The Ghost King - Page 3

Omnirizon · #1 July 11th, 2008, 01:49 AM

I have mixed feelings on this pretender and want to know how others use him.

He seems to have many options available to him, and he is one of my favorites. However I'm just no quite sure he is ever the _best_ choice.

For one, he can SC immediately, but in the end he is kind of fragile, and depends upon a layer of defenses that filter out damage through many chances (Awe -> Ethereal -> Air Shield -> Luck -> whatever else). If any of these defenses become cancelled (high moral, magic weapons, ect.) he is fuct. Even with everything in place and working, with a lucky hit (Cavalry charge double damage, maybe two in one turn; low chances but certainly possible) he is dead.

For two, he is able to provide good access to magic. he has some base Death magic and 20 points to open other paths.

Lastly, he is kind of expensive (at 120 points I think, plus the points to have dom 9/10)

Considering all these points, this guy is just way risky. He is used because he can SC, yet also can provide magic power and diversity. However, as an SC he is fragile and can die or get the feebleminded affliction; making his magic worthless. But for him to really be worthwhile you need both an SC and magic diversity from him, but on this chassis those two things just don't combine well.

Another option is to have him asleep. However then his SC ability is a little less worthwhile; as the chief attraction of an SC pretender is quick early expansion.

How do other people build this guy? Dom 9/10 is a given. But what about magic paths?

What do others go for on Awakening? Awake but wait to research some spells and/or equip him? Awake and use immediately, but maybe using him for the least risky indies until he gets equipped and access to some buffs. Asleep so that when he wakes up you have equipment for him?

How do people equip him?

Is he really worth it considering his riskyness and what other choices are available? With the right luck, I think he is probably the best pretender available. But he is risky, and useless if the wrong things happen, or you face the wrong nations (anybody with recruitables with magic weapons, lots of missiles, or that can undead spam). And with those weaknesses, he won't be able to face many of the indie provinces. It's even feasible that your home province will be surrounded by indies that he can't safely take on. You're also typically going to have bad scales if you take him (unless you take him asleep; but then SC aspect is worth less), so you really need him to be able to give 100% through the whole game. But there are enough things with enough chance of happening that can really clip this guys wings, so that he won't often work out.