Re: Best way to force wight-mage conversion?
Yes, darkness is a bit dangerous to cast with Ctis, no darkvision.
But, Abysia, f9e9 blessed is my opponent. Between their fire spells and elites, they suffer more from darkness than I.
Normally, I would have avoided darkness, but I noticed a post where someone pointed out in their own scenario that with attacks/def of 20/10 vs 10/10, before darkness, they have a huge diff on the DRN rolls, of 10 out of the two open ended d6s. After darkness it is 10/5 vs 5/5. Now I only have a diff of 5 on the DRN rolls to overcome when they attack me- much more likely.
The thing to keep in mind is that rolls are differential in this game, unlike, say Master of Magic, where each attack icon was a separate roll. Percentages penalize elites more. And if both sides start out as equal, then we basically end up with an overpriced Mist spell making missile weaponry/spells almost impossible.
Now, I've got a few more ways around the precision penalty than Abysia was ready for, the first time I pulled this trick. But they have been researching. The first time I pulled this off, I had to offer up mixed forces. Burning Ones, even halfed, are still tougher than Raised Longdead Skeletons. Because banishment is precision 100, my local wights were quite smited - something I had NOT planned for. I didn't look at it as hampering half my forces so much as doubling the capabilities of my 'Raise Skeleton' spam from around eight necromancers (reborn and Sauro).
If, on the other hand, I happened to have the elites, or was facing Salamanders (area attack), I'd seriously consider leaving darkness out and Shadow Blasting instead. But a lot of my spells are magic resisted, anyways, so I wasn't losing much compared to Abysia (with resistances of 12 to 13 on national troops).
This delaying action, on the other hand, will consist (nearly) entirely of the undead. Around 80 to 100 before the battle even starts (longdead, mannikins). A few city guard bodyguards, a few dozen chariot (according to the manual, trample doesn't check attack, only defense, so it should be more effective), and one shaman casting communion slave that I hope takes up the entire cost of Darkness before dying, instead of splitting overspill with the master. I have hopes that they actually do serious damage with this delaying action. The more living part of my army is heading east to take care of an army there, and prevent the junction of their forces. Since there are salamanders there, I've decided not to cast Darkness in my main action (just the delaying one) and Shadow Bolt instead (even with the high MR.
That long and unwieldy passage clear up my position?
Short version: they can't flame me to death. On the other hand, my spells aren't reliable, except skelly spam. Might as well make it good.
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