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vanarus-guide [2026/04/04 08:05]
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vanarus-guide [2026/06/17 15:53] (current)
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| Vanarusian Jarl - average quality commanders, useful for setting up formations and generally for strategies which don't involve sacreds and blessing. Jarls themselves are sacred, but there is no reason to use them as combatants when you have Vanabogs. Even if you want to have sacred werewolves via Lychantropos' Amulet, Godes are still a better choice.\\ | Vanarusian Jarl - average quality commanders, useful for setting up formations and generally for strategies which don't involve sacreds and blessing. Jarls themselves are sacred, but there is no reason to use them as combatants when you have Vanabogs. Even if you want to have sacred werewolves via Lychantropos' Amulet, Godes are still a better choice.\\ |
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| __Vanarusian Gode__ - very cheap and spammable priests who can lead 10 troops and have good map movement. They are also your best commanders for building forts and temples. Once they get some experience, they become able to transport more troops, making Herses even less useful. Due to having a low buying price and costing less in upkeep than a scout, you may recruit a large amount of these early without too big of a hit to your economy, which can help with calling back combatant pretenders or fighting undead-focused enemies, or deterring harmful enemy dominion effects.\\ | __Vanarusian Gode__ - relatively cheap and easily massable priests who can lead 10 troops and have good map movement. They are also your best commanders for building forts and temples. Once they get some experience, they become able to transport more troops, making Herses even less useful. Due to having a low buying price and costing less in upkeep than a scout, you may recruit a large amount of these early without too big of a hit to your economy, which can help with calling back combatant pretenders or fighting undead-focused enemies, or deterring harmful enemy dominion effects.\\ |
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| Chud Jarl - a better version of human Jarls with the added ability to bless themselves. There is little reason to ever use them. They do have significantly higher morale and magic resistance than their human counterparts, so hypothetically they could be used to fight against morale strategies or hold out a little bit longer against Astral attacks.\\ | Chud Jarl - a better version of human Jarls with the added ability to bless themselves. There is little reason to ever use them. They do have significantly higher morale and magic resistance than their human counterparts, so hypothetically they could be used to fight against morale strategies or hold out a little bit longer against Astral attacks.\\ |
| 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**\\ |
| Contact Vila (Cloud and Mountain) - more versatile versions of the generic Fairy Queens. Available at Conjuration 7 instead of 8 for Faerie Court. They also require a lower level mage to cast and come in two variants to diversify your gem usage. They are better healers (Healer instead of Disease Healer), capable of forming communions and are mediocre seducers (but great assassins). With the exception of not having Spirit Sight or normal leadership value, they can fill the same roles as the Fairy Queen, but better. However, a lot of their possible roles can be done better by cheaper alternatives. Even their relatively unique ability for Vanarus, which is their Nature communions, still could probably be done easier with Vyedmas equipped with Crystal Matrixes. Can only be cast in mountains or highlands.\\ | Contact Vila (Cloud and Mountain) - more versatile versions of the generic Fairy Queens. Available at Conjuration 7 instead of 8 for Faerie Court. They also require a lower level mage to cast and come in two variants to diversify your gem usage. They are better healers (Healer instead of Disease Healer), capable of forming communions and are mediocre seducers (but great assassins). With the exception of not having Spirit Sight or normal leadership value, they can fill the same roles as the Fairy Queen, but better. However, a lot of their possible roles can be done better by cheaper alternatives. Even their relatively unique ability for Vanarus, which is their Nature communions, still could probably be done easier with Vyedmas equipped with Crystal Matrixes. Can only be cast in mountains or highlands.\\ |
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| __Contact Leshiy__ - extremely powerful stealthy warrior-mages to fight for forest provinces in large games. They aren't unique, unlike elemental royalty, which makes this spell even stronger. Can only be cast in forests.\\ | __Contact Leshiy__ - extremely powerful stealthy warrior-mages to fight for forest provinces in large games. They aren't unique, unlike elemental royalty, which makes this spell even stronger. Can only be cast in forests. Compared to Rus, the Nature6 requirement is pretty steep for Vanarus, so, if you are planning on using Leshiys, you will either need a Pretender with high Nature magic or Luck scales for Old Bear Thunder, who can forge boosters for himself to be able to cast this spell without Empowering.\\ |
