How to counter mass dryads in NE mirror?

[BigMike3541]

I have recently become interested with the ladder free for all games. I have won a few and all of them that i have won were due to the fact that i teched to mass chims and hippos. Most of the time, I don't seem to have much trouble ridding the map of its orc, human, and undead players. Humans sometimes try to use steamtanks/breakers, when they see my mass chims, but thats why i go after them first and the undead try to get their beloved destroyers, but hippos take care of them most of the time (i generally have about 12). Most of the time the orc player has no chance, even if they try to start massing bats. It seems like ffa orc players are obsessed with mass tauren/wyrven, which stand no chance vs mass chims/hippos...

But anyway, it normally comes down to me and the other night elf player. By this time, everyone in the game is complaining about how i did the mass chim strat and that its gay and newbish (which its not, its a perfectly respectable strat) so he has had time to build a lot of dryads. Now I am stuck. What should i do. I normally have like a lvl 8-10 demon hunter at this point in the game (ffa's are long for anyone who doesn't play them) but thats the only hero. I do have at least 1 expo, probably 2 though, so i have enough resources coming in. What should i do? Should I go back to tier one with ancients of war? Or should I build lores and start going to bears or mgs?? Any ideas?

[PerfectDARK]

chims are not abuse but everyone will hate u when u do it and they ll team u rofl happened to me a few times. Try to kill Ne player before he gets dryads and if he has them already u have to kill expo with chims and get dryads as well.Always make all upgrades for ur main units and get 3 hero in this order Dh/keeper/potm there r many other combo but this one work fine.U should always have a sneaky playstyle u hit and run a lot and try to catch 2 armies raping each other....

[Phantasy]

When I play NE in an FFA, I usually go chippo, but eventually, someone will build up a counter to your strat so you have to adapt. I would recommend going Hippo Riders because they have great damage output, lots of HP, and a FAST cooldown. I enjoy using them for hit and runs, but fortunately, they also counter your problem. It will probably annoy your opponent even more.

[Meru]

I just wrote an extensive guide on NE in FFA and posted it here.

but to answer your question directly...
if you do chim hippo don't get JUST hippos, get a fair number of dotts too. faerie fire is just too amazing.
and BEARS! anything chims can't take out, bears can!

chim/dott/hippo/bear is pretty solid against everything except UD mass air and Orc zerk armies

[BigMike3541]

See, the thing with getting bears and dryads...and even the other 2 heroes is that i am generally have maxed out food. I have something like 12 hippos and almost 12 chims. If I am to get 2 more heroes and dotts and/or dryads and/or bears how many chims/hippos should i get. In fact, how many wisps should i have. I normally have multiple expos, so there are a lot of wisps in gold mines + the ones on wood.

[CraZyKoKeNo]

i used to do ffas, theyre basically just massing the most glorious unit combos imaginable. however you should probably be getting dual or tri hero, dh ward potm maybe. one expo? heh you should have more like 3 or so. its pretty much a resource race from what ive seen. as far as countering dryads...chims and riders dont work, magic doesnt work, so maybe what you should do is mass arch and throwers with some 4 MGs for chain taunt that might do it. but then your left with the question of..what do i do with this mass rider/chim? well, you pretty much have to get rid of it somehow it seems. if you fight the ne with ur chim/rider, youll probably lose, having one hero and basically just riders as your counter to mass dryads..the chims might target heros but they are taken out fast by the dryad. so you have to come up with an entirely different army to win the last battle. and if the map permits, get a shredder instead of a million wood wisps. one shredder is probably as good as 8 or more wisps

[Phantasy]

I just wrote an extensive guide on NE in FFA and posted it here.

but to answer your question directly...
if you do chim hippo don't get JUST hippos, get a fair number of dotts too. faerie fire is just too amazing.
and BEARS! anything chims can't take out, bears can!

chim/dott/hippo/bear is pretty solid against everything except UD mass air and Orc zerk armies

He's talkin' about mass Dryads in an FFA and I don't think that DotTs will do much against Dryads except getting their heroes out of the way. I also think Bears rip up ground based units pretty quickly and with chims, they will kill those zerks.

