[Arryn]

Originally posted by Patrik:
Did you consider air 4 (or 3) instead of astral?

Yes, I did. Astral is by far stronger, IMO, for the defense of a Wyrm SC. If I were to choose a different path, it would likely be water, though in that case it would be more 'efficient' to pick the Son of Niefel as he starts with 2W, and has more item slots. An offensive magics strategy using Fire is another option, but I might consider yet a different pretender for that. In short, I think Astral is the best for a Wyrm.

If you bring a Seithkona with your Wyrm, you can cast Luck from the start anyway and easily reach Body ethereal.

But the seithkona cannot cast BE on the wyrm, which is the whole point.

You would be lacking Astral Shield (which is nice) and Astral Weapon.

I have seen the wyrm paralyze over a third of an enemy force by having them hit the shield. Which then leaves all those foes just sitting there helpless for other units in my army to dispose of, if they don't get eaten by the wyrm first. Astral Weapon allows the wyrm to punch right through heavily armored foes (like Ulms), to kill them outright. If they have high natural protection, the AW won't help, but that's where the death poison comes in.

OTOH, you would gain Mirror Image and Mist Form, have Cloud Trapezee for strategic movement, not having to worry about Mind Duel and add a magic field to your nation (which would then only be lacking earth and fire magic). What do you think?

IMO, MI isn't even remotely as useful as BE. MF is like a weak BE, but as the spell says, a good solid hit will make the MF go poof. Again, this makes MF decidedly inferior to BE. CT is more expensive than Teleport in gems, and cannot be cast underwater. Mind Duel risk is the only significant point, IMO, that you raise, and had I taken Astral-5 instead of 4, it wouldn't be a major issue. With regards to having a path that my mages lack, that's why I feel that water would be the logical choice as an alternative. With astral, I can always, later on, cast Contact Harbinger and summon an Air-2 mage that way, which can then be empowered to 3 and then up to 5 with items. It's spells that you didn't mention, such as Mass Flight, that have some appeal. But most of the handy air spells can be cast just as usefully (if not more so) by a supporting mage than by the SC.

The point, once again, of this strategy is what spells the SC needs to cast to make itself a very tough and effective combatant. So you really have to look at the spells that have an AoE of Caster. Other spells can be relegated to supporting mages.

Thanks for posing the question(s)!