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owl-guide-imprisoned-rainbow-meta [2022/12/09 07:53]
cactusowl added example 		owl-guide-imprisoned-rainbow-meta [2023/03/21 05:23] (current)
cactusowl [Stats Add Up] -- fixed brain fart error
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 A point of Magic improves your research by around 10%; a point of Growth gives decent income now and great income later. And Luck, while swingy, will deliver a steady flow of gems along with other goodies over time (compared to Misfortune, which delivers barbarians you have to clean up). Players often undervalue the benefits from Luck because they are random; over time, though, the steady flow of gems of all types is substantial.  A point of Magic improves your research by around 10%; a point of Growth gives decent income now and great income later. And Luck, while swingy, will deliver a steady flow of gems along with other goodies over time (compared to Misfortune, which delivers barbarians you have to clean up). Players often undervalue the benefits from Luck because they are random; over time, though, the steady flow of gems of all types is substantial. 
  
-Many of the benefits from Awake and Dormant gods, in contrast, rely on that god having a powerful chassis that can enter combat -- either to expand or to fight a war (as with a defender dormant titan). These chassis cost even *more* scales; the cost of an Earth Serpent over an imprisoned rainbow includes both the cost for an awake god and the ??Earth Serpent?? chassis. +Many of the benefits from Awake and Dormant gods, in contrast, rely on that god having a powerful chassis that can enter combat -- either to expand or to fight a war (as with a defender dormant titan). These chassis cost even *more* scales; the cost of an Earth Serpent over an imprisoned rainbow includes both the 350 points for an awake god and the 170 extra points for the ??Earth Serpent?? chassis over an awake rainbow. The opportunity cost of an erfsnek is a dozen scales.
  
 Once your imprisoned god wakes up, you keep all the benefits from your better scales, but now have your god online. Sure, it's a squishy human mage, but that's not so bad. The combat value of single powerful units like gods diminishes as the game progresses; it isn't uncommon for single heavy thugs to be able to fight a dragon solo in the mid- and late-game.  Once your imprisoned god wakes up, you keep all the benefits from your better scales, but now have your god online. Sure, it's a squishy human mage, but that's not so bad. The combat value of single powerful units like gods diminishes as the game progresses; it isn't uncommon for single heavy thugs to be able to fight a dragon solo in the mid- and late-game. 
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 ===== Bless Your Heart: Incarnate Blesses Often Fall Flat ===== ===== Bless Your Heart: Incarnate Blesses Often Fall Flat =====
  
-Incarnate blesses -- the ones that rely on your god to be on the map -- look amazing. Regeneration, awe, quickness, blood vengeance, even Fire and Shock Resistance -- these are all flashy and impressive. Who wouldn't want their sacreds regenerating 10% hp/round or taking half damage from weapons? But taking them has an enormous cost. For instance, in order to get a Regeneration bless to be relevant:+Incarnate blesses -- the ones that rely on your god to be on the map -- look amazing. Regeneration, awe, quickness, blood vengeance, even barkskin -- these are all flashy and impressive. Who wouldn't want their sacreds regenerating 10% hp/round or taking half damage from weapons? But taking them has an enormous cost. For instance, in order to get a Regeneration bless to be relevant:
  
   * You need your god on the field, meaning you will need Awake or Dormant. This costs scales.   * You need your god on the field, meaning you will need Awake or Dormant. This costs scales.
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   * These chassis have a high new path cost, so this limits the other magic/blesses you can take.   * These chassis have a high new path cost, so this limits the other magic/blesses you can take.
  
-Regenerating giants seem terrifying, and regen/blood bond/fortitude Anakites are definitely a force to behold. But the price you pay in scales is profound.+Regenerating giants seem terrifying, and regen/blood bond/fortitude ??Sheshai Anakite??s are definitely a force to behold. But the price you pay in scales is profound.
  
