Know your enemy - FISH

SUBJECT: WATER ELEMENTAL

>>>IMPROVED MOVEMENT SPEED<<<
The water elemental has got to be one of the best runners, when he's on water. He moves significantly faster than the naga and has no slide ability stopping him at just the wrong moment. This movement speed is also ALWAYS active, rather than only half the time. the most important rule to the water elemental is never go on land (occasionally its ok for placing gold banks and the like but only if every entrance to your base is walled off, and as soon as you see a naga coming, you get back on the water)

>>>>WATER BLINK<<<<
This is a very useful tool for the water elemental. if you happen to get netted. (or if you see a net coming, via the antimagic field) you can blink to buy yourself some time and let the net wear off. (I'll need to test if it's possible to dodge using blink) Also good to use simply if the naga are too close, remember, you're faster than them. That little bit of distance will ensure they don't get close enough to throw their net. Blink is also useful for getting out of your base should all the exits be blocked.

>>>>DON'T STAND STILL<<<<
If the naga are attacking your base, it's probably a better idea to run rather than attempting to stall them by building more corals. The water elemental is good at running and that's what you should use him for. Don't give them the time to surround you, if they have all the normal exits blocked, blink out using water blink and get out of there.

>>>>SENTRY TOWERS<<<<
I cannot stress how important sentry towers are to this fish. Place sentry towers outside your base first and foremost togive you advance warning of naga attacks and also to prevent you from blinking right into them. later when you have more gold, you'll want to place sentry towers on all the water pathways so that it is easier to escape and avoid the naga. If the naga have set up an ambush where they're waiting for you at the other end of the path, you'll know and be able to change course.

((((((((((((((((((HOW TO CATCH A WATER ELEMENTAL)))))))))))))))))))))

IMPROVED SPEED: due to the speed of water elementals it is pointless to chase them alone unless you have them cornered or on land. The primary goal is not to let them leave their base to begin with. Have one naga each take a different exit and start hacking away, while one of the revealing nagas keeps an eye on the elem to make sure it hasn't blinked out.

what if he escapes? - if the water elemental manages to escape despite these efforts, keep in mind that he will most likely travel on water. find out what path he is likely traveling on and send one naga to follow him and another to cut him off. (use more naga as necessary) when the opportunity presents itself net the elemental and catch that fishy.

other abilities useful for catching or stalling water elementals are temporal shift (naga witch) voodoo (rock golem) and black hole (naga crusher). if they are negligent enough to stand still while in their base, a fish hook will also make short work of them.

SENTRY TOWERS: sentry towers are your worst enemy when it comes to fighting a water elemental. It's almost equivalent to the fish having maphack, except all the other fish can make use of it as well. make liberal use of reveal and destroy every sentry tower you see (unless currently on a chase, then the tower can wait) sentry towers will appear in the fog of war when you pass them even if you never revealed them. Make use of this to help find them.

more fish strategies coming soon...

u got elemental pretty well

Keep up the good work.

Hmm, i reckon something should be done about the whole "Sentry Towers Revealed in Fog of War" thing. Thats always kinda pissed me off with all tag maps, invis stuff appears under fog. I'll see if theres any way to stop it.