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vanarus-guide [2025/03/19 06:53] reinc |
vanarus-guide [2025/07/04 16:59] (current) reinc |
Old Bear Thunder the Last Perkunu - too frail and too valuable to be used as a combat mage. Pray that he doesn't die from a disease before you have a way to cure him. With one more level in Nature from boosters he becomes young again and stops getting sick. Can forge and cast powerful stuff like boosters and global enchantments. He is also your only source of Astral magic. Do not use him for Mind Hunt or Astral Projection, because if he gets Feebleminded, he loses the ability to recuperate from his afflictions even with Nature boosters. You can Empower him in Astral for 30 pearls to give him the ability to summon Alkonosts.\\ | Old Bear Thunder the Last Perkunu - too frail and too valuable to be used as a combat mage. Pray that he doesn't die from a disease before you have a way to cure him. With one more level in Nature from boosters he becomes young again and stops getting sick. Can forge and cast powerful stuff like boosters and global enchantments. He is also your only source of Astral magic. Do not use him for Mind Hunt or Astral Projection, because if he gets Feebleminded, he loses the ability to recuperate from his afflictions even with Nature boosters. You can Empower him in Astral for 30 pearls to give him the ability to summon Alkonosts.\\ |
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Yngvar the Varyag - his main purpose is to bring a host of Oath-Bound into your capital a turn after his arrival (although in reality the Oath-Bounds will arrive at his location at the start of the turn following his arrival). It is hard to think of any particular use for him aside from maybe carrying a Crystal Shield into battles, which is something Vanabogs can't do. Another possible use is making him into a super-stealthy Oath-Bound leading raider by equipping him with stealth boots and other stealth-boosting items, since Vanabogs cannot equip boots. Everything else, they can do better.\\ | Yngvar the Varyag - his main purpose is to bring a host of Oath-Bound into your capital a turn after his arrival (although in reality the Oath-Bounds will arrive at his current location at the start of the turn following his arrival). It is hard to think of any particular use for him aside from maybe carrying a Crystal Shield into battles, which is something Vanabogs can't do. Another possible use is making him into a super-stealthy Oath-Bound leading raider by equipping him with stealth boots and other stealth-boosting items, since Vanabogs cannot equip boots. Everything else, they can do better.\\ |
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Baba Yaga the Hag - same idea as the Last Perkunu, but with different paths and without being plugged into life support on arrival. She is also an extremely fast flier with built-in resistances, great undead leadership and magic paths suitable for different army-wiping battlefield enchantments, which might make her useful for some surprise attacks, but in most cases it is better to not risk losing her, unless you are going to Twiceborn and Transform her. She is the only one who gives you access to Rusalka summons in this era, but you might never use them, because Vanarus has no natural Water gem income and no access to the Volla of the Bountiful Forest titan, which is available for EA Rus and LA Bogarus. You do have recruitable Vyedmas who can search for Water, unlike other eras, but with the ability to Blood Sacrifice, your Water gems might be better used for Vengeful Water.\\ | Baba Yaga the Hag - same idea as the Last Perkunu, but with different paths and without being plugged into life support on arrival. She is also an extremely fast flier with built-in resistances, great undead and magic leadership and magic paths suitable for different army-wiping battlefield enchantments, which might make her useful for some surprise attacks, but in most cases it is better to not risk losing her, unless you are going to Twiceborn and Transform her. Before battlefield enchantments are available, you can use her as a very fast stealthy raider (with a Shademail Haubergeon equipped), attacking deep into enemy territory with a host of Shades, Killer Mantises and Fire Ants, for example, but such a move would be rather risky, because, as previously mentioned, you don't want to lose her. She is also the only one who gives you access to Rusalka summons in this era, but you might never use them, because Vanarus has no natural Water gem income and no access to the Volla of the Bountiful Forest titan, which is available for EA Rus and LA Bogarus. You do have recruitable Vyedmas who can search for Water, unlike other eras, but with the ability to Blood Sacrifice, your Water gems might be better used on Vengeful Water.\\ |
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==== National spells ==== | ==== National spells ==== |
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==== Common points ==== | ==== Common points ==== |
* Vanarus benefits greatly from Turmoil 3 + Luck 3 + Magic 3 scales due to requiring several 1->2 Empowerments, production of magic boosters and early arrival of national heroes in order to realise its magic potential. However, taking these scales almost completely removes their ability to field regular troops, making them rely on magic items. A more balanced approach would be Order 3 + Luck 3 + Magic 3.\\ | * Vanarus benefits greatly from Turmoil 3 + Luck 3 + Magic 3 scales due to requiring several 1->2 Empowerments, production of magic boosters and early arrival of national heroes in order to realise its magic potential. However, taking these scales almost completely removes their ability to field regular troops, making them rely on magic items and summons. A more balanced approach would be Order 3 + Luck 3 + Magic 3.\\ |
* In most cases, Vanarus needs to have a Growth scale of at least 1 in order to offset their blood hunting, unless in a small game.\\ | * In most cases, Vanarus needs to have a Growth scale of at least 1 in order to offset their blood hunting, unless in a small game.\\ |
