A Question on Equipment

[onomastikon]

Does it matter what equipment and equipment *type* I give my commanders? I just tried Ulm a few times (and still in demo (game is underway!), so I can only research up to level 4), and the armor I can forge (e.g. black plate steel) isnt much better than the default freebies they get (Ulm full plate).
But my main question is this: A Lord Guardian for example is a halberd wielder by default -- does it make sense to give him a shield and sword, or will he goof it up? What about them mounted knight leaders?
Any tips on that in general?
thanks muchly

[General Tacticus]

Well, Ulm plate is already so good that it is true you don't really need to change it. At later levels in construction you will get better armor, but it is also quite expensive.

On the other hand, it does make sense to give them better weapons, particularly a weapon+shield or two weapons combos. The one that you can forge are much better, and they end up with better defense, protection and damage. Just because he has a halberd doesn't mean he wouldn't know how to wield a sword of piercing and a lead shield, for example...

Or you can give him a missile weapon, so he stays away from the front lines, where bad accidents are known to occur even to Ulmian leaders, and he still has his halberd should anyone come too close. In the same way, knights keep their lance (and hoof) even if you change the rest of the weapons.

So no, equipment *type* does not matter, the leader will adapt (well, putting a full plate on a spellcaster is perhaps going a little too far, he will get tired rather quickly).

For combat leader I tend to enhance survival : protection, defense, a shield, long weapons for repelling, decent damage (killing your opponent is a good way to survive his attack), and whatever useful effects I can find (luck, etherealness, air shield, regen...), more or less in that order. I don't put them in the front line anyway, so they don't need to be able to take 20 heavy infantry and survive, just to take care of straying enemies...
By the way, I won't bother equipping a combat leader unless he has a lot of experience, or a nice heroic ability. If he doesn't, I'll just bring a backup or two along, it is cheaper and just as effective


For a mage, I keep a careful eye en encumbrance. I go for survival too, but in a different way : I go first for the range effects (air shield, magic protection, luck), and for any effect that enhance their power. I slap hand-to-hand defense *** an afterthought : if it comes to that, the rest of my army has not been doing its job.

[Wauthan]

Don't fall for the idea that enough items makes a supermelee monster. The battlefields of Dominions 2 are littered with the bones of wellequipped commanders set to "attack closest". The only way to create a meleemonster is to start with a meleemonster and make it even more terrible. Nature got an edge here with both "Transformation" and "Gift of Reason". Both these spells can net you a very powerful melee commander if you are lucky or stubborn enough.

The best commander is a spellcaster because it is spells that shapes the battlefield, slays the enemy and protects your troops. In order to do this they need time. And endurance, so don't be cheap on the reinvigoration items. Meleefighters are just that, additional time for the spellcasters to cast and recover.

With that in mind focus on giving all your basic leaders, scouts included, some kind of spellcasting ability. If all your choices are either uncomfortable, like a dragonhelmet wearer bLasting your own troops, or useless, like a skulltalisman wearer animating undead that never reach the frontline, then give the commander a missileweapon instead. Scouts are a cheap way to add more artillery power to an army if you got artifacts to spare.

Since meleefighter are just supposed to buy time focus on defence and staying power over offence. That said a Dagon or Vampire Queen can level an entire army all by themselves with the right equipment. But you never know when one of those pesky militia will get a lucky blow.

[ January 08, 2004, 11:31: Message edited by: Wauthan ]

[Gandalf Parker]

If a unit type is already good at something, dont try to make that better. Try to add to what isnt good. Ulm is built around heavy armor and weapons. It does that good. You also have no problem getting enough commanders for your troops. Morale is pretty good.

So you dont need to worry much about improving armor, or weapons, or giving them items that increase their leadership or morale much. But heavy armor means fatigue when charging an enemy so fatigue items might be good. A dragon helmet that can let a commander toss a few fireballs at his opponents as they charge him, that can help. Boots of Strength. Amulets of Luck or pretty much anything in the misc Category. As Ulm you might have a food problem but not as much as others so a wineskin of cauldron might not be bad to add to some commander moving toward the front.

[Taqwus]

Try a Black Lord prophet with a Star of Heroes or other decent early weapon. Good head-bashing.
One note: mounted commanders do not incur regular encumberance from armor, if memory serves, but spellcasting encumberance always includes double armor encumberance regardless of mount. Don't make your mage wear Monolith Armor unless you can somehow deal with huge amounts of fatigue. You also can't give tower shields (including the Crystal Shield, if memory serves) to mounted troops.

[rabelais]

Originally posted by General Tacticus:


Or you can give him a missile weapon, so he stays away from the front lines, where bad accidents are known to occur even to Ulmian leaders, and he still has his halberd should anyone come too close. In the same way, knights keep their lance (and hoof) even if you change the rest of the weapons.

There appear to be exceptions to this. Notably Vampire Queen's "Life drain" which is supplanted by any weapon. I think this should be considered a bug, but I'd like to hear other people's thoughts.

I once lost my weaponless VQ SC to an undead summons, because she had no way to deal with her ilk. But if you give her a sword, she can't heal fatigue, so her spell casting is limited ----> fatal.

Rabe