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EA Atlantis, Emergence of the Deep Ones
Lore
For centuries the seas have been the domain of the Tritons, but recently a nation of beings resembling a cross between fish, frog and human has emerged in the deepest gorges of the oceans. The race is not entirely unknown, for there are a few of them who have made shallow coastal reefs their home, but the Triton Kings never imagined that they were numerous or powerful enough to form a nation. These Atlantians of the deeps never stop growing and will live for several hundred years unless killed. The Atlantian society is organized in a strict hierarchy of size and age. The oldest and most cunning Atlantians have made themselves kings and queens of the Basalt City in the deepest reaches of the ocean. The Atlantians of the Deeps use weapons of enchanted basalt made by the Basalt Kings
"[R'lyeh and Atlantis] are heavily influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. While R'lyeh is closer to the Cthulhu mythos with Starspawns and strange beings from the stellar void, Atlantis is a nation of deep ones native to the depths." - Illwinter
General Overview
EA Atlantis boasts strong troops and a recruitable Super Combatant in the Basalt King. A focus on Construction will truly make the Basalt Kings shine, while the troops can easily hold the line even with no buff spells whatsoever.
Atlantis troops often have either good armor, or Fire and Cold resistance, but rarely both. Most have darkvision, but not all of them do. Bringing the right troops for the right fight can be a challenge, but can also open up very powerful strategies. So plan ahead for what magic you want to cast when deciding what troops to recruit.
Finally, beware of your Magic Resistance. The Mages and Priests are decently resistant, but some of your best troops are sporting MR 8 or below.
National Features
AQUATIC
| Magic Access | Alt. Access | Unit Summary | Core Abilities | Buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 4 (rare 5)  3 (uncommon 4)  2 (rare 3)  1  3 | Light Infantry Shamblers No Missile Weapons |  Amphibious  Darkvision  Poison Barbs  Fire Resistance  Cold Resistance |  Advanced Forts |
Capitol Gems: 1
2
3
Average Atlantians of Atlantis are Size 3 Amphibians (three-to-a-square). Whether they're silly frogmen or eldritch abominations is not too clear, but it is clear that they're strong and clumsy; 12 HP, 3 Natural Protection, 11 Strength, 9 Defence Skill (naked), 8 Precision, and 10's in Combat Speed & Map Movement (also while naked). Originating from the gorges, they have 50% Darkvision, which is handy in deep seas.
Shamblers are middle-aged Atlantians, having grown to Size 4 (two-to-a-square). On top of the innate Atlantian traits (and their low Defence and Precision), they have 22 HP, 7 Natural Protection, 15 Strength, 11's in Morale and Combat Speed while buck-naked, and 14 Map Movement while nude. Geared Shamblers are even capable of wielding Two-handed Weapons and a shield at the same time (an impressive feat other races can't naturally accomplish despite shamblers having average defense skill),
The Deep Atlantians (or Deep Ones) are bestial folks with riblike teeth and angler lures. Also Size 3 Amphibians, these guys have 100% Darkvision due to their environment, along with 5 Fire Resistance and 5 Cold Resistance (like a caveman). Many Deep Ones use their monstrous jaws in battle, giving them a bonus attack (if a basic one). Statistically, the average Deep One has 14 HP, 4 Natural Protection, 12 Strength, 12's in Morale and Map Movement while naked, 9 Combat Speed (also naked), and 7's in Defence Skill, Precision, & Magic Resistance.