* Production scales have little effect on national unit generation for Vanarus due to their lack of heavy cavalry and heavily armored troops. The difference between Sloth 3 and Production 3 is a difference between producing 9 Chud Hirdmen per turn and 13 Chud Hirdmen per turn. Moreover, your non-capital forts are going to produce 7 Chud Hirdmen per turn under Sloth 3 //or// Production 3. This gives you an opportunity to gain design points by lowering Production scale during Pretender creation. High Order and high Growth scales give much better benefits, because they increase resources and recruitment points at the same time, which is what you need, because Chud Hirdmen have a balanced cost.\\ | * Production scales have little effect on national unit generation for Vanarus due to their lack of heavy cavalry and heavily armored troops. The difference between Sloth 3 and Production 3 is a difference between producing 9 Chud Hirdmen per turn and 13 Chud Hirdmen per turn. Moreover, your non-capital forts are going to produce 7 Chud Hirdmen per turn under Sloth 3 //or// Production 3. This gives you an opportunity to gain design points by lowering Production scale during Pretender creation. High Order and high Growth scales give much better benefits, because they increase resources and recruitment points at the same time, which is what you need, because Chud Hirdmen have a balanced cost.\\ |
* If you happen to have a surplus of Death gems due to random sites, consider investing into Likhos. If you send several of them into an enemy province at the same time and also cast unrest-causing spells such as Wrath of Pazuzu, they become hard to detect by conventional means due to high unrest and will also cause various bad events in enemy territory, which might result in them losing the province to independents or to you (due to the Oath-Bound attack random event). If you have Vengeful Water or The Wrath of God or The Looming Hell up, or use remote attacks or assassins, Likhos will be very difficult to patrol out while they devastate structures and population with events, as long as they sneak within enemy provinces with your dominion or in border provinces where they can safely retreat.\\ | * If you happen to have a surplus of Death gems due to random sites, consider investing into Likhos. If you send several of them into an enemy province at the same time and also cast unrest-causing spells such as Wrath of Pazuzu, they become hard to detect by conventional means due to high unrest and will also cause various bad events in enemy territory, which might result in them losing the province to independents or to you (due to the Oath-Bound attack random event). If you have Vengeful Water or The Wrath of God or The Looming Hell up, or use remote attacks or assassins, Likhos will be very difficult to patrol out while they devastate structures and population with events, as long as they sneak within enemy provinces with your dominion or in border provinces where they can safely retreat.\\ |
* If your opponent is using a combatant Pretender, but doesn't have recuperation in their bless, has little to no Nature national paths and has no recruitable healers, you can kill their god with a Lady Midday. All she needs is land one hit to make her target diseased, and the enemy is doomed.\\ | * If your opponent is using a combatant Pretender, but doesn't have recuperation in their bless, has little to no Nature national paths and has no recruitable healers, you can kill their god with a Lady Midday. All she needs is land one hit to make her target diseased, and the enemy is doomed.\\ |
* The spells you research, and their order, depends heavily on what happens during the game. Vengeful Water + The Wrath of God is powerful, but contradicts other strategies. The combination of Dark Skies and The Looming Hell is also powerful and is the only thing that makes your Rusalkas any useful as seducers, but it will likely contradict the strategy of using Vengeful Water due to the high cost of upholding globals and due to the fact that Summon Rusalka has a steep cost of 16 Water gems. Overcharging your armies with buffs is also a strong strategy, but it is incompatible with other options such as casting globals due to the high cost of boosters, overcasting and Empowerment on which the buffing relies. Mother Oak is a useful and conveniently placed gem-generating spell which you should try to secure for yourself in most cases, but you probably should not waste gems or research on it if there is a Nature nation such as Pangea on the map. Similarly, if you have a lot of death gems, you might consider focusing on researching Conjuration for undead armies and heavily-geared Tartarians, but if you do not, then your Death gems will be better spent for casting Wind of Death and Soul Vortex. If you have Drain+Luck scales, then you should create 10 initial Mound Kings to carry Soul Contracts (overall, you might want to have up to 20 Soul Contracts, depending on the size of the game), but the way to maintain Devil production differs depending on the gem income you happen to have. If you mostly have Nature gems, then you should recruit Vyedmas (hopefully with Nature2, but a booster item can help if not) and have them cast Transformation. This will give you mindless insects which can carry Soul Contracts without attracting Horrors, and also some powerful size 6 warrior-mages as an added bonus (luckily, your nation is pretty versatile in terms of making good equipment). If you instead happen to have a lot of Astral gems, then Wooden Construction followed by Divine Name (conveniently located in the same school and tier as Vengeful Water) is a better option than Transformation. If you have neither Astral nor Nature as your main income, you should try to make your Mound Kings last as long as possible by giving them a Ring of Warning (for 10 Oath-Bound bodyguards), a Spirit Helmet (for precise ranged attacks against ethereal) and a Sceptre of Authority (for keeping Mound Kings in place instead of rushing forward, as well as for damage that cannot be reflected with Float Cats' Damage Reversal).