S n A pretender suggestions

djtool · #1 July 1st, 2004, 09:02 PM

yeah so i'm kind of intrigued with SnA but I havne't had much success with them. My original thought was to make a rainbow pretender to flood my gem income so I can start whipping out demons, spirits, or maybe claymen; working my way up to bigger and better things as I go along.

Problem with that is that I find myself sitting around researching for many turns or blow alot of money on mercs (if they're available and I win the bid on top of that) for early expansion.

So now I'm thinking I need a pretender that can win me those early provinces so my mages can chill at home and not have to worry about being needed to do any early battles.

thoughts?

Norfleet · #2 July 1st, 2004, 09:07 PM

If you're talking about the game I think you're talking about, the real problem is that you took a Turmoil theme on a map which is already known for its crappy income.

Turmoil is already a major income hit, and on top of the fact that the map is pretty dirt-poor to begin with, it's no surprise that you're starving and broke. This will make it difficult to even afford your admittedly less than wonderful troops. I suspect my capitol makes more money than your entire empire.

Having a battle pretender is definitely a good plan: Not only will it provide you with some defense against rushes, but it'll also give you something to crack tough nuts with. Stupid friggin' knights. Searching, you can probably pull off with just CMs, as they tend to be versatile and capable of performing a wide variety of low-level searches. At least the Cradle map tends to be magically rich.

[ July 01, 2004, 20:08: Message edited by: Norfleet ]

Teraswaerto · #3 July 1st, 2004, 09:09 PM

I think the Lady of Fortune goes well with the forced turmoil. Archers with the composite bows are passable enough against indies.

But then again, I don't like to use SCs in early expansion & have never played S&A in MP...

djtool · #4 July 1st, 2004, 10:49 PM

i wasn't speaking specifically about the cradle game but it is the most recent attempt I've made at SnA and I found expansion in the beggining to be pretty rough. That is what prompted me to think I should go with a pretender with firepower and just for-go (sp?) the fantasy of a quick, monstrous gem income.

[ July 01, 2004, 21:51: Message edited by: djtool ]

djtool · #5 July 1st, 2004, 11:07 PM

ok i'm looking at the pretenders and I'm wrestling with phoenix, lich, and vamp queen for best pretender choice.

I like the phoenix for its fire and air right off the bat. SnA mages don't typicall have much in air and boosting up the fire will give the phoenix its firepower and promote finding fire gemm sites to boost my economy or crank out fire demons. I don't like his hp's though and if I want to take at least 3 in earth it'll be expensive.

the lich is cool cause he's got some hp and 3 death right off the bat. mages typically don't have that as well and if I find death sites quickly I can through spirits at the indies. Also cheapest path cost of the three.

the vamp queen is the vamp queen. I don't like the 'wasted' blood path she has and the crappy dominion. Although with the forced turmoil I'm sure there will be many cases where I won't mind someone elses dominion.

i dunno..that's just what i'm thinking atm.

Norfleet · #6 July 3rd, 2004, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by djtool:
I like the phoenix for its fire and air right off the bat. SnA mages don't typicall have much in air and boosting up the fire will give the phoenix its firepower and promote finding fire gemm sites to boost my economy or crank out fire demons. I don't like his hp's though and if I want to take at least 3 in earth it'll be expensive.

The Phoenix is not a front-line combatant, so his lack of HP is not really a great loss. The Phoenix is good at taking lightly defended indy provinces in your dominion at very little risk. However, I don't think Tien Chi starts with a national fire or air spell for the Phoenix to use for this job, unlike Marignon or Abysia.

Quote:

the vamp queen is the vamp queen. I don't like the 'wasted' blood path she has and the crappy dominion. Although with the forced turmoil I'm sure there will be many cases where I won't mind someone elses dominion.

Blood path is only wasted if you're Ermor or CW Pan. Otherwise, you can use it as a platform for devil summoning.

SelfishGene · #7 July 3rd, 2004, 03:45 AM

I like rainbows for those times when you have poor income, or for those kinds of troops which "you get what you pay for" - or both!

Mainly because
-Rainbows bring in tons of gems which can be transformed into income.
-Can summon and forge just about anything, so you can make a buffed (and more disposable) SC later.

I still haven't tried the perfect SC build and my Pretenders just die like flies offline or on - but im also pretty stubborn and just like to do what i want to do whether its the best idea or not. I still can't remember all the spells and which ones come from which research tree; air and fire are blanks to me still.

Anyway ive had great luck (so far!) with a Mictlan rainbow - and Celestial Masters and 5th Elementals, though they suck imo as battlefield support (unless you get a lucky 3 or 4 path), are nice for raising large summoned armies.