Lower level summons?

[tinkthank]

Just wondering: who uses lower-level non-national summons, and if so, which ones which are not Summon Vine Ogre? By these I mean things like Fire Drake, Scorpion Beast, Summon Shades or Reanimation (the death spell, not the unholy command) and the like.

I would basically like to know this: Do you save (or "hoard") your gems for later use once you get higher-level spells, or do you spend them sooner (or asap) to get those summons you can cast now.

I ask because I tend to do the former, except for Vine Ogre, which I use in conjunction with that crown which gets you an extra one. I find the other lower-level summons not "worth it" for the short-term gain in immediate firepower over longer-term gain when casting the sexier spells you can get a few turns later.

I am hoping that lots of people will say the opposite; but if not, this would seem to me to be an (albeit: weak) "argument" in favor of slightly boosting the power of lower level summons and slightly nerfing the power of higher level summons (for a patch or dom3), since these spells would go into the (albeit: small) batch of "I never cast these; why are they in the game?".

[sushiboat]

I like Call of the Wild for the werewolf, who can summon a free wolf per turn. I could see using Call of the Winds for early raiding.

I look for either large numbers or a commander who can summon allies. Otherwise the gem cost is way too high for what you're getting -- fodder.

[Boron]

Call of winds , spirit mastery , behemoth , pale riders and fire snakes i occasionally use .

And of course most lowlvl blood spells if needed , especially crossbreeding quite often .

Almost always you fare better though by using your deathgems for banelords , a "lowlevel" summon with only conj 5 also or saving your blood to get as many IDs/ADs as possible .

[Huzurdaddi]

I find Fiends of Darkness and Devils to be excellent low level summons ( level 2 blood and 3 blood ). The requirements on summoning devils precludes many nations from summoning them though.

For underwater fun Kraken are a fine buy for 3 gems.

While not exactly a low level summon I find that banefire archers are an excellent buy. They are "low" in that enchantment is excellent for death nations.

With Zen's mod the Seasonal Spirits are very nice and worth the gems.

[The_Tauren13]

I've been known to summon wyverns. Not because I think they are anywhere near worth their cost, but because wyverns are really cool creatures

[Duncanish]

I'll use Spirit Mastery quite often. Cheap walls of chaff are always a good thing and you can never have enough.

[PvK]

I made good use (for my own standards) of drakes, scorpion beasts, prides of lions, wights, etc.

Hoarding or using now depends on the situation: how soon I need things, what else I need the gems for, which free casters I have available, research expectations, opponents, number of gems available, etc.

I think many of these are good for early-research situations. I agree that later in the research tree, there are summons which are fairly easy to summon which tend to be better and not much more expensive.

My current mod effort in progress makes the more powerful high-research items more difficult to cast in terms of expense and magic power required. I'm really liking the results so far.

PvK

[Oversway]

Just glancing through Edi's excellent unit reference, and here are some low level summons that appear to not be used too often.

Corpse Construct
Various Animals (from Summon Animals)
Bog Beast
Various Drakes
Kithaironic Lion
Lumber Construct
Bane
Scorpion Beast
Shade Beast
Revenant

[The_Tauren13]

Code:

---

             Vine Ogre      Lumber Construct



Cost            1N             5N



Magic Path      3N             3N



Research      conj 3         const 5



Hit Points      53             60



Protection       5             12



Morale          50             50



Magic res.       5             12



Encumbrance      0              0



Strength        18             20



Attack          12              8



Defense          3              7



Move(map/ap)  2/12           3/ 7



Attacks       2 fists        1 fist



Differing     Forest         Magic Being, Lifeless,

 abilities     Survival       Never Heals

---

I can't imagine ever getting a construct for 5 times the cost, and that doesnt even take into account an ivy crown...

[Huzurdaddi]

The Lumber Construct is lifeless. That is worth something sometimes. But for x5 the cost? No thanks I'll go with the vine ogre.

However comparing anything to Vine Ogres is usually a no brainer. It is very hard to beat their price/performance.