Beware of Ashdod

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by cthulhu

Banquet for the Dead is a higher level variant of Dirge for the Dead, but I don't like it as much as the main unit produced has a higher insanity rating, and extra magic paths that aren't particularly useful on an SC.

I think Dirge for the Dead is great. You get a Malik (15% Shattered Soul) who can cast Soul Vortex and either Invulnerability, Fire Shield/Phoenix Pyre, or Personal Luck/Teleport (depending upon which variant you get), as well as Blood Vengeance if you have nothing better to do than research Blood-9. (Non-factor, really, but interesting.) You also get 4 awesome sacred Ditanu with zero insanity, MR 18, ethereality, lots of hit points, good att/def, etc. Both the Malik and the Ditanu are Morale 30, so unlike regular Ahimans/Adonim/She****es they won't rout when faced with Hydras/Ghosts/etc. You get the standard undead strengths/weaknesses, which in this case is really good because Cold/Poison immunity added to Fire resistance covers almost the full spectrum, whereas weaknesses (Dust to Dust vuln) matter less because of high HP + regen of 6+ HP per turn (assuming E10N6).

I can't say enough good things about Soul Vortex. Best spell an SC can have--chaff-killing + reinvig + regen all in one neat little package. You'll need a death booster or a death gem to cast it w/ Malkim.

-Max