The spell Body ethereal

[Vynd]

You are correct. The spell will affect units near the caster, it has an area effect of 1. As to how many casters you need to get 50 of your men ethereal, I couldn't tell you. Someone did an analysis of this many months back. But I wasn't able to find the thread in the few minutes I can spare here at the office.

[Pickles]

I tried this copying some oter guys strat but could not get it to work. EIther the casters were at the back of the infantry so the ones at the front - who need it most - were not covered. Alternatively if teh wizards were a tthe front they got gunned down by arrows or cavalry.

You do not need many casters to get it to "work" though - 1/6-8 men maybe
Try in in a sandbox as it is opening game stuff it will be really fast.

Pickles

[Arryn]

An AOE (area of effect) of 1 means it will (likely) encompass the square directly in front of the caster. A square can contain 6 divided by size-class units, so if the units are human troops (of size 2), a square can hold 3 troops. You would have to have at least 10 human-sized mages, with the troops perfectly apportioned between the 10, and carefully positioned, to cover 50 troops. Not easy.

EDIT: typo

[ July 30, 2004, 16:17: Message edited by: Arryn ]

[Bonobo]

Thank you all for your replies!

[PvK]

You can have the troops hold & attack, while the casters cast Body Ethereal multiple times each, and perhaps start out slightly ahead of them. You can screen them with some arrow fodder out of range of the casters, to protect the operation from arrow fire until it is ready.

PvK

[Endoperez]

I were going to post that also, but then noticed that the range listed for Body Ethereal is 1... I thought that that meant that only the grid of the casting mage can be targeted, but I think it could mean also those next to him...

Can a mage cast Body Ethereal to units that are not in the same grid with him?

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Endoperez:
I were going to post that also, but then noticed that the range listed for Body Ethereal is 1... I thought that that meant that only the grid of the casting mage can be targeted, but I think it could mean also those next to him...

Can a mage cast Body Ethereal to units that are not in the same grid with him?

Yes. It affects an adjacent square also:

AoE of 1 means the caster's square plus 1 other square. The range of 1 means it must be an adjacent square.

[Bonobo]

Hello

I ve just started a game with Pythium and I have question about the Spell Body Ethereal: it seems to be quite different from the description in the Spell Book: "the caster's body becomes hazy and transparent...". But I think that casting this spell has an effect on the troops around the wizard.
Could you confirm that ?
In that case, how many casters do I need for an army of 50 guys?

Thank you!

[Boron]

body etheral is alteration 3 .
alteration 3 covers all buffs needed for vq for indy killing .

that makes pythium a great early game expander .
some theurgs / theurg alcolytes + principles .
as pvk said 4-5 such mages with principles on hold order are enough to cover at least 60% with body etheral .

so pythium can easy take 2 provinces / turn from turn 5 on .

you could as a variation put 2-3 S on your vq . because she is poison immune she can then body etheralize hydras . or you completely screw the vq sc build and give her high astral magic instead for mind duels + astral supporter

unfortunately serpent cult is because of its lack of astral magic not a viable choice
otherwise serpent priests + hydras + bless would rock .
but astral magic is the crucial element in my early game pythium strat .

[Lex]

having the spell only affect an adjacent square is not so bad. If you order your fighters to hold a turn, any flyers attacking your rear will find your casters embeded in your army and will be cut down in short order. Also definitly leave buffer troops up front to attract enemy fire. Staff of Storms is a must, and missile protection, if you can afford to mass produce the items, could let you try more daring tactics. Once your troops are buffed, your casters can always fall back on Stellar Cascades to prevent enemy cavalry from rushing past your army and taking out your casters.

But I've found each path can be really powerful when you group large numbers of casters in combat. Astral is no exception.