\\ | * The spells you research, and their order, depends heavily on what happens during the game. Vengeful Water + The Wrath of God + Blood Sacrificing Alkonosts is powerful, but contradicts other strategies. The combination of Dark Skies and The Looming Hell is also powerful and is the only thing that makes your Rusalkas any useful as seducers, but it will likely contradict the strategy of using Vengeful Water due to the high cost of upholding globals and due to the fact that Summon Rusalka has a steep cost of 16 Water gems. Overcharging your armies with buffs is also a strong strategy, but it is incompatible with other options such as casting globals due to the high cost of boosters, overcasting and Empowerment on which the buffing relies. Mother Oak is a useful and conveniently placed gem-generating spell which you should try to secure for yourself in most cases, but you probably should not waste gems or research on it if there is a Nature nation such as Pangea on the map. Similarly, if you have a lot of death gems, you might consider focusing on researching Conjuration for undead armies and heavily-geared Tartarians, but if you do not, then your Death gems will be better spent for casting Wind of Death and Soul Vortex. If you have Drain+Luck scales, then you should create 10 initial Mound Kings to carry Soul Contracts (overall, you might want to have up to 20 Soul Contracts, depending on the size of the game), but the way to maintain Devil production differs depending on the gem income you happen to have. If you mostly have Nature gems, then you should recruit Vyedmas (hopefully with Nature2, but a booster item can help if not) and have them cast Transformation. This will give you mindless insects which can carry Soul Contracts without attracting Horrors, and also some powerful size 6 warrior-mages as an added bonus (luckily, your nation is pretty versatile in terms of making good equipment). If you instead happen to have a lot of Astral gems, then Wooden Construction followed by Divine Name (conveniently located in the same school and tier as Vengeful Water) is a better option than Transformation. If you have neither Astral nor Nature as your main income, you should try to make your Mound Kings last as long as possible by giving them a Ring of Warning (for 10 Oath-Bound bodyguards), a Spirit Helmet (for precise ranged attacks against ethereal) and a Sceptre of Authority (for keeping Mound Kings in place instead of rushing forward, as well as for damage that cannot be reflected with Float Cats' Damage Reversal).\\ |
* If you get a Madman in an event, give him a Soul Contract. Since they are mindless, horrors will never come for them.\\ | * If you get a Madman in an event, give him a Soul Contract. Since they are mindless, horrors will never come for them.\\ |
* Do not overlook Holy site searching. With your first Vanabog, and later with just a Gode, you can always hope to find a couple Holy sites with Astral income, which you need badly.\\ | * Do not overlook Holy site searching. With your first Vanabog, and later with just a Gode, you can always hope to find a couple Holy sites with Astral income, which you need badly.\\ |
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//Pros//\\ | //Pros//\\ |
Easy and rapid expansion. Pretender is hard to beat in early stages. Can win small games quickly with throne rush. National ability to blood sacrifice allows using the pretender offensively and opens late game opportunities.\\ | Easy and rapid expansion. Pretender is hard to beat in early stages. Can win small games quickly with throne rush. Easier Astarl access due to random events, which leads to a stronger gem economy due to Firebirds. National ability to blood sacrifice allows using the pretender offensively and opens late game opportunities.\\ |
//Cons//\\ | //Cons//\\ |
Very vulnerable to curses, stolen strength, Mind Burn, Soul Slay, mind blasts, Pretender still can't beat elite troops alone, weak gold income and small recruitable army. | Very vulnerable to curses, stolen strength, Mind Burn, Soul Slay, mind blasts. Pretender still can't beat elite troops alone, weak gold income and small recruitable army. |
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//Reasoning//\\ | //Reasoning//\\ |
Dragon Pretender can fly across many provinces on the map, is immune to lance charges and Earthquakes, covers the nation's weak start and lack of strong sacreds, can still forge strong items and cast global enchantments thanks to the ability to shapeshift into a human. Hard Skin and Recuperation are mostly there for your Pretender, although Vanabogs will benefit, too. Cold resistances give protection against Frozen Heart and Frost Brand, but for the most part this build just needed Water4 to be able to cast Mossbody and Quicken Self in dragon form and therefore had bless points to spare. Having Nature5 gives poison resistance, opens up Foul Vapors and has the added benefit of almost guaranteeing that the penalty for dying will be the loss of a Nature level, instead of something actually important like a level of Water or Dominion. Having Earth6 also gives extra natural protection, which stacks with the protection from Hard Skin. Your only recruitable sacred troops are Oath-Bound, who are not very good on the offensive, so you won't use them as anything but occasional bodyguards. Chud Skinshifters, on the other hand, are basically human-sized cavalry with around 58 HP total, powerful attacks and built-in recuperation, so you will use them a lot. Dominion 5 is there to save on design points, but it should not be too big of a problem, because Vanarus can do blood sacrifice. Turmoil 3 and Luck 3 will give a lot of random events, most of them good. Free gold, free laboratories and free Astral mages (in coastal provinces) are what you are looking for. High likelihood of good events also increases your chance to get your national heroes sooner, of whom Baba Yaga and Old Bear Thunder are very useful for forging and ritual casting. Turmoil 3 will also improve the effect of The Wrath of God, which is part of this build. Sloth 3 because you don't really need resources for Chud Skinshifters, but you do need design points. Keep in mind that Sloth 3 also means you will be able to recruit very few Oath-Bound and virtually no Chud Hirdmen. Heat 1 because your province income is already bad, so why not get more design points. Additionally, rivers in your dominion will almost never freeze, which helps with stalling or outright preventing early enemy invasions. Heat 1 will also make your Devils stronger than they would be in Cold 2. Growth 1 because you will be blood hunting a lot, and to give you half-decent income in the long run. Drain 3 because Vanarusian Sages are good researchers already, and you also have native access to forging Owl Quills, Skull Mentors and Lightless Lanterns, so why not get more design points. Moreover, having a powerful Pretender helps with saving gold, which can lead to situations when a Drain 3 awake Dragon has better research than an imprisoned Magic 3 full scales pretender due to the Dragon recruiting lots of mages while other players amass their armies. Protection from army-wiping spells from enemies is not too big of a concern thanks to Vanarus's magic path access and research speed. Drain 3 and Luck 3 will also reduce the chance of horror attacks on your Soul Contract holders. Being able to push bad scales into enemy provinces with blood sarcifice also has the benefit of worsening their economy and creating bad events, while allowing to use your powerful pretender somewhat offensively rather than only defensively.