Re: Building a Better Pretender
Human pretenders aren't THAT bad. They can only be safely used with nations whose initial armies can really mow down independents though, because you take a big hit in initial expansion with them.
With a human pretender, Twiceborn is a necessity. Once your human pretender turns into a wight mage (and let there be no doubt - he will get killed eventually) he becomes, if not exactly tough, a lot less weak than before.
Human pretenders, since they don't go into combat, can safely take astral magic.
Human pretenders research and site search *really fast*. If you have a human pretender you will have more gems than any other nation except for Ermor, who can afford a rainbow undead. Human pretenders also have unsurpassed forging ability. With an undead or titan pretender, after about turn 30, you'll have trouble finding them anything interesting to do. With a human pretender, normally the problem is deciding what important thing needs to be done now, vs. waiting a turn.
Among generally-available humans, my personal preference is the Crone. True, she's slow, and weak even by human standards. The speed doesn't matter that much - the only time she should ever leave the lab is to site search, and that can be done just fine with strategic move 1. And any human pretender that winds up in combat is in trouble anyway. On the positive side, she costs the least, and gets a whopping 4 misc slots. If by some miracle she survives until late game, her ability to wield magic boosters is unsurpassed. And if she doesn't, well, at least you got the cheapest wight mage.
The Master Druid is the best site-searcher. He starts with a point of nature, which helps, and he's stealthy, so he can accompany the army and search the turn after it's conquered. And the Frost Father is cold-resistant, which makes him good for cold nations. Of course, of the four cold nations (Jotunheim, Caelum, Vanheim, and Ermor), none of them have any business taking a Frost Father.
The Freak Lord isn't as horrible as he appears. He has extremely good defense, and the trample ability will let him deal with occasional enemies that get through his bodyguards in combat. This is also an excellent combination for dealing with assassins, but any human pretender should have bodyguards at all times. He loses a foot slot, but makes up for it with an extra miscellaneous slot, which IMO is more valuable. And he doesn't cost that much. When he was size-6 he was immune to Wind Ride, that's moot now. Of course, earth-4 magic is not a difficult thing for a rainbow pretender.
Among the nation-specific rainbow mages, the ***** Queen, Master Alchemist and Skratti deserve special consideration. The ***** Queen regenerates, has pretty good hitpoints for a human, and costs the same as less survivable humans. The Alchemist generates huge amounts of money. Finally, the Skratti is tough, as tough as any Jotun, and plenty strong enough to use as a combat-support mage. Or even an actual combat unit, if you feel lucky. The Skratti, of course, is broken in 2.11 and 2.12, but when he returns, will be so much better than any other rainbow pretender that you'll wonder how you got along without him. Other nation-specific "human" pretenders, the Warlock, Arch Druid, and Arch Seraph, don't really distinguish themselves that much (especially since the ***** Queen and Arch Druid are available to the same nation!). Still, they're typically going to be the best available human for the nation, because they have compatible resistances and abilities that complement their nation well.
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Hybrid Mode