[Meru]

holy crap! if you're going chim hippo 4 chims get the job done, 6 max.
they hit so hard that any more is just overkill. Your problem is probably that you put too much into your muscle and not enough into counterunits.

[Meru]

He's talkin' about mass Dryads in an FFA and I don't think that DotTs will do much against Dryads except getting their heroes out of the way. I also think Bears rip up ground based units pretty quickly and with chims, they will kill those zerks.

I know he's talking about FFA. I wouldn't even mention chimaeras otherwise since they're so special situation.

The DOTTs weren't for the chims, they were for the faerie fire in general (along with decent anti-air) Faerie fire 35 mana, abolish magic 50 (in a pool of 200 for the dryad against 400 for the DOTT)

I do love bears though.. they've got incredible attack, lots of HP, roar and REJUVENATION. My problem is that I get too many when I'm originally aiming for chimaeras. Ideally, all the bears are there for is to take out dryads and other STA threats that chims would have a hard time with on their own.

[BigMike3541]

Someone mentioned that 6 chims max is enough, is that in agreement. I don't think that 6 chims is enough. Also, no one said how many hippos to build. I have to have quite a few because ud will try to mass gargs/destroys, humans gryphons/hawks, and orcs wyrvens/bats. Bears are starting to look like a good idea though

[Gladiator]

mass dryads.
better than him, that is.

[IC.Shadow]

um, you guys need to read the thread more carefully? It might be about FFA, but he said mass Dryads. Chims do not attack Dryads, as Dryads are magic-immune, so why are people recommending Chims???

[Crysknife]

When I play NE in an FFA, I usually go chippo, but eventually, someone will build up a counter to your strat so you have to adapt. I would recommend going Hippo Riders because they have great damage output, lots of HP, and a FAST cooldown. I enjoy using them for hit and runs, but fortunately, they also counter your problem. It will probably annoy your opponent even more.

Hippo riders' damage output isn't that great...Hippos with no rider is another story.


Back to the topic...Maybe investing in the corrossive breath upgrade for chims and just wiping out the NE base before they can mass dryads will work. Also like someone else said, chims have ranged attacks, and therefor can benifit from trueshot aura. Lvl 1 trueshot aura would about 13 more dmg for 3/3 chims. Imagine lvl 3 trueshot with 3/3 chims... :)

[IC.Shadow]

Back to the topic...Maybe investing in the corrossive breath upgrade for chims and just wiping out the NE base before they can mass dryads will work. Also like someone else said, chims have ranged attacks, and therefor can benifit from trueshot aura. Lvl 1 trueshot aura would about 13 more dmg for 3/3 chims. Imagine lvl 3 trueshot with 3/3 chims... :)
um, you guys need to read the thread more carefully? It might be about FFA, but he said mass Dryads. Chims do not attack Dryads, as Dryads are magic-immune, so why are people recommending Chims???
Like I said.


And if you seriously think you can mass Chims (5-food, tier 3) before he can mass Dryads (3-food, tier 2), you are sooooo wrong. :/

[foxstoneeety]

ballistas and archers...

[Meru]

um, you guys need to read the thread more carefully? It might be about FFA, but he said mass Dryads. Chims do not attack Dryads, as Dryads are magic-immune, so why are people recommending Chims???

Just because chims don't kill Dryads doesn't mean they don't kill bears, tauren,abominations, casters, skeletons, siege, HEROES and so on.

In FFA, chimaeras with some form of anti air is all too common, and if a FFA newb (read: level 8 and below) walks into a FFA with any race, they're already thinking "which units am I going to mass?" chimaeras aren't bad, with the proper counter units. His counter units were the problem, not the chimaeras.

as for the "how many hippos" question:
if I'm staying mostly air, my army sits like this,
3 heroes, 2 bears, 4-6 chimaeras, 5 hippogryphs, and as many dotts as you can fit (about 10)

i *HIGHLY* reccomend getting orbs on all your melee heroes, even if they're the venom orb from the NE shop, because you need the extra muscle when mass gargoyles come to play.
mass bats are a joke. Keep your chims back and let your hippos take the hits (takes 2 direct explosions or 1 with 2 splash explosions to kill a max upgraded hippogryph) then after the bats die off from concoctioning or hippogryph beatings, send the chims in.. after all, the hippos were there to save your chims, right?

[Crysknife]

Holy sh!t I forgot about them being immune. Escuse my extreme n00byness. :-\


Anyways, I just tried lvl 3 aura with 3/3 chims. The damage of the chims is 101-165. Thats pretty insane.I think I'm gonna start using PotM as a second hero vs. UD with Cygnus' strat.

[IC.Shadow]

Just because chims don't kill Dryads doesn't mean they don't kill bears, tauren,abominations, casters, skeletons, siege, HEROES and so on.
That is true, but still, I refer to the thread title which says Mass Dryads, so, seeing that, I hardly see how Chims will be effective. Yes, Chims are effective vs many other units, but since this thread is dealing with mass Dryads, I find Chims to be a rather laughable solution.

In FFA games, yes Chims are great units. In games vs mass Dryads, Chims are one of the worst units you can possibly make, along with all other heavy air (except Wyverns).

[KoGs]

If Dryads are giving u so much trouble, why don't u make dryads yourself?? And see what you lose to. But Dryads are unarmoured, which takes extra damage from your glave throwers. Try that. Also they do piercing damage, and huntresses take extra damage from dryads, so you might not want to make too many.

[BigMike3541]

So are you suggesting that i build glave throwers late game to counter dryads???!!! There is no way that can be very effective :(.

[foxstoneeety]

err actually glaive throwers mixed with some other units will easily beat dryads... why not get a few mg with tree roots for additional siege damage and meatshields... you could always mass dryads yourself of course...

[\/\/ick3d]

you foucus the heros with your chims and the dryads with your hero/hippo riders (riders do peircing vs dryads unarmoured). if you run out of food, kill a chim. not like its going to do anything anyways.

[Marvin]

ballistas own. don't doubt their strength, just make sure u micro them properly.. and upgrade all their stuff like piercing glaive and their attack

[trance]

dotts cant cast faerie fire on dryads kthx.

[bladedruid]

If your up against Dryads you should go either mass archer because they are faster and have better range and will out number the dryads or go for Mgs with upgrades.

Bears can be poisoned and will easily be ffed so Mg is better

Anyway if your looking to enhance your Chippo strat you could put some dotts in there with crow form and the upgrade that allows them to use fierie fire

[ItsAbOutTimE]

MG/archers to Bears.. I suggest PotM/DH. or DH/PotM..

[Demongod86]

Archers, high level hero attacks. Meta tears through dryads. Dark Ranger charm, pitlord doom (who the hell uses pitlord but if he's your style), STARFALL!

In an ffa, hippo/chimera is VERY good when they're not building to outright counter you. It completely decimates in fact. However, there are hard counters to chimera hippo, which all races have. They are: mass tanks, mass dryads, massmassmass gargs, mass bats.

If you're playing on crucible, you want to go DH-Warden-POTM or Warden-DH-POTM. If you're playing on a tavern map, it's the same first two heroes but for a third you can use one of three: dark ranger for silence, a good amount of extra damage from black arrow, and of course to steal their tier 3 unit and make it yours with charm. Pitlord works kind of with the same concept as the dark ranger in that he has a good AoE (Howl of terror) a decent low mana cost spell, or passive in this case with cleave, and of course, turning one of their units into a doom guard behind their lines, stomping their back line, dispelling their buffs and crippling their heroes isn't that bad of a deal either. Then of course, there is always the panda who can basically singlehandedly deal with massmassmass gargs and between a level 3 bof with a level 2 haze and a level 3 fan, that's a TON of dead units. I myself have lately come to like the dark ranger because wagonmancer is such a pain in the ass, and charming their tier 3 melee unit or heavy air to give you 5 seconds worth of shooting time and the priority on initial spells is very good (Your 0/0 charmed unit WILL die, that is almost guaranteed). Or if their tier 3 unit is in the front lines, you have yourself a new gift. If the battle is over 30 seconds, you can charm again, which is very VERY good. Another selling point is the silence-mana burn combo. VERY nice. Silence them, get 2 mana burns off, silence again, mana burn again...

