Need to kill a golem...

[Viajero]

See attached picture of a Golem selfteleported to my rearguard, adjacent to my capital. Turn 60+ almost everything researched, playing as MA Ermor. How do I stop this thing from going from province to province as if it were a walk in the park?

Also, is there a way to know who will be moving first if I move into his province? or is this destined to be cat and mouse?

Any help appreciated!

Thanks,

[Gregstrom]

You're MA Ermor. You have Astral. Teleport in 2 or 3 mages with Mind Duel scripted and a couple of gems each. If you're worried about PD, add a couple more pearls to each mage and script Returning.

[Calahan]

Isn't solving these types of problems a big part of the fun and attraction to Dominions? I can't imagine how any game is fun to play if you are just given all the best answers to the problems confronted on a plate.

It's similar to buying an adventure game and then immediately looking for a walk-through solution to it. Where's the enjoyment in that? Oh well, everyone has there own idea of computer gaming I guess.

[Executor]

You're MA Ermor. You have Astral. Teleport in 2 or 3 mages with Mind Duel scripted and a couple of gems each. If you're worried about PD, add a couple more pearls to each mage and script Returning.

No, that won't work.
More than one mage will make him cast returning.
Any items on the mage will also make him cast returning.
You can send only one mage at the time to magic duel but you risk losing that mage to say? call of the wind he'll cast on himself to protect from this exact scenario.

[Viajero]

Isn't solving these types of problems a big part of the fun and attraction to Dominions? I can't imagine how any game is fun to play if you are just given all the best answers to the problems confronted on a plate.

It's similar to buying an adventure game and then immediately looking for a walk-through solution to it. Where's the enjoyment in that? Oh well, everyone has there own idea of computer gaming I guess.

I agree, but to be honest I obviously have my own ideas and would try them anyways, but if I want to make sure or increase my chances I would like to hear the experts advice!

Thanks in advance!

[Viajero]

You're MA Ermor. You have Astral. Teleport in 2 or 3 mages with Mind Duel scripted and a couple of gems each. If you're worried about PD, add a couple more pearls to each mage and script Returning.

No, that won't work.
More than one mage will make him cast returning.
Any items on the mage will also make him cast returning.
You can send only one mage at the time to magic duel but you risk losing that mage to say? call of the wind he'll cast on himself to protect from this exact scenario.

Im afraid I did not understand this response. Who do you mean when you say "him", the golem? that will only happen if my opponent has scripted it or the AI decides so, doesnt it?

[Executor]

However looking at the picture again I notice that he doesn't even have gems for returning. Magic duel the bastard!

Why hydra armor on a lifeless unit?

[Executor]

I mean the best way to protect yourself from teleporting in mages that are about to cast magic duel on you Golem, or whoever, is to cast call of the wind on you Golem.
He will teleport the mage with magic duel orders in the magic phase and the birds will arrive in the magic phase too but since it is your province the birds will attack first and since they are fliers they will kill the mage in the very first turn.

If he sends more than one mage, the golem will cast returning ( presuming you have the gems and the orders of course) and if he places items to survive the bird attack the Golem will again cast returning. It's a bullet-prof system.

And yes you need to script returning and have the gems for it.

[Viajero]

Oh I see, but my opponent is machaka and machaka does not have much air magic does it? unless he got indies.

I was thinking another option is Desintegrate or Opposition but the issue here is the 25 range, and that he also can cast Magic Resistance, isn´t it?

[Executor]

Disintegrate has longer range, so use that before opposition.
I see he has 23MR, that isn't good enough to keep him safe from repeated disintegrate so one will kill him if you provide enough chaff to work around.

But the best way to kill them is still magic duel if he forgets gems or teleport your own SC/Thug equipped to kill him.
Work on his weak points. He only has 12 protection, so for example use a thug with boots of quickness and gloves of the gladiator.

[vfb]

However looking at the picture again I notice that he doesn't even have gems for returning. Magic duel the bastard!

