Machaka – a sorcerer’s fevered arachnophobia

[Baalz]

@Executor - Real SCs are gonna be hard. Wraithlords are an option, though they're a little light. As already mentioned poison golems are within reach, though again on the lighter side of SCs. Again already mentioned, but elemental royalty is a good bet, and you'll have lots of options for swarms of thugs and anti-SC tactics. You're not going to be using SCs as your central theme at any point though, which is a big part of why you can't let the game drag on to the point that they really dominate everything - at that point there isn't much you can do to be too competitive.

@vfb - yes, the MR on the spiders is a big problem, though it's less of a problem at 30 gold than 125 (for black hunters). The whole point of all that fancy footwork though is that you've got lots of options to switch to if your opponent is fielding anything which dominates the spiders - of which there are several. Likewise if your opponent is spamming lots of strong anti-undead stuff you'll not want to invest in kitted bane lords - use those death gems for skull staffs instead.

@Thejeff - I find the black sorcerer thugs a bit of a fun gimmick rather than a very effective thug. You don't want to equip anything other than misc items if you plan on switching to a spider (you'll lose them), which doesn't leave much that's terribly effective. I'm certainly open to someone proving me wrong, but I haven't been able to make this effective yet.

@Kissblade - yes, Machaka has probably the worst PD in the game, arguably even worse than the much maligned monkey PD. They're not *that* bad though, putting up 10 PD all over (which is not hard at all with the scales and strategy outlined here) will handily chase off birds and most remote spells, if you're talking about ghost riders, horrors etc. then it doesn't really matter what PD you have. You've also got swarms of upkeep free spiders so sprinkle them all around and if you're *still* having problems with raiders leverage your absurd number of sorcerers and sprinkle those about with small amounts of your upkeep free summons. As your research ramps up you've also got options for ritual spells to handle raiders from earth attack/manifestation to fires from afar.

@Maxwilson - yes, but also keep in mind one of the big advantages Machaka has is dwarven hammers and everything needed to start making fever fetishes as soon as the very low hurdle of construction-2 is cleared. There are a couple ways to generate gems in dominons, from bloodstones and clams to sea kings. The compelling thing to me about this strategy is the efficiency and speed with which it comes out, and thus the ability to generate a large gem income by the point in the game small amounts of gems are very valuable. EA Argatha (or anybody else really) would almost never be able to crank out fever fetishes in the first year, and if we're talking about 10-15 produced in the first year, that's hundreds of extra gems by the end of year 3. Good suggestion on the blood hunting BTW.

@Cleveland - Ok, MA Man strat next. I'll try to post it tomorrow. Kidding...

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Baalz

@Maxwilson - yes, but also keep in mind one of the big advantages Machaka has is dwarven hammers and everything needed to start making fever fetishes as soon as the very low hurdle of construction-2 is cleared. There are a couple ways to generate gems in dominons, from bloodstones and clams to sea kings. The compelling thing to me about this strategy is the efficiency and speed with which it comes out, and thus the ability to generate a large gem income by the point in the game small amounts of gems are very valuable. EA Argatha (or anybody else really) would almost never be able to crank out fever fetishes in the first year, and if we're talking about 10-15 produced in the first year, that's hundreds of extra gems by the end of year 3. Good suggestion on the blood hunting BTW.

Sure, for all the reasons you've outlined, Machaka is clearly the best at fever fetishing. I was just curious enough to crank the numbers to see how *much* better it is--that endgame you describe (hundreds of fire gems per turn) is attainable by anyone who can stand the micro and has access to nature gems, and you won't even know it until EA C'tis or Caelum starts slamming you with dozens of Phoenix Rods and a Flames From the Sky every turn.

-Max

Edit: to put it another way, I've never bothered with fetishing before but you've convinced me that maybe I should look into it even if I'm not playing Machaka.

[Ironhawk]

A bold and interesting strat, baalz! I'm curious to see how it plays out. I'm twice tempted cause I've always wanted to see drakes as part of a workable combat force.

[Baalz]

Originally Posted by MaxWilson

... and you won't even know it until EA C'tis or Caelum starts slamming you with dozens of Phoenix Rods and a Flames From the Sky every turn.

-Max

Another of the things I liked about this is volcanic eruption, raging hearts, flames from the sky, etc. are all anonymous so it's not hard to imagine you could leverage a steady stream of them to cripple nations you're not actively at war with but expect to eventually be (best time to decapitate their income). >

[DeathDaemon]

Great guide Baalz! I would like you and/or the community to comment on the strategy of self-buffed combat sorcerers w/ little or none crafted items and then charging in to become spiders. I remember using them like that in Dom2, but not for years now... Have you had too many losses for this strategy or do you not find them as effective as researching and then using them as mages?

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by DeathDaemon

Great guide Baalz! I would like you and/or the community to comment on the strategy of self-buffed combat sorcerers w/ little or none crafted items and then charging in to become spiders. I remember using them like that in Dom2, but not for years now... Have you had too many losses for this strategy or do you not find them as effective as researching and then using them as mages?

Quoting from upthread:

Originally Posted by Baalz

@Thejeff - I find the black sorcerer thugs a bit of a fun gimmick rather than a very effective thug. You don't want to equip anything other than misc items if you plan on switching to a spider (you'll lose them), which doesn't leave much that's terribly effective. I'm certainly open to someone proving me wrong, but I haven't been able to make this effective yet.

-Max

[Kadelake]

Fun strategy

I've some questions about kitting out the banes. (By the way, you've written bane lord instead of bane everywhere)
What's your opinion on adding a lychantrope amulet and maybe a fire plate? The fire plate might seem a little redundant with the bane's heavy starting armour but if you have a lot of fire gems the better def, ap and 100% fire resistance might make a difference.

I think it depends on your luck in finding death and earth gems. If you can afford to field several banes with firebrand and awe shield I guess that would be most effective but if you have trouble affording them it might be worth it to kit them out some more.

[WraithLord]

Baalz. How do you manage to come with all those interesting and surprising strategies?- I usually read your guides and think how come I wasn't aware of this before.

I esp. like your guides for weak nations. I'm looking forward to day you'll make a Yomi guide.

[Baalz]

Originally Posted by Kadelake

Fun strategy

I've some questions about kitting out the banes. (By the way, you've written bane lord instead of bane everywhere)
What's your opinion on adding a lychantrope amulet and maybe a fire plate? The fire plate might seem a little redundant with the bane's heavy starting armour but if you have a lot of fire gems the better def, ap and 100% fire resistance might make a difference.

I think it depends on your luck in finding death and earth gems. If you can afford to field several banes with firebrand and awe shield I guess that would be most effective but if you have trouble affording them it might be worth it to kit them out some more.

Yes, the lycanthrope amulet is an excellent choice, and there are worse ideas than using fire gems for fire plate, though the primary thing you're gonna be struggling with generally at this point is scraping up enough gems to outfit a steady stream of banes. Keep in mind that these are 4 gem summons so while the gems obviously don't always translate directly across I tend to think skipping the amulet and fire plate is almost another bane with an awe shield and weapon. These are the frontline troops of your army, you want mass over efficiency. You'll probably be dissapointed if you're trying to shoehorn these guys into real thug roles, but if you can really convince yourself that they are your uber-heavy infantry then you'll have a big grin on your face every time you bring them to a fight.

The thing is, you're also going to want to be diversifying so that you're not completely screwed when your opponent starts spamming dust to dust (or other strong anti-undead spells). I'd almost always recommend nature and fire gems get funneled into dragon master and fire drakes, or vine ogres, or fire boosters for combat mages, or something else clever rather than making your banes more efficient.