[ywl]

Originally posted by quantum_mechani:
It seems to me that for a 50 gem summons, Treelords are not very competitive. There are already plenty of ways to get that level of nature mage, without a head slot the vine men bonus is no better a than nature three mage with a ivy crown, and the high hit points are hard to use since Treelords are immobile.

I was thinking that one way of improving Treelords would be to give them a bonus when casting ritual spells, to represent thier ancient connections with nature magic. The bonus could work like the sites that reduces the cost of ritual spells of a certain school. I also had some other ideas (increasing the vine men bonus, giving them a gem free Version of fairy trod affecting only themselves), however, I think the ritual bonus would be most thematic.

In my opinion, treelord was underpowered in Dom 1 but in Dom 2, it's not that bad.

Two things have changed the formula. First, they now have one more level of magic, Nature 4/Earth 1, Nature 4/Blood 5 & Nature 5. The one additional magic gives them access to something previously impossible, e.g. Ironskin, Gaia's Blessing, Invulnerability (with gems?), Cross-Bleeding. Being able summon one such powerful Nature mage while your're researching for Enchantment, and thus all the domes and protection spells, is not bad. Spells for nature mage of similar power are at high level Conjuration, at least 6.

Second, nature is now more useful in combat with the additional spells. In my test, a single treelord (the Dying Treelord) with no item can take out a weak indie with 40 to 50 light infantries plus archers, killing them to the Last man. It's not impressive but it shows him being useful enough in combat. The Treelords have 250 hitpoints, Protection 16 to 20 and easy access to regeneration and healing spells. It's not trivial to hack one down even though their defense if 0. If you choose to prophetize one, he can easily have up to 500 hitpoints.

Faery Trod is also in Enchantment school. So, for research in a single school, you can get Treelords, protection Domes and teleportation for a small number of troops. It's not a bad deal.

Not sure whether it's thematic, but to increase their power, it's better to give them one or two hand slots and thus access the nature enhancing items.

[ February 11, 2004, 16:46: Message edited by: ywl ]