Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- asphodel-ma [2022/02/06 22:51]
naaira [Heroes] added a box with sopbucket's opinion
+++ asphodel-ma [2022/11/02 12:07] (current)
man-of-many-names [General Overview]
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 Asphodel is a nation of halfmen, such as centaurs, satyrs and minotaurs. As the game progresses provinces within the dominion of Asphodel will see their populations decrease. If the provinces are owned by Asphodel they receive undead manikins as the population is killed. In the early game Asphodel can make good use of strong halfmen troops (especially the sacred black centaurs), but as their population diminishes they will lack the gold and recruitment points for these units and will be forced to rely more on the freespawn undead manikins.  It is best to think of Asphodel as a pop kill undead nation with recruitable mages and play accordingly.
-Because Asphodel's economy never fully transitions away from god, and because of the need for more forest provinces, they will be forced to expand continuously.  Having recruitable mages is both a blessing and a curse in this respect.  On the other hand, their ability to build forts in one turn and focus their money on mages will lead to a surge in research and gem income by the mid game.  This will be the time to push their advantage, with manikin armies getting strong spell support and powerful Carrion Lord thugs filling in the gaps.
+Since Asphodel's economy never fully transitions away from gold, and because of the need for more forest provinces, they will be forced to expand continuously.  Having recruitable mages is both a blessing and a curse in this respect.  On the other hand, their ability to build forts in one turn and focus their money on mages will lead to a surge in research and gem income by the mid game.  This will be the time to push their advantage, with manikin armies getting strong spell support and powerful Carrion Lord thugs filling in the gaps.
 Asphodel is widely regarded as one of the worst nations in Dominions, and likely THE worst nation in the Middle Age.  They also have some of the lowest resolution pixel art you can find, a good indication that the nation hasn't gotten love in quite some time.  Winning with them will take quite a bit of luck, and at best you'll be playing with a handicap vs other players.  Still, they are a very cool concept and a lot of fun to play.
@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 | {{ nations:ma:asphodel:centauride_warrior.png?57&nolink }}  | **??Centauride Warrior??**\\ {{:misc:gui:gold.png?15&nolink}} 30\\ {{:misc:gui:resources.png?15&nolink}} 11\\ {{:misc:gui:recruitmentpoints.png?15&nolink}} 17  | {{:abilities:stealthy.png?10&nolink}} [[Stealthy]] (40)\\ {{:abilities:forest_survival.png?15&nolink}} [[Forest Survival]]\\ {{:abilities:recuperation.png?15&nolink}} [[Recuperation]]                                                                                                                                        | Has the [[Female]] tag                               |
 | {{ nations:ma:asphodel:centaur_warrior.png?62&nolink }}     | **??Centaur Warrior??**\\ {{:misc:gui:gold.png?15&nolink}} 35\\ {{:misc:gui:resources.png?15&nolink}} 11\\ {{:misc:gui:recruitmentpoints.png?15&nolink}} 21     | {{:abilities:berserker.png?15&nolink}} [[Berserker]] (+2)\\ {{:abilities:stealthy.png?10&nolink}} [[Stealthy]] (40)\\ {{:abilities:forest_survival.png?15&nolink}} [[Forest Survival]]\\ {{:abilities:recuperation.png?15&nolink}} [[Recuperation]]                                                                            |                                                      |
-| {{ nations:ma:asphodel:black_centaur.png?62&nolink }}       | **??Black Centaur??**\\ {{:misc:gui:gold.png?15&nolink}} 55\\ {{:misc:gui:resources.png?15&nolink}} 12\\ {{:misc:gui:recruitmentpoints.png?15&nolink}} 21       | {{:abilities:sacred.png?15&nolink}} [[Sacred]]\\ {{:abilities:berserker.png?15&nolink}} [[Berserker]] (+3)\\ {{:abilities:stealthy.png?10&nolink}} [[Stealthy]] (40)\\ {{:abilities:forest_survival.png?15&nolink}} [[Forest Survival]]\\ {{:abilities:recuperation.png?15&nolink}} [[Recuperation]]                           |                                                      |
+| {{ nations:ma:asphodel:black_centaur.png?62&nolink }}       | **??Black Centaur??**\\ {{:misc:gui:gold.png?15&nolink}} 55\\ {{:misc:gui:resources.png?15&nolink}} 12\\ {{:misc:gui:recruitmentpoints.png?15&nolink}} 29       | {{:abilities:sacred.png?15&nolink}} [[Sacred]]\\ {{:abilities:berserker.png?15&nolink}} [[Berserker]] (+3)\\ {{:abilities:stealthy.png?10&nolink}} [[Stealthy]] (40)\\ {{:abilities:forest_survival.png?15&nolink}} [[Forest Survival]]\\ {{:abilities:recuperation.png?15&nolink}} [[Recuperation]]                           |                                                      |
 As your dominion depletes your population over the course of the game you will slowly lose the ability to amass recruited troops and will have to rely on manikins instead. Asphodel shares many recruits with [[pangaea-ma|Pangaea]].
