Vanheim is cold land seeped with magic. it takes its name from the Vanir, beings similar to elves; they are similar to humans, but far advanced in their command of perception and magic. If a human claimed to see a Van in Vanheim, none in Vanheim would doubt it, but the human probably wouldn't see them again. One can earn the prolonged attention of the Vanir through great deeds, but their gifts merely enable humans to do greater deeds; such is the Van ideal, an eternal warrior-paragon who never fades into history.

The Vanir are a storied people, though not an ascendant one. Even in the previous Age they were somewhat few, owing to a restlessness that had them constantly war with Jotunheim (and its old suzerain), humanity, and themselves. Their battles are largely won; Helheim has returned to the fold, the Niefel have given up, Vans rule humans in Vanarus, and the Jotuns have stopped fighting. Constant warring, raiding, and incivility has drained the Vanir of their blood, for the Vanir have been less-than-eager to sow. On the other hand, their human captives have formed full-fledged tribes who now willingly follow them.

"These are all nations sprung from old Norse myth. The Poetic Edda and some later tales, combined with general conceptions of Iron Age Scandinavia, are the main sources. Vanir, Aesir and Giants are ancient antagonists in these myths. The Aesir, being perceived as gods, have been made pretenders in Dominions. Not that Vanir weren't, but they seem less so than the Aesir in most instances. As with most nations of supernatural origin, it seems fitting that their magic fades with each passing age as humans become more and more numerous….

Vanheim, Helheim and Midgård also share a common ancestry and development. In the middle era Helheim merges with Vanheim and disappears as an independent nation. Only the valkyries remain as reminders of the legacy of Helheim." -Illwinter

Vanheim is one of the original fourteen factions from Dominions: Priests, Prophets, and Pretenders. The others are Arcoscephale, Ermor, Pythium, Man, Ulm, Marignon, Abysia, Caelum, C'tis, Pangaea, Jotunheim, Atlantis, and R'lyeh.

If you are considering picking this nation to play, what should you know?

Magic Access	Alt. Access	Unit Summary	Core Abilities	Buildings
3 (Rare 4) 3 (Rare 4) 3 (Rare 4) 2 (Rare 3) 1 (Rare 2) 1 (Rare 2) 2	Hero 32222 Summons 423 243 432 432 (req. 43)	Sailing Vikings Strong Thugs No Cheap Mages Berserking Einheres Werewolves Mounted Elves Flying Elf Sacreds	Stealthy Sailing Glamour	Standard Forts Trace income across oceans

Capitol Gems: 131

Prefers Cold Scale + 1

Blood Sacrifice: May blood sacrifice to increase dominion. This ability is not transferred to disciple nations. Disciple nations with this ability can still use it. These nations do not have dying dominion.

Andvarian Dwarves: Vanheim has recruitable Master Smiths who can forge equipment one level higher than comparable mages, though only for magic paths they have. The smiths are slow to recruit, and not quite as flexible as the other mages of the nation, but they raise Vanheim's effective magic access for the purpose of getting items:

• 4 (rare 5) ← There are only a few Earth items Vanheim can't make
• 2 (rare 3)
• 2 (rare 3)

All of the smiths will at least have 3 in terms of forging, and the crosspaths they can get in conjunction with their smithing skill lets Vanheim make a wide variety of things… just not cheaply.

The nation is made up of mostly Elves, long-lived and glamoured beings with high defense skill. The majority of your armies will be invisible on the strategic maps of other players, making you an ever-elusive threat that can steal land at any moment.

MA Vanheim's mage lineup largely lacks "efficient" spellcasters; all mages aside from the cap-only Dwarven Smith are skilled elves on horses and thus cost a heavy premium.

Image	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Scout 35 4 1	Stealthy (50) Mountain Survival Forest Survival	Commentary here.
	Herse 55 22 1		Commentary here.
	Vanherse 235 17 2	1119 Sacred Stealthy (65) Sailing (Max Size 5) Skilled Rider (4) Glamour	Commentary here.
	Vanjarl 440 19 2	211213 Sacred Stealthy (65) Sailing (Max Size 5) Skilled Rider (5) Glamour	Commentary here.
	Fay Horse	Sacred Poison Resistance (10) Disease Resistance (100%) Stealthy (65) Smart Mount (100) Animal Glamour True Sight	Commentary here.
	Dwarven Smith 195 2 4 Capital Only	21100% 10%11 Darkvision (50%) Master Smith (1) Mountain Survival Prophet Shape (Dwarf Elder)	Commentary here.
	Vanadrott 595 20 4 Capital Only	22121100% 10%17 Sacred Stealthy (65) Sailing (Max Size 5) Skilled Rider (5) Glamour	Commentary here.
	Fay Horse	See above.	Commentary here.

