Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Maximizing the Ninja Ambulance

My goal is to write some quick tips that might help new players out with the game Hero Academy. I'd also like to help some of my friends improve at the game, so I'm including this for them.

One little nuance I've noticed is the use of the Ninja Ambulance. New players may not realize that, along with being a sneak attacker, the Ninja can also be used to teleport teammates to safety and get them some medical assistance if needed.

In these two screen captures, there is one small setup difference that can really help out your team. Positioning the Ninja within healing range of a Cleric is always a good idea.  The Ninja can use the first action point (AP) to swap places with an injured teammate and use a later AP to return them back to their original position.  That leaves up to three AP for healing that damaged unit. However, if the Cleric is on your sword square, the healing will be more powerful and can be accomplished in fewer AP.

The Ninja on the sword square isn't doing me much good here.

With the Cleric on the sword square, everyone benefits!
The reason this works is because every faction's healer derives their healing ability from their attack power and standing on a sword square increases attack power.  Any healer on a sword tile will dish out more medicine, but this is particularly useful with the Cleric because of the Council's team bonus - Strong Alchemy.  This means she gets to heal her teammates for 300% of her attack rather than the usual 200% that every other faction gets.

A standard Cleric with no upgrades has 200 attack power and therefore can normally heal a teammate 600 health per shot.  Standing on the sword square boosts that up to a whopping 900 health!  Other than your Knight, that's a guaranteed full heal for your team members.  And chances are one shot of 900 health will be enough to get your Knight full -- or very close to it -- leaving him ready to swap spots with the Ninja again and take more of a beating.

All of this means that with just a little planning ahead, your Ninja Ambulance can be more effective, leaving you more AP to attack, fortify or reposition your troops.  And hopefully win the game!



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