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| ==== National Events ==== | ==== National Events ==== |
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| //"Vanarusian Oath-Bound have come to plunder!"// - creates 2d6 Oath-Bound led by an Oath-Bound commander to attack enemy territory. If they survive, you get a province, a stealthy raiding party and an angry enemy. The province must be coast or freshwater, the latter needs at least 300 population. This event is considered bad and takes current province scales into account, yours or enemy's. You still can increase the chance with Likhos or by spreading your Dominion with Turmoil+Luck scales into enemy lands, since enemies do not benefit from your Luck scales being positive, but still suffer the increased chance for events from having any Luck scale. Using Misfortune scales can increase the chance even further, but bears risks. If the event happens in your territory, you simply get the described party in that province, without being attacked.\\ | //"Vanarusian Oath-Bound have come to plunder!"// - creates 2d6 Oath-Bound led by an Oath-Bound commander to attack enemy territory. If they survive, you get a province, a stealthy raiding party and an angry enemy. If the event happens in your territory, you simply get the described party in that province, without being attacked. The province must be coast or freshwater, the latter needs at least 300 population. This event is considered bad and takes current province scales into account, yours or enemy's. Unfortunately, there is no way to force this event to happen reliably, even if you use high Turmoil and Misfortune scales, and even if you put multiple Likhos in to a suitable enemy province.\\ |
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| //"A group of Oath-Bound have returned from distant lands. They bring treasures and tales of adventure."// - gives you 100 Gold, 2d6 Oath-Bound in capital and a random magic item from Construction 0-4. Can happen quite often, and even a couple times per turn, if you have lots of Firebirds in your capital.\\ | //"A group of Oath-Bound have returned from distant lands. They bring treasures and tales of adventure."// - gives you 100 Gold, 2d6 Oath-Bound in capital and a random magic item from Construction 0-4. Can happen quite often, and even a couple times per turn, if you have lots of Firebirds in your capital.\\ |
| //"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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| **Items**\\ | **Items**\\ |
| Construction 6 is the most important research priority for Vanarus for forging magic boosters. Otherwise, most mages do not have deep enough magic paths to cast powerful spells and rituals. Fire Vanabogs can forge a Skull of Fire, which can be used on an Empowered Fire2 Vyedun to forge Flame Helmet (or he can summon a Flame Spirit for the job). Old Bear Thunder can forge a __Winged Helmet__ and put it on to forge a __Bag of Winds__. Vyedmas can forge Water Bracelets and Water2 ones can put them on to forge a Robe of the Sea. An Earth/Blood Vanarusian Sage can Empower in Earth (1->2) to forge Earth Boots, then equip a Blood Thorn, Empower in Blood and forge a Blood Stone, which in turn opens up the ability to forge an __Iron Face__ for your Vanabog warrior-mages. Old Bear Thunder can Empower in Astral to forge a Starshine Skullcap. Baba Yaga can forge a Skull Staff and equip it to forge a Skullface. Old Bear Thunder, Baba Yaga and uncommon forest mages can forge a Thistle Mace, while Old Bear Thunder in particular can also forge a Moonvine Bracelet and put both of these on to forge a Treelord's Staff. A rare Blood3 Vanabog or an Empowered Blood2 one can forge a __Blood Thorn__, and it should not be too expensive to Empower in Blood again to forge an Armor of Souls and a Brazen Vessel if you need.__ Sanguine Dowsing Rods__ should be forged by any Blood mage to improve your blood hunting. With a Sanguine Dowsing Rod and a Blood Thorn equipped, a Blood1 Vanarusian Sage can replace a Vanabog, so the elf can make himself useful elsewhere. __Owl Quills, Skull Mentors and Lightless Lanterns__ are all available and are key for securing a research lead.\\ | Construction 6 is the most important research priority for Vanarus due to the necessity of forging magic boosters. Otherwise, most mages do not have deep enough magic paths to cast powerful spells and rituals. Fire1 Vanabogs can forge a Skull of Fire, which can be used on an Empowered Fire2 Vyedun to forge Flame Helmet (or he can summon a Flame Spirit for the job). Old Bear Thunder can forge a __Winged Helmet__ and put it on to forge a __Bag of Winds__. Vyedmas can forge Water Bracelets and Water2 ones can put them on to forge a Robe of the Sea. An Earth/Blood Vanarusian Sage can Empower in Earth (1->2) to forge Earth Boots, then equip a Blood Thorn, Empower in Blood and forge a Blood Stone, which in turn opens up the ability to forge an __Iron Face__ for your Vanabog warrior-mages. Old Bear Thunder can Empower in Astral to forge a Starshine Skullcap. Baba Yaga can forge a Skull Staff and equip it to forge a Skullface. Old Bear Thunder, Baba Yaga and uncommon forest mages can forge a Thistle Mace, while Old Bear Thunder in particular can also forge a Moonvine Bracelet and put both of these on to forge a Treelord's Staff. A rare Blood3 Vanabog or an Empowered Blood2 one can forge a __Blood Thorn__, and it should not be too expensive to Empower in Blood again to forge an Armor of Souls and a Brazen Vessel if you need.