use of bane lords

[Morkilus]

HoneyBadger said:Bane Lord can do without it only if you're soul vortexing

I'm sure you mean Wraith Lord.

[Ironhawk]

On a 0-enc unit like a bane/wraith lord, its better to use Jade Armor and save your boot slot for Boots of Flying since they take no penalty from encumbrance.

[parcelt]

Allright, last night I summoned three new bane lords and gave them variously mixed equipment following the suggestions made above:
- all had Cloak of Shadows and a sword with area damage (Frostbrand, Firebrand or Shadowbrand) and a ring of regeneration
- one I gave the leadshield, amulet of anti-magic, and skullcap in order to have the ultimate anti-magic protection. The other two got various offensive equipment.

I sent them to my frontlines with C'tis (large battles every turn), where I had a scout keep track of the mage/magic creature army that had killed my previous bane lords. I attacked them in a province with high PD and the same scenario seemed to unfold: my bane lords quickly (very quickly with their new swords; area damage is awesome indeed!) took care of PD and some other units, but there was a whole bunch of commanders including (i think) 4 or 5 priests, which started with the banishment / smite spells, doing some damage, before the paralyze spells came (that killed me the last time). Indeed, one of my bane lords became a paralyzed sitting duck, and another was losing a lot of HP to the magic spells while taking a (relatively) long time to kill a magic being (I suspect it was resistant to fire, because this bane lord had the fire sword). For some reason the paralyze spell didn't seem to stick to this bane lord (it was cast a few times, but perhaps all on the same target? Can it be resisted at all?). However, the third bane lord (with the high MR) hardly had a scratch and once he reached the back end of the field really massacred those commanders with his Frostbrand sword. All three of my bane lords survived, although one in particular (the paralyzed one) was very close. All in all a great and honorable revenge!!

So thanks for all the tips. I am now two turns away from having a first Wraith lord. Since he comes already being ethereal, how does that change the optimum outfit? Do they work well in a combined team with Bane Lords?

I like the idea of the blood axe, I think I have some guys who can forge that so i'll give it a try. Does it come with area damage?

[HoneyBadger]

Nah, wraith lords are immortal, and more expensive/difficult to get than bane lords. Personally, I wouldn't even bother with bane lords, I'd just wait for wraith lords, but the subject at hand is the bane lord, not the wraith lord.

[parcelt]

Really? But Bane Lords seem already quite formidable? Are you saying Wraith Lords will be that much better?

[BigDisAwesome]

Does anyone really kit out their Wraith Lords? I don't have any experience with them yet, but it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Maybe put some cheap stuff on them, but anything over 10-15 gems per slot seems like too much. I'd try to make the majority of them 5 gem items too.

This is all in regard to their immortality.

[Shovah32]

parcelt said:
Really? But Bane Lords seem already quite formidable? Are you saying Wraith Lords will be that much better?

Slightly lower health on wraithlords(although if your SC is taking damage they will probably die quite quickly) but +2 attack and defence, fear+3, death 3(soul vortex), built in ethereality, +1 magic resistance AND immortality which means you only lose your equipment(keeping heroic wraithlords AND improving their abilities through the bonus dying grants) if you happen to die in your dominion.

[parcelt]

Shovah32 said:

Slightly lower health on wraithlords(although if your SC is taking damage they will probably die quite quickly) but +2 attack and defence, fear+3, death 3(soul vortex), built in ethereality, +1 magic resistance AND immortality which means you only lose your equipment(keeping heroic wraithlords AND improving their abilities through the bonus dying grants) if you happen to die in your dominion.

That sounds impressive, can't wait to try these guys out.
What do the bonus dying grants bring? Does this mean it could be useful to send your wraith lords out unequipped at first to let them die a heroic death, come back with even better stats, and then equip?

I am in my dominion as long as i have at least one white candle, right?

[Taqwus]

Fame is increased by killing, by dying, and by gaining experience.

Have enough fame to be on the Hall of Fame, and not be a pretender (and also not be any of the unique summons, yes?), and you get a heroic ability that increases so long as you're on the Hall of Fame.

The ability might not be all that useful (ex. Heroic Stupidity might be bad on a mage, and Adept Researcher may not be what you had in mind for a heroic, bloodthirsty Niefel Jarl), but they can be quite nice (extra hp, extra quickness, extra reinvigoration for mages, etc).

Since dying increases fame, if you have nothing better to do with an immortal on a turn, it has no extra gear to lose, and you don't mind it being resent to your capital or possibly bumping somebody off the HoF, it might as well die.