Re: New patch??
 

Booting every single mage is a tad expensive, which is a problem since every single mage is old. (That being said I've booted all of my MA warlocks in the game I'm playing at the moment...over 200 blood slaves to do so. It's fairly mandatory to do so because you don't have any other access to blood hunters besides at the cap) Plus the boots require construction 6 to build, so the first year or two of the game you don't even have the option to do so. They also don't work against Burden of Time, which already has a devastating effect on Abysia.

It's also a flat out bug that death scales directly affect Abysia's income, it's specifically stated that it does not in the documentation.

Also, can LA Abysia get fixed up a tad in general? They're fairly horrible looking, especially in comparison to LA Marignon (which might be a tad overpowered, but they put Abysia to shame across the board.)

Re: New patch??
 

The way I understand it, it is not a bug. Although it is not explained very well, the "bonus" is that Abysia is not affected by the initial effects of a growth/death scale. In other words, Abysia will not suffer -6% in their income from a 3 death scale, but the population in that province will still die. The fewer people in a province, the less money you will get. It is only the initial income and supply effects that Abysia is immune to, not the longterm consequences. Since, as Abysia, it is likely you will go with a growth scale, this "bonus" is really a penalty.

Re: New patch??
 

It's not a penalty, it's just that the other negatives of the death scale outweigh the free points you'd get by choosing death. Edit, this is wrong, sorry! Growth scales supposed to be affected too. It's a penalty.

In SP you can go Death-3, so the AI hordes starve even faster than they do usually. It puts more time pressure on the game too, and it's nice and thematic for a race that's doomed to die. EA can stick with Apprentices and Anointeds until they get boots, and MA can use Demonbreds. LA doesn't get the death scales bonus.

Re: New patch??
 

Except it IS affected by the 2% per scale tip...

Re: New patch??
 

Thanks! So that's what happened to all my money. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You are right, income is affected normally by the death/growth scales, for all ages of Abysia.

Supplies are not affected at all by having death/growth scales.

And RamsHead, I was also wrong about the penalty in my post above this one. I mistakenly thought that it was just the death scales that had no effect. Since you don't get the benefit from growth scales (though as Micah says the income affect is buggy so you do get the +2/4/6% income) either, it is a penalty.

Re: New patch??
 

I will chip in to say MA Ulm is a terrible MP race. The reasons why are detailed in many earlier threads, so I need not repeat them here.

Re: New patch??
 

And it's also a minor bonus, when you're invading an empire with a Death-3 dominion, to not suffer from supply penalties. That doesn't mean you'd want a Death-3 on your *own* dominion.

Edit: yeah, Ulmish troops should definitely have their MR raised at the very least. Combined with their drain dominion, they should be quite magic-resistant, as opposed to requiring drain dominion to make them merely average.

-Max

Re: New patch??
 

The whole point of Ulm is that they are suceptible and afraid of magic. They might get other bonuses, but low MR stays.

Re: New patch??
 

Thematic? Too bad. I would have liked for Ulm to be the rock-paper-scissors "answer" to magic nations.

Re: New patch??
 

Okay, then. I guess I thought they had a different theme, but "susceptible to and afraid of magic" works too. Hmmm.

-Max