Nations under CBM 1.6

[Mardagg]

Originally Posted by Sombre

I can't see why people wouldn't want to take a couple of minor blesses on the hunters. With that they are definitely more durable than spider riders, though they become obsolete more quickly.

Interesting idea.gotta test this.
If you concentrate on the spider ,its probably adviseable to take more N for higher regen.Something like W4S4N6...well,now that i think of it: N9 would make the spiders pretty strong.

[Sombre]

I wouldn't consider S9 as very helpful to the spiders once they lose their riders. Their mr is still their obvious weakness and it isn't boosted enough to shore it up against mr check spells.

It's great for the riders though.

[Mardagg]

Originally Posted by thejeff

Just thinking out loud here:
E9N4 may be good, but it's still oddly mixed. E9 is great for the Riders, but the N4 is largely wasted on them, though the drop in afflictions is always good. N4+ is nice regen for the Spiders, but they don't get much from E9. Your mages aren't sacred, so the E bless doesn't help there.
Plus you've got both paths already on national mages.

How about an Astral bless? That covers your main magic lack, getting you rings and late-game spells. Any MR boost is invaluable for the Spiders, if you go to S9, Twist Fate will help the Riders, since they're low hp.
Maybe add another minor bless if you want something else on the pretender.

Yeah,its a rather odd mix,but it stayed superior for me,even after lots of testing.The build is specualized for ultrafast early expansion and troops still being useful in midgame.

Afflictions are a huge problem with the hunters,expecially for the low HP rider,N really is a must for both forms.
If you take E9 you got prot 24,so if you take damage,its often pretty low damage,like 1-3.Ive learned in my games that the lonely 1Regen helps a lot there,too.
Also your spideriders do face fatigue problems,because you are getting swarmed and many battles last 12+ turns.
The base 20 prot is as such wasted bc of critical hits sooner or later.U need reinvig for large battles.
Twist fate isnt helpful,since you are getting hit by a lot small damages.
Only thing instead of E9N4 could imo be E9N9,though u take a big hit in much needed scales there.
N9 solely makes the riders fatigue problem even bigger,though it helps the spider more.

[Trumanator]

Actually, a minor B bless would also be very helpful, as it would guarantee that your spiders' bite attack would penetrate for the death poison.

Edit: Oh, and I think people forget how incredibly tough it is to kill Machaka's mages on the battlefield when they just turn into spiders. The same applies to armageddons.

[Micah]

What's this about a nerf to astral magic now?

[Festin]

Probably this means clam nerf?

[WraithLord]

You can only recruit hunters from capital. I wouldn't spend design points to bless a capital only unit. A minor bless can work b/c usually you can get it as a side effect of SC/rainbow pretender. More than that is not required for hunters. I'm not arguing that they are not good or overpriced. I'm saying regular spider can carry the day for Machaka in early game. Don't forget that you will want your riders to die so that you get no upkeep so the regular spiders are also 0 upkeep - what's not to like.

That said, Machaka is not competitive and no FF factory hurts them a lot. I think 1 extra D/E/F/N pick on their mages is a good boost for them. Their mages, not spiders or armies are their real power.

[Sombre]

Originally Posted by WraithLord

I wouldn't spend design points to bless a capital only unit.

Really? That seems a pretty bizarre restriction to me.

[WraithLord]

common, besides the fact that you can only crank so much of a sacred capital only unit (so you get diminishing potential returns on your bless investment as the game progresses) this practically cries out to shut down your capital with spies/unrest spells. And in that case you have put all the eggs in the same basket and someone will have just punched a hole in it's bottom.

[Sombre]

So your niefel build would revolve around skratti?