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vanarus-guide [2026/04/03 11:41]
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vanarus-guide [2026/04/22 13:02] (current)
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| Oath-Bound - sacred defensive troops with a balanced cost. Unless you are using a heavy bless, there is no reason to recruit them as anything but bodyguards, such as when playing against nations with recruitable assassins. If you do use them as troops, be aware of their low combat speed and short weapons. The low combat speed makes them likely to take a hit first before they can attack and also makes them especially vulnerable to tramplers, such as Minotaurs or Elephants, while short weapons make them extremely vulnerable to a Fire Shield bless. Even without a bless, they trade blows with independents extremely well due to their high survivability, but tend to do a lot worse if their Mirror Image is disrupted by ranged attacks. Notably can only move one province per turn, making them into questionable stealthy units.\\ | Oath-Bound - sacred defensive troops with a balanced cost. Unless you are using a heavy bless, there is no reason to recruit them as anything but bodyguards, such as when playing against nations with recruitable assassins. If you do use them as troops, be aware of their low combat speed and short weapons. The low combat speed makes them likely to take a hit first before they can attack and also makes them especially vulnerable to tramplers, such as Minotaurs or Elephants, while short weapons make them extremely vulnerable to a Fire Shield bless. Even without a bless, they trade blows with independents extremely well due to their high survivability, but tend to do a lot worse if their Mirror Image is disrupted by ranged attacks. Notably can only move one province per turn, making them into questionable stealthy units.\\ |
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| __Chud Hirdmen__ - strong troops with two attacks which require more resources than other normal units. Well-suited for dealing with hordes of weak troops or with tough giants due to their good armor, berserking ability and dual-wielded slashing weapons. They also have a low Map Move stat. They trade blows with independent Tribes, Militias and Light Infantries at a roughly 3.5 to 1 rate, having the biggest edge against Wolf Tribe and ranged attackers, who can do almost no damage through their armor. This means you need roughly 35% as many Chud Hirdmen as there are enemies in order to come out of the fight with minimal losses. Chud Hirdmen are worse at dealing with Heavy Cavalry than Chud Skinshifters and often die to a lance charge before they can instantly kill the enemy with their own attacks. You can use Huskarls and archers from your starting army, summoned animals, Chud Skinshifters and other means to absorb lance charges in order to not pointlessly lose troops. Another danger for Chud Hirdmen are Barbarians, who present a similar problem to Heavy Cavalries - getting killed in one hit before you are able to kill the enemy in one hit - with a similar solution.\\ | __Chud Hirdmen__ - strong troops with two attacks which require more resources than other normal units. Well-suited for dealing with hordes of weak troops or with tough giants due to their good armor, berserking ability and dual-wielded slashing weapons. However, they also have a low Map Move stat. They trade blows with independent Tribes, Militias and Light Infantries at a roughly 3.5 to 1 rate, having the biggest edge against Wolf Tribe and ranged attackers, who can do almost no damage through their armor. This means you need roughly 35% as many Chud Hirdmen as there are enemies in order to come out of the fight with minimal losses. Chud Hirdmen are worse at dealing with Heavy Cavalry than Chud Skinshifters and often die to a lance charge before they can instantly kill the enemy with their own attacks. You can use Huskarls and archers from your starting army, summoned animals, Chud Skinshifters and other means to absorb lance charges in order to not pointlessly lose troops. Another danger for Chud Hirdmen are Barbarians, who present a similar problem to Heavy Cavalries - getting killed in one hit before you are able to kill the enemy in one hit - with a similar solution.\\ |
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| __Chud Skinshifters__ - strong and gold-expensive troops which require a lot of recruitment points, but almost no resources. Minimal resource cost means that you can use them to set up aggressive borders instead of clearing provinces around your capital during first turns of the game. Chud Skinshifters are your elite shock troops, best suited for running into enemy's rear like cavalry. They can tank heavy cavalry charges too, due to their overall 58 HP and recuperation ability. Their length 2 greataxes with 26 slashing damage also can seriously hurt giants and immobile Pretenders, if the need arises. They are somewhat vulnerable to arrows due to only having furs for protection, but they usually can survive long enough under fire unless extremely outnumbered. They trade blows with independent Tribes, Militias and Light