Shinuyama: in the shadows, on the battlefield, under the waves

[Xietor]

You definitely have to mention him, he is a unique pretender for Shinuyama. And he is cool.

If he started at dom 3 maybe he is cost effective. And he gets no resistance. I am not big on pretenders that get no resistance, as it is hard to protect from everything and magic when you start with nothing, especially without elemental fortitude.

[dirtywick]

Cool guide.

For evocations, I don't really like them in general, but Shinuyama has a lot of options. I really like Rust Mist, and Blade Wind is nice if you're using Dai Bakemonos and manage to mix it up with Rust Mist-ed enemies because Blade Wind doesn't really do anything to them. Acid Storm/Blade Wind for using O-Bakemonos.

Others I like are Shadow Blast (gem management required), Bane Fire (rather make that crossbow and give it to a Shtuen-doji though), and Magma Eruption. If you want to shoot fireballs and such, the Aka Oni can do that.

Also scripting hold orders for arches has them fire twice then attack.

[MaxWilson]

Why is it important to protect them from all the elements? Poison resistance seems pretty unimportant to me, and depending upon the enemy you might be able to drop one of fire/shock/cold resistance.

Banefire crossbows are far inferior to the spell. The Banefire spell has 9x the area and does massive damage to the central square.

-Max

[dirtywick]

The crossbow works well enough whether it's inferior to the spell or not and I'd rather be casting other spells.

[Omnirizon]

I don't think the crossbow or spell items replace the spells themselves, that's not the point.

The point is that it supplements spells with solid, low fatigue, and quickenable artillery. Shinuyama has a couple of great commanders just for holding these items and firing/zapping them from the backline. Additionally, they have the natural resources and paths to forge these items. Boots of Quickness, Staffs of Corrosion, Wands of Wildfire, Banefire Crossbows; all require gems and paths that Shin has naturally, and can thus get an economy started in consistently.

[Amhazair]

You mention the great enchantress as having A/E/S magic, but A is CBM only. Other than that an intresting read. I'll come back to it if/when I play Shinuyama.

[VedalkenBear]

Can't say much other than very good guide. I'll definitely look to playing them some more.

(Note: My issues with Shinuyama and Yomi are entirely thematic.)

[Omnirizon]

thanks for everyone's input. note: i've made some suggested updates; nothing major, but added more suggestions on magic and research.

also, I've added a couple new pretender builds: S4 Wyrms. Shinuyama can afford these while keeping scales good for them, and they provide everything they need -- high dominion, the right scales, out-of-the-box SC, and the S4 path to forge the elemental and omni path boosters (these boosters are about all they require for a complete and strong array of magical talent). Additionally, S4 on a Wyrm makes them even better SCs. These pretenders are strong all game long for them; and very safe (unlike the Ghost King).