__ Sanguine Dowsing Rods__ should be forged by any Blood mage to improve your blood hunting. With a Sanguine Dowsing Rod and a Blood Thorn equipped, a Blood1 Vanarusian Sage can replace a Vanabog, so the elf can make himself useful elsewhere. __Owl Quills, Skull Mentors and Lightless Lanterns__ are all easily available and are key for securing a research lead.\\ |
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| As for items for combat, the possibilities are almost limitless. From __Vine Shield and Frost Brand__ for combatants, to __Flying Carpet__ and __Ring of Returning__ for Vanabog Wind of Death casters, to __Soul Contracts__ and Lifelong Protections for summoning infernal forces, to Skull Talisman/Handful of Acorns/Water Bottle for guaranteed retinue in assasination battles, and so on.\\ | As for items for combat, the possibilities are almost limitless. From __Vine Shield and Frost Brand__ for combatants, to __Flying Carpet__ and __Ring of Returning__ for Vanabog Wind of Death casters, to __Soul Contracts__ and Lifelong Protections for summoning infernal forces, to Skull Talisman/Handful of Acorns/Water Bottle for guaranteed retinue in assasination battles, and so on.\\ |
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| **Debuffs**\\ | **Debuffs**\\ |
| Maws of the Earth for dealing with high defense enemies such as Vans. Prison of Sedna and Prison of Fire to deal with elites (the latter is available sooner in most cases, but the former can be greatly enhanced with __Blood Rain__, __Wailing Winds__ and __Dark Skies__). Both __Mist__ and __Storm__ are available and will put you on equal footing with other nations, since you basically don't have archers, so neither should they, but more importantly, Storm can prevent most enemy flyers from attacking your mages, while it will also enhance any lightning spells you might be using, and will also strengthen Storm Demons and Air Elementals, which you can summon. __Grip of Winter__ is a good spell for Vanarus, thanks to native cold resistance on all units and Water paths on Vyedmas, it can be enhanced with Storm as well as with __Wolven Winter__ ritual. It works well against Heat scale nations, and should be avoided against nations with Cold Power and Ice Protection abilities. Wind Guide is here, but is only worth casting against nations which do not need a Precision stat or have perfect darkvision. Otherwise, it is better to stack Storm + Mist + __Darkness__ (the latter can be easily cast by Baba Yaga or by a rare Death3 Vanabog, or by a Vampire Lord summoned by said type of Vanabog) to severely impair aim on evocations and fire arrows. Steal Breath and False Fetters works well against combatant commanders, and the latter also benefits from morale lowering spells just like Prison of Fire. Sleep Cloud can be used in combination with Foul Vapors and/or Poison Cloud to take out enemies without poison resistance. Rigor Mortis can be easily cast by Baba Yaga or by a rare Death3 Vanabog, or by a Vampire Lord summoned by said type of Vanabog in later stages of the game to help undead armies you can create thanks to native Death income and Death paths on Vanabogs, or even just in combination with skeleton spamming on the battlefield. If you are going against Cold nations, Heat From Hell can be overcast to enhance your Zmeys or Devils while fatiguing and igniting your enemies, and is especially powerful if Breath of the Desert was cast beforehand (just don't forget to give your commanders a Ring of Fire or Golden Hoplon).\\ | Maws of the Earth for dealing with high defense enemies such as Vans. Prison of Sedna and Prison of Fire to deal with elites (the latter is available sooner in most cases, but the former can be greatly enhanced with __Blood Rain__, __Wailing Winds__ and __Dark Skies__). Both __Mist__ and __Storm__ are available and will put you on equal footing with other nations, since you basically don't have archers, so neither should they, but more importantly, Storm can prevent most enemy flyers from attacking your mages, while it will also enhance any lightning spells you might be using, and will also strengthen Storm Demons and Air Elementals, which you can summon. __Grip of Winter__ is a good spell for Vanarus, thanks to native cold resistance on all units and Water paths on Vyedmas, it can be enhanced with Storm as well as with __Wolven Winter__ ritual. It works well against Heat scale nations, and should be avoided against nations with Cold Power and Ice Protection abilities. Wind Guide is here, but is only worth casting against nations which do not need a Precision stat or have perfect darkvision. Otherwise, it is better to stack Storm + Mist + __Darkness__ (the latter can be easily cast by Baba Yaga or by a rare Death3 Vanabog, or by a Vampire Lord