What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I'm bored, so I think I will start another favorites thread. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif What's your favorite summoning spell?

I rather like Lichcraft for the nice immortal death mage you get. Summon Umbrals are also nice for the fantastic deal they represent.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

i am quite enthralled with all the la argatha summons, they are very powerful. the argatha specific level 5 tomb oracle is in many situations a far better summon than things such as the level 7 & 8 elemental royalty and golems. e3 d3 h3 mucho hp and they are 'regenable'. e3 and d3 is a very versatile combo; the h3 is icing on the cake. umbrals are cheep cheep cheep and can be summoned by the equally cheepo basic non-cap mage; so you can summon up a storm of them anywhere.

edit: in discrete response to the OP, I guess i would have to say for the moment tomb oracles are my fave, given their cost, position in the research tree, and ability. they are really a lot of bang for relatively little research and gem buck.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

My favorite spell is probably my most unfavorite spell as well.... this is Eater of the Dead.

I really like the creation for Eater of the Dead since it captures the blob effect on the battlefield, it's also able to grow stronger and the image is great... there's lots of creativity within this unit.

UNFORTUNATELY... it has major weaknesses making it my most unfavorite spell as well. First it only has 18 MG resistance, considering it takes 50 astral and 4D plus 4S to cast that's low since the unit only has two misc slots. Considering the cost, necessary paths and research level the default MG resistance should be 25. Second an enemy can destroy it by summoning one of his own... there goes all the hard work on feeding him to the larger size(s). Third there's no warning when the creature will turn independent so the time and gems spent can end up hurting you as it may turn and attack your kingdom, ideally there should be a one_turn warning. Fourth the creature is ridiciously overpriced at 50 astral gems... no MP veteran would summon this creature except out of fun.

Surprisingly nothing has been done to decrease its cost or drastically improve the creature so it remains unused for MP games. I'm developing a unique SP game which will need a mod and plan to drop its cost to 20 astral, yet still doubt the creature will be summoned.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I did notice that the game gives you a warning that the eater is getting difficult to control when you feed it too quickly. Maybe this is a new feature though.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Yes I've seen those, but there's no warning before it reaches the final stage. A one turn or two turn warning would be nice so it could effectively be dropped further away from the provinces of its creator.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

What is it's final stage? Is there a specific HP number? That would be nice. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

With patience and proper protection you can have the creature reach its final stage... it takes time which is more like babysitting. It's final stage is unit_ID 997 "Unfettered" having 5 attacks yet it's main attack is still trampling. It's fear is 10... and HP vary depending on how much life its drained from the last battle.

Yet it only has 18 MG resistance so it's not very difficult to kill with spells. Also no protection from missile weapons by default so two independent commanders with ethereal crossbows could probably kill it without blinking.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I probably hasn't been updated because no one has mentioned that it's magic resistance is too weak. Increasing it's MR by one for every form after the first would give the Unfettered pretty good total mr.

Once it is fed well enough and has regeneration in the hundreds it may survive soul slay. It will have over 1000 hp. It would probably get killed by the swarms surrounding it, because it doesn't have much hp to spare, and it starts battles with less hp than it can regenerate up to, so it doesn't really change anything in this case.

The fact that it can be summoned as the small form is probably a bug. It shouldn't be summonable if any of the forms exists in the game.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Hmm, I wonder if it's CBM stats are better.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

To get back to the original question... I like Abominations. They are kind of battle specific (not usable in every battle), but damn, they look cool. And I love it when they blink their eye.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Call of the wild.

Boring I know = ).

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I just checked, and the Eater gets +2 mr and +10 % regen per form, for a final 26 mr and 50% regen when it goes independent.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

For fun and styleness: Troll Kings Court.
For just a medicore caster turn and some earth gems (okay, a lot of it) you get another medicore earth caster, who can take a few hits in combat and brings a gang of real heavy hitters!

Well, if I think about it again, trolls are all I need. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Lamia and fairy queens are two of my favorites. Spectre Mages can make incredible thugs/raiders with a bit of luck, too.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Jade Serpent http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif)

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Of course tartarians. But I think I am addicted to Golems, either they are the best thing I can get or the best thing that will work [mindless]. And I have lost over 5 of them to turn limit bug already.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Dakini. They are awesome

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I like the harbinger.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

wraith lords.
immortal reusable thug; but they can also take down chaff armies with ease. and they can even sit there summoning ghosts.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

I make a big difference between commander summons (including non commanders which get all equipment slots with GOR) and monster summons.
I think there are a lot of good commander summons on different research levels, my favourites being the sea kings court, Wraith Lord, Bane Lord and the arch devils. I have an exceptional dislike for Tartarian Gate. Regardless what you get, 10 death gems are just absurdly cheap! You don't even get a bane lord for that.
There are also some very powerfull race specific summons, especially from Agartha or the Ulm Vampire Counts. There are probably more, but I didn't play all races yet.