\\ | Dragon Pretender can fly across many provinces on the map, is immune to lance charges and Earthquakes, covers the nation's lack of strong sacreds, can still forge strong items and cast global enchantments thanks to the ability to shapeshift into a human. Hard Skin and Recuperation are mostly there for your Pretender, although Vanabogs will benefit, too. Cold resistances give protection against Frozen Heart and Frost Brand, but for the most part this build just needed Water4 to be able to cast Mossbody and Quicken Self in dragon form and therefore had bless points to spare. Having Nature5 gives poison resistance, opens up Foul Vapors and has the added benefit of almost guaranteeing that the penalty for dying will be the loss of a Nature level, instead of something actually important like a level of Water or Dominion. Having Earth6 also gives extra natural protection, which stacks with the protection from Hard Skin. Your only recruitable sacred troops are Oath-Bound, who are not very good on the offensive, so you won't use them as anything but occasional bodyguards. Chud Skinshifters, on the other hand, are basically human-sized cavalry with around 58 HP total, powerful attacks and built-in recuperation, so you will use them a lot. Dominion 5 is there to save on design points, but it should not be too big of a problem, because Vanarus can do blood sacrifice. Turmoil 3 and Luck 3 will give a lot of random events, most of them good. Free gold, free laboratories and free Astral mages (in coastal provinces) are what you are looking for. High likelihood of good events also increases your chance to get your national heroes sooner, of whom Baba Yaga and Old Bear Thunder are very useful for forging and ritual casting. Turmoil 3 will also improve the effect of The Wrath of God, which is part of this build. Sloth 3 because you don't really need resources for Chud Skinshifters, but you do need design points. Keep in mind that Sloth 3 also means you will be able to recruit very few Oath-Bound and virtually no Chud Hirdmen. Heat 1 because your province income is already bad, so why not get more design points. Additionally, rivers in your dominion will almost never freeze, which helps with stalling or outright preventing early enemy invasions. Heat 1 will also make your Devils stronger than they would be in Cold 2. Growth 1 because you will be blood hunting a lot, and to give you half-decent income in the long run. Drain 3 because Vanarusian Sages are good researchers already, and you also have native access to forging Owl Quills, Skull Mentors and Lightless Lanterns, so why not get more design points. Moreover, having a powerful Pretender helps with saving gold, which can lead to situations when a Drain 3 awake Dragon has better research than an imprisoned Magic 3 full scales pretender due to the Dragon recruiting lots of mages while other players amass their armies. Protection from army-wiping spells from enemies is not too big of a concern thanks to Vanarus's magic path access and research speed. Drain 3 and Luck 3 will also reduce the chance of horror attacks on your Soul Contract holders. Being able to push bad scales into enemy provinces with blood sarcifice also has the benefit of worsening their economy and creating bad events, while allowing to use your powerful pretender somewhat offensively rather than only defensively.\\ |
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//Expansion//\\ | //Expansion//\\ |
5) Use one of your two initial Godes to build a fortress in the labbed forest province. Move your sages there and start hiring new ones. About 30 sages in total is enough for the whole game, but usually you can't afford to maintain them all until later stages of the game, so pay close attention to your gold. Once Owl Quills become available, use all your sages to forge a quill for each in one turn, then dedicate one sage to forge quills every turn. Have a random Vanabog with Death 2 forge Skull Mentors once they become available (or you can have him forge a Skull Staff and give it to a sage to forge the skulls, while the Vanabog does something more important). Depending on the situation, you might want to summon Simargls to counter stealthy attacks and assassinations on your mage base. Either way, Simargls can be useful if you intend to keep all your blood hunters in one province, so you can have a Vyedun or Old Bear Thunder summon around 15 of them.\\ | 5) Use one of your two initial Godes to build a fortress in the labbed forest province. Move your sages there and start hiring new ones. About 30 sages in total is enough for the whole game, but usually you can't afford to maintain them all until later stages of the game, so pay close attention to your gold. Once Owl Quills become available, use all your sages to forge a quill for each in one turn, then dedicate one sage to forge quills every turn. Have a random Vanabog with Death 2 forge Skull Mentors once they become available (or you can have him forge a Skull Staff and give it to a sage to forge the skulls, while the Vanabog does something more important). Depending on the situation, you might want to summon Simargls to counter stealthy attacks and assassinations on your mage base. Either way, Simargls can be useful if you intend to keep all your blood hunters in one province, so you can have a Vyedun or Old Bear Thunder summon around 15 of them.\\ |
