Magic Duel?

[st.patrik]

I'm also a fan of Rainbow Mages, primarily for the following reasons:

• lots of gems early, if you're playing on a relatively magic-site-rich setting.

• lots of gems early means that come later in the game you'll be able to a. empower mages if you want to, and b. do lots of ritual summonings

• a boost for research early (i.e. the first couple of turns), and later on if there's nothing better to do.

• as Pocus said, you can forge just about any magical item - for those who like forging a lot this is nice. Particularly important are those items which boost magic levels.

• able to cast (with enhancing items) a lot of rituals

• very unlikely to lose pretender/get afflictions

Here are the disadvantages, as I see them:

• in Dom II, blessing will be less powerful

• RMs tend to be expensive

• as a result of the Last point, RMs tend to have weak dominion

• you don't get the big plus that a combat pretender would add to your war effort

• some high-end spells/rituals you will probably not be able to cast without empowering

To me, the blessing thing is the biggest reason why I wouldn't want a RM, especially if I'm playing a nation with sacred troops I actually use.

[ October 06, 2003, 13:21: Message edited by: st.patrik ]

[johan osterman]

Most rainbow mages are cheaper now, some have additional bonuses. Like the crone, she has four misc item slots.

[Nerfix]

Originally posted by johan osterman:
Most rainbow mages are cheaper now, some have additional bonuses. Like the crone, she has four misc item slots.

How much cheaper?
I don't want to sound rude, but how much do they cost in Dominions II?

[st.patrik]

Originally posted by johan osterman:
Like the crone, she has four misc item slots.

That's kinda cool. Do all pretenders of that general type (archmage, freak lord, druid, great enchantress, etc.] have the same thing, or do they have different advantages? If so, what other advantages are there?

[johan osterman]

Originally posted by st.patrik:

quote:

---

Originally posted by johan osterman:
Like the crone, she has four misc item slots.

That's kinda cool. Do all pretenders of that general type (archmage, freak lord, druid, great enchantress, etc.] have the same thing, or do they have different advantages? If so, what other advantages are there?

---

The crone is the only humanoid with 4 misc slots. The Master Lich has 3, while 'common' Liches still have 2. There are a few of these changes spread around among the item slots of the different pretenders. As for the cost most are 50 or so cheaper, but it depends on the archmage.

[ October 06, 2003, 14:59: Message edited by: johan osterman ]

[Pocus]

Originally posted by johan osterman:
Most rainbow mages are cheaper now, some have additional bonuses. Like the crone, she has four misc item slots.

aaaaah, I just spilled my coffee on my screen!!

very good news for us rainbow fans!

[Jasper]

Originally posted by Pocus:
RM perform well in pbem which dont emphazise on rushing behaviors, that is you have to play on medium to big maps, and with independants or scripted provinces which prevent dashing toward the enemy capital. I'm not saying that they do well in all conditions.

I disagree. The main value of a strong early combat pretender isn't rushing to an opponents castle, but the increased expansion and thus _exponentially_ increased income.

This benefit is seen on any sized map, and IMHO is actually greater on a larger map, where the exponential growth can act for a longer time.

Plus early conflict is often a bad idea, as it leaves you vulnerable to a bystander who instead spent his time picking up independent provinces.