Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Why 8-Astral? You do realize that you cannot use an astral bless to go over 18 MR, and N. Jarl's start there? If its to cast the important globals later, than you can probably afford to go a little less and use boosters, unless you are real min-maxer.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Actually, it's not for the Niefel Jarls at all. It's more for the Niefel scouts (which are holy) and the regular Niefel recruitables. Astral 6 is plenty, though. I only go for 8 Earth/8 Astral because they're cheap with a Great Enchantress.

If you want a really fearsome Bless for Niefel that works well in the longer term, try an Imprisoned Enchantress with Earth 6, Astral 6, Nature 4, Fire 4, Air 4, and Death 4. It requires a certain amount of spell support in the mid to late game, but it's enough to thrash the early game, without sacrificing too much in scales.

I'm working on a Niefel strategy guide right now, though, which hopefully will lay out Niefel strategy a little more clearly than has been done before.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I'd say loose the Air, Fire, or Death in exchange for W4, as Jarls can really boost their defense and that +2 helps.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Water Bless is pretty meaningless for Niefelheim. It adds absolutely nothing to their spell range, and the +2 defense does little to protect them. Even Water 9 or 10 isn't all that great for Niefelheim. Fire and Death make the Niefel troops themselves better hitters, and add to their ability to cause afflictions. Not absolutely necessary ofcourse, but nice to have, and a lot cheaper than Fire 9. Of the Blesses I mentioned, Air is the most expendable for the Niefels themselves, but it's invaluable in that it gives me a Pretender with Air 3/Earth 1, so I can create Watchers. Watchers are key to good PD for Niefelheim.

You could drop the Air, Fire, and Death (or just Fire and Death) if you want to conserve points, but I certainly would never replace it with even a high level Water Bless.