Re: use of bane lords
 

Careful there, (almost) no flavor text in this game is 'just for fun' Apparently the Cat Charm reduces the seduction chance of male seducers. (Not such a huge issue when equiping banelords I admit, but hey...) Similarly, the Bear Claw Talisman is supposed to reduce the seduction chance of female seducers. Unless it's just myths I've been hearing...

Re: use of bane lords
 

"One nice item is rainbow armor, although you have to be living to take advantage of the reinvigoration. It provides MR, though, which is invaluable."

The part about having to be living to take advantage of reinvigoration is incorrect. Bane Lords get the benefit of that.

Personally though, I do not see the rainbow armor's prot value as what i would like for a banelord thug.

Re: use of bane lords
 

If you are having trouble with magic switch to:

Frostbrand, lead shield, starshine cap, ring of regen, lucky amulet, boots of quickness. dont really need to mess with the armor slot. The starshine cap and lead shield will boost magic resistance. high protection and luck should protect you against most chaff except lances and Ctiss does not have any of those. Frostbrand does area cold damage which is nice vs the cold blooded lizards.

My ultimate banelord at constuction level 6 regardless of gem cost would be:
Head:Wraith crown (etheral)
Weapon: The blood axe that inflicts chest wounds (also gives beserker +2) 5 blood slave cost.
Shield: Charcoal shield
Body: Hydra skin armor (regeneration)
Boots:Quickness
Misc1: lucky amulet
Misc2: amulet of magic resistance

I like the axe because of the beserker. Hate it when they run away. Let their cold aura and fire shild do the killing. Etherealness, luck, regen and armor for survivability. 1 boost to magic resistance which is normally adequate vs the AI.

Re: use of bane lords
 

On a 0-enc unit like a bane/wraith lord, its better to use Jade Armor and save your boot slot for Boots of Flying since they take no penalty from encumbrance.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Allright, last night I summoned three new bane lords and gave them variously mixed equipment following the suggestions made above:
- all had Cloak of Shadows and a sword with area damage (Frostbrand, Firebrand or Shadowbrand) and a ring of regeneration
- one I gave the leadshield, amulet of anti-magic, and skullcap in order to have the ultimate anti-magic protection. The other two got various offensive equipment.

I sent them to my frontlines with C'tis (large battles every turn), where I had a scout keep track of the mage/magic creature army that had killed my previous bane lords. I attacked them in a province with high PD and the same scenario seemed to unfold: my bane lords quickly (very quickly with their new swords; area damage is awesome indeed!) took care of PD and some other units, but there was a whole bunch of commanders including (i think) 4 or 5 priests, which started with the banishment / smite spells, doing some damage, before the paralyze spells came (that killed me the last time). Indeed, one of my bane lords became a paralyzed sitting duck, and another was losing a lot of HP to the magic spells while taking a (relatively) long time to kill a magic being (I suspect it was resistant to fire, because this bane lord had the fire sword). For some reason the paralyze spell didn't seem to stick to this bane lord (it was cast a few times, but perhaps all on the same target? Can it be resisted at all?). However, the third bane lord (with the high MR) hardly had a scratch and once he reached the back end of the field really massacred those commanders with his Frostbrand sword. All three of my bane lords survived, although one in particular (the paralyzed one) was very close. All in all a great and honorable revenge!!

So thanks for all the tips. I am now two turns away from having a first Wraith lord. Since he comes already being ethereal, how does that change the optimum outfit? Do they work well in a combined team with Bane Lords?

I like the idea of the blood axe, I think I have some guys who can forge that so i'll give it a try. Does it come with area damage?

Re: use of bane lords
 

Nah, wraith lords are immortal, and more expensive/difficult to get than bane lords. Personally, I wouldn't even bother with bane lords, I'd just wait for wraith lords, but the subject at hand is the bane lord, not the wraith lord.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Really? But Bane Lords seem already quite formidable? Are you saying Wraith Lords will be that much better?

Re: use of bane lords
 

Does anyone really kit out their Wraith Lords? I don't have any experience with them yet, but it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Maybe put some cheap stuff on them, but anything over 10-15 gems per slot seems like too much. I'd try to make the majority of them 5 gem items too.

This is all in regard to their immortality.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Slightly lower health on wraithlords(although if your SC is taking damage they will probably die quite quickly) but +2 attack and defence, fear+3, death 3(soul vortex), built in ethereality, +1 magic resistance AND immortality which means you only lose your equipment(keeping heroic wraithlords AND improving their abilities through the bonus dying grants) if you happen to die in your dominion.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Where did I say that you have to be living to take advantage of it? It just happens to be useless on a guy who has 0 encumberance for melee attacks and won't be casting spells.