summoned by said type of Vanabog) to severely impair aim on evocations and fire arrows. Steal Breath and False Fetters works well against combatant commanders, and the latter also benefits from morale lowering spells just like Prison of Fire. Sleep Cloud can be used in combination with Foul Vapors and/or Poison Cloud to take out enemies without poison resistance. Rigor Mortis can be easily cast by Baba Yaga or by a rare Death3 Vanabog, or by a Vampire Lord summoned by said type of Vanabog in later stages of the game to help undead armies you can create thanks to native Death income and Death paths on Vanabogs, or even just in combination with skeleton raising on the battlefield. If you are going against Cold nations, Heat From Hell can be overcast to enhance your Zmeys or Devils while fatiguing and igniting your enemies, and is especially powerful if Breath of the Desert was cast beforehand (just don't forget to give your commanders a Ring of Fire or Golden Hoplon).\\ |
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| **Battle magic**\\ | **Battle magic**\\ |
| Your workhorse evocation spells are the combination of Storm and __Wrathful Skies__, as well as __Lightning Bolt__ and __Thunder Strike__. But most evocations are available to Vanarus, except for some high end ones and most of Earth. Pick and choose whichever counter your current opposition best. Cloud spells might not be the best for you generally speaking, but increase in value during fort defense. For example, Falling Frost, Poison Cloud and Foul Vapors combine well with skeleton spamming and fighting cold-averse enemies. Fire Cloud, Falling Fires, Flame Eruption are the Fire version, and combine well with Zmeys or Devils which you can summon via rituals or items, and can be used against fire-averse enemies. Even Fire Storm comes within reach after some time, and can complement Zmeys and Devils nicely. Magma Eruption can be overcast by Vyeduns or rare Fire Vyedmas against enemies with low protection stat, while fielding Chud Hirdmen or protection-buffed Devils. __Shimmering Fields__ is a rare but strong late game option, which requires expensive boosters or a rare Air4 Vanabog, and can be used to launch attacks with Storm Demons and Air Elementals, especially when they are enhanced with Storm. Acid Rain or Acid Storm can be used by rare Fire Vyedmas underwater, if you ever need it. __Wind of Death__ can be overcast by common Death 2 Vanabogs with a Skull Staff while raiding living armies with low magic resistance, while Cloud of Death can be used to support undead screens while defending forts. __Wailing Winds__ + Blood Rain can be used to rout enemy armies, which is especially useful when you are storming a fort or pillaging, and becomes especially devastating under the Dark Skies global. Bane Fire can be used by uncommon Fire Vanabogs to kill enemy combatants, including Pretenders, as long as they are held in place with spells or with disposable troops such as skeletons. Storm of Thorns can be mass-cast in late game against nations with no Air access for Arrow Fend. Charm Animal, Charm, Control the Dead and Hellbind Heart are all available and can be used in late game when needed. Control or Opposition are not too far from reach if you need to destroy a Golem or some other strong magical unit, although Shatter is easier to cast against Golems in particular.\\ | Your workhorse evocation spells are the combination of Storm and __Wrathful Skies__, as well as __Lightning Bolt__ and __Thunder Strike__. But most evocations are available to Vanarus, except for some high end ones and most of Earth. Pick and choose whichever counter your current opposition best. Cloud spells might not be the best for you generally speaking, but increase in value during fort defense. For example, Falling Frost, Poison Cloud and Foul Vapors combine well with skeleton raising and fighting cold-averse enemies. Fire Cloud, Falling Fires, Flame Eruption are the Fire version, and combine well with Zmeys or Devils which you can summon via rituals or items, and can be used against fire-averse enemies. Even Fire Storm comes within reach after some time, and can complement Zmeys and Devils nicely. Magma Eruption can be overcast by Vyeduns or rare Fire Vyedmas against enemies with low protection stat, while fielding Chud Hirdmen or protection-buffed Devils. __Shimmering Fields__ is a rare but strong late game option, which requires expensive boosters or a rare Air4 Vanabog, and can be used to launch attacks with Storm Demons and Air Elementals, especially when they are enhanced with Storm. Acid Rain or Acid Storm can be used by rare Fire Vyedmas underwater, if you ever need it. __Wind of Death__ can be overcast by common Death 2 Vanabogs with a Skull Staff while raiding living armies with low magic resistance, while Cloud of Death can be used to support undead screens while defending forts. __Wailing Winds__ + Blood Rain can be used to rout enemy armies, which is especially useful when you are storming a fort or pillaging, and becomes especially devastating under the Dark Skies global. Bane Fire can be used by uncommon Fire Vanabogs to kill enemy combatants, including Pretenders, as long as they are held in place with spells or with disposable troops such as skeletons. Storm of Thorns can be mass-cast in late game against nations with no Air access for Arrow Fend. Charm Animal, Charm, Control the Dead and Hellbind Heart are all available and can be used in late game when needed. Control or Opposition are not too far from reach if you need to destroy a Golem or some other strong magical unit, although Shatter is easier to cast against Golems in particular.\\ |