  
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 ==== Stats Add Up ==== ==== Stats Add Up ====
  
-These contribute substantially in combat. Attack and defense let you hit more often and be hit less. Strength is subtly beneficial in many ways. It lets you hit mundane troops harder, but also lets you hit high-defense shielded targets through their shields once you are strong enough. (For instance, Agarthan ??Shard Guard?? have base damage 27 with their two-handed glaives. With +4 Strength from blesses and ??Strength of Giants??, they are hitting for 37 slash/pierce damage, which is often enough to slice through a target's shield. This can go a long way toward dealing with high-defense cavalry.) +These contribute substantially in combat. Attack and defense let you hit more often and be hit less. Strength is subtly beneficial in many ways. It lets you hit mundane troops harder, but also lets you hit high-defense shielded targets through their shields once you are strong enough. For instance, Agarthan ??Shard Guard?? have base damage 27 with their two-handed glaives. With +4 Strength from blesses and ??Strength of Giants??, they are hitting for 37 slash/pierce damage, which is often enough to slice through a target's shield. This can go a long way toward dealing with high-defense cavalry since part of their defense usually comes from a shield.
  
-Someone taking imprisoned blesses will often forgo these statistical bonuses for their large flashy effects. Those flashy effects (regeneration, awe, etc.) must do a great deal of work to provide as much benefit as "get hit less, hit more often and harder -- oh, and also have more stuff, because scales are great".+Someone taking incarnate blesses will often forgo these statistical bonuses for their large flashy effects. Those flashy effects (regeneration, awe, etc.) must do a great deal of work to provide as much benefit as "get hit less, hit more often and harder -- oh, and also have more stuff, because scales are great".
  
 ==== Resistances Are Vital ==== ==== Resistances Are Vital ====
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 An army not resistant to poison will get slaughtered by ??Foul Vapors??. A lack of cold or fire resistance means a quick nap in ??Heat from Hell?? or in the ??Grip of Winter??. Armies that lack shock resistance can be battered by ??Thunder Strike?? or annihilated under ??Wrathful Skies??.  An army not resistant to poison will get slaughtered by ??Foul Vapors??. A lack of cold or fire resistance means a quick nap in ??Heat from Hell?? or in the ??Grip of Winter??. Armies that lack shock resistance can be battered by ??Thunder Strike?? or annihilated under ??Wrathful Skies??. 
  
-Simply put, an army relying on its sacreds to do heavy lifting *must* have a way to provide them fire, cold, shock, and poison resistance -- at least 5 of each. This is even more critical on nations with sacred mages, since your bless protects your mage corps and your elite troops. This can be from magic; for instance, [[Bandar Log]] can get away with not taking poison resistance since it generally has enough ature mages to ??Poison Ward?? things. However, absent this, opponents *will* exploit your sacreds' weakness.+Simply put, an army relying on its sacreds to do heavy lifting *must* have a way to provide them fire, cold, shock, and poison resistance -- at least 5 of each. This is even more critical on nations with sacred mages, since your bless protects your mage corps and your elite troops. This can be from magic; for instance, [[bandar-log-ma|Bandar Log]] can perhaps get away with not taking poison resistance since it generally has enough Nature mages to ??Poison Ward?? things. However, if you don't have ready access to magic like this, opponents will exploit your sacreds' vulnerabilities.
  
-In a similar vein, the Magic Weapons bless bypasses some powerful counters to troops: ??Fog Warriors?? and ethereality. Armies with no access to magic weapons are vulnerable to these counters, but the Magic Weapons bless means they are much less effective.+In a similar vein, the Magic Weapons bless bypasses some powerful counters to troops: ??Fog Warriors?? and [[ethereal|ethereality]]. Armies with no access to magic weapons are vulnerable to these counters, but the Magic Weapons bless means they are much less effective.
  
 ===== The Value of Diversity: I'm Awake, Now What? ===== ===== The Value of Diversity: I'm Awake, Now What? =====
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 I've argued for the strength of scales (made possible by taking an imprisoned god) and minor blesses (since the combat advantage from statistics is always relevant, and resistances stop your elite troops from being shut down by nastiness). This seems like a good deal, then: an imprisoned rainbow gives you a useful bless that covers weaknesses and enhances combat potential, while great scales give you more gold and gems. I've argued for the strength of scales (made possible by taking an imprisoned god) and minor blesses (since the combat advantage from statistics is always relevant, and resistances stop your elite troops from being shut down by nastiness). This seems like a good deal, then: an imprisoned rainbow gives you a useful bless that covers weaknesses and enhances combat potential, while great scales give you more gold and gems.
  
