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mandarbmax-expansion-titans [2021/03/22 09:08] naaira created |
mandarbmax-expansion-titans [2023/07/25 05:05] (current) mandarbmax [Q&A on best use] corrected missing scrollover for mossbody and liquid body in 2nd question |
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By the time expansion is over you should have enough research done to have quite a SC as long as you took at least a few pertinent magic paths even at a low level. Ethereal regenerating 30 prot physmoss titans are serious threats at any stage of the game but having such a pretender coming right out of expansion is huge. They can waltz up and shit all over an enemy army with all but the most hellish of blesses unless special countermeasures are used to stop your bipedal terror. Your first war is all but guaranteed and even if you are on the receiving end of an early 2v1 you will be fine. | By the time expansion is over you should have enough research done to have quite a SC as long as you took at least a few pertinent magic paths even at a low level. Ethereal regenerating 30 prot physmoss titans are serious threats at any stage of the game but having such a pretender coming right out of expansion is huge. They can waltz up and shit all over an enemy army with all but the most hellish of blesses unless special countermeasures are used to stop your bipedal terror. Your first war is all but guaranteed and even if you are on the receiving end of an early 2v1 you will be fine. | ||
- | <WRAP center | + | <WRAP group> |
+ | <WRAP center | ||
{{ : | {{ : | ||
- | //Blood vengeance is the weakest blessing because it only works after the sacred one has been wounded. Conversely the best blessing is one which kills foes before they can do any harm. Tiddy Tyrant is such a blessing for her nation.// </ | + | //Blood vengeance is the weakest blessing because it only works after the sacred one has been wounded. Conversely the best blessing is one which kills foes before they can do any harm. Tiddy Tyrant is such a blessing for her nation.// </ |
+ | |||
+ | As the game moves on your expansion titan will evolve to fit the needs of your growing and advancing nation. In the mid game they will become highly mobile heavy raiders and army escorts and perhaps also cast globals they have the paths for. Late game they will continue casting globals but may also become big battlefield spell casters like master enslave or army of gold and make use of magic boots and teleport spells (up to and including gateway) to secure a throne rush victory. You can’t know how the game will progress and exactly how best to use your titan in 60 turns but devote some thought to it before the game starts and you will thank yourself when you reap the benefits later and bathe in skrub tears. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Conditions for success ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | A list of things you want but don’t need for your expansion titan to be successful. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Magic 3 scales** - Magic scales start you off with more research done at the start of the game! | ||
+ | * **Randomized starting research** - You can get lucky and start with Enchantment 2 this way! Sure you can get unlucky with Enchantment 0 but at least then you will probably start with some Alteration or Construction. Spread magic starting research means you get 0 in all schools. Fuck that. | ||
+ | <WRAP column third right centeralign> | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | //MA Tien Chi has awesome mages for titan support// \\ \\ \\ | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | //You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like//</ | ||
+ | * **Early age** - Early age means more gem income to start for you to use to make starting armor! | ||
+ | * **Late age** - Late age means you probably start with a citadel so you can get your research going faster early. Keep an eye out for crossbows though and don’t be shy about casting air shield if you can. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Recruitable fluffers** - Being able to recruit someone to cast ??Body Ethereal??, ?? | ||
+ | * **Recruitable Earth or Astral mages** - to forge starting armor with. | ||
+ | * **Earth gem income in your capital** - So you can forge superior ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **A Pretender with built in armor** - If they come with armor you don’t need to spend time forging them any. | ||
+ | * **A Pretender with Nature magic** - Nature casts ??Personal Regeneration?? | ||
+ | * **A Pretender with broad magic paths** - Having Nature is good but having other stuff lets you do more later on. Look for magic phase options in particular (Air or Astral). | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Access to healers** - Even with regen chip damage, particularly early on when defenses are at their weakest, can give your beloved titan afflictions. Afflictions normally don’t slow a titan down much but being able to get rid of that pesky unhealing wound is like a free cast of ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Example: Keeper of the Bridge ==== | ||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | **Keeper of the Bridge** \\ {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** None \\ | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | ===== Notes on not getting shanked to death ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Test your build thoroughly. Seriously, you want to have a good bit of practice and intuition under your belt before the real game gets going. I suggest at least 5 tests to turn 5 (to get your super early game down for a variety of starting research outcomes) and another two tests where your Pretender survives to turn 12 to test expansion and learn what kinds of indies can kill your Pretender. Expansion titans don’t always need Nature magic to succeed but it sure does help. If you decide to try one out be sure to test it thoroughly. | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP column third right centeralign> | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | //Image from a natgen game with Pretenders Enhanced// </ | ||
