Alexander's ever-expanding Tome of Knowledge

[apoger]

As I play Dom2 I discover all sorts of interesting and fun techniques.
I keep telling myself that I should do some essays on these subjects, but I never seem to get around to it. The sheer number of things I have to say are absolutely daunting, and every time I start I end up burning out.

What I've decided to do is make a thread on this forum (you're reading it) and every time I have somthing to spew, I'll just jot it down there. It might not be as complete or as in-depth as it could be, but at least I'll get some of my thoughts into a place where they won't disappear, and where other players can view them.

Some of these ideas are serious strategies and tactics. Others are just fun.
Please feel free to comment, or add in your own ideas. However if you want to explore a topic in detail, please start a new thread. Use common sense.

In the meantime I'll just deposit my thoughts here when I have the time and inclination.


-Alex Poger

[apoger]

New Classifications


A while back I coined the term Supercombatant as a description of super high power units. Over time players have started to use this term in ways that are different than the initial meaning. This has caused some frustrating conversations, and subsequent confusion. Simply put, the Dominions community needs more naming conventions so players can communicate with more precision.

Many players have started using the term Supercombatant for almost anything larger than heavy infantry. That isn't very useful since the scope of units that are more potent than heavy infantry is fairly large. As such I am now suggesting two new classifications, and redescribing the term Supercombatant.


THUG

Simply put a thug goes out and beats things up and has a reasonable chance of surviving. Thugs don't beat up high power armies, and they aren't meant to be invincible. They are meant to be cheap and efficient ways of applying a beat down.

Some examples of thugs would be:
Neifelheim Giant
Hydra
Wyrm (no/little magic)
Vanjarl - with magic weapon and casting mistform
Jotun Herse - with a few choice magic items
Troll
Lava Warrior
Knight

As you can see there is a hefty power scale fluctuation even in the thug classification. However these guys are not Supercombatants and that is what I am trying to make clear.


SLAYER

A Slayer is a unit that has been cultivated to be powerful enough to wreck conventional armies. This is really a specialized sub-class of supercombatant. The Slayer is built with cost cutting in mind, to make it as cheap as possible and still be able to disperse conventional forces. Slayers are not meant to deal with mages or magic creatures. They are used primarily as an early game expansion aid, and as attack/defense while player nations aren't fielding much magic. During the late game when potent magic is available, Slayers are usually relegated to raiding duty.


Some examples of slayers would be:

Manticore
Astral magic - 6
On entering battle it casts, Body Etheral, Personal Luck, Astral Shield, Astral Weapon, and then attacks.

Heliophagus
Wraith Sword, Robe of Shadows, Boots of Quickness, Pendent of Luck, Ring of Regeneration


SUPERCOMBATANT

Supercombatants are built in an attempt to walk onto a battlefield alone and clean house versus any opposition. The potency/penetration of the spell Paralyze has made life a bit tough on Supercombatants and players of Dom2 are using more thugs and slayers than they did in Dom1. Still it's fun to use them, and they can still be effective. Just keep in mind that they are very powerful, but not invincible.


An example of a supercombatant would be:

Nataraja
Earth magic - 4
Air magic - 2
Nature magic - 3
Wraith Sword, Faithful, Charcoal Shield, Starshine Skullcap, Robe of Shadows, Boots of Quickness, Anti-Magic amulet.
On entering battle it casts, Invulnerability, Mist Form, Personal Regeneration, Elemental Fortitude, and then attacks

[apoger]

"HIT N' RUN" GOLEM

The Golem is mindless and has astral skill, making it a prime candidate for the spell Astral Tempest.

The Golem will need +2 astral skill. I usually use a starshine skullcap and a crystal coin, but other items or empowerment will work fine.

Cast Ritual of Returning so your Golem doesn't get hurt.

Place Golem at rear of battlefield.

Teleport into an enemy army (living armies, obviously).

Upon entering combat cast Astral Tempest - Body Ethereal - Personal Luck - Astral Shield - Twist Fate - then "cast spells". Make sure you have at least 4 pearls on the Golem for the castings.

This should get you about 3-7 turns of bLasting versus the enemy army. The more troops in the army the more damage will get done!

As soon as the Golem takes a hit, the Ritual of Returning will send it back to the capital.

Rinse, lather, repeat.


If the enemy has flying troops they may tag the Golem fast and send him home. Avoid that army.
If the enemy has a strong astral mage ready to Magic Duel, it's possible to lose the Golem.
Other than that this is a tactic that is hard to stop, and will make your enemies pull their hair out.

[apoger]

SPIDERMAN SPIDERMAN DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER CAN


The Machakan Black Sorcerer is one interesting mage!

Enter combat, cast Summon Earth Power, Invulnerability and Fire Shield, then attack.

As soon as the Black Sorcerer takes a hit, he turns into a hunter spider (pretty big!).
What's even more impressive is that the spider keeps the extra protection and fire shield!

This is more than enough to single handedly beat down weaker independents. Not bad in other circumstances as well.

The Machakan Sorceress can pull a similar but slightly less impressive stunt, but at her lower cost is still well worth the expense.

If your Black Sorcerer comes with a lucky level of astral, might as well add in Body Ethereal and Personal Luck.

[apoger]

SUPERCHARGED ABYSIAN WARLOCKS

For this trick you will need 8 astral mages to act as communion slaves. Warlock apprentices will do, but if you find cheaper ones go for it.

You will also need 1+ Warlocks.

Have the 8 slaves cast communion slave.

Have your Warlocks cast; Communion Master, Power of the Spheres, have one cast Light of the Northern Star (or carry a Banner of the North Star).

