Quote:
Originally Posted by Shardphoenix
So, to sum it up - Wardens are so good because they are meant to be used with only a minor bless, for taking a major bless for them means you`ve just shot yourself in the leg.
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So I'm not sure that sums it up at all. Refer back to my earlier post.
Most of the discussion since then has been about the relative strength of Man vs. the other bless nations like bandar, miclan, van etc. Theses guys are stronger than man PERIOD. Bless or no bless. They have more options, better diversity, better summons, better mages, better thugs, etc. With players of equal skill and equal luck man is probably going to loose whether it has a rainbow or whether it has a bless.
But the question you're asking is a completely different one. Your asking the question of what version of man is better, the one with a bless or the one without. Just because both are weaker than these other nations doesn't necessarily mean the bless version of man is weaker than the version of man with a rainbow pretender. Once again go back to my earlier post, what are you really trading off between the bless version of man and the rainbow version of man?
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So what do you really give up going for a bless strat rather than a rainbow?
Not mitigated by indi's
60 Gem Empowerment for Air mother - assuming you don't get an A4 random
Potentially mitigated by indi's
30 Gem Empowerment for an E mother to get earth rolling. Once again assuming you don't get an E2 random.
Guaranteed Astral Access
Guaranteed Death Access
Guaranteed Fire Access
The bottom line is that you're going to find at least a couple of the last category on indi's, especially if you expand fast. So the question really comes down to whether or not you think a strong bless on the wardens is worth 60 air gems and missing a couple of the 2nd category. It's true that if you don't find any indi mages then you're somewhat screwed. But if you do happen on some wizards, or metal orders, or moon mages, or even just some lizard men and some raptors you'll be much better off.
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I don't think its necessarily clear at all which one is a stronger bet. I think, as I said, that its more about variance. Find some good magic diversity on indies from some rapid expansion fueled by blessed wardens and you'll do very well. Don't find any and you're going to loose and loose very badly. If instead you go with a rainbow pretender, man will preform somewhat below average almost all the time, but you'll be guaranteed at least a decent showing before being eliminated. Since man is a weak nation to begin with going with the high variance strategy at least gives you some probability of wining. Going with the rainbow ensures that you'll preform at a middling level in almost every game.