Re: Empowering a Wendigo
 

I'm not certain if 24 gems is too expensive, he can definitely be a bargain but it requires some finessing, you need to wait for him to grow up, he berserks when he's grown up and the lich has the obvious advantage of being immortal. And lets not forget he likes to eat population in your free time. Frankly I think the problem is that the kokythiad is kinda weak for its high cost, not that the wendigo is too strong. Sure the kokythiad is great for diversity, but I'd rather have a wendigo or if I absolutely need some power right now I'll take hidden in snow for the water gems. Hidden in snow is spectacular in my opinion.

Re: Empowering a Wendigo
 

I agree that the lich, as an immortal unit, still has a place - it's mainly the kokythiad being more expensive than the wendigo that seems off as it seems like it should really be the other way around. Personally, I think the wendigo is underpriced at 24 gems (and only research level 6) even given that it takes some time to reach maturity.

But the really interesting thing to me about your idea of empowering the wendigo is for tart summoning. The lich is a good tart summoner since with a skull staff, skullface and one other booster (usually a ring of sorcery) he can do the job. But with your method you can spend 30 gems (only 5 more than a skullface costs) for what amounts to another D booster. Compare that to 40 S gems for a ring of sorcery. And since you got to use W gems to summon the wendigo, as opposed to the 30 D gems you needed for the lich, you haven't even had to spend more D gems to get your tart summoner than you would have with the lich. And aside from the cost issue it means you can summon tarts without needing a non-D booster like rings of sorcery/wizardry or a robe of the magi (I'm excluding unique items). I don't think that's a good thing and that's why I think it would be good to top the wendigo off at W3D3 (he can still reach full size/HP - just cap the magic at a lower level). I even like it better thematically that the lich has more knowledge of D magic.

Edit: And I would cap not just the D magic but the W magic at level 3 since I don't see any call for him to be able to cast maelstrom with just the two common W boosters or niefel flames without needing any boosters at all.

Re: Empowering a Wendigo
 

Wendigos are incredibly good and a bargain for the gem cost - if they live long enough, that is.

And that's the tradeoff. You get a first rate SC 12 turns down the road (or sooner than that if it participates in combat) that is also a native W4D4 caster, and thus easily able to summon Tartarians or spam Ghost Riders with proper gear, and you get it on the cheap in gems, but it is a strategic asset that takes time to develop, and that time is very much a part of the cost.

The best way to grow a Wendigo quickly that I've found is to let it patrol a province that is frequently subject to scout attacks (such as a chokepoint province) together with something powerful enough to drive off any minor raid. For every victory in battle the Wendigo grows one step.