@@ Line 269: / Line 269: @@
 ====Ritual Magic====
+**Globals:**
+??Mother Oak?? gives you more Nature gems, the lifeblood of your nation, and should be contested in almost every game.
-??Mother Oak??
+??Well of Misery?? is more difficult to research but gives a noticeable boost to Death gem generation.
-??Twiceborn??
+??Enchanted Forests?? turns every forest into a temple, spreading your terrible dominion to all the other players. This is obviously more beneficial to you than to them.
-??Transformation??
+??Wild Hunt?? is a niche global that you can cast if you have an excess of nature gems. It messes with enemy mages with priest levels.
-??Well of Misery??
+??Utterdark?? comes very late in the game. It will mess with your opponents more than you.
-??Faery Trod??
+**Other rituals**
+??Twiceborn?? + ??Transformation?? on Dryad Hags can help you create size 6 wight mages with a bit of luck.
-??Dark Slumber??
+??Faery Trod?? is a nature-based teleportation spell that can help you move armies quickly from one forest to another.
-??Beckoning??
+??Dark Slumber?? and ??Beckoning?? are remote attack spells that may prove useful throughout the game.
-??Wild Hunt??
-??Haunted Forest??
-??Enchanted Forests??
-Immortal Summons - ??Call the Worm That Walks??, ??Call Wraith Lord??, ??Lichcraft??, ??Curse of Blood??
 ====Magic Items====
-Asphodel enjoys a 2-gem discount on ??Thorn Spear??s, ??Thorn Staff??s and ??Skull Standard??s
+Asphodel enjoys a discount on ??Thorn Spear??s, ??Thorn Staff??s and ??Skull Standard??s
 Do NOT use the ??Amulet of the Dead??, as this item does not boost your reanimation rates.  Manikins are similar to reanimating ??Lictor??s or ??Tomb Wyrm??s in this way.
@@ Line 310: / Line 306: @@
 ??Shademail Haubergeon??s allow you to make commanders stealthy if they are not already.
 =====Strategy=====
-(This is all still a bit speculative on my part - I think I've figured out a good way to play Asphodel but haven't yet tested it in a multiplayer setting.  I'll probably be amending this quite a bit in the future. -Sopbucket)
+[[asphodel-sopbucket|Sopbucket mini-guide to Asphodel]]
-====Early Game====
+====Power Curve====
-(How to expand, potential pitfalls and how to get around them, obvious weakness strength, how much do you have to focus on war/infrastructure)
+<WRAP group>
+<WRAP box 250px right>
+==== Immersion Census ====
+//Respondents: 5//
+  * **Expansion:** 4,4
+  * **Early game:** 3,6
+  * **Midgame::** 1,8
+  * **Late game:** 1,8
+</WRAP>
+//This is probably the most difficult section to get consensus for. Describe how strong the nation is during expansion, the early, mid and late game, and what makes it strong/weak at each of those points. This should give readers an idea of where the weaknesses of a nation lie (if they have not been shown already) and when to take advantage of a nation's strengths.//
-Ideally you'll take an awake pretender to help with expansion - good choices are the Carrion Dragon (with Reforming Flesh and an Earth path) or the Drakon.  Because you're a pop kill nation, you'll want to tank order, production, and heat scales since these don't matter as much over the course of the game.  You should max out Growth and Magic for better freespawn, and put as much as you can into Luck for extra gold and gems.
+Asphodel starts out strong with an easy expansion and a decent early game. Enchantment 5 gives a power spike vs nations without poison resistance.
