Re: a new direction to guides
 

Well, you take indies and maybe even enemy provinces with a handfull of heavy infantry, of course.

Plus, you have to keep him around in case there is a non-FR SC.

I tend to think of that particular unit as a defensive unit to use especially with PD against armies. He also has enough HP to be useful with some armor for casting close range spells as well.

But, against a FR opponent, he can only smite.

If you need a temple destroyed or something, especially if you have a financial advantage, it may be well worth it to use this unit to take a providence, even if it endagers his long term survival.

Most stuff is not immune to Falling Fires.

Maybe I'm just confused, because I thought using a mage like this was standard fare. If he can destroy 2 temples of something before dying, he's probably done well for himself. I don't think that qualifies him as a thug, cause he performs better against small armies with a little protection of his own... in some ways, a minimal investment.

Re: a new direction to guides
 

Read the DARs in the AAR section. Step by step inside the brains of Cleveland and Trumanator as a game plays out. They are clever chaps but after so much time in their heads you'll want to take a shower after... ;)
ssj

Re: a new direction to guides
 

Prison of Fire + {blood rain, wind of death, or huge fear Scs....}. Especially under CBM.

Re: a new direction to guides
 

Blindness

Re: a new direction to guides
 

Ah, an Anathemant Dragon is better than nothing. Sounds like with some PD, some gems, and some penetration items, he might be able to cripple or kill the SC (cause it to be killed).

Re: a new direction to guides
 

Better than nothing, certainly.

Don't knock Flames from the Sky either. It's much easier to wipe out large armies outside of battle sometimes.

I'm not saying Fire is useless. It's just one of the more limited paths.
It's got great expansion and early war potential, but rapidly becomes less effective than most of the other paths.

Which is why Abysia usually goes off into Blood & Astral.