About

The visionary is the ultimate defensive hero, able to withstand devastating assaults from the opposition.
-25% casualties when defending
-25% to exploration costs

Strategy

The best strategy for the visionary is simply to take advantage of its high defense. This is a slow steady class. You must be in it for the long hall because it's not going to be a quick rise to power like a warmonger, but its more sustaining too. Purchase soldiers from a respected warmonger. Then use about half your salary to build up your elites and knights. You should have about 1/4 elites 1/3 knights the rest soldiers. Like I said this is a defense class so when you level up don't use your points for spell power or mana or attack. Put it on defense. Your borders will never be broken. Another good idea though is to get your mana up to a respectable level. Alchemy is still crucial but as its 30% or 20 mana then you're only gonna help yourself so much by adding to your mana. Bring your mana up to about 60-70 depending on how much you plan to use spy. Use Alchemy often and use the salary as described above. This strategy made me a 180k acre threat when I played as it. (Try to boost your def. up to 70x your acreage.)

Big Al's Post from http://warbookforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=373.0

Others have posted re: Visionaries, some who are and some who aren't.
I agree with much of what others say, but here are my thoughts...

I'm a Visionary myself, and have a rather smart friend who is one too.
We each play quite differently, and I can think of at least another alternative way of playing the Visionary
that would suit certain types of player.

The obvious way to play a Visionary is to play it the way it was designed for -- all out defense.
As with all WarBook hero types, strategy decisions depend on trade-offs between security and speed.
The Visionary is designed to assist players who prefer the "slow and steady" style,
or who simply don't have time to do more than log in to convert mana to gold from time to time.

The Visionary is a good hero type for us to think about before considering other types,
because all types can (and must) adopt defensive strategies at times,
and can learn from the way it works with the ultimate defender.

However, because the game favours active players (as it should),
defensive strategy is only important because minimal losses mean maximum progress.
If you are a naturally defensive player, or have little time for WarBook,
the Visionary is a good option for you,
because its characteristics minimize the disadvantages of lack of aggression.

Let's work through the main decisions and their consequences for Visionaries.
Here are three main options.

1. Turtle
In this option, the Visionary essentially plays a solo game.
The aim is to "lock out" other players so you can grow in peace.
Progress is made by buying, never conquering, land.
This works at any level,
because although land price increases with size,
so too does income.

In the Turtle strategy, money only ever goes into land and defense for that land.
There is no point in buying Knights because you never attack,
and there is no point in buying Pikemen, because Defenders are better value.

Stat points go into mana until you reach 60, then into defense forever.
You never attack, so you don't need attack stats,
or higher mana for cheaper spying.
You never (or hardly ever) get attacked, so you don't need to retaliate.
You don't want to anyway, because retaliation costs resources,
and anyone who attacks will grow out of your range very quickly
and not remain a threat, needing a retaliation "lesson".

Because you only get experience from successful defense,
you level very slowly.
This is a good thing, you will be the lowest level character at your acreage,
so people won't even want to attack you to gain experience.
Because you need 60 mana for maximum income,
very early on, you do have to attack a little,
but only enough to reach level 5
(4 level ups = +40 mana = 60 mana).

Now the question is, "What building set up is best?"
And the answer is a little surprising.
We need to appreciate the difference between a goal and a method.
All hero types have the same goal -- to grow, but they have different methods.
Defense is not the goal of a Visionary, it is the method (or strategy).
If defense was the goal, Forts would be the way to go,
but defense is not the goal, and Forts are not the way to go.
That's so surprising, I need to prove it for you.

To do that I need to mention one important factor that is often overlooked.
All the troops and Forts in the world will not stop a Magician's landgrab.
Magician's do not spy on targets, they survey them!
Landgrab is very expensive, a Magician needs to get maximum value for it.
Where does he look? At kingdoms that can't hit back! Visionaries!
But, it's a waste of mana if a kingdom has high Barriers,
it's worth 2 mana to make the most of 100 mana, so he surveys the target first.
(This is also why Magicians need at least 105 mana, but that's another story.)
Unless Visionaries build Barriers, they become the natural prey for Magicians.
If they build Barriers, Magicians will nearly always attack elsewhere.

