something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

Thats all in the title, really ... Level 10 blessing is far too costly and dont give a tremendous benefit. I hope that the next patch will tweak a little that http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

From those Astral Weapon would be the best, and much more so than any of the others. Armor NEGATING weapons... Just imagine that with Flagellants. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

10 is awfully close to 9, and does give you an extra +1 the level-4 blessings (and intrinsic magic), compared to 9.

I think it's just fine as is. There are reasons to go to 10... mainly, to actually use it as magic power (powerful battlefield spells made that much cheaper and more potent, extra summons, beating Astral-9's in Magic Duel, etc.).

PvK

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

Only pretenders that start at 3 can hit 10 cost effectively. Some are not all that bad however

Earth 10: 4 Reinvigoration. Not a bad blessing. I've been using Earth 10 with Abysia and been content with the results. (BTW Warlord Prophets are the ROX - Abysia is cool the way it receives special prophet units.)

Nature 10: 4 Bezerk? Thats actually not bad (though perhaps not worth 100+ design points). Wouldn't that equal +4 Protection, +4 Str, +4 Attack, and -4 Defense? Earth 10/Nature10 would be fun to test out.

The others aren't all that helpful at level 10 imo.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

I'm confused by the way you wrote that.

Earth 4 blessing is Reinvig +4
Earth 9 blessing is Reinvig +6 and +4 Protection
Earth 10 blessing is Reinvig +7 and +4 Protection

Similarly, Water 10 is +7 Defense and Quickness vs. Water 9 +6 Defense and Quickness.

...

PvK

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Earth 4 is reinvig +2, earth 10 is reinvig +5 +4 prot.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

Im also happy with the way things are now. I dont think there should be more incentive to get a 10 path. That would also really change the character of almost every nation since sacred troops could (potentially) have a much different value if 10-blessings were increased in power more.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

I agree. I still don't understand why the secondary bonus comes at lvl 9. Why should anyone want to push the magic up to 10? Then again what bonus oughto take place that wouldn't make Dominions a "War of the sacred units".

Fire - Fire Immunity (or 75% resistance)
Air - Flight (Tactical Only)
Water - Cold Immunity (or perhaps 75%)
Earth - Extra Strength (+4 perhaps?)
Nature - Haste (Faster movement only)
Death - The Dark Gift (Dead unit returned as sacred soulless that remains after battles end. Undead Sacred Units get MR Bonus)
Blood - I draw a blank here. Never used bloodmagic enough.
Astral - Astral Weapon (As the spell).

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

Oops your right i forgot that Earth-4 was +2.

That means Water-10 will be +5 as well.

This is all imo, but +1 rejuv is better than +1 defense, though someone will surely argue otherwise. Personally i love rejuv, even on ordinary sacred troops and not simply casters. Of course someone will say "Relief".

Black Templar with 9-Nature/9-Earth walk out of the gate with 28 Armor + 1 w/Bezerk + 3 with Legions of Steel from the Pretender. 30 prot, rejuv and regen tanks are nice to have on turn 6.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

Ah right, they start at +2, not +4. I was at work and not able to concentrate entirely on Dominions for some reason. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Something about Windohs XP malfunctioning and wasting hours of time trying to repair it.

Ah, but I will offer the opinion you expected that +2 Defense can be a "better" blessing than +2 Reinvigoration, especially if you have holy troops which already have a good Defense rating. Of course, it depends what you do with the blessings.

PvK

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I never ever saw a level 10 blessing in a MP game. The balance for level 10 is a total failure IMO.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I fully agree. It costs 56-80 points to get that 10th level, depending on your pretender's starting magic. Not worth a mere +1 in 1 stat for your blessed units. The other benefits (pretender getting less fatigue when casting spells in that path, 1 or 2 extra summons for a few conjuration or enchantment rituals) are too small to bother too.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

What's unbalanced about it?

I dont think this is nitpicking when I say it is your choice of words which confuse me. I can't suppose why it should be considered unbalanced (that is: What is *unfair* about it?), although I more than agree with you if you mean by this there is no real big incentive to choose level 10 over level 9. But I think that is a question of style and design. I personally wouldnt like to see more incentive for level 10 choice. Level 10 may be boring, it may be pointless or not worth it(although one person here I think already stated that he enjoys level 10 earth with Abysia as it is now), it may be unsexy -- I agree with you there -- but I don't think it is "unbalanced" and hence don't think it should be "fixed" in a future patch.

If, on the other hand, level 10 blessings would be very different, that would raise global balance issues (just think about how that could change Marignon vs Ulm configurations, to name just one example).

This by no means indicates that the current bless situation is great or anything. I think a Blood 9 blessing is just marginally better than a getting a free kick in the shins, for instance -- that really should be changed drastically IMO.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

ok, I see everybody understood that I meant 'level 10 blessing is only of interest for flavor purpose, mostly in solo play, and is not worth the cost when you play in a competitive environment'... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">For Blood... what about unit gains +2 life for every successful hit. (Only Lasts for the rest of the battle.)

[ May 14, 2004, 14:49: Message edited by: NTJedi ]

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yep, you're right, the almost complete lack of incentive is the problem here.

Anayway keep in mind neither Pocus nor I use our native language on this board, and our choice of words may not fit our thoughts very well at times. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You have to keep in mind that Pocus and NGF have a rather competitive mindset when it comes to Dom2: if it's not worth it in competitive MP, it's therefore "unbalanced" - as in, there are more efficient ways to use those design points.

From what I've seen of your way of playing, you're more like me - as in, not as competitive. To each his own, but from the competitive POV, I can see where the level 10 blessings would be frustrating: they appear as "false" options, since they're normally not worth their cost.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

I fully agree, Phil.
Please dont misunderstand me: A level 10 blessing is probably not "worth" it. I just think that means that getting a level 10 blessing is not a really viable option for competetive people; they should thus invest their points elsewhere. I just do not see why this makes it "imbalanced". According to the pros, it's not "smart" for a competetive person to invest in 10-blessing (those competetive people will know better than I); so why should anyone do it, except for fun? Since no one can exploit anything by doing it ("Hey -- Ermor can "afford" to get a level 10 death blessing, that's unfair!"), I don't see why it should be considered imbalanced.

That the pros (Pocus, NGF, others) *want* a level 10 blessing to be viable, I can understand. Like I said, I think this is a question of playing style. I personally wouldnt want this option to be open, because I feel this would greatly change the way that nation balance currently is, but my opinion is neither here nor there, and I am not a pro.

Re: something ought to be done for level 10 blessing
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Yep, you're right, the almost complete lack of incentive is the problem here.

Anayway keep in mind neither Pocus nor I use our native language on this board, and our choice of words may not fit our thoughts very well at times. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sorry! Your English is amazing, I forgot that.

I just think that "imbalance" is used for designating possible exploits or points of unfairness, while what you are indicating is a design flaw from your POV (which I can understand). I still feel that changing this design flaw would mean a LOT of work in rebalancing the nations (e.g.: if a level-10 blessing would become "worth it", then IMHO Marignon and Vanheim will need serious attention in rebalancing, to name just one issue of many).