[apoger]

EVERYONE LOVES DRAGONS


In Dom1 Dragon pretenders were mediocre at best. It came a great (and welcome) surprise that they are dramatically better in Dom2. Part of this is becuase they now keep all but 2 levels of magic skill while in dragon form, and part is due to the new bless effects.

Even without improvement the dragons are "Thugs". They can be sent into many independent provinces alone and can beat down the locals. This does risk afflictions, but it's great for getting a fast start on the game.

As for my thoughts on the specific dragons;


RED DRAGON

Adding fire skill adds attack strength to it's melee ability, making this dragin even more thuggy than the others.

Fast research to Enchantment-1 provides the red dragon with Fire Shield, which further improves its early game ability.

Fire-9 provides the excellent bless effects of +3 attack and flaming weapons. This is a very synergistic effect (hit more, and hit harder) and is my favorite blessing.

For late game insanity have the red dragon with fire-9 (7 in dragon form) engage enemy armies and have it cast Heat from Hell and Fire Storm. You'll need a bunch of gems for the castings, but it's possible to incinerate whole armies this way.


BLUE DRAGON

Early research provides Quickness and Breath of Winter, which make the dragon much more formidable.

Water-9 provides the bless effect of +4 defense and "50% quickness". Not bad at all.

In the midgame the spell Grip of Winter might help deal with large forces. This is not as dangerous as the red dragon, but the reserach will be done ages earlier.


GREEN DRAGON

Reasonable research provides Personal Regeneration and Elemental Fortitude. Not bad, but not as thuggy as the other dragons.

Nature-9 provides the bless effect of Beserk +3 and Regeneration. This is an awsome set of effects and is well worth considering.

In fact if you are looking for a low cost pretender solution taking Nature-4 is a good way to go. This keeps the dragon cheap, and provides Beserk +1, which is a major boon for the sacred troops since it solves morale issues.

There are many late game nature spells that are nice, but most involve boosting troops rather than allowing the dragon extra power. That's not a bad thing, but nature mages aren't hard to find and I expect more from the pretender.

The only way to stretch the green dragon in the late game is to get it a level of water skill. That way it can cast Foul Vapors at the start of a battle.

While the green dragon lacks some of the personal power of the other two, it's ability to augment troops should be kept in mind.

[ January 12, 2004, 19:15: Message edited by: apoger ]