Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

I like Kailasa. There's a lot of room to play around with it. It reminds me of Machaka from Dom 2, which was my favorite nation to use for a long time http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

It is.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

Awesome, thanks for the link.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

No problem, I should put my Atlantis and Agartha guides there someday.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

I'd like to read that! I'm having trouble getting Atlatis rolling myself.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

I'm curious as to why both of your example pretenders are awake. Some pretender designs that I have considered/tryed (since I'm stuck with the bloody effing demo - where is the mailman!?!?!) are imprisonned bless god - you can go prety crazy, especially if you settle for sub-optimal scales. Turmoil 2, Sloth 3, Heat 3, Luck 2, Dom Strength 7, Phoenix with Fire 9, Air 7 (Air shield is great, since Yavanas have to armour to speak of) Nature 6 (Regneration is fun!) Admitedly, I wouldn't play that in a multiplayer game, but it's tons of fun for single player. Higher difficulty computers can do quite well against it, since the scales aren't too great (for better multiplayer/more tradiotal style you could swap turmoil and luck for order and misfortune) I feel that a powerfull bless is incredibly important for Kalisa. I usually use nature, air, fire or water. Also note that dragons are considered to be abjectly useless. They are same as stock Dom2, and really alost certainly not owrth it, except for early expansion. Since you will want a high dominion strength to build lots of sacreds, they are especially bad, since dominion, like magic, increases in cost exponentially. I HATE dragons, they are so cliché. even if they were good, I wouldn't take one, so I may not be spot on about their worth, but I think I'm fairly close.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

I went with an awake dragon for precisely the reason you stated: Early expansion. The demo is only 40 turns max and it can effectively double your expansion speed and it's easy to put to F9 so it's a big research boost (18 points) in the beginning if you want that instead. On Indy 7 I find that you could take a small risk and attack on turn one if you want as there's not many indys that can take a dragon, they're pretty tough with no gem investment. Initial dominion is a bit of a problem, however with the scales I have set building temples is pretty easy with spare cash after a few turns.

I actually just got my full copy today, so I might rethink the pretender for a longer game, but the dragon isn't too bad. You don't have to trash your scales or leave it dormant or imprisoned to get a decent awake pretender with a good bless that can research or attack with low risk as needed immediately. Later in the game you can shape change it into a mage with all slots and a heck of a lot of hit points if you want. I don't think they're as bad as people make them out to be. Especially with a 40 turn cap.

Your suggestions aren't bad either, they're certainly an option. I wanted to keep it as basic as possible though as it's written for new players mostly who are having trouble understanding the game and a bless strategy that gives them a hard time fielding troops because of bad scales would, I feel, give them a tougher time.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

It can be found here:

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...o=&fpart=1

Warriors of the Deep are great unless you face MR negates spells. Shamblers of the Deep can be great also. But they have really weak MR. So keep that in mind.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

Another good link, thanks.

Re: Demo Guide to Kailasa
 

This nation seems to be all about missiles. I have put together a pretender with fire and air and plan to research up to Flaming Arrows and Wind Guide. The national mages are not well set up for those spells, thus the pretender with those paths.

You could get a lucky random, then a forged item and Phoenix Pyre and the Air equivalent, but that would come fairly late in the game. That is why I am counting on a pretender who can back up at least one army with the spells.

What are people’s thoughts on this idea, a powerful missile force made up of cheap archers that hit all the time with flaming missiles? Any other ideas for boosting their power?

Also tied to this nation, let me ask for thoughts on a related issue. My immediate neighbor Helheim, who have troops with good defense and protection, as well as shields, if memory serves. They are very good at dealing with missile fire and deal with my infantry rather well, rapidly moving on to the archers. Until I get Flaming Arrows, how do I deal with the heavy amour nations?

As a final note, I look forward to seeing the monkeys throw sticks and stones with Wind Guide and Flaming Arrows! Sure, it is not sensible, but it is such a cool idea!