Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Contact Troll seems painfully slow, while Troll´s King Court seems awfully expensive for just 17 trolls. I do not need the king, just the damned trolls! :D
Any other summoning options that I have missed?

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

No.
And be careful with the trolls. They cost gold for upkeep.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Are you sure of upkeep for sea trolls and king? Is that because they fit the rule of thumb "summoned unit can also be recruited via gold/resources in an appropriately sited province"?
Ssj

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Yes, that's why. There's an uncommon site with recruitable trolls (http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Troll_Pit). I believe that there's one that lets you recruit Troll Kings too, but I don't recall what the name of it is off-hand. I'm fairly certain it was used in the Preponderance game.

If you ever want to be certain about a particular unit, check the wiki or Edi's database. Anything that has a gold cost listed will cost upkeep.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Roger that. Doubt the sea king are recruitable given their gen gem capability (yet they show cost of 150...)
Ssj

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Join IRC and start a thread on bagpipes and oboes.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Was that crossposting rdonj? Keep the thread on topic.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Troll gold cost is a flavor thing as well. Read their descriptions and it mentions they like gold or something to the effect. So even if a troll cannot be recruited from a site, it will still have a gold upkeep.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

So, if Trolls have upkeep etc, what are other typical heavy units that can also serve as a wall and can be summoned in numbers without upkeep?

I think I remember some units heavy in HP that resemble a thick tree or something but cant recall their name?

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Vine ogres make good walls. They're really gem efficient too with an ivy crown.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Kydnides. 15 for 10 in CBM. Very hard to kill with awe.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Yes, but I was asking for other type of units, one that really looks like a green or black tree of some kind with tons of HP, last time I saw it it was Pythium using it in LA aganist my Utgard giants as a defensive wall, cant quite recall the name...

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Dark vines. They're a blood+nature summon.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Yes! thanks.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Vine ogres are a much cheaper, easier to mass meat shield (or wood shield, in this case), than Dark Vines.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Except that the ogres have abysmal MR (5). You also might want to look into crossbreeding if you don't mind losing the units. If you want something that doesn't break easily, try crushers and lumber constructs, they are not too cheap though.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Summon Animals?

Or drakes with dragon master.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Summon animals gets you, well, animals. Which are low hp and not all that useful.

Drakes are kind of a joke among experienced players. But I've used them, and they do serve their purpose. Fire drakes are probably the best, but Cave drakes are tough, and do not usually rout.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

i like the summon snakes spell for meat shield. size 4 and decent hp and mr 12 makes them good magic decoys to protect high gold units like knights. spells will tend to target the snakes more than your knights. being poison resistant and having a decent morale is a bonus. use the snakes as magic decoys and shield infantry to decoy arrows.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

Vine ogres were the best early to mid-game summoned walls in dom2, but in dom3 I haven't had much luck with them.

For seriously large quantities of trolls in games that lack mass producible clams, massed troll kings might be worthwhile - IIRC they produce earth gem income that more than makes up for their gold upkeep.

Wights look okay to me if you don't mind the chill, not just as walls but as an actual main line unit of battle, but I haven't tried using them much.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

No Earth Gem income.

Sea Kings produce Water gems. Troll Kings do not. On the other hand they do make nice thugs...

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

just wondering why you say drakes are a joke. with dragon master they're very cost efficient, but well you'll need the proper mages, so not as easily accessible for some nations. still, they're very cheap and good at what they do, being meat shields and having a decent artillery power(fire+ice drakes only) oh and the wyrms(also affected by dragon master) can fly, so they're great bodyguards for flying thugs...

as for the OP, what to summon greatly depends on your nation's magic access, and well luck in site searching too... there are plenty of viable summons to amass, from said drakes to snakes, lions(4 types, 1 for each season), trolls(land and sea), vine men+ogres, manifest vitriols(the new lion on alteration instead of the standard conjuration), etc. oh and there are the blood and undead summons too if you have access to them... so yeah, plenty of options, very nation dependent...

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

I didn't mean to say that drakes are a joke. It's just that you will often be ridiculed for them "oh, he spent gems on drakes". Dragon master does make them easier to mass. And, en masse, they are not bad.

Vitriols are personal favorite of mine. It's really hard to mass them though.

Re: Most efficient form to summon Trolls in big numbers?
 

And yet, somehow baalz managed to get hundreds of those in Lapis... that was a very scary game.