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| There are also numerous options for dealing with undead and demons. Cheap Godes can repel early undead invasions with support from province defense, while every Vanabog can cast Smite Demon. Vanabogs also can join Blood communions to cast very powerful Banishment against undead. Later, all Vyedmas can overcast Cleansing Water and some can overcast Demon Cleansing or Ravenous Swarm. Vanabogs also later gain the ability to cast __Dust to Dust__ to deal with elite undead, or __Wither Bones__ to destroy groups of strong undead. Alkonosts can cast Holy3 Banishment, but a better and much more expensive option which arrives later is a communion of Gamayuns for Banishment, Solar Rays, Solar Brilliance and Divine Channeling (the latter also can be cast by a Blood communion of Vanabogs and will turn your numerous Godes into Smite Demon casters and better Banishers).\\ | There are also numerous options for dealing with undead and demons. Cheap Godes can repel early undead invasions with support from province defense, while every Vanabog can cast Smite Demon. Vanabogs also can join Blood communions to cast very powerful Banishment against undead. Later, all Vyedmas can overcast Cleansing Water and some can overcast Demon Cleansing or Ravenous Swarm. Vanabogs also later gain the ability to cast __Dust to Dust__ to deal with elite undead, or __Wither Bones__ to destroy groups of strong undead. Alkonosts can cast Holy3 Banishment, but a better and much more expensive option which arrives later is a communion of Gamayuns for Banishment, Solar Rays, Solar Brilliance and Divine Channeling (the latter also can be cast by a Blood communion of Vanabogs and will turn your numerous Godes into Smite Demon casters and better Banishers).\\ |
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| All four types of elemental summoning spells are available, with Living Fire and Living Earth arriving later than the rest. __Air Elementals__ can be mass-cast by Vanabogs to kill enemy commanders soon after battle starts and are especially useful for their ability to fly during Storm. Other elementals can be used to diversify your gem usage, and Water ones in particular can help Rusalkas during assassinations or raids, especially underwater. __Howl__ also becomes available at the same time as size 6 elementals and is especially useful during sieges. Coincidentally, this spell is stronger in forests and mountains, and you are likely to have forts in forests for recruiting Vyedmas and Vyeduns. __Swarm__ and Creeping Doom are also a frequent tool in the arsenal of scales Vanarus, due to the fact that these two spells are located in the Alteration school. They can be cast by your forest-only mages, who have stealth and therefore can be used as occasional raiders, although they are much more valuable as buffers and forgers. And finally, each Vanabog has Death magic of at least 1, sometimes going up to 3, and Blood magic of at least 1, sometimes going up to 3, which allows them to act as __skeleton__ or __imp__ spammers in combat.\\ | All four types of elemental summoning spells are available, with Living Fire and Living Earth arriving later than the rest. __Air Elementals__ can be mass-cast by Vanabogs to kill enemy commanders soon after battle starts and are especially useful for their ability to fly during Storm. Other elementals can be used to diversify your gem usage, and Water ones in particular can help Rusalkas during assassinations or raids, especially underwater. __Howl__ also becomes available at the same time as size 6 elementals and is especially useful during sieges. Coincidentally, this spell is stronger in forests and mountains, and you are likely to have forts in forests for recruiting Vyedmas and Vyeduns. __Swarm__ and Creeping Doom are also a frequent tool in the arsenal of scales Vanarus, due to the fact that these two spells are located in the Alteration school. They can be cast by your forest-only mages, who have stealth and therefore can be used as occasional raiders, although they are much more valuable as buffers and forgers. And finally, each Vanabog has Death magic of at least 1, sometimes going up to 3, and Blood magic of at least 1, sometimes going up to 3, which allows them to act as __skeleton__ or __imp__ summonersr in combat.\\ |
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| **Remote attacks**\\ | **Remote attacks**\\ |
