Mod: CBM 1.8 released

[Jarkko]

Some more things on Possession, so that they do not come as suprise.

You can possess mercenaries. For example, yes, it means a nation who can possess and grabs the Eternal Knigts will absolutely 100% certainly possess the knights (who doesn't love super-knigts who also are H2 priestsm, for the cost of one astral pearl each?).

You can possess indies, of course. In case you didn't know, a Shark Knight thug is pretty nasty (give him a shield of gleaming gold, lucky amulet, some AoE weapon and watch the carnage; for giggles I tried a Shark Knight (admittedly with Holy Scourge (and a lucky amulet)) against a Fire-brand equipped Bane Lord, and to my amazement the Shark Knight won without a scratch).

Anyway, Possession will give Man and Bogarus all new possibilities for thugs. For Ulm Possession does feel slightly too good, what with their cheap astral mages and strong bloodeconomy (demon and devil thugs are pretty darn good).

[Jarkko]

Originally Posted by WraithLord

Any suggestions on good use for possession as LA Man?

Gargoyle of course. Any mercs with good units (I mentioned Eternal Knights above), LA Man should have the money to grab any of the good mercs. Crusher, maybe even living statues. If you find cheap astral mages (like the sage guild) you could possess a couple Longbowmen -> give the other Black Bow of Botulf and the other Ethereal Crossbow, and send them SC hunting (they'll always hit the target, with a few exp stars their precission will be ridiculous), the enemy will see just "Longbowmen" in the scouting report and won't see the trap.

[Soyweiser]

I like that you are on a possession/GoR high. But I don't totally agree with all your conclusions, some sound a bit, inefficient. I would rather get a Sleeper to fire the crossbow. Prec 15. Good thug chassis, great leadership, only 8 gems, and your mage lives.

Did you find any other units that have hidden magical paths? (These I have found so far: http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Gift_of_Reason )

And you can confirm that the mercenary doesn't disappear when you stop hiring them? (Aka, you tested this?).

And what was the disease demon bug?

And while I keep asking questions, could I have a water gem?

[Makinus]

I´m having fun with LA Ulm and possession.... using Illuminated Ones to possess experienced Black Guards is cool... they go straight to the Hall of Fame and get a heroic ability... excelent thugs....

[kianduatha]

QM put out 1.82 for the brave of heart, mostly bugfixes(and cheaper Tarts!) http://www.llamaserver.net/quantum/

Log:

Proofreading (only some bits in the end)
Added spell "Drain Magic" for MA Ulm
Added spell "Blessing of Iron" for MA Ulm
Carrion dragon gained vine shield-like ability
Carrion Woods for EA and MA Pangaea is now Enchantment 6, costs 90 gems
Carrion Woods for LA Pangaea is now Enchantment 0, costs 50 gems
Mass Polymorph gained an AOE (10)
Blowpipe removed from Sapper (has Pickaxe and Crossbow again)
Niklatu bug fixed (id 266 -> 379)
Flood of Life bug fixed (was accidentally Astral)
Fire Bola now a fire item again (was Astral)
Duskdagger bug fixed (was not changed by mod because of typo)
Lord of the Wild given spreaddom 2 like other titans
Fixed MANY typos and minor bugs spotted by Stavis_L (from CBM 1.7 thread)
Fixed Shura upkeep bug
Restored iceprot and ressize 2 to some Caelum units which had lost them
Manticore given new "Tail Spines" ranged attack (pioneered by the AwesomeGods mod but independently suggested)
Manticore prot increased to 10 (from 7)
Fixed Wayward Star (missing ")
Commented spells which were meant to be commented out
Iron Walls cost up to 3 gems
Tartarian Gate reduced to 8 gems
Phantasmal Attack actually 4 gems
Phantasmal Army 1 gem (was 2)
Greater Augury also requires 1s (was bugged)

1.81 changelog errors:

Robe of invulnerability made e4
Golden lance (not golden spear) given false fetters

[Jarkko]

Originally Posted by Soyweiser

And you can confirm that the mercenary doesn't disappear when you stop hiring them? (Aka, you tested this?).

Yes, tested and confirmed. I tried with several different mercs (not just the eternal knights).

And what was the disease demon bug?

The more troops there are present in the province, the less relatively get diseased. I thought it was a percentage, but anecdotal evidence proves it is not (at least after some critical point). The disease demon is one of those things that sound wonderful when you read the description, then you wonder why you went and wasted the resources on the thing...

And while I keep asking questions, could I have a water gem?

Sorry, just ice-crystals around here at this time of the year.


A Sleeper of course is better SC hunter than a lowly Longbowman. There are two problems though:
1) LA Man has no mages who could summon a Sleeper, and no indy N mages either can summon a Sleeper. So you need to have a pretender who can do that. Not to mention you desperately need your nature gems elsewhere. Compare that to the price of an astral pearl and a mage worth less than 100 gold (like I said, only worth it if you have access to some cheap astral mages).
2) Enemy will see the Sleepers in scouting reports. Anybody with half a brain might suspect something if all of the sudden they see Sleepers in a province next to a SC; meanwhile Longbowmen are what you are *supposed* to see in a scouting report in a Man province

[Jarkko]

Excellent to see the 1.82 released. My pet-peeves seem to have been fixed too, yay

[Soyweiser]

Originally Posted by Jarkko

The more troops there are present in the province, the less relatively get diseased. I thought it was a percentage, but anecdotal evidence proves it is not (at least after some critical point). The disease demon is one of those things that sound wonderful when you read the description, then you wonder why you went and wasted the resources on the thing...

Methinks you are confusing http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Harvester_of_Sorrows with http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Infernal_Disease

The hiding the special longbowmen is a nice trick. Still don't like to permanently lose a mage for that btw. As you also lose all their RP potential for the rest of the game.

[kianduatha]

But...you could just recruit a Forester who has the same precision and doesn't require killing an astral mage to get. And is stealthy.

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally Posted by kianduatha

But...you could just recruit a Forester who has the same precision and doesn't require killing an astral mage to get. And is stealthy.

True, but if a forester is set as part of a trap for SCs he won't be hiding and may show up on the scouting report.

So while the niché for using possessed longbowmen with anti-SC weaponry as part of a trap is rather small, the cost is small too - 1s and an astral mage.

But hardly a mainstream strategy.