Most narrow nations

KissBlade · #1 November 2nd, 2006, 04:14 PM

Try Sauromatia, they can literally do every type of strategy. Pan as well.

dirtywick · #2 November 2nd, 2006, 04:36 PM

MA Abysia is pretty narrow IMO. Basically all you have is slow, heavy infantry for nationals. They only have 4 paths to choose from, Blood, Astral, Fire, and a small chance at Earth, so conjuration won't yield much for summons to supplement your infantry so you have to use Blood summons. Plus they're basically pigeonholed into taking Order, Prod, and Growth scales so you're pretender is going to be at least dormant.

They're strong, but they don't have a lot of playstyle options until much later in the game when, basically, everyone has those options at that time anyway.

#3 November 2nd, 2006, 05:41 PM

LA Ermor is (unsurprisingly) very narrow. Probably the most narrow in terms of pretender design even: you have to take several death magic points (anything below 4 is pretty suicidal) and an awake pretender, as a sleeping pretender *will* get you killed. fast. A strong dominion is also, while not absolutely necessary, still very important.
Also, for late age your national troops (read autosummons) plain suck. And getting priests with high magic to cast those whole-battlefield undead buffs is quite expensive, better summons are more economical. A bless will also be wasted on Ermor as you'll only get decent amounts of decent blessable troops quite late. (and good priests are still expensive)
Also, they lack several hundred coolness points because they're restricted to lame zombies and skeletons instead of the awesomeness of ghostly roman legions.

Tien Chi MA are very diverse. And you'll have to utilize that, as you get comparatively wek mages that have lots of different paths to make up for it. You also get a nice mix of national troops and summons.
Also unsurprising, since MA Tien Chi is basic Tien Chi from D2. Though a bit better imo.

KissBlade · #4 November 2nd, 2006, 05:58 PM

Tien Chi MA is very diverse?! They're practically pidgeon holed into a consort spam strategy backed by imperial xbows!

Endoperez · #5 November 2nd, 2006, 06:10 PM

They have access to many paths. They might not be able to use them well, but they have access to many paths. In a game where every player could expect, say, 15 turns before contact with another player, Tien Chi's diverse magic could pay off. It won't pay off in a blitz, perhaps even in most games... but they still have access to many paths.

KissBlade · #6 November 2nd, 2006, 06:17 PM

They don't really have that much access to that many more paths than other nations. Only five if I recall, which there are quite a few number of nations can boast in terms of magic versatility of equal if not greater level.

Gandalf Parker · #7 November 2nd, 2006, 10:43 PM

I noted that Tien Chi has 3 or 4 pretenders that boost luck? All titans. And they have some decent magics. Possibly a bless strategy. They only have one blessable unit? But many blessable leaders and many of them mages.

If I remember Jade Emperor I got up to air 4, water 4, astral 9. That gives air shield 20%, Defense Skill +2, Magic Resistance +3, and Twist of Fate. Pretty good for a battle field full of mages. I only got 5 dominion but for purchasing mostly blessable leaders that isnt too much of a problem. Plus the luck bonuses, the research boost, the high astral. Someone should be able to make that a decent strategy shouldnt they?