| For killing units, Seeking Arrow is accessible early and can be spammed thanks to national Air access and income. With boosters, other spells become available, such as Fires from Afar, which also can be spammed. In the late game, these spells can be combined with __Murdering Winter__, which in turn can be enhanced with Wolven Winter. An empowered Vyedun or a Flame Spirit can be given boosters to also cast Flames From the Sky on top of all that, if the game goes on long enough for you to reach Evocation 9. Most importantly, a wide magic access allows Vanarus to stack effects from army-killing spells. On the same turn as you cast remote attacks, you can send a Wind of Death raider in the same province via Cloud Trapeze to do damage during magic phase, and also send another Wind of Death attack via normal movement phase. If you don't have this many Death2 Vanabogs, same damage-stacking tactic can be done with Wolven Winter + Murdering Winter + Flames from The Sky + Fires from Afar, although it could be quicker and cheaper to Empower a few Death1 Vanabogs to 2. With Turmoil3 + Luck3 + Magic3 scales and/or a sizeable collection of Firebirds you can do all of the above. Baba Yaga can cast Leprosy and later Foul Air, which opens an opportunity to bombard an enemy army or a strong raider over the course of several turns, due to disease preventing HP recovery at the end of the turn. Conjuration 8, on the other hand, not only unlocks Leshiys, but also allows Baba Yaga to cast Manifestation for remote assassinations which are almost guaranteed to succeed.\\ | For killing units, Seeking Arrow is accessible early and can be mass-cast thanks to national Air access and income. With boosters, other spells become available, such as Fires from Afar, which also can be mass-cast on one province. In the late game, these spells can be combined with __Murdering Winter__, which in turn can be enhanced with Wolven Winter. An empowered Vyedun or a Flame Spirit can be given boosters to also cast Flames From the Sky on top of all that, if the game goes on long enough for you to reach Evocation 9. Most importantly, a wide magic access allows Vanarus to stack effects from army-killing spells. On the same turn as you cast remote attacks, you can send a Wind of Death raider in the same province via Cloud Trapeze to do damage during magic phase, and also send another Wind of Death attack via normal movement phase. If you don't have this many Death2 Vanabogs, same damage-stacking tactic can be done with Wolven Winter + Murdering Winter + Flames from The Sky + Fires from Afar, although it could be quicker and cheaper to Empower a few Death1 Vanabogs to 2. With Turmoil3 + Luck3 + Magic3 scales and/or a sizeable collection of Firebirds you can do all of the above. Baba Yaga can cast Leprosy and later Foul Air, which opens an opportunity to bombard an enemy army or a strong raider over the course of several turns, due to disease preventing HP recovery at the end of the turn. Conjuration 8, on the other hand, not only unlocks Leshiys, but also allows Baba Yaga to cast Manifestation for remote assassinations which are almost guaranteed to succeed.\\ |
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| For destroying provinces, either Wolven Winter or Breath of the Desert + Hurricane are the soonest available, and all three can be cast at the same time if the intent is to harm the province. But this is just the beginning. Vanarus has the potential to completely devastate provinces, driving them to nearly zero population and creating unmanageable amounts of unrest within one turn. This is especially useful against nations which rely on capital-only units or a massive army of recruitable troops. For example, __Wrath of Pazuzu__ can be mass-cast by every Air3 Vanabog at the same province for great effect. To diversify your gem usage, other spells can also be mass-cast and stacked, such as Raging Hearts and Locust Swarms (although the latter only raises unrest and does not kill population). A Vanarusian Sage with Earth+Death random paths can put on Earth Boots to cast Blight. In long games, you can research Thaumaturgy 8 and Evocation 9 to have Baba Yaga cast Black Death on top of all of the aforementioned spells, while forest mages or summons cast Volcanic Eruption and Tidal Wave. Just these three late game spells are usually enough to reduce any province to almost nothing, and whoever is left alive might be killed by their own nation's patrollers.\\ | For destroying provinces, either Wolven Winter or Breath of the Desert + Hurricane are the soonest available, and all three can be cast at the same time if the intent is to harm the province. But this is just the beginning. Vanarus has the potential to completely devastate provinces, driving them to nearly zero population and creating unmanageable amounts of unrest within one turn. This is especially useful against nations which rely on capital-only units or a massive army of recruitable troops. For example, __Wrath of Pazuzu__ can be mass-cast by every Air3 Vanabog at the same province for great effect. To diversify your gem usage, other spells can also be mass-cast and stacked, such as Raging Hearts and Locust Swarms (although the latter only raises unrest and does not kill population). A Vanarusian Sage with Earth+Death random paths can put on Earth Boots to cast Blight. In long games, you can research Thaumaturgy 8 and Evocation 9 to have Baba Yaga cast Black Death on top of all of the aforementioned spells, while forest mages or summons cast Volcanic Eruption and Tidal Wave. Just these three late game spells are usually enough to reduce any province to almost nothing, and whoever is left alive might be killed by their own nation's patrollers.\\ |