-An awake expander helps you secure forests in the expansion phase, protects you against early assaults, and gives you the ability to grow fortresses and cast Mother Oak without having to rely on Panic Apostates and boosters, jumpstarting your economy early on.
+As nations get access to manikin counters in the form of ??Fire Elemental??s and thugs with ??Charcoal Shield??s, while Asphodel loses income due to its dominion effect, the nation enters more difficult territory. Thus Asphodel is on a timer to win the game.
+</WRAP>
+====Expansion Strategies====
+//List some example expansion strategies here. If a strong bless or pretender is required then leave the specifics for the pretender section.//
-On turn 1, recruit a Panic Apostate and three Centauride Warriors.  Set your Carrion Centaur to reanimate and move the Satyrs to your Minotaur Lord.  Make Alteration 5 your research target and research with your pretender, or expand blindly if you dare.
+Asphodel has two inherent ways of expanding:
+  * With a low dominion score Asphodel can recruit national troops for longer and expand with a mix of ??Centaur Warrior??s and Manikins.
+  * With a medium dominion score and a bless ??Black Centaur??s can guarantee early expansion.
-In the next few turns, use your Panic Apostate to site search and focus on recruiting Black Dryads for research.  You can recruit Black Harpy scouts and Minotaur Lord commanders in the forest provinces you take.  Continue recruiting Centaur/Centauride Warriors and expand in parties of 9 to 11; be sure Minotaur Lords are set to Stay Behind Troops or they will be killed.  Try to move your expansion toward forest clusters if you can.
+Alternatively Asphodel can take an awake expander.
+====Example Pretender Builds====
+Asphodel is especially demanding when it comes to pretender design since the dominion can be very punishing. Going too high dominion will quickly drain your income. Going too low will not let you utilize Black Centaurs in the early game.
-Don't spend your nature gems, and prepare to cast Grow Fortress on turn 6 with your pretender.  This requires you to first build a lab in a forest province, which you will want to follow up with a temple.  Continue recruiting Black Dryads at your new fort as well, until you get close to Alteration 5.  By turn 17, you should be able to cast Mother Oak using your pretender - this is a good reason to take Nature 5 at your pretender creation.  Alternatively, you can research Construction 4 and make a thistle mace to put on a Nature random Panic Apostate; this should allow you to cast Mother Oak around turn 21 which is still quite early.  This way, you should be able to claim the global before anyone else does, and the extra nature gems will be crucial for building forts and reanimators more quickly, helping you snowball in strength.
+It is worth noting that taking an awake pretender may accelerate the depletion of your capital because of the extra temple checks that the pretender does. On the other hand, //not// taking an awake pretender with {{path>N4}} to cast ??Grow Fortress?? may delay your infrastructure, since getting an {{path>N4}} Panic Apostate during year 1 is not guaranteed, and your regular forts cost 900g.
-Once you have Alteration 5, a good new target is Enchantment 5, as this gives you Twiceborn, Foul Vapors, Horde of Skeletons, Dark Slumber, and Faery Trod.  Grab Construction 4 for thug gear if you don't have it, then continue on to Alteration 6.
+<WRAP box>
+<WRAP column twothirds centeralign>
+{{:pretenders:statue_of_war.png |}}**Txoumin's "Large Repellers"** \\ This pretender is built around guaranteeing an easy early expansion with large repelling black centaurs. The bless can later be utilized by ??Centaur Hierophant??s to create cheap repelling thugs. Magic Resistance helps protect your mages who will be otherwise vulnerable to ??Mind Burn??, ??Soul Slay?? and other spells that do not target mindless. Luck is picked up as a source of income. Txoumin won his game.
+</WRAP>
+<WRAP column third>
+**Chassis:** Imprisoned ??Statue of War?? \\
+**Paths:** {{path>F9E4S4N4}} \\
+**Bless:** Attack +6, Larger \\
+MR +3, PR +5 \\
+**Scales:** {{scales>dom6T2S2C3G3L3M3}}
+</WRAP></WRAP>
-Do NOT use your freespawn to expand - without large numbers and spell support they will just die in droves.  After casting Mother Oak, summon a Carrion Lord and prophetize it, then gather all your freespawn into one army under this commander and a few supporting Panic Apostates.  Carrion Growth combined with Wooden Warriors will make this force quite effective and cut down on attrition a lot.
