Starting to get frustrated with this game

[ioticus]

I just purchased this game and have played a few games with all AI's on easy. Since I'm a big Lovecraft fan I chose R'lyeh as my race. Problem is I can't come even close to winning, and the Ermor opponent seems unbalanced. In my current game, Ermor has about six hundred troops and I can't seem to scrape together more than about 50. When I look at the army strength history, no one is even close to Ermor in military might.

I thought I could use my spellcasting ability to my advantage and make up for lack of numbers but the AI keeps pissing me off by casting spells such as Breath of Cold right next to my own units and, in one case, killed two of my commanders this way. No enemy units were even near the caster at the time.

In another game my Pretender was feebleminded after several attempts to summon. The first attempt resulted in a few wimpy units. WTF? Talk about too much risk for too little gain.

I would definately like to see a patch address spellcasting stupidity because it really hurts races that rely on magic like R'lyeh. I also wish there were a way to save a game before a battle so you can reload if you get screwed in cases like that.

What is a good world set up and race choice for a beginner that can't come close to victory with easy AI settings? I suppose leaving out Ermor would be wise? At this point, however, I'm on the verge of just calling it quits. There are other ways to give yourself frustration that at least you get paid for.

[Bossemanden]

R´lyeh vs. Ermor is probably also a very tough match. R´lyeh lives mostly on its mind attacks and most Ermorians are mindless.
You might want to try against some other race until you learn the game a bit better.

[Teraswaerto]

It's best to leave Ermor out of games against AI. If you want an easy game, play against Mictlan on a small map.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by splooger:
When I look at the army strength history, no one is even close to Ermor in military might.

Having Ermor in a game with other AIs is in general not a good idea, IMO, as the AIs do not know how to handle them, so it will ultimately be you against Ermor, and as a beginner, that's likely more than you can handle, as you have seen. Taking a nation who's primary form of attack is mental against a nation which has mainly mindless units is the worst sort of match-up, and only compounds your problems as a beginner.

I also wish there were a way to save a game before a battle so you can reload if you get screwed in cases like that.

You can manually save the 3 game turn files (zip them up) each turn before you press 'host' and thus be able to go back and replay a battle, repositioning your units or scripting different spells.

What is a good world set up and race choice for a beginner that can't come close to victory with easy AI settings?

Try Jotunheim. Giants are big and tough and can usually crush most independents with little trouble at the default settings. Or you can try Ulm, which has very tough units. As for maps, it's hard to go wrong with a smaller map like Aran and few AIs.

It's easier, IMO, to learn the game by trying mundane tactics of crushing your enemies with traditional troops and traditional fire & maneuver tactics, and wade in slowly with the more 'advanced' concepts of magic attacks and magical units. It gives you a feel for the basic game mechanics, without overwhelming you with everything at once. Just my view, FWIW.

[Bowlingballhead]

Ah, R'lyeh. I feel your pain, my friend. I, too, went 'Oh, boy, Lovecraftian monsters!'

R'lyeh is very... odd. Let me give you a quick summary of some of the things you're facing.

First, your god should NEVER be entering the void gate. Use only priests and Cthugul the Stargazer. You will also probably want to assign tough bodyguards, by putting them in a squad for that priest and giving them the order 'guard commander'. Illithid priests are feebleminded MUCH less than any other unit, and are generally better summoners. Follow these instructions, and instead of screaming, hair-pulling frustration you will soon have small armies of unspeakable things from Beyond, with names and powers that will fill you with glee.

AI Ermor is a very tough opponent for a new player. Plus, Ermor is one of the races that's strongest against R'lyeh. As you have noticed, the awesome mind bLast attack is the starspawns' greatest advantage, and it does nothing against the endless undead hordes of Ermor.

Also, illithids have VERY expensive upkeep. You will never be able to create a terribly large army of them. Certainly, you'll have a single army capable of taking on anything that has brains to bLast, but you won't have backup armies.

