[Vynd]

Well, I've never tried to play one in a MP game, but I have messed around with them in SP. You mention that they have high base dominion, that's nothing to snear at. Their base costs generally aren't that high, and the path costs aren't bad either. So it has always seemed to me that they'd be worth considering if you wanted to go for the lvl9 bless in one or two magic schools, combined with a high base dominion so you can start cranking out lots of holy troops right away.

Also, their combat potential is higher than you might think. It is possible for them to move around, using teleport or similar spells. And several of them are actually fairly effective in combat by virtue of being powerful spell-casters who are difficult to damage and/or have tons of hitpoints. I tried to kill a Sphinx once, in its capital province. Big mistake. It slaughtered my entire army without even getting a scratch.

Of course the fact that they can't move around like a normal Pretender is a huge handicap, there's no denying that. But they're not totally crippled by it. And of course there is always the challenge/wierdness/something different aspect. I can honestly say that reading in a review that you could have an immobile god helped convince me to buy Dominions II. "This," I thought, "is a game where they have everything."