Eater of the Dead?

[tinkthank]

Havent been able to cast this (yet), but was thinking about it, then checked out Zen's handy Summunz list, and see that it has 4 "phases", the Last of which is entitled (by Zen?) "Lose Control".
Can anybody give me a rundown on what governs these "phases" and what "lose control" means? I dont want to summon a critter that will then slaughter my own troops.
Thanks

[Peter Ebbesen]

Each month, the Eater of the Dead will eat some of the unburied corpses in the province it is located. It grows larger and meaner the more corpses it eats. It is, essentially, a one-unit undead army that is very, very, hard to destroy.

You are warned in the monthly log when the Eater of the Dead grows in size. Each time it grows in size it gains 120 hp (and a corresponding hike in its regeneration), improves many other stats, and gets additional attacks.

When it grows too powerful... It will eat anybody. A good weapon, but one that should be used offensively. When it goes rogue you want it to be deep in enemy territory so killing it off is the enemies problem.

As all single units, it is very vulnerable to direct targeted spells that puts it out of business - so the way to take it down is by magic, not armies. It eats armies for breakfast.

An ideal unit to summon for your main army just before it goes on a rampaging trip through enemy territory.

The dependance of how large or fast the unit grows seems to vary. The best way to gorge a Eater of the Dead is to put a Harvester of Sorrow in the same province and let him go at it. I've had a couple Unfettered from 1200-1600 Hp.

The Last Stage (Unfettered) is when you lose control of your Eater of the Dead and he becomes Independant, gorging himself on anyone with him. It is particularly fun to have him go unfettered in an Enemy capital or anywhere that can cause a roadblock. I personally feel that the Unfettered should have a few more abilities (Resistances, higher MR) because it adds a whole 'nother level of fun to kill him without being cheestastic and just orb lightninging him to death ;/

[GavinWheeler]

Originally posted by Zen:
I personally feel that the Unfettered should have a few more abilities (Resistances, higher MR) because it adds a whole 'nother level of fun to kill him without being cheestastic and just orb lightninging him to death ;/

So Gift of Reason him and give him a few choice magic items. I seem to recal he has two or three miscellaneous slots, but the Gift of Kurgi covers a lot of sins, for example.

Although presumably any unique magical item such as the Gift of Kurgi can be Wished away, but if the enemy has to spend a Wish just to defeat the monster you parked on his doorstep, you're still doing well.

[tinkthank]

Thanks much.

If I may:

It only eats dead, though, correct? Except when it is "Unfettered", then it will eat "anything (anybody)"? So I could keep it with my army until it gets to Phase 3, then just let it be commanderless (because it will eat my commander anyhow)? Sorry, I still have trouble grasping exactly what the deal is. Thanks in advance.

[GavinWheeler]

As I understand it, it eats 'unburied bodies.' These can be generated by battles, by spells like 'Black death', by random events (I think) or by creatures who cause disease being in the same province, such as a Harvester of sorrows or a commander wearing a bane venom amulet. If you gift of reason the Eater, you could have hime wear a bane venom amulet himself, but that seems bit of a waste of his limited magic item slots.

It will kill enemies, like any unit, until it becomes Unfettered at which point it will attack anyone. This presumably creates unburied bodies which it will then eat, but the actual programming mechanics is tied to the 'unburied bodies' statistic of the province - one of the figures you can see on the province info.

Edit: So yes, you can have it with your army like any other unit. When it reaches the Unfetterd stage, you will get a message telling you so, then a battel where it attacks your forces in the same province as itself. Unless you Gift of Reasoned it and sent it out on its own, in which case it has noone to attack. If it survives this battle, it will then show as an independent force in that province, and will attack any non-stealthy forces that enter that province.

[ March 22, 2004, 16:23: Message edited by: GavinWheeler ]

[PvK]

Just curious...

Do reasoning Eaters have leadership? If so, when they unfetter, do they take their own troops with them, or do they attack their own troops?

Do unfettered independent Eaters ever roam out of their own province on their own initiative?

PvK

[GavinWheeler]

I vaguely recall that a Gift of Reasoned Eater had some leadership - but this wasn't something I actually paid much attention to.

Presumably it would attack its erstwhile troops when it unfettered, the same as when any other commander changes sides or when a non-GoR'ed Eater unfetters, but unless there was another commander in the province they would rout at the start of the battle, so there wouldn't be much in the way of a fight. Unless the Eater had an item that allowed him to fly, such as the Gift of Kurgi, and his ex-troops couldn't fly.

And in my test the Unfettered Eater never wandered out of his province, although that would be kind of cool. He was besieging a castle all that time, mind you, but in general I don't see why an independent Eater would be different from any other independent force, and they never wander.