The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

So, an arena match popped up, and I sent my pretender. My pretender was with a significant force in what we shall call province A. Directly to the north of Province A was province B. So, as my pretender proceeded to the arena match, I sent the rest of the forces to province B. But, at the same time my pretender won the Arena match....AND an enemy force moved into province A. What happened was a sad end. The pretender did not appear on the world map, nor was he dead: none of my priests could execute the "call god" action. Ashurnibipi, God of Kailasa, Master of the Arena, was banished forever:(

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

That's a first.

By the way, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER send your pretender into the arena. Just a rule of thumb.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Wow wierd. Anything happen if you retake the province? Is your pretender dead in the HoF?

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

You should attack turn file, maybe we can find out what happened.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

I second the "Never ever ever ever Ever send your Pretender into the Arena" rule of thumb. Prophets are fine. Niefel Jarl Prophets are even finer-especially if you can do it early in the game. But Arena Events, other than to deposit gravely wounded commanders with slave collars and the like, should be ignored by around the 10th turn, if not sooner.

If you get the Arena event in, say, the first 3 turns (No later!), and you *know* you've got the toughest, baddest Pretender SC on the block...*And* you don't care about losing him, eventually, then it still is extremely dangerous and foolhardy, but the magic weapon and then extra experience might *possibly* be worth it, if you *need* to break a nearby neighbor. I still wouldn't recommend it, but it's a big risk that might just pay off.

Still, that's a lot of if's.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

The main problem with sending your pretender is is not losing him or her, but being stuck with the worthless item you get as a reward. The trident gives you quickness, which only leads to more fatigue for non-undead pretenders.

Jazzepi

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Not even being stuck with the item, really. Being stuck going back to the arena, that's the worst.

Though, if you send a Wyrm or something with no hands, it goes into your lab, doesn't it? Then you can hand it to someone who can use it well for awhile, until his death sentence comes up, by way of another death match. :P

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

I've always felt that the arena is a huge miss for Illwinter. It's got a ton of potential, but none of it was utilized.

Jazzepi

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Leave the poor turn file alone! :[

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

+++

It could have been a lot of interest if it gave gems (it could have been a great opportunity for diversifying), money, a couple of very worthy items... as it is, it's something ppl just ignore, and it's a real pity as it is even thematic and fun to put nations' best warriors/mages in a cruel mortal kombat 1vs1 :evil:

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

A serious dominion boost or something for a few turns would be a thematic reward for winning the arena.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Or maybe you could get an item like a standard that would boost morale.

Jazzepi

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Or maybe you could get a special arena heroic ability.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

I like this one. The boost should be greater if it's your pretender that wins.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Agreed.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

:)

Probably because JK and I never have agreed on it. I'm of the opinion that you should not send pretenders, but regular guys so they turn into heroes, while JK (who dislikes to play with diversified armies and troops and likes SC's) think it is fine and good with pretender arena battles.

We both like it and laugh whenever you people say that the trident is a lousy reward :)

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

No offense, but are you serious? Do you know how bad that trident is? I'd rather have a faithful in the hands of 90% of my SC Gods than that thing. You might as well have written "+extra encumbrance" on it.

Jazzepi

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

To be fair, the trident is quite nice for a low end thug who doesn't engage enemies alone.

Of course, that is not the person who is going to win the death match. Go figure. :P

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

The arena itself aside, I'll add this to the bug shortlist.

If I had to take a guess, this problem was caused by the province changing ownership and the pretender not being able to return because of that. A simple fix would be that the participants always return to the province where they started from, no matter who holds it. If it's in enemy hands, a battle would then ensue.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Of course :) But if you are not a SC god you wouldn't mind having it. Also it was made in the times when quickness was applicable to spells as well. But still it is not for Gods. Since I prefer not to see pretenders in the arena it suits me well that it is not too good. :)

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

OK, I'm definitively lost in the discussion :o

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

1. Recapping KO's posts - Miniscule chance of arena combat changes. Both he and JK like the present reward of the trident.

2. KO is too wise to make a definitive statement about player game play choices. But twice he hinted at the rule of thumb I used in the second post of this thred:

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER send your pretender to the arena!!!!!!!

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Holy cow. I left this conversation for too long. I do have more data to add though!

Another arena battle came up and, lo and behold, my pretender was there! This time around he was murderfied (or murderated if you prefer), and returned to the "Call God" screen like a good Pretender.

So, he was definitely in some sort of inaccessible limbo, but I can't speak to what would have happened had he won the combat.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Maybe your pretender was 'Lost in Time and Space'?

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

Perhaps he was cursed to live his life in the arena, cursed to live his life slaying gladiator chaff for the crowds, when the second deathmatch finally came, he fell and was freed from his curse.

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

He might have gone to Sweden to help KO with Dom4.:)

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

roflcopter :D

Re: The unexpected fall of Kailasa
 

The trident worked just fine on my Niefel Jarl Pretender, in the early game, anyway-and that's pretty close to a Pretender SC. With just him, I was able to take out a huge amount of Independents.

I do wish the trident were a 1-handed weapon, though. They were sometimes used 1-handed (Retiarri gladiators, in particular, who would use them with nets, for instance), as well as 2-handed, and could even be thrown, effectively.

Concerning gladiators and the Arena, here's a reference. Infact, here's enough material here for a decent mod-nation ("I, Spartacus!" anyone?):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ladiator_types