Now, how many barriers do we build?
Well, remember, a Turtle cares nothing for speed. Security is everything.
Barriers are also the most efficient modifying buildings
with 3% effect for each 1% of land covered.
A Turtle goes for 25% Barriers with a whopping 75% protection.
Attacking buildings are not needed because land is purchased, not conquered.
Barracks are not needed because progress is very slow,
and troop cost per acre is high, but not extreme. (see Barracks post).
What surprises people is that Forts are also not needed,
this is because the lost income reduces army size and defense
more than the modifier increases it (unless you remove Barriers),
even though a Turtle doesn't care about the other disadvantages of Forts,
like lost income and lost attack power.
Note: if the game designer (TJ) increases the efficiency of Forts, the maths will change.
But unless it changes, Forts are never worth it for anyone, not even a Turtle.

So, that's our Turtle.
75% Mines - 25% Barriers, 60 mana + Defense stats only, army fully defenders.

You will still be hit, bottom feeders will hit you,
Even Moguls triple your acreage can get an APA higher than your DPA,
Generals only need to be twice your acreage, and 'Mongers the same size can hit you.
But you will be hit last and hit rarely,
when Turtles are the only targets left with plentiful resources.
Attackers also like to minimize risk, just in a different way to Turtles,
but that's another story.

Big Al's Post from http://warbookforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=374.0

As I've mentioned, I'm a Visionary, and my Visionary strategy I call the Bully.
I don't like Bullies, but in many ways WarBook is all about being the most successful Bully,
it's not real life, it's a game.

2. Bully
The basic idea of a Visionary Bully is growth by bottom feeding.
Few people who choose Visionary type do this, it's not what they signed up for.
However, it is the most efficient Visionary strategy, so efficient, in fact,
that it can even compete against other Hero Types for speed (if desired).
When I tried hard, I grew at more than 20% per day for a week
(hence Barracks were very useful).

The beauty of the Bully strategy is that a Visionary is well equipped for holding land captured.
The trick is optimizing defense v attack ratio.
Visionary attack is so poor, an elite only attack
is not always good enough to take out even 'Mongers 1/3 your size!
What makes bullying possible is those wonderful soldier dealers,
but even if they stopped their trade, Barracks would still make it viable.

As I said, the trick is optimizing defense v attack.
What is the ideal defense?
Essentially all you need is to be less "juicy" than others around you.
Forgetting stat modifiers for a moment,
A Defense Per Acre (DPA) of 60 is difficult
and non-optimal for Magicians, 'Mongers, Slayers and Necros.
It is easy for a Visionary, with room to spare.
Here's the trick, it's simple, don't overkill on the defense,
use the extra for attack.

A half-hearted Bully may use 7 or 8 elites per acre for (low risk) defense,
the rest goes into (higher risk) attack.
A full-blooded Bully may use 4 or 5 elites per acre for (higher risk) defense,
the rest goes into (low risk) attack.

The Bully does not attack with Knights,
they are way more expensive to replace than soldiers,
and are very inefficient in defense.

Like other attack classes, he will buy soldiers that would make him fall into negative income,
except that they die while capturing land that pays for their comrades to live long and prosper.

Also like other attack classes, he fills his captured land with upgraded elites to hold them.
And here's the nice thing, he can do this more efficiently than other attack classes!

The Visionary Hero Type is actually rather nicely suited to attack,
so long as you stick to picking on the weak!

The Bully strategy is very easy to play: work out how many elites per acre you want,
save up some money, spend most of it on soldiers,
and the rest on upgrading some survivors to elites to defend your ill gotten gains.
Do the maths! And gloat!
And the best thing is, no one is watching!
They all think you are a nice little Turtle ... woohoo!
And if they try you out, sure enough, you have got armour plating too!

<stops dancing the dance of joy>
So, a Bully has X elites per acre, and a ton of soldiers.
He is so fast, he typically uses 30% Barracks.
If he's lazy, he has 100% Mines.
Where does he put his stats?

Well, I made the mistake of putting points into mana, early on.
Why was this a mistake?
Spying costs money (alchemy spells delayed).
The more mana, the less the cost of spying for your many attacks
(since your attacks are on small players).
But, attack and defense stats are worth money too,
because they are like adding 1% troops per level (if you do one of each).
As you have more troops with larger armies at higher levels,
combat stats are more valuable later.
The number of attacks you need spying mana for remains the same,
though the cash value increases with size and level too.
I rarely need more than the equivalent of a whole alchemy spell
for a string of attacks, which is worth considerably less
than 1% of my total army cost.
However, the longer the time between levels, the more attacks I make
between army boosting stat increases,
and so the more valuable mana increases become.
In other words, I can buy more than 1% more troops
with the money I'm making with extra alchemy spells
between levels.
So, I was kinda right, mana does become more important than combat stats,
however, it is at higher levels, not lower levels.

