Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?

[Xavier]

I'm curious what people put on their Niefel Jarls (E9N6 blessed) in the early game. Let's say, you're limited to Cons4 and death and water gems and maybe blood slaves, with suggestions for what to do with extra gems of other types being welcome (like AESN). Also suggestions from Cons6 are welcome as well, but focus on Cons4

[HoneyBadger]

Horror helmet is one of the first, and one of the best pieces of gear you can give them. After that, copper plate, amulet of missle protection, and either lightning spear or (better) sword of swiftness are usually the first gear I give them. Ideally, I'd give them ring of fire and charm of magic resistance, they're low cost but can be harder for Niefel to make. Lead shield's another good low cost item.

All that aside, you have to consider that eventually you're going to want to equip your Niefel Jarls with top end items-so the more gems you spend on cheaper items, the less you'll have for wraithcrowns, jade armour, fire/ice/shadowbrands etc.

[Lingchih]

I give them a Horror helmet first, then a lucky pendant and amulet of MR next (granted, you have to have astral, but I always make sure of that). Then I make Frost Brands for them, and starshine skullcaps when I get to it (for the extra MR).

I rarely equip them with any armor except what they come with, until later in the game. They come equipped with a wonderful shield, which I will only replace later with an Eye shield, or something better. Occasionally, if I have one in the Hall of Fame (quite common for them) that has Heroic attack ability, I will give that one two Frost Brands.

[Xavier]

thanks guys. I just took out arco's capital, so i do have some astral income. I'll hit up arcane probing as soon as i get cons4 done with so i can increase that income some for the lucky and the MR.

and yeah, i know spending gems on cheap items will take away from more important stuff, but this is a really large game (19 players, i think) on a very crowded map, so I'm gonna have to stay very competitive through every stage of the game.

[Lingchih]

You want to make your Jarls ultra-magic resistant. That is their only weakness (when double blessed). They have a good MR out of the box, but you want to make them ultra-MR. That way, they can resist the nasty spells that will be cast at them later on (Charm, Petrify). They can take out entire armies, but they have to be able to resist the powerful spells.

[Xavier]

yeah, i'm well aware of the petrify weakness, as I'm sure you know

[Lingchih]

Yes, you taught me the petrify lesson Xavier. You did notice that my later Jarls were paralyzed frequently, but never Petrified again.

[Xavier]

Sure did. And because I was fighting C'tis and Tir as well, I had to split my army up so I couldn't dedicate enough casters (or troops!) for the paralyze to be sufficient to take you down. Losing those two or three battles in your second fort after taking your capital really, really cost me.

Back on topic though:

You don't use boots of the messenger or amulet of resilience or anything? Fatigue hasn't been a problem yet with the E9 bless, but with quickness up they *are* gaining 4 fatigue per turn, and their buff cycle puts them up over 20 fatigue to begin with. In a prolonged battle that's certain death, is it not?

[HoneyBadger]

I use both of those, when I can get them. Resilience is just as important as anti-magic and regeneration. The boots are nice to have, as soon as you get a good nature income. You need hags for that, though, and that takes away from other things, for a unit that may start out decrepit.

Lately, I tend to play Niefel with an 8 astral, 8 earth, 4 nature bless Great Enchantress, which means that building hags-or Skratti, for that matter-before she wakes up generally isn't worth it. My whole economy goes into Jarls and Niefels.

[Lingchih]

I do the 9 Earth, 9 Nature double bless. The earth bless pretty much takes care of fatigue, and the nature bless gives them good regen. I have never had a problem with fatigue on them, but yes, I'm sure some boots would be helpful.