At this point the Warlocks will have Blood-7 Astral-7 Random-5
If you are willing to cast Hellpower (it horror marks your mages and attracts horrors) you can bring the Warlocks up to Blood-9 Astral-9 Random-7

This is all without magic items or empowerment.

Is it worthwhile to go through the hefty effort to get this effect?
That depends on you games circumstances. Just keep in mind that it's a potential tool in the toolbox.

[apoger]

FLYING DWARVEN THUGS


One tactic that I use extensively in multiplayer is getting small raiding forces behind the front lines and harrassing my enemy.

One of my favorite ways to do this is with "Flying Dwarven Thugs".
There are numerous ways to raid, but I find the sheer absudity of this method to be entertaining.

Play Ulm.

Make Master Smiths.

Arm them with Winged Shoes and a pair of Axes of Sharpness. If possible I also make them a Pendent of Luck. Yes the shoes and pendent take effort to develop. It's worth it.

Fly them into enemy territory against lightly defended provinces.

Upon arrival, have the dwarf cast Summon Earth Power, Invulnerability and Fire Shield. Then dive in for some two axe action! This should be enough to crack the low province defense that most players use.

If you know that the province defense is pumped, add in more dwarves.

For large battles have a squad of these guys in the back, power up, and attack the rear. Very few players anticipate a squad of dangerous flyers from Ulm.


I don't know what it is, but the idea of a super-armored flaming dwarf dropping out of the sky and going to town on surprised defenders is enough to make me smile for hours.

[apoger]

POISON AND THE DEAD

Undead troops and poison generating effects go togeher like peanut butter and chocolate.
After all, the undead are immune to the poison that would normally make life hard on your own living troops.

The basic technique is to clog up the battlefield with the unliving and then expose the enemy to various poison effects.

Most commonly death mages use reanimations and nature mages use vine men/ogres. For those with both skills try manikins/mandragoras.

If playing C'tis place poison slingers behind the undead.

If you have nature mages cast Breath of the Dragon or Poison Cloud.

If you have creatures that exude clouds of poison (hydra/bog beast) then mix them in with the undead near the front.

If you have nature/water mages (Jade Amazons. Sometimes Man, C'tis, Pangaea) then consider casting Foul Vapors. This spell will strike the whole battlefield with poison clousds. Make sure your mages are posion immune first!


This is best used when applied too a large/living enemy army. Delay with the undead, kill with the poison. With a bit of skill/luck this sort of engagement can cause horrific losses to the opponent.

[apoger]

GIRLFRIENDS FROM HELL


Sometimes I find myeslf in a dire situation and have a few death mages to spare. It is during those times that I consider the very risky tactic of using the spell Summon Lammashtas.

Each casting gets you two Lammashtas. They are ethereal, hard to hit, and carry wraith swords. These are some scary women!

The spell description says that they will probably not attack the caster at the start of the battle. This is a load of hooey. They will disembowel your mages first chance they get. Anytime you use this spell it's a suicide mission. Count on it.

If you are just sending in mages, give them one death gem and cast. The girls will slay your mages and then go to work on the enemy. Each Lammashta seems tough enough to kill about 5-20 infantry. A lot depends on the quality of the opposition and if they have magic.

The Lammashtas are not under your control and go back from whence they came at the battles end.

If you can put your mages inside packs of junk troops, it's possible to get a second casting while hoping that the troops will delay the Lammashtas for the turn needed. Possible and hope being the key words here. If you attempt a second casting your death-3 mages will need another gem, and death-2 mages will need two more.

I have tried sending in mages casting Lammashtas at the front of my army with real troops holding in the rear. The idea being that perhaps the girls will become involved with the advancing enemy and soften things up for my troops . I've had about as many disasters as I've had successes with this. Use it at your own risk.

I always keep this tactic in mind when I find "raptor" provinces that produce Harab Seraphs. Since these are flying death-2 mages, I can use them as a fast reaction suicide squad. It's not the cheapest defense (by a longshot) but it's saved my bacon a few times.

[apoger]

FOLLOWING THE LIGHT


Anytime I have many astral mages on the battlefield I always try to have a character holding a Banner of the Northern Star, or I have a mage cast Light of the Northern Star. Either way all my astral mages get an extra point of astral skill.

Extra skill means that astral spells cause less fatigue, and that means more casting. Yummy.

Also this is often important in order to get easy access to better quality spells.
With the "light" in effect:
Astral-1 mages can cast Paralyze
Astral-2 mages can cast Soul Slay
Astral-3 mages can cast Enslave Mind

This also enables Marignons Grand Masters to cast Astral Fires.

[apoger]

FEEL THE BURN

Fire magic in Dom2 is fairly weak. Many of the fun sounding spells just don't hit often, and it's very hard to use fire magic during rain or a storm (which many nations bring to battle). There are very few fire spells that I find worthwhile, however there is one worth writing about... Incinerate!


Why do I like incinerate?
1 - Precision 100
2 - 18 damage
3 - Armor Negating

That's enough to blow away most conventional troops in a shot. It hits and it hurts! That's my kind of spell.

As long as your enemies aren't fire immune, incinerate is a great way to guarantee that you mages hand out a beating.
If your mages are fire-2, have them cast Phoenix Power first in order to bring them up to the skill level needed. In fact always use Phoenix Power as it will lower the fatigue for more skilled mages.
Line up a bunch of fire mages and it's a vertible "Firing Squad".
It's not as flashy as some other spells, but the fact that you're drilling in armor negating damage with precision is a wonderful thing.


Note: Also check out the magic item Rod of the Phoenix. This item allows any commander to cast (you guessed it) incinerate! The 20 fire gem cost seems high, but I assure you that it's a great effect. Don't think of it as a rod, think of it as a sniper rifle. Give it to a low encumberance commander and flame away!