6) At the same time, get about 20 more Godes in your capital or elsewhere. This will help you in case your Pretender dies, and also will make you more or less immune to early attacks from undead nations, as well as safeguard you from strong population-killing dominions. Later on, increase the number to around 55 Godes in total for instantaneous effect of Call God. If you find yourself short on gold, consider transmuting gems via rituals.\\ | 6) At the same time, get about 20 more Godes in your capital or elsewhere. This will help you in case your Pretender dies, and also will make you more or less immune to early attacks from undead nations, as well as safeguard you from strong population-killing dominions. Later on, increase the number to around 55 Godes in total for instantaneous effect of Call God. If you find yourself short on gold, consider transmuting gems via rituals.\\ |
7) Once you have the production of sages set up, start mass-producing Skinshifters and Vanabogs. Skinshifters are needed to siege forts and to fight armies which your Pretender can't handle (alone). Vanabogs are your most reliable blood hunters, item forgers, communion mages and magic knights. You can use sages for blood hunting when you get a Blood random, and will eventually be able to relegate bloodhunting to Sages after Blood Thorns and Sanguine Dowsing Rods become available, if you get lucky with random path rolls on your Sages. Blood hunt a lot, but don't destroy your province income, since you might need the gold later to hire a lot of Province Defense and buff it with Growing Fury and other spells, instead of fielding an army. If you see a sage with an Earth+Blood crosspath, keep him safe in your fort. You may need him for Earth forging. After Empowering in Earth and Blood, this rare sage will be able forge Earth Boots to forge a Blood Stone, and then put both on to forge Iron Face for your Vanabogs and Transformed warrior-mages.\\ | 7) Once you have the production of sages set up, start mass-producing Skinshifters and Vanabogs. Skinshifters are needed to siege forts and to fight armies which your Pretender can't handle (alone). Vanabogs are your most reliable blood hunters, item forgers, communion mages and magic knights. You can use sages for blood hunting when you get a Blood random, and will eventually be able to relegate bloodhunting to Sages after Blood Thorns and Sanguine Dowsing Rods become available, if you get lucky with random path rolls on your Sages. Blood hunt a lot, but don't destroy your province income, since you might need the gold later to hire a lot of Province Defense and buff it with Growing Fury and other spells, instead of fielding an army. If you see a sage with an Earth+Blood crosspath, keep him safe in your fort. You may need him for Earth forging. After Empowering in Earth and Blood, this rare sage will be able to forge Earth Boots in order to then forge a Blood Stone, and then put both on to forge Iron Face for your Vanabogs and Transformed warrior-mages.\\ |
8) Start remote site-searching as soon as you can. Try to find independent Astral mages to find Astral Pearl sites. You need all the gems you can find. You will never have an unstoppable army with this bless and scales, so entrenching yourself in forts and casting globals is your highest damage potential. If Vengeful Water + The Wrath of God does not make you confident in your defense, then multiples of Lady Middays in each fort should.\\ | 8) Start remote site-searching as soon as you can. Try to find independent Astral mages to find Astral Pearl sites. You need all the gems you can find. You will never have an unstoppable army with this bless and scales, so entrenching yourself in forts and casting globals is your highest damage potential. If Vengeful Water + The Wrath of God does not make you confident in your defense, then multiples of Lady Middays in each fort should.\\ |
9) When you have gold to spare, build temples to strengthen your dominion. Invest into province defense, if independent unit type is strong. These can beat a few unsuspecting armies, but cost no upkeep and recover to full strength for free after every battle. Later on, you might consider boosting strong province defense with casters for Growing Fury and other buffs, as well as some light combatants, such as kitted-out Black Servants.\\ | 9) When you have gold to spare, build temples to strengthen your dominion. Invest into province defense, if independent unit type is strong. These can beat a few unsuspecting armies, but cost no upkeep and recover to full strength for free after every battle. Later on, you might consider boosting strong province defense with casters for Growing Fury and other buffs, as well as some light combatants, such as kitted-out Black Servants.\\ |
10) With your Godes, build forts in every province, starting from your borders. This will increase your gold income and also will impede the progress of any invading army, forcing them to fight your powerful Pretender. Don't worry about losing resources in your capital – you barely have any in the first place, and Skinshifters can be recruited regardless, as long as you have at least some (you need 35 resources to recruit 7 Chud Skinshifters).\\ | 10) With your Godes, build forts in every province, starting from your borders. This will increase your gold income and also will impede the progress of any invading army, forcing them to fight your powerful Pretender. Don't worry about losing resources in your capital – you barely have any in the first place, and Skinshifters can be recruited regardless, as long as you have at least some (you need 35 resources to recruit 7 Chud Skinshifters).\\ |
11) For first wars, pick a target which doesn't have Mind Blast, Mind Burn, Curse, Spirit Curse or Enfeeble. Most other opponents can be defeated with the right equipment. Even hellblessed giants don't fare well against a horde of Skinshifters supported by the Dragon. In most cases, the Dragon should have a Ring of Regeneration and a Mistletoe Garland equipped (later replaced by a Wraith Crown). Set it to stand in the back and attack rear, with a script to cast Iron Skin, Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Quickness, in that order. Later, some of these spells can be cast by assisting mages, freeing up scripting space for Earthquake and/or Foul Vapors. If the Dragon is fighting alongside an army, try not to destroy your troops with spells, especially Foul Vapors. Use the Dragon's mobility to pick off unforted provinces which are away from the main enemy force. Later on, avoid those who can cast Soul Slay, Stream of Life or Shrink. As the game progresses, the Dragon will be increasingly useless on the battlefield (Earthquake and Foul Vapors notwithstanding) while becoming increasingly useful in the lab. Skinshifters under Fog Warriors and Mass Protection can replace it. Your three initial Godes and the starting Herse can get flying carpets to transport 7 Skinshifters per turn across great distances. You will normally only be able to recruit 7 per turn, and 7 is the exact amount of human-sized troops that the Flying Carpet can carry.