Message from Abysia

[Nerfix]

"Afflictions. Dumbest mechanic ever. What is it for? Flavor? Annoyance? Adding even more random factor for a strategy game? Lame."


...

[Agrajag]

Well, since we are given control over the age of units using mod commands, it shouldn't be very hard to nullify the aging mechanism with a simple mod.
Something like:
Selectmonster 1
MaxAge 10000
Selectmonster 2
MaxAge 10000
...
Selectmonster 1500
MaxAge 10000
...

I'm just making up command names though, since I don't know the max age commands and don't remember the unit select command.
Either way you could write a script to write that for you quite easily.

[Daynarr]

You know Abyssia is actually the nation that should suffer from least from old age. You guys just need to get used to the mechanics and workarounds.

Some tips for Abyssia:

- Use rejuvenate on your more expensive blood mages. It costs 10 blood slaves and takes away 10 years of your age. Abyssia has easy access to blood magic so it's no problem for them to do this.

- Use item that stops aging. You more expensive mages can wear boots that stop aging. From my experience it also stops getting afflictions from old age even if your commander is already old.

- get GROWTH instead of death scale. Abyssia is not immune to death scale as you may think. Death scale doesn't reduce supplies for them but population still dies, they get less income and your mages still get more afflictions from death scale. Growth scale is good for blood hunting and it helps against old age. I was using only growth 1 and it helped a lot.

- get pretender with nature magic. Nature magic allows your sacred troops to get regeneration (1/8 chance to get affliction in combat and restores HP) and they have lots of HP to make a difference and it allows your pretender to cast Gift of Health. Gift of Health heals your old age afflictions as well. It's much easier to do it in SP games, just make sure you put enough nature gems into it so that you make sure it stays up. Once you get it up, all your old age troubles go away. Good example of pretender design for Abyssia is to take imprisoned Solar Disc with F9 N6 blessing. He can have good scales as well (Order 3, Productivity 3 and Growth 1). Makes playing Abyssia easy.

I hope these tips will help reduce irritation you may get by playing them. In my last long game (well over 10 years in game time) I didn't lose a single mage due to the old age. I did lost lots due to the horrors that got attracted by lightless lanterns, but that's another story...

[Nerfix]

Hmmm, this is interesting. Aging stopping boots? Lightless lanters attracting Horrors?

[DominionsFan]

Agrajag said:
Well, since we are given control over the age of units using mod commands, it shouldn't be very hard to nullify the aging mechanism with a simple mod.
Something like:
Selectmonster 1
MaxAge 10000
Selectmonster 2
MaxAge 10000
...
Selectmonster 1500
MaxAge 10000
...

I'm just making up command names though, since I don't know the max age commands and don't remember the unit select command.
Either way you could write a script to write that for you quite easily.

Exactly, using modding commands you can modify this part of the game also. Personally I wouldn't change it for MP games to be honest.

*Edit*

I had to fix my first sentence because it was messed up.

[KissBlade]

IMO, don't fix what's not broken. Old age just seems to be a really needless "fix".

[Kristoffer O]

But it was fun to implement during development

[Valandil]

And of course you can now have a large amount of fun trying to age your humans beyond all reason. I reccomend precision 0 decay casters and burden of time. Banefire bows combined with a darkness spell also works.

[PDF]

Hmm, I don't yet have any definitive position on aging (as I'm middle-aged ), but yet I'm somewhat surprised by the fact that "lose an arm" is an as much probable effect of old age as "limp"...
IMHO aging should give 95% of the time some "standard" affliction, such as limp, or chest wound (lung problems...), maybe crippled. Some new "eyesight loss" affliction (prec -4) should be fitting also, but others (like lost an arm) should be very rare. "Diseased" should even be banned, in Dom the "disease" is a killer, quasi-impossible to heal, and is never caught by chance or in battle (only via magic or spreading sites/creatures). I feel it should remain this way.

[Nerfix]

You know that Disease is supposed to represent death from old age right?