Duel Priestess - Horror Mark

Skirmisher · #1 August 14th, 2008, 01:41 PM

I replayed a battle that happened where I only had one priestess involved, yet when replaying the battle there were two.

In one game I have a horror marked prophet, yet it doesn't seem to be causing any problems, should I be worried?

thejeff · #2 August 14th, 2008, 01:45 PM

Arcosephale priestess? You get one with PD over 20.

I wouldn't get too worried about the horror mark. He'll eventually be attacked, so if he's someone you really want to keep, kit him out to fight horrors. If he's just your starting commander, keep him doing his thing. There's a good chance he'll be killed by something else before a horror shows up.

Skirmisher · #3 August 14th, 2008, 01:57 PM

Yes Arcoscephale priestess. Great so dumping gold into PD isn't a total waste.

I find myself habitually doing that.

Are horrors an indy force?

thejeff · #4 August 14th, 2008, 02:26 PM

Horrors work as an assassination when they come for a horror marked commander.

They're the same things used by the various blood spells: Call/Send (Lesser) Horror. If you have an enemy using horrors in battle any horror marked targets will be attacked first.

AreaOfEffect · #5 August 14th, 2008, 04:46 PM

A horror marked commander will also likely be first choice for Manifestation, a 4 death gem assassination spell.

Horror marks also stack. Each additional horror mark increases the chance of an attack and increases the nastiness of the horror that comes after you. Unfortunately there is almost no way to tell how badly a unit has been horror marked. If you know it can only be a single horror marking then I would barely even worry.

Agema · #6 August 15th, 2008, 10:12 AM

My general reckoning is that under 10 horror marks and you don't have much to worry about. I've got a game with about 20 horror marked characters who almost certainly have only a few marks each, and none have been attacked in about 20 turns.

Getting up to 50 horror marks, something will be on it's way eventually that will put a weak or average thug at risk. Over 50 and you'll probably need a very good thug or SC to survive.

As noted, you can't tell how many horror marks you've got. But if your units are getting marked in battles against astral nations, you can see them cast and know roughly how serious it is.

JimMorrison · #7 August 15th, 2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agema

My general reckoning is that under 10 horror marks and you don't have much to worry about. I've got a game with about 20 horror marked characters who almost certainly have only a few marks each, and none have been attacked in about 20 turns.

Getting up to 50 horror marks, something will be on it's way eventually that will put a weak or average thug at risk. Over 50 and you'll probably need a very good thug or SC to survive.

As noted, you can't tell how many horror marks you've got. But if your units are getting marked in battles against astral nations, you can see them cast and know roughly how serious it is.

In the first game I ever won SP, I had a castle full of mages with Lightless Lanterns. I lost at least 25% of them to Horrors, at the time I had no clue even how to protect them if I wanted to.

HoneyBadger · #8 August 15th, 2008, 02:30 PM

I never do Lightless Lanterns because of horror marking. I probably should...

AreaOfEffect · #9 August 15th, 2008, 04:05 PM

To contrast Jim, I used lightless lanterns in my first MP game on these forums. I never actually got attacked. Not even once. Granted, I didn't start making them until the last 20 to 25 turns of the game.

Gregstrom · #10 August 17th, 2008, 01:03 PM

I've used quite a few on occasion, and generally had no problem.

As regards Horror Marks, I think I read somewhere on the forums that it's not simply additive. IIRC there are stages of horror marking, although I'm not sure how many.

The horror marks conveyed by the Horror Mark spell and most items seem to be the lightest level of horror mark - you get noticed by Horrors on the battlefield but they hardly ever bother you otherwise.

Additional Horror Mark castings don't seem to advance the horror marking to a higher level.

Wearing Kurgi's Gift appears initially to convey a greater (perhaps the second?) degree of horror marking - every few turns the holder will get attacked by a Lesser Horror or Horror.

Greater degrees presumably attract bigger Horrors and more frequent attacks.

Astral Geysers 'severely' horror mark their victims - presumably this puts said victims more than one rung up the ladder.

I think Horror Claws bestow Horror Marks as well, and I would suppose they advance the degree of Horror Marking pretty quickly. From my own experience, if a Horror manages to hit you you can certainly expect regular follow-up visits.

I think it's possible that in the appropriate Doom Horror will sometimes pay attention to even a very lightly marked unit - Pretenders, HoF heroes and so on.