\\ | 11) For first wars, pick a target which doesn't have Mind Blast, Mind Burn, Curse, Spirit Curse or Enfeeble. Most other opponents can be defeated with the right equipment. Even hellblessed giants don't fare well against a horde of Skinshifters supported by the Dragon. In most cases, the Dragon should have a Ring of Regeneration and a Mistletoe Garland equipped (later replaced by a Wraith Crown). Set it to stand in the back and attack rear, with a script to cast Iron Skin, Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Quickness, in that order. Later, some of these spells can be cast by assisting mages, freeing up scripting space for Earthquake and/or Foul Vapors. If the Dragon is fighting alongside an army, try not to destroy your troops with spells, especially Foul Vapors. Use the Dragon's mobility to pick off unforted provinces which are away from the main enemy force. Later on, avoid those who can cast Soul Slay, Stream of Life or Shrink. As the game progresses, the Dragon will be increasingly useless on the battlefield (Earthquake and Foul Vapors notwithstanding) while becoming increasingly useful in the lab. Skinshifters under Fog Warriors and Mass Protection can replace it. Your three initial Godes and the starting Herse can get flying carpets to transport 7 Skinshifters per turn across great distances. You will normally only be able to recruit 7 per turn, and 7 is the exact amount of human-sized troops that the Flying Carpet can carry.\\ |
12) Althogh it is not a priority, you can start mass-producing Wyverns with Summon Wyverns spell to spend all of your spare Air gems (Air items are still more important). Your Heat 1 temperature scale will negate the usual penalty for cold-blooded creatures in Cold dominion. Since you are already researching Construction 6 and Thaumathurgy 7, you can boost your Wyvern production with Dragon Sceptres and Dragon Mastery spell (at Thaumathurgy 8).\\ | 12) Althogh it is not a priority, you can start mass-producing Wyverns with Summon Wyverns spell to spend all of your spare Air gems (Air items are still more important). Your Heat 1 temperature scale will negate the usual penalty for cold-blooded creatures in Cold dominion. Since you are already researching Construction 6, you can boost your Wyvern production with Dragon Sceptres.\\ |
13) Cast Revive King 10 times or more to get cheap commanders who cost no upkeep and equip them all with Soul Contracts as soon as you are able. This will give you 10 Devils per turn, forever (until horrors come). Devils under Fog Warriors will become your main force later on. Incidentally, they are also immune to Earthquake and break down forts with lightning speed, making them into better companions for the Dragon to fight alongside with. Use Banes to command Devils, later Bane Lords. You can equip them with Winged Shoes, Ring of Fire, Rod of the Leper King, Crown of Bones. Fog Warriors caster should be an Air 3 or 4 Vanabog with Winged Helmet, Bag of Winds, Flying Carpet, Golden Hoplon.\\ | 13) Cast Revive King 10 times or more to get cheap commanders who cost no upkeep and equip them all with Soul Contracts as soon as you are able. This will give you 10 Devils per turn, forever (until horrors come). Devils under Fog Warriors will become your main force later on. Incidentally, they are also immune to Earthquake and break down forts with lightning speed, making them into better companions for the Dragon to fight alongside with. Use Banes to command Devils, later Bane Lords. You can equip them with Winged Shoes, Ring of Fire, Rod of the Leper King, Crown of Bones. Fog Warriors caster should be an Air 3 or 4 Vanabog with Winged Helmet, Bag of Winds, Flying Carpet, Golden Hoplon.\\ |
14) Once you have at least 10 Soul Contracts, start casting Contact Alkonost. These creatures are largely useless in other eras, but Vanarus can blood sacrifice, so you get an upkeep-free flying Holy 3 priest who can blood sacrifice... at Conjuration 4 (as opposed to water-only Conjuration 6 Bishop Fish for other nations). Put them to work in every province you have, even underwater ones.\\ | 14) Once you have at least 10 Soul Contracts, start casting Contact Alkonost. These creatures are largely useless in other eras, but Vanarus can blood sacrifice, so you get an upkeep-free flying Holy 3 priest who can blood sacrifice... at Conjuration 4 (as opposed to water-only Conjuration 6 Bishop Fish for other nations). Put them to work in every province you have, even underwater ones.\\ |
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//Research order//\\ | //Research order//\\ |
Alteration 3 (Barkskin, Stoneskin, Quicken Self, Ironskin, Mossbody) -> Enchantment 2 (Personal Regeneration) -> Alteration 4 (Temper Flesh) -> Construction 6 (resistance rings, Soul Contract, Rod of the Leper King, Mistletoe Garland, Wooden Construstion spell, Vine Shield, Frost Brand, Ring of Regeneration, Winged Helmet, Winged Shoes, Flying Carpet, Crown of Bones, Storm Spool, Sanguine Dowsing Rod, Blood Thorn, Wraith Crown, Bag of Winds, Dragon Sceptre) -> Evocation 5 (Lightning Bolt, Arcane Probing, Thunder Strike, Earthquake) -> Enchantment 5 (Foul Vapors) -> Conjuration 4 (Summon Simargl, Summon Firebird, lesser elemental summoning spells, Revive Bane, Dark Knowledge, Voice of Apsu, Contact Alkonost, Send Vodyanoy, elemental summoning spells, Summon Vywerns) -> Blood 2 (Bowl of Blood) -> Thaumaturgy 4 (Haruspex, Augury, Auspex, Gnome Lore) -> Alteration 5 (Mother Oak) -> Conjuration 5 (Revive Bane Lord, Contact Naiad) -> Thaumaturgy 7 (Dark Skies, Vengeful Water, Divine Name) -> Evocation 6 (The Wrath of God) -> Alteration 8 (Transformation, Fog Warriors, Mass Protection, Wizard's Tower) -> Thaumathurgy 8 (Dragon Mastery, Black Death) -> Conjuration 9 (Contact Cloud Vila, Contact Mountain Vila, Contact Leshiy, Enchanted Forests, Tartarian Gate) -> Construction 9 (Juggernaut Construction) -> Enchantment 7 (domes, Riches from Beneath, Earth Blood Deep Well, Gift of Health) -> Evocation 9 (Celestial Rainbow) -> Enchantment 9 (Gift of Nature's Bounty) -> Blood 9 (Three