Relative Utility of Tartarian Chasses

[Belac]

What are the best/worst Tart chasses to get? Looking at the wiki, it seems that Male Titan is best, then Female Titan (most item slots, largest number of magic path levels). Then Cyclops(lightning), as A/E is a useful path combo and it has many item slots. Then I'm not sure--how would folks rank the Spirit, the Cyclops(sword), the Monstrum, and the Monstra?

[Redeyes]

I imagine you are thinking "on a priority basis for Gift of Reasoning"?

If you can remove afflictions I would say that, for SC purposes:
Lightning Cyclops > Male Titan > Regular Cyclops > Female Titan > Monstra > Spirit > Monstrum.

If you want to open new paths of magic the order is instead
Male Titan > Monstra > Female Titan. Cyclops are good if you need their particular paths.

The Monstrum and Spirits work pretty well as regular units, Monstrum especially can do well at raiding due to their flight, they can profitably be sent into melee as soon as they are summoned.

[Belac]

You got it. Strong Death income, weak Nature income, need to prioritize which tarts to GoR.

I'm not sure I understand your evaluation of the Monstrum. Are you saying don't GoR it, just put it under the command of a flying raider (or any raider, and have it fly only on the battlefield)?

[Redeyes]

What I meant is that the Monstrum shouldn't really be considered commander material, rather as a durable unit that can do well either as a flying raider or as part of a larger army.

The spirit is in a rather similar position, though its lack of flying makes it a poor raider.

[Belac]

I thought the Spirit would be a pretty good commander. Give it a +1 Death item, it casts Soul Vortex, Invulnerability and wades into melee with a major fear effect. Not as good as a D/E Titan, but you know you're getting D/E.

The Monstrum I agree with you on.

[Redeyes]

Well, if you want to get Soul Vortex going with a D2 commander you are probably better served by giving it a Death gem to spend when casting it, as the skull staff is a poor weapon and the skullface is way too expensive.

The problem with the Spirit is more that it compares unfavorably with all the other Tartarians. At 150 hit points, it has the lowest hit point base. 8 action points makes it very slow on the battle field, magnified by its lack of a feet slot. Titans and Cyclops have the standard humanoid item slots making them better SCs and they have far better paths making them easy to give priority.

The real choice is between the Monstra and the Spirit - the Spirit has a body slot which the Monstra lacks. The Monstra, however, has 46.666...% percent more hp (220 to 150) and entirely random magic and more paths than even the female titan to boot, making it a better choice to GoR.

Further, the Monstra is really poor as a standard unit, only having fist attacks. The spirit has the rather decent Tartarian Chains attack and some regeneration, making its baseline fairly capable in combat. Remember that the Spirit also starts with poor amphibian, unlike other Tartarians - you could take them as troops beneath the waves while other Tartarians fights your land-battles.