Lower level summons?

[tinkthank]

Just wondering: who uses lower-level non-national summons, and if so, which ones which are not Summon Vine Ogre? By these I mean things like Fire Drake, Scorpion Beast, Summon Shades or Reanimation (the death spell, not the unholy command) and the like.

I would basically like to know this: Do you save (or "hoard") your gems for later use once you get higher-level spells, or do you spend them sooner (or asap) to get those summons you can cast now.

I ask because I tend to do the former, except for Vine Ogre, which I use in conjunction with that crown which gets you an extra one. I find the other lower-level summons not "worth it" for the short-term gain in immediate firepower over longer-term gain when casting the sexier spells you can get a few turns later.

I am hoping that lots of people will say the opposite; but if not, this would seem to me to be an (albeit: weak) "argument" in favor of slightly boosting the power of lower level summons and slightly nerfing the power of higher level summons (for a patch or dom3), since these spells would go into the (albeit: small) batch of "I never cast these; why are they in the game?".

[sushiboat]

I like Call of the Wild for the werewolf, who can summon a free wolf per turn. I could see using Call of the Winds for early raiding.

I look for either large numbers or a commander who can summon allies. Otherwise the gem cost is way too high for what you're getting -- fodder.

[Boron]

Call of winds , spirit mastery , behemoth , pale riders and fire snakes i occasionally use .

And of course most lowlvl blood spells if needed , especially crossbreeding quite often .

Almost always you fare better though by using your deathgems for banelords , a "lowlevel" summon with only conj 5 also or saving your blood to get as many IDs/ADs as possible .

[Huzurdaddi]

I find Fiends of Darkness and Devils to be excellent low level summons ( level 2 blood and 3 blood ). The requirements on summoning devils precludes many nations from summoning them though.

For underwater fun Kraken are a fine buy for 3 gems.

While not exactly a low level summon I find that banefire archers are an excellent buy. They are "low" in that enchantment is excellent for death nations.

With Zen's mod the Seasonal Spirits are very nice and worth the gems.

[The_Tauren13]

I've been known to summon wyverns. Not because I think they are anywhere near worth their cost, but because wyverns are really cool creatures

[Duncanish]

I'll use Spirit Mastery quite often. Cheap walls of chaff are always a good thing and you can never have enough.

[tinkthank]

Hey great thanks so far

- I dont think that Calls of Anything, Spirit Mastery, or Fire Snakes can be considered low level summons. Let us say:

Nothing over /school level 4/ is "low level" (Spirit Mastery is 5 unless nation-specific, Fire Snakes I forget but I know it is more than 4).

Call of Wilds/Winds I dont consider a "summons" despite their belonging to that school (much the way that Acashic is in that school) because it does not give you troops or commanders in the province of the summoner.

Yes, Behemoth would be the other one I find good. Interestingly, Behemoth has really a lot of "flavor".

1 Wyvern summoner -- good!
1 FoD and devil summoner -- good!

Where are the others? Who gets Vine Men? Who gets soulless? Who gets Drakes?

[Verjigorm]

Kraken is useful in the water. The seasonal spirits (esp. Lions) can also be useful, but they have a tendency to die and be expensive as well You can add the 1st level beast summons to armies (esp. those w/ high morale). Scorpion Beasts, Wyverns, and Drakes are good for this. Of course, these units effectiveness to cost ratio is bad and they're usefulness quickly peters out in the wake of Vine Ogres. Wights are good too, but I usually summon just a few and then hold off for Legion. I use Vine MEN as a meat shield against cavalry.... Of course, most of the time I skip ALL of the 4th and lower summons except the Vine spells and cast one or more of the Court spells at Level 6 (Troll, Sea Troll, Draconian, Ether Gate...). The Level 6 summons are where you start to get some meaty troops--I save my gems.

In Enchantment, I use Create Revenant to boost research (I prefer Spectres though), Behemoths are very nice, and I will also use Claymen in a pinch (I usually don't clam very heavily). If you have nice longdead (e.g. Jotunheim, C'tis), you can use Reanimation to create a nice little group of more powerful skeletons. Revive King is useful if you only have weak necromancers (or blood mages) to lead undead.

I have been known to use Corpse Man Construction. Yes, I know they suck, but if you use a staff of storms, they're almost to cheap to pass up. Of course the staff is usually more useful on the battlefield, but until opponents start fielding large amounts of flyers, Frankenstein is cheaper than dirt.

Any blood summon is worthwhile, although I usually skip Spine Devils and Bone Fiends and Serpent Fiends. I use Crossbreeding to create patrolling armies for my hunting grounds.

[Oversway]

Black Servants are good for mules if you want to hoard.

Mound Kings can be useful for ferrying troops around.


One high level summon I don't understand is eater of the dead. They have a lot of hitpoints but for the most part I can't seem to use them effectively...does anyone use them and if so, how?

[Boron]

The cave drake can be useful sometimes in earlygame as Tank who attracts spells .

Position it in a forward position and then it will soak up a lot of damage spells like the fire + earth spells . Good for ulm and machaka if you research conj 3 first for summon EP and then evocation 6 for magma eruption .

If i hoard fetishes but have no good use for extragold because i have only capitol only mages and no good troops i summon lots of Summer Lions .
They can then at least serve as fire immune tanks .