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"Quetzalcouatl, the Lawgiver, figures in most of the Mesoamerican cultures as a returning savior figure. One could not paraphrase a Mesoamerican nation without having at least a fleeting reference to him." -Illwinter
Suitably named after Aztec Hell, Mictlan has always been isolated; any of its neighbors and visitors have long-since learned that keeping contact with them would end in them being either enslaved by the Kings or exsanguinated by the Blood Cult. However, a new era has dawned under the rule of the Lawgiver who abhors blood sacrifice. Which isn't to say that the kingdom is any less brutal or isolated, you just have a better chance of keeping your blood where it belongs. The mage-priests of the Lawgiver worship his two Faces (the Sun & the Moon) and its two Domains (the Rain & the Forest), with an added appreciation for the Sky.
Mictlan is no longer the hungry Blood nation it was in EA, replacing all of it's Blood in two specific ways. First, there are now three Air mages available to recruit, all of them holy, two of them cross-paths, and one of them being strong in Astral as well. Second, the priests of Mictlan are even stronger than they were in EA, adding three new priests of increasing power. Another side effect of dropping blood is that most of your mages are cheaper, but money shouldn't be any concern for your nation considering how poorly-equipped your units still are. This is a nation that gives you all the flexibility in magic you could ever want, but takes a lot of planning to see it's true potential.
(This page borrows from the EA Mictlan page, and so has some references to blood magic that aren't relevant in MA. Feel free to fix any such errors or add them to the TO DO list in the discussion page - TitledEel)
Race | Military | Magic Access | Priests | Buildings |
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Average Humans Prefers 1 Heat Forest Survival | Primitive Gear Cheap Infantry Slave Levies Sacred Shapeshifters | 3 (rare 4) 3 (rare 4) 2 (rare 3) 2 2 1 (rare) 1 (rare) Summons: 33 (requires 11) 3, 4 (requires 4) 24, 42 (requires 4) | Powerful (3) Only 1 outside capital +2 Air Bless points +1 Nature Bless point | Primitive Fortified Cities |
Temple of the Moon | Temple of the Sun | High Temple of the Sky and Rain | High Temple of the Land |
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Enables recruitment of: - Moon Priest Produces 1 per turn | Enables recruitment of: - Sun Warrior - Sun Priest Produces 1 per turn | Enables recruitment of: - Rain Priest - High Priest of the Sky Produces 1 per turn Produces 1 per turn | Enables recruitment of: - Jaguar Warrior - Priest King - Couatl Produces 1 per turn |
Jaguar Warriors are pretty cool guys, able to heal afflictions that they will no-doubt acquire due to their Wounded Shape. They're not as good as in EA since you can't recruit them off-capital, but they are still worth it if you need a few bruisers for your army.
Eagle Warrior, now these guys really get a glow up in MA. While they aren't quite as powerful as the Jaguar Warriors, they hit twice as much, and more importantly, can fly once they get blessed. Add on the fact that they can be recruited off of any province with a temple and the fact that they are damn cheap for a Sacred unit, and you have an opportunity for some interesting Bless shenanigans.
Nahualli are your best off-capital Mages. They can Contact Couatls in case you need your capital recruitment for something else. Do not be fooled by their goofy looking Turkey form. Having a force of relatively cheap, flying Astral mages is no joke when you can drop a communion on your enemies at any time.
description of the workhorse options, for the sake of sanity better skip the clearly subpar and generic stuff (no h1 unless special qualities, no 40, 60 leadership dudes that are average, no scouts
Pretty much all stolen from the EA Mictlan page, please let me keep my blood.
Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
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Scout 25 1 1 | stealthy(50) mountain survival forest survival | SCOUT 2: Return of SCOUT | |
Tribal King 90 15 1 | Sacred taskmaster(1) slaver(Slave) forest survival | Chaff-collector and competent leader. | |
Mictlan Priest 65 1 2 | 11100% 7 Sacred forest survival | Basic research monkey with an added magic path lottery! | |
Sky Priest 70 1 2 | 11010% 7 Sacred forest survival patrol bonus(10) fortune teller(5) | More expensive than the normal Priest, but you get reliable Air with a small chance for another path. Fortune teller might be worth it if you have misfortune scales. | |
Nahualli 125 1 2 | 12010% 11 supply bonus(20) Shapechanger(Turkey) spirit sight forest survival | Couatl-summoner & off-cap Mage. Can run Communions for your Coatls or Moon Priests, or even each other. The Turkey shape is divine, don't let anyone tell you differently. The Turkey form turns your mages into competent raiders as well when given N gems. Set them to cast swarm and profit! After procuring a Thistle Mace you might want to empower into water to open up Foul Vapors as it is a hard counter against nations like Ulm; who in turn counters you. |
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Rain Priest 125 1 2 Capital Only | 22 9 Sacred forest survival | Not great for evocations, but useful as a utility mage. Use for national summons (ie. Summon Tlaloque & Jade Serpent), forging, site searching, anti-thugging and occasional ritual/combat casting. They seem useless now, until you are facing up against an army of toads backed up by Quagmire and Heat from Hell casted from your Sun Priest. | |
Moon Priest 125 1 2 Capital Only | 22 13 Sacred Darkvision(50%) forest survival | Communion Master. If your game isn't cheesy enough, give em a pair of Turkeys each and watch them spam Soul Slay. | |
Sun Priest 135 1 2 Capital Only | 22 9 Sacred forest survival | A decent fire mage for niche situations, kit with fire boosters and Fire in a Jars to boost effectiveness. Use this mage defensively and take advantage of your heat dominion. A Sun Priest with a fire booster can cast Heat from Hell and Flaming Arrows, add in an army of Sun Warriors and javelin/sling variant Warriors, and they can be pretty effective when keeping raiders or smaller armies at bay. You can also spam Fires from Afar, but it is quite costly and the gems could be put to much better use. You can also empower in astral to cast Solar Eclipse, but breaking into blood kind of defeats the purpose of this, as your demon summons can cast Darkness. | |
Priest King 210 5 2 Capital Only | 23010% 13 Sacred taskmaster(1) slaver(Slave) supply bonus(20) forest survival | 4-squad leader and slaver supreme. Potentially outmatched as a Nature mage by the Couatl, but that Leadership is no joke. Just give him a bit of armor, since he's got practically none, also give them a Rabbit Foot Charm to counter spells like Seeking Arrow if fighting any nation with air magic, as Seeking Arrow causes AN (armor-negating) damage. As mentioned with the Nahualli, it might be worth empowering this guy in water, so he can cast Foul Vapors with a Thistle Mace. Who needs elephants when you got Monster Toads? |
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High Priest of the Sky 225 1 2 Capital Only | 231100% 10% 11 Sacred flying forest survival patrol bonus(20) old age (55/50) fortune teller(10) | Old A2H3 mage with 1 extra random path, can offset the old status by getting the Unaging bless. Casts air spells and Divine Blessing. Also a good raider that synergizes well with Turkeys since they too can fly; just give them air gems and watch them fill the field with Air Elementals. | |
Couatl 300 1 4 Capital Only | 3122100% 100% 10% 17 Sacred poison resistant(15) magic being cold blooded flying swimming forest survival swamp survival supply bonus(10) inspirational | A very flexible mage. Maybe good for a thug chassis. Slightly different than summoned Couatls in that they might get some Nature replaced with Air. |
description of the workhorse options, for the sake of sanity better skip the clearly subpar and generic stuff (common indie like units with no gimmicks), merge units into a single description entry if functionally similar battle roles with only minor differences in gear.
Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
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Warrior 9 1 7 | forest survival | Slinger with Shield. Archers prefer shooting at low prot targets so they can keep the heat of Jaguar Warriors while still being more protected and can trade because of their shields. |
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Warrior 9 8 7 | forest survival | Slinger with Shield and armor. best suited as lance catchers, being cheap but will still last longer than the barechested warriors. |
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Warrior 9 10 7 | forest survival | A good expanding alternative to your sacreds. Javelins give them an advantage over low prot indies that would normally shred Jaguar Warrior like barbarians. | |
Warrior 9 13 7 | forest survival | The above warrior but "better" melee weapons and armor at the cost of map movement. Stick to Moon Warriors and the above variant. Maybe recruit if you need that extra javelin to pop glamourous ponies. | |
Moon Warrior 12 14 14 | darkvision(50%) forest survival | Warrior with Greatweapon and darkvision. These are your mainline infantry next to your sacreds, always recruit these. Moon warriors start getting useful when you start amassing your demon army and learn how to cast the Darkness or Solar Eclipse spells. Make great fort recruits when going a Darkness army strategy. |
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Feathered Warrior 18 13 21 | standard(1) forest survival | Boost the morale of the Warriors he is with. Sacreds have good moral but boosting higher it can be important especially when there are so many abilities that force you to roll it many times. | |
Jaguar Warrior 26 4 31 Capital Only | Sacred wounded shape(Were Jaguar) forest survival | A decent sacred in-game being a greatweapon guy with a second werebeast shape with 3 attacks, only held back by thier capital-only recruitment. Beware of mass firepower, they don't have high prot or shields. |
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Eagle Warrior 15 3 14 | Sacred ambidextrous(3) flies-when Blessed forest survival | Possibly your best sacred in MA, if only beacuse it can be recruited anywhere for fairly cheap. Gains the ability to fly when blessed, so can assassinate commanders in the rear like other flying nations. Also suffers the same weakness as Jaguar Warriors, but worse as they do not have another form to rely on. |
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Sun Warrior 18 15 18 Capital Only | Sacred resist fire(5) forest survival | Another sacred, being an armored warrior with javelin and resistance to fire. Less appealing than the other sacreds in terms of offense and competes with the recruitment of Jaguar Warrior. Ok during early game expansion depending on blessing when keeping expansion party casualties low is important. Best used in heat dominion on the defensive to synergize with your Sun Priests. |
any breakout hits that might sway someone towards luck or away from it ?
