[Scott Hebert]

Originally posted by Blitz:
Pretender: Nataraja
Cost: Squat
Scales: Order 3 Sloth 1 Growth 1 Magic 1
Cost: 160
Fort: Castle
Cost: 80
Paths: Earth 4 Astral 4
Cost: 222
Dominion: 5
Cost: 21

Total Cost: 0 + 160 + 80 + 244 + 21 = 505

Cut 5 points off your design and you can have the 4-armed beatdown of death. Dunno about you, but I'd rather have a fortress and the Natty. Of course with 4 astral you may as well take an immobile, for all the good he'll do outside the capitol.

Well, first, as even you point out, you _can't_ get the Nataraja like that (which number is correct, 222 or 244?). Second, I've used both a Shedu and a Nataraja, and without equipment (i.e., very early in the game), a Shedu is much better.

Also, IIRC, the Nataraja only gets one miscellaneous slot. This causes problems when you want to boost his paths. Ironically, the only slots that matter for boosting Astral magic are the Head and Misc. slots, and that means that the Shedu can boost his Astral magic more than the Nataraja.

Something else you miss is that the Shedu is more economical than the Nataraja at boosting his initial paths past 4. This means that, should I want to have a better blessing than a simple 4S4E, the Shedu is definitely the better choice.

Finally, a friendly piece of advice for you: "Those who say something cannot be done should get out of the way of the people doing it."