[Graeme Dice]

Scott Hebert said:
Well, I like to use them, at least. I think that in MP they would be less viable, as apparently MR is about the only stat that is of any use.

Hydras lose because they don't have a protection score that allows them to stand up to more than about 5 militia without a serious expenditure on bless effects. Then, MR matters on those expensive units because they are a large investment, and the easiest way to defeat single large creatures is with stuff like soul slay.

The Druid also has an opportunity cost of 400g for the Temple and Laboratory to make him. The Daughter does not. Shouldn't that factor into the costs as well?

The temple is useful by itself, and having a second laboratory to spread out your researchers is also a pretty good idea.

Hrm. I seem to do well enough with Enchantment-3 and the Raise spells (they can throw about 5 or so each before falling over).

5 raise skeletons is only 25 longdead. 25 longdead, while being fairly significant as a delaying tactic, don'tnlast very long if you've planned to face undead.

Do you use non-summoned troops at all in your games?

Sure. I use more national troops that I really should in most cases, because I try to take my first province at turn two, and move up to two per turn by turn 4-5 at the latest. I don't, however, use very many con-commander summoned troops.Devils, fiends, lamia's and a couple of others are worthwhile. I find that in most other cases I'd be better off spending the gemson equipment.

That would require an entire re-write of Illwinter's magic cost formula to compensate. Would you like me to do that, and then report on what everyone's mages should cost?

Well, maybe not to the extreme that is Caelum, but C'Tis is probably a good baseline.

At this point, I think you should talk to Illwinter about their costing formulas, then.

Well, that's the reason that few people play Broken Empire Ermor as well. The Grand Thaumaturgs cost twice what a Sauromancer costs, but are also capital only and limited to D2S2?1. Even bumping them up to D3S2?1 makes them a significant threat.

Again, there is always a way to handle that issue.

Commanders without backup troops get overrun too easily by lifeless battle summons.

Mm. Wouldn't that make Sages even better than they are currently?

Probably. I'd also get rid of the research bonus on sages in that case.

I would think that with the spells a Vanadrott can cast, the HPs would not be as great of an issue.

It would have to have fire and cold immunity, which pretty much needs miscellaneous equipment slots. This would leave its MR lacking, or leave it without sufficient prot to survive being swarmed.

Again, that is your opinion. If I have casters who can cast Acashic Record, I generally prefer to use that than the other site-searching spells.

Unless you haven't searched the province at all, that's costing you more in gems than using the individual spells.

Oh, it's very rare, I'll grant you. I wanted to know more from a 'did I use the correct formula to cost them' standpoint than anything else.

Yes, you did.

And if they didn't? And what you term 'decent' I term 'overpowered', by and large.

If astral and death magic didn't provide those things, then they wouldn't be nearly as useful at low levels. This would further marginalize most of the nations and pretenders by reducing the number of viable strategies.