Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

I tried a few races. Liking the R'lyeh so far..

The whole underwater thing seems to help me not get smacked around.

And i like the whole Ilithid *spelt wrong* Army.

The slaves go in while the Ilithids mind blast and im guessing thats what causing all the paralzying that happens.. Which allows me to kill stuff rout the army and kill more cause they get paralzyed as there running even. Handy..

Hardly taken any losses and such...


Any tips? I search there name but theres most many topics that mention R'lyeh i couldnt find a thread talking about strats maybe someone could point me that way.

And uh the first game i sent my pretender into the void gate and he came out stupid basicly as in no more magical powers and an afflication.. What do i do about that send in different mages?

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

The commanders you can recruit that have priest levels are much less likely to go insane if you send them into the void gate. They're maybe the only ones worth using.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

The summoning is a bit hard to get used to, but it can lead to some middle and end game powerhouses, so it is worth trying. The first thing to do is to run a search on summoning or, alternatively, my user name. A while back I asked the same questions and got some great answers. I will summarize what I remember, but for better information, check out the threads.

You need priest skills to summon. Each time you summon, your skill gets better and the power of what you recruit gets stronger. Use a cheap priest bought on turn one and do not move him until he goes insane, with one exception There is a national hero who has a very good summoning skill, so if you get him, you might have to try him/it out. Use your pretender for other things, he is valuable.

Some of the big things are very powerful. If you get the Gift of Reason spell (use thistle mace and something I forget to boost your nature magic) you can turn the big monsters into commanders, who will use spells and equip some magic items. They then turn into army eating machines!

Not sure, but I think many of the summons cause fear. Try to take advantage of this. While they are holy, the numbers are usually low, so I personally do not recommend designing a pretender just to get good holy powers.

Use your water movement well. Depending on the map and the other races, you can really get behind their lines and hurt them. The map of the UK is especially powerful this way. The seas are very large compared to the land provinces, so you can race down the sides and hit their rich provinces. Even if you do not hold them long, you will force them to spread their forces out while you concentrate yours.

Quickness is a great early spell for your casters, just be careful with fatigue. Learn more about Communion, as it can boost your power and lower fatigue. Join it with quickness and you can pump out a lot of spells quickly. Look at the related magic items, like crystal matrix, they help even more.

Have fun and eat the brains of the land creatures!

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

ahhhh thanks for the tips ill try searching your name and such..


How fast should one expand?

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

As a Water nation and playing against AI only, you aren't in such a hurry. Take a few turns in the beginning so that you can take on those annoying flying Tritons. Then try to use that one army to take few surrounding provinces, all the while building more units in the capital and sending them in as reinforcements. Doing this, you should be able to conquer the provinces around your capital about one per turn once you start. (but only take land provinces if you can do so easily and they will be worth it). If your army is tough enough now, it can move forward; if not, wait for a turn or two and then continue.

You have to minimize losses you take, by either using units you can afford to lose (e.g. Lobo Guards and not Shambler Thralls - both die a lot, but LG are much cheaper) or by killing your enemies before they kill you.

Try to recruit one mage or priest per turn, and have them research Thaumaturgy. Mind Burn at Thaumaturgy 2 is already quite interesting, and later you will get Paralyze (spell-equivalent of Mind Blast), Soul Slay and then Enslave Mind. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

The Starspawn priests are the only creatures who can enter the Void Gate with some possibility of getting back sane. Luck scale affects the amount and power of creatures coming back.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

Another useful tip is using your void gate summonings to guard the summoning priest. The risk of losing a few summons in a horror attack doesn't compare to the loss of a highly skilled summoner.
Usually I assign the first summons to Guard Commander the priest, and then just replace them with stronger summons as they come, this has saved many a priest for me.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

I believe you just need astral magic. But the R'lyeh national priests (who also have astral) have a less chance of getting feebleminded, as others have mentioned.

This is a good idea.




Except for meterorite guards and traitor kings, R'lyeh is a mostly gold intensive nation. Definitely put order to 3. I'd suggest going for sloth scales. You can also get cold scales because temp. doesn't affect water provinces production.

You also don't really have much of a blessing strategy. (It can be *fun* to have a high bless like w9n9 - your priests lifedrain attack and of course the summons can be powerful, but priests arn't really tough enough and summoning doesn't give you enough troops to make it the best strategy.) So I would suggest going for an SC to help expansion.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

Another way to protect your summoning commander is to research the level 2(i think) enchantment spell (returning is in the name somewhere). Have him cast it the first round of combat(since hes getting attacked, that means this gets cast first) and whenever he gets hit he will return safely to your home city...which happens to be where he is anyway. At the cost of 1 astral pearl per combat, you will never lose your commander to being attacked by void summons.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

Until he becomes feeble-minded and loses his magic, that is.

Re: Tips for A newbie Playing as R\'lyeh
 

And doesn't he get damaged even if he is "returned" to his home province?
A single blow could kill him.