Duel against Semi-God

[Azhur]

Yes my friend is the master-brain in every strategy game and Dom2 isn't an exception. Here are all the details of the game, so help me out..

Me: Machacka
He: Arco
+6 other normal NPCs
Map: Edited Inland (No wrap-around)
Current turn: 19

Settings:

Indy strength: 5
Magic sites: 60
Random events: rare
World richness: rich
research: normal

So here's my friend's tactic in a nutshell:

We both are using rainbow Crones with 4S and others 2. He'll research construction to 8 (+4 S, Earth Blood), enchament to 9 (Arcane Nexus), conjuration to 5 (Air Elemental Queen) and finally alteration to 9 (Wish). With construction he can boost S4->S9 and thus wish is potentially available. Naturally he hoards clams if possible. By turn 30-40 he gains lots of astral pearls and also sufficient amount of air gems. Now here's his casual shopping list by turn 40 or so:

40 hypasiths + 6 elephants in EVERY castle (has 3-5 of them by then, and remember Earth Blood Deep Well..)

Wishes for Doom Horror and casts with boosted Astrologer an Air elemental Queen..

We are at the opposite corners of the map, so it is nearly impossible to reach him in time. Is there any way to stop him in time?

[ July 02, 2004, 13:52: Message edited by: Azhur ]

[Boron]

i guess as machaka you have no chance .

but first some further questions :

-at which turn are you ? 40 or later ?
-how many provinces do you have / your friend ?
-does he have all mages in one province ?
perhaps in this special case you could have some success with several seeking arrows + flames from the sky or if he has a high upkeep
perhaps you are lucky with bringing utterdark up and keeping it some turns . but depends how evil he clamhorded .
cause if he clamhorded enough + has the alchemist stone which i suppose he will be able to pay his upkeep by alchemizing fire gems .
both are not very good suggestions

now the ihmo most important question :
his mystics can cast accahsic which he most probably did and so he surely has found every magic site + clamhording .
now did you yourself clamhord ?
how is your gem income compared to him ?

if you suppose you have only half or even less of his gemincome then most likely you have almost no chance .
i guess this is the case

so finally ihmo the only chance you have :
hope he has most of his mages + his pretender in his capitol . try to find this out .
if it is the case : astral travel / teleport as quick as possible to that province and hope to kill his pretender .
if your friend keeps his items and really dies they are all lost + 1 magic level in every path.
furthermore hopefully he has no second empowered enough mage and when you then can keep the capitol even if he recalls his pretender he is summoned in his capitol and thus dies again .


but in your next game :

either take a smaller map and play it 1on1 with him without computer opponents.

or if he again takes arco which is ihmo shortly before ryleh / pythium the best nation for the tactic your friend used then take ryleh or pythium and try to be as good with them as he .

or try to rush him early on but on a large map this is hard .

if you play ryhleh in your next game you have the advantage that you are for the first time quite save in the water + hopefully there are many water sites so you have a clamhording advantage .
then in midgame try to find his researcher/clam province ( i guess it will most likely be a province with sages ) and try to kill them all in a suicide attack .

if your friend is clever enough and not to lazy to spread them then this is not good
and after the first time you used this strat successfully on him he will not make the same fault again anyway .

Last small idea :
get a nation with spies and try to instill uprisings in his best provinces .
if he doesn't search/find your spies via pd but via patrol at least he kills some of his ppl too.
if made early enough it can perhaps do some damage . + try to kill his fragile mages with seeking arrows when you have some air income + some indy mages who can do this .

[Norfleet]

Hmm. This strategy certainly sounds slightly familiar to me. It seems to be a variation on the strategy I used to run so long ago, but I stopped using Wishing as simply not being a cost-effective use of resources. Doom Horrors, while certainly impressive and highly mobile, do not justify the regular expense of 103S + 27N for use as a bulk-production unit, due to how killable they tend to be in the right circumstances. Plus your lab will probably explode soon.

