MA Ermor advice please

[Aezeal]

hmm evil homer seems to have the same idea's as I get when reading all this.. if you dont'go for sacreds then I shouldn't go for a bless build after all... then I can better go for high prod. with a SC but that is a whole other game, appeals less to me (I want a high level mage (pretender for late game high impact spells)) and in all my games so far I've been relatively light on troops and certainly in teh start I always needed as much cash as I could find
... so far.. I'm thinking in the direction of a W9S9 bless with at least 2 order, preferably 3 luck, a reasonably high dominion and if I need negative scales I'd put 2 in sloth first, maybe some heat and cold to since I figure I need less supplies --> do you all agree?

my most pressing concern now remains wether Drain is a problem or maybe even good for my nation (drain 2 for only -1 RP means I can go) --> or are ther otehr things I should take in consideration?

9S9W
3 order
2 sloth
2 cold
0 growth
3 luck
2 drain
and keep dominion on 8
with a imprisoned oracle

so far 3 lcuk has been a given EH used 2 misfortune even which means I could put 5 scales more positive elsewhere.. but compared to my setup just above here.. which one would you all trade for luck.. or would you leave the luck too?

[Shovah32]

Chances are he has played with them. He's just asking for advice to see if he missed anything or if there are ways in which he can improve his build. Alot of players ask for help with nations they have to play(myself included) and several players write guides for various nations.

edit: Order and luck, while nice, is a little bit wasteful as luck reduces how many events you get. Keep it if you want it by all means but you'll be missing out on alot of points. Misfortune 2(or 3, if you feel you can risk it) could buy you up to magic 1 and maybe get you a bit of growth/a bit less sloth(if you want) too.

[Jazzepi]

Don't get luck 3 with order 3.

Take order 3 misfortune 2.

Jazzepi

[Meglobob]

Serenity said:
I dont get it, why ask stuff like that? I've tried every nation atleast a few times, and I think you should go play instead of asking how to play.

I think he wants to survive past turn 30!

But seriously, not everyone has the time to play every nation. I still have not played every nation and I have been playing nearly a year now. To really get to 'know' a nation, you after play 50+ turns. As somethngs are not apparent early on.

[Aezeal]

Serenity sure I will play (I just started a game) them but as I said I want to win my first MP game and I have set my mind on playing with this nation I know nothing about so far.. so since I have no time (at least I hope the game starts this week) for 3-4 SP games to see wether sloth 3 is REALLY a problem etc. (I'll admit that even in my SP game I'd like a decent start cus why learn the basics of a nation in 3-4 games when with a lil asking you can learn a lot in 1-2 (I'm posting and reading here while waiting on the turns.. not like I have something better to do.. I like to see it as MAXIMIZING my learning curve in minimum time )

I mean if I need to play 3-4 games with ALL RACES just to learn the basics of them then i'd take way more time than I have.. I've got a pretty busy just, and it's taking way more hours than most people spend on their job (here in the netherlands at least) so I just have to take short cuts and I'm not ashamed of it either. And strat talk in general will improve my game with all nations and I like it.

Jazepi.. that would indeed give me 200 point to spend which could nicely go to growth 3 for a better base late game and .. soemthing else. But the gem/magic item/heroes are always such nice surprises... makes the list worth reading

I still would like more opinions on drain/magic most games I just take drain 2 for just -1 RP and build more mages (which I can afford easily with the + scales I take for those)
what are your thoughts? any other things that you guys think I should take into consideration with magic vs drain in general and for MA Ermor specifically?

[Humakty]

I think that, in SP, you could relly heavily on Death enchantments, like,(an example I've chosen randomly)the marvelous undead elephants(3 to 4 in each main army), who will crush the AI hordes. I also think you should not take sloth, cause basic undeads rarely win battles alone.(1 or 2 prod could help for a beginner, (I often take prod)). The rest as been developped before in this forum.
Ah ! I don't think vestals kick that much, 'cause, if I remember well, they're capital only.( not sure of this one)
Anyway, a zero prot sacred needs lots of buffs before becoming usefull.

[Shovah32]

Vestals are capitol only but with 8 or higher dominion+bonuses for temples later it isn't that bad.
Sure they have 0 prot but they also have very high defence, ethereality and(with an S9 bless) twist fate.
With their low cost(3 resources and 20 gold currently. Going up to 35 gold with the patch) you can also always get your maximum amount per turn.