Summon Spell	Unit	Special Attributes	Comments
Sloth of Bears (Conjuration 3) 2 and 6	Great Bear x 15+	Undisciplined Animal Mountain Survival Forest Survival	Summons high strength blobs of hitpoints. Can work as evocation bait, as the bears have more HP than your troops and even lower MR, but otherwise unremarkable.
Awaken Draugar (Conjuration 4) 2 and 12	Draug x 4	Resist Cold (25) Resist Poison (25) Cold Aura (3) Fear (+5) Undead Amphibious Need Not Eat Spirit Sight Shapechanger Below HP (20) (Draug)	Commentary here.
Summon Dwarf of the Four Directions (Conjuration 8) 43 and 62	Dwarf of the North or Dwarf of the South or Dwarf of the East or Dwarf of the West	42323 or 24323 or 43223 or 43223 Common Attributes: Unique Shock Resistance (22) Darkvision (50%) Master Smith (1) Mountain Survival Dwarf of the South has: Master Smith (2) Dwarf of the East has: Supply Bonus (+20) Master Smith (2)	Summons one of the four Dwarves of the Four Directions, powerful mages who have significant combat, ritual-casting and forging capabilities (432200% and Master Smith 1-2 (1: Water, Death. 2: Fire, Nature). Also increases the likelihood of Hurricanes ravaging the world for each dwarf summoned. If all four dwarves are alive at once, the world is plunged into a Perpetual Storm and all battles will have Darkness over them; this is a somewhat roundabout manner to apply what amounts to two Global Enchantments at once, but the only way to dispel them is to kill one of the dwarves.

Note that only Awaken Draugar and Summon Valkyries are natively accessible to Vanheim.

Your recruitable thugs are mounted mages that are really hard to hit. They probably don't need much extra prot and shouldn't have much more encumbrance as they will be casting spells, so armor isn't a priority. It's better to give them improved stabbing weapons (Fire Brand, or Frost Brand for AOE, Flesh Eater for anti thugging).

Vanheim can make Earth, Blood, and even the hard to make Air boosters. (Some rare Dwarven Smiths can forge Skull of Fire.) Vanhiem can even make a Robe of the Magi for late-game magic boosting.

• Dwarven Hammer (Construction 3)
  3 and 12
  A quintessential item for forging. Having a Forge Discount on an item that gives you a Forge discount is an economic win.
• Lightweight Scale Mail (Construction 3)
  1 and 4
  Commentary here.
• Cauldron of the Elven Halls (Construction 5)
  3 and 12
  If your glamoured army does get reported by a scout or contains non-glamoured units, only a fraction will be reported. If you are into mind-game strategies, having a massive army mistaken as a small raiding party grants you a greater level of surprise.
• Weightless Scale Mail (Construction 7)
  1 and 4
  Commentary here.

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

EA Vanheim is heavily focused on Air, Earth, and Glamour magic, with a side gig in Blood, Fire and Death.

Vanheim has access to the following paths for the purposes of rituals:

Elements

• 1 on Dwarven Smiths
• 3 on Vanadrotts
• No native Water magic. 3 can Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.
• 3 on Dwarven Smiths, 6 via Earth Boots, a Blood Stone (Empowerment) and King of Elemental Earth

Sorceries

• No native Astral magic. 31 can cast Hidden in Sand and Hidden Underneath for a 1 in 3 chance of 2 and a 3 in 4 chance of at least 1, respectively. 3 can Summon Spectre for a 7 in 16 chance of at least 1.
• 1 on Dwarven Smiths, 2 via a Skull Staff (Master Smith). With Earth Boots, the Dwarven Smith can cast Hidden Underneath for 2, 3 with the Skull Staff. 22 (and Master Smith) can attempt the unique The Silver Arms to hold multiple Death booster staves. The hero, Vanlade - Vanadrott, has 2 and can attempt the unique The Black Book of Secrets.
• No native Nature magic. 23 can Summon Gnome for 2.
• 3 on Vanadrotts, 5 through all available non-artifact Boosters (3 → Gossamer Veil → 21 + Master Smith → Mirage Crystal)

Others

• 2 on Vanadrotts, as much Blood as required via empowering and boosters, possibly including the unique The Black Book of Secrets through a 1 Vanadrott.
• 2 on Vanadrotts

Blood allows for some powerful summons. Bind Heliophagus (5) can give 3, 4 (1 in 4), and at least 3 (2 in 4). Bind Demon Lord (8) can give high levels in everything except .

Going down Glamour lets a 32 Vanadrott with both Glamour boosters cast Lore of Legends, getting him up to 4 for one turn so he can forge one of the Air boosters (Winged Helmet or Horn of Storms). Doing it twice, he can then summon a Queen of Elemental Air for 7. You can also have a 21 Dwarven Smith with both boosters and the Earth Boots craft a Staff of Elemental Mastery. This provides a +1 boost to all of the Elements, bringing Vanheim's elemental access up to 2, 8, and 4 (7 with Blood empowerment).

How to win as the nation. Feel free to use the following sections, or delete them, or change them.

Different expansion options.

Early game options.

Mid game options.

Late game options.

What are the nation's weaknesses?

Add links to guides or other overviews for this nation here.

Nations
Early Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Pyrène, • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • Muspelheim • Rus • Kailasa • Lanka • Yomi • Hinnom • Ur • Berytos • Xibalba • Mekone • Ubar • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Therodos
Middle Ages	Arcoscephale • Ermor • Sceleria • Pythium • Man • Eriu • Ulm • Pyrène • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • Nidavangr • Vanarus • Bandar Log • Shinuyama • Ashdod • Uruk • Nazca • Xibalba • Phlegra • Phaeacia • Ind • Na'ba • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Pelagia • Oceania • Ys
Late Ages	Arcoscephale • Pythium • Lemuria • Man • Ulm • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Jomon • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Midgård • Utgård • Bogarus • Patala • Gath • Ragha • Xibalba • Phlegra • Vaettiheim • Feminie • Piconye • Andramania • Pyrène • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia