Eh why not I suppose. These are some of my tips to you struggling grey players.
This guide will discuss some common tactics and strategies to win a simple game of TAO.
Now TAO has a variety of elements you need to take into account, planning out your moves, predicting your opponents moves, and having your priorities straight. I believe if you read this guide, it will help you with those following aspects.
Planning Your Moves and Predicting Your Opponent:In order to be a sucessful player, you need to have planned out at least your next 2-3 moves ahead of time, and what you do depending on how your opponent moves. Now I can't really tell any of you how to do this exactly, but over time you will see how your opponent will move, and plan to use their move against them. Now to do this, you need to plan out traps for your opponent, forcing your opponent to move in these traps will help out greatly. I will discuss how to do this here:
Decieving and Trapping Your Opponent:In order to win a game of TAO, you need to out manuever your opponent. By this I mean, you just have to play smarter than they do. To do this, you can set up traps to decieve your opponent to move where you want them to go. To make a trap, you place your units in what looks like a vulnerable spot, when actually it is certain death if your opponent walks there. One example of this is freezing the lw the first move of the game if you have a frost. The opponent think your frost is out in the open, and they may rush their scout in to break concentration. What they didn't realize, is that you set up a trap, and because of recovery time and movement, your frost will almost always be able to move over and refreeze your opponents scout. This is just an example of a trap, as there are a countless number of other ways to do this.
Another useful way to out smart your opponent, is to always threaten at least two units with your attacker. For example, if you decide to rush your knight in for the cleric, don't only go for the cleric, put your knight in a position to attack both the cleric and (for example) the enchantress. When you do this, the opponent will only be able to protect one of their units, and they also become pressured (mind games o.O). Usually if you do this, you will kill a couple units, maybe not the ones you intended, but they will still be worth killing.
Another tactic similar to the one above is to threaten a unit two different ways instead of threatening multiple units at the same time. This can prove very helpful in the endgame, but also during any time. When you do this, your opponent cannot save their unit because you have two ways to attack it, when they can normally only block one of the ways. Now knowing what units to kill is a whole 'nother story, which is shown below
Priorities and TradingTo win a game of TAO, you need to have your priorites straight, know which units to kill first. Now Priorities change from each type of gameplay, but here are some basics.
-Many people go for the Cleric and try to kill it any means possible. The Cleric is not the most important unit. It all depends whether you should rush in and kill it or not. Many noobs will end up wasting their mud scout and maybe a knight, just to get the cleric. If they rush your cleric so hard, let them get the cleric, but dont let them escape alive ;P In some ways though, going for the cleric is idea. If you have a beast rider or assassin, you should want to trade your beast rider or assassin for the cleric. Don't go crazy for the cleric, but you should be effectively be able to kill the cleric without losing too much (One unit at the most).
-Another top priority are the range units. You should try to kill the mud and scout in the early game, so your chanty can pick up the extra knight in the end. To do this, you should pressure the player's mud by taking "potshots" with your scout, and forcing the player to retreat his mud or rush his mud in (which you want). Now if he retreats it, let the mud be for a bit, focus on attacking the scout or witches. If you can take out the players range early in the game, you're sure to win.
-Other players try to rush the chanty so you will not have it end game. Now you don't want to lose your chanty in the beginning, but if he's using his range to go for the chanty, make a trade. A scout and mud for a chanty isn't a bad trade, and you should still be able to win if you play it right.
-The worst mistake with priorities I see new players make is killing knights. Now knights might be strong and all, but in no situation should you kill them first. Save them for your chanty to freeze off, as they can only melee 1 space.
Once you have your priorities straight, you should win alot more games.
Recap: (for those of you who were too lazy to read)
1. Outsmart your opponent; set traps to decieve your opponent or position your unit so it can threaten multiple units at one time.
2. Don't necessarily go for the cleric, if the opportunity is there, take it but don't waste your units. If they rush your cleric, make them have to sacrifice vital units to get to your cleric.
3. Ranged units are your top priorities. Kill off the scout, mud, witches, and pyros in the early game.
4. Try to save your chanty as long as possible for end game play. If you cannot save it, take his range units down with her.
5. DO NOT try to kill kinghts early in the game. But, if the opportunity is there to kill a knight easily, take it.
(I threw this together in a bit of time, so I apologize if its lacking/choppy)
PS ARE YOU HAPPY NOW MAR?
This post has been edited by Mike121 on Aug 15 2008, 06:21 PM 
Mike's Guide for (Grey) Noobies