Infantries at a roughly 3.75 to 1 rate, having a significant edge against pretty much anything as long as they don't get surrounded, and a disadvantage against Wolf Tribe due to having low protection stat. This means you need roughly 30% as many Chud Skinshifters as there are enemies in order to come out of the fight with minimal losses. In addition to having no fear of Heavy Cavalry, they also have a significant advantage against Barbarians due to the fact that Chud Skinshifters have higher combat speed, allowing them to kill the first line of enemies without receiving retaliation. Sometimes this alone is enough to rout the Barbarians, but if it isn't, the first round of enemy attacks is not guaranteed to reduce their overall 58 HP to zero, allowing them to attack twice in bear form in second round of contact, which routs the enemy in most cases. A 35%-40% rate is enough in this case. On top of all this, Chud Skinshifters are also your only units capable of marching over one friendly province and into enemy lands on the strategic map, but all of your commanders except Godes and Vanabogs need a movement-boosting item to match this speed.\\ | __Chud Skinshifters__ - strong and gold-expensive troops which require a lot of recruitment points, but almost no resources. Minimal resource cost means that you can use them to set up aggressive borders instead of clearing provinces around your capital during first turns of the game. Chud Skinshifters are your elite shock troops, best suited for running into enemy's rear like cavalry. They can tank heavy cavalry charges too, due to their overall 63 HP and recuperation ability. Their length 2 greataxes with 26 slashing damage also can seriously hurt giants and immobile Pretenders, if the need arises. They are somewhat vulnerable to arrows due to only having furs for protection, but they usually can survive long enough under fire unless extremely outnumbered. They trade blows with independent Tribes, Militias and Light Infantries at a roughly 3.75 to 1 rate, having a significant edge against pretty much anything as long as they don't get surrounded, and a disadvantage against Wolf Tribe due to having low protection stat. This means you need roughly 30% as many Chud Skinshifters as there are enemies in order to come out of the fight with minimal losses. In addition to having no fear of Heavy Cavalry, they also have a significant advantage against Barbarians due to the fact that Chud Skinshifters have higher combat speed, allowing them to kill the first line of enemies without receiving retaliation. Sometimes this alone is enough to rout the Barbarians, but if it isn't, the first round of enemy attacks is not guaranteed to reduce their overall 63 HP to zero, allowing them to attack twice in bear form in second round of contact, which routs the enemy in most cases. A 35%-40% rate is enough in this case. On top of all this, Chud Skinshifters are also your only units capable of marching over one friendly province and into enemy lands on the strategic map, but all of your commanders except Godes and Vanabogs need a movement-boosting item to match this speed.\\ |
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| **National heroes**\\ | **National heroes**\\ |
| //"Some of the Chud Hirdmen are grumbling. They resent being led by Vanir."// - a bad event which increases unrest by 10 in a province where a Vanabog commands Chud Hirdmen. Can happen multiple times at once, if you have multiple Vanabogs doing the same in one place.\\ | //"Some of the Chud Hirdmen are grumbling. They resent being led by Vanir."// - a bad event which increases unrest by 10 in a province where a Vanabog commands Chud Hirdmen. Can happen multiple times at once, if you have multiple Vanabogs doing the same in one place.\\ |
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| //"Winter is harsh in the lands of Vanarus."// - a bad event which can only happen in or next to your original capital during winter. Increases Cold by 3 and kills 2% of the population. If you needed another reason not to pick Misfortune scales or not to store Likhos in your capital, here it is. But wait, there's more!\\ | //"Winter is harsh in the lands of Vanarus."// - a bad event which can only happen in or next to your capital during winter. Increases Cold by 3 and kills 2% of the population. If you needed another reason not to pick Misfortune scales or not to store Likhos in your capital, here it is. But wait, there's more!\\ |
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| //"Nomad tribes have attacked!"// - a bad event which spawns a group of Horse Tribe Cavalry to attack a province in or next to your original capital.\\ | //"Nomad tribes have attacked!"// - a bad event which spawns a group of Horse Tribe Cavalry to attack a province in or next to your capital.\\ |
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| //"Nomad tribes have come, plundered and left!"// - a bad event which reduces your treasury by 100 gold, increases unrest by 10 and kills 3% of population in a province in or next to your original capital.\\ | //"Nomad tribes have come, plundered and left!"// - a bad event which reduces your treasury by 100 gold, increases unrest by 10 and kills 3% of population in a province in or next to your capital.\\ |
