Alexander's Ever-Expanding Tome of Knowledge, pt 2

[Endoperez]

Spy is different from Scout. Any unit that is stealthy can gather basic information, but some nations also have Spies. Spies have a special "Instill Unrest" order, and they also see the details of enemy lands in much greater detail that ordinary scouts (the spesific income, unrest, resource, PD etc numbers as well as the number of magic sites).

[HoneyBadger]

The Ancient Kraken is a really fun Pretender to play if you're a water-loving nation, but he needs some help.
One consideration is the fact that his poison cloud also poisons him. Accessorize your Ancient Kraken for less! Give him a snake ring and he'll not only be protected, he'll poison his enemies. That's 4-18 hp armor piercing attacks that now do poison damage as well. Doesn't suck. Cost: 5 nature gems, 1 level of nature magic, and 0 levels of Construction. Other good, and cheap, magic items for your Kraken-on-the-go are the ring of regeneration-I've had Ancient Kraken pretenders with 690 pre-Wish hp before (see below), and throwing regeneration onto that is a beautiful thing. It also helps avoid those nasty afflictions. Sure your kraken heals them eventually, but why suffer with a limp for any amount of time if you don't have to? Ok, it's not THAT cheap at 6 const and 10 nature gems, but it's dirt-cheap when you consider your Ancient Kraken will be regenerating 65 HP+ per round. That's one whole entire Niefel Giant,
every
single
round.
An Amulet of Antimagic is a real bargain for the Ancient Kraken, not only because it protects him from spells, but because the worst thing that can happen to him (besides death, and a well-played Kraken doesn't die very often) is Curse or Horror Mark. Even those aren't really that bad, but still, better to avoid. When you have an Ancient Kraken, Dom 10 is worth the cost. Not only will you get Awe +2 in addition to your Kraken's natural Fear +0, but your Kraken's stats will JUMP! Don't ask me why [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Bug.gif[/img] but I've had over 550 HP in mediochre Dom provinces with a 10 Dom Ancient Kraken. A 10 Dom province will give you 690 HP, around 28 str, MR of 25 with an amulet, and greatly improved attack and defense. It's hard to improve on immortality, but what if your Pretender...

just...won't...die?!?!?

Good magic paths for your Ancient Kraken include Water-just one level and your Kraken can cast quicken self-remember those 4 attacks at 18 points AP damage each? well now make that 8 attacks etc etc etc yadda yadda yadda. Earth-stoneskin and ironskin are fun, but the real beauty is Invulnerability. Cost is a little higher at 3 levels of Earth magic, but the payoff is 25 points protection, and if you're still wearing that snake ring, there's no downside! The real treat though is Astral magic. Just 1 point allows you to cast both Body Etherial and Personal Luck. Another truly beautiful spell for an Ancient Kraken is Mossbody. Finally, 3 Death will enable you to cast Soul-Vortex, and 4 Death will allow Darkness (and did I mention Ancient Krakens have 100% Darkvision?).
Not too many armies-let alone SCs-have what it takes to tackle a 690 hp etherial, lucky, invulnerable, magic-resistant, quick, poisonous and poison immune soul-sucking Ancient Kracken of Fear and Awe, especially in the dark.

'Nuff said.

[Meglobob]

Endoperez said:
Spy is different from Scout. Any unit that is stealthy can gather basic information, but some nations also have Spies. Spies have a special "Instill Unrest" order, and they also see the details of enemy lands in much greater detail that ordinary scouts (the spesific income, unrest, resource, PD etc numbers as well as the number of magic sites).

Bards can instill unrest as well.

[Endoperez]

Mechanics-wise, Bards are spies. They aren't named as such, but this is probably just propaganda. Chelms has a stealthy spy-mage too, BTW.

[thejeff]

As do Tien Chi and Late Era Ulm and probably others.

It would be nice if both spying and assassination had icons so you could be sure who could do what, before sending them out.

[HoneyBadger]

As per Ancient Krakens with Astral 8 being extremely expensive, they are, but they're also the ideal Pretender for R'lyeh, especially if you're going for Wish rush combined with clam-spamming. I like to build up a posse of 5 (4 wished for) empowered (4 death, 3 earth, 3 astral, 2 nature, 1 water, plus atleast 1 fire and air if you're going to give them amulets of the fish and send them onto land), gift-of-reason Ancient Krakens by mid-game, and by end-game have a Kraken-factory, producing, gift of reasoning, and empowering atleast 1 (different) Kraken per turn. Backed up by communion-slaved Aboleth Mindlords, they really are pretty much unbeatable, being able to handle swarms, SCs, and anything magic you throw at them, since with Aboleths, the one thing you can count on being bigger and better at than anyone else is research. You can use your Krakens as a single force to take out heavy provinces, or divide them up and conquer quickly. They work almost as well on land as they do in the water, and by end-game you can factory-build well-equipped gorgons and void-lords almost as easily as you can your Krakens-(infact, you can summon up any Pretender-type in the game, just summon, equip, and empower whatever SC best suits your needs. You can start laying down Fountains of Blood and moving fast and furious into blood-magic. If you like the units of another nation, make your own. Do what you feel.) You do need a TON of astral pearls though, because each Kraken represents atleast 3 wishes-one to summon and then two to get the gems to empower them to level 1 in each magical path, unless you're getting in 50+ gems of each type a round-which, with this tactic, you should be by mid-game, but each Mind-Lord, once empowered to level 1, can produce clamshells. You'll want a couple hundred of these going by midgame, so get shucking! You also need several (not just one) mages who can cast Wish by mid-game. It can be risky, and it's easy to screw up, because you're basically putting all of your Nation's eggs in one basket, but the payoff can be enormous.

