Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?

[OmikronWarrior]

HoneyBadger said:
I use both of those, when I can get them. Resilience is just as important as anti-magic and regeneration. The boots are nice to have, as soon as you get a good nature income. You need hags for that, though, and that takes away from other things, for a unit that may start out decrepit.

Lately, I tend to play Niefel with an 8 astral, 8 earth, 4 nature bless Great Enchantress, which means that building hags-or Skratti, for that matter-before she wakes up generally isn't worth it. My whole economy goes into Jarls and Niefels.

Why 8-Astral? You do realize that you cannot use an astral bless to go over 18 MR, and N. Jarl's start there? If its to cast the important globals later, than you can probably afford to go a little less and use boosters, unless you are real min-maxer.

[HoneyBadger]

Actually, it's not for the Niefel Jarls at all. It's more for the Niefel scouts (which are holy) and the regular Niefel recruitables. Astral 6 is plenty, though. I only go for 8 Earth/8 Astral because they're cheap with a Great Enchantress.

If you want a really fearsome Bless for Niefel that works well in the longer term, try an Imprisoned Enchantress with Earth 6, Astral 6, Nature 4, Fire 4, Air 4, and Death 4. It requires a certain amount of spell support in the mid to late game, but it's enough to thrash the early game, without sacrificing too much in scales.

I'm working on a Niefel strategy guide right now, though, which hopefully will lay out Niefel strategy a little more clearly than has been done before.

[OmikronWarrior]

I'd say loose the Air, Fire, or Death in exchange for W4, as Jarls can really boost their defense and that +2 helps.

[HoneyBadger]

Water Bless is pretty meaningless for Niefelheim. It adds absolutely nothing to their spell range, and the +2 defense does little to protect them. Even Water 9 or 10 isn't all that great for Niefelheim. Fire and Death make the Niefel troops themselves better hitters, and add to their ability to cause afflictions. Not absolutely necessary ofcourse, but nice to have, and a lot cheaper than Fire 9. Of the Blesses I mentioned, Air is the most expendable for the Niefels themselves, but it's invaluable in that it gives me a Pretender with Air 3/Earth 1, so I can create Watchers. Watchers are key to good PD for Niefelheim.

You could drop the Air, Fire, and Death (or just Fire and Death) if you want to conserve points, but I certainly would never replace it with even a high level Water Bless.