pretender magic paths advice/midgard strat talk

[Aezeal]

at start you won't have much to buff, and probably not much to back up either.. though I figure buying a lil screen for cheap units could be an option... but that would be less skinshifters

[Aezeal]

my idea was

with CB mod (scales and pretenders)

great enchantress (the low HP pretenders are boosted in that mod) A4 W2 E2 S4 D1 N4 F1

dom 7
order 3
prod 2
cold 1
growth 2
misfortune 1
magic 0

I kinda like it I can search for most sites. I have the N4 A4 E2 and S4 for some end age fun with astral.. and she produces astral pearls so I think that won't be a waste..

should I change the D1, W2 and F1 for something in the scales (prod 3 or growth 3 or magic 1?)
or can I actually use those magic paths? (I think that having them for forging won't be bad but maybe that is not enough..

let me know whatever you think about this set-up

[Shovah32]

VedalkenBear said:
Even when they get into melee, I find Einheres to be more effective. This is true especially if you have some way of healing their afflictions.

If you shield the Skinshifters with chaff, then you constantly have to replace said chaff. If you buff them, you have to replace the gems you use (I believe you listed nothing but gem-required battle magic; I realize there are others). I prefer armies that are more... self-sufficient.

Granted, Skinshifters allow you to take a Sloth scale whereas Einheres do not. I can't analyze that effect. But I guess my preference is that I like units that I _can_ throw at the enemy without support.

I tend to use the Einheres to shield them - they can take arrows nicely and rarely need replaced.
I'll make Skinshifters alot, but my spare resources tend to go to Einheres.

[OmikronWarrior]

Shielding Skinshifters from arrows should be second nature for Midgard, without a doubt one of the best air nations in the late era. Furthermore, you WANT to cast storm anyways, as it will allow your A2 mages to power up to A3 to cast Thunderstrike. You have a natural a capital air gem income of 3, so you're just one 210 gold mage and Thau-2 away from site searching. Then, a single arrow will NEVER kill a skinshifter, just damage it. Unless the opponent can overwhelm you with arrows, your skinshifters will survive to melee, where regen and two forms give them a large advantage over Einhards, dual weilding aside.

@Azael, your scales look fine, but you don't mention whether the pretender is awake or not. Let me emphatically say that imprisoning your pretender is a waste if you want them to set up your boosters. Merely asleep would fine, though. The only suggestion I'd make is to go Misfortune-2 for Growth-3. Growth is funny in that the more you have, and the better your other income scales, the much more desirable it become to have even MORE growth.

As for paths, D1 on your pretender is almost certainly redundant, as you're almost gaurenteed a D1 mage (7/16 chance). D3 would allow you to do site search much more effectively, and with a skull staff you'll be able to build skull helmets, netting you D5 and wraith crowns, if you're considering thugs or SCs. W2 and F1 are judgement calls, as you will not have any national mages capable of using those gems, just indies or your pretender. Obviously, it will net you some different equipment and magic diversification is always a good thing.

Consider who else is in the game. For example, if Ermor's there, it might be worthwhile to get 1-magic just to make banning easier.

[Aezeal]

ok thanks for the advice.. I've made my pretender...

Just one q. what does storms exactly do.. in the manual it says nothing of upping the air level?

[thejeff]

The Air combat booster spell (Storm Power?) can only be cast during a storm.

Wrathful skies are also far more impressive during a Storm.

Directly, it grounds most fliers, weakens fire damage and halves precision.

[Aezeal]

ah storm power must be what he meant.. I guess it's nice for large battles with loads of mages..

[PashaDawg]

Aezeal:

If you are getting ready for the Epotara game, be sure to take advantage of sailing. The ocean on the map is built for sailing, and I placed 3 sailing nations (Midgard, Marignon, and Atlantis) all near each other in the late era scenario.

Pasha

[Aezeal]

hehe first chance I get I'll take the water provinces themselves though

[Aezeal]

Ok is there anything usefull midgard can summon.. When I'm looking I can't really find any reason to go into conjuration but I would love to know if I'm mistaken

I'd also like new advice on which 5-10 research points you'd make first and why...