Quote:
	
	
		| SelfishGene said: First, i think Marverni should take 3 Productivity, because this underpowered nation doesn't stand a chance unless it can really pump out the troops (and even then it might not matter in the long run).
 
 | 
	
 That's probably a decent idea, so that you can get more Ambibate nobles, which are almost as good as principes.
	Quote:
	
	
		| OTOH, i think that a "Rainbow" Pretender with 3 or 4s in many path would be preferable because you'll need lots of summons and magic in order to survive. 
 | 
	
 I can think of few situations in which you'd want a rainbow pretender.  A magically diverse nation like Marverni is definetly not one of them.  You have guaranteed access to astral, nature, and earth site searching spells, and are likely to eventually have a water 2 druid.
	Quote:
	
	
		| PLUS, you HAVE to have blood on your Pretender (and preferably high scales) in order to make any use of the Blood Sacrifice ability.... 
 | 
	
 Don't waste your pretender's time by having him search for blood slaves.  Use scouts for blood hunting if you need slaves and have no blood mages available.
	Quote:
	
	
		| Or you could wreck the scales and make a Vampire Queen SC Pretender, but this isn't very thematic or unique to Marverni's abilities in any event, since anyone can do that... 
 | 
	
 Realistically, if you aren't planning a bless strategy for a nation, and aren't underwater where you won't have to deal with land-based sacred troops, then I would almost always pick a SC pretender.  Doubling your expansion rate is a hard thing to pass up just for a potential minor advantage later in the game.  That said, I definetly wouldn't use a VQ, since she's extremely overpriced.