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vanarus-guide [2026/08/02 12:09]
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 **National heroes**\\  **National heroes**\\ 
  
-Old Bear Thunder the Last Perkunu - too frail and too valuable to be used as a combat mage. Pray that he doesn't die from a disease before you have a way to cure him. With one more level in Nature from boosters he becomes young again and stops getting sick. Can forge and cast powerful stuff like magic path boosters and global enchantments. He is also your only source of Astral magic. Do not use him for Mind Hunt or Astral Projection, because if he gets Feebleminded, he loses the ability to recuperate from his afflictions even with Nature boosters. You can Empower him in Astral for 30 pearls to give him the ability to summon Alkonosts.\\ +Old Bear Thunder the Last Perkunu - too frail and too valuable to be used as a combat mage. Pray that he doesn't die from a disease before you have a way to cure him. With one more level in Nature from boosters he becomes young again and stops getting sick. Can forge and cast powerful stuff like magic path boosters and global enchantments. He is also your only source of Astral magic. Do not use him for Mind Hunt or Astral Projection, because if he gets Feebleminded, he loses the ability to recuperate from his afflictions even with Nature boosters. You can Empower him in Astral for 30 pearls to give him the ability to summon Alkonosts and to forge Starshine Skullcaps for lizard Shamans. High magic paths give him decent magic leadership values, so he can lead magic beings in battle if you don't mind losing him. Although it is very risky, he does give you the option to rush Alteration research and use him to cast Fog Warriors and Mass Protection on Chud Hirdmen on the battlefield. Just keep in mind that he is old and sickly, and that even weak Astral mages may try to kill him with Magic Duel.\\ 
  
 Yngvar the Varyag - his main purpose is to bring a host of Oath-Bound into your capital a turn after his arrival (although in reality the Oath-Bounds will arrive at his current location at the start of the turn following his arrival). It is hard to think of any particular use for him. He is worse than a Vanabog in every way, except for coming for free and having no upkeep. You can have him sit in a fort for the whole duration of a game and do tasks too small for the more important mages, such as summoning Simargls, casting Revive King, etc. There is no point in sending him into combat, aside from maybe to carry a Crystal Shield, which is something Vanabogs can't do.\\  Yngvar the Varyag - his main purpose is to bring a host of Oath-Bound into your capital a turn after his arrival (although in reality the Oath-Bounds will arrive at his current location at the start of the turn following his arrival). It is hard to think of any particular use for him. He is worse than a Vanabog in every way, except for coming for free and having no upkeep. You can have him sit in a fort for the whole duration of a game and do tasks too small for the more important mages, such as summoning Simargls, casting Revive King, etc. There is no point in sending him into combat, aside from maybe to carry a Crystal Shield, which is something Vanabogs can't do.\\ 
  
-Baba Yaga the Hag - same idea as the Last Perkunu, but with different paths and without being plugged into life support on arrival. She is also an extremely fast flier with built-in resistances, great undead and magic leadership and magic paths suitable for different army-wiping battlefield enchantments, which might make her useful for some surprise attacks, but in most cases it is better to not risk losing her, unless you are going to Twiceborn and Transform her. Before battlefield enchantments are available, you can use her as a very fast stealthy raider (with a Shademail Haubergeon equipped), attacking deep into enemy territory with a host of Shades, Killer Mantises and Fire Ants, for example, but such a move would be rather risky, because, as previously mentioned, you don't want to lose her. She is also the only one who gives you access to Rusalka summons in each era, but you might never use them, because Vanarus has no natural Water gem income and no access to the Volla of the Bountiful Forest titan, which is available for EA Rus and LA Bogarus. You do have recruitable Vyedmas who can search for Water sites, unlike other eras, but with the ability to do blood sacrifice, your Water gems might be better used on Vengeful Water.\\ +Baba Yaga the Hag - same idea as the Last Perkunu, but with different paths and without being plugged into life support on arrival. She is also an extremely fast flier with built-in resistances, great undead and magic leadership and magic paths suitable for different army-wiping battlefield enchantments, which might make her useful for some surprise attacks, but in most cases it is better to not risk losing her, unless you are going to Twiceborn and Transform her. Before battlefield enchantments are available, you can use her as a very fast stealthy raider (with a Shademail Haubergeon equipped), attacking deep into enemy territory with a host of Shades, Killer Mantises and Fire Ants, for example, but such a move would be rather risky, because, as previously mentioned, you don't want to lose her. She gives you the risky option of rushing Alteration for casting Darkness with her, which can be a great battlefield enchantment for an army of summoned troops with darkvision or spirit sight. She is also the only one who gives you access to Rusalka summons in each era, but you might never use them, because Vanarus has no natural Water gem income and no access to the Volla of the Bountiful Forest titan, which is available for EA Rus and LA Bogarus. You do have recruitable Vyedmas who can search for Water sites, unlike other eras, but with the ability to do blood sacrifice, your Water gems might be better used on Vengeful Water.\\ 
  