+ | There really isn’t any replacement for practice and intuition when it comes to keeping your Pretender alive through expansion and beyond because there are just too many factors to consider. That being said there are a few things to keep an eye out for. Eternal Knights; those 2h AP swords will mess you up in a hurry while other troops take the hits and they often don’t show up on the scouting reports either. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Other sorts of AP attacks can also fuck your shit up too; keep an eye out for enemy players using ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Obviously magic kill spells are a way other players will try to kill your titan so beware that sometimes you really need to stack your resistances! Just as a ??Serpent Kryss?? is a classic ??Golem?? killing weapon because its poison is so strong, so too 5 cold resistance will not save you from ??Frozen Heart?? spam. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Titans are very much a sort of finesse weapon. There' | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP column third right centeralign> | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | //Nations that summon sacreds in combat like T'ien Ch'i, Fomoria, and Vanheim can benefit quite a bit from a Pretender’s autobless with a weapon bless.// | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | Be smart and think ahead to cut off an opponent’s scheme before they can put it into practice, you only have the one titan so you can’t learn from your mistakes like you can in other situations. The exception to this rule is if they miss your titan! Be unpredictable and elusive with your titan, hitting them when they think they are safe and dodging their counter attacks. | ||
+ | * Magic phase movement and boots of walking real fast are both helpful in this regard. | ||
+ | * Occasionally scripting your titan to retreat from combat, particularly when you expect your enemy to use magic phase attacks against you, is another superb way to escape death. | ||
+ | * Having a scout holding ??Shademail Haubergeon?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Q&A on best use ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //What are you looking for in a titan chassis when picking the one you want?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** A broad selection of paths which will be useful in SCing, particularly early on. Coming with armor is really nice too and can save you from having to forge your own to start. Other miscellaneous chassis abilities such as Awe, Fear, multiple attacks, or flight are nice to have too. | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //What paths do you prioritize apart from {{path> | ||
+ | **A:** Nature is obviously important but so is Earth (for ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //Any good path combos?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** Nature and Water for ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //If you go for Astral what path level would you consider minimum?// \\ | ||
+ | I’d say {{path> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP center 600px centeralign> | ||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | //A notable exception to the " | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //Do you have minimum att def stats to be viable?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** Nope, you can go try some repel shenanigans if you want but in my experience the best way to run an expansion titan is to treat them like a ?? | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //Does it need to have multiple attacks if it has no fear?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** Neither is required at all but both are nice. | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //Do you often bring a fluffer with you?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** Yes! Fluff your thugs! Unless you have a specific reason not to fluff your thugs, such as magic phase moving when your fluffers can’t keep up, then you should fluff your thugs, all thugs, not just your expansion titan! | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Q:** //How do you protect the fluffer?// \\ | ||
+ | **A:** Script them to retreat and if they die anyway then they die, not the end of the world. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Example Expansion Titans ===== | ||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** 2x Reinvigoration, | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** None \\ | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** +3 Magic Resistance, Spirit Sight \\ 3x Undying, Berserker \\ | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** None | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** Awe, Barkskin \\ | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | <WRAP box centeralign> | ||
+ | <WRAP column twothirds> | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | <WRAP column third> | ||
+ | **Chassis: | ||
+ | **Paths:** {{path> | ||
+ | **Bless:** Awe, Fear, Regeneration \\ | ||
+ | **Scales:** {{scales> | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{tag> |