LA Pythium

[Lingchih]

Hmmmm. I have been assigned LA Pythium in a new MP game. I just had a look at them. Holy cow, they are different from MA Pythium. I have no idea where to go with these guys. The troops are nice, but you would have to go full Order/Production to be able to recruit a sufficient number. And the commanders/mages are quite numerous, and even more confusing. Half of them cause unrest.

Has anyone had any luck with this nation? There are virtually no posts to give any hints on how to play them.

I assume one will have to try to use the very expensive Hydras in a big way.

Thanks.

[B0rsuk]

Depressing lack of creativity.

Besides, Revelers are hardly half of your commanders. Most of mages are heretics, that's it.

[Lingchih]

Borsuk, you depress me. I am as creative as the next guy, I was just asking for pointers.

And, I have already come up with a good build. I will share it if it is actually as good as it looks on paper.

[Dedas]

Please do! I'm very interested in this nation but haven't had the time to test it much.

[B0rsuk]

Ok, some random thoughts below:

- hydras for fast early game, possibly elephant counter (I'm not sure if they're size6).

- Theurgs can counter elephants, minotaurs, and other tramplers. Hydras, theurgs and cataphracts against minotaurs.

- Serpent Priests are Water/Nature mages. Bone Melter is available, although I didn't have a chance to try it.

- National hero is a level3 serpent priest with high water and nature. Human with 3 misc slots and awe.

- Daughter of Typhoon is an immortal hydra.

- National mages: theurgs for communion and astral, occasional astral on other mages. Epoptes can heal afflictions. Heliodromus and Leo can forge lightless lanterns. Leo sounds like a good prophet. Serpent Priests, Renata and Renatus are not heretics. Low ranking cultists are usually not heretics, too.

- Solaris infantry: very expensive in terms of gold, but higher stats and fire resistance. Still, if you're not facing fire magic or Abyssians, they're overpriced.
Regular infantry is mapmove1. Elite infantry with mapmove2 is capitol only.

[ComTrav]

Serpent Priests also have a high chance for a death pick, so it seems like expansion into death would be easy; Streams from Hades is probably the best route to a decent-path death mage. Water/Death also lets you get a good chance for Earth with Frozen in Snow.

[Digress]

hydras for fast early game, possibly elephant counter (I'm not sure if they're size6)

They literally eat elephants for breakfast. Every head hits (with poison) - and if the elephants gang up on the hydra and actually hit the worst they will do is knock a lesser head off. Then there is the fear ....

[Randvek]

I've been using hydras with a strong fire bless in MP, and what you can take with only 4 hydras is truly disgusting.

[Sombre]

I'm not convinced Hydras even need a bless (they don't seem to get much from any of them). Then again Pythium is well suited to bad scales because it can control its own dominion using heretics. You could take drain and install all your researchers in a heretic heavy province, where it won't affect them.

[B0rsuk]

ComTrav said:
Serpent Priests also have a high chance for a death pick, so it seems like expansion into death would be easy; Streams from Hades is probably the best route to a decent-path death mage. Water/Death also lets you get a good chance for Earth with Frozen in Snow.

Well, Renatus simply starts with D1, and has either 1/3 or 1/4 chance for DD . They're sacred, cheap, and available everywhere. Cost-effective researchers, so you're likely to have many of them.
Renata with WN can cast Mossbody. Sounds like an interesting spell, I'll have to try it.