At beginning of the midgame a dangerous, burning region will spawn, infested with orcs and ruled over by an ancient red dragon who presides over a cult of fire mages. The disciples of the Dragon protect their master's land from interlopers with fireballs and mighty fire elemental servants. Beware of letting some barbarian city spawn too close to your capital: if Acheron choose it as his home, you will be chocked.
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| Race: | Dragon |
|---|---|
| Unit Class: | Beast Unit Hero |
| Requires: | Barbarian |
| Starts With: | 1 First Strike Creates The Dragon's Hoard in city when built Starts with nearby vegetation on fire Magic Immune Sentry I Sentry II Stoneskin Dragon |
| Info: | 19  0 
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| Cost: | 25 
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The Dragon Horde[]
Around turn 100 Acheron the Red Dragon will awake and settle in a random Barbarian city. Soon after he will start summoning his minions, able to cast fireballs and summons fire elementals. The Acheron city will be host for the enormous treasure of the dragon, The Dragon's Hoard, that will be a nice prize for the the brave dragon slayer, providing culture, Gold, Gems and money. Around the city often a large, empty, dangerous area of burned out territory spawn, enveloped in Barbaric culture. Any barbarian or animal that enter the zone is tempted to join the city army, and any civilized units that explore the area is normally slain by fire elementals before he can even see from afar the Dragon city.
- Disciples of Acheron spawn near the Dragon. They cast fireballs. They eventually are promoted to Sons.
- Sons of the Inferno summon heavily promoted Fire Elementals with 30% collateral damage.
- Animals and barbarians are attracted to the city
- Disciples and Sons remain in the immediate proximity of the city, but with a strong spell extension and the visibility granted by the culture expansion of the dragon city, they will annihilate any unit in a 4-6 radius, including automated workers.
- ATTENTION! Raging Barbarians option allows Acheron minions to stray from their city and set the entire continent on fire, very early in the game. If MNAI MOD is loaded, you may found a galley full of Son of the Inferno landing on your capital in late game. So pay attention and sacrifice some effort in monitoring their expansion.
Defeating Acheron[]
Normal army, even large stacks, may prove ineffective to slain the dragon and his army. You need units with courage or undead, not to be scared by the dragon, or summons that are immune to fear.
Often attacking units will be dead before they are albe to inflict damage. First strikes (dance of blades) help to be sure that Acheron will be somehow damaged by the attack of your units.
Sacrifice an initial cheap unit (like a skeleton, warrior, etc) to get rid of its stoneskin.
And be prepared to lose several champions/rangers in the fight.
Acheron is magic immune so fireball are less effective, and units like Djinnis are ineffective.
Some strategies:
- attacking Acheron's city early with loads of melee units and siege weapons, using dance of blades to inflict some damage
- use iron golem with 4 adept that fully repair the stack every turn. Wood golem are not good against fire.
- use 4 beastmaster
Taming Acheron[]
Acheron is a Beast units, so a a unit with subdue beast (Animal Mastery tech) will be able to sudue it. That requires a beastmaster or a Recon- Hero, as the subdue beast promotion is not available to non-hero rangers.
Often Beastmaster are a big deroute on the tehc path, so a divine tier 4 Units with Channeling 3 and Command 3 or 4 (last one needs Order state-religion sadly...) offer a neat chance upon defeating him. (50% / 70% respectively.)
Order Paladins of Sphenor are a good choise, if you happen to be Order.
Be sure to "feed" him some units before capturing though to get him enough XP to pick Mobility I. Otherwise he's a sitting duck (0 movment!!)
A Bestmaster should beat Acheron without all to much effort. Especially if you pre-feed him for the needed XP and the beastmaster allready has some promotions. ;)
Limited mobility, no flying and maximum 2 movement points fully promoted, make for a mediocre unit. Actually, his greatest use is protecting stacks, by having the highest defence.
To go for an early caputre, you don't need mana. Rush Animal Mastery, and throw 4 beast masters at him. He gives lots of xp... But feed him a few scouts first.
