Pretender Cost
 

May I ask the veterans here about the relative cost of a few of the Pretenders?

Why does the Master Alchemist cost 50, but the Great Sage 35 and the Arch Mage 30? They appear nearly identical, except for the following differences:

<PRE>
M.A. G.S. A.M.
Cost 50 35 30
Defense 10 13 17
Precision 10 14 13
Move 2/12 2/10 3/28</PRE>

The Arch Mage has considerably faster Move, better Precision than the Master Alchemist, and the highest Defense of the group, yet costs the least. Are there other, hidden differences?

Why is the Manticore free? It looks like a combat monster.

Re: Pretender Cost
 

There is some dispute and argument over some aspects; but.

The primary difference is their special abilities and path costs.

Master Alchemist +50% Alchemy Bonus (+50% Money ConVersion on Gems) Path: 10 [Personal Note: I think the Alchemist *should* start with 1 Earth OR 1 Fire]

Archmage 3 Movement, No Feet Slot, Low Dominion Path: 10 I don't like the Archmage much, he's not an arch in my book or much of a mage. His Low Dominion as well makes you have to at least spend 2 Levels in increasing Dominion to even get 3rd Degree Scales.

Great Sage. +Research Bonus, Path:10. He is good if you want him sitting around Researching and casting Rituals, you'll want to forge him some protection items, because a stiff breeze will kill him.

If I had to choose between those 3, I'd choose either the Alchemist (if I planned on Alchemizing) or the Sage (If I planned on going Rainbow).

The Manticore is Physically powerful but starts with no magic and costs Path:50. If you plan on going one path (say Earth, or Astral) he would be ideal.

Re: Pretender Cost
 

Just a slightly different take on what Zen was saying:

Master Alchemist: Great for nations with pricey troops and 'extra' earth/fire gems.

Great Sage: Great for nations that research poorly and desperatly need a boost. Makes a credible rainbow or bless pretender.

Archmage: With the right protection spells / items can backstop an army with a variety of spells that they simply cannot get from national mages.

~Aldin

Re: Pretender Cost
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The master Alchemist is Ulm only though, which is one nation that doesn't tend to need extra gold unless they get very lucky with independent mages.

The great sage works very well with Ulm, and can get you to conjuration 3, evocation 4 within 10 turns if you also recruit a master smith every turn.

I'd like it if Ulm had a grandmaster smith pretender that had the same forge bonus as the master smith's, but might cost around 50-75.