[Aleph]

Basic question from someone new to the game: Why a Kraken and not a Wyrm? Less attacks, less hitpoints, less defense, but starts with regeneration, more protection, more attack, more strength, is poisonous and fully poison immune from the get go, is amphibious rather than aquatic (saving a misc slot if you want to go on land), has 2 helmet/2 misc rather than 3 misc, and has more leadership. You could go with Spirit Helmet/Wraith crown/Stone Bird/Pendant of Luck for a combat model, or Skullface/Starshine Skullcap/Water Bracelet/Crystal Coin if you want to gain turn and gem advantage through less empowering.

The big loss would seem to be some vulnerability to afflictions, but you could always use some of your turn advantage to create a Mother of Serpents to act as forward magical support and healing if that becomes an issue.

[HoneyBadger]

The Wyrm is a fine Pretender, there's no question of that, but the thing that makes an Ancient Kraken outshine a Wyrm is the Kraken's efficiency in dealing with large groups of creatures. Large groups of creatures-and you'll learn that this is much truer in Dom3 than it was in Dom2-are very common, and can be the bane of many an SC. Most don't deal well with them. The Gorgon is one that does, because of her inherant Petrification. 200 units attack most SC's and you've got 199, maybe 198 units, and a very dead SC. 200 units attack a Gorgon, and you've got an art museum full of classics. The Kraken also deals well with large groups, and it's got three ways to deal with them better than a Wyrm. 1: The Ancient Kraken has 4 tentacle attacks-8 with quickness-each able to instakill a single medium-toughness armored unit. 2: Poison cloud-the Kraken doesn't even need to specifically attack a unit to weaken those around it-and you can easily add Breath of Winter on top of that, making for two different types of damage, which is hard for large armies to be resistant to. 3: Rejuvenation-my personal favorite inherant ability. Rejuvenation isn't easy to get-easier than petrification or immortality, but still not a dime a dozen. No matter how many healers you happen to have, they're never going to be as efficient as a creature that heals itself, no muss no fuss. Plus-and this is the most important-I just like the idea of playing an enormous ancient giant badass ship-devouring kraken. I don't get the same thrill from a Wyrm. I don't know why, but I don't. Maybe if it had more heads?

[Aleph]

That's cool if it comes down to preference. I just don't see the edge; the Kraken needs to spend a round casting personal regeneration, so that's another damage shield that the Wyrm could have up, and with the additional item slots (both inherent and due to lack of need for poison protection and air breathing) and lack of need for Nature paths you can produce more Wyrms more quickly, so I think we're back to a conversation similar to the Mictlan bless strats. Some like super quality, others are happier with high quality in quantity.

Edit: Or a Carrion Dragon, which has a lot of the properties you like in the Kraken but more so - 8 attacks per round before quickness, recuperation, fear +10 - but can also raise the dead and when Gift of Reasoned has the benefit of already having 1 level each of nature and death, allowing you to avoid the 1st point premiums when empowering.

[HoneyBadger]

Oh yes, I love the Carrion Dragon. As far as I'm concerned, with the Gorgon and the Ancient Kraken, it's the third corner of the Holy Triumvirate of Dom3 SCs.

I just wish it were amphibious and/or immortal, but then I wish Ancient Kraken had 6 tentacle attacks (or ideally the 4 it currently has plus two killing-arms, like a real giant squid) 5% natural regeneration, an extra misc. slot (accounting for 10 total tentacles) and a bite attack.

Yes they would be overpowered. Yes, I would certainly give them a price-hike. No, they wouldn't be overbalancing, because they're still 1 unit moving 1 province a turn, and they still have plenty of disadvantages.

I think many Pretenders-SC Pretenders anyway-in Dom3 could use significant physical boosts, (not magic-path boosts mind you), to make them more outstanding compared to the droves and droves of units usually present in a game. Whatever it is, it's a GOD and gods should kick a godly amount of explitive.

The Gorgon, the Ancient Kraken, and the Carrion Dragon are the only Pretenders out there (that I am familiar with) that you can use continuously-from the beginning of the game to the end of the game-as lone province-taking SC's without risking death/crippling affliction. I don't think this is right.

Keep the multitudes of units on the battlefield, but bring back the SC, I say.