Quote:
Originally Posted by Baalz
My feeling isn't so much that there aren't lots of other ways to kill SCs, it's that paralyze shouldn't that basically be a kill. Not at 2S and that low a research level. I'm gonna go ahead and throw down that gauntlet K, what is a better way to kill a SC with less research and or paths. Without using gems go ahead and show me how a mage with 2 magic in whatever paths you want can stop a SC with less research than paralyze using a PD screen. Heck, even using gems there's not much short of high research that can't be fairly easily countered by the right immunity.
From a thematic point of view it seems much better to me to think "We paralyzed the cyclops! Lets quickly try to kill it before he recovers" rather than "We paralyzed the cyclops! Whew, lets get a drink and then set up a rotation chipping away at him. I'll take the first shift."
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Ok-dokey. Here are a few examples of comparable MR resist spells that are good when you've mages spamming them:
I've killed an enemy SC god using Rage in an MP game. He turned and killed most of his own army before they killed him. F2 at Thaum 3. I didn't even script Rage.
Sleep is mighty effective if you have a few guys spamming it. N2 at Thaum2.
Decay, while hard to actually hit anyone with, can do the job as well if the battle is long and he's not undead or lifeless.
If you don't like the MR-saves spells, we can go back to Astral for Starfires. It's armor negatingm kills with real damage and comes in at S1 at Evo1.
If you are lucky and your enemy SC is Astral, you can can do Magic Duel at S1 at Evo3. Sure, you may lose a few S1 mages before the rolls favor you, but it can be worth it to kill an SC (I've killed fully-kitted golems in MP with S1s before).
And, if none of those are right for you, Vengeance of the Dead comes in at S3D1 and Thaum4. It's a little more expensive than Paralyse in terms of mage paths and gems but it's the same research cost and it kills things dead pretty well.
I'm not saying that any of these are perfect, or even as good as in as many situations as Soul Slay or Paralyze, but they are comparable and the counters to them are all the same: don't overuse SCs or thugs. Considering that Astral is very weak early on against most enemies, it compensates by being good against SCs and thugs.
The one thing that really gets me is that every time someone whines "oh no, it's unbalanced because it kills SCs" then people seem to ignore that the fact that the same tactic is almost useless against a regular army.