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| //"Nomad tribes have frightened the peasants. Many have left their homes".// - a bad event which increases unrest by 15, kills 2% of population and forces 10% of population to emigrate from a province in or next to your original capital.\\ | //"Nomad tribes have frightened the peasants. Many have left their homes".// - a bad event which increases unrest by 15, kills 2% of population and forces 10% of population to emigrate from a province next to your capital.\\ |
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| //"A monster has emerged from its pit to wreak havoc!"// - a bad event which spawns a neutral Bukavac to attack your sea province next to your original capital.\\ | //"A monster has emerged from its pit to wreak havoc!"// - a bad event which spawns a neutral Bukavac to attack your sea province next to your capital.\\ |
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| //"One of your commanders has been lured to the river by a woman of the water".// - a bad event which creates an assassination battle against a Rusalka. Requires a Magic scale of 1 and a commander in a freshwater province.\\ | //"One of your commanders has been lured to the river by a woman of the water".// - a bad event which creates an assassination battle against a Rusalka. Requires a Magic scale of 1 and a commander in a freshwater province.\\ |
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| **Summons**\\ | **Summons**\\ |
| __Black Servants__ are available early and can be equipped with blacksteel and repel items to attack and raid provinces, including underwater ones. Call of the Winds can be easily cast by any Vanabog for instant siege strength/defense. Normally, you shouldn't bother with magical summons, since your mages have pitiful magic leadership. You still can summon Zmeys and various Drakes though. __Wyverns__ and Ice Drakes are especially useful. However, all these dragon-like summons are cold-blooded and will suffer penalties if you have the default cold temperature scale for the nation. Ice Drakes are the only ones with no 'cold-blooded' trait, and synergize with your national units' cold resistance. __Contact Draconians__ can be cast by Old Bear Thunder if you need self-replicating flying summons. More importantly, a Draconian Chief leading a full host of __Great Eagles__ works great in combination with Vanabog warrior-mages Cloud Trapezing onto enemy fortifications, allowing them to storm a fort on the very next turn after suddenly attacking, while the Eagles are ordered to retreat and move to your province. Devils can be summoned by rare Fire Vanabogs, but a more reliable way to get them as Vanarus might be Soul Contracts. __Storm Demons__ can be summoned by any Blood2 Vanabog, or by any Vanabog with a Blood Thorn and work nicely with the nation's predilection for casting Storm. Fiends of Darkness can be summoned by any Blood2 Vanabog, or by any Vanabog or Blood sage with a Blood Thorn and work best with the use of Dark Skies, Darkness and undead. __Banes__ and __Bane Lords__, can be used as powerful combatants and demon leaders thanks to various items available for forging, while Draugs are a better alternative to generic Wights, and are available a bit earlier, although they too should probably be later replaced by Ghosts. Juggernaut Construction is a good spell if you want to win with a dominion push. Vanabogs also have good paths for creating immortal Vampire Lords with __Curse of Blood__, which should not be overlooked, while Baba Yaga can create immortal Wraith Lords and Liches with __Call Wraith Lord__ and __Lichcraft__ respectively. All of the __elemental royalty__, including Father Illearth, come within reach by late game, with Earth ones being the most expensive, although you already have the national spell __Summon Leshy__ if you want a top tier warrior-mage.\\ | __Black Servants__ are available early and can be equipped with blacksteel and repel items to attack and raid provinces, including underwater ones. Call of the Winds can be easily cast by any Vanabog for instant siege strength/defense. Normally, you shouldn't bother with magical summons, since your mages have pitiful magic leadership. You still can summon Zmeys and various Drakes though. __Wyverns__ and Ice Drakes are especially useful. However, all these dragon-like summons are cold-blooded and will suffer penalties if you have the default cold temperature scale for the nation. Ice Drakes are the only ones with no 'cold-blooded' trait, and synergize with your national units' cold resistance. __Contact Draconians__ can be cast by Old Bear Thunder if you need self-replicating flying summons. More importantly, a flying commander leading a full host of __Great Eagles__ works great in combination with Vanabog warrior-mages Cloud Trapezing onto enemy fortifications, allowing them to storm a fort on the very next turn after suddenly attacking, while the Eagles are ordered to retreat and move to your province. Devils can be summoned by rare Fire Vanabogs, but a more reliable way to get them as Vanarus might be Soul