Various Newbie Gameplay Questions

[Epaminondas]

Hi, I am a Dominions III newbie who is still stuck playing with the Demo for a few weeks until I get a new computer. As such, I unsurprisingly have many questions. While most of these questions can be answered with the purchase of the game and its apparently exhaustive manual, I am one of those people who look at the concept of delayed gratification with horror

So I am wondering if kind souls here can explain a few perplexing game mechanic issues for me:

1. The efficacy of MR:

What does MR exactly do? Does it reduce the chance of a spell landing or does it reduce the damage that the spell landed do--or both?

And give me some concrete number analysis here. if possible.

For instance, I had the Arcos hero Pathos all decked out and he was a veritable killing machine with his Heroic Quickness and his otherwordly (literally!) equipment (he had all the Solaris equipment, except the shield, where I preferred to let him have the Charcoal Shield; he was also level 3 air mage to get him to cast Mistform.). Then some mofo Mind Blasted him for 16 damage, and there was no more Pathos.

You can imagine my howls of frustration. This guy was taking out units faster than Bruce Lee in "The Chinese Connection." And something seems to be not right, when a unit this powerful will die by a lucky nuke that isn't even a high level nuke. (I suppose I will go nuts if my Unequaled Obesity-ed Niefel Jarl dies from a Soul Slay).

Anyways, to bring up my question: So I think Pathos had 24 MR at the time of his death due to items and spells. I thought that was pretty nice, an almost impregnable MR. So with a 24 MR, what were the chances of his resisting a Mind Blast? And what would his normal damage with that MR been? Did I just get really unlucky? Or are Astral Thamaturgy nukes that nasty?

I guess I need some statistical or mathematical analysis here--of course, comprehensible for laymen.

2. Magic Duel:

I have never seen Magic Duel happen yet in any of my battles, and there have been many. So what triggers it? Obviously the pre-requisite is the presence of two Astral mages next to each other. But do both them need to have it scripted or is having one Astral mage scripting it sufficient?

And how long do these duels last? One round of combat? Moreover, does someone always die?

Finally, what kind of Astral magic gap do you need to ensure you will win? Is there a table that says, for instance, an Astral mage has a 75 percent chance to win in a Magic Duel with an Astral Mage who is 2 levels lower than him?

Again, some kind of concrete numbers analysis would be helpful.

3. Early protective buffs compared: Mirror Image, Mistform, and Ethereal:

I'd like my main thugs to go Air magic and/or Astral magic (if I am not likely going to face Astral mages) to get them some protective buffs. So which among the lower level magic protective buffs I listed is best?

And I still don't understand how Ethereal units are damaged other than through magic or magic weapons. Obviously, I've seen Ethereal units get damaged by conventional weapons. So is it simply a percentage thing? Or is it when an exceptionally hard hit occurs, a la Mistform?

4. The Chainmail of Displacement:

I don't understand its effect. Is it a mirror image effect?

5. Mount attacks:

Some cavalry have extra, non-rider attacks, such as hoof or bite. Do these attacks occur throughout the cavalry unit's melee engagement or does it occur only after the unit charges and makes the first impact?

6. This isn't a game mechanics questions but: In late game, would you use your gems for the Ether Lord and his warriors or the Archangel and his host? If I remember correctly, they are both Astral gem summons. And could you give me the rationale for your choice?

Thanks, I will add more questions here if I remember them. I thought consolidating everything on this thread would be more polite than creating multiple threads on different questions.

[Ironhawk]

1. 24mr is quite high. Are you sure it was 24? Thats really, really high. But, as with the Protection stat, nothing makes you invinicible to an attack. You were probably just unlucky. When facing astral/mind attacks it is best to bring along lots of non-mindless chaff units to prevent your key units from being killed.

2. Magic Duel must be scripted and there must be an enemy astral mage to cast it at. It resolves instantly and one of the two mages will die (or very rarely both).

3. Tricky point. Ethereal is the best, but in order to cast ethereal, you must have Astral magic, which in turn makes you vulnerable to mind duels. This is generally considered Really Bad, as your pimped-out SC could be killed by a lucky 100gp astral mage. So, if you take that into account Mistform is probably best.

4. Not sure. Could just be defense. Easy to test it out tho just put it on a commander and send him into combat. If he has mirror images then you know.

