Utterdark : Living With It

[K]

Utterdark + Gift of Nature's Bounty = total of 30% base income.

That being said, Utterdark is the prime game ender. He only has to have enough gold for four or five turns upkeep and he can destroy all your non-commander units.

[Baalz]

I don't know, seems like when I tested this out before units desert at a very slow rate, a lot less than you'd expect if every unpaid unit immediately left.

[Atreidi]

Baalz said:
I don't know, seems like when I tested this out before units desert at a very slow rate, a lot less than you'd expect if every unpaid unit immediately left.

What did you test?

What I am not sure about is if your Province Defence is automatically reduced each turn when your upkeep is more than your income... How does it work?

[NTJedi]

I don't remember Utterdark causing PD to decrease each turn.

If you must live with Utterdark, prepare for most your upkeep units to walk away. Then turn most gems towards summoning creatures since gold income is virtually non-existent. Any gold which arrives from good events should probably be tossed at PD, Temples or Mercenaries. Your commanders will always stay with you even when not being paid.
As Renojustin mentions... lean towards a blood economy.

[Renojustin]

Commanders don't desert, that's one large aspect. If you go with lots of SCs and Thugs, you've got a little more leeway in the army desertion mechanic.

Another reason why dispell is so easy to cast is that every other gem can be alchemized into Astral gems at 2:1 cost whereas if you want to do it for Utterdark it's a 4:1 ratio. There's nothing better that you could possibly have been doing with your gems than dispelling that Utterdark!

After reading over the ideas, an earlier blood economy was probably your strongest bet. Good job, Baalz.