Summons

[Kuritza]

Well, they have one flaw. They are headless, yet they have a 'head' hit location.
Thus they cant wear helmets, but they are still vulnerable to the hits to their unprotected head they dont have.

[Humakty]

Good catch ! hadn't summoned one in quite some time...

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Frozen Lama

Just looking for opinions here, what are the best non-unique summons besides Tartarians?

I'm thinking mostly of SC summons, but anything thats really useful I'd like to hear about, especially things that open up new magic paths or good units that are low-gem cost.

I love Iron Dragons. MR is low-ish, but they're pretty cheap and make good additions to a flying SC without taking up any slots. I also love siege golems.

As thug chassises, I like Wraith Lords because you can use them almost naked (Pendant of Luck, winged boots optional), which synergizes with Immortality.

For cost-efficiency, I *love* Hashmalim for Ashdod. I also like the Ditanu you get from Banquet For the Dead--they're not as mobile as Iron Dragons, but they're pretty nice.

If you have a high-death caster, ghosts are really cheap and cost-effective. Never underestimate the power of 30 ethereal life-drainers, all with Fear +0.

As far as temporary summons go, Ghost Riders gets marks for the ability to show up anywhere, during the magic phase. Earth Attack is also great.

For some reason, I also like Legion of Wights even though wights are only moderately cost-effective and die in droves to Banish spam. Maybe I just like having high-HP, high-Prot infantry with 0 enc as blockers for my mages.

-Max

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Kuritza

Well, they have one flaw. They are headless, yet they have a 'head' hit location.
Thus they cant wear helmets, but they are still vulnerable to the hits to their unprotected head they dont have.

Maybe that represent stabbing down the neck of the armor?

-Max

[statttis]

The Ivy King has 0 encumbrance so you can just equip it with marble armor to give the head some protection.

[MaxWilson]

On reflection:

You could also give it Bracers of Protection, which cover the headslot. Admittedly 2 Prot isn't much, but with an E9 blessing that's Prot 6, which approximately halves the damage you take against spears and such. Add Legions of Steel and your Head prot is now 9.

Marble Armor is probably a better bet, I just wanted to point out that you can get head armor without a helmet.

-Max

[Frozen Lama]

one more question: a lot of people mentioned blood summons. are there any good non-unique ones? there's only 4? demon lords, 9? heliophagi, and a dozen or so frost fiends right? what other summons are there that are good, and non-unique?

[Tolkien]

Blood summons are awesome, generally. Demon Lords, Heliophagi, Frost Devils, Fire Devils, Father Illearth: all great SC chassis and magic diversification. Some of the better non-unique summons: Demon Knights, Storm Demons (if they don't have shock immunity), vampires, and Dark Vines (haven't used them much). I honestly can't say for Devils, Ice Fiends, and Fiends of Darkness (never used any of them much. Infernal Crusade is just too good to pass up). Bone Fiends are alright.

You could also come up with a strategy with the Succubus. Seducing enemy mages can make for getting into new magics.

[thejeff]

I do think the SC Chassis are all uniques. At least for the general blood summons. Some of the blood nations have very nice national blood summons. I'm looking at you Mictlan and Lanka.

[Tolkien]

Indeed they do. Generally speaking, assuming you aren't playing a blood nation: those are the top choices.