good at range so being attacked by any other good melee unit with be sure death for any archers. Make use of their skirmish ability or just keep them from enemy melee units to keep them safe. Apart from weakening the enemy army archers can also double as a throwaway unit if you are out of ammunition or done with use of them. Throw them into incoming enemy charges to take the brunt of the charge and counter with a charge of your own.

Slinger unit type
Slingers are what you'd call a mid ground in the missile unit variety. They do more damage then archers, but less damage then crossbows. They have more range then crossbows, but less range then archers. They are a perfect medium. Slingers basically have the same function as archers, so use them the same. However stay vigilant of the fact that archers will out range you.

Crossbow unit type
Crossbows do devastating amounts of damage however are burdened with a lower range then other missile units and slower reload rates. Use crossbows wisely to pick off enemy units which you recognise as a big threat to your own army. And stay vigilant of the fact that you have lower range then other missile units and a slower reload rate.

Skirmish unit types
Skirmish units are another type of ranged unit specialising even more in high damage missiles. They have the lowest range of the range types but can do devastating amounts of damage if they can hit the enemy. Be wary of their lower range in comparison to other ranged units and use them wisely on any big enemy threats you see.

Melee cavalry unit type
Melee cavalry are your standard infantry cavalry. They are best used with their charges into enemy swords or axes or missile units. Stay vigilant when fighting other enemy cavalry. Take note of you and your enemies charge bonuses. Melee cavalry will almost always lose to enemy spears, enemy pikes if you charge from the front with pikes up, enemy shock cavalry, enemy missiles and usually other melee cavalry if they are more superior. Always take advantage of the fact of your cavalry's charge in battles, they can be devastating for the enemy. Be sure to get good cavalry charges especially from behind the enemy units if you can.

Shock cavalry unit type
Shock cavalry are usually heavily armoured cavalry units specialising on the charge. These units are devastating if you can catch the enemy on the charge. Without charging don't expect these units to do any good, they MUST be used on the charge against enemies. Shock cavalry will beat almost everything on the charge except for pikes if you charge them from the front or spears or any superior shock cavalry. Keep a look out for any enemy missiles as well. Shock cavalry are very very good units to field in battle due to their devastating charge nature. Make good use of them if you use them. Be sure to charge the enemy from behind if you can to makes charges even more devastating.

Skirmish cavalry unit type
Basically a skirmish unit on horseback. They have high damage but low missile range. Due to the fact that they are on horse back. Their effectiveness on the field is greatly improved as they can out maneuvour most of the enemy and chuck javelins at them. Even when out of javelins they can have great effect on the battle if you make use of their horse charges on enemy swords, axes or missile units. They will lose to swords or axes if attacked without charging back, and they will almost definately lose to enemy melee cavalry, shock cavalry or spears and pikes if charging from the front.

Archer cavalry unit type
They basically have the same properties as an archer but on horseback. So it'll be the same story as skirmish cavalry. Archer cavalry can be super annoying for the enemy, so make use of your new found speed on horseback and harrass the enemy army.

Crossbow cavalry unit type
Basically a the same properties as a crossbow but on horseback. So also the same story as the skirmish cavalry. Make good use of their high damge crossbow bolts and harrass the enemy army.

Elephants
Big hulking beasts that demolish anything in front of them on the charge. If you want to use these beasts effectively, keep them away from enemy missile fire, especially if it's flaming arrows as these will cause the elephant to run amok and it could end up destroying your army instead of the enemies. Throw them into the battle when you have safe passage to charge straight into the enemy lines and watch them bulldoze the enemy. They will beat every unit on the charge but don't get them caught by the enemy without charging back especially if it's spears or cavalry charging into you.

Artillery unit type
Ballista's, onagers etc. This is basically the artillery weaponry of the game which often is used to cause massive casualties to any enemy units it hits. Boasting a huge range and high damage output. Artillery is used to pack a huge punch into the enemy army. Keep artillery protected as any other unit attacking an artillery unit other then enemy artilley will definately win. Whenever in a siege battle also always consider bring artillery to help bust down enemy walls and towers or stationary units in the settlements.

Ok now that we're done with the introduction. Lets head into actually choosing an army to bring into battle. Each faction has its strengths and weaknesses. So chose wisely what you want to bring. When choosing the units to compose your army its generally better to choose an army which covers almost all the bases as you never know what your opponent will choose. This means that you should have a diverse army with different unit types instead of an army composed entirely of one or two unit types. A basic army covering all bases would consist of general unit obviously, spear unit, sword unit or axe unit (sometimes nice to bring both), missile unit and cavalry unit. Having an army comsposing of those unit types will generally serve you better odds against the 'unknown' of what your opponent will bring.

Once you get more experience at Atilla you may want to stop bringing an army to cover all the bases and instead try your luck at guessing the odds. After getting accustomed to each faction you may have a better idea of what your opponent may field if they use a certain faction. So feel free to take a bit of a gamble on guessing what your opponent will bring and building your army to counter.

You may often run across another player in the online of atilla who wants to fight by "tournament rules". These rules generally consist of:

6 cav max + 2 ha, meaning 6 cavalry units max and 2 horse archers allowed.
Max 4 same unit, which means you can only use 4 of the same unit.
6 cav max inc gen, which means 6 cavalry max and if your general is a cavalry unit that counts towards the 6 max count.
No art, which means no artillery is allowed.

These are basically the bulk of standard "tournament rules" you'll run into. Playing by tournament rules is also very easy and because of one word. Predictability. When you enter a match with rules such as "6 cav max inc gen, 4 same unit, no art." you are given huge insight and better odds at guessing what your opponent will bring. Simply gauge your opponents faction and you will have a much better understanding of the best viable army builds your opponent can choose. For example, lets say your opponent plays as the Burgundians with this rule set in place. The Burgundian faction only has one sword unit type which is very basic and not very great. However they have access to some nice axe units. They also have very good shock cavalry and good missile units. Pretty good spears too. Odds are that they will certainly choose 6 shock cavalry or majority, they will almost certainly bring 4 axes and some missile units too and maybe some spears. They will obviously bring no artillery. The strength in the burgundian faction lies within its shock cavalry and axes. To not bring any would be very foolish. So making this assumption is good.

How would I counter? Lets bring some good archer missiles so i have range and can weaken those axes. Lets also bring some shock cav if we can to counter his shock cav and infantry. Lets bring some spears to take any missile fire and push towards any enemy missile units and assist my shock cav in a shock cavalry engagement. Next lets fill my melee infantry line with some axes and swords as my main fighting force to push back his main fighting force. If my opponent doesn't bring the units i think he'll bring he must be bringing a weak army because there is only one sword unit in that faction which is not very strong. Meaning his main fighting force will be a piece of cake to push through.