Why hydra armor on a lifeless unit?

Pearls are to be carried separately on a scout heading into the province the same month, so your opponent deploys his counter to the province and the Golems unexpectedly return. But to do this really properly you have to forget to xfer the pearls from the scout onto the Golem.

[Redeyes]

If more than one mage is going to make him cast returning, a single air mage with a staff of storms set to summoning air elementals/living cloud would do.

He is entirely defenseless against the AN attack of an air elemental and with his low attack roll wouldn't be able to take out even one per turn.

Go for living cloud (perhaps with a fairy queen) if you suspect a large amount of PD in the province - but if there's PD, he would return away just from one mage.


Btb, did you create the Golem this golem on a special testmap or is there some other reason he is in the hall of fame without any experience?

[Illuminated One]

If you don't have gems with you for whatever reason, you can also teleport someone in with a crystal matrix scripted to cast returning. Script the golem to cast communion slave and he will be carried away. This also works if you want to evacuate large communions.

[Executor]

If you don't have gems with you for whatever reason, you can also teleport someone in with a crystal matrix scripted to cast returning. Script the golem to cast communion slave and he will be carried away. This also works if you want to evacuate large communions.

You'd have to watch which mage you send and who plays first, the golem or the mage as to not screw yourself.

And again, the Golem might retreat to a single mage holding an item, depends what mage so need to be tested. Illusioninst with a SoS no, Cealum Seraph with a SoS yes. Tricky tricky tricky

Golems don't get experience.

Water elementals are best against tartarinas from my experience, they have 4 crush attacks, AP or AN, can't remember but very high strength.

[WraithLord]

Crush is AP IIRC. Don't forget to quicken them elementals if you can (and it makes sense you should be under most circumstances).

[Viajero]

Thanks for your replays so far guys but I am getting mnore confused. Ive read some replies that suggest ways for the golem to escape, but please remember I am the one trying to defeat him! in any case if the golem escapes and teleports back that would be a partial victory for me as he can not rush my backyard provinces with him anymore.

1- Some posts seem to suggest that the golem AI somehow will decide on its own to cast Returning depending on the number of mages I send to attack the golem? Is my understanding correct? can this happen? I guess for this to happen the golem has to have gems first anyways, and unless my enemy has scripted the golem with returning sometime in the first 5 turns only the AI can decide when after that 5th turn no?, so in theory I would have 5 turns (if my opponent has not scripted it) to kill him.

2- If I teleport mages and have them cast Magic Duel, only the inherent mage base level counts for Magic Duel, i.e. no items that boost S should help any party, correct?

3- If I teleport or cloud trapeze more than 1 mage there, will I see a battle where all mages are present afterwards or will we have separate mage battles, one by one?

4- By the way, will the battles described above in 3, be considered as "Magic Battles" following Rituals casting, as per page 71 in the manual, where the order of events in a turn are explained? i.e. this battles would happen before normal movement?

[thejeff]

1) I don't think I've seen Returning cast unscripted. What depends on the number of mages you send is whether the AI is willing to use gems, even to follow the script.

2) Correct.

3) One battle with all present.

4) Before normal movement. That's what allows you to attack the golem before he moves away.

[Viajero]

1) I don't think I've seen Returning cast unscripted. What depends on the number of mages you send is whether the AI is willing to use gems, even to follow the script.

2) Correct.

3) One battle with all present.

4) Before normal movement. That's what allows you to attack the golem before he moves away.

Cool thanks. I think I have now a plan that may work, but im a beginner and my opponent is a veteran so I should be expecting the unexpected... Will keep you posted with the results!

[Viajero]

1) I don't think I've seen Returning cast unscripted. What depends on the number of mages you send is whether the AI is willing to use gems, even to follow the script.

Ah, question I forgot to ask on the above. Will my mages have the same issue if i script them (with enough gems) to Return after an eventual (successfull) magic duel? can the AI override my own script and decide that mages stay and "fight" against the DP?