According to you, he doesn't even snag the Queens until turn 40ish. Make sure they're taken by then. A decked Air Queen can whomp a Doom Horror easily enough. While he's off chasing the wish train, why not build yourself some Bane Lord stompers? Machaka should have everything it needs to summon and equip Bane Lords in greater numbers than even your friend here can create Doom Horrors, at reduced cost.

As for hoarding, you're Machaka: Hit back with your natural ability to hoard fever fetishes on cheap undead things. That'll give you an income that can compete with his, and there's no reason you can't move into clams as well if you roll the right randoms or find helpful indies. Earth Blood Stones are a possibility also, if you elect to hunt the blood: Pursuing the blood route can put you in range to summon your own Arch Devils. Machaka may not be a real blood nation, but it doesn't cost that much if you focus strictly on the commander summons. Odds are you won't have much competition for them against just your buddy, who's off chasing Doom Horrors.

Hypaspists? Elephants? Meh. See how useful those turn out to be against Arch Devils and Flying Bane Lords.

[PvK]

Ya, there are tons of answers at that level of research. Try picking a high-level magic or three that will let you go nail them, that you can get to with your magic (plus boost items if needed), and then pursue that promptly. Meanwhile, amass power via conquest with Hoplites, site searching, etc.

PvK

[Azhur]

Originally posted by Boron: i guess as machaka you have no chance .

but first some further questions :

-at which turn are you ? 40 or later ?
-how many provinces do you have / your friend ?
-does he have all mages in one province ?

- No, now we're still at turn 19, but I'm more than confident that he'll be using that tactic.

- He has maybe 2-3 provinces more compared with my kingdom

- No since he found 2 libraries, but usually he keeps them at one province..

[NTJedi]

Originally posted by Norfleet:

As for hoarding, you're Machaka: Hit back with your natural ability to hoard fever fetishes on cheap undead things.

This is huge... and should be one of the main focuses if you are playing Machaka. Also look into finishing construction lvl_8 before he does.... some key unique artifacts can tip the game into your favor for those large and x-large maps.

[Azhur]

Originally posted by NTJedi:
Also look into finishing construction lvl_8 before he does.... some key unique artifacts can tip the game into your favor for those large and x-large maps.

Well he's maybe 50rp ahead of me (both at construction 6), so tell me straight away what should I forge?

[Boron]

Originally posted by Azhur:

quote:

---

Originally posted by NTJedi:
Also look into finishing construction lvl_8 before he does.... some key unique artifacts can tip the game into your favor for those large and x-large maps.

Well he's maybe 50rp ahead of me (both at construction 6), so tell me straight away what should I forge?

---

hmmm perhaps you should forge no unique artifact because your friend can wish for those then and i did read somewhere here in the forum that if you e.g. forge the alchemist stone and your friend wishes for it he gets your alchemist stone since it is unique .

i would try hoarding the fever fetishes like norfleet suggested
+ some clams with your water gem income

if your friend hordes all his troops in his capitol until he plans to attack you could try with your awesome fire gem income to kill half of his army there with flames from the sky + teleport/gateway in your army at the same turn to finish of the rest

since rituals are before magic battles in battle order this should work really good in this special case or ?

[Endoperez]

Something that might work even better than Flames From The Sky is Fires From Afar. It is available long before Domes, especially if your friend is not ready for it. It might only target 10+ units/commanders, but if you mass Fever Fetishes you will, in theory at least, be able to kill off quite a few of his mages. Surprising your friend seems to be important, and you must take everything you can from it. To cast many Fires From Afar you need Fetishes, and for them you need Nature gems. Conquer as many forests as you can, and scan them with Haruspex as soon as possible.

Considering Artifacts. If you forge Alchemist's Stone (5F+5E, in gems), and it is Wished away, your friend just used 90! gems and a turn of his high-buffed pretender stealing something your non-buffed nationals can easily forge... He might do it though, as alchemizing gems from massed Fetishes should work really well!

I would like to know why you are playing with the same pretender. For me, it seems that it is good for his strategy and not so good for yours. You might do better with stronger scales instead of high astral, as your are not trying to do the same as him.

I don't have experience in anything like your duel, so heed my "advice" with care...