thnx rabe but you left out my main question
i wanted to know how you get in midgame additional "highclass" sc's with your naked nataraja strat
my strategy has it's issues as you have proven
but i am really curious how you get higher summons midgame :
heros included with your naked nataraja you can get maximum the following paths :
A3(1/64probability with cm)
E2(1/8 probability with MoT5E)
W4 (1/64 probability with cm , w3 with 1/8 cm thats easy and enough for sea kings court )
F3 ( again 1/64 with cm )
S3 ( hero lu tung pin )
N2 ( 1/8 MoT5E , hero ho hsien-ku )
B2 ( 1/64 probability on cm )
D2 ( 1/64 probability cm , hero li tie kuai )
so you seem quite limited midgame on firbolgs / sea trolls because most path increasing items require path 3 to forge .
Nature 2 is enough for thistle mace . thats enough for firbolgs .
with lamia queens you can forge death items then and get access to e.g. demilichs + wraithlords .
lucky lamia queens (2 random sorceries ) can summon bane lords without path increase .
so you are quite dependent on nature magic imho . you have no starting nature gem income so you need luck and find nature sites .
hmm ok with much luck you get your d2 hero early he can forge for 10 deathgems then a +1 deathstaff or wraith swords .
but even with luck 3 you get only with 3% probability a hero each turn iirc .
because you have 3 heros it can take a pretty long time to get him .
empowering a death 1 mage to d2 costs 30 deathgems iirc so not cheap too .
so the problem i have with your strat :
you need much luck with random paths or getting heros for the much needed death summons / items .
not so serious but similiar to get into nature .
tien chi s&a is hard .
my attempt is not good because no money .
but with your attempt you have to sacrifice almost all points for building your economy scales and still have only slightly higher income than any other nation with complete flat scales .
any nation with order 3 and perhaps growth 3 has much higher income than you as tien chi s&a .
so imho as hard as you try doesn't prevent you from beeing one of the easier targets early - midgame if you don't have much luck .