Rainbow Mages Worth It?

[modrnangel]

I understand that it can be a bit tough to find magic sites without rainbow mages, but are they worth it in the long term? It seems the only way you can make a rainbow mage is to cripple the rest of your dominion or to have a very physically weak (ie arch-mage, druid, sage, etc.) Pretender.

So, which is it in the long run? I like those extra magical sites but I hate the weak Pretender that goes along with it.

[Norfleet]

Well, you can be Ermor. Then you can cripple your Dominion just fine. So what if your dominion is Turmoil 3, Sloth 3, Death 3, and maybe Misfortune 3? Oh, no! I just lost 1/4th of my zero population and some of my 500 skeletons are permanently cursed!

Then you'll have a whole BUCKETLOAD of points to spend on magic. Even after purchasing Dominion, an Ermor god can have more points to spend on magic than most people can spend on their entire god.

[LordArioch]

Generally rainbow mages aren't very powerful. If the only mage that can find, say, water magic sites is your pretender, and he's a rainbow mage so he has some low water skill (1-2)...who's going to spend the water gems?
Do you really plan on using your rainbow god to cast level 2 water ritual spells? It's better to focus on a one magic type your nation has or maybe two you don't that will complement your existing magic well.

Unless you're Ashen empire ermor or something...then enjoy the best rainbow mage/supercombatant/lord of the undead you can create. That's half the fun.

[SurvivalistMerc]

Try the ghost king. He only costs 20 to open new paths and summons his own stealthy guards.

Gems can be converted via alchemy or used to empower. What do I do if I have a serious excess of water gems? Empower my pretender, craft some water items, and summon a queen of elemental water. Gems are never worthless.

I really enjoy rainbows. Sure...they have some drawbacks. But Dominions is a game of tradeoffs. And I think the RB is pure joy in SP.

It's up to your playstyle. If you can handle sinking the points and playing with the type of playstyle that means playing with a Rainbow go ahead.

In competitive MP, you should shy away from them except for extreme circumstances (superfast research, superlow independants, or superhigh Magic Sites)

Otherwise you are waiting too late in the game to be effective and unless you get left alone, you will fall to the first one you go to war with.

[Jam3]

I assume a rainbow mage is one trained in all schools? JC. Also can't you increase the skill with empowerment so you wouldnt neccessarily be stuck at 2 water all game.