Be at peace. It is not that R'lyeh is uncompetitive. It's just an obscure specialty nation, whose strengths are counterbalanced with weaknesses. It is also weighed down with many subtleties you are not informed of in the manual.

I heartily recommend reading a couple of threads about gathering blood slaves, and having a go at Abysia as well. If you like Lovecraftian Things, then you will probably take an equally unspeakable joy in watching squads of demon knights mow down your enemies, or sticking Soul Contracts on weenie 50 gold human priests and watching them become devil factories.

[Taqwus]

Spell AI is one of the more problematic areas, I'd say. Last night, I spent some time trying to figure out why one of my Grand Thaugmaturgs was casting Vortex of Returning when the battle was being *won* -- vastly outnumbering enemy, some enemies Master Enslaved, enemy pretender paralyzed, nothing remaining that Nether Darts and the longdead couldn't handle. I'm still not sure what the trigger was; perhaps it was the damage done to an Ermorian Cultist standing next to a cold-aura Bane?
In addition, my Grand Thaugmaturgs, once they exhausted their scripts, ignored Relief (even when fatigue >= 90 for the Thaugs I used as communion slaves) and largely ignored Paralyze / Soul Slay / Nether Darts in favor of Reanimation spells, despite having more than enough spell power (16+ slaves, starshine skullcaps, Banner of the Northern Star, plus rune smasher/spell focus/astral clams on each master). T'was irritating, considering that the extra undead provided no benefit seeing as how they weren't able to engage due to the already-existing masses of undead. Relief should be higher priority when fatigue is up there, ground-pounder summons should be lower when there are troops in the way, weak undead summons should be very low priority when the numbers are already lopsided (e.g. ~600+ vs ~60, as that battle was IIRC). Bothersome.
(Vortex of Returning is... odd. There's a spell to take everybody home, but it only works in battle? Outside of battle, there's no ritual nearly that powerful, although none are capitol-restricted either.)

[ioticus]

Originally posted by Taqwus:
Spell AI is one of the more problematic areas, I'd say. Last night, I spent some time trying to figure out why one of my Grand Thaugmaturgs was casting Vortex of Returning when the battle was being *won*

That's what I was afraid of. If the AI can't handle "simple" spells like Breath of Cold, how can it handle more complex spells and situations?

[Bowlingballhead]

Well, THAT may just be aim.

If you're new, you may not realize: Everybody has REALLY BAD AIM. A mage with a precision of 10 requires almost miraculous luck to hit their assigned target with any spell. More often than not, they'll be wildly off, even hit your own units.

That's one of the reasons why Illithids are so deadly, because mind burn is a ranged attack that cannot miss and doesn't care about range.

An Eye of Aiming, or preprogramming your mage to cast (I think it's 'Eagle Eye'?) at the start of a fight is absolutely necessary if you plan on using these ranged combat spells. Fortunately, that +5 difference between 10 and 15 takes you from 'unable to hit the broad side of a barn' to 'very accurate'.

And yeah, the AI is outrageously stupid as to which spells it chooses to cast. You can preprogram some to start a fight, or try and force the issue (by giving a non-mage a spellcasting item, or using a mage whose exact magical levels limit him to certain spells), but basically you just have to hope they cast something useful.

Mages get a bit of a bum deal where offensive spells are concerned.

[NTJedi]

Ermor is by far the toughest AI opponent. Even when placed on easy setting with other AI opponents on difficult setting.... ERMOR will still usually win.

Simple answer is take Ermor out of your games... until you feel that you have mastered the game.

[ioticus]

Originally posted by Bowlingballhead:
Well, THAT may just be aim.

If you're new, you may not realize: Everybody has REALLY BAD AIM.

From what I understand of the description, Breath of Cold (if that's what you're referring to) doesn't require aim and acts like a damaging aura around the caster. In my case, he destroyed many of my own units near him, including two of my best generals.