Shamblers of the Deep are slightly less beastly than their younger Deep siblings, but they still have their bonus attack and their other traits beneath the stat block. The average Size 4 one has 26 HP, 9 Natural Protection, 16 Strength, 7 Defence Skill (still), 8's in Precision & Magic Resistance, an impressive 13 Morale in the buff, and the same mobility as an unarmored human (14 Map Movement and 12 Combat Speed). And they get bigger than this…
National Units
Commanders
| Image | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| | Scout  35  1  1 | Darkvision (50%)  Stealthy (50) Amphibious | An amphibious scout for the same price as a normal one. |
 | Shambler Chief 70 2 1 | Darkvision (50%) Amphibious | |
 | Coral Commander 110 23 1 | Darkvision (50%) Amphibious Poison Barbs (5) | Can make Atlanteans stand in lines, and is useful if only for that. Your primary leader if you don’t need priests blessing your troops. |
 | Coral Priest 65 3 1 Coastal Fort Recruit | 1  Sacred Darkvision (50%) Amphibious | If focusing on Basalt Kings for expansion and war, these are your best priests. Terrible leadership, but all you need them to do is bless the Basalt King and retreat, so 1 Command point is a plus. |
 | Mother of the Deep 135 5 2 | 2 Sacred Darkvision (50%) Amphibious Female | If focusing on Pillars of the Deep for expansion and war, Mothers of the Deep are better than Coral Priests. They have decent leadership and can cast Sermon of Courage when the blessing is done. Cost 2 Command Points though. |
 | Mage of the Deep 300 3 2 | 2 2100%    100% Darkvision (50%)  Water Breathing (15) Amphibious | Not a priest-mage sadly, so lots of upkeep on this very mediocre researcher. 13 RP for 300 gold isn’t great, but it’s your only choice outside of the capital, so get used to it. Their magic is decently diverse though, with the options to cast Big Water spells, Acid spells, plenty of Earth buffs and even make small communions with Astral if necessary. |
 | Basalt Queen 470 1 4  Capital Only | 3 Sacred Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%)  Fear (+5) Amphibious Female | Good to have a few of them around for claiming thrones and blessing big battles. Very killy in their own right, but not worth gearing when they compete with Basalt Kings in your Capital. |
 | Basalt King 620 1 4 | 1231100% 10% Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%) Fear (+5) Resource Bonus (10) Amphibious | Your 4 Command Point, out of the box thug and super-mage. A couple of Alteration spells is all you need to expand with them, and a couple of Construction items easily turns them into Super-Combatants. They also open up Big Earth spells as opposed to the Mages of the Deep who bring Big Water. |
Troops
| Image | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Atlantian Spearman 10 4 9 | Darkvision (50%) Amphibious | |
 | Reef Dweller 10 10 9 Coastal Fort Recruit | Darkvision (50%) Poison Barbs (5) Amphibious | |
| | Deep One 10 1 9 | Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%) Amphibious | |
 | Deep One Spearman 10 7 9 | Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%) Amphibious | Very high attack density with good morale plus fire and cold resistance but terrible protection and magic resistance. Useful if all you need is lots of attacks, but usually overlooked in favor of their larger cousins. |
| | Shambler 20 1 25 | Darkvision (50%) Amphibious | |
| | Shambler of the Deep 20 1 25 | Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%) Amphibious | Same attack density as Deep One Spearmen (6 attacks per square) but with more HP and natural protection. Still good if you just need attack density, but since they have no armor and high natural protection they aren’t very efficient to buff with your Earth spells. Fire and cold resistance are still a big plus. |
 | War Shambler 25 6 30 | Darkvision (50%) Amphibious | |
 | Warrior of the Deep 25 10 30 | Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%) Amphibious | Recruit-anywhere magic weapons with fire and cold resistance, what’s not to like? Well lack of armor and MR8 of course, those are weaknesses that will be difficult to shore up. Still an incredibly versatile unit against any  Air (Mistform) or  Astral (Body Ethereal) nation. |
 | Coral Guard 30 23 39 | Darkvision (50%) Poison Barbs (5) Amphibious | Flipping the script, Coral Guard have great armor, no resistances, and only 50% Darkvision as opposed to the 100% Darkvision sported by units with “Deep” in their name. Much more efficient than Warriors of the Deep when receiving Stoneskin/Ironskin buffs due to their armor, and they deal poison damage if your enemies don’t have resistance to it. |
 | Living Pillar 35 50 35 | Sacred Fire Resistance (5) Cold Resistance (5) Darkvision (100%)  Castle Defence (+2) Amphibious | Can either be the centerpiece of your expansion strategy or entirely ignored based on your bless and personal preference. Their armor and natural protection combo makes them functionally immune to damage from many indies. But their 10 Encumbrance means they won’t be fighting long before going to sleep. The combination of good armor and fire and cold resistance is only present on Living Pillars, so they can be very useful when battlefield-wide spells are in play. |
National Spells
Summons
Ritual
| Summon Spell | Unit | Special Attributes | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summon Monster Fish (Conjuration 6) 3 and 6 |  Monster Fish |  Fear (+5) Digest (2)  Undisciplined  Aquatic | Commentary here. |
Magic Access
See Magic Access for the general guides to climbing magic paths.
