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Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
1 Attachment(s)
You will find the stats for all Lanka units (recruitable troops and national summons) attached to this post as an Excel file.
Sunray, you are welcome to include it in your units.xls file. Lanka is a great nation, and it had been a long time I had not played a Blood nation; I am really enjoying it at the moment. Below are some comments and humble tips to those who would like to give it a try. Broad lines
Advantages
Other nice features
Weaknesses
Recruitable troops – quick walkthrough
Recruitable commanders – quick walkthrough
National summons – troops – quick walkthrough
National summons – commanders – quick walkthrough
Tips
Comments and advice welcome! Meanwhile, I’ve got to find a way to fight back Oceania who has just come out of the water on the day I have declared war to T’ien Chi. Damned fish. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Just a thing you seems to have missed about the demon troops : they don't have any helmet, meaning that they're vulnerable to low strenght attacks that hit the head , were only the natural protection apply for them.
The only sacred troop that does have a helmet are the Kala-Mukha, and they're not capitol-only, and are not marked as demons (an advantage : they cannot be banished) They have only two minor flaws : they don't get the "need not eat" ability and are gluttonous, and they cost more in gold and ressource that the others units (but as theyr are more useful ...) The advantages of the capitol-only demons, are being cheaper, and a better mouvement value (Palankashas have 15 AP versus 8 for the Kala-Mukha, so they can be good flanking units) Because of the lack of helmet on the demons units, I find that they're less survivable than the Kala-Mukha. It would have been a good idea i think if in exchange for this weakness they had something else really useful (a bite secondary attack would have been perfect for the tiger-headed demons, even if it means increasing their cost) Another thing : i think that the "do not need to eat" ability doesn't work exactly as you seems to think when the unit is gluttonous. From what I understand, any normal unit need its size in supply to prevent starving, and "do not need to eat" reduce this number to 0. The gluttonous ability works like a negative supply bonus (in fact, it *is* a negative supply bonus, a unit with a supply bonus (for exemple your nature mages) that are gluttonous only show the supply bonus icon, with a lesser value that expected) What does it means ? If you have a size 3 demon with the "do not need to eat" ability and gluttonous -4, he will never starve and will reduce the supply available by 4 only, so he will only be the same as a size 4 unit (such as a jotun giant). At least, it's what *I* think is how it works. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Very nice guide.
Note: The Dakinis are H2, not H3. Quote:
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Jack, the supply consumption is based on size-1 actually. A person (size 2) eats 1 supply and a knight has size 3 so eats twice as much.
I find Lanka to be an amazingly good nation. Thanks for the write up GrobRIM! The only thing you left out is the skeletal monkeys you can reanimate. Not amazing units by any means, but they're very fun. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
I really like these guys, combat-wise, especially with a high bless. I totally agree about the bite, and donkeys/mules bite too, I promise! I'm curious as to why the heavy penalty against fire, since they live in heat and don't seem to have any water abilities or magic, but perhaps they're just really dry.
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Heat != dry, HB. Ever been to the tropics?
Edi |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
I've been to Florida, the tropics are wet. You're thinking the desert, unless you're on a desert island, hence the name: "desert island".
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Thanks GrobRIM, I've added the missing stats you found in my file.
cheers |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Now that we've had a while to play around with them, any other Lanka tips and advice out there?
Personally, I'm trying to figure out a use for the Rhakshasis. They're more expensive and less survivable than the Rhaksharajas (who also have better leadership and priest power), and for what? Nature magic? The much cheaper Yoginis have that covered. Seduction? Well, after trying that out, it just seems to be an good way to get an expensive unit killed, for little in exchange (maybe a couple assassinations, and some seduced crap commander you have no use for). I guess they could make interesting stealth commander for Atavi troops, but wow, pretty expensive for that, I think. So what am I missing/misunderstanding here? And oh, anyone know for sure whether demons are immune to disease or not? |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Don't think of seduction as a way to capture units, but as a better assassination ability.
With it, your Rhakshasis are de facto assassin mages that can, with the correct spells/items, kill most commanders. I once used one that to capture a indep province near my capitol while my main army was elsewhere (indeps str 9) : it took 3-4 turns to kill all the commanders, and one more to capture the province, it was a lone commander, and not an army. And of course sometimes you get lucky and get a free commander. Usually just a normal commander (always useful for carrying troops to the front), but sometimes you can be very lucky and get a mage with useful magic paths or a good ability. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Yeah, I've tested out the Rhakshasis myself, and they just seem too expensive to risk in an assassin's role, at least in an MP game. Are there any ways to increase the chance of a seduction? Items that increase penetration perhaps?
If not, sounds like they're only worth buying for a chance at D3 or N3 (at 350 a pop though, that's an expensive bet). Well, we'll see if anyone comes up with another idea for them. Until then, I'll toss out a few Lanka tips for others to try: 1. Find a crap province next to the capitol (swamp or something is good), and start re-animating ghouls. Even a lowly indie priest can do it! About 2/3 of your ghouls should be big monkey-ghouls (how cool is that!) who are about double the power of regular ghouls. Not bad for a province that might otherwise go to waste. The unit description (I forgot their name unfortunately) says the odds for killer ghoul-monkeys declines markedly the further away from the capitol, but I haven't tested out by how much. 2. 15 death gems and a little research can easily get you into the water! 3 gems and Ench 2 get you a Mound King commander, I think, and 12 gems and Conj 2 get you 20 Ganas. They are poor amphibians still, but their ethereal ability should keep them in the fight long enough to rout armies consisting only of your average Joe-merman or triton. If you want a little more insurance, you can fill out your force with some re-animated soulless or longdead (or use 12 more gems for another batch of ganas to be extra sure). On another note, in an SP game once, I GoRed some of those 4-armed Davanas, with very nice results, as they tended to get some random levels of air/death/priest magic to go with their giant size and multiple limbs... |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Hmm, no action here recently, so I'll ask another question:
What should be done with Lanka's national hero? I forget the name, but the 4-armed fallen angle thingy with blood-3. Seems like 4 deadly weapons in 4 flailing hands might be nice, but the low HP (only 28?) seems to rule out any real SCing. You'd get more 4-armed fun out of GoRing those size-6 national blood summons. All I seem to do is use it as a blood hunter. A fairly good one, to be sure, but seems kind of a waste. Does Lanka have another hero? This is the only one I've ever seen. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
cat charm increases chance of seduction on women, bear charm on men, I think.
