Quote:
Originally Posted by Soyweiser
Of course that never happens. Because comparing normal mage usage with normal mage usage + assassins isn't a fair comparison. As everybody uses mages this way, you will not fall behind.
|
But that was not the comparison I made. The point was that one mage not researching produces exactly as much RP as an assassin not researching. A mage not researching makes you lose the research race exactly the same way an assassin not researching it does.
However bad units you think all assassins are, there is no escaping the fact that a mage sent to the front produce exactly the same amount of RP as an assassin sent behind enemy lines - none.
Quote:
Of course you may think your assassins are all that useful. But they simply are not if you trade a assassin for a mage. The mages can always cast assassination spells later. Bonus, if the spell fails, you do not lose the mage . Another bonus, the mage does not have to be in the targets province for it to work.
(Of course, both tactics can be ruined by just buying a lot of indy commanders).
|
Again, you need to have the spells researched. Later is frequently a lot worse than now.
And though I certainly do not deny that assassin spells are generally a lot better than assassins, there is the gem cost. Would you recruit gems for a small amount of gold instead of a commander?
Quote:
Sure, but the tradeof for buying them is usually just to high. And as assassins almost always are a tradeoff between buying mages. They are not useful. Perhaps if you find indy assassins without a indy mage. But I think they do not exist.
|
The above does not make much sense. If the tradeoff is usually too high, it is implied that it is sometimes not to high. This in turn implies that assassins are occasionally useful. And yet you claim that assassins are not useful.
How do you want it?
Quote:
Well that means you are either very lucky. (Taking out that one mage that holds the entire enemy battleplan together, a mage that has no bodyguards, and is scripted such a way that it does not kill your assassin, and it does not go offscript). Or you bought a lot of assassins and do a one turn strike. And in the second case after the one turn strike all the assassins are worthless. Also, you lose your entire investment if the enemy army patrols for one turn.
|
Is this really supposed to cover all possibilities?
Especially in light of my earlier mention of optimized expansion parties, it seems a bit on the thin side. Shutting down a few armies for a couple of turns is often enough to win a war.
Look, if I am to take your comments seriously, I would have to say that investing in at least one assassin per game is always a sound move. One assassin attack will make a player guard all his commanders with a couple of units. Reasonably early in the game this represents a far larger drain than a measly assassin.
I do not see it like that, but it is what your hyperboles lead to.
They do not strengthen your argument.
Quote:
Look if they where that useful in any way. There would have been more blood succubus guides. And even with the great stats for an assassin, and seduction nobody really uses them. 66 blood slaves is just to useful in other ways.
|
A blood 5 summon requiring a blood 4 mage and 66 blood slaves is not the same as an assassin recruitable from day one requiring only a small amount of gold.
I am not that big a user of assassins, but I just cannot agree to that they are never useful.