[rabelais]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
I take it you've never played against a competent C'Tis player then, since sauromancers are far more common, and much, much cheaper than dusk elders. A sauromancer that can cast drain life costs 180 gold and 10 death gems. A dusk elder to do the same is 30 death gems. You can produce three times as many death 4 sauromancers as death 4 dusk elders for the same cost.

Actually, I have.

I'm aware that Ctis has death spamming advantages... I used to play in Argitoth's games,... damn nails everywhere.

I hadn't posted in some time because the thread had gone off markedly from where I started it.

My argument was that death is a very powerful path, and that ermor's munchkin quotient was already quite high, so perhaps moving the decidedly (even uniquely, given the prec 100 long range w/fatigue profit+no MR save) useful spell, (which I never suggested be nerfed)to a more underarmed path (e.g. water) might be appropriate.

It was norfleet who suggested DE's were nigh indestuctable by assassins, and he wasn't making a cost optimization claim, so I'm not sure what your point is....

It is true that Ctis can use the spell more cheaply, but I never would have suggested otherwise.

Ctis has different constraints...

I don't necessarily mind a spell that lets ermor skeleton spam indefinitely, (it is ermor after all) but when it incidentally provides *extremely* good one on one protection... I begin to wonder if it isn't overdone.

If something is so attractive you *always* use it... then it might need to be looked at, or at least explained to those who think it too good to be true.

I was surprised it had no probabilistic (i.e. OE++) defence of any kind, and asked for comment from the grognards.

I said ermor/death didn't need the help, but that's my interpertation of Dom2 sociology, not a claim that ermor gets the cheapest drain life capable death magi.

My argument was that death magi having a monopoly on the spell didn't seem to me to helpful, given the current thanatropism in MP games.

I don't think castle spamming is helpful either, but it's quite effective, particularly for those nations that don't need pop for recruitment.


Rabe, who is familiar with Sauromancer Spam.