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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**\\ |
| Trade Wind can be cast by Old Bear Thunder to improve income in coastal provinces, which you might have several if you are playing with Luck 3 scales (due to the possibility of getting an Alchemist or an Adept of the Golden Order). All dome spells except for Dome of Corruption are within reach and can be stacked to protect provinces with Alkonosts, or even if you just want to keep your researchers safe.\\ | Trade Wind can be cast by Old Bear Thunder to improve income in coastal provinces, which you might have several of, if you are playing with Luck 3 scales (due to the possibility of getting an Alchemist or an Adept of the Golden Order). All dome spells except for Dome of Corruption are within reach and can be stacked to protect provinces with Alkonosts, or even if you just want to keep your researchers safe.\\ |
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| **Mobility spells**\\ | **Mobility spells**\\ |
| * 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 because you will run out of 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.\\ |
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| //Gameplan//\\ | //Gameplan//\\ |
| Rapid expansion, throne rush, defensive playstyle, heavy use of items and warrior-mages, summoned armies, global enchantments and dominion push. | Rapid expansion, throne rush, heavy use of fortifications, heavy use of items and warrior-mages, summoned armies, global enchantments and dominion push. |
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| //Pros//\\ | //Pros//\\ |
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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//\\ |
| 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, Quicken Self, 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, you can boost your Wyvern production with Dragon Sceptres.\\ | 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 Banes 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.\\ | 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 Banes 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.\\ |
| //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 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 Air Elementals, 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) ==== |
| 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.\\ | 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, a common Holy site with Astral income.\\ | 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, a common Holy site with Astral income.\\ |
| 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. In most cases, later in the game 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, as well as Boots of the Messenger. Set him 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. In most cases, later in the game 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, as well as Boots of the Messenger. Set him to stand in the back and attack rear, with a script to cast Iron Skin, Temper Flesh, Mossbody, Personal Regeneration, Quicken Self, 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.\\ |
| 11) Use your blood income to push your dominion into enemy lands so that you can use your Pretender offensively. But a higher priority is probably demon production. 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 support your blessed troops or stand under Wrathful Skies without any problem, Devils are the most attractive because of your Drain3+Luck2 scales. Even though their heat aura is negated by your Cold 3 scales, they still fight well in cold (it's not like they have Fire Power ability). The only downside is the fact that they will have +2 encumbrance due to severe cold, but they usually win battles before that can matter. 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). 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. You may also try to use intense dominion pressure through blood sarcifice with Alkonosts to domkill enemies and to enhance your casting of Vengeful Water if you decide to use it.\\ | 11) Use your blood income to push your dominion into enemy lands so that you can use your Pretender offensively. But a higher priority is probably demon production. 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 support your blessed troops or stand under Wrathful Skies without any problem, Devils are the most attractive because of your Drain3+Luck2 scales. Even though their heat aura is negated by your Cold 3 scales, they still fight well in cold (it's not like they have Fire Power ability). The only downside is the fact that they will have +2 encumbrance due to severe cold, but they usually win battles before that can matter. 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). 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. You may also try to use intense dominion pressure through blood sarcifice with Alkonosts to domkill enemies and to enhance your casting of Vengeful Water if you decide to use it.\\ |
| 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.\\ |
