Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Is it worth sending your commanders to the Death Match tournament, to only win the Trident?

Not sure, personally....what are the vets' thoughts on the Trident?

Chris

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Yes and no.

It's a really nice item for a critter that's built to take advantage of it.

It isn't, however, worth the risk it entails.

Mind you, it can be fun to send, say, a Black Servant with that nifty Cursing dagger, a rod of the leper king, a bane venom charm, a Lifelong Protection.... and any other Cursed item you can think of. With the specific intent of LOSING ... so that the opponent will pick up something (horror mark, Curse, Disease, et cetera)

Edit:
Also fun are astral builds with that nifty cursing shield set to Horror Mark and then cast Returning.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

but how does the weapon itself stack up to the items you can forge?

Damage 12 (not bad damage....from what i have seen, most weapons do that or less...from what I have seen)

Attack 3 (not sure how this is....higher than most that I have seen)

Defense 6 (good defense boost, I think)

# of Attacks 2 (I am going to assume that this means he gets 2 attacks per "turn" in combat? If so, that seems like it is a good thing....)

compared (with my small amount of knowledge) to other magical items, the Champions Trident doesn't look too bad....

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Against 4 or more computer opponents it's never worthwhile to send any commanders except maybe a diseased commander or a mercenary commander which lost his troops.

Other topics have been started regarding the death match and overall the combined prize of the trident and experience are definitely not worth the life of a good commander. Everyone attending the death match will be dying except for the winner and in some cases even the winner dies.

I really do like the death match... but it's prizes in Dom_2 makes it just not worth sending anyone.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Normally it's best to avoid the deathmatch in sp... but in mp it is more or less ignored and is a good opportunity to beef up some commander.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

The Trident also bestows its wielder Quickness.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Hopefully the prize(s) have been improved for Dominions_3 for the death match.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

I'm NOT a vet to this game, but I will say that my experiences in SP say that you will probably win the deathmatch. I think of all the times I've sent a good SC into the deathmatch, I've only lost once. Sending in a diseased/crippled SC isn't a bad idea, but remember that the trident is going to be stuck with him. If you have a powerful SC you want to get the trident, why not? Then again, I only play in games with 4-8 opponent AIs. I would probably never try to get it in MP, though. People are too crafty. The chance of an assassin being in the tourny is WAY too high. Also don't forget that winning the trident means that SC will always be required to attend the tourny until death!

=$= Big J Money =$=

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Well obviously SC's are good in it vrs ai, they suck vrs SC's (even decently equiped black servants can slaughter most enemy pretenders). Also dont forget the trident cant be removed and uses up valuable hand slots where you could have a life-drain (nerfed in dom3) weapon.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

You see, it is precisely that line of reasoning that makes the deathmatch viable in mp. That's what everyone is thinking, and if that's what they are thinking, why would anyone bother sending someone to the deathmatch just to mess up the other players (or anyone at all)?

In practice, three types of commanders get sent:

1. Junk commanders with little better to do, that no one cares if they lose.

2. Mages that can use battle summons. Chances are very good they win against whatever mediocre commander is sent, and it is still a rather trivial investment. Sending one of these is about as close as it gets to sending something just to mess up other combatants. Even for a frail caster the trident is useful, quickness, bonus research from the xp, and possibly a useful heroic ability.

3. SCs/thugs that can't afford to be equipped, and would be greatly improved by the trident (or rather, the combo of the trident, the extra xp, quickness, and whatever heroic ability they get). These can be anything from beefy national commanders all the way to, in rare cases, pretenders. The worry of getting them harmed if the deathmatch comes up again is not very large, no one knows when it will happen, and getting something ready ahead of time on the off chances is a waste of time. Further, it's not really worth anyone's effort unless they are in conflict with you anyway.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

If I ever attempt to win the tournament, I just send in a decent combat mage, the quickness from the trident can be quite helpful in the battlefield.
Other than that, I just send people to disrupt the other combatants.

Also, in SP, sending a decent assassinish unit can be quite useful, as the AI seems to love sending its pretender into the tournament, and often not equipped to handle combat (I've lost count of how many great mothers I've seen die in the tournament)

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

I think I've just figured out who QM really is.

=$=

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Jesus?Santa?Ozzy Osbourne?

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

How can sending someone disrupt other combatants when 90% of them will die anyway? Well, a Knife of the Damned will probably end up with the winner and not only curse the poor fool but also keep him from holding the trident, which is just cruel. I'm still not sure it's worthwhile.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Superman? Batman? Sun Tzu?

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

He's the guy sending in SCs to the death match.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

I hope in Dom 3 AIs won't send as often their pretenders to the DM (except if the reward has changed to be far more powerful, or in very particular situations). Seeing in SP 5 or 6 pretenders in any DM (so... 4 or 5 pretenders dying each time) weaken a little the AI nations.

PS : if magic items effects are moddable the trident will be the first I'd change (making it the most powerful item in the game)

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

An interesting approach might be for the prize to get more powerful with each match a champion wins.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Nope. QM is none other than William T. Riker, himself. When I saw he was from Alaska, I realized instantly. It explains everything.

@thejeff
I prefer that notion, too. Making it the most powerful item in the game means it would heavily affect the end of the game from the very beginning. However, if you increase its power as the game goes on, then the effect it has becomes greater near the end of the game.

=$=

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Another annoying aspect of AIs sending pretenders is that they get upset if you beat 'em up (ie kill their pretender) and declare an unending war on you.
Not sure if that still exists in Dom3. (It might have also been patched in dom2 at some point, my memory sucks http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif)

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Hmmm...know what? I wonder if the AI does that to each other. If one AI kills another's pretender in the deathmatch, are they automatically at war? That would be hilarious if it were true. Always skip the first deathmatch and let the AI duke it out with each other for a few months.

Also, I've noticed that the deathmatch doesn't always come around. Is it a rendom event? I figured by its nature it was a scripted one.

=$=

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

Once I played pythium, gift of reasoned a hydra, named him Hero killer, equiped him to make him a little more sturdy, and sent him in to all the deathamtches to kill without getting the trident. it was fun watching him just offing commanders.

also: deathmatch is random (but you can wish for it too)

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

That was true in Dom2. Not sure in Dom3 as AI tends to send prophets instead of pretenders there.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

I really like the idea of a trident that becomes progressively more powerful the more matches you win. Or, perhaps more generally, equipment that becomes more powerful the more XP you have?

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

AI were just bluffing it didn't actually declare war when you just killed their pretender in deathmatch. You just attacked them without needing to.

Re: Champion\'s Trident - Is it worth it?
 

I have good experiences with fighting for the trident in mp. The best outcome was probably in the Rand game, where I sent my earth 9 cyclops into the arena. The quickness from the trident almost doubled his efficiency.

It was a game with very hard research so forging quickness boots or a jade armor would have taken a lot of time.

Even in Single player it´s usually worth it. The AI builds his pretenders in a pretty stupid fashion, so a decent thug/SC should win and get free quickness.