-But there's more of a benefit, too -- since, once your imprisoned god wakes up, you've got a god with a decent amount of magic spread across many paths. This is invaluable to have.+The drawback is that you don't get an impressive combat god early in the game. You're stuck with a ??Frost Father?? when your rivals are stomping around with things like ??Destroyer of Worlds?? and ??Drakon??. But you do //get// a god eventually -- and having even a squishy human mage with lot of magic spread across many paths can be a great asset, particularly at the point when imprisoned gods show up.
  
 In the midgame, nations will need to get access to all paths of magic (excepting perhaps Blood). A nation lacking access to a path both misses out on a great deal of gem income (from sites they have not found) and unique capabilities; for instance, a nation without [[Astral]] can't protect their troops with ??Antimagic??, and a nation without [[Earth]] can't buff their troops with powerful spells like ??Strength of Giants??.  In the midgame, nations will need to get access to all paths of magic (excepting perhaps Blood). A nation lacking access to a path both misses out on a great deal of gem income (from sites they have not found) and unique capabilities; for instance, a nation without [[Astral]] can't protect their troops with ??Antimagic??, and a nation without [[Earth]] can't buff their troops with powerful spells like ??Strength of Giants??. 
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- \\ Agartha has strong but slow sacred infantry, sacred human mages, and excellent summons, but weak lategame magic diversity. This build provides stats to enhance your infantry, resistances to protect your mages and troops, and provides lots of extra gems from luck/magic/turmoil; the rainbow pretender gets access to all paths.+ \\ Agartha has strong but slow sacred infantry, sacred human mages, and excellent summons (some of which are sacred), but weak lategame magic diversity. This build provides stats to enhance your infantry, resistances to protect your mages and troops, and provides lots of extra gems from luck/magic/turmoil; the rainbow pretender gets access to all paths.
  
 Agartha benefits greatly from resist blesses (so its mages don't wipe to battlefield-wide spells and its sacreds can endure punishment while they close to melee) and stat blesses -- particularly +attack. More Strength is useful, even on high-str things like ??Shard Guard?? and ??Sentinel??s, because it lets them hit through shields and slice through thugs/gods. Magic Weapons is not as essential since Shard Guard already have them (but Sentinels don't), so Magic Resistance gets the nod. {{path>F5}} is expensive, but it enables you to take both Fire Resistance 5 (so you don't wipe to ??Heat from Hell?? and your own Magma Children's auras) and Attack +2 (which your otherwise low-attack troops appreciate). Agartha benefits greatly from resist blesses (so its mages don't wipe to battlefield-wide spells and its sacreds can endure punishment while they close to melee) and stat blesses -- particularly +attack. More Strength is useful, even on high-str things like ??Shard Guard?? and ??Sentinel??s, because it lets them hit through shields and slice through thugs/gods. Magic Weapons is not as essential since Shard Guard already have them (but Sentinels don't), so Magic Resistance gets the nod. {{path>F5}} is expensive, but it enables you to take both Fire Resistance 5 (so you don't wipe to ??Heat from Hell?? and your own Magma Children's auras) and Attack +2 (which your otherwise low-attack troops appreciate).
  
 ??Shard Guard?? require surprisingly low resource/recpoints, so this build takes a high domscore to produce lots of them despite Turmoil. (This is expensive on a domstrength 1 rainbow, but I judged it to be worth the tradeoffs.) Magma Children like it warm, so take Heat 3. Magic 2 is a nice breakpoint since it gives opponents -1 MR, which your ??Great Olm??s appreciate. ??Shard Guard?? require surprisingly low resource/recpoints, so this build takes a high domscore to produce lots of them despite Turmoil. (This is expensive on a domstrength 1 rainbow, but I judged it to be worth the tradeoffs.) Magma Children like it warm, so take Heat 3. Magic 2 is a nice breakpoint since it gives opponents -1 MR, which your ??Great Olm??s appreciate.
 +
 +A bit of Undead Leadership lets all your mages lead ??Umbral??s, which you will likely make. Mountain Survival notably lets you move things through mountains and caves without penalty; since your capital is a cave, this is helpful. (Note that this nation gets +1 Earth bless point, so {{path>E3}} gets you 4 points.)
  
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owl-guide-imprisoned-rainbow-meta.1670572408.txt.gz · Last modified: 2022/12/09 07:53 by cactusowl

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