Hello guys, im trying to learn loki and wanted to ask a couple questions. How should i build my army as loki vs certain matchups ? I usually go full hersir or hersir + throwing axeman and raid (usually the game is decided here in the first 8-10 mins) but if i fail to end the game i find it hard to come back. Im not sure when to switch from spamming hersirs to advancing and i have no idea what should i build later on. Hersirs seem to fall off, ulfsarks are kinda disappointing although i didnt tried uber ulfsark build with all upgrades, hesitant on raiding cavalry because loki lacks both freya and baldr for upgrades. So what my late game army composition look like in certain matchups ? Especially struggling vs egyptians with axeman and chariot archers, my huskarls cant even reach the backline with all the axeman/camelry supporting them. Also for sieging which one is better, ballista or rams ?
Thanks in advance.

It is recommended to always start with 8 to 10 hersirs, then try to radiate without losing them and go to heroic firepower and ready to finish with your enemy.

What is the heroic firepower ? Huskarls+jarls ?

I think my phrasing was confusing, basically what should i build at heroic age, after raiding is over ?

Hi Phantom,

Keep in mind that I'm not a Loki player, but I may as well tell you what I know. Loki's primary focus are hersirs in any age. People mix in raiding cavalry to deal with archers, hypaspists and axemen. That being said, in recent months I have seen people using throwing axemen instead of raiding cavalry for this. Don't ask me why, because for as far as I knew throwing axemen are trash units and slow. In the classical age and heroic age I think you should aim for 1/3 raiding cavalry and 2/3 hersirs.

Loki is easy in his choices, because either fighting in heroic or mythic will work fine. If you go for heroic fight you should make the army composition I said above and you get as many battle boars out as you can. 3-5 battle boars is a good number to aim for. Then you can all-in on your opponent with flaming weapons. Don't bother with hill fort units in heroic as Loki.

The other option is skipping heroic fight and jumping into mythic through Tyr as soon as possible. First go for the same army composition I said above: 2/3 hersirs, 1/3 raiding cavalry and 3-5 battle boars. Then you go all-in with your army. You click flaming weapons and immediately after fimbul winter. The fimbul winter wolves will assist you well in killing your opponent and in addition, fimbul winter prevents other god powers from being used, like ceasefire or restoration. After your all-in you go for your late game army. The mythic army (Tyr) of Loki consists of hersirs, battle boars and ballistae. Basically you drop the raiding cavalry in the mythic age and make ballistae instead. The more ballistae you have, the better you will perform. As I stated in my Atlantean guide: late game is all about buildings and siege.

Alternatively you can go for Hel instead of Tyr. Tyr is generally a fast game ender, but for a prolonged late game Hel will perform better, because of the fire giants. The mythic army (Hel) of Loki consists of hersirs, fire giants and ballistae. The more fire giants and ballistae you have the better. If you went for a heroic fight, Hel is usually your choice. If you skip the heroic fight and go for a faster mythic, you usually go Tyr.

As for the classical age, follow Asmodeos' advice. Make 8-10 hersirs and run around raiding your opponent. Just hit and run and don't engage. Make sure you get the speed upgrade, so your opponent will have a hard time chasing your hersirs. Make sure you advance to the heroic age as soon as you can meanwhile.

I hope this helps and good luck with learning Loki! To all experienced Loki players I say: please correct me if I said anything wrong. I don't play Loki myself.

All the best,

Bombus

Wow thanks, thats actually a game changer cause i always used hill fort units, mainly huskarls instead of rc and always went with hel for mythic.

You're welcome! I just corrected a mayor error for the mythic age in my reply and added some things. Please give it another read.

In the revised reply I said some things about Hel now. Huskarls I'm not sure about. Maybe an experienced Loki player can tell more about them. Ballistae can melt down both units and buildings, so I don't think you will be needing any huskarls along your hersirs and fire giants/battle boars.

Tyr is good when you have timings like 12-13min mythic which is kinda decent, it can hurt opponent's economy badly. It works well especially combined with flaming weapons so u can harass enemy base with your army+wolves(ofc fw must be used before fimbul). Im not loki player but i think in heroic they often focus gold more likely so u can buy ur way to the mythic age.

Basically, you should always go hersirs except vs eggy where it's most of the time better to mix hersirs with rc to deal with axeman.
Get Bragi with a decent amount of gold income to make bb or buy your way to mythic and then balista + fire giant and everything that suits your eco then