Contracts. __Storm Demons__ can be summoned by any Blood2 Vanabog, or by any Vanabog with a Blood Thorn and work nicely with the nation's predilection for casting Storm. Fiends of Darkness can be summoned by any Blood2 Vanabog, or by any Vanabog or Blood sage with a Blood Thorn and work best with the use of Dark Skies, Darkness and undead. __Banes__ and __Bane Lords__, can be used as powerful combatants and demon leaders thanks to various items available for forging, while Draugs are a better alternative to generic Wights, and are available a bit earlier, although they too should probably be later replaced by Ghosts. Juggernaut Construction is a good spell if you want to win with a dominion push. Vanabogs also have good paths for creating immortal Vampire Lords with __Curse of Blood__, which should not be overlooked, while Baba Yaga can create immortal Wraith Lords and Liches with __Call Wraith Lord__ and __Lichcraft__ respectively. All of the __elemental royalty__, including Father Illearth, come within reach by late game, with Earth ones being the most expensive, although you already have the national spell __Summon Leshy__ if you want a top tier warrior-mage.\\ |
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| **Province enchantments**\\ | **Province enchantments**\\ |
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| **Mobility spells**\\ | **Mobility spells**\\ |
| __Cloud Trapeze__ can be used by any Vanabog to attack enemies during magic phase of the turn. This is extremely useful for raiding unprotected provinces, wiping out small armies, storming forts with normal-moving Great Eagles or any kind of siege chaff like Corpse Constructs, and for wiping out large armies with Wind of Death spell + Ring of Returning item. Baba Yaga with one booster or a rare Death3 Vanabog with two can use Stygian Paths to transport entire armies, preferably stealthy ones. Old Bear Thunder with one booster or a Nature2 forest mage with two can cast Faery Trod to transport armies between forests. Gateway is also within reach, but requires some Empowering or luck with getting the Crystal Coin booster. | __Cloud Trapeze__ can be used by any Vanabog to attack enemies during the magic phase of a turn. This is extremely useful for raiding unprotected provinces, wiping out small armies, storming forts with normal-moving Great Eagles or any kind of siege chaff like Corpse Constructs, and for wiping out large armies with Wind of Death spell + Ring of Returning item. Baba Yaga with one booster or a rare Death3 Vanabog with two can use Stygian Paths to transport entire armies, preferably stealthy ones. Old Bear Thunder with one booster or a Nature2 forest mage with two can cast Faery Trod to transport armies between forests. Gateway is also within reach, but requires some Empowering or luck with getting the Crystal Coin booster. |
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| **Example Strategies**\\ | **Example Strategies**\\ |
| * 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.\\ | * 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 or 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 due to recruitment points. 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.\\ | * Productivity scales have little effect on national unit generation for Vanarus due to their lack of heavy cavalry or heavily armored troops. The difference between Sloth 3 and Productivity 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// Productivity 3 due to recruitment points. This gives you an opportunity to gain design points by lowering Productivity 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.\\ |
| * Due to having a very wide magic access, Vanarus can find most sites early in the game, which boosts their gem income compared to most other nations and makes Empowerment a more viable option. The ability to search for most sites with a Vanabog, a Vyedma and a Vyedun also means that a "rainbow mage" type of Pretender is less attractive than usual.\\ | * Due to having a very wide magic access, Vanarus can find most sites early in the game, which boosts their gem income compared to most other nations and makes Empowerment a more viable option. The ability to search for most sites with a Vanabog, a Vyedma and a Vyedun also means that a "rainbow mage" type of Pretender is less attractive than usual.\\ |
| * Minimal resource cost of Chud Skinshifters means that you can use them to set up aggressive borders instead of clearing provinces around your capital during first turns of the game.\\ | * Minimal resource cost of Chud Skinshifters means that you can use them to set up aggressive borders instead of clearing provinces around your capital during first turns of the game.\\ |
| * 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 + 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).\\ | * 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, or Fiends of Darkness, or Gelatinous Cubes for mages), 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), also Mirror Armor and a Lead Shield to resist magical attacks and 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.\\ |
