Man - Pretender template request

[Amerasu]

Hello everyone!

I am brand new to Dominions II and I am loving it so far. I have experimented with several nations and several games, but still have a long way to go to understand the strategies and nuances of the game.

As a long time player of SMAC/X and HoMM3, I can already tell that this one will grab me the same way those two games did.

You have a wonderful forum here and I must admit that my head is spinning with all the information contained in these threads.

I do have one request. I have read and/or skimmed through the threads (and the search functions) and haven't been able to find a basic Man pretender template (I'm sure it's there, but I probably overlooked it).

My most daunting task in playing this game, at the moment, is in pretender creation.

What I would like to do is play through a game with a viable Man pretender template (as opposed to making fairly clueless pretender/magic/scale choices on my own) to get a feel for the flavor of the game with a non-gimped pretender.

I see a lot of references to the Last of the Tuatha, but no specific pretender builds that would compliment that.

I understand completely that all choices can be personal preference and each choice effects gameplay. However, if anyone would be so kind as to offer up a very specific pretender build for Man, I would be very grateful.

Thanks!

[Gandalf Parker]

I play Man alot and should be able to help you but to be truthful when I play Man Im usually in a mood to just not be so extreme. I tend to make "myself" as a pretender using the mounted or walking druid, maybe the great sage. Often a "rainbow" pretender meaning I get 2 or 3 in as many magics as possible in order to use him for research, making equip, and searching for sites. If I have to cut back I cut back on nature and air first since I can recruit mages to do those.

For an example of a nice god writeup for Man from Dominions 1 (which should still work for default Man) you can look here....
http://web.archive.org/web/200302100.../gods/Man.html

[fahdiz]

If you want more of a research/site-searching/summoning style pretender, Gandalf's suggestion of the Arch Druid (the mounted one) is a very good one.

Bless effects are very viable for Man, given that they have an abundance of reasonably-priced sacred units...especially the Last of the Tuatha theme. So the bless effect is definitely something to consider when making a Mannish pretender.

My current favorite pretender builds for Man are:

A Blue Dragon with Water 9 (the bless effects give quickness and increased defense to all blessed units). The Dragons are also excellent supercombatants - they can eat up indie provinces all by themselves in friendly domain...and the Blue Dragon is especially good at this with just a tiny bit of research in Alteration and Enchantment (script your Dragon to Cast Quickness, Cast Breath of Winter, Attack Rearmost...and watch him munch indies like Cheetos).

You will notice if you choose a Dragon for a pretender that he starts out in human form. Don't be alarmed, check his orders for a "Change Shape" command, which works instantaneously.

Seconly, I like a Virtue with Air 9 (that 80% Air Shield blessing renders your longbowmen able to fire at will into the midst of your sacred troops without fear of friendly fire, and the shock resistance will come in handy when you start summoning up Spring Hawks and such).

Both of these work well regardless of which Man theme you're playing, but you *really* notice the punch (especially of Air 9) if you're playing Last of the Tuatha, given the fantastic sacred units in that theme.

There are about as many different suggestions, though, as there are angels on the head of a pin so I'm sure someone else will have equally good or better ideas for you.

Also, if you're playing "vanilla" Man, you might consider taking Water Cult as a special theme, if you can spare the design points. They have a lot of sacred units and thus can take full advantage of Water Cult's flexibility.

[ March 27, 2004, 20:07: Message edited by: fahdiz ]

[Amerasu]

Originally posted by fahdiz:
Secondly, I like a Virtue with Air 9 (that 80% Air Shield blessing renders your longbowmen able to fire at will into the midst of your sacred troops without fear of friendly fire, and the shock resistance will come in handy when you start summoning up Spring Hawks and such).

Both of these work well regardless of which Man theme you're playing, but you *really* notice the punch (especially of Air 9) if you're playing Last of the Tuatha, given the fantastic sacred units in that theme.

Thank you Gandalf and fahdiz! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think I might try out Gandalf's Arch Druid idea tonight. I find myself drawn to research and site searching side of the game.

fahdiz, I am very intrigued by your two builds, too. I will certainly try out the dragon very soon.

However, I do have some specific questions about your Virtue build (this is the one I think I want to dig into a little more deeply).

For your Virtue build:

- How do you balance your scales? Obviously, I have the 1 Magic and 1 Luck to get Last of the Tuatha, but I'm curious how you set the rest of your scales. Do you take some Turmoil to pick up some Productivity? Do you adjust any of the other scales?

- Do pick up any other magic path?

- How high do you take your Dominion strength?

- What kind of fortress do you like?

Thanks!

[ March 27, 2004, 21:04: Message edited by: Amerasu ]

[Yossar]

Does the Great Enchantress still generator an astral pearl every turn? That would be nice.

[Yossar]

Originally posted by Amerasu:
- How do you balance your scales? Obviously, I have the 1 Magic and 1 Luck to get Last of the Tuatha, but I'm curious how you set the rest of your scales. Do you take some Turmoil to pick up some Productivity? Do you adjust any of the other scales?

- Do pick up any other magic path?

- How high do you take your Dominion strength?

- What kind of fortress do you like?

Thanks!

You almost never want Turmoil. You take a fairly large hit to Income if you do.

For scales maybe Order 1, Dominion 6, and a Castle. Or Order 2 and a 40 point fortress could work. You really can't afford another path of magic.