How does the Vengeance of the Dead Spell Work?

[sushiboat]

Does anyone find the spell useful? If a commander has lots of kills, how is one undead -- assuming it's something like soulless and not a Tartarian -- going to accomplish anything?

[Saber Cherry]

sushiboat said:
Does anyone find the spell useful? If a commander has lots of kills, how is one undead -- assuming it's something like soulless and not a Tartarian -- going to accomplish anything?

One undead per victim. A weak mage that assumes there is a storm, casts "Summon Airpower" and then lots of Thunder Strikes, will get toasted when there is no storm and can only toss a few lightning bolts before being swamped.

[Psitticine]

Sometimes it works wonderfully, sometimes it falls totally flat. It all depends on if the targetted commander can handle hordes single-handly or not. Mages tend to rack up large kill numbers with their magic, but as I think most would agree, mages are a heck of a lot more vulnerable without some cannon fodder between them and the enemy to prevent being overrun. That makes them more susceptible to this spell, IMO. That's mitigated somewhat by high MR, of course, but not overwhelmingly.

Oh, and another thought during the pre-post read through <g>. Mages tend not to be scripted to handle things as if they were solo. Those that are obviously do much better against this spell, but most (again, IMO) are scripted in such a way as to actually be handicapped when all alone. One sees that a lot during assassinations.

Powerful melee commanders, OTOH, are much less vulnerable. They got where they are by doing exactly what the spell requires: wading into hordes of enemies and mowing them down like wheat.

Oh, and powerful priests can often laugh this one off. Banishment is a great counter for hordes of weaker undead.

[Oversway]

Does the defender get bodyguards when they are the target of this spell (and fail the mr check)?

[Arralen]

If they can dream up some bodyguards ...

Obviously, they won't have their usual bodyguard, as this is not an assassination.

[Ironhawk]

In the general case I've found Mind Hunt to be a more effective spell. Easier to cast, costs a little less. But, as discussed above, there are some commanders who are particularly vulnerable to this spell. Additionally, Vengence of the Dead is targetted and thus will ignore all the chaff scouts that might be accompanying your intended target, unlike Mind Hunt or Earth Attack.

edit: Oh yeah. You cant get feebleminded casting Vengence of the Dead, either