Best LA Nation

[Endoperez]

Rush with lots and lots of Shapeshifters? I remember reading about it a few times, but I haven't seen it in action myself.

[thejeff]

Doesn't LA Vanheim have Vans too? Have they been nerfed?

I can see it having low late-game viability, but it should still be an ugly rush nation.

[DrPraetorious]

Late Era T'ien Ch'i gets 2s in Air, Water, Earth, Astral, Death and Nature. No-one complains about LA T'ien Ch'i magic.

Midgard gets a 3 in air, and 2s in Earth, Astral, Death and Blood. Not bad. Now, the galderman is slightly overpriced, but he's highly resistant to stray arrows; and you do get Van. You can also back up your blood magic with sacrificedom, which nicely counteracts your priest shortage.

So while I don't think Midgard is as good as T'ien Ch'i, I don't think it's weak, either.

[Nikolai]

If Midgard gets 2s in Earth, Death, and Blood, then Tien Chi gets 3s in Air, Water, and Astral.

Chance is same, and it is: "Not Bloody Likely" - 1 in 160 mages bought. It happens, and it will happen more for Midgard, because of build anywhere... but it is slim chance.

[OmikronWarrior]

Endoperez said:
Rush with lots and lots of Shapeshifters? I remember reading about it a few times, but I haven't seen it in action myself.

I've got quite a bit of experience with Midgard. I wouldn't call them crippled in the slightest. Skinshifters are fantastic units and make it easy to expand to start. Then the galderman provide good magic diversity, not great but good. Most importantly, they're guarenteed A2, which with a storm (since you have no archers this won't be a problem) gets you A3, which is thunderstrike spamming territory. Other than that, Galdermemn get you up to 3A, 2E, 2D, 2B, and 1N. Volga, your other mages, always have 2S, which is great for communes.

You can't recruit NATIONAL priests anywhere, but on the otherhand, you can only recruit priests where you have temples, and theres always a good chance any randon province will let you recruit the generic priest, so its not a huge handicap.

Yes, you do have capital only Vans. However, blessing them usually means sacrificing scales which means less skinshifters and mages in the long run. I never take those odds.

[thejeff]

The Galdermen have a better chance of 2E, 2D & 2B.
It's (AEDB)100%, (EDBN)100% right?
That's 1 in 16 for each of the paths.

Tien Chi requires a 10% random to get 3s. You're right. Those are lousy odds.

On another note, don't forget the random Blood Galdermen can join communions, giving access to Fog Warriors and the like.

[OmikronWarrior]

Your odds look correct, 1/16 for 2E, 2D, and 2B. However, keep in mind they are recruitable anywhere, and you should play with strong scales. Plus, Galdermen can ALWAYS be used for their battlefield air magic.

[Nikolai]

Wow. I must be blind. I had not seen their second pick was at 100%. Not my day today, definitely not.

[Huzurdaddi]

I have to agree with Marignon.

1) Excellent mages, heck probably the most cost effective mage in the game: Goetic Master.
2) Best commonly recruitable troop in the game: the crossbowman (hmmm.. ok longbowman is the best troop in the game, but crossbowman is a solid 2nd).
3) The best PD in the game, it can actually resist most rituals, amazing!

However the lack of worthwhile sacred troops puts you at a disadvantage at the start. You can, and will, offset this with an awake SC pretender (Wyrm seems to be the regular choice).

[triqui]

"2) Best commonly recruitable troop in the game: the crossbowman (hmmm.. ok longbowman is the best troop in the game, but crossbowman is a solid 2nd). "

Isn't the Ulm Ranger better? cost 2 extra gold, but came with stealth and precision 12...