I dunno about GoRing blood summons, but the mandaha is hands down the best non-unique SC chassis in EA. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Demons are immune to disease. I've put fever fetishes on them and they don't lose hp.
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
well the whole gender thing was a non-issue in dom 2, as there were no male seducers (I don't know if dom 3 has them or not, but it makes the distinction that you can't seduce the same gender - were as in dom 2 it was said women simply could not be seduced...)
I know cat charm was supposed to make women prettier, (thus increasing the succubus' chance of seduction.) where as the bear charm could give her a beard. (the only other seducer being the demon lord who had some other command besides seduce) maybe I am just misinterpreting flavor text, but i didn't just make that up, I read it somewhere. (for dom 2) |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
I just discovered this nations 3 days ago and... it's already one of my favorites. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
That's fun : Bandar Log is mainly an underdog, Lanka is now a kind of ubernation. No real weakness, lots of good units and nat'l summons, many magic paths/strategies possible.
But sure they're pretty cool and fun ! |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Devasura (the fallen Devata) is the Hero I'm wondering about. He seems interesting if you get him early in the game, but later seems pretty puny compared to a Davana that's been Gift of Reasoned (96HP, size-6, sacred, and once gifted gets H2 and an occasional level in air and/or blood). Guess Devasura's not much more useful than a 4-armed blood slave catcher.
Has anyone spotted another Hero for Lanka? |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Yes, they're good, but maybe not that good ? They should be bested by fire using nations.
Do I miss a point or the Fly Ability of Dakinis and Mandahas is almost useless since lanka has no flying units ? |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
They can fly to the back of the enemy lines? They can move quickly alone on the map? They can command other flying units(certain summons).
How do you guys equip your mandahas/dakinis ect? |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
mandahas flying is pretty okay because they make great SCs (so can be off on their own)
also many of the demon armies that one can summon up with this nation (storm demons, etc) are flying. I like to give them a wraith crown, armor of invulnerability (or stone, or if i don't have earth I give them the chain mail of displacement) amulet of antimagic, pendant of luck, boots of quickness, charcoal shield and shadow brand. Cast soul vortex, mirror image, maybe mistform or holy avenger, and lay on in. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
No regeneration? I know with their buffs, luck, ethereality and high stats they will be tough to damage and i realise that that soul vortex helps but still...
Also you'll need to avoid the lifeless. to avoid fatigue problems. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
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For equipment, just had my first Mandaha at endgame against Abysia, so it's specialized and certainly not optimized, but it did greatly the job : flambeau, wraith crown, hydra skin armor, boots of quickness, burning pearl, ring of fire. And yes, it's expensive and most was made by the pretender... |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Just an aside: Mandaha's are not even close to free. They have a gold cost of 600 which translates to 20 upkeep per turn when you account for sacredness.
Doesn't Mandaha also autocast darkness at the beginning of combat? The description implies something like that so I added it to the DB under special abilities, but I could be wrong. Edi |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
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actually the blood armor would be pretty hot on the mandaha for freeing up a misc slot. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
That is the kind of thinking we need around here http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
I tried GoR the Davanas - they come out with holy 2 and sometimes some blood or air magic. (and the slots of a nataraja of course)
I was playing with giving them two lightening bows, and boots of quickness - but I was underwelmed by the damage that bow did even with their strength. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Davanas have 4 random picks: 25% for A, A, B, B, so the best they could do is A2B2, but more likely they'll just have one or two magics.
Edi |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Mandahas cost gold?
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Yes. They cost 600 gold but have only half the upkeep due to being sacred. It is much the same as trolls, sea trolls, sea kings and troll kings costing gold despite being summoned, though troll kings can actually be recruited from one poptype that I think can only appear through scripting.
Edi |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Lanka updata: Pal's and Kals cost have been increased, no to like 55, and 65.
I create a triple bless imprisoned pretender. Astral, Nature, Fire, Spring. High magic resistance + regen makes the demons mostly immune to generic banishes. The only units I make are atavi archers, anasuarus 33/4 NND, and Kals which are superior to any indie troops. Usually I O+2, Sloth-3, Death-3, Heat+3, Magic-3 luck 0 Since I only build sacred - I usually have money coming out of the ears - which goes to mercs, temples, and forts. Spreading the death dominion while your troops don't eat is fun. Plus toss in some disease charms. Baku is an undead commander - useful as he is amphibious. Blood hunt early and voila. My 2nd favorite EA nation next to tienchi. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
I lost my baku http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif He got killed by a PoD.
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Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
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However, considering making one a prophet. Script smite. Will generally kill any unit you cant seduce. You look like a genius when you get early game magic items this way. |
Re: Lanka: unit stats, comments and tips
Thread necromancy ftw.
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Edit: nevermind, i think i got it. Let me ask a different question: why F9 instead of W9? |
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