[NTJedi]

See attached picture of a Golem selfteleported to my rearguard, adjacent to my capital. Turn 60+ almost everything researched, playing as MA Ermor. How do I stop this thing from going from province to province as if it were a walk in the park?

Also, is there a way to know who will be moving first if I move into his province? or is this destined to be cat and mouse?

Any help appreciated!

Thanks,

I'm not sure who put the golem together, but they must have been drunk or in an extreme rush to place hydra armor on him.

Stopping a golem is simple... magic duel.

You could also use any variety of units/commanders which generate the cold aura to take him down.

[Viajero]

Magic Duel is 100 (1 S gem required) fatigue and Returning is 200 (2 S gem required), both S1 spells.

Assuming you have a mage with S2 scripted to first Magic Duel then Returning with just 3 S gems , can he cast both from a fatigue point of view? or does fatigue after Magic Duel (fatigue 100 / (1+2-1) = 50 ) need to be recovered down to zero before being able to cast Returning?

[WraithLord]

It is possible, and indeed likely, that he'll use 2 S for the mind dual rather than one. The AI sometimes does this to reduce fatigue.
I read somewhere that the AI can even decide to use more than 1 additional gem for casting.

[WraithLord]

" * Wind Ride : commanders with earth magic of 4 or more, size 6 or ethereal are not affected.
"

Golem is size 4 or 5 IIRC. Use wind ride and set up something appropriate to help the PD kill him. Like shatter spam, or magic dual :)

[MaxWilson]

Pearls are to be carried separately on a scout heading into the province the same month, so your opponent deploys his counter to the province and the Golems unexpectedly return. But to do this really properly you have to forget to xfer the pearls from the scout onto the Golem.

My, what a witty fellow you are. :)

-Max

[MaxWilson]

" * Wind Ride : commanders with earth magic of 4 or more, size 6 or ethereal are not affected.
"

Golem is size 4 or 5 IIRC. Use wind ride and set up something appropriate to help the PD kill him. Like shatter spam, or magic dual :)

I believe Wind Ride is still bugged and will with high probability drop the commander somewhere en route to the ambush.

-Max

[Agema]

I tried Wind Riding a size 4 non-mage unit quite a few times, and succeeded only once. It's a spell currently with serious limitations, whether bugged or WAD.

[Illuminated One]

Yep, that's kind of annoying especially as it would make sense to windride enemy scs into armies supposed to kill them. Windriding a human around less so.

[NTJedi]

Magic Duel is 100 (1 S gem required) fatigue and Returning is 200 (2 S gem required), both S1 spells.

Assuming you have a mage with S2 scripted to first Magic Duel then Returning with just 3 S gems , can he cast both from a fatigue point of view? or does fatigue after Magic Duel (fatigue 100 / (1+2-1) = 50 ) need to be recovered down to zero before being able to cast Returning?

Well since it's a single golem why even worry about casting returning? I wouldn't risk a good level_4 or higher astral mage. Don't you have some level_1 and/or level_2 astral mages who can march with an army which also fields units/thugs with the cold aura?

In a current game I have several level_1 astral mages who's first order is magic duel for the pure purpose of a teleporting golem. The magic duel only involves the current base level of astral magic for each involved, thus any item or spell buffs won't make a difference.

[NTJedi]

I tried Wind Riding a size 4 non-mage unit quite a few times, and succeeded only once. It's a spell currently with serious limitations, whether bugged or WAD.

I completely agree... ideally I think the spell should be enhanced to wind ride a target into another target province. This way you could toss one enemy commander into another enemy province.

Perhaps in Dominions_4... another time.

[Wrana]

I completely agree... ideally I think the spell should be enhanced to wind ride a target into another target province. This way you could toss one enemy commander into another enemy province.

Perhaps in Dominions_4... another time.
...another galaxy... ;)