Re: How often do you alchemetize for gold?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Are you talking about the Master Alchemist Ulm pretender, or the random site Alchemist?

A Master Alchemist is clearly a design choice (I like Rainbow pretenders, even though I don't play them well), and even though Ulm tends to have a use for all Earth and Fire gems it can get, the bonus isn't a small one.

Random Alchemists I've always thought were a great find. I tend to play nations with little access to Fire magic, while I like missile troops, so finding Fire mages is always nice; when not making money, they can be used as forgers or fill in a battle position.

An Alchemist has a Gold cost of 300, so an Upkeep cost of 20. If you're alchemizing about 4 Earth gems a turn, or 3 Fire, that pays for his upkeep. Not exactly early game, but I'd say that's easy to reach in a non "purely blitz" game, and definitely worth it in solo play (of course, you have to add in the 200 Gold for a Lab, and the 300 upfront cost of the Alchemist; but that's just 34 Fire gems before you get the Alchemist, or 23 after it).

Re: How often do you alchemetize for gold?
 

[quote]Originally posted by PhilD:

Quote:

Originally posted by NTJedi: [qb] An Alchemist has a Gold cost of 300, so an Upkeep cost of 20. If you're alchemizing about 4 Earth gems a turn, or 3 Fire, that pays for his upkeep. Not exactly early game, but I'd say that's easy to reach in a non "purely blitz" game, and definitely worth it in solo play (of course, you have to add in the 200 Gold for a Lab, and the 300 upfront cost of the Alchemist; but that's just 34 Fire gems before you get the Alchemist, or 23 after it).

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Well your strategy sounds different then mine if you are alchemizing 4 earth gems every turn. Only when an emergency occurs will I sell my gems instead of using them for magic. The more troops I buy with gold... the more my upkeep. It's good to alchemize for that emergency 3 temples which need to go up tho.

Re: How often do you alchemetize for gold?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">And in addition to alchemizing for gold, he's forging items or doing research every turn he's at that lab. Or searching for magic sites, if you have a combination of pretender and nation that doesn't have much fire/earth/air. (Is air the third path on the Alchemist? I have several, but...)

In a large game, I always pop out 1 alchemist if I find that site. Usually no more than one, and I put bodyguards on him and move him to a fort with a lab soon as possible; I've moved one away from a fort with a lab (where I recruited him) simply because that was a border province.

Re: How often do you alchemetize for gold?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Alchemists are FES.