Added for download (seperatly) 1 Pre-made Pretender;
Shadow Dragon
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Thalic, God of Gods, King of the Dead, Warrior Against the Sun, King of Kings, Lord of this World is a pretender God trying to banish all other Pretenders and become a true God.
Name: Thalic
Magic: 9 Death Magic
Dominions: 10
Order: 0
Productivity: 2
Cold: 1
Growth: 0
Drain: 2
Awakening: Dormant
Point Left: 1
Bless Bonus: 350% Afflication chance & Death Weapons
Death Magic Bonus: Maxage very high for Pretender, + fear
Dominions Bonus: Awe (2) to Pretender. Pretender very strong in high dominion areas.
Productivity: income +4%, resources +30%
Drain: units etc. +1 magic resistance, -2 research
A good SC for Nosophoros. Bad thing: Dormant, but it shouldn't take many turns before your Pretender shows up. While in many cases a SC is very nice to have to clear indies in the start, you have to wait a bit. Instead recruit Black Rose Guards and a priest to take out the surrounding lands until your SC shows up. If you want something cheaper use Vampire Soldiers (just bait the opponents bowmen with something else) and start getting researchers/spellcasters.
So why this combination?
The Shadow Dragon have a Natural +5 Fear + Fear from (7)9 death magic which gives the Shadow Dragon a Natural +12 Fear.
With Awe (2) from Domions (10) you get a great combo with Fear and the Shadow Dragons natural Ethereal ability.
A suggestion to equip the Shadow Dragon would give it a something like "Horror Helmet" (+5 fear) to boost fear and its protection (-1 in def though). "Amulet of Antimagic" (+4 magic resistance) in one of the misc slots. Optional using the last misc slot to "Pendant of Luck".
This will give you;
Fear (+17)
Awe (+2)
Ethereal
MR (+23)
Now with high dominions 10 (don't forget to blood sacrifice with priests) the Pretendeer gets high boosts within its Dominions (+HP, +MR, +STR)
While Dormant may set you back in the beginning there's a reason(s) why picking Productivity: 2
1) Expensive units
2) Rely on units to take indies while Pretender havn't shown up yet.
Optional is instead of Productivity: 2, take growth: 2
If your opponents are trying to hurt your Blood Support which you need for Blood Magic and preaching by killing off your population.