Recruits
Elements:
- 2 on one-in-four Basalt Kings (capital-only) and every twelfth Mage of the Deep
- No Air magic
- 4 on every twelfth Mage of the Deep
- 4 on one-in-four Basalt Kings (capital-only), 2 on every twelfth Mage of the Deep
Sorceries:
- 1 on every fourth Mage of the Deep
- No Death magic
- No Nature magic
- No Glamour magic
Others:
- No Blood magic
- 3 on Basalt Queens (capital-only), 2 in other seas, and 1 on coasts
Analysis
EA Atlantis's magical ascent from its recruits is very straightforward; it can get deep into 
Water and 
Earth, but its crosspaths don't really offer anything new. The five paths it lacks, it lacks, depriving access to Poison Resistance and a few other buffs. It also can't climb in 
Fire or 
Astral without empowerment, unless it lucks into a 3 in time for Construction Level 9 and crafts The Ruby Eye.
The random path arrangement on Mage of the Deep is highly unusual for Dominions' nations; the chance of at least 3 on one of them is 7-in-12, for instance, but the chance of 4 is 1-in-12. The same is true for 1/2, and for 1/2.
4 allows a Basalt King (1 in 3) to cast Troll King's Court for 
1.
Because so many of your units have Fire Resistance, trading for the Flame Helmet and Skull of Fire (or empowering to craft them yourself) is well-worth your gems. 2 Fire Boosters and 2 Water Boosters let a Fire-random Basalt King forge Staff of Elemental Masterys, and craft more Flame Helmets himself. 2 Fire Boosters and a staff then lets you hit 5 for Fire Storm, Flame Storm, and Heat from Hell, without the need for Fire Fend or Frostflesh Army.
Basalt Kings can be 4 and have two functioning feet. That means they can wear Earth Boots to become 5 and cast Forge of the Ancients, a huge boon for a nation as forge-hungry as this one. Then with a Staff of Elemental Mastery or trading/empowering for a Blood Stone, you can hit 6 for Earth Blood Deep Well.
An 4 Basalt King can also wear Earth Boots, a Robe of the Sea, a Water Bracelet, and a Staff of Elemental Mastery to reach 56, letting them cast Lost Land, just in case there’s a coastal throne you need or you just hate someone with a coastal cap. Regardless, Basalt Kings are one of the few recruitable units that can reach this lofty height.
Strategy
How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.
Expansion
You’ll hear a lot of conflicting opinions on Pillars of the Deep: are they worthless or do they make expansion easy?
With a Pillars-focused bless like Hard Skin, you can expand with a Mother of the Deep, 3-5 pillars, and as many Shamblers/Warriors of the Deep as you can afford. Put the Pillars way out in front with the Mother and Warriors way behind (but still in range of the Bless spell). Put all units on "Hold and Attack" and try to position the Pillars to take the brunt of the indies. Small amounts of indies will filter behind your Pillars to be cut down by your other units while the Pillars take almost no damage at all.
Alternatively, with a Basalt King focused bless like Regeneration, recruit a few Coral Priests and then pump out as many Basalt Kings as you can with few/no troops. Have the priests bless then retreat while the Kings cast Alteration Buffs and attack. Fear from the Kings should rout the indies even if you don’t kill anyone.
Finally, EA Atlantis can expand with pure scales, but you’ll probably want a mix of Coral Guard and Deep One Spearmen for defense or attack density depending on indies.
Early Game
Early game options.
Mid Game
Mid game options.
Late Game
Late game options.
Example Pretender Builds
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 4
5
7
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 
6
2
0
3
1
2
3
Format for putting a pretender build in.
Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: 457
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: 6203123
Weaknesses
What are the nation's weaknesses?
See More
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