Red Seconds, The Looming Hell) | Alteration 3 (Barkskin, Stoneskin, Quicken Self, Ironskin, Mossbody) -> Enchantment 2 (Personal Regeneration) -> Alteration 4 (Temper Flesh) -> Construction 6 (resistance rings, Soul Contract, Rod of the Leper King, Mistletoe Garland, Wooden Construstion spell, Vine Shield, Frost Brand, Ring of Regeneration, Winged Helmet, Winged Shoes, Flying Carpet, Crown of Bones, Storm Spool, Sanguine Dowsing Rod, Blood Thorn, Wraith Crown, Bag of Winds, Dragon Sceptre) -> Evocation 5 (Lightning Bolt, Arcane Probing, Thunder Strike, Earthquake) -> Enchantment 5 (Foul Vapors) -> Conjuration 4 (Summon Simargl, Summon Firebird, lesser elemental summoning spells, Revive Bane, Dark Knowledge, Voice of Apsu, Contact Alkonost, Send Vodyanoy, elemental summoning spells, Summon Vywerns) -> Blood 2 (Bowl of Blood) -> Thaumaturgy 4 (Haruspex, Augury, Auspex, Gnome Lore) -> Alteration 5 (Mother Oak) -> Conjuration 5 (Revive Bane Lord, Contact Naiad) -> Thaumaturgy 7 (Dark Skies, Vengeful Water, Divine Name) -> Evocation 6 (The Wrath of God) -> Alteration 8 (Transformation, Fog Warriors, Mass Protection, Wizard's Tower) -> Thaumathurgy 8 (Black Death) -> Conjuration 9 (Contact Cloud Vila, Contact Mountain Vila, Contact Leshiy, Enchanted Forests, Tartarian Gate) -> Construction 9 (Juggernaut Construction) -> Enchantment 8 (domes, Riches from Beneath, Earth Blood Deep Well, Gift of Health, Dragon Master) -> Evocation 9 (Celestial Rainbow) -> Enchantment 9 (Gift of Nature's Bounty) -> Blood 9 (Three Red Seconds, The Looming Hell) |
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//Situational Tactics://\\ | //Situational Tactics://\\ |
6) Ideally, you should enter your first war with an awakened titan and have your capital produce Vanabogs, Chud Hirdmen and Chud Skinshifters, a forest fortress/castle produce Vanarusian Sages, Vyeduns, Vyedmas and Chud Hirdmen, and another castle produce Vanarusian Godes and Chud Hirdmen. The titan should have a Blacksteel Full Plate or at least a Blacksteel Plate, a Blacksteel Tower Shield, Blacksteel Helmet, Ice Sword (for extra defense stats) or an Enchanted Pike (for repelling), and Boots of Long Strides (for strategic mobility, which will be reduced by heavy armor). Getting all this gear will most likely require a lot of alchemizing, because Vanarus does not have a native Earth income. A few Vyeduns and Vyedmas should be forging and remote site searching together with Vanabogs (naturally, forgers and site-searchers should be different units). Around 7-8 Vyedmas/Vyeduns are needed to fully equip someone in one turn. A little later, Vanabogs can raid enemy provinces with a Thunder Whip and a Barkskin Amulet or something more. Black Servants can also be summoned and equipped for attacks or raids. As the game goes on, build more forts to produce more Chud Hirdmen. Just try to not starve and/or bankrupt yourself.\\ | 6) Ideally, you should enter your first war with an awakened titan and have your capital produce Vanabogs, Chud Hirdmen and Chud Skinshifters, a forest fortress/castle produce Vanarusian Sages, Vyeduns, Vyedmas and Chud Hirdmen, and another castle produce Vanarusian Godes and Chud Hirdmen. The titan should have a Blacksteel Full Plate or at least a Blacksteel Plate, a Blacksteel Tower Shield, Blacksteel Helmet, Ice Sword (for extra defense stats) or an Enchanted Pike (for repelling), and Boots of Long Strides (for strategic mobility, which will be reduced by heavy armor). Getting all this gear will most likely require a lot of alchemizing, because Vanarus does not have a native Earth income. A few Vyeduns and Vyedmas should be forging and remote site searching together with Vanabogs (naturally, forgers and site-searchers should be different units). Around 7-8 Vyedmas/Vyeduns are needed to fully equip someone in one turn. A little later, Vanabogs can raid enemy provinces with a Thunder Whip and a Barkskin Amulet or something more. Black Servants can also be summoned and equipped for attacks or raids. As the game goes on, build more forts to produce more Chud Hirdmen. Just try to not starve and/or bankrupt yourself.\\ |
7) Initially, try to get at least 20 Godes. This will help you in case your Pretender dies, and also will make you more or less immune to early attacks from undead nations, as well as safeguard you from strong population-killing dominions. Later on, increase the number to around 55 Godes in total for instantaneous effect of Call God. Do not keep these Godes stored in a castle doing nothing and instead use them to transport troops to your frontlines. Another very important use for them is... just standing in your provinces. That is because your Order 3 scale will oftentimes give you a bad event which says: "People have tired of your oppresive rule!" and hands over your province to neutrals, regardless of how much Province Defense you've paid for. The only way to avoid this event is either to have forts in every province (which this build cannot do, because it wants to have resources for Chud Hirdmen) or to have a non-hiding commander in every province. So, place your Godes everywhere and order them to preach, patrol or just wait.\\ | 7) Initially, try to get at least 20 Godes. This will help you in case your Pretender dies, and also will make you more or less immune to early attacks from undead nations, as well as safeguard you from strong population-killing dominions. Later on, increase the number to around 55 Godes in total for instantaneous effect of Call God. Do not keep these Godes stored in a castle doing nothing and instead use them to transport troops to your frontlines. Another very important use for them is... just standing in your provinces. That is because your Order 3 scale will oftentimes give you a bad event which says: "People have tired of your oppresive rule!" and hands over your province to neutrals, regardless of how much Province Defense you've paid for. The only way to avoid this event is either to have forts in every province (which this build cannot do, because it wants to have resources for Chud Hirdmen) or to have a non-hiding commander in every province. So, place your Godes everywhere and order them to preach, patrol or just wait.\\ |