I personally think most monster summons are highly overpriced or I didn't find the right way to play them yet. The only good ones are Tarasque (first) and Abomination (second). However, both are overshadowed by the ridicilous cheap Tartarians. Leviathan also isn't that bad if you're playing a sea nation.

I also like the Pangaea Carrion summons...

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

There's also a big difference between thug/SC summons and mage summons. Though some fall into both categories.

Any mage you can summon that gets you paths you don't have or higher levels in paths you do have is invaluable. In other games where you've already got those paths, they may not even be worth summoning. Or you can summon them for use as thugs, but not care as much

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Belphegor is my favorite summon (Bind Demon Lord). But for non-unique summons, I'm a Wraith Lord kind of guy.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Yeah I like the Harbinger too. Cheap, effective, and looks cool too.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Wraith Lord. I'm a sucker for immortality, and with Soul Vortex they're thuggable even when naked. Add a Shadow Brand, a Luck Shield, and Winged Boots and you're golden.

-Max

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

For thug commanders I will also vote for Wraith Lord. Though I also like Air Queens. Spectral Mage is excellent to provide access to any paths. Faerie Queen is invaluable as it provides healing.
As for troops I liked Pale Riders until they were moved to higher research level. Another good troop are Claymen I think. Iron Dragon at higher levels.
And - currently - Buried in the Ice!! Even troopers are almost thugs, while shamans have good path access & may be turned into very good thugs indeed. Not ethereal, though.. But this mass of good troops is worthy just the same..

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Troops: Banefire Archers and Crushers
General Leader: Bane Lord
National Leader: Angel of Wrath

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

As a general rule, I find the national summons rather better than the all-access summons for the gem cost, although they aren't necessarily the best summons.

Personally I love Sea King's court. They're certainly far superior to the Earth magic landlubber troll court. The sea trolls are only mediocre fighters and weakly armoured, but their huge HP and regeneration make them hard to kill. The Sea King himself is not only a great thug, but has W3 and spawns W gems.

As I see it, you get 20 trolls easily worth a gem apiece, and the remaining 35 is a fair cost for an magic level 3 thug-quality mage, a harbinger being comparable.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

But ye get no meese! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

Mandahas for sheer battlefield brutality.

I also LOVE faire court for branching out magically, although lamia queens are pretty damn good for this too.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

moundfiends!

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

First, an introduction.

I only play SP, and mainly, well, ONLY for FUN. I'm not a maniac of 'The Ultimate Tactic' or 'The Ugly But Very Efficient Micro-Management For Winning With Minimum Losses And Ascend All The Time' way of playing.

So it is. Now, let's see what I like to summon ...

For troops :

I really like ghosts and pale riders http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
And longdead archers, but not easily accessible (F & D is not a common combination).

Also scorpion men for Abysia. And so, scorpion beast sometimes, when I'm not playing Abysia and want some exotic in my army http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
Sirrush are cool too.

And sometime I like to crossbreed or animals summoning when I'm in need for some cannon fodder http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
Although vine ogres 'en masse' are usefull in early game against indies or small enemy army.
Great lions from pride of lion are a quick way to have a fast rear attacker squad when you're lacking cavalry (or gold to buy it). But a bit expensive at 25 gems.

The classic : call of the wind > cheap paratroopers, and a fast flying gem-carrier, even misc. magic items carrier, like cauldron of brood and so.

I also like the trolls, with a preference for sea ones. Although I like the moose knights http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Totally useless, but very cool concept indeed !!!

I like the storm demons, for all the sparkles they do http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

For commanders (excep all the unique summons, obviously) :

My prefered are spectral mages to help magic diversity if needed.

I like Ivy Kings & Treelords, Sleeper (Firbolg), Naiad and the Kokythiads from Stream from Hadès.

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

"The Ugly But Very Efficient Micro-Management For Winning With Minimum Losses And Ascend All The Time", I belong more to this crowd but haven't succeeded as of yet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

That said, my favorite summon is the Harbinger.
Good chassis: check
Good magic: check
Cheap: check
Low research & magic requirements: check
Good mobility: check^2

Re: What\'s your favorite summoning spell?
 

CROSSBREEDING! I'm surprised it's only been mentioned once. It's so much fun! Gathering a massed horde of foul spawn around your Freak Lord is delicious, especially when there's Ettins and Chimeras striding among them.