Indy commanders with magic items

[Graeme Dice]

Graeme Dice said:

Soul contracts are _always_ worth 7 blood slaves per turn, because that's the cost of the devils. You can't build a strategy around a site that you'll probably never find such as mount chaining. On the other hand, you can build a strategy around dwarven hammers, because you can guarantee access to them.

The infernal forces spell only produces 7 devils per turn per B5F2 mage, so once you have seven soul contracts it becomes more mage time efficient to build another one instead of casting infernal forces. The mass summoning spells are for when you need the forces right now, soul contracts are an investment in the future growth of your nation.

Of course, if you have a B5 mage, you should probably get him to B6 and have him cast forces of darkness instead of infernal forces. The fiends are just as good as devils one a one to one basis as long as you aren't casting firestorm, they have magical weapons so they can hit ethereal and mistformed creatures, and you get twice as many for the same cost.

Why on earth would you make a B1 item, an item that all of your blood hunters have had since the turn after you researched construction 4, with a mage that could be making a B5 item for 5 slaves? What kind of strategic advantage are you hoping to gain by forging dousing rods one at a time with your wished for, astral empowered, then magic power wish boosted Nataraja? Further, why do you really care that an item that would normally cost 40 gems now costs five gems instead of zero?

Soul contracts are always worth seven slaves per turn, because that's how much the devil they produce costs. They are the most cost efficient way to create devils, and they, along with the other gem producing items, are the (almost only) reason that forge of the ancients is a worthwhile spell. There's a reason that a wish for blood slaves is one of the best wishes you can make, and that's because it's much easier to turn that wish into an effective gem income than it is for many other wishes.