Re: Wind ride
 

Thanks everybody. I knew there were some kinds of commanders immune to it (big and/or earth mage), but I cast it a good number of times and kept coming up empty. I was having trouble believing I was constantly getting unlucky...but then again I've had the AI cast it on me numerous times and never seen it work -- I always get the 'picked him up but couldn't carry him off' message.

What's your yield on it, Gandalf? (# of casts/successes)?

Re: Wind ride
 

I believe ethereal commanders are immune as well.

I haven't used this spell yet in Dom 3, but in Dom 2 I had no problems using it. It is quite an addictive spell.

Re: Wind ride
 

Like I said, havent used it in a long time. What I remember is that it worked pretty much every time unless there was an obvious reason.

You arent playing on one of the no-indepts maps are you?
Also keep in mind that you cannot pick up Province Defence units.

The game Im playing now just got up to being able to cast it. Maybe I will try a few. It was supposed to be a quicky game to test if turning down the resources would improve the AI's like people suggest (it apparently does) but like always I cant seem to do a quick test game without getting so caught up in it that I keep going "just one more turn" (yeah, like THAT works!)

Re: Wind ride
 

i tried to use it for ferrying, and it kept dropping light weight communicants into the ocean. not one got all the way to their target... and it was being cast by an air queen.

Re: Wind ride
 

In a recent MP game, the Mictlan player tended to not have very many commanders. His opponent could cast 1, 2, or 3x Wind Ride, and defeat the leaderless devils with a scout. Useful regardless where the commanders landed.

Re: Wind ride
 

At the very least, Wind ride fails on:

Pretenders.
Etherial commanders.
Earth 3+ mages.
Size 5+ commanders.
Commanders with glamour.

Too many people try it a few times, fail, and give it up. It is a wonderful
spell for disrupting an army before an assault, and for stealing a mage that
you need. Of course, you better make sure that the province where you
charmed the victim can withstand the retaliation that is bound to come.
Don't forget that the enemy knows exactly what to expect. I remember that in a
game in Dominions II Man charmed one of my commanders in his sage province. On the
next turn, 30+ commanders were stoned and baked at the cost of two recruitable
commanders of mine. Unfortunately the charmed guy was amongst the survivors...

Re: Wind ride
 

tuidjy, did you cast this in dom3 succesfully?
i did cast it several turns with the following message.
(name of the mage) casted wind ride on (province name).
(that's the message more or less)
yet, no one was brought to the caster's province.

Re: Wind ride
 

I have cast Wind Ride four times that I can remember in Dominions III.
Twice it worked as expected - the enemy came and got charmed. Once
it failed, and I learned on the next turn that the enemy commander was
a spectral mage. Once it failed and I was not sure why. I did not get
a message, and I decided that there must have been a Van-something in
the province.

Re: Wind ride
 

Wind Ride has been my most favorite spell in Dom2. I am not sure if I have tried it in Dom3, but I know about the limitations that Tuidjy listed above.

Re: Wind ride
 

In a solo game I haven't touched since 3.06, against MA vanheim who has air mages, I got this message from a spell, not an event:

Suddenly a whirlwind appeared out of the sky and snatched away Benim and anyone standing too close. But about a hundred feet up the wind lost it's grip and Benim fell to the ground.

Sounds like a failed wind ride. A commander named Benim is in the province shown with (goto province).