 ==== National spells ==== ==== National spells ====
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 **Global Enchantments**\\  **Global Enchantments**\\ 
-Old Bear Thunder can cast __Mother Oak__ with some cheap boosters for extra Nature income. The same goes for Dark Skies, which helps with morale tactics such as Wailing Winds. With some path climbing, he also can cast The Wrath of God, an all-around strong damage-dealing global which benefits builds with weak economic scales. Additionally, he is capable of casting Fata Morgana without much trouble, although the usefulness of such spell is unclear, unless you are also planning on casting Foul Air and possibly Burden of Time with Baba Yaga, so the combination of these spells would increase unrest everywhere in the world except in your lands. Foul Air also can be used as a way to enhance your The Wrath of God, remote attacks and Wind of Death raids by preventing HP recovery worldwide (if you have a Recuperation bless). __Vengeful Water__ is hard to get as Vanarus, but is extremely powerful thanks to the national ability to perform blood sacrifices, turning this global from a powerful defensive spell into a powerful offensive one, which is complemented nicely by __The Wrath of God__. Your best bet for casting Vengeful Water is an Empowered Vodyanoy or a Naiad with boosters, or a Pretender specifically designed to cast the spell. A Leshiy with some boosters can cast Enchanted Forests to help with a dominion pushing strategy. The Looming Hell can be used to turn morale tactics into a morale strategy and works great in combination with Dark Skies. If you went Evocation 9 for remote attacks, you also can cast Celestial Rainbow with an Empowered Naiad to safeguard your provinces from mirror responses. Purgatory can be cast by an Empowered Flame Spirit with boosters in cases when an undead nation has grown strong on the map.\\ + __Vengeful Water__ is hard to get as Vanarus, but is extremely powerful thanks to the national ability to perform blood sacrifices, turning this global from a powerful defensive spell into a powerful offensive one, which is complemented nicely by __The Wrath of God__. Your best bet for casting Vengeful Water is an Empowered Vodyanoy or a Naiad with boosters, or a Pretender specifically designed to cast the spell. Old Bear Thunder can cast __Mother Oak__ with some cheap boosters for extra Nature income. The same goes for Dark Skies, which helps with morale tactics such as Wailing Winds. With some path climbing, he also can cast The Wrath of God, an all-around strong damage-dealing global which benefits builds with weak economic scales. Additionally, he is capable of casting Fata Morgana without much trouble, although the usefulness of such spell is unclear, unless you are also planning on casting Foul Air and possibly Burden of Time with Baba Yaga, so the combination of these spells would increase unrest everywhere in the world except in your lands. Foul Air also can be used as a way to enhance your The Wrath of God, remote attacks and Wind of Death raids by preventing HP recovery worldwide (if you have a Recuperation bless). A Leshiy with some boosters can cast Enchanted Forests to help with a dominion pushing strategy. The Looming Hell can be used to turn morale tactics into a morale strategy and works great in combination with Dark Skies. If you went Evocation 9 for remote attacks, you also can cast Celestial Rainbow with an Empowered Naiad to safeguard your provinces from mirror responses. Purgatory can be cast by an Empowered Flame Spirit with boosters in cases when an undead nation has grown strong on the map.\\ 
  
