Air Dome

[quantum_mechani]

Originally Posted by quantum_mechani

I should point out the 5 gem air gems are an artifact of a less-than-current version.

Er, that should read '5 air gem air domes', annoying no edit rule...

[PsiSoldier]

Originally Posted by Executor

Another example, one province with one air dome, against a province with 3 air domes facing 5 flames form the sky.
The very first flames from the sky knocks down the air dome and hits the province, and logically all the other do too, since no domes are protecting the province no more, but in the second case there are still two domes that can "possibly' stop the remaining 4 flames from the sky from completely killing everybody.

That would be the point I was trying to make earlier.

[Gregstrom]

edit: nvm, ninja'd.

[Micah]

The key here is that defense should be stronger than offense. It is largely immaterial to a balance discussion if the last 4 flames from the sky get through in the example provided (one with a reasonable amount of high-value targets), the Flames caster is already ahead economically as soon as the first one gets through. I don't see how it is in any way "unbalanced" to have the other 4 bounce off of a second dome, the dome caster has still lost, just not by as much as they could have. Stacking a ton of valuable stuff into a single province just isn't a good idea, stackable domes or no, since there comes a point when artillery spells will still pay off on average. Spreading out forces and popping out domes everywhere comes with its own set of problems, since it drastically limits your defensive mobility, and of course every small outpost would cost more gems to set up.

Multiple types of domes stacking is a different issue entirely, and really doesn't interact with the multiple air dome issue very meaningfully. (The only way it comes into play is if someone was determined enough to launch enough artillery strikes to knock down the single air dome and continue casting through the now-somewhat-lowered defenses. With an astral and frost dome in the same province that still knocks out 3 out of 4 spells. Not a good ratio for single target spells, and pretty impractical for anything expensive, since you'd need about 20 casts to get through the air dome on average, assuming proper ordering and interaction with the domes.)

[PsiSoldier]

It almost sounds as if you are saying you think that a person is better off getting hit by 3 or 4 Flames from the Sky than to get hit by just 1 because the 1 did a lot of damage already.

I kind of fail to see the logic in that.

[PsiSoldier]

Personally if I was dealing with someone who liked Flames from the Sky that much I'd just forge a ton of Fire plate or Rings of Fire resistance Throw in some hammers and you can protect about 11 Mage's for the gems they spent on just one Flames from the Sky

If they were going to cast 6 of them thats about 66 mage's you could protect and the Plate would help against other stuff as well.

[Micah]

Yeah, FR items would be an excellent idea, but again, not one that really interacts with stacking air domes. The single-target assassin spells are the only ones really hindered by multi-air-domes, but casting spells into a domed province SHOULD work out less well for he attacker than the defender, so I once again don't see the problem. The fact that the domes don't stack with themselves is really the key point here, since it means a province can't become completely invulnerable by stacking 5 of them together.

[Lingchih]

I think the Air Dome is probably the best dome. It's cheap, and lasts forever until it is undone. That said, I don't really see the value of multiple ones.

But, I also equip all of my most important mages under the air dome, in case it is dislodged.

[Edi]

Some people have obviously not been reading the Spells section of the bug shortlist. Multiple domes of the same type, especially air domes, are one of the worst exploits still left in the game, so if anybody is stacking them in MP, it's a safe bet that there's a crapload of stuff there and losing it will really hurt.

[Agema]

Mm. I think stacking air domes would have its uses (were it not an exploit).

When facing an air dome, fire cheap chaff 2-gem spells at the same time as a few big damage spells. 3 Murdering winters would cost about 100 gems and have just over 50% chance of no effect. However, cast two MWs and 15 chaff. That's still spending about 100 gems, but there's a very good chance the 2-gem spells will destroy the air dome before either MW hits.