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. Niefelheim, Jotunheim, and Utgård are part of the history of a single nation through the ages. – Illwinter

Races	Troops	Magic	Priests	Buildings
Prefers 3 Shock Vulnerable (5) Jotunar: Size 4 +23-25 HP vs. Humans +11 STR vs. Humans +2 MR & MOR vs. Humans +3 CS vs. Humans +6-8 MM vs. Humans Cold Resistance (15) Niefels: Size 6 +59 HP vs. Humans +15 STR vs. Humans +5 MR vs. Humans +4 MOR vs. Humans Cold Power Chill Aura Ice Protection Cold Resistance (25)	Giant Infantry Sacred Giants Boulder-Throwing Siege Giants	4 (Rare 5) 3 (Rare 4) 3 (Rare 4) 2 (Uncommon 3, Rare 4) 1 (Uncommon 2, Rare 3) 1 (Rare 2)	2 in Forts	Giant Fortresses hold extra food

The Gygjor (plural for Gygjas) get two 100% randoms and one 10% random, each with the same paths (). Thus, each of those Mages has a 45.15625% chance of having 2, a 7.03135% chance of having 3, and a 0.15625% (1/640) chance of having 4. Gygjas can also get 3 or 3, but the former is more common on Niefel Jarls (who have a 16/45 chance of 3 and a 1/90 chance of 4), while the latter is more common on Skrattir (who have a 1/4 chance of 3). On the other hand, 1 and 1 are not guaranteed on any of your mages.

Niefelheim's faith is still somewhat rooted in that of the Rimtursar, and in the hope of one day awakening them. The Rimtursar are glaciers, and so Niefelheim's Dominion naturally Spreads Cold in and around its borders, with a ~20% chance of lowering the Temperature by a Scale in each province within and adjacent to it. This ends at 3, of course.

Being a nation primarily populated by Giants, your Longdead Reanimation will mix in Longdead Giants with normal undead humans. Why they can raise Longdead Humans in their own lands is a mystery, though they might all be Serfs from Niefelheim's enemy. The same might be true for Soulless Giants and normal Soulless.

The nation is dominated by true giants (size 4, lot of hitpoints, high strength, and maintains a decent mobility despite the armor they wear). They are very resistant to cold damage and all ignore penalty to movement form snow.

Despite being able to one-shot most humans they hit regardless of protection, they have only average or slightly above chances to hit. Size 4s can only have one unit per square (can fit in an indie human) so they accumulate harassment penalties quickly, making them actually weak to a square of 3 humans especially if they have multi-attack.

In a large Dominions 5 rework of this nation's line, Niefel and Jotun giants are now vulnerable to shock damage instead of fire. This is difficult to counter with Niefelheim's native magic access, and a straightforward way to deal with the costly units of Niefelheim's roster.

TL;DR: Despite looking big and imposing, Niefelhiem is fragile when it comes to non-sacred infantry.

Has a solid but expensive lineup of commanders. They are all sacred thugs and/or strong mages with high hp and strength to shrug off most assassination attempts.