 **Summons**\\ **Summons**\\
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   * 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.\\ 
   * 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 usually you will run out of recruitment points sooner than you will run out of resources. 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 resource/recruitment 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 usually you will run out of recruitment points sooner than you will run out of resources. 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 resource/recruitment cost.\\ 
-  * If you have Turmoil+Luck3 scales, then the more coastal provinces you have, the more chance there is of getting an Adept of the Golden Order in an event. These guys can cast Summon Firebird, Contact Alkonost, Arcane Probing and later can cast The Wrath of God, if Old Bear Thunder dies from a disease soon after arriving, which can happen more often than you would like. You also can cast same rituals if you find Magus Temple, High Temple of the Magii or an Alchemists Guild. An Alchemist is also another possible variant for a shipwreck event. If everything else fails, recruit a lizardman priest to at least cast Arcane Probing and some other spells.\\ +  * If you have Turmoil+Luck3 scales, then the more coastal provinces you have, the more chance there is of getting an Adept of the Golden Order in an event. These guys can cast Summon Firebird, Contact Alkonost, Arcane Probing and later can cast The Wrath of God, if Old Bear Thunder dies from a disease soon after arriving, which can happen more often than you would like. You also can cast same rituals if you find Magus Temple, High Temple of the Magii or an Alchemists Guild. An Alchemist is also another possible variant for a shipwreck event. Not only that, but Adepts of the Golden Order and Adepts of the Silver Order have high magic leadership, while Adepts of the Iron Order and High Maguses are not too bad either, which means that they are far better leaders for your summoned magic beings than your recrtuitable or summonable commanders, at least until Awaken Sleeper becomes available. If everything else fails, recruit a lizardman priest to at least cast Arcane Probing and some other spells.\\ 
   * 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.\\ 
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 //Situational Tactics://\\  //Situational Tactics://\\ 
  
 +  * 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. 
 +  * Feel free to remove Growth 1 and replace it with anything you want (but preferably not Productivity) in cases when you play on a small map.\\ 
   * 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.\\    * 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.\\  
-  * Feel free to remove Growth 1 and replace it with anything you want (but preferably not Productivity) in cases when you play on a small map.\\ 
-  * Because of the ability to do blood sacrifice, you also may consider setting Dominion strength to 3 and getting Growth 2 instead, although this will seriously hurt your ability to use the pretender offensively.\\  
  
 ==== Awake Deives of the Sun (WIP) ==== ==== Awake Deives of the Sun (WIP) ====
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 //Situational tactics//\\  //Situational tactics//\\ 
-  * On small maps, feel free to reduce Dominion 10 and Growth 3 in exchange for a better Productivity scale or a bless.\\ +  * You may reduce Productivity scale to Sloth 1 and take an extra level in Astral or Death instead. This will reduce your Chud Hirdman production and make early development a little slower and survival a little more difficult, but in exchange you will have an easier time casting powerful Astral and Death spells.\\  
 +  * On small maps, feel free to reduce Dominion 10 and Growth 3 in exchange for a better Productivity scale or more magic on the Pretender.\\ 
   * If you are playing against opponents with strong sacreds, it is recommended to rush Alteration 1 and Evocation 2 or 3 at first. Continue to research Alteration and Evocation for powerful damaging spells as long as the threat persists.\\    * If you are playing against opponents with strong sacreds, it is recommended to rush Alteration 1 and Evocation 2 or 3 at first. Continue to research Alteration and Evocation for powerful damaging spells as long as the threat persists.\\ 
   * If harmful enemy dominion is not a concern, you may choose to design this pretender with a lower dominion score, and in exchange increase the Idol's level of Astral magic. This will save Astral pearls on Empowerment in late game and may allow you to cast Strands of Arcane Power in the late game.   * If harmful enemy dominion is not a concern, you may choose to design this pretender with a lower dominion score, and in exchange increase the Idol's level of Astral magic. This will save Astral pearls on Empowerment in late game and may allow you to cast Strands of Arcane Power in the late game.
vanarus-guide.1785672565.txt.gz · Last modified: 2026/08/02 12:09 by reinc

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