unique pretender design thread

[wailoktam]

I am sort of perfectionist who would like to stick with the unique/close to unique pretender of each nation. I guess some other players are also like me.

Can anyone give some good ideas? You know, the unique pretender usually starts with the same branch of magic as the mages of that nation, which makes compensating what is missing a bit expensive.


Let me start with asking about a difficult nation. MA Shinuyama. So the unique is Bakemonon Kunshu. He gets fire and death. I know that the Celestial General makes more sense as he gets the wind to surmon the sacred troops and cover the missing branch of magic but I don't feel like picking a Chinese god for the Japanese.

Any good idea for making a good design for the Bakemon Kunshu? Ideas on other unique pretenders are also welcomed

[Xietor]

For Pangaea, the Gorgon is my favorite God. She is unique only to Pangaea and shares the base magic of earth and nature.

I add 3 air, to give her air shield, mistform, and mirror image, as well as allowing for making nice armor and shields that require earth and air. These items give air shields to high value units that otherwise could not have them.

I take Gorgon, 5 e 4 n 3 a, 3 order, 2 prod, 2 cold, 1 growth, 6 dominion.


If it makes you feel any better, she is the best sc you can get.

[Wish]

sauromatia also gets a gorgon.

and, arguably, with a built in fire shield, useful paths, Awe, and eyeloss... the seraph is the best SC. (though petrification is hard to beat.)

[Gandalf Parker]

I agree that the problem with the themed gods is that they rarely fill gaps in the nation. They are fun for RPG (role playing) but dot tend to be competitive. Such as, many of the options for Maverni or Pangaea give boosts in food which is not really needed.

for Pangaea I love Lord of the Wild.
He greatly expands on the theme. 4death/4nature/4blood, turmoil 3, sloth 3, luck 3, magic 3, heat 1, dominion 8 if I remember right

For Mictlan on large maps I love Lord of Night.
A titan assassin that has stealth, flies, and summons help during the assassination!
4death/4blood, order 1, productivity 2, heat 1, dominion 6


For Mictlan small maps I love Colossal Head.
4nature/4blood, order 1, productivity 3, heat 1, dominion 8

[FrankTrollman]

Deleted.

[SelfishGene]

Perhaps the most unique themed Pretender is the Lord of the Gates. Patrol your capital into rubble by turn 20!

Sadly, there is little reason to do this when you combine the expense of an awake Pretender with the lack of synergy between Earth blessings and Vans.

I do disagree somewhat with the idea that Pretenders need different magics than you mages. It's VERY helpful to be able to throw up powerful Globals off your natural gem income without any booster items; and the better your Pretender, the harder it is to dispel.

Perhaps my favorite Pretender is the Shedu, which with a few items and Summon Earthpower will never fatigue out of trampling. You can wrack up hundreds of kills without a lifedrain item in sight.

[SelfishGene]

I disagree about the Mother of the Tuathas, although i'll just leave it at that . I performed some quite effective Fairy Trod attacks with her in a multiplayer game and then managed to sneak back to friendly territory with hardly any risk.

[Archonsod]

Gandalf Parker said:
I agree that the problem with the themed gods is that they rarely fill gaps in the nation. They are fun for RPG (role playing) but dot tend to be competitive.

Depends on your strategy and the God in question really. I mean, LA Ermor is pretty much forced to take death, and I wouldn't consider them non-competetive.
In certain other magic types it also makes sense to have a Pretender to dominate that magic type - Astral for example (useful for the astral level vs. astral level spells, and thanks to things like Acashic Record you still have the option of going rainbow). It can also be handy to have a mage capable of casting the higher tier spells unaided.

Mind you, I'd agree with the pointless bonuses. It always feels like a waste when the national pretender's bonus is either unneeded or replicates something that can already be found within the nation.

[Xietor]

Well, the Gorgon was unique to Pangaea in dom II. I admit I have not tried any of the new races, as none have really piqued my interest.

For my money, awe is not comparable to petrification because mechanical men and undead are immune to awe. Many units are immune to fire shield, though not a ton. Summer Lions are somewhat common with Abysia and Marigon.

Petrification, well it reduces undead hordes to rubble. And petrification plus haunted forest is just too fun!

Gorgon's biggest drawback is her total hps are low, making it extremely risky to use her outside of your dominion.