Image	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Jotun Scout 55 7 1	sacred Stealthy(40) mountain survival forest survival snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	He is a scout, but the really fun thing is they he is a sneaky giant that can take a bless. Give gear like Flask of Holy Water and now you have a Raider. Unless your doing the steath thug thing, use indie scout instead as you don't have that much gold to spare
	Jotun Herse 75 35 1	sacred snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	Your cheapest national leader, but still too expensive with only average leadership and also requiring a temple. Use Indies instead. The best thing about him is being a light counter-thug chassis.
	Jotun Gode 110 19 2	2 sacred snow-move Forest Survival resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	Your primary priest, basically a Herse with Holy 2. Cost a lot for him to only site around, but effective at leading Sacreds.
	Jotun Jarl 130 35 2	1 sacred snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	Your best any-fort leader with 80ld. Niefelheim doesn't have that big of armies, but better when heavily using Indies and summons and putting giants into formations.
	Gygja 225 3 2	1112100% 100% 10% 15 snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) supply bonus(10) Fortune Teller(10%) Old Age(300/330) death-curse forest survival female	Your main combat mage as well as your starter researchers (will hold you over until you get indie mages). Despite how the price looks, 5 Soresory paths is a steal even if your still paying a lot of gold in a nation where money is tight. Will often be used as Sabbath Master (or Communion Master, when S1) to spam skeletons and cast other combat spells. The Fortune Teller ability is also noteworthy as it makes misfortune scales less punishing and a very viable choice as Niefelheim. Not your strongest mage, or your main researcher but you will want a ton of them in your mage core.
	Jotun Skratti 345 3 4	221100% 15 sacred snow-move Forest Survival resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) Shapechanger Jotun Werewolf and Jotun Wolf	The Star of Jotunheims commander lineup. Skrattis are shapeshifters, with wolf form to be stealthy in emergencies and gain 10% regeneration in werewolf form, which enables them to be good thugs with only minor investment on items. Also, they give you reliable access to W3 and B3 and the N1 randoms can be equipped with a Thistle Mace to cast Foul Vapors once you have access to Serpent's Blessing or Purify Blood. Ontop of that they are extremely good communion slaves for turbo communions. with the baseline 10% in ww form + a master casting Personal Regeneration + having a regen bless, can easily bring the Skratti up to 30% regeneration. This way 4 Skratti can support an unholy amount of Gygja spamming skeletons and casting other spells for an infinite amount of time. If you feel that´s still not enough you can add in Soul Vortex and put some trolls, or Nieflel giants(if you have regen bless) on guard commander around the Skrattis.
	Niefel Jarl 510 49 4 Capital Only	3221100% 10% 17 sacred snow-move Chill aura(18) cold Power(1) ice protection(3) resist cold(30) shock vulnerability(5) cold recruitment(1)	Your national Supercombatent. Although he needs to be geared, he can roll over most unprepared defenses. Although He is expensive he is also your only national access to minor air magic, with him being a Wailing Winds and Wind of Death caster. Very good chassis, that avoids a lot of things other Supercombatent candidates are weak to. Randoming Air fixes the Lighting problem, but he shouldn’t venture too far from any province that isn't covered in snow.

On paper, they look big and can one shoot most troops but they're actually really fragile, with mediocre attack skill making that one hit per square miss most of the time. While their Prot and defense skill don't properly protect them from humans ganging up on them.

Image	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Jotun Bondi 20 15 11	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	cheap hard-hitting frontline option, with mediocre protection and combat skills
	Jotun Warrior 30 15 17	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	good line holders with decently high protection and repel chance due to their spear, who can still put out some damage with stats better than a Bondi
	Jotun Warrior 30 17 17	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5)	good unit for early expansion and decent throughout the game. Their high damage Javelins are capable of thinning out the enemy frontline before the melee engagement. Besides that, they are similar to the Jotun Warriors.
	Jotun Hurler 30 11 17	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) siege bonus(5)	They throw Super heavy rocks over allies' heads, likely to kill most monsters. Their main purpose is cost-efficient Siege chaff. You may be giants but you can still save more on gold.
	Jotun Huskarl 35 21 20	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) bodyguard(1)	The cheapest of the Giant body guards, with slightly better stats than the linemen. They are sum-what spamable.
	Godihuskarl 40 25 24	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) bodyguard(1)	more expensive Huskarl has a Spear for Repels and a javelin. Batter at bodyguard work since assassins don't expect ranged attacks.
	Jotun Hirdman 50 33 31	snow-move resist cold(15) shock vulnerability(5) bodyguard(1)	Expensive, but have good stats. If you have the gold you can make a small and elite giant army that is easy to point buff.
	Niefel Giant 140 22 39 Capital Only Limited?	sacred snow-move Chill aura(10) cold Power(1) ice protection(2) resist cold(25) shock vulnerability(5) cold recruitment(1)	Acts More as a support piece for your giant lines than a proper independent expander unit because of how expensive they are. A Niefel in +3 and a regen bless is hard to deal with, not to mention how much Cold Fatigue Damage 2 would passively inflict. Works best in expansion by having a small group hold the enemy with cheaper giants give you numbers.

Both can only very late in minimum of when the earliest a hero can arrive, so very unlikely to see them unless a long game.

