[Tuidjy]

As far as I am concerned, Norfleet is the problem.
It is not impossible to beat a vampire queen, but
it is a pretty tall order to beat someone who is
significantly better than you.

I am a new player. I have played less than five
games outside of my circle of friends. In my
second game, Cohen obliterated my best army with
a single vampire queen. In my next game, I
raided his temples, my stealth preachers rolled
over his domain, and my pretender was a match
for his. He conceeded the game after losing
two castles.

Is the vampire queen one of the best pretenders?
Absolutely.

Is the vampire queen too much bang for the buck?
Possibly, I am not yet qualified to judge.

But if a total newbie like me can take on a
vampire queen in his third game and win, she is
no magic bullet. Yes, she wiped out the one
raiding party she caught. Yes, she is queen of
her own domain. Yes, she is very good at helping
early expension, yes, she allows you some peace
of mind with her immortality.

But guess what, we are playing a game about beings
that aspire to Godhood. It is normal that they
will be able to devastate armies of mere mortals,
especially in a province where the population's
belief empowers them. I love the way this all
fits with the theme of the game.

But something else that fits is that a God is only
as strong as his believers. A raided, pillaged,
besieged nation will fall.

I have since won another game in which the vampire
queen was used as a silver bullet. I got lucky,
and a unscripted petrify or paralize or something
nailed her. My opponent got frustrated and
quit...

But this is not how Norfleet and I assume every
skilled player will use her. No they will fortify
while expanding, they will hoard gems and mass
produce clams, they will raid and blood hunt even
when not a blood nation, and they use a stream
of annying summons to keep you of balance.

And you know what? They could do the same with
Odin, Shiva, a Carrior Dragon... you know what?
Maybe with a lucky Drott who rolled water
as his random pick and toughness as his heroic
ability.

Now do you honestly believe that when a much
better player beats you he only won by using
an unbalanced strategy? Now how many of you can
honestly say: "If I play Soul Gate Ermor with a
Vampire Queen, I will obliterate Vanheim led by
Odin... played by anyone"? Or Arcoscephale
led by Shiva?

The select few who can say this will probably
beat the rest of us anyway.

Now the Vampire Queen is good, and not that
expensive. And she combines a lot of nice things,
and maybe she needs rebalancing... But who will
be next in line for nerfing? I'll tell you.

Whoever the best players pick. If I were one, I
would pick a suboptimal pretender just to screw
with people. But the best players do not make
suboptimal choices...

... And probably do not write long rants. So see
you around.