+=====Links=====
-With the rest of your nature gems, focus on summoning Bramble Forts and Carrion Centaurs, which are your most efficient reanimators per gem use.  Bramble Forts do not increase your freespawn, but you'll need them to recruit more Dryads and Apostates, and to protect your temples.
+  * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pngV_FLw2pY&t=2045s|GeneralConfusionPlays - Asphodel Nation Analysis Video]]
-====Mid Game====
-(what is the first big research rush, what is the first big powerspike, where do you shift recruitment to? what are the big magic diversity issues, are there particular globals you should gun for)
-After the expansion phase, you'll want to focus on recruiting mages over troops for as long as you can get away with it.  This focus allows a well functioning Asphodel (with four or five forts) to surge in research in the mid game, making them quite formidable at this stage.  It may be a good idea at this point to go after lands that you plan to keep out of your domininion, as you will need a tax base to support your growing mage army.  At some point increasing upkeep combined with falling income will force you to stop recruiting researchers in all of your forts, every turn.
-Good research targets at this point are Conjuration 6 for Lamia Queens, Howl, and Strength of Gaia, Enchantment 6 for Rigor Mortis, Alteration 7 for Mass Protection, Creeping Doom, Army of Giants, Darkness, and Soul Vortex, and Thaumaturgy 6 for Syllable of Sleep.
-You'll want to make use of twiceborn transformed Dryads and Apostates - the former give you additional reanimators, created with Death gems instead of Nature, and the latter give you tough thugs/SCs.  Battles at this stage will consist of either concentrated freespawn armies, or kitted thugs.  Groups of Apostates can raid effectively using Horde of Skeletons, and so twiceborn enchanted Apostates don't need to be killed off immediately.  You can have Black Dryads cast Twiceborn on themselves by giving them a Skull Staff.
-The best Apostate thugs are the Death and Earth randoms.  These can both raise their base protection through spells, and Death randoms can additionally use Soul Vortex, absorbing health and fatigue from those around them.  You can equip these thugs with a Frost Brand, Vine Shield, and Kithaironic Lion Pelt, and they will perform just fine against most groups of enemies, just 20 gems or 14 with Dwarven Hammers.  Keep in mind the twiceborn Carrion Lord form is also a manikin and sacred, so a dryad accompanying a thug can be scripted to cast Regrowth, Bless, and then retreat, giving it a blessing and regeneration.  A Reforming Flesh bless stacks with this regeneration, totaling 20% regen per round.
-Water random Apostates are still valuable for being able to cast Foul Vapors, a great way to kill enemy mages.  Nature randoms are probably best tasked with casting supporting nature spells in large armies, Earth randoms are similarly good at this role because they can cast Strength of Gaia to boost Nature in combat.
-You can use dryads to preach in enemy lands, spreading your awful scales and pop killing dominion there.  This could be a way to fight back against a superior foe that you can't face directly.
-====Late Game====
-(How do you close out the game if you are in it, is the high level research stuff you can do uniquely well, does your nation fall off, aka do you have to force things to conclude swiftly)
-I doubt Aspodel has a particularly strong late game, other nations will start to catch up and then surpass them in research, hard counters against undead start to show up, troops will be less effective overall and the corpses needed to generate manikins will start to go away.  That said their magic should still be fairly useful.
-After Alteration 7, it might be best to continue down Conjuration.  Well of Misery, Wild Growth, Faery Court, and eventually Tartarians, assuming you have high death paths on your pretender.  This could open you up to more magic diversity.  A number of immortal summons are open to you; worm mages, liches, wraith lords.  All of your thugs can cast Charm.  Storm of Thorns and Disintegrate.
-=====Links=====
-GeneralConfusionPlays - Asphodel Nation Analysis Video:\\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pngV_FLw2pY&t=2045s \\ \\
-Taorec - Various nation guides including Asphodel:\\ http://dominionsmods.com/index.php?showtopic=3364\\ \\
-A reddit thread about improving Asphodel:\\ https://www.reddit.com/r/Dominions5/comments/i29v1m/asphodel_how_would_you_make_the_nation_better/
 {{template>nationindex}}
 {{tag>nation ma-nation}}

Dominions 5 Wiki

User Tools

Site Tools

Differences

Page Tools