Re: Awesome units/spells
 

I agree, Crossbreeding rocks! Turmoil 3 Luck 3 is perfect for Mictlan, and you can get super-cool early units with this level 3 spell. Size 5 foul beasts, size 4 MV2/14 spiders, a few Life Drain/Leprosy beasts, and of course a ton of weird chaff, that's a nice return for one casting. Sure you could pop out two Frost Fields for about the same cost, but that means you're not blood hunting or researching with that second summoner. Plus even a lowly Mictlan priest can cast Crossbreeding if you're lucky and get one with B1N1.

I'd also add the Mystic/Communion to the awesome units/spells list.

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Arssartuts are just a fantastic unit. Perfect medium infantry; if it exists, arssartuts can go out to it and pull it down.

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

A good pretender is the Dogon. It starts with water 2 and dominion 4 as stats, has the fear ability and it can trample. It is easy to get water 9, domion 10, and good gold and production scales using it. So you get a good bless, high income, and a power super combatant all in one.

And to comment on something up above. Yes Arssartuts are a great unit, but they are vunerable to crossbows. But the fact they have a vunerabilty makes them an interesting and well balanced unit. It is one of my favorites.

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Kappas! Underwater, them little fellas rock! Dry land ain't so good though...

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Two global enchantments that I try to cast in (nearly) every game: Gift of Health (GoH) and Forge of the Ancients (FotA).

GoH completely eliminates your main worries about aging. It also allows you to keep those super-elite units rolling without them being crippled by afflictions. Finally, the extra HP in your dominion is very useful for protecting your researchers and support mages from the AI's beloved Seeking Arrows....

FotA is a delightful way to bulk up on magic items in a hurry. The gem savings are astronomical! And the easier forging is nice. (Even if they did nerf it a bit from the Dom1 glory days.) D1 Revenants can spam Skull Mentors with FotA active. 'Nuff said!

Other nifty spells:
Aim / Eagle Eye - Don't overlook these. The coolest spells in the world won't do much if they never hit anyone.
Summon Earthpower - Added Earth magic and more reinvigoration? Yes, please!
Nether Darts - Best when combined with a Spell Focus, a Ring of Sorcery, or some other item to smash through MR.
Shark Attack - The last word in underwater combat. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
Astral Window - Cheap information gathering. What's not to like? Cast this spell at every opponent's capital ASAP and re-cast as needed.
Winged Monkeys / Manifestation / Earth Attack / Infernal Disease - Ranked roughly according to their reliability (with Infernal Disease at the top of the list), these spells are great for whacking nasty enemy commanders and/or stranding their armies.
Gateway - The solution to how to reinforce your conquering armies.
Faery Trod - Cheaper than Gateway, but often just as useful. Don't ignore this spell!

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Ghost Riders is awesome. Casting one or two is a nice (and cost effective) distraction for your enemy. And if you have the means to mass cast them (requiring rather steep 6D mages) you can utterly devastate your oponents empire.

Call Horror is similar in principle, but less reliable. One horror can fail to take out 'normal' amounts of PD

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Call of the Wild - For just 15N gems you get a werewolf thug + 20 wolves if cast in a forest. The werewolf can summon allies as well 2 or 3 more wolves per turn.

Awaken Sleeper - The firbolg does it all, good leader, good melee thug, good sharp shooter, keeps the morale of your army up. 10N gems, a steal.

Black Servant - Etheral/stealthy/life drain, what more do you want for 5D gems? Equip with quickness/skull talisman or skullface to get a 1 man army stealthy raider.

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

Seconded, especially because they have so little resource cost. I hate trying to break into underwater indy provinces with Ichthyids; with Kappas a single turn of recruiting can net you 40+ kappas and a commander, which is probably worth 120+ Ichthyids (which is something like 10 turns' worth of recruiting).

-Max

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

EARTH ATTACK!

I don't get it, is this the best assassination spell or what? Manifestation, Infernal Disease, even the Send Tupilak just seem weaker. That earth elemental can roll right over skele spam or other chaff, even the normally assassination-wrecking dragonflies. He almost always gets the job done.

And that's in SP, where mages and such are free to cast whatever they want. I can't imagine how easily he cuts through mages in MP who are all scripted to cast battlefield support, or even (minor) thugs who are scripted to spend 5 turns buffing themselves.

Re: Awesome units/spells
 

UMBRAL.

UmmmmmmmmmmmmmBRAL.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

he's yummy. beefy, etherial, lifedraning, and CHEAP.
just add Gift of Reason, and a few well chosen items and you have a nice cheap SC.

3 or 4 can hold a fortress gateway indefinately.

they should rename him YUMbral.