Sprite | Unit Name | Special Attributes | Comments |
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Mictlipoctli - King of Legends Hero turn arrival limit:(5) | 333 17 Sacred undead inanimate need-not-eat spirit sight pierce resistant fire vulnerability(10) resist cold(15) resist poison(25) reanimator-priest reanimation bonus(2) | A Mound Fiend with blood magic, breaking you into both blood and death before getting Summon Tlaloque. Always nice to diversify your assets. | |
Topiltzin - Priest King Hero turn arrival limit:(5) | 22324 23 Sacred swamp survival forest survival swimming resist poison (15) supply bonus (20) Shapechanger(Feathered Serpent) | Just as the Nahualli transforms into a form delicious to humans, Mixcoatl transforms into a form delicious to Couatls! Has full magic item slots, but be careful as shape changers can destroy items if they shift to a form that can't hold them. |
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Mixcoatl - Priest King Hero turn arrival limit:(5) | 3323 21 Sacred swamp survival forest survival swimming resist poison (15) resist shock (10) supply bonus (20) Shapechanger(Feathered Serpent) | Just as the Nahualli transforms into a form delicious to humans, Mixcoatl transforms into a form delicious to Couatls! Has full magic item slots, but be careful as shape changers can destroy items if they shift to a form that can't hold them. |
This section is the longer version of the 'Magic Access' column in National Features. List which paths the nation has access to, what level in each path and the maximum level attainable with common boosters. Avoid discussing in too much depth as much of the information is already covered in MelficeBelmont's Boosting and Access Guide. The length of this section will vary greatly depending on the nation, and does not have to be formatted in the same way as the example below. Some explanation may be required for more complicated boosting methods (e.g. commanderifying a unit with hidden paths). What exactly these paths can be used for can largely be explained in later sections, but pointing out good crosspaths works well in this section too. Mention communion access if applicable.
national spell or summon cost and usecase, judgment if it's good.
Discuss the top few generic spells that most increase a nation's combat power or synergize with national strategies. These will generally be early-to-mid game spells since individual spells matter much more during those periods of the game. Some examples are Foul Vapors for MA C'tis, Horde of Skeletons + Sabbath Master/Sabbath Slave for the Niefelheim line of nations, Mother Oak for the Pangaeas, Wailing Winds access, etc. For broader advice on magic use, link to Not-Lola's Basic Magic Use Guide.
This is also a good place to point out notable magic weaknesses, such as a lack of nature access making a nation vulnerable to Foul Vapors.
List and describe any unique national items or discounts in this section, discuss and compare with similar generic items. Also discuss generic items that are useful and accessible for the nation. These may include:
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.
List some example expansion strategies here. If a strong bless or pretender is required then leave the specifics for the pretender section.
List some example pretender builds. Try to use the following format to keep authorship and pretender design rationale clear.
youtube of someone discussing the nation
guide page on steam??
forum thread or AAR
Nations | |
---|---|
Early Ages | Arcoscephale • Ermor • Ulm • Marverni • Sauromatia • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Mictlan • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Agartha • Tir na n'Og • Fomoria • Vanheim • Helheim • Niefelheim • 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 • Marignon • Mictlan • T'ien Ch'i • Machaka • Agartha • Abysia • Caelum • C'tis • Pangaea • Asphodel • Vanheim • Jotunheim • 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 • Atlantis • R'lyeh • Erytheia |