What? Lured into forest?
 

I had a huge army with lots of high level commanders. Then half of my army was lost, with the message that went something like "your men have been lured into the forest and was never seen again" or something like that.

What in the world is that? Is it a spell that has been cast? Or is it an unlucky event?

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...;f=74;t=000489

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Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

It's a stupid damn spell. I lost like 10 high level commanders and their units as well. Ridiculous.

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

You had ten high-level commanders in the same province? Were they carrying a flag with a big red "X" on it, too?

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PvK

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

Thats right, just about any high level province spell can automatically take out that many high-level commanders.

Ghost Riders is definitely a good example. Fire from afar, if casted enough, and other fire-province spells.

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

On the other hand, you can give it back to him with Venegeance of the Dead. I'm just about to cast it on Arcoscephalian character who keeps on casting Wrath of God every other turn and killing my blood hunters. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

ps. I wish there were more spells like that, or Fate of Oedipus and Dome of Flaming Death. There is Astral Corruption, of course, but that's dangerous across the board.

[ November 25, 2003, 23:59: Message edited by: HJ ]

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

Heh. Murdering Winter, Fires from Afar, Flames from the Sky, Leprosy, Beckoning... even Baleful Star (can curse units exposed to it) and Rain of Toads (can cause disease) can be used to harrass numbers. Then there's Mind Hunt (but don't use against astrals...), Earth Attack, Wind Ride, Seeking Arrow, Manifestation...

If you're parking lots of commanders in one spot, it'd be good to use a dome. Domes of Solid Air are nice in that they have a high success rate (80% block chance) and don't need extra gems to Last (but do require Air-5 and 20 air gems). Multiple air domes can stack in the same province, haven't tried mixing them yet.

Still, I think the most serious "Kill me now" spell has to be Utterdark. It causes 90% reduction in taxes AND resources, shades attack your enemies' provinces, precision / attack / defense all tend to suffer especially for non-undead. That's pretty much a universal declaration of war in the off chance that somebody pulls it off (not cheap; requires Alteration 9, Death 9, base cost of 100 death gems).

90% income reduction? Living troops probably deserting en masse? Inability to replace heavy troops in a reasonable amount of time? Ouch.

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

How do commanders avoid it? High magic resistance? What can you do about those spells?
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Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sounds like the MoM "Spell of Mastery" to me. Death only, though. Hmmm, wouldn't 666 gems be more appropriate?

[ November 27, 2003, 02:43: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

Well, against fire spells you need fire resistance, etc. Magic resistance helps against Leprosy, maybe something else too. Spreading your commanders/armies into multiple provinces if you have enemies capable of casting those spells is a good idea, so they can only hit a part of your troops. Most of these spells need high magic skill, so if you kill the mage casting them, it'll possibly take time before a new mage capable of casting them can be prepared. Also, spells like Flames from the Sky require so high research levels you should wipe out your opponent before they can reach it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

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Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

The spell in question is the Beckoning. IIRC both morale and MR saves you. It only works on forest provinces.

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

It's hilarious to watch archers if someone's cast utterdark...with 1 precision they end up shooting arrows sideways half of the time. Of course I've seen archers fire backwards when aiming at a frontal target even with 10 precision, but with 1 they do it a lot more often.

Re: What? Lured into forest?
 

In my first Doms I game, I was greatly amused by one AI horse archer commander who kept escaping battles with my troops. He lost an eye, and finally, the other eye, but kept returning to lead men into more battles, and to give missile "support" by firing randomly around the map. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

As for Utterdark, if there are multiple opponents, they will all try to dispel the Utterdark, and they may tend to together have higher gem income than the one casting Utterdark. An impressive spell, though.

PvK