Newbie Bloodgod in Training - Learning on Mictian

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
I would avoid the Moloch. He's overpriced for what he does. You're paying a lot of points for an SC chassis, but the Moloch is a mighty coward who flees from every battle unless given a vast screen of troops to hide behind.

The Moloch is the least expensive fire-9 pretender available to Mictlan. And with their sacred troops you definetly want to give some kind of bless effect, even if it's only a minor one.

[ March 15, 2004, 05:37: Message edited by: Graeme Dice ]

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
The Moloch is the least expensive fire-9 pretender available to Mictlan. And with their sacred troops you definetly want to give some kind of bless effect, even if it's only a minor one.

It's true you definitely want a bless effect. Mictlan's sacreds are basically utter crap without a potent blessing of some kind. There are certainly other options than Fire-9, though, especially given that the Moloch is otherwise a consummate coward. Of course, if you plan to never use him alone as an SC, then perhaps his cowardice will work in your favor.

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
There are certainly other options than Fire-9, though

Not really. Air-9 is okay but nothing special, and costs too much unless you use the virtue, which has no survivability. Water-9 is too expensive as there are no good water pretenders. Earth-9 is also too expensive, and gives you only a little benefit since your mages aren't that impressive on the battlefield. The cyclops is also far to vulnerable to eyeloss. Astral 9 is useful, but doesn't give you anywhere near the punch of fire-9. Nature 9 is completely out, as it's a death sentence for your mages and is too expensive anyways. Death-9 is less than spectacular, and blood 9 has the same problem.

Astral, air and fire are the only bless effects that are both fairly cheap and useful. Nature would be nice, but it screws up your mages, and water is completely out of the question since a blue dragon has lousy dominion.

[JDScherrey]

I appreciate the advice so far and have a few more questions. Experimenting with the game I have found Sloth 3 really kills the resources.

This cuts down on my initial hordes and I've noticed Sun Warriors really appreciate resources if I want them in numbers. Not too mention I'm using indies at 6 so I can't just bust into them without either hording or using my Fire-9 pretender as an arty platform. (Trying not to depend on Mercs for MP reasons down the road.)

Just curious on what you guys think are the best settings to start out the game on besides Heat-1?

Also I'm not experienced enough to know how fortifications hold up in the long run. ie going for the citadel? vs forts or castles

-Christopher

[Yossar]

Are other people more likely to spend more on the merc you want in multiplayer than in single player?

[Teraswaerto]

The Moloch is the cheapest way to get a good blessing (fire 9) and high dominion. No-one else even comes close.

With sloth 3 you should recruit as many Sun Warriors as you can, and Eagle Warriors with the rest.

[PvK]

Mictlan Priests are also good for Blood Sabbath slaves, and for leading demons into battle, and sometimes for spells. Give a few of them some blood slaves and have them all cast Summon Imp at the same time... muahaha...

PvK

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
Air-9 is okay but nothing special, and costs too much unless you use the virtue, which has no survivability.

I did an Air-9 Virtue with Marignon, and I didn't find that a Mirror Imaged, Mistformed Virtue was poor at surviving, and in fact, was a fairly effective SC throughout the game, able to dispense copious amounts of whoopass. That Awe ability is actually amazingly effective against the masses, particularly in conjunction with some items that will give you a host of nice abilities. Maybe it's not as survivable as the Moloch, but that's because the Moloch is a coward who runs at the first sign of danger!

You may have a point that it's not the most directly applicable to Mictlan, though, as it does nothing to improve your punch.

A Virtue can be Wind Rided and killed unless you give it an Ethereal Item or some ranks in Earth (which is not what we're talking about).

On top of that, there are only a few really good defensive spells for pure Air.

In the great game of things, Awe becomes more and more useless as the game progresses. Even if you CT in order to avoid summons/undead/mindless or anything with a decent morale (20+) she can be hammered down quite easily unless she is in her Domain or GoH which is hardly a consideration if basing things by a standard.

I'm a fan of the Virtue, but she's hardly a SC, and as the game progresses she is less likely to be much more than a support mage, even casting hyperpowerful Orb Lightnings, or Phantasms.

[ March 16, 2004, 04:11: Message edited by: Zen ]

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Zen:
A Virtue can be Wind Rided and killed unless you give it an Ethereal Item or some ranks in Earth (which is not what we're talking about).

Well, so far, I've had very little problems with being Wind Rided. Etherealization is not really hard to come by, Air-9 lets you cast Dome of Solid Air which will give you a nice antimagic shield over the province, and the one time I *DID* get Wind Rided, my opponent had completely expected to catch something ELSE, and it ended in a very messy bloodbath.

In the great game of things, Awe becomes more and more useless as the game progresses. Even if you CT in order to avoid summons/undead/mindless or anything with a decent morale (20+) she can be hammered down quite easily unless she is in her Domain or GoH which is hardly a consideration if basing things by a standard.

Awe certainly decreases in value as the game progresses, especially towards mindlesses and the undead, but I never said this was the only trick in the arsenal.

I'm a fan of the Virtue, but she's hardly a SC, and as the game progresses she is less likely to be much more than a support mage, even casting hyperpowerful Orb Lightnings, or Phantasms.

You may have a point that the virtue is not the best chassis to build a late-game SC on, but nor is it completely unviable. Even late in the game, the Virtue remains a decent chassis thanks to a fair selection of innate abilities and hardpoints for different items.