Protecting Human Pretenders
 

I have tried several kinds of pretenders, including the SC's. At the moment I find myself returning to rainbow and semi-rainbow humans. Apart from their physical weakness, they do so many pretender tasks well -- research, site searching, forging, summoning.

The big issue is how to keep the human pretender alive in the mid to late game. In my current game, my Great Sage is equipped with Starshine Skullcap, Robe of Missile Protection, Winged Shoes (mostly for strategic movement), Pendant of Luck, and Amulet of Antimagic. He also has the Twiceborn enchantment. He has bodyguards -- 4 vampires and a frost fiend. He has pretty much stayed in the capital castle, except for a couple of site searching trips.

Any suggestions for better equipment, additional spells, tactics, etc., to protect humans? How about elemental protection? Which domes are worth putting up -- i.e., are likely to stay up for a long time? Would a decent MP opponent make mincemeat of a human pretender no matter what precautions are taken?

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Stealth is very good for keeping rainbows safe, which makes druids a good choice for this purpose. Other than that, I would swap out the anti magic amulet if you plan to keep him out of combat. Replacing it with an air shield amulet and then changing the robe for a robe of the shadows will give you better protection from arrows. Also look into getting cold/fire resistance depending who you are facing (flames from the sky, ect.)

And I would say it is possible to keep your rainbow safe in MP, it just depends the amount of work you (and your enemi es) want to put into the issue.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

On domes: There are three that protect, and three that retalliate.

Protection --
Dome of Solid Air (A5, 20 gems): 80% chance of stopping any (?) spell coming from outside the province, including yours. Goes down if penetrated or if caster dies; permanent otherwise.

Forest dome (N5, 10 gems?): IIRC, 30% chance of stopping. Goes down when burned by fire spells, or caster dies; permanent otherwise.

Dome of Arcane Power (Astral, don't recall): 50% chance of stopping each incoming spell. Goes down if caster dies, or when spent gems run out (something like 1 turn per addn'l gem).

(?) Seem to recall possibility of certain exceptions -- astral window?


Retalliation:
Domes of Fiery Death, Dome of Frost: Don't block spells, last only until spent gems run out, attack with appropriate element.

Dome of Corruption: Tries to Feeblemind those who cast into the province. Also occasionally sends horrors against mages under the dome.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

That's incorrect.

The Frost Dome has a 30% chance to block spells.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Actually, I think it stays up if a spell gets past, but goes down if it stops a spell.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Taqwus has it right, according to the manual.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

I've never seen the air dome go down when stopping a spell. The frost dome does have a 30% chance of stopping spells according to the definition within the game.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

To this end, you could swap out the luck pendant for faithful and equip ring of fire/frost. Also, isn't there a shield that gives you missile prot? You could replace the air shield amulet with another elemental prot as well. Or are there are better weapons/shields for protection?

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

The robe of shadows is a must unless you have enough earth paths to make wind
rides impossible. But generally, a non-stealthy human pretender is a weakness
that is very hard to overcome.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Frost dome does stop spells? Hm, I'd thought it was merely the counterpart of the Fiery Death dome. *shrug* Improves it a fair bit, then.

Shield of Valour gives the air shield, as do the robe and (token? amulet?).

Other note: facing astral nations, try to keep at least one or two astral mages co-located (for stopping Mind Hunt... which may still be tried by Arco c/o the priestesses unless you have a dome which kills them). Against all sorts of commander-hunting spells keep numerous scouts.

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Especially on a larger map, keeping your pretender someplace unexpected (certainly not the capitol) can help, as can having several lab locations with good patrollers, and other locations with good patrollers (fliers, Watchers, etc), to catch spies. Domes are good. Being underwater can help. Rainbow pretenders can often script some pretty effective anti-assassin spells, and keep strong bodyguards... though patrols and other leaders in the same province can really cut down the odds of an assassin getting even that far. If you've got a Robe of Invulnerability... that's generally a good thing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

PvK

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

If you get hold of an important enemy province for one turn, and manage to cast Dome of Corruption, and manage to get the caster somewhere safe, is your enemy just screwed, or does the Dome of Corruption go time when he conquers the province back? Just wondering...

EDIT: ofcourse, 'go time when' was meant to be 'go AWAY when'... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

lol, I would say that takes the prize for most creatively evil idea... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

(no, I don't know if it would work)

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

My strategy with rainbows is to use them early game to scope out provinces, but after the game progresses keep them in the main castle and use them or someone else to cast acashic record which is better in the long run anyway. 25 pearls, sure, but if you're using clams and that fire gem producing item, you should be fine. 9 lvl search in all areas per province is "killer".

Re: Protecting Human Pretenders
 

Thanks for all the suggestions! The druid will definitely be the next human pretender I play. I've made some of the equipment changes suggested, though I haven't tried any domes yet.

Are there any good Wish options? I know that wishing for Power will give an across-the-board boost in physical stats, but it seems better suited for a combat pretender than someone just trying to become less vulnerable. Has wishing for "Hit Points" or "Health" or "Protection" been tried? How about "Stealth"?