Pitlord/panda has some nice synergies. It essentially cripples and wallops an AoE of their units with a level 2 haze/level 3 bof/howl. However, with this combo, it means you're not getting either DH/DR Warden/DR or Warden/DH.

I think I went a little overboard with heroes but remember, a few archers to start never killed anyone, or you can go dryads yourself, or hire mercs.

[kamikaze]

archers + glaives throwers should work, if you get potm first, try to find a tome of retraining and put all in aura n owl (because fire arrows dont do shit since dryads are magic immune...) u should also get a kotg second so u can add some melee to your army with treants ...

[Wren]

I know this is 1.15, but it still is a good example of starting with dryads. Archers do work, but don't stay with archers... because the guy playing dryads can switch to bears or MGs VERY easily.
http://www.wcreplays.com/pub_replays.php?get=3205

[BigWeso]

mass archers>mass dryads. If you really want to destroy them, then get some bears.

[Azn_Warlord]

dude ....hippo riders vs mass drayds?, hippo wouldn't stand a chance...

[plasma_king]

nice stratagy

[a]x[Scott]

hmmm Dryad is hard - but Archer/Dryad to Bear combo works well

[Phyrexian]

Siege > Dryad

[Quaka]

Maybe switch it up to hippo riders? Percing to dryad unarmor? fully upgraded hipporiders

[ZiMMeR-MaN]

In keeping with your Chim Hippo strat, you said that you've practially wiped out most of the other players...
so its time to now switch.Throw in an MG or too with resistant skin and then Start adding archers in place of Chims, as Hippos will still beuseful vs any air thats still around.

[BigWeso]

dude ....hippo riders vs mass drayds?, hippo wouldn't stand a chance...

Yes, they would. Piercing>dryads. Therefore, hippo riders>dryads. Altho, you can get more dryads since they are half the food, so I would still rather have mass archers with bears or something.

[CraZyKoKeNo]

i wanna say get dryads yourself with alot of siege to back u up, maybe like..5 throwers with the impaling and dmg upgrades. so maybe mass arch/dryad or mass dryad/thrower

[CraZyKoKeNo]

Yes, they would. Piercing>dryads. Therefore, hippo riders>dryads. Altho, you can get more dryads since they are half the food, so I would still rather have mass archers with bears or something.

dude dryads do piercing dmg to hypos too..and hypos are light armor. combined with the slowing atk and if the dryad guy had micro to put the atk on a bunch of different riders youd be dead in a second. with the slowing and the duration dmg youd be owned if you went mass riders. unless you have many more riders than he does..but since you the situation is MASS dryad i assume he has around a dozen and a half to two dozen maybe

[Andy Wilson]

just bring like 4 glaive throwers with your army they will tear dryads apart and it will tear there base apart plus seeing as how it's ffa you could probably easily pull a siege drop

just drop them in the base and then shoot some near by trees and drop your ballistas into the his trees "Where you shot and tear his base apart ^_^" and once he can stop you just load them back in the zeppin >_< that's so annoying.

[PerfectDARK]

mmm no pffff so many newbs, usually if he masses dryads he ll never face u always hit and ruun with fast dryads so glaive are useless unless u rush in his base... and archer will be raped by aoe spell like fok so the real counter is to mass dryads of ur own and even up = micro warz all this off course if u both survive tier 1 without any 1 dying ..

[ShAdOwDuDe]

u kinda have a point there perfectdark....slow poison can actually hurt archers, and their DH is a problem too....glaives do work tho, u just need meat, hunts die pretty fast but micro can handle a bit of that, basically if u can micro ur hunts, and have bout 2-4 glaives in the back its GG him, but if the game goes on somehow, GET MGz!!!!!!! yes they cost alot yes they're slow, but the hp is beautiful, MGz/archers/glaives > mass dryads