[HoneyBadger]

I think the VQ should get Etherial back, personally. In Dom 3, SCs just aren't as powerful as they apparently were in Dom 2. I've equipped massive SCs with riduculous stuff and sent them against independents armed with nothing and they still get bit with hearts. I wince every time I send my Pretender in battle unless I've chosen one with rejuvenation (and that's what? ancient kracken? maybe 2-3 others?) and even then I worry about curse and horror-mark. I think the argument about Vans etc. is really just an old argument dredged up from Dom 2 when individual fighters and their abilities were more important than overall armies, and when magic outweighed basic economics. I don't honestly think anyone has been playing Dom3 long enough to say that any nation is totally broken, or to get as emotionally attached to this argument as people have. That's my gut-feeling anyway.

I'm still testing, and I plan to test atleast every Early Age nation against Helheim and post the results and my interpretation of those results to this thread. Hopefully it'll add some insight. I don't know if I can say that I'm totally objective, but I'll attempt to be, where Helheim's merits and flaws are concerned. Personally, I'd rather be playing on Glory of the Gods with Yomi or Aboleths or something vs 18 odd randoms. At the very least, the exercise should give me a deeper understanding of the game as a whole.