MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

I looked around, but I don't think there were any threads about this rather significat workover they got. Which is kind of suprising, or then everyone at Dominions got super elite while I was away, and can easily see their weaknesses and strengths. But eh...

So let's talk about Tien Chi.

Well. Now the commanders (most of them) look really cool. So, uh, that's nice. The plethora of fortune tellers seem to be kind of tailored to counter the ill effects of Misfortune. I suppose Order coupled with Misfortune is still a very potent strategy?

The veggie chemist mages. The Apotechary guy is cheap, but strikes as kind of "meh what's the point". The Alchemist is better (I think he's got the healing power also), but 1N with 1 Random isn't very heart warming.

The Ministers of Magic are neat, cheap researchers are always nice. I once noticed that they could be recruited in labless castles. WAD? The Geomancers...hmmm...they look like they're just *made* the forge the Communion Matrix items. Apart from that, they aren't too hot. But they are fortune tellers. And old.

Master Of The Way and Celestial Master look pretty much unchanged.

But the Imperial Alchemist...oh wow. Lots and lots of magic. But is it useful? At least he isn't not burneded by a Magic Duel risk. Nature opens up at least Eagle Eyes, and I think he can use battle magic, depending on his pick. Now...thinking...I'm thinking that perhaps these guys could be equiped with the Communion master matrix and have Ministers of Magic/Apotecharies/Alchemists/whatevers as slaves, boost them to a level where they can do higher level spells and use Relief and whatnot.

I see some Ministry Troops have been added. Somewhere halfway in power between the weaker and the stronger infantry? OK.

What kind of research and magic strategy you would use for MA Tien Chi? TC still strikes me as kind of a lots of magic, little coherence nation, or maybe it's that I haven't played this game seriously for a rather long time. Hm. Rush for Communion Matrix items? Use the evocation combo spells (magma, acid). Boosters? What?

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Just two notes:
Ministers of Magic are WAD as far as I can tell, just like certain other units with randoms who can be recruited without a lab.

And I personally really like Geomancers. Yes, they can forge communion items nicely. But they are also cheap, fortune teller researching mages who are more reliable than Ministers of magic, and slightly cheaper(but 2 more upkeep, due to being non-sacred) - and in my opinion better mages - than masters of the way. They are great communion slaves, being the cheapest guarenteed S1 that Tien Chi gets. They also make great communion masters - getting access to high level astral magic and high level earth magic for spells like Gifts from Heaven, Will of the fates, army of gold/lead, weapons of sharpness ect. Their summon earthpower also boosts their slaves reinvigoration.

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Summon earthpower boosts the slaves revigeration?

I'm playing MA TC right now and am still very new to Dominions. It's about turn 16, my research is coming along fine because I've concentrated on it, but gem production is spotty. No fire and little astral.

With only level 1 or 2 in any form of magic (without boost) TC mages seem to be at a disadvantage to Bandar Log mages who have fewer paths but higher levels. This is particularly a concern to me with Astral (magic duel), since so many TC mages have S1 or a rare S2, as opposed to Bandar Log mages who can have S3 or 4.

What's the best way to deal with this, only use non-S mages in battle? My Pretender is high in Astral so making the items isn't a problem once I get to Const6 - still need the gems.

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Yep. Self-buffs cast by a communion master will affect the slaves. This is particularly spiffy for Earthpower, since that 4 reinvigoration synergizes well with fatigue spreading.

By the way, you have to be really, REALLY careful if a communion master ever casts 'Phoenix Pyre'. Done as part of a plan, the results can be interesting. Done unintentionally, and, well, they can be hilarious.

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

FedSlayer, don't forget buffs like mistform or ironskin/invunerability on your communion slaves if you can take the time - personal luck is good too, anything to keep 'em safe. Quickness is also great if you can combine it with a banner of the damned if you have a limited number of slaves(2 drain life casts per slave per turn should handle fatigue) and ranged weapons+quickness is also nice.

For astral mages, a pretender with high magic showing up, perhaps via teleportation, can take out a large number of enemy mages who want to magic duel you. Rishis can get S4 iirc, so you will probably need either very high astral - I think 7-8 gives you 100% chance to beat S4 but I'm not sure - or immortality would be best to keep your god safe.
The threat of a teleporting god should keep enemy magic dueling low, although raiding parties/other small forces should probably avoid using many astral mages.
Master alchemists, perhaps taking advantage of crystal/slave matrixes(slaves on regular alchemists might be best for path synergy), could pick up the slack when you don't have god-support for your forces.

And as for making items to boost your astral power for protection, I don't think item/spell/communion boosts actually help against magic duel, and even if they do the enemy has natural S4+items to use against you.

A communion consisting of many slaves - perhaps thugs(who can have flying shoes instead of mass flight) with slave matrixes buffed with phoenix pyre, mass flight and some other buffs such as summon earthpower, invunerability, quickness, mistform, mirror image ect may seem a little silly but can be devastating. With either summon earthpower and reinvigoratino items(and possibly relief), or simply expendable slaves, you can do alot of damage to an enemy while the flight allows them to reach the enemy quickly to avoid your own troops. If the thugs trample it is even better as they can reach the middle of the enemy formation.

Just tossing out some random ideas while bored and sleep deprived - I hope you enjoyed reading http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif.

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Power of the Spheres is also really great to cast with a Communion Master.

Do thugs need at least one magic path to get boosted by communion buffs through a slave matrix?

To beat an S4 with 100% chance you need S9, since they both get a d6. Assuming by "beat", you mean mutual death. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Taqwus:

To be exact - huge explosion killing all your mages. The sad thing is that there is practically no way to prevent it. Last time 16 mages died because of that - in last turn of battle, when last enemy unit was routing [and I had 0 losses].

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Damn, for the magic duel atleast.

Power of the spheres is great for masters, even if they just cast it to boost the slaves they have(maybe 1 master casts power of the spheres, and one casts a helpful buff like summon earthpower?).

I don't think thugs need magic to be boosted, although obviously they need it to be boosted in a specific magic path(ie no free E1 mages through summon earthpower), but my communion thugs have tended to be Golems as I love misc slots so I can't say for sure.

For Zeldor: Did they have flying? Its rare for a flyer, whos only chance to be beside important units of yours is the turn after he dies and respawns in an unlucky place, to be killed on the same turn of battle that he respawns in such an unlucky place.

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Shovah32:

They didn't respawn. Communion master cast Phoenix Pyre and it passed on slaves and all of them were really fatigues. So there was huge explosion and no one respawned [because of fatigue].

Re: MA Tien Chi in 3.10
 

Makes for a really amusing battle replay though.