| * Blood slaves won't drown in underwater provinces with Pills of Water Breathing equipped on your Alkonosts.\\ | * Blood slaves won't drown in underwater provinces with Pills of Water Breathing equipped on your Alkonosts.\\ |
| * If you are using Soul Contracts, keep in mind that new Devils won't appear if the commander with the contract is using Stealth. | * If you are using Soul Contracts, keep in mind that new Devils won't appear if the commander with the contract is using Stealth.\\ |
| | * If you find a Knightly Order site, you may try to start producing Knight Commanders and giving them inexpensive items like the Barkskin Amulet to attack enemy provinces. It's a cheap way to hit your opponent's economy and force them to divert resources from something important.\\ |
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| ==== Awake Dragon (WIP) ==== | ==== Awake Dragon (WIP) ==== |
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| //Reasoning//\\ | //Reasoning//\\ |
| The Dragon can fly across many provinces on the map, is immune to lance charges and Earthquakes, covers the nation's lack of strong sacreds, and 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. Water4 also becomes useful for casting Vengeful Water with booster items later on. 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, especially since your provinces will have low resources. 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 cause a lot of random events, mostly good ones. 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, among which 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 the usual 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 you to use your powerful pretender somewhat offensively rather than only defensively.\\ | The Dragon can fly across many provinces on the map, is immune to lance charges and Earthquakes, covers the nation's lack of strong sacreds, and 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. Water4 also becomes useful for casting Vengeful Water with booster items later on. 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 63 HP total, powerful attacks and built-in recuperation, so you will use them a lot, especially since your provinces will have low resources. 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 cause a lot of random events, mostly good ones. 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, among which 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 the usual 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 you to use your powerful pretender somewhat offensively rather than only defensively.\\ |
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| //Expansion//\\ | //Expansion//\\ |
| //Situational Tactics://\\ | //Situational Tactics://\\ |
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| * You might consider hiring around 10 Scouts or Chud Jarls and equipping them with Winged Boots, Gate Cleavers, Wall Shakers and filling the rest of their slots with morale-boosting items. This stealthy and mobile fort-busting force can help the Dragon and Vanabog magic knights to bring down forts when other armies are not available. Set them to retreat in combat, so they will avoid confrontation with armies trying to attack the Dragon. High morale and flight should ensure that they do not get lost when retreating, even in hostile dominion. This is a more expensive, yet more reliable version of the Draconian Chief + Great Eagles sieging force and is easier to recover if your siege assistants happen to get scattered or killed by an enemy army.\\ | * You might consider hiring around 10 Scouts or Chud Jarls and equipping them with Winged Boots, Gate Cleavers, Wall Shakers and filling the rest of their slots with morale-boosting items. This stealthy and mobile fort-busting force can help the Dragon and Vanabog magic knights to bring down forts when other armies are not available. Set them to retreat in combat, so they will avoid confrontation with armies trying to attack the Dragon. High morale and flight should ensure that they do not get lost when retreating, even in hostile dominion. This is a more expensive, yet more reliable version of the flying commander + Great Eagles sieging force and is easier to recover if your siege assistants happen to get scattered or killed by an enemy army.\\ |
| * Depending on your opposing nations, you might need to protect your Pretender from Vengeance of the Dead as their kill count rises. Drain 3 of your dominion and magic resistance gear should provide sufficient protection. This will also help against Soul Slay and will often help when someone tries to Mind Hunt your mages and priests, which otherwise is hard to deal with as a nation with almost no Astral magic.\\ | * Depending on your opposing nations, you might need to protect your Pretender from Vengeance of the Dead as their kill count rises. Drain 3 of your dominion and magic resistance gear should provide sufficient protection. This will also help against Soul Slay and will often help when someone tries to Mind Hunt your mages and priests, which otherwise is hard to deal with as a nation with almost no Astral magic.\\ |
