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

[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).

[JimMorrison]

Good choice, I'm a big fan of the S4 Wyrm myself. 8 ) In fact, your guide is making me want to do a SP Shin game, just so I can play around with them a bit - I've never put in the effort to really learn how to play them effectively.

[ano]

I'm playing Shinuyama currently so I'll comment this a bit later but what I have to say now is about Kappas:
First, they're absolutely inefficient above the waves as they get 5 fatigue per combat round.
Second, they're really cool underwater and tear almost everything apart but die from poison very quickly (very orthe it happens after battle). It requires very thorough placement to use them efficiently and not gather empty turtle shells after battle. They should strike first and kill as much as possible in first combat round. Then you'll have a chance not to lose them to tritons or atlantian spearmen.
Third, they have rather poor MR 8 so you don't want to use them when magic starts ruling the batlefield