Image	Unit Name	Special Attributes	Comments
	Angerboda - Great Hag Hero Arival turn Limiet(20)	3323 27 snow-move resist cold(15) resist Poison(15) shock vulnerability(5) supply bonus(20) Fortune Teller(15%) adept crossbreader(8) death-curse forest survival female	improved Gygja, maxing out most of the path they can random. Very good at Crossbreading. Is your Highest national source of Astral. She is also one booster away from 4 which is need to break into Vampire Lords with minimum effort.
	Tjatse - Abductor Hero Arival turn Limiet(20)	3332 23 sacred snow-move Chill aura(6) cold Power(1) ice protection(3) resist cold(30) shape changer(Great Eagle)	Niefel giant that can become a 4 Eagle. Your Gateway to forge Winged Helmets, and even Bag of Winds and Air Queens if you have the gems to boost him. Even if you can't get better air mages, he is still an important resource providing high-level air combat magic like Thunder Fend to fix Lighting weakness, Mass Flight, and Fog Warriors.

You can be high in paths but a lot of power comes from communions. Niefel Jarl is constantly the strongest Water and Death Mage but expensive, with Skratti and Gygja being cost-efficient. Skratti constantly have 3, 3. Gygja Often gets 2s in Sorcerery paths.

with boosters you can consistently get 5, 3, 4, 6, 6 without communions.

Naiads gives you strong Water Nature cross paths.

Although Niefel Jarl can get air, Faery Queens gives you constant 3.

Although it's more expensive than finding an Indie shaman but Troll Shaman and Spectral Mage has the chance to give some earth.

Sloth of Bears: Conj3 8 2 ( Great Bearx10+). Large balls of HP for nature gems and you already have plenty of that.

Awaken Jotun Draugar: Conj4 15 2 ( Jotun Draugx3). summon uneaded giants with fear and chill aura and hit harder when at half heath. Suiational pick over summoning 5 Wigths, with Jotun Draug better at the grind game.

Brood of Garm: Conj4 10 2 ( Jotun Wolfx5). Giant Sacred Stealthy Damage Dealing Wolfs with Fear and Berserker. Useful to suplement your numbers during a early war.

Summon Rimvaettir: Conj5 5 2 ( Rimvaettix5+). Neflel giants but goblin size. They are a must-have for a frontline, as you get 3 chill auras and attacks per square by mixing them with your giants, fixing their outnumbered problem.

Summon Dwarf of the Four Directions: Conj8 62 43. Summon Dwarf of the Four Directions. Shared between the Jotun and Vanir nations. Summon one of the four Dwarf smiths. You would have to get a pretender to cast it, but you get a strong 432200% caster and forger for your troubles at the cost (or benefit) of some hurricanes ravaging the world. Your unlikely to summon all four, but having them all missing benefits only the Vanir line the most.

Seith Curse: Thaum5 3 11. Inflict a Curse on a target and the caster. Situational way to deal with a god by increasing its chances to pile up affliction.

Illwinter: Blood6 120 53. Cheap for a blood global. Something to end a game with. Cause the world to progressively grow colder, increases unrest slowly, and enemies get ocationly raided by Neifle Giants and Jotun Wolfes. its Icing if you have a giant bless as you can recruit Niefel Giants from any fort while up, but most useful for as it allows Niefel jarls to be used offensively rather than only in high provinces.

Combat Although your troops are week in concentration against other players, much of Niefelheim's power comes from its turbo communions. Hord of Skeletons is your go-to spell.

Fovroate spells are things to help their lines hold while they withstand their own army wipe spells. Battle Fortune, Mass Regeneration, Will of the Fates, Relief, Mass Protection, and Stygian Rains.

Can kill single targets with Soul Slay and Bone Melter

As army wipes you have Howl, Syllable of Sleep, Falling Frost, Rigor Mortis, and Foul Vapors.

If you using a Jarl as a caster, He can cast Freezing Mist and also Wailing Winds and Wind of Death with extra gems. Ritual Magic

You are a blood nation and should be summoning minions to replace your giant troops. Blood Fercundity improves your economy.

you are strong skelli-spammers but there are other good summonses in blood and Conjuration. Conj has Jotun Draug and Rimvaetti. Blood has Frost Fiends and Cross Breeding. With little empowerment and boosting You have Vampire Lords as immortal thugs.

Do you have any National items(Construction Level, Price, and required Paths). Any unique generic items few other nations can forge? What item would be useful on your unit lineup (non-standard recommend thug gear)?

• Rime Hammer: Constr 6. 21, 84.

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.

Dominions 5 Basic Nation Analysis - EA Niefelheim by GeneralConfusionPlays(2019)

Dominions 5 Nation Introduction - EA Niefelheim by Perun(2021)

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