Your Favorite Magic Path

[NickW]

Blood baby, blood!

Maybe not as multifaceted as other paths but powerful via sheer brute strength. Getting a slave income of 200+/turn in a MP game is actually feasible, which is not the case for any other types of gems unless we are discussing frickin huge maps. And on that size map I'd have a slave income of 400+/turn!

[noname]

Astral; nothing beats it in terms of sheer diversity, and the ability to teleport gives it amazing versatility. Plus, it can be mixed with everything.

[Hadrian_II]

Earth.

What do you whant more than Blood Stones and lots of Summons.
Add some army buffs and Earth Attack.

[sum1lost]

Earth.

Buffs, summons, assasination spell, evocations (okay, the best require a bit in other paths too...), etc...

[Chris_Byler]

I vote Nature. Whether my nation has it or not I almost always end up using it. Regen and reinvigoration items are great for practically anyone; extra supplies can be awesome in those nasty death dominions (or worse, death *and* an unfavorable temperature); vine ogres are one of the most cost-effective blockers (being immune to banishment); and I haven't even gotten into the possibilities of a poison resistant cheap flier with Snake Bladder Stick, and many other nasty tricks.

Serpent's Blessing + Foul Vapors is a great one; it's *much* cheaper and lower-path-requirement than the Air or Fire equivalents, in a path with easy boosters, *and* both spells of the combo are Enchantment as opposed to an Ench+Evo dual research requirement. This means you can deploy it earlier, cheaper and more often.


Other paths I sometimes think "what am I going to do with these gems?". Nature I'm usually thinking "where can I get more nature gems?". (The answer to both questions often ends up being "Alchemize", which says a lot.) If I don't have it as a national path I'm trying to get it through indies, and if I *do* have it as a national path I use it a lot (even when it's a fairly minor part of my nation, like Yomi). Several of my favorite nations are nature heavy - Man, C'tis, Tir n'an Og, Pangaea, Kailasa/Patala, Sauromatia.

[Huzurdaddi]

I agree with Chris, Nature is a great path, great items, solid summons, and great battle field spells.

Blood is my 2nd choice. For nations that are setup to use it, blood has awesome power.

[Valandil]

I like blood- demons from the depths of the abyss, hellfire, and raining toads. What more is there, really?

[Sir_Dr_D]

What is my favorite? I a not sure but here is my comment son each of the paths.

Air: I feel vunerable if i cannot cast mist, storm, or arrow fend. Late game needs that air teleport spell. It is one of the paths that I feel that I always need.

Fire: This is probably at the bottom. I can't think of anything in this path that I need other then flaming arrows and rune mashers.

Water: good for the items you can create with it. Super combatnts seem naked without quickness.

Earth: The greatest path I have found for giving you a boost at the beginng of the game. Strength of giants, and the construction armor spell (i forget its name) means a single mage could change the outcome of the battle. And these are level 3 spells.

Astral: Another must have path. This gives you protection against SC's, boosts much needed magic resitance, increases your spell penetration, plus luck and etherialism. In the late game this path is essential.

nAture: Haven't found much use for it yet other then regeneration rings. But I haven't used it enough yet, and determined to find a use for it, because it seems like a fun path.

Death: Is a fun path with a lot that you can do with it. But if your nation does not have it, it is not weakened in any way.

Blood: I haven't used it all and cannot give comments.

For importance of the paths I rate them in the following order: astral, air, water , nature,earth, fire , death

For the fun factor I like death, nature and earth.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Water is my favorite.

What's not to like about freezing your opponents? I've never been much of a pyromaniac, but ice magic? Always a fave.

What's not to like about freezing the very heart of your enemy?

You've got other spells that can be quite useful, such as Sailor's Death, or Cleansing water. And certainly, Jotunheim isn't bothered by cold. But nothing, nothing, is as satisfying as hitting Ctis with the Grip of Winter in Cold 3 provinces, while your Unfrozen Warriors (not that hot, but available at the same time) engage the enemy and Winter Wolves harry their flanks, adding all the while to the chill.

Certainly, the globals are a bit less than desirable, and there are some other issues. But water and ice is my favorite even if I don't always play with it.

[Morkilus]

No love for fire yet? I used to play Abysia just so I could bomb my opponents. I guess it used to be different back when troops were less plentiful and battlefield damage was more important. Ah well, at least there's Magma Burst.