Drop Duchy Combat Guide
Image Credit: Sleepy Mill Studio, Drop Duchy
If you’ve been stacking tiles like a champ but feel like the battles are just throwing your armies into a blender... let’s fix that.
The Basics of Drop Duchy Combat Explained
Rock, Paper, Scissors With Sharp Objects
Combat in Drop Duchy works on a simple system:
Arrows beat Axes
Axes beat Swords
Swords beat Arrows
If you have 10 Arrows fighting 10 Axes, you’ll actually deal 50% more damage... so it’s like you had 15 Arrows.
Unit Merging — Bigger Is Always Better
If two allied armies are connected, they merge into the type with the most units.
Example:
10 Arrows + 5 Swords = 15 Arrows
The enemy merges the same way, so keep an eye on what they’re stacking.
Best Tips for Winning Fights
Keep One Enemy Piece in Your Hold
Drag one enemy piece into your Hold box before placing.
This piece will never hit the battlefield... basically removing a threat.
Outnumber and Outplace
Always try to outnumber the enemy’s unit count.
Drop your units in spots that avoid powering up the enemy’s synergies.
For example, don’t drop their military piece next to a matching terrain where it gets bonuses.
Plan Merges Carefully
If the enemy has 7 Axes and 5 Swords:
If you let them merge naturally, they’ll get 12 Axes.
You want them merged like this, so your Arrows can wipe them easily.
Never let mismatched units stay separate... it can cause them to pick off your weaker units.
Use the Grid to Your Advantage
Peaceful nodes: Build up big armies with terrain bonuses.
Battle nodes: Focus on maximizing your counters and denying the enemy good placements.
Advanced Strategy (Build for Battles)
Pick buildings that recruit your best unit type.
If you know the next battle has lots of forests, use cards that give bonuses on wood tiles.
Upgrade units and tech between battles... the game won’t remind you, so do it!
Final Blurb
Combat in Drop Duchy can feel like a confusing puzzle at first, but once you learn the rock-paper-scissors logic and how to control merges, you’ll start steamrolling enemy armies. Just remember... numbers, counters, and clever tile drops win wars. Not luck.
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