MA Tien Chi tips

[Amorphous]

Originally Posted by zzcat

I think MA TC lacks offensive power in late game. Building a cost-effective thug or raiding team is not easy for them and reverse communion is hard to be used offensively. Anyway, with crossbowman+WG+FA and flexible horsemen, perhaps they can kill their opponents in early/middle game to avoid fighting Angels & Tartarians

With the many cheap, recruit-everywhere astral mages T'ien Ch'i has access to, I really have a hard time seeing the lack of late-game offensive power.

Those same astral mages are very good counters to both angels and Tartarians.

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by Amorphous

With the many cheap, recruit-everywhere astral mages T'ien Ch'i has access to, I really have a hard time seeing the lack of late-game offensive power.

Those same astral mages are very good counters to both angels and Tartarians.

When you try basing your entire late-game strategy entirely around large communions of fragile mages, and you face a skilled player using a more versatile nation - you will see why it is said that MA TC lacks late-game punch.

[Amorphous]

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

When you try basing your entire late-game strategy entirely around large communions of fragile mages, and you face a skilled player using a more versatile nation - you will see why it is said that MA TC lacks late-game punch.

Of course you cannot just field large communions of frail mages and expect to win, but neither can you field just Tartarians and expect to win. (And do not forget that small communions of cheap mages are often a lot more cost effective than large communions of the same.)

My point is that MA TC's mages are a solid punch. You certainly need to use a kick and a bite as well, but that goes for all nations. Most nations seem to need to work at getting needed late game versatility. Few can, without using a pretender or massive empowering, field adequate amounts of battlefield and ritual mages as well as summon Tartarians and Angels. I do not see anything special about T'ien Ch'i in this regard.

No, T'ien Ch'i does not have much in form of recruitable thugs, but the ability to summon them is certainly there. There is nothing wrong with water and nature access and earth is adequate enough to get to troll kings.

It is also worth noticing that both clams and fetishes are craftable by your national mages (and you have healers). Without counting on a pretender or hero you probably need to empower one of your celestial masters to get to rings of wizardry, but with the aforementioned clams this should not be totally out of the question and then that versatility starts to really open up.

Getting true SCs requires some forethought, but that is something T'ien Ch'i shares with most other nations. In this case, the simplest thing is probably to have at least S6 on the pretender.

[Xietor]

Never played a tough MP game with tien chi.

Without much thought:

1. I agree with communions for bigger spells

2. I am always somewhat fearful of dying early to midgame when you have no great bless or tough mages. Would not discount going with a Lich to make a combat pretender, sleeping, to tie into death magic for the banelords in midgame. Banelords unless nerfed in the march patch have the chassis to take down about anything living given the right weapons.

A Lich with some earth and air magic(1 fire is ideal but costly. typically better to empower him during game) can wipe out entire armies midgame.