MA Ulm Pretender

[Endoperez]

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

So really, seems to me the only pretenders that can be in any way cost effective (assuming that you -want- E5 along with whatever else)

So, what I get then (with CBM) is a Dormant Enchantress, Dom6, Prod3/Luck3/Drain3 - F3/A2/E5/S5/D2. Obviously you can swap the Luck for Order, but I figure since your baseline expenses are low, and you want to minimize unlucky magic events, this is probably a better way to go.

Ulm should have access to AT LEAST two Earth boosters. Besides boots, the pretender should be able to forge Blood Stones, Stave of Elemental Mastery, or Ring of Wizardry. I wouldn't go higher than Earth 4, and if I'm taking a rainbow, I won't take any Earth unless I take Astral too.

I thought Ulm could do well with Luck, but I was told otherwise. Ulm's baseline expenses are low, but it's better to use that to build several forts in the first year. The goal is to recruit troops and mages from several castles and still have enough money over to build one more. Even Order1/Luck3 doesn't get the first fort up fast enough.

I'm still experimenting with Ulm pretenders, trying to find something that's more suitable for multiplayer. I try to get access to the kind of magic that makes the build-everywhere Master Smiths more potent in whatever I want to do with them. I usually try to get at least F3 A3 W2 D2 B2. Death or Blood can be dropped to 1 if you're hungry for points, but it slows down diversification into that path. This lets you:

- build Staves of Elemental Mastery with the pretender (F/W: flaming skull, water bracelet, robe of the sea) and Master Smiths with Air randoms. The first Smith requires the F/W staff, Earth Boots and two Air boosters, and he can't use Dwarven Hammer since the staff takes both hands. Still, it does free the pretender for other duties.

- hunting 50 blood Slaves, to empower a young Master Smith to continue hunting. This gives you access to Blood Stones (Earth booster AND produces gems!) and, eventually, high-level Blood items such as contracts.

- Flaming Skulls. A F1 Smith with a Skull gets to F3 with Phoenix Power, and the pretender can forge a Flaming Helmet to give better forging ability as well. F2 Smiths with both Fire boosters can be quite a surprise for your opponents, and you can use a Staff of Elemental Mastery to reach F5 rituals.

- Revenants/Black Servants. Revenants can cast Dark Knowledge, and Black Servants are ethereal life-drainers with enc 0, and one of the better options for early thugs - and can be equipped by the Master Smiths.

- Water has some nifty items, and Water/Fire even more so. Staves of Corrosion are excellent, Rune Smashers make Petrify Spam even more deadly. Ability to forge Rings of Tamed Lighting/Shock Resistance, Copper Plates, Frost Brands etc is also a great help early on.


I'd also like to mention that Master Smiths get more out of empowerment than most other mages. 50 gems for a single-level empowerment isn't cheap, but you can get some incredible discounts this way. Water gives Staves of Corrosion and Rune Smashers mentioned above, Nature gives ultra-cheap Fever Fetishes. Just remember that two-handed boosters won't work with Dwarven Hammers, so it's hard to get e.g. Standards of the Damned at 50% price.