How to lose a pretender without even trying

[aldin]

Well, had my Moloch pretender get banished the other night - fun It occurs to me that demonic and undead pretenders are curiously vulnerable, especially when you don't have other undead / demonic units. So now I know of two ways to lose a pretender rapidly:

1) Be undead / demonic without other undead / demons.
2) Take a small number of Astral spheres. (BTW, what's the fewest Astral you'd take with a pretender to feel reasonably safe?)

What other design choices need to be avoided if you don't want to risk your pretender disappearing in a sudden stroke?

~Aldin

[Taqwus]

Astral may or may not be dangerous; depends on whether or not your pretender will ever fight.
A warm-blooded pretender with C'tis Miasma, or a living pretender with Ashen Empire / Soul Gate may be a bad mix.
Sending a pretender into the arena is generally not recommended -- too easy to boobytrap (e.g. curse, lycantropos amulet, decay, disease, a pair of eyes, etc).

[SurvivalistMerc]

I learned Ctis Miasma and warm-blooded pretender the hard way. It was my very first rainbow mage. Hehe. I haven't played Ermor since I hear the AI does so poorly against it.

Does the AI booby-trap the arena? I have sent an atlantis pretender to the arena...that big atlantian guy...and have not had difficulty. I have seen the AI send SC pretenders to the arena also. Including one lich.

Does anyone know where the arena is located that the game takes place in? It doesn't seem to tell you in the message. I will sometimes have dominion over some but not necessarily all arenas...and would be willing to risk an immortal pretender if it's inside my dominion.

[Teraswaerto]

Not only doesn't the AI trap the arena, but it will also often send it's pretender or prophet there.

I think the arena is always in neutral dominion, but I'm not sure.

[Lord Hammer]

I almost ALWAYS get the cursed trident , although i have yet to lose a "deathmatch" i only got a "real" item once in...i can't count that high ...games so far!

[Taqwus]

Hm. I'm under the impression that the cursed, quick trident is always the prize. The most obvious way to avoid it, aside from not entering at all, would be to use a commander with no hand slots. Perhaps already having a cursed weapon would work.

[Lord Hammer]

Interesting... ...I do remember getting something else once,once . It allows you to get experience as long as you beef up your Pretender/Prophet, my two choices for deathmatch, when you know you'll be committed to eternal deathmatch. Can anyone confirm whether or not the "cursed trident" is the only or most often awarded prize?

[SurvivalistMerc]

If I'm not misremembering, I don't think you get the cursed trident if your hands are full of other devices.

And a full set of equipment will avoid most booby traps.

I would love to hear authoritatively where the deathmatches occur and whether it's in a province or in a hypothetical zero-dominion area.

[Slogan]

The Trident will replace the weapom in your hand, at least it happened to me Last time.

[SurvivalistMerc]

Maybe I am misremembering, slogan. Did you have both hands full? And were the things in your hands decent?