[Jazzepi]

Aezeal said:
Serenity sure I will play (I just started a game) them but as I said I want to win my first MP game and I have set my mind on playing with this nation I know nothing about so far.. so since I have no time (at least I hope the game starts this week) for 3-4 SP games to see wether sloth 3 is REALLY a problem etc. (I'll admit that even in my SP game I'd like a decent start cus why learn the basics of a nation in 3-4 games when with a lil asking you can learn a lot in 1-2 (I'm posting and reading here while waiting on the turns.. not like I have something better to do.. I like to see it as MAXIMIZING my learning curve in minimum time )

I mean if I need to play 3-4 games with ALL RACES just to learn the basics of them then i'd take way more time than I have.. I've got a pretty busy just, and it's taking way more hours than most people spend on their job (here in the netherlands at least) so I just have to take short cuts and I'm not ashamed of it either. And strat talk in general will improve my game with all nations and I like it.

Jazepi.. that would indeed give me 200 point to spend which could nicely go to growth 3 for a better base late game and .. soemthing else. But the gem/magic item/heroes are always such nice surprises... makes the list worth reading

I still would like more opinions on drain/magic most games I just take drain 2 for just -1 RP and build more mages (which I can afford easily with the + scales I take for those)
what are your thoughts? any other things that you guys think I should take into consideration with magic vs drain in general and for MA Ermor specifically?

I used to do this a lot. What I discovered is that it really depends on your mages. If you have 7-8 research point mages, then you can probably afford to take the -1 research hit and go drain 2 with the intent of spamming forts + mages to catch up with other people who have +1 magic.

If you don't, and a good example would be a nation like EA Abysia, or MA Man, you're locked into having at least magic 1. If you take drain 2, for instance, with EA abysia, your prime researcher only produces 3 points of research per turn. I shouldn't have to explain how abysmal that is.

What's really happening is that the lower research your guys are, the more an improvement percentage wise an increase in the magic scales are. The higher researcher your mages are, the less relative benefit you're getting out of it.

Jazzepi

Jazzepi

[DrPraetorious]

Assuming you can get the death income, it's often a good idea to go for skull mentors as MA Ermor.

I'll expand on the advice that Meglobob and Aezeal have been giving. This is my most successful MP build for MA Ermor:
9S9W Imprisoned Oracle
3 Order
3 Sloth
2 Misfortune
1 Magic
Domstr 8

I think that balances out (I'm at work waiting for a colleague who IS LATE); if you've got points left over take a Growth.

An early expansion army should consist of an archtheurg and 16 shadow vestals. Put ten or so of the javelin legionaires *in front* of the vestals and set them to fire, which will prevent the occasional vestal casualty that you'd otherwise suffer from archery (legionaires are basically arrow-proof). That'll keep you going for a while.
EDIT: The shadow vestals should be set to attack. This set-up is resistant to archery but doesn't have much archery of its own to fall back on.

Against another player, put legionaires of some kind (we can argue endlessly about which kind is best, but the pros and cons generally balance out) in the front rank, shadow vestals behind them (set to attack rear) and undead in the rear behind your mages to soak enemies set to attack rear and to mop up in case the rest of your army flees for whatever reason.

Put the mages in the middle of the army and slightly off to the side - *never* leave them in the actual middle where they default because sometimes the computer mysteriously chooses to shoot at that spot. Spread them out in a line. Give them bodyguards that can't be targeted easily.

With Const 4, Evoc 5 and Thaum 2, you have battlemages that will punish enemy players well into the late mid game. Put ~three archtheurgs with skull staff (optional), eye, spell focus and *some kind of armor* and ~eight theurgs. The theurgs all form a communion and the archtheurgs cast shadow blast through it. This will often kill an entire enemy army, even of crazy stuff like angels. The armor, by the way, is an absolute must to protect your investment in these guys. Even a shroud of the battle saint makes them essentially immune to stray arrows, and much more resistant to assassins.

[Aezeal]

a question do you let the enemy come to you with that setup (javelineers in front of vestals) or doyou just start em like that and then let the vestals attack?