5. Lance attacks are the only attacks that are first-hit only. All other attacks happen every round of combat.

[dirtywick]

I find that Earth/Air or just plain Air is better than Astral. Sometimes mages get dumb and cast Body Ethereal on troops instead of themselves, as well as other buffs that may apply. Plus, casting a bunch of buffs adds up fatigue quickly. You can forge a Robe of Shadows and a Lucky Pendant, which pretty much covers what Astral buff-wise, for few gems by most Astral mages and cast spells like Mist Form, Invunerability, Mirror Image, etc. that are much better and much more difficult to replicate through items.

Of course, Air and Earth on the same mage are pretty tough to come by, but Air alone is a great SC/Thug path IMO, hard to beat.

[KissBlade]

Casting body ethereal on troops is an AWESOME buff!!

[dirtywick]

Well, yeah, but you don't want your SC doing that.

[Taqwus]

Ethereal units have a 75% chance of escaping completely non-magical weapon attacks. Not bad at all.

It's not TRUE ethereal, of course...

[Epaminondas]

Thanks everyone for the answers! Let me respond sequentially and ask some follow-up questions as well:

Ironhawk,

*Yes, Pathos had a real high MR when he died. In fact, I may have undercounted his MR. He has a base MR of 14, and he had plus 4 from the Solaris helm, plus 4 from anti-magic trinket, and I had cast the Astral magic battlefield MR buff as well. So imagine my surprise when he went down with a Mind Blast.

**I really like Astral Shield and Body Ethereal on my Prophet thugs. But I am aware of the Magic Duel danger. So what's the comfort zone that I need the Prophet thug to get to in terms of Astral magic levels? I usually aim for 4-5--is that sufficient for SP?

Taqwus,

*Thanks for the 75 percent number for Ethereal. I wanted concrete information like that.

Endoperez,

*I agree with your comment that "Units with low hitpoints are pretty easy to kill." That's why I played Jotunheim almost exclusively in DII. Less micromanagement needed when your prophet has over 100 points with high dominion.

**What is Heavenly Choir? I don't see such a summon in the DIII units list on Sunray's website. I was actually referring to Angelic Host summon, which gives you a much weaker Archangel and apparently 5 angels. I believe this is what I remembered from DII as well.

But you as there is a much more powerful angel with more minions? Could you give me more info? So it's that one 77-HP monster and 12 lesser angels?

***Why are Golems used more often than the aforementioned summons? I confess fantasy games are "make-believe" for me, and I just cannot imagine I'd ever employ things like Golems, Devils, or the undead. That's why I limit myself to the so-called "good" creatures, and often humanoid at that.

Yes, I deliberately tie my hands late game!

Nerfix,

*So what are the nasty damage spells against which MR is useless?

[thejeff]

I rarely worry about Magic Duel in SP. I think I was hit by it once in Dom3 and don't ever remember it in Dom2.

In SP it's probably only a threat if you have 1 Astral. You won't run into the dozen S1 mages scripted to Duel your pretender that you'd see in MP.

[Endoperez]

Dominions 3 has made most of the angel-summoning spells national spells limited to Pythium and Marignon and perhaps a few other nations.

Manual lists Angelic Host as giving six Angels of the Host, but doesn't mention the Archangel. I quess it's better to test it at some point.

Any way, Angels of the Host have Flambeaus, and thus will devastate any tough devils/undeads they meet. They have rather mediocre protection rating of of 7 (no armor), but good defense (15 + 2 from Flambeau bonus), and they are sacred. Hordes of units will kill them, and archers will kill them, but they are very good against undead, demons, and probably thugs in general. They might actually hurt a SC as well. For 100 pearls, you get slightly less Angels than you'd get Ether Warriors. Both are limited in numbers. Ether Warriors do better against most units, but Angels are very powerful offensive weapon against "evil" types, and if you can increase their protection somehow they'll be very survivable as well.

Without a blessing, they've both got their uses.


Golems and such are used because they are cheaper. 90 pearls is A LOT.

[Epaminondas]

Endoperez,

You mentioned the Angelic Choir though. Is that a national summon then? Or did you just confuse Angelic Choir and Angelic Host--which are the same thing?

I am much confused