Summoned Units - Opinions

[OG_Gleep]

Vine Ogers is the best value for summoned troops in the game (both vanilla and CB 5.2). And Bane Lords for 10 or 15 gems are great Commanders. I am wondering what else people find effective. What are your top 5 gems vs output summoned units and commanders? If (_) Item(s) is needed, please include that in the overall cost when considering it and please include the item(s) with the commander.

Units
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4.
5.

Commanders
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2.
3.
4.
5.

[PrinzMegaherz]

Legions of wraith is a good spell if you want to get a strong army in a short time. I have no idea how many you get, but I remember them to be relativly cheap / much cheaper than the summon wraith spell

[Vicious Love]

I imagine fire snakes are around slot #4 or #5 on my units list. Not because they're a particularly efficient use of gems, but because they're a particularly efficient use of fire gems. When your only alternatives are artillery spells, items, and inefficient battlefield boosts, there's something to be said for summoning. Or alchemy, I suppose, but I find the snakes more effective than most troops.

Clay men and mechanical men are definitely on the list as well, and everyone loves devils, ideally via contract.

As for commanders, there's definitely a vampire lord somewhere on the list, no equipment required. They make decent thugs, but their primary purpose is to muster immortal, flying, lifedraining goon squads, for all your defensive needs. Speaking of immortal units, wraith lords are... well, if they're on the list, they're #5. Very pricey, but useful for reinforcing defenses within your dominion, especially if you're the sort of undead nation that can't just cough up the gold for a few skeleton spammers. Spectres and lamia queens are on the list, too, for easy access to pretty much every path of magic. And you just can't beat the price tag on a Tartarian, even without the Gift of Health or the Chalice.

Edit: Hmm... odd how there are no ghosts on my list. I suppose I'll drop mechanical men down to #6 to make room for them. Always preferred specialized troops, anyway, it's just hard to say "no" to those across-the-board resistances.

[shovah]

PrinzMegaherz said:
Legions of wraith is a good spell if you want to get a strong army in a short time. I have no idea how many you get, but I remember them to be relativly cheap / much cheaper than the summon wraith spell

is it not legion of wights? its a 6 death, high conjuration spell that gives you 20 wights. unmodded it was only 15-20 gems iirc but under cb 5.4 its 30 gems (still good for 20 wights)

[OG_Gleep]

I have a hard time filling out this list myself, reason I left it blank. Hopefully some of the Dom II wizards will chime in on what they like to spend their gems on to bulk out their armies.

[Cainehill]

Far as the units go, lamias are pretty good when you have a high nature skill and nature income.

[shovah]

if you have a nature 10 naga (possibly with boosters) you get a huge number of lamias per cast and a good bless to boot (for pan its quite good)

[Oversway]

living statues can also be plentiful, and they make a good "meat" shield

[Ironhawk]

Units:
1. Vine Ogres
2. Devils
3. Banefire Archers
4. large seasonal spirits (Summer Lions/Fall Bears)
5. Clay Men

Commanders:
1. Bane Lord (thug)
2. Ice Devils (SC)
3. Arch Devils (SC)
4. Specters (diversity + thug)
5. Lamia Queens (diversity)
6. Ivy Kings (ogre factory + thug)
7. Air Queens (SC)

[shovah]

Points to Ironhawks list but replaces 4 with tarrasques and tries to figure out where to add tartarians