8) As you mass-produce your Vanarusian Sages, look for the ones with a random path in Blood. Separate them from the rest and make them into your blood hunters. With a Blood Thorn and a Sanguine Dowsing Rod equipped, they can be quite effective. In order to start producing Blood Thorns, you will either need to get lucky with a rare Blood3 Vanabog or Empower one (preferably you should Empower one with a Fire path or at least a Blood2 one). Try to get 10 blood hunters or more, depending on your needs and the size of the game. Order 3 and Growth 3 scales allow fairly intense hunting. However, if you see a sage with an Earth+Blood crosspath, keep him safe in your fort. You may need him for Earth forging. After Empowering in Earth and Blood, this rare sage will be able forge Earth Boots to forge a Blood Stone, and then put both on to forge Iron Face for your titan and Vanabogs.\\ | 8) As you mass-produce your Vanarusian Sages, look for the ones with a random path in Blood. Separate them from the rest and make them into your blood hunters. With a Blood Thorn and a Sanguine Dowsing Rod equipped, they can be quite effective. In order to start producing Blood Thorns, you will either need to get lucky with a rare Blood3 Vanabog or Empower one (preferably you should Empower one with a Fire path or at least a Blood2 one). Try to get 10 blood hunters or more, depending on your needs and the size of the game. Order 3 and Growth 3 scales allow fairly intense hunting. However, if you see a sage with an Earth+Blood crosspath, keep him safe in your fort. You may need him for Earth forging. After Empowering in Earth and Blood, this rare sage will be able to forge Earth Boots in order to then forge a Blood Stone, and then put both on to forge Iron Face for your titan and Vanabogs.\\ |
9) Start remote site-searching as soon as you can. Be on the lookout for independent Astral mages such as lizard Shamans. They can be used to find Astral Pearl sites by manually site searching. Also use a priest to manually site search for Ancient Temple.\\ | 9) Start remote site-searching as soon as you can. Be on the lookout for independent Astral mages such as lizard Shamans. They can be used to find Astral Pearl sites by manually site searching. Also use a priest to manually site search for Ancient Temple.\\ |
10) If you can choose a target for your wars, try to pick someone who doesn't have Curse, Spirit Curse, Soul Slay, Stream of Life, Shrink or Enfeeble. Most other opponents can be defeated with the right equipment and troops. Your titan is surprisingly vulnerable to undead until Alteration 4, so try to not walk him into a horde of cold-resistant skeletons who wouldn't care about his Chill Aura, but would love to stab him when his fatigue reaches 100. Later in the game and in most cases, the Father of Winters should have a Ring of Regeneration, an Amulet of Resilience, a Blacksteel Full Plate or Armor of Knights, an Iron Face, a Vine Shield and a Frost Brand equipped. Set it to stand in the back and attack rear, with a script to cast Iron Skin, Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Quickness, in that order. Later on, he can cast Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Storm, Wrathful Skies (or Storm and Grip of Winter, or just Foul Vapors, or Rain of Stones, depending on what will hurt the enemy most). You may even have some of these buff spells be cast by assisting mages, freeing up scripting space for several battlefield enchantments at once. The titan can complement an army of Chud Hirdmen nicely by casting Storm, Mist, Grip of Winter, Fog Warrios, Mass Protection or any combination of these spells. Although you do not really need him for that, since empowered and boosted mages can do the same, but at the cost of more research and gems. Use your giant Pretender's mobility to pick off unforted provinces which are away from the main enemy force, while pushing your dominion into enemy lands with Blood sacrifice or hidden Vanabog preachers. As the game progresses, the combat effectiveness of the Father of Winters will increasingly depend on the properties of his equipment, such as magic resistance and other protections. Your Chud troops will march to the frontlines by foot and thanks to your scales will be able to pick up useful local units along the way, such as heavy cavalries or heavy infantries. You may consider transmuting your Fire gems into gold if the game does not give you enough gold through events.\\ | 10) If you can choose a target for your wars, try to pick someone who doesn't have Curse, Spirit Curse, Soul Slay, Stream of Life, Shrink or Enfeeble. Most other opponents can be defeated with the right equipment and troops. Your titan is surprisingly vulnerable to undead until Alteration 4, so try to not walk him into a horde of cold-resistant skeletons who wouldn't care about his Chill Aura, but would love to stab him when his fatigue reaches 100. Later in the game and in most cases, the Father of Winters should have a Ring of Regeneration, an Amulet of Resilience, a Blacksteel Full Plate or Armor of Knights, an Iron Face, a Vine Shield and a Frost Brand equipped. Set it to stand in the back and attack rear, with a script to cast Iron Skin, Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Quickness, in that order. Later on, he can cast Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Storm, Wrathful Skies (or Storm and Grip of Winter, or just Foul Vapors, or Rain of Stones, depending on what will hurt the enemy most). You may even have some of these buff spells be cast by assisting mages, freeing up scripting space for several battlefield enchantments at once. The titan can complement an army of Chud Hirdmen nicely by casting Storm, Mist, Grip of Winter, Fog Warrios, Mass Protection or any combination of these spells. Although you do not really need him for that, since empowered and boosted mages can do the same, but at the cost of more research and gems. Use your giant Pretender's mobility to pick off unforted provinces which are away from the main enemy force, while pushing your dominion into enemy lands with Blood sacrifice or hidden Vanabog preachers. As the game progresses, the combat effectiveness of the Father of Winters will increasingly depend on the properties of his equipment, such as magic resistance and other protections. Your Chud troops will march to the frontlines by foot and thanks to your scales will be able to pick up useful local units along the way, such as heavy cavalries or heavy infantries. You may consider transmuting your Fire gems into gold if the game does not give you enough gold through events.\\ |