Musings on Rainbow Mages.
I found the choice of a Rainbow mage unappealling in Dom1 but haven't gone far enough with Dom2 to be sure. One of the big factors in site %. If this is set high a rainbow mage can have explosive impact.
I fought an Ulm race in Dom1, 60% sites, which would have eclipsed my magical power (I was Vanheim) by about t.22. Fortunately, for me, I attacked ~t.17 and captured key mages producing sites just in time - the battles were very close and Ulms Air mages were better than mine. If the Ulm player had found an extra Firbolg fortress early that might have been enough to have defeated my attack - which was an all in effort with mutltiple stages included regrouping, fighting off counter attacks and then goīng forward again. One of the key questions was for Ulm to get enough HI out as my Blade Winds devestated his Fall Bears and lesser troops. Orb Lighting (Titan with high Air, boots of quickness) was my other trump card but I didn't start the assault with the Titan fully operational and his air mages could counter the Titan and Van's air magic when it got going fully. I had Caelum to the north so I pulled most of my Van air mages out of the conflict after the first stage. My amazon 2 astral mages did sterling work at times but it really hurts when they hit a Van.
Looking back on that game it seems to me that when you consider the decline in cost of the Rainbow Mages things may have gone differently if fought under Dom2. As I was doing very well with the Van that makes me think that Ulm with a Rainbow mage can realistically hope to staunch it out early and then match or exceed other races in magic later due to high gem income and all the mages you find. How competitive this is depends alot on the % of magic sites and I'm looking at 60% as the standard now days - searching is more fun. If this makes Rainbow pretenders more viable then thats an cool.
One issue is that Rainbow pretenders arn't easy to use. This doesn't mean a new player keen on them shouldn't use one but that they should be aware of what they are getting themselves in for. If they are keen enough they will prosper but they will certainly learn some harsh lessons along the way. I was advised not to use blood magic in my first Dom1 demo game but alternative advice to give Ice Devils a try proved well worth following and very enjoyable - for me at least. However it was alot of work what with having to learn to blood hunt, and equip mutliple super combatents - one a turn once summoning started. Equiping is a huge issue when you are doing it for the first time in a MP game and I lost my first few Ice Devils to fishies in the hot oceans.
After that they operated by air and inside Jotuns dominion were possible - and they fought in packs not ones. So I had setbacks but I learnt a huge amount.
When I have put together Rainbow mages I have not been impressed with the value of taking picks to 4 without a very clear reason. Justifications might be earth 4 for a nation with alot of sacred mages or nature 4 for a nation with few sacred mages and some troops that could really benifit from the morale boost of going berserk - Templers perhaps. However Rainbow mages are expensive and that makes going to 4 a big issue. I certainly wouldn't want to leave any of the paths empty as its the cheap early picks that get you maximum return in terms of site searching and research. Even blood should not be ignored for both crafting (more magical paths combo'ing the better) and sites. While useful blood sites are rare they are also game breakers and to not have any chance of getting them when using a rainbow mages seems unwise to me.
For me the basis of a Rainbow mage is 2 in everything you don't need three in. The things you need three in are those that require 3 for getting items to boost magic levels - air, fire . . . can't remember the rest off the top of my head but I think Astral is pretty crucial. Its this core of abilities that makes a Rainbow mage because they combo together. Going to 4 for bless effects is another thing which I think should be considered after you have got your basic template done. Missing out any of the elements of the basic template can have serious negative impact. You need to master all magic with a Rainbow mage to make it truly worth the investment and you can by building all the super duper items you get at con6. Combine that with the ability to find sites producing all the different magic gems and many indie mages and you have something to get your teeth into.
cheers
Keir
[ December 21, 2003, 23:16: Message edited by: Keir Maxwell ]