Who are the most powerful pretenders?

[Ferrosol]

Magicless Kraken has to be up there when playing a water nation at least

[Xietor]

"PoD is imo the most powerful all around by quite a margin."

just do not attack an s nation, as solar rays is evoc 2, and will kill the pod rather quickly.

[Jazzepi]

Xietor said:
"PoD is imo the most powerful all around by quite a margin."

just do not attack an s nation, as solar rays is evoc 2, and will kill the pod rather quickly.

Or dust to dust from a death nation.

Jazzepi

[Dedas]

Or maggots...

[quantum_mechani]

I'd rate as the top pretenders:

* Gorgon
* Prince of Death
* Cylops
* Agarthan Oracle
* Wyrm
* Oracle
* Kraken
* Colossal Fetish
* Water blessers (mother of rivers, father of winters, lady of springs)

[Xietor]

Master Lich is good in a big game. It cannot be targeted. He is not big, or flying. He has a zero encumbrance when casting, and has 3 misc slots.

Though he cannot fight like the Lich, or ctis immortal lizard lich, he starts with 3 dominion, rather than 2, and magic paths are 20 instead of 40.

And he is better against an attack than a combat sc, assuming the attack is backed with many mages. As my pretender in perpetuality for ma ctis, he was devastating with banefire/shadow blast. Since he has low hps, i always take air magic for air shield and eventually a shield of valor(seeking arrow).

In Eh II i started him with 5s and 5d, and a couple other paths. With 5 s and immortal, he can magic duel enemy s mages without fear. And with 3 slots, he can wish without the need for empowerment. In fact with robe magi he can reach s 10 without empowerment, and be quite potent with master enslave
without the need for a communion.

instead of using a wish for magical power, the ML really benefits from a wish for power to give him durability.

[elbnar]

I'm partial to:

Cyclops - good ol' faithful
Natty - too bad she's not available to more nations
Great Enchantress - rainbow mage for magic-weak nations, plus bonus pearls
VQ - undead pretenders are too vulnerable without immortality

[moderation]

quantum_mechani said:
I'd rate as the top pretenders:

* Gorgon
* Prince of Death
* Cylops
* Agarthan Oracle
* Wyrm
* Oracle
* Kraken
* Colossal Fetish
* Water blessers (mother of rivers, father of winters, lady of springs)

Is this is order from most to least powerful? And what is the Colossal Fetish? Is it the same as the Colossal Head that EA Mictlan gets?

[quantum_mechani]

moderation said:

Is this is order from most to least powerful? And what is the Colossal Fetish? Is it the same as the Colossal Head that EA Mictlan gets?

Roughly from best to least, but between some pretenders being national only, and some not being primarily for combat, it's tough to compare. I do think it would be very rare I'd pick something besides those in the base game though. The fetish is a Mackaka only pretender.

[K]

For Bless nations I tend to use whatever works, but Monoliths, Earth Mothers, and Mothers of Serpents tend to be my favorites.

PoD is an interesting SC, but its no better than a Dragon in the early game when you are killing indies. SC pretenders don't seem to last long against enemy nations, so I don't use them much.

For rainbow mages, the Lich is hands down the best since the other rainbows are so easy to kill. One Fires from Afar or Seeking Arrow and a rainbow Enchantress is down one from four or five paths (though I've turned a few Crones into Wight Mages).