MA Ermor advice please

[mathusalem]

I am thinking about an Oracle W4 E4 S9 versus F4 W4 S9

what do you think about it ?

E4 will be very useful for
1°) mages and revig versus +2 ATK for Vestals
2°) forging hammer => research skull cost fall at 7D
3°) a lot of spells from construction (Golem, Dragon, ...).

Indeed I plan to rush construct 8 for uniques items like +3D staff

[Aezeal]

yeah frostmorne I knew that.. I'm just not really into the whole 3 nature thingie .. and I must say.. 25 gems more than triples the gem cost of the tartarians.. I just keep casting 2 a turn atm and see what happens .. I'm now fighting abyssia in the seas.... it's annoying that not all undead titans can go into water... a bug?

[Folket]

As not all undead can enter water I would say it is not a bug. You should be able to give them a ring of water breathing.

I do not know if it has been meantioned before. Do not use Shadow Vestals against astral nations. Solar rays are just Evocation lvl 2 and will exterminate your Vestals. They could also mind duel your Theurgs.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Well, Mathusalem... that oracle will be a bit flawed. The bless is nice, but with no recruitable earth mages, you may go without finding any earth gem producing sites. In that case, you'll have to convert astral pearls to earth gems for Gnome Lore. A decent rate of change, at least. And it is possible, though rare, that you'll cast a site search spell nine times without finding anything of that path.

As there are a few astral sites with earth gems, you may find some if you are patient. But in the early game, you can't depend on any earth income, especially being immobile. Also, if you have the appropriate neighbors, consider conquering the nearest earth-based nation, if you can. If they've found most of the sites for you, all the better. Of course, there is Acashic Record, but it is a bit pricey.

You may get lucky, but equally likely is that you'll be horribly pinched for earth gems in the early game. You can depend on it later in the game, though. Perhaps go for a dormant or imprisoned pretender. Spend those points on diversifying your bless. Air can make you even harder to hit by missiles, including those inevitable flaming arrows. Blood 4 will give +2 strength, which can help.