Mass-produced Reanimating Priests: Exploit?

[lch]

I like the idea of a powerhungry evil god who is killing his minions to raise them as soulless death mages.

[sector24]

Question for the thematic argument people: Who leads all these free undead? Don't you need death mages to cart them around, or does turning the priest into a soulless priest grant them to ability to lead undead?

[K]

sector24 said:
Question for the thematic argument people: Who leads all these free undead? Don't you need death mages to cart them around, or does turning the priest into a soulless priest grant them to ability to lead undead?

Undead priests get undead leadership.

[Amhazair]

But if you use them to move the undead around, they're obviousl no longer reanimating, so it is indeed an extra annoyance.

Question: if you pull the same trick with regular indy commanders, do they gain undead leadership too?

[Ironhawk]

Undead Leadership is not difficult to get. There are plenty of tricks like above or you could just summon a cheap mound king or bane or something.

The fact remains that a "living" nation with access to 50-100 free longdead per turn just seems like an exploit.

[kasnavada]

Question: if you pull the same trick with regular indy commanders, do they gain undead leadership too?

As far as I know, all undead commanders get undead leadership.

What would like as a solution would be to just to make them reappear as regular troops and not commanders...

This 'strategy' is pretty much a must_do solution in end-game to reduce your upkeep. With enough time you could reduce your upkeep to 0 with insignificant loses given your reduction in upkeep. I can't really believe that some people kept this kind of game-breaking strategy to themselves.

The fact that any nation can pull this trick easily with indy priests seems even more dumb to me.

[sector24]

Ok, follow up question: Is it equally unthematic for a pure and righteous nation to recruit circle masters from the Black Tower or cast the Raise Dead spell in combat? In what way is the Life after Death spell an exploit rather than a tool in the toolbox? Are the thematics of the nation a rigid handicap or just a starting point that can be branched out of?

[Ironhawk]

No, I'm not going to be dragged into a thematic argument. Of course any nation can have death magic, either via thier pretender or mages from sites. But the core of the argument here is about capabilities, not theme. You have the set of "living" nations which, by and large, were designed to operate without undead freespawn. (I'm talking about freespawn here - not something you spend gems on - its a big difference) But now we have a combination of spells which can give undead freespawn to any nation.

To me, this seems like an oversight, rather than WAD.

[NTJedi]

lch said:
I like the idea of a powerhungry evil god who is killing his minions to raise them as soulless death mages.

Yes, but that goes against the themes for some nations which are not intended to be EVIL. And there's a significant gem cost difference between using 5 death gems to change 20 priests(or more) into undead reanimating priests verses using 120 death gems to summon a few liches and several sceptres.

In regards to the gold for buying these priests, this purchase provides multiple uses... it's not a one bucket investment. The priests will not only be preaching dominion, but they provide decoys, item catching and banishment defense. The fort and temple already exist for most strategies, so it's not like an extra pair will need to be built. Not every fort should have a lab in early game.

As mentioned earlier the overall gem and gold cost is extremely cheap for nations becoming undead generators.

[lch]

I don't see the problem. As pointed out earlier, it is a late game spell which requires a lot of research. And Undead are nothing but chaff. Especially at a late game like that.