more SnA questions by tool - which of these do you like?

[djtool]

hiya

well in my quest to evolve some kind of working (and hopefully winning) strategy with SnA i'd like y'alls opinion on these basic pretender setups.

None of these have He/Co or Death scales because i'm trying to save every penny I can. Luck would either be at 2 or 3...the scales really aren't what i'm debating here. Dominion Ratings would vary a *little but none lower than 5.

Statue - Astral 5: this would be to start casting acashic record, which is good. Gems for SnA very important, very good. Having to spend all that time researching conj. 5, bad.

Cyclops - Earth 10 (maybe take a HE or Death scale for water 1): This would be for the bless effect of reinvigoration 5 (i think). I don't have a clear understanding (in my minds eye) how much of an impact this would have, but there aren't many items that have more then reinvig 5...so it seems pretty nice. This guy also functions as a pretty good SC 'cause his starting armor value is 29 and once you hit evoc4 you can crank out the blade winds. easy to get a luck coin and robe of shadows too.

Vamp queen - standard SC setup: not much to be said about this.

to all who post thanks in advance.

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by djtool:
Statue - Astral 5: this would be to start casting acashic record, which is good. Gems for SnA very important, very good. Having to spend all that time researching conj. 5, bad.

Conj-5 is also Bane Lords. Bane Lords good. I think the Masters of the Deads may be able to use them?

Acashic Record *IS* expensive, though, and doesn't pay off that well unless you're awash in astrals or searching high-magic terrains.

Cyclops - Earth 10 (maybe take a HE or Death scale for water 1): This would be for the bless effect of reinvigoration 5 (i think). I don't have a clear understanding (in my minds eye) how much of an impact this would have, but there aren't many items that have more then reinvig 5...so it seems pretty nice. This guy also functions as a pretty good SC 'cause his starting armor value is 29 and once you hit evoc4 you can crank out the blade winds. easy to get a luck coin and robe of shadows too.

The Cyclops also has an obnoxious habit of losing his only eye on turn 4. Be sure to get ready to switch him for tramplin' shoes, since he's going to spend the better part of the game flailing around blindly.

[djtool]

[quote]shoes, since he's going to spend the better part of the game flailing around blindly. [quote]

that image made me laugh.

i'm more interested in the impact the reinvig 5 would have on my mages then the cyclops as a SC.

[archaeolept]

reinvig 5 is ok but nowhere near as nice as getting a caster spamming relief, just to put it in perspective.

really, going earth 10 for that is just not worth it, and the cyclops will likely end up blind, so...

I don't want to crush anyones dreams about playing S&A in a competitive enviroment. But you are going to run into a situation where it doesn't matter how well your mages reinvigorate, they will die ;/

The only way to prevent this from happening (sometimes) is to have an Astral King. In order to do this, it is best to pick something that is semi-mobile that can equip as many of the path enhancing items as it can.

The other option is to completely ignore your minduelbait mages and focus on your slower mages or less impressive Master's of the Way.

Either way, the forced turmoil leaves you in a bad place and your mages don't do much for you.

I love T'ien Ch'i, and I love Spring and Autumn, but competitive without serious amounts of luck, they are not.

[Demosthenes]

IME the Cyclops will be OK if he has Air 2 for Mistform, Mirror Image and Air Shield. If you beeline Alteration you can get there on Turn 4 usually, and maybe you could have forged a helm and a couple swords of sharpness by then.

I like the Axes better but the swords have higher defense and if you head out-a-ramblin' with only Alteration 2, i.e. no mistform, then the defense is the only thing between you and blindness.