Re: New patch??
 

Ulm should have a dominion effekt that weakens magical creatures.

Re: New patch??
 

Another off the wall idea. Nations have national only spells, yes. So how about Ulm having national only magic items?

You never know it could start a trend and result in even more diversity, uniqueness with nations.

Re: New patch??
 

There already are items that would be unique to certain nations, if that was possible. Black Laurels, Jade Mask... Anyone can make them, but only few can ever use them.

Re: New patch??
 

I'd really like to see Kristoffer play EA R'lyeh in a multi-player game. It's at once one of my thematically favorite nations, and one I consider to be the weakest.

Re: New patch??
 

Aha, not heard that one in a while, but I tend to agree.

Re: New patch??
 

I'm-very, very slowly-working on a mod nation for MA Aboleths that incorporates an Islamic theme. After all the Polypal Mothers are wiped out, the Aboleths turn to a Pretender that not only promises to bring them back from the dead, but actually has the power to do so, in return for the Aboleths' slavish devotion and willingness to be experimented on by the weird "god".

The Aboleths, in turn, have a massive slave force of their own, who-due to the greatly reduced Aboleth numbers-have become much more independent and more powerful, politically-along the lines of the Mamluks.

The middle age Aboleths have no starting priests, but they can summon Polypal Mothers across time, as well as a powerful sacred undead unit. They can recruit several different kinds of tough slave troops, including: slave trolls, kraken chariots, and a stealthy breed of icthy.

Finally, the Aboleths themselves are being bred and twisted for specialized purposes, a fact they loathe, but have no choice about, as the alternative is imminent extinction.

The really pitiful thing about the whole ordeal is that-by the late age-the Aboleths eventually discover that the so-called "god" wasn't really moving the mothers across space and time, he/she had just captured a handful of living mothers, shielded them with powerful magicks, and then used them to blackmail the Aboleths, while experimenting on them as well, at his/her leisure.

So, by late age, the Aboleths have access to 4 or 5 different types of Mother, only one of which breeds "true". The slaves-who aren't really slaves anymore, by this time-up and leave when they find out how easily their "all-knowing, all-powerful" masters were duped, and the Aboleths are left by their lonesome, a nation of mainly freakish, twisted mutations. Fortunately for the Aboleths-who are understandably extremely pissed-off by this point-their freakish brothers and sisters are friendly, and, for the most part, intensely combat-ready.

Re: New patch??
 

Or better yet, all drain dominions should do so, like coldbloods in cold - maybe even like fire elementals in cold. That would give some real teeth to the magic/drain scale, which right now seems to just be "pay as much as you want for the amount of research you want".

(Coldblooded magical creatures like nagas and lamias should then be especially careful of cold+drain...)


As far as Abysia, I think old guys should get a cost break (and especially old Abysians, because the nation is expected to take death). Lower cost means lower maintenance, so by the time they drop dead you can afford to replace them. With that and making Abysia immune to the -2% income/level from death as well as the supplies, they could actually be played with the heavy death they were meant to have (and in previous versions almost always did have).

I like the thematic idea - and it does very appropriately make your dominion hell on earth for invaders - but it just isn't practical with such expensive mages. Short-lived men should be cheaper than the unnaturally long-lived magic beings other nations have - if you want the nation to be played with a "life is cheap" attitude, then their lives need to actually *be* cheap. Instead Abysians are still paying extra for the physical toughness they used to have (but don't anymore, because they're old in Dom3) and the heat aura whose main effect is to set their blood slaves on fire.

The cost break should be larger for old sacred guys, because they have higher up-front cost that is theoretically compensated for by their half upkeep... but if they drop dead of old age inside 2 years, you don't get much benefit from the reduced upkeep.

Adjusting the age system so there is more debilitation and less immediate death might be nice too, but it would probably be more work.

Re: New patch??
 

I like that idea. It makes sense. Have magic drain dominion affect summons as well as battle-spells.

I would like to see Ulm get a boost against magic but they tend to have to worry more about summons than spells and I couldnt think of a way to give them a boost there thematically. The only thing I could come up with is maybe that their beliefs might give them a better chance at disbelief (pluses against phantasms and illusions). Of course that might help make them a rock-paper-scissors answer to Vanheim.

Re: New patch??
 

This has been suggested before and didn't get much traction, but it's one of my favorite ideas for the drain scale.

Re: New patch??
 

Late August. Are we close to seeing the next patch now?