[Squirrelloid]

Sidhe Lords can raid just fine with E4N4, they just want a little reinvigoration from items. Rainbow armor is about the same quality as what they're wearing, provides sufficient reinvig, increases your MR (important!), and is easily forged by Eriu/TNN. The protection from E9 is mostly wasted on them because they'll be fighting under mistform basically all the time.

TNN's sacreds are reasonably decent, and a rainbow bless isn't the worst idea ever for them.

I would take a pretender who:
(1) No worse than asleep. Awake preferred, as you'll likely have good research, and fast research will really help you.
(2) E4S4N4D1 minimum. S6 isn't a bad idea (endgame astral quality). Nor is F4, W4, or B4 blesses. W4D1 or N4D1 + RoS lets you summon real death mages (Streams from Hades or Lamia Queens respectively), so its enough death to get going.
(3) Low dom (5 or 6 is sufficient)
(4) Scales: O3 is good, Mg1 is good. Can probably take some sloth (although i wouldn't take 3). Can definitely take a temperature extreme (and doesn't really care which - look at what other nations are likely to choose and take the opposite). Lk would be nice, but it could be hard to find the points. Of course, death scales are plausible if you need the points.
(5) RB chassis. Great Sage gives you lots of research. Great Enchantress gives you a pearl. Both have astral which is the only path you'll want over 4, so nothing else really compares (except *maybe* crone who has DSN and 4 misc slots - good for late game astral - but has worse research than either).

---

Oh wait, not CBM? Um, ouch. Let me look at pretenders real quick...

Ok, its vanilla, so Mf2 scales are definitely in order. I don't care how good Lugh is...

Also, sloth 3 is less painful than under CBM.

Awake Crone
F4A1W1E4S4N4D1B1 O3 S3 H/C3 G2 Mf2 Mg1 Dom 5

22 RP/trn. Might be too much sloth (test), but you can drop some growth to compensate.

Great manual searcher, great researcher, really can't justify putting her asleep for slightly better scales.

Awake Great Enchantress
Identical magic/scales/dom

same RP/trn, produces 1 pearl/trn, doesn't have 4 misc slots.