Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I'm curious what people put on their Niefel Jarls (E9N6 blessed) in the early game. Let's say, you're limited to Cons4 and death and water gems and maybe blood slaves, with suggestions for what to do with extra gems of other types being welcome (like AESN). Also suggestions from Cons6 are welcome as well, but focus on Cons4 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Horror helmet is one of the first, and one of the best pieces of gear you can give them. After that, copper plate, amulet of missle protection, and either lightning spear or (better) sword of swiftness are usually the first gear I give them. Ideally, I'd give them ring of fire and charm of magic resistance, they're low cost but can be harder for Niefel to make. Lead shield's another good low cost item.

All that aside, you have to consider that eventually you're going to want to equip your Niefel Jarls with top end items-so the more gems you spend on cheaper items, the less you'll have for wraithcrowns, jade armour, fire/ice/shadowbrands etc.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I give them a Horror helmet first, then a lucky pendant and amulet of MR next (granted, you have to have astral, but I always make sure of that). Then I make Frost Brands for them, and starshine skullcaps when I get to it (for the extra MR).

I rarely equip them with any armor except what they come with, until later in the game. They come equipped with a wonderful shield, which I will only replace later with an Eye shield, or something better. Occasionally, if I have one in the Hall of Fame (quite common for them) that has Heroic attack ability, I will give that one two Frost Brands.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

thanks guys. I just took out arco's capital, so i do have some astral income. I'll hit up arcane probing as soon as i get cons4 done with so i can increase that income some for the lucky and the MR.

and yeah, i know spending gems on cheap items will take away from more important stuff, but this is a really large game (19 players, i think) on a very crowded map, so I'm gonna have to stay very competitive through every stage of the game.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

You want to make your Jarls ultra-magic resistant. That is their only weakness (when double blessed). They have a good MR out of the box, but you want to make them ultra-MR. That way, they can resist the nasty spells that will be cast at them later on (Charm, Petrify). They can take out entire armies, but they have to be able to resist the powerful spells.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

yeah, i'm well aware of the petrify weakness, as I'm sure you know http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Yes, you taught me the petrify lesson Xavier. You did notice that my later Jarls were paralyzed frequently, but never Petrified again.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Sure did. And because I was fighting C'tis and Tir as well, I had to split my army up so I couldn't dedicate enough casters (or troops!) for the paralyze to be sufficient to take you down. Losing those two or three battles in your second fort after taking your capital really, really cost me.

Back on topic though:

You don't use boots of the messenger or amulet of resilience or anything? Fatigue hasn't been a problem yet with the E9 bless, but with quickness up they *are* gaining 4 fatigue per turn, and their buff cycle puts them up over 20 fatigue to begin with. In a prolonged battle that's certain death, is it not?

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I use both of those, when I can get them. Resilience is just as important as anti-magic and regeneration. The boots are nice to have, as soon as you get a good nature income. You need hags for that, though, and that takes away from other things, for a unit that may start out decrepit.

Lately, I tend to play Niefel with an 8 astral, 8 earth, 4 nature bless Great Enchantress, which means that building hags-or Skratti, for that matter-before she wakes up generally isn't worth it. My whole economy goes into Jarls and Niefels.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I do the 9 Earth, 9 Nature double bless. The earth bless pretty much takes care of fatigue, and the nature bless gives them good regen. I have never had a problem with fatigue on them, but yes, I'm sure some boots would be helpful.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Why 8-Astral? You do realize that you cannot use an astral bless to go over 18 MR, and N. Jarl's start there? If its to cast the important globals later, than you can probably afford to go a little less and use boosters, unless you are real min-maxer.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Actually, it's not for the Niefel Jarls at all. It's more for the Niefel scouts (which are holy) and the regular Niefel recruitables. Astral 6 is plenty, though. I only go for 8 Earth/8 Astral because they're cheap with a Great Enchantress.

If you want a really fearsome Bless for Niefel that works well in the longer term, try an Imprisoned Enchantress with Earth 6, Astral 6, Nature 4, Fire 4, Air 4, and Death 4. It requires a certain amount of spell support in the mid to late game, but it's enough to thrash the early game, without sacrificing too much in scales.

I'm working on a Niefel strategy guide right now, though, which hopefully will lay out Niefel strategy a little more clearly than has been done before.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

I'd say loose the Air, Fire, or Death in exchange for W4, as Jarls can really boost their defense and that +2 helps.

Re: Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?
 

Water Bless is pretty meaningless for Niefelheim. It adds absolutely nothing to their spell range, and the +2 defense does little to protect them. Even Water 9 or 10 isn't all that great for Niefelheim. Fire and Death make the Niefel troops themselves better hitters, and add to their ability to cause afflictions. Not absolutely necessary ofcourse, but nice to have, and a lot cheaper than Fire 9. Of the Blesses I mentioned, Air is the most expendable for the Niefels themselves, but it's invaluable in that it gives me a Pretender with Air 3/Earth 1, so I can create Watchers. Watchers are key to good PD for Niefelheim.

You could drop the Air, Fire, and Death (or just Fire and Death) if you want to conserve points, but I certainly would never replace it with even a high level Water Bless.