If you're still leveling up often enough to be worrying about where to put your stats,
you should probably be going for combat (as long as you have 60 mana already).
If you can't remember your last level up, you should probably be going for mana.

Now, is 1-1 attack-defense the way to go, or some other ratio,
even 0%-100% like a Turtle?
Well, bottom feeders who buy massive armies from dealers
can outnumber small kingdoms by almost any amount they want.
On the other hand, this can be done to you too,
and probably will be.
In other words, there's a limit to the value of combat stats,
other factors will often dwarf them.
Since defence can never lock a bigger player (or huge army buyer) out completely,
looking less "juicy" than your neighbours is the main deterrent.
Since defence stats are not displayed, they have no deterrent value,
why bother? Your attacker needs to assume you have something good anyway.
Trust your attackers to be good players, and put 0% into defense!
On the other hand, extra attack points mean
you can keep an attacking run going longer.
Attack points are so difficult to get and inefficient for a Visionary,
any help you can get counts, and makes the most of your money.

The Bully puts his first four levels into mana, then maybe 25 levels into attack,
making even his elites as good as a Mogul, who has put no stats into attack.
By that time, level ups are few and far between, and you'll want the extra income
that extra mana gives.

So then, here's our Bully:
Stat points- mana and attack,
Troops- mainly soldiers and, say, 6 elites per acre (ideally less)
Buildings- 100% mines
(ideally 30% Barracks and >20% growth per day
-- which is easy if you have time).

Not what you'd expect from a Visionary, is it?
But, muah ha ha, it works!

But wait, there's more!

3. Caveman
The Caveman is the Bully on holiday.
After a few weeks of knocking small prey on the head,
he goes back to his cave to hibernate.
If you're going to be offline for a week or more,
a day or so early, tear down 25% Mines to make Barracks,
and start converting soldiers to elites.
Sell any remaining soldiers.
Tear down the Barracks and build Barriers.
Now you're a turtle.
But beware!
All those little guys you beat up might remember you and pay you back.
But the good thing about bottom feeding is you normally only hit once and move on.
Actually, because you never chain, you just share it 'round, no one realizes you're a Bully!
Woohoohoo!

Making The Most Out of Everything
Since I didn't see this above I'm going to add it myself.
Mana
If you're going to be an active Visionary, go for 65 mana instead of 60. This way, you'll always be able to use more Alchemy, and it'll still cost the same (though it'll be on the boundary line). It's a nice investment; you'll wait shorter for a recharge for Alchemy, and you're only giving 1 extra point into it. However, if your not planning on going all-out Warbook, and only plan on visiting your kingdom a few times a day, it is negligible. Put the rest of your points into whatever you want (look at the guides above).
Mines vs. Forts
Okay, Mines give you a good income, which you can spend on soldiers, which you can in turn spend on more of your armored beast elites. Forts, however, increase your overall defense. We know at least 25% of your land needs to be covered by barriers to avoid land grabs (Note: if you do get land grabbed, do not retaliate no matter how weak the mage is; THAT THING HAS FIREBALLS!), and at least 50% by mines to increase your income greatly. All other buildings are not really needed. Should the rest of it go to mines or forts? The answer is mines, but here's the pros and cons of both: Forts: Pros: harder to destroy; will be there for a while; you have a lot of land to spend Cons: if a mage can earthquake you often it will to try and take out your barriers, and it will also take out your forts; less income; no offensive abilities whatsoever. Mines: Pros: more soldiers meaning more elites, meaning more defense; you suffer 25% less soldier casualties anyways; more income Cons: if anything decides to go all out fireball on you, your 25% casualty rating will not mean a whole lot; mines can be destroyed. There you go, count the pros and cons, mines win.
Retaliation
Don't retaliate NO MATTER WHAT unless your going to be a really active player (like a Bully from above). If a mage decides to stack land grabs on you, even with your barriers, take it and rebuild. If a Warmonger decides to fireball you to oblivion and then attack you, take it and rebuild. The point of Visionary is to be a passive player. Join an alliance, the Visionary in an alliance is meant to be a nice resource pooler, and they'll often retaliate for you. But the point of Visionary is to be a passive player, you expand your kingdom by hand, not by force. Sure, you'll never make it on the top 100 scoreboard, but being a Visionary, you were never meant to. A Visionary is meant to have fun with it, not to go all out on other kingdoms.