Summonable Blood magi commanders

SurvivalistMerc · #1 November 21st, 2003, 09:21 PM

What is the easiest one of these to get? A demon lord? Or is there another lower level 1. I only need the summon to have blood 1 and be a commander.

Thanks.

trebuchet · #2 November 21st, 2003, 09:34 PM

Some summonable commanders have random magic picks, like the Spectral Mage. I couldn't come close to giving a comprehensive list of those, though.

ywl · #3 November 21st, 2003, 10:11 PM

Fallen Angel with Reacendance (Blood 3, Fire 3) at Blood 6.
Father Illearth (Blood 3, Earth 3) at Blood 7.
Vampier Lord with Curse of Blood (Blood 3, Death 3) at Blood 7.
Bind Heliophagus at Blood 8.

One of the Treelord has Nature 4, Blood 1 (Enchantment 7). It's theoretically possible

.

I think that the Lamia Queen (Conjuration 6) has 2 death, 1 nature and 2 random in *sorcery*, i.e., one of the non-elemental magic. So, you should have a better luck drawing a blood slot for her.

Spectral mages (also Conjuration 6) also have two random slots but since they're *wizardary* and you might have elemetal picks, the chance of getting blood will be smaller.

Did I miss any?

HJ · #4 November 21st, 2003, 10:15 PM

Hm, Heliophagi are, but then again you need to have blood 5 or 6 and 88 slaves to get them.

What magic are you strong in as far as the summons go? As trebuchet said, many summonable mages have random picks. Usually it tells you in description that they are "versed in many magic paths" or something like that.

A good bet would also be some indie mages with random picks, such as sages or jade amazons. Do you have any of those? Anythign that has ? for magic pick (and is not Arco mystic) has a chance to get blood, you just have to recruit enough of them to get one.

SurvivalistMerc · #5 November 21st, 2003, 10:18 PM

I'm 3s across the board but 2 in air. I commit to a path only after I know I will have lots of that path's gems.

My conjuration is currently level 4. Blood level 2. No blood slaves currently owned.

Nation doesn't have blood magicians or ? magicians.

Saber Cherry · #6 November 21st, 2003, 10:32 PM

You have to expand rapidly at the start for this to be useful, but I found the Poger blood strategy useful:

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...4;t=000269;p=3

Just choose a sacrificial province of 5k+ (ideally 10k; I don't know exactly how population affects things, but 10k seems to be a good number). Mass produce scouts (20 gold, almost no resources) in every province that has them. Set the tax rate to zero, and have them all slave there... research construction up to level 4, and once you get 50 slaves (with 16 scouts, should take about 4 turns) empower a scout in blood, and have him start making Sanguine Dousing Rods. Every 50 slaves, empower anther scout and give him a rod... with maybe 4 scouts with rods and 12 without, you'll get a nice income.

Don't start this process too soon! Wait until you can sacrifice the blood province's gold income without hurting your ability to build a conventional army or recruit mages.

The first unit you empower in blood might be a national mage - that way, you get cross-path spells and constructions, like crossbreeding and the blood stone (or something like that, Earth and Blood).

Saber Cherry · #7 November 21st, 2003, 10:39 PM

Actually the BEST way to enter blood is to find Garnet Amazons. That is my absolute favorite indy province; I rejoice when I find them=) The new fishman provinces are pretty cool too, though, and essential - Doms I was missing indy amphibious leaders (other than rare, low-leadership indy water mages).

All Amazon priest-mages make good researchers in a non-drain scale, or if you give them owl quills, BTW, since they are cheap and sacred. And the Garnet blood-mage/priests are super-cheap blood slavers.

HJ · #8 November 21st, 2003, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SurvivalistMerc:
I'm 3s across the board but 2 in air. I commit to a path only after I know I will have lots of that path's gems.

My conjuration is currently level 4. Blood level 2. No blood slaves currently owned. Nation doesn't have blood magicians or ? magicians.

One possible strategy is to find indie mages then, for example by site searching, or through conquest. Sages are pretty common, as far as I was able to tell. Another would be to do what Saber suggested, get your first 50 slaves to empower one of the commanders. But, that might be a slightly more expensive way, depends on what you want to do later and what the situation is now. I wouldn't go through all that hassle if you don't plan on expanding blood further, and just need 1 blood on 1 commander for that one site.

Nerfix · #9 November 21st, 2003, 10:57 PM

Only Blood mages can have Sanguine Dousing Rods...

Chris Byler · #10 November 22nd, 2003, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HJ:
Hm, Heliophagi are, but then again you need to have blood 5 or 6 and 88 slaves to get them.

What magic are you strong in as far as the summons go? As trebuchet said, many summonable mages have random picks. Usually it tells you in description that they are "versed in many magic paths" or something like that.

A good bet would also be some indie mages with random picks, such as sages or jade amazons. Do you have any of those? Anythign that has ? for magic pick (and is not Arco mystic) has a chance to get blood, you just have to recruit enough of them to get one.

That's not quite true, there are site-based mages that have ?Elemental picks too. (At least there were in Dom I.)

But most mages with random picks have ?Any, which means you have a chance to get blood.

Nornas, gygjas, some indy mages and IIRC astrologers have ?Sorcery, which is one of astral, death, nature and blood, so those have an increased chance to get blood.

There's no way to tell from a unit description (before you recruit the unit) whether that random pick is ?Elem, ?Sorc or ?Any. (Or for multiple randoms, whether they are linked like the Atlantean King of the Deep.)