Man - Pretender template request

[Amerasu]

Originally posted by fahdiz:
Secondly, I like a Virtue with Air 9 (that 80% Air Shield blessing renders your longbowmen able to fire at will into the midst of your sacred troops without fear of friendly fire, and the shock resistance will come in handy when you start summoning up Spring Hawks and such).

Both of these work well regardless of which Man theme you're playing, but you *really* notice the punch (especially of Air 9) if you're playing Last of the Tuatha, given the fantastic sacred units in that theme.

Thank you Gandalf and fahdiz! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think I might try out Gandalf's Arch Druid idea tonight. I find myself drawn to research and site searching side of the game.

fahdiz, I am very intrigued by your two builds, too. I will certainly try out the dragon very soon.

However, I do have some specific questions about your Virtue build (this is the one I think I want to dig into a little more deeply).

For your Virtue build:

- How do you balance your scales? Obviously, I have the 1 Magic and 1 Luck to get Last of the Tuatha, but I'm curious how you set the rest of your scales. Do you take some Turmoil to pick up some Productivity? Do you adjust any of the other scales?

- Do pick up any other magic path?

- How high do you take your Dominion strength?

- What kind of fortress do you like?

Thanks!

[ March 27, 2004, 21:04: Message edited by: Amerasu ]

[Yossar]

Does the Great Enchantress still generator an astral pearl every turn? That would be nice.

[Yossar]

Originally posted by Amerasu:
- How do you balance your scales? Obviously, I have the 1 Magic and 1 Luck to get Last of the Tuatha, but I'm curious how you set the rest of your scales. Do you take some Turmoil to pick up some Productivity? Do you adjust any of the other scales?

- Do pick up any other magic path?

- How high do you take your Dominion strength?

- What kind of fortress do you like?

Thanks!

You almost never want Turmoil. You take a fairly large hit to Income if you do.

For scales maybe Order 1, Dominion 6, and a Castle. Or Order 2 and a 40 point fortress could work. You really can't afford another path of magic.

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Amerasu:
For your Virtue build:

- How do you balance your scales? Obviously, I have the 1 Magic and 1 Luck to get Last of the Tuatha, but I'm curious how you set the rest of your scales. Do you take some Turmoil to pick up some Productivity? Do you adjust any of the other scales?

- Do pick up any other magic path?

- How high do you take your Dominion strength?

- What kind of fortress do you like?

Thanks!

If I'm recalling correctly (I have problems with that sometimes ) what Yossar has suggested below is almost exactly what I do - Order 1, Dominion 6, and a Castle, or Order 1, Productivity 1, and a 40-pointer. I find myself drawn to the Mausoleum because the Last of the Tuatha theme doesn't run into supply problems as often as other nations (similarly to Pangaea, because Nature mages get supply bonuses) - but if I feel like I'm going to get sieged frequently I'll take the Castle instead, and forego the extra Productivity.

I agree with Yossar - Turmoil makes things difficult economically, so I tend to avoid it like the plague unless I'm playing a nation where income is not an issue (Ashen Empire or Soul Gate Ermor, for instance). And if I have to take Turmoil (such as with both of the T'ien Ch'i additional themes) I always take the same amount of Luck so that I can at least turn those extra events into better ones.

And I end up never being able to take another path of magic, because new paths for the Virtue cost 80 points. Ouch.

I don't know with what indie strength you usually play, but Last of the Tuatha with an Air 9 blessing can easily take out most indie-6 provinces in the very early game, often completely without casualties. Try this: using a Sidhe Champion or Sidhe Lord (both of whom can command 50 units to start), give him three squads - 10 Daoine Sidhe, 20 Longbowmen, and 20 Longbowmen. Take the two squads of Longbowmen and put one on each side of and slightly behind the group of Daoine Sidhe. Set both squads of Longbowmen to "Fire Closest" or "Fire Archers" (Fire Archers is nice because there's always the chance you'll hit the enemy commanders too), and set the squad of Daoine Sidhe to "Hold and Attack Closest".

While the Daoine Sidhe are holding, they'll get blessed by the Champion/Lord, and pick up that Air Shield. Meanwhile, your Longbowmen will rain death on the indies as they come at you. Then if the indies haven't routed yet, they'll run right into those tough Daoine Sidhe, who will protect your archers just long enough to get the indies to rout.

[ March 27, 2004, 23:29: Message edited by: fahdiz ]

[SelfishGene]

Because the Tuatha are supposed to be somewhat ancient, benevolent, magical Elves, i like taking 3-Luck 3-Magic and 3-Sloth, Dominion 6 and like everyone else, the 9 Air Virtue Pretender. Oh and i think the castle.

You need luck and magic together. By turn 30 i recieved two 1500 free gold events, at least five free items, and dozens of lesser gems, smaller sums of gold, free units and other goodies. Suprisingly Luck 3/Magic 3 is noticably better than Luck 2/Magic 2 - i don't think you can receive the 1500 event otherwise.

Sloth is acceptable because you don't really need to make any non-Cidhe melee units. Longbowmen cost only 6 resources, and are a perfect compliment to Air-9 blessed Daoine Cidhe that already are hard to hit with glamour. Anyway basic human troops are crap - why make more of a bad thing?

[ March 28, 2004, 00:16: Message edited by: SelfishGene ]

[Amerasu]

This is great!

Thanks for the latest replies fahdiz, Yossar and SelfishGene. Your Posts have been very informative. I feel the wheels starting to slowly turn.

Never being one to have only one game going at a time, and having a hard time narrowing down all the choices in this amazing game, I am going to try the Druid, the Virtue and the Blue Dragon in seperate games.

Therefore, I do have one more question pertaining to the Blue Dragon build. If I take him to Water 9, Magic 1, Luck 1, Productivity 1 and Dominion 6, I only have 1 point left. Do you sacrifice Productivity to get the Mausoleum or keep Productivity and go with the Watchtower? Or do you tweak him a little differently.

I know these are all very basic questions, but I really appreciate you all being so kind to help me out.

[Yossar]

i'd definitely take order over production. money is more valuable than resources most of the time. you might be able to get away with a watchtower but i'd go for the mausoleum.