Is Man (Tower of Chelms) the Ulm of LA?

[Amorphous]

As I am rather new to Dominions, there are probably lots of things I am missing, but still I think the judgement on LA Man in general and the Arcane Magister in particular is a bit harsh here.

First off, a nation should reasonably be compared to another as a whole and not just on a unit-basis. Straight off comparing the Magister Arcane to the Staret is perhaps not entirely appropriate as the latter is an extraordinary and capital only mage.

The Magister Arcanes as is offer quite a lot. With A2E1S1 + 50%FAES they can craft Earth Boots, Starshine Skullcap and then Dwarven Hammers and Crystal Coins. 1 in 8 Magister Arcanes have A3, which means that if you provide one with an air booster, he can continue crafting boosters on his own. If you also provide a Ring of Wizardry later in the game, Magister Arcanes can craft elemental staffs, which together with the fact that 1 in 16 Judges have F1D1 and can craft Fire Skulls, mean that they can craft Flame Helmets as well.

Agema covered most about combat casting, but I think it important to reiterate that you have a lot of options even when using small communions. Since your Magister Arcanes all have similar paths they suffer very little fatigue in communions, so even small communions have no problems casting a couple of major buffs and then continue with things like Astral Fires, Gifts from Heaven etc.

A couple of squads of Magister Arcanes can be a major problem for your enemies and you can build them in every castle you have.


In line with Agemas thinking I think an SC something of a waste with LA Man. The troops are good enough to conquer territory at a steady pace while still providing a serious deterrent for anyone considering invasion in the early game. Consider that A4 gives your mages early access to air boosters, at least S3 makes Rings of Wizardry attainable and W3 and N2 lets you use some nature magic early and with conjuration 5 you can summon a Naiad to cover water and nature magic for you. A dormant Lady of Springs, Mother of Tuathas or any of the usual rainbow mages can do this while still having a decent dominion and quite healthy scales.