Seeking MP Serpent Cult Advice

[Ironhawk]

So, I just signed up for a game and am going to play late era pythium (serpent cult). I had hoped to make my build around the formidable Hydra unit, but I somehow overlooked thier ridiculous pricetag of 250gp. There is simply no way you can base an MP strategy on a 250gp unit that you are going to put on the front lines... is there?

What are your experiences with Serpent Cult?

Have you used them in MP?

Is there a trick to the Hyrdas that I am missing?

What other strategies are applicable to the Serpent Cult?

[VedalkenBear]

Well, they are insulated somewhat from the common anti-big troop spells (such as Soul Slay) due to their multiple heads. (They only kill one head at a time.) I would say that IF you wanted to do a hydra strategy, make sure they are using the quickfix mod that keeps them sacred if they lose a head.

IMO, 250g for the Hydra is not 'ridiculous'. I would say that a Water-9 Bless is pretty important to them (in MP) because that gets them into melee quicker. They don't _generally_ need more damage or attack, so Fire is not really necessary. Astral would be quite interesting as a way to boost their attack. I would assume that the Twist Fate effect only affects the first head. If it affects _each_ head... well, that would be great. A small Earth bless might be good for reinvigoration. Air and Blood can probably be skipped (but see below).

As for other strategies, you can really leverage the heretics, done properly. If you like raiding, you can have 4 or 5 heretics backed by an army (dare I say hydras) in the opponent's backfield, reducing their dominion everywhere. They're also useful in rapidly switching dominion from yours to theirs in recently conquered territories.

Another strategy that dovetails nicely with the heretic plan is to saturate the map with satyrs. You would get these from the Blood-1 summon Orgy. To get this started early would probably require a Blood pretender, or getting lucky with a Reveler. Once you have them, though, every blood slave/mage combination gives you an assassin that is pretty good for a chassis, at least. Given rudimentary equipment, they're not bad at the job. As a side benefit, you get Maenads that you might want to consider giving to your mages as guards (depending on the prevalence of assassins).

Those are the major areas you can work with, IMO. You have good flexibility in your mages as well, but that is a more supplemental strength rather than a core strength. YMMV.

Resident Serpent Cult Freak

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Considering people form multiplayer strategies on 600 gold Niefel Jarls... or less on the frontline giants...

Anyways, I've got no experience with the Serpent Cult. I do remember hearing some stuff about the hatchlings- you may want to give them a try in the early/mid game, and save the full-grown hydras for later.

[Edratman]

I've only played them twice, for short periods, in SP. The W9 bless advice is solid. So this would enable decent scales to help afford the Hydras which are super units.

I don't understand how to play the heretics (the only other heretic I ever played was the Arco stealth one, and that was okay) and never got comfortable playing Pythium. So I only went about 20 turns each time, quit and never felt that I played them well. Nor do I have any great desire to return to the Serpent cult.

Nor do I have the baby hydras figured out either.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

It's simple: Baby hydras are for cuddling

[Reverend Zombie]

Are hydras dry and scaly or slimy?

[Ironhawk]

Knowing that hydra heads can absorb an insti-kill spell is handy. But honestly that does not go a long way to protecting a 250gp investment. All that an enemy player would need to do is use a squad of archers to slaughter all the hydra's heads and then blast it with an insti-kill and your 250gp is just up in smoke.

As for raiding with heretics: which ones are you recommending? I'm definitely not using hydras for raiding tho - the cost would be exorbidant for such a risky function. Or were you talking about hydra hatchlings?

I've explored the satyrs and, as you say, they are good assassins with minor equipment. But assassination hardly works in MP. After your first attack, the enemy will immediately place bodyguards around his commanders. At best, you get lucky now and then. At worst you spend a lot of effort for nothing.

[Ironhawk]

What about serpent cult magic?

What spells do you guys go for normally?

What spells do you use on the battlefield?

Which mages do you recruit most and why?

[VedalkenBear]

Well, the obvious counter to archer issues is an Air bless. If you go to Air-9, then Orb Lightning (which might be an issue) is less of a threat.

As for the heretics I recommend, if you want to start a blood economy, you're going to have an awful lot of non-Blood Revelers running around, who just so happen to be Heretic 3. Those aren't half bad, but I usually use them for 'dominion clean up'. I should think that the Fire heretics would be good for combat support as well as Dominion kill. This would also suggest using the Fire resistant national troops or summons as your raiding 'army'.

Can't really comment on the 'Assassination in MP' issue, although considering the minimal investment needed, the cost of the guards for the commanders might be more than the cost of the Satyrs. Economic warfare is still warfare. Worst case, give them a Bane Venom Charm and send them in. Can commanders pick those up?

Now, the magic questions. The Serpent Cult has _extremely_ versatile magic, with most of it accessible at the 2-level. Air, Earth, and Blood might be a small problem. Don't expect the greatest multipath abilities, though.

Spells? Well, if you mean by 'global', I'm not exactly sure. Your most ubiquitous magic is Water and Nature, so that might give you some leads.

Battlefield magic depends on your gameplan. If you go Hydras, Poison is your friend. Your bestest buddy. Any/all people on the battlefield that you control should be poison immune. If, however, you go for the heretic horde, as stated Fire evocations sound like 'the plan'.

Well, I tend to like sacred mages myself. Your capital should be producing a Serpent Priest a turn as soon as possible. These guys are your one-stop shop, especially for a hydra strategy. Poison immune innately, Holy-2 Priest, and IIRC 80 Leadership (may only be 40).

As far as other mages are concerned, I like using the Renatus for research purposes in the 'interior' of my territory. Basically, non-heretics. I place the heretics on the borders where they can be quickly placed to get rid of dominion. It sort of makes a dominion 'dead zone' that anyone will find extremely hard to penetrate. It also gives them a quick route into enemy territory.

I hope this helps.

[Ironhawk]

No, sadly the majority of these choices just won't work in the multiplayer environment. I'll just have to fly by the seat of my pants, I guess.