[OmikronWarrior]

Pretender Design:

With the above strategy of focusing on positive scales, Midgard has some leeway in Pretender design. It does not need a Pretender to expand, nor does Midgard need to figure out the cheapest way to get W9N4 or W9S9 (and there is no totally free way). There are two things to consider with your Pretender: do you want an SC chasis and what magic does your Pretender give you. First, however, a discussion of scales are in order.

Order/Turmoil: Since Midgard likes money (Skinshifter and Galdermen), Order-3 is easy to recommend. It will be a good, constant money maker through out the game.

Hot/Cold: Midgard has a natural affinity for Cold-1, so thats an obvious decision. The choice to proceed to Cold-2 is less obvious. Since the game starts in summer, there is a very good chance that there will be a seasonal shift of 1 tick towards hot. This means you might actually maximize income for the first 6 to 8 turns by taking an unfavorable scale. However, in the long run this will work against you. Cold-2 turns into Cold-3 in the winter turns, resulting in a devastating -10% income penalty and slaps a +2 encumbrance penalty on all units. If you absolutely have to have points, maybe, but I'd recommend sticking with Cold-1.

Growth/Death: Midgard does not have any mages at risk for old age, except for recruitable independents such as sages. Hence, the usual motivation for Growth (avoiding crippling or killing afflictions on old mages) does not apply. However, Growth is a very good money maker, noticeable in the short term and as good as Order in the long term. Remember, Midgard likes gold. Combining Order-3 and Growth-3 is a great strategy for Midgard. Less than Growth-3, however, is a little more questionable. Exponential population growth means Growth-3 is disproportionally better than Growth-1 considering the same cost per tick. If not Growth-3, than consider putting points into Production instead. Stay away from Death, however, as that will allow devastating plague events to cripple your income.

Production/Sloth: This scale determines two things: how long you can go before needing to build a second fortress to produce Skinshifters and how quickly you can amass Skinshifters should you go to war. Positive production on resource rich maps lets you 'bank' your money during peace time, and rapidly mobilize during war time. It also lets you consider building Einheres more freely and helps maximize income. However, Sloth is hardly crippling, as with enough fortresses gold is almost always going to be the limiting factor in unit production. Still, going below Sloth-1 requires more forts and starts to hurt your income.

Luck/Misforune: Midgard's heroes are forgettable, the PD does alright in repelling barbarians, its armies are mobile, Volva reduce the likelihood of bad events, and you already have Growth and Order removing some of the most dangerous excesses of random events. In short, Midgard is an excellent candidate for Misfortune. Misfortune-3 might be a little too much, but Misfortune-2 works fine. Make no mistake, Misfortune precludes a lot of very favorable random events, such as free gems, massive income hikes, and more. Yet, if you need points this is probably the least painful place to acquire them.

Magic/Drain: The effects of this scale are well known and understood. Basically, you need to balance research needs with other Pretender expectations. Midgard comes alive with Evocation-5, and hitting that milestone earlier is a huge help and hitting it to late can doom your nation. In the long run, your gold scales and hopefully decent early expansion will let you build enough mages to keep up with the Jones in you pick Drain-2, especially if you start with an awake Pretender to research. If not, keeping this scale even is a good idea, and Magic-1 a useful way to go, once again emphasizing long term advantages.

Dominion: Since you should have positive scales (if you do not go read some other guide as you clearly have not been reading this one), it makes sense to want a high dominion to help spread your good scales around. Dominion-9 or 10 is too much, though, and go spend those points on some scales you skimped. Dominion-7 is a nice compromise. If you need points, though, you can strip Dominion as low as 5 and plan to aggressively push it using Blood Sacrifice.

Choosing a Chasis:

The earlier questions remain, do you want an SC chasis and regardless of the answer to the first question you want to pick magic paths that add utility to your nation.

Air: Two separate Air boosters come available at Air-4, but Midgard does not have any chance at acquiring an Air-4 mage. Hence, it makes sense to put Air-4 on your Pretender. If not, expect to empower an Galderman very early on. Also, do not bother getting anything less than Air-4.

Astral: Astral-4 means Rings of Sorcery and Wizardry can be forged by your Pretender (assuming he or she has a head) and puts Wish within reach though still requiring some empowerment . Astral-2 and Earth-2 (possibly achieved through boosters) let the Pretender build Crystal Coins (Astral +1) and Slave and Master Matrices. However, these low levels of Astral Magic make the Pretender vulnerable to Mind Duel and thus unsuited for SC duty. Higher levels, a minimum of 6, help alleviate these concerns, though they are still there, and make Wish more easily accessed.

Blood: Dominion bylaws state Blood Slaves are cheap and empowering with them is always an option. Depending on how much and how soon Blood magic becomes part of Midgard's strategy, there is little reason to include blood magic on a Pretender. However, if a nation wants to start casting blood spells right away, having a Blood-4 pretender to build Blood boosters is acceptable. Also, Blood-3 combines with Nature-2 and Earth-2, separately, to make Armor of Twisting Thorn and Blood Stones, respectively.

Death: Death-1 is redundant. Death-2 is useful as getting a Death-2 Galderman requires luck or patience. And Death-2 enables the forging of Skull Staffs, not unimportant. Death-3 is very useful, as it gives Midgard easy access to Skullfaces, an important Death-Booster giving your Pretender Death-5, where Wraith Helms can be forged. Throw Rings of Sorcery and Wizardry on the Pretender to start summoning Tartarians. There is little reason for Death-4 or above.

Earth: The capitol Earth income of 1 and the high likelihood of recruiting Galderman with at least Earth-1 make Earth-1 absolutely redundant on a Pretender for utility. If a player wants to be assured a remote site searcher, Earth-2 enables Earth Boots. Still, Earth magic lets players climb a ladder using Troll Kings (requires Earth-3, comes with Earth-3), assuming the player eventually recruits an Earth-2 Galderman. However, Earth magic is great for SC chaises, and Earth-4 helps manage fatigue on Vanjarls should they be used as thugs.

Fire: This path offers little help to Midgard. Combined with Earth it allows the forging of firebrands, a great weapon for thugs, but your Pretender's turn is probably better spent doing something else. By site searching other paths, independent mages can hopefully be found to break into fire later on.

Nature: Midgard has access to Nature-1 mages at most, and no capitol nature income. Hence, giving your Pretender Nature-2 at least to site search and build Thistle maces is key to having a strong Nature income. Nature-3, when combined with a Thistle Mace and Moonvine Bracelet (Nature-3, Astral-1) yields Nature-5 where Treelord Staffs (+2 Nature) can be forged and Mother Oak and Gift of Health can be cast. It also allows players to summon Fairy Courts and the important Fairy Queen (Nature-3, Air-3 and heals). The bless benefits of Nature-4 are negligible, but there.