In the late game he is often surrounded by absurd army of fire spellcaster with fire resistance. Meteor and Tsunami are best spells to deal with them.
Background[]
It flittered about impatiently as the ages passed, in this place without time. In this almost nothingness where myths go when dead but not forgotten. And Erebus would not soon forget Acheron, the flame lord, the beast of destruction, the Red Dragon. The earth had trembled when he walked. Centuries old Fir trees had been uprooted when he took flight. When he and his adversaries clashed, it was a sight like no other before or since.
But at the Compact, the power that sustained him was withdrawn. He was as fearsome as ever but his wounds did not heal so fast. When he brought forth his fire, now he got a taste of the pain he inflicted. And one fateful battle, he was not quite fast enough, and he fell, never to rise again.
He could not rest here as most of the others did, content in the majesty of myth. It was not his nature. His nature was that of fire. Fire, the ravenous devourer. Fire, the nimble dancer brought aloft on the winds. And fire, patient when defeated, but ever eager to spring to life again with the faintest fuel. And at last he detected it. The essence of his mistress Bhall. Not the goddess herself, but some people close to her--and Acheron's--fiery nature. They reproduced quickly, grew fast, fought with a roar, and died with rage. Chaotic, but strictly following the laws that governed them. Violent, but leaving a void that encouraged new growth. Nimble, but leaving a lasting mark.
They didn't know they called to him, that they gave him strength, but they did. Their rage opened a portal that he alone could take and returned substance to his long decayed flesh and bones.
Three-Tooth dumped his bag on the ground in Ahepetr. Three human skulls, an iron knife, and a handful of shiny trinkets tumbled out. Half-Nose reached for a diamond ring, and Three-Tooth jumped him. The two orcs tumbled around the ground as the nearby goblins cheered them on, sneaking Three-Tooth's spoils when they could.
They were interrupted by an earth shaking roar. All turned to face him. Resplendent in primal glory, Acheron stood. His leathery skin had the luster of rubies, all the more so when his breath illuminated the dusk with a billowing cloud of fire. Every tooth, fang, and claw shone, sharp and perfect, as if he had not fought countless battles. His leathery wings embraced the humble village. His face wore a fearsome snarl ... or possibly, though it seemed so out of place on this beast, a smile.
As one the orcs and goblins gathered their war spoils and carried them before the mighty dragon, laying them at his feet. In time, the pile would grow to a mountain as the legend was reborn.
Alternate strategy[]
Additionally to the usual strategy, which simply means attacking Acheron's city with loads of melee units and siege weapons, I'd suggest a more sophisticated way including a maximum of four units, nevertheless taking more time. The central unit you should go for is a Shadow with at least the following promotions:
- all five Combat promotions
- Amphibious
- at least three Drill promotions
- Subdue Beasts
- Resist Fire
This unit will take down Acheron's city one by one, starting with the Melee Units and Sons of the Inferno and, in the end, beat Acheron. The best thing about this strategy is that Acheron is not simply slain but tamed and caught so from now on you can use him as your first dragon.
But, what about the masses of Fire Elementals summoned every turn by the Sons of the Inferno in Acheron's city? Well, that's the point! In nearly all cases I tested this strategy, Acheron chose a coastal city to reside in. And only in those cases the strategy works: You put your Shadow onto a ship, maybe together with an Archmage who can summon a Water Elemental or a Speaker or Cultist. Ship next to Acheron's city and, if available, alternate your Shadow's attack on the city and a Tsunami cast of the Disciple. The Fire Elementals won't be able to attack you on the ship!!!
When only Acheron is left to be attacked, your Shadow will most probably not be strong enough to win. There you need either the Archmage's Water Elemental or a Knight with a well developed Withdrawal Chance to weaken Acheron without being killed. Now attack Acheron with your shadow, lean back and enjoy your first tamed dragon! By the way, this Shadow will be able to catch the other dragons in the game, too. I found it even fun to give Divine Essence to the Illians, Sheaim and Kuriotates just to let them summon their dragons for me to tame...