| * There is an uncommon bad event which has your Dragon eat several blood slaves in a labbed province. This is yet another reason to avoid Misfortune scales or stacking Likhos in your lands as Vanarus. But on the other hand, there is an uncommon good event which has your Dragon's scales harvested for some magic gems and a magic item, also in a labbed province. With many firebirds stacked in the same province as a Dragon who retired from combat, a lot of gems of specific type can be harvested, which is a possible consideration for picking a Blue Dragon for highly coveted Water gems. The Green Dragon recommended in this guide would produce Nature gems and Green Dragon Scale Mails, which can be useful for forging Vine Shields and casting Transformation.\\ | * There is an uncommon bad event which has your Dragon eat several blood slaves in a labbed province. This is yet another reason to avoid Misfortune scales or stacking Likhos in your lands as Vanarus. But on the other hand, there is an uncommon good event which has your Dragon's scales harvested for some magic gems and a magic item, also in a labbed province. With many firebirds stacked in the same province as a Dragon who retired from combat, a lot of gems of specific type can be harvested, which is a possible consideration for picking a Blue Dragon for highly coveted Water gems. The Green Dragon recommended in this guide would produce Nature gems and Green Dragon Scale Mails, which can be useful for forging Vine Shields and casting Transformation.\\ |
| 11) Use your blood income and Alkonosts to start eliminating enemy dominion from the map. But at first, a higher priority is probably demon production to ensure survival. You may choose what to do: forge Soul Contracts to auto-summon fiery Devils, cast Bind Storm Demon repeatedly or cast Bind Fiend repeatedly. Bind Storm Demon can be cast by some Vanabogs naturally, but a better idea is to find Vanarusian Sages with Air2+Blood1 crosspath and give them a Blood Thorn. Same thing with Fiends of Darkness. While Fiends can do well in caves, underwater or in darkness together with undead, and also make good bodyguards, and Storm Demons can stand under Wrathful Skies without any problem, and can be a backup plan in case someone casts Perpetual Storm, rendering your Devils much weaker, Devils are the most attractive because of your Drain3+Luck3 scales. Just the auto-summoning element of Soul Contracts is enough to consider them. 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). Do not start mass-producing Alkonosts for blood sacrificing until you have a comfortable amount of Soul Contract holders for your map size. Devils under Fog Warriors will become your main force later on and eclipse the Chud Hirdmen. 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. A Fog Warriors caster should be an Air 3 or 4 Vanabog with Winged Helmet, Bag of Winds, Flying Carpet, Golden Hoplon. Afterwards, start applying intense dominion pressure through blood sacrifice with Alkonosts to domkill enemies and to enhance your casting of Vengeful Water.\\ | 11) Use your blood income and Alkonosts to start eliminating enemy dominion from the map. But at first, a higher priority is probably demon production to ensure survival. You may choose what to do: forge Soul Contracts to auto-summon fiery Devils, cast Bind Storm Demon repeatedly or cast Bind Fiend repeatedly. Bind Storm Demon can be cast by some Vanabogs naturally, but a better idea is to find Vanarusian Sages with Air2+Blood1 crosspath and give them a Blood Thorn. Same thing with Fiends of Darkness. While Fiends can do well in caves, underwater or in darkness together with undead, and also make good bodyguards, and Storm Demons can stand under Wrathful Skies without any problem, and can be a backup plan in case someone casts Perpetual Storm, rendering your Devils much weaker, Devils are the most attractive because of your Drain3+Luck3 scales. Just the auto-summoning element of Soul Contracts is enough to consider them. 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). Do not start mass-producing Alkonosts for blood sacrificing until you have a comfortable amount of Soul Contract holders for your map size. Devils under Fog Warriors will become your main force later on and eclipse the Chud Hirdmen. 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. A Fog Warriors caster should be an Air 3 or 4 Vanabog with Winged Helmet, Bag of Winds, Flying Carpet, Golden Hoplon. Afterwards, start applying intense dominion pressure through blood sacrifice with Alkonosts to domkill enemies and to enhance your casting of Vengeful Water.\\ |
| 12) If you have Astral-Fire mages, cast Summon Firebird in the capital forever, at a rate of 5 casts per turn or more, depending on your Fire income. This will eventually give you virtually infinite gold and gem income which is not reflected on score graphs. Even if you do not have such mages, you can make them by empowering an Astral mage in Fire or a Fire mage in Astral, depending on your situation and gem income. Given time, even one such mage will pay for itself many times over.\\ | 12) If you have Astral-Fire mages, cast Summon Firebird in the capital forever, at a rate of 5 casts per turn or more, depending on your Fire income. This will eventually give you virtually infinite gold and gem income which is not reflected on score graphs. Even if you do not have such mages, you can make them by empowering an Astral mage in Fire or a Fire mage in Astral, depending on your situation and gem income. Given time, even one such mage will pay for itself many times over.\\ |
| 13) Once you have access to Awaken Sleeper, you may start using your magic being armies offensively. Terracotta Soldiers from Fire gems, Wyverns and Draconians from Air gems, Gelatinous Cubes or Naiad Warriors from Water gems, Mechanical Men or Living Statues from Earth gems, Ghosts or Wights or Zizes from Death gems, Lamias or Forest Trolls from Nature gems, Devils or Storm demons from blood slaves, as well as all of the Corpse Constructs, Claymen, Longdead, Horned Serpents and Killer Mantises that you amassed up to this point can now pour onto enemy lands. With Faery Trod and Stygian Paths becoming available later, you will become able to transport your summoned hordes to the front line instantaneously. When choosing a target to attack early, try to pick a someone who doesn't have Iron Bane and non-iron weapons, since this spell will make your Chud Hirdmen very weak. Later on, a Perpetual Storm global enchantment might also make you reconsider storming forts, even if you have a horde of Devils (Storm Demons and Spring Hawks, on the other hand, will do just fine). Deives of the Sun does not really need to go into battle, as she is better suited for forging Soul Contracts, casting Fires from Afar, Rain of Toads and later Flames from the Sky, as well as for reducing unrest from blood hunting. In a hypothetical battle, Deives of the Sun should have a Ring of Regeneration, an Amulet of Resilience, an Armor of Knights, an Iron Face, a Charcoal Shield and a Blood Thorn equipped, as well as Boots of the Messenger. Set her to stand in the back and advance and cast, with a script to cast Phoenix Power, Phoenix Pyre, Enlarge, Heat from Hell, Fire Storm, in that order. You may even bring some assisting mages to cast more buffs on her, as well as cast Hell Power first, while removing Enlarge from the casting script, if you really need to. Use your Devil army'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 and hidden Vanabog preachers. You may consider transmuting your Fire gems into gold if the game does not give you enough gold through events.\\ | 13) Once you have access to Awaken Sleeper, you may start using your magic being armies offensively. Terracotta Soldiers or Fire Snakes from Fire gems, Wyverns and Draconians from Air gems, stealthy Gelatinous Cubes or numerous Kydnids from Water gems, resistent Mechanical Men or tough Living Statues or mighty Trolls from Earth gems, stealthy Ghosts or powerful Wights or storm-flying Zizes from Death gems, regenerating Lamias or mighty Forest Trolls from Nature gems, Devils or Storm demons from blood slaves, as well as all of the Corpse Constructs, Claymen, Longdead, Horned Serpents, stealthy Fire Ants and stealthy Killer Mantises that you amassed up to this point can now pour onto enemy lands. With Faery Trod and Stygian Paths becoming available later, you will become able to transport your summoned hordes to the front line instantaneously. When choosing a target to attack early, try to pick a someone who doesn't have Iron Bane and non-iron weapons, since this spell will make your Chud Hirdmen very weak. Later on, a Perpetual Storm global enchantment might also make you reconsider storming forts, even if you have a horde of Devils (Storm Demons and Spring Hawks, on the other hand, will do just fine). Deives of the Sun does not really need to go into battle, as she is better suited for forging Soul Contracts, casting Fires from Afar, Rain of Toads and later Flames from the Sky, as well as for reducing unrest from blood hunting. In a hypothetical battle, Deives of the Sun should have a Ring of Regeneration, an Amulet of Resilience, an Armor of Knights, an Iron Face, a Charcoal Shield and a Blood Thorn equipped, as well as Boots of the Messenger. Set her to stand in the back and advance and cast, with a script to cast Phoenix Power, Phoenix Pyre, Enlarge, Heat from Hell, Fire Storm, in that order. You may even bring some assisting mages to cast more buffs on her, as well as cast Hell Power first, while removing Enlarge from the casting script, if you really need to. Use your Devil army'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 and hidden Vanabog preachers. You may consider transmuting your Fire gems into gold if the game does not give you enough gold through events.\\ |
| 14) Mass produce Alkonosts to blood sacrifice in every province and cast Vengeful Water to eliminate all opposition.\\ | 14) Mass produce Alkonosts to blood sacrifice in every province and cast Vengeful Water to eliminate all opposition.\\ |
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| //Situational tactics//\\ | //Situational tactics//\\ |
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| * On small maps, feel free to replace Growth 1 and Luck 3 with anything else, like a higher Fire path or a better Production scale, or a better Magic scale. Although Luck 3 still might be more useful for income depending on random events. A higher Fire path will give you more gold with Distill Gold and better combat magic on the Pretender. | * On small maps, feel free to replace Growth 1 and Luck 3 with anything else, like a higher Fire path or a better Productivity scale, or a better Magic scale. Although Luck 3 still might be more useful for income depending on random events. A higher Fire path will give you more gold with Distill Gold and better combat magic on the Pretender.\\ |
| | * On large maps, instead of Deives of the Sun, you may consider choosing an imprisoned Fountain of Blood pretender with the following settings: magic - Fire 4, Astral 3, Blood 5, scales - Dominion 10, Order 3, Productivity 3, Heat 1, Growth 3, Luck 3, Drain 3, bless - Superior Morale, Major Fire Resistance, Strong Vitae, Blood Surge. This will allow using the same strategy as described above, but will also give you enough recruitable troops to be reasonably dangerous from the start of the game, discouraging early aggression and allowing you to develop your Devil factory. However, Fountain of Blood is not as versatile in combat, and you will not be able to start blood hunting from the first turns of the game, and will have no choice but to use your capital to blood hunt with the Pretender until Teleport ritual is researched. Pretender's blood hunting will also create a lot of province unrest, and you will need means to patrol it down before you attempt to blood hunt with the Fountain of Blood. Another alternative is the same Fountain of Blood build, but with Magic 3 in exchange for 0/-1 Productivity and lower magic paths.This will give you a stronger economy, but will make horror attacks on your Soul Contract and Lightless Lantern holders more dangerous and a lot more frequent, requiring either more expensive bodyguards (such as Gelatinous Cubes on Air2 Vanarusian Sages) and a more urgent production of anti-horror item kits described in Common Points section of this guide, or intense casting of Transformation to make Vyedmas into mindless commanders.\\ |
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| ==== Awake Ghost King (WIP) ==== | ==== Awake Ghost King (WIP) ==== |
| * As previously mentioned, this build only needs Earth2 in order to forge a Blacksteel Full Plate and to cast Earth buffs after the titan's awakening. If you are confident you can take on neutrals and early enemy armies without the full plate, then feel free to go down to Earth1 and get Water4 instead for both Cold Resistance blesses which will benefit your Vanabogs, allowing them to not only survive Frozen Heart and their own Frost Brand but also will free some equipment space for more items. Earth1 is still very useful for casting Ironskin, Temper Flesh and Iron Will, but you may also consider getting rid of that as well, if you think that Barkskin, Blacksteel Plate, Air Shield and a built-in Chill Aura are enough to kill an army. You will still be able to imitate the effects of Temper Flesh with Liquid Body, and you can give your Pretender Ironkskin by Empowering him in Earth or by putting on Iron Face. In this case, you can use the spare design points to get Luck 3, which can make a world of difference by increasing your income and allowing you to get Alchemists in shipwreck events, which in turn will allow you to summon Firebirds and to search for Astral sites.\\ | * As previously mentioned, this build only needs Earth2 in order to forge a Blacksteel Full Plate and to cast Earth buffs after the titan's awakening. If you are confident you can take on neutrals and early enemy armies without the full plate, then feel free to go down to Earth1 and get Water4 instead for both Cold Resistance blesses which will benefit your Vanabogs, allowing them to not only survive Frozen Heart and their own Frost Brand but also will free some equipment space for more items. Earth1 is still very useful for casting Ironskin, Temper Flesh and Iron Will, but you may also consider getting rid of that as well, if you think that Barkskin, Blacksteel Plate, Air Shield and a built-in Chill Aura are enough to kill an army. You will still be able to imitate the effects of Temper Flesh with Liquid Body, and you can give your Pretender Ironkskin by Empowering him in Earth or by putting on Iron Face. In this case, you can use the spare design points to get Luck 3, which can make a world of difference by increasing your income and allowing you to get Alchemists in shipwreck events, which in turn will allow you to summon Firebirds and to search for Astral sites.\\ |
| * Additionally, you may replace Growth 3 with better Luck and Magic scales in situations when you play on a small map. | * Additionally, you may replace Growth 3 with better Luck and Magic scales in situations when you play on a small map. |
| * If you find a Knightly Order site, you may try to start producing Knight Commanders and giving them inexpensive items like the Barkskin Amulet to attack enemy provinces. It's a cheap way to hit your opponent's economy and force them to divert resources from something important.\\ | |
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| ==== Imprisoned Frost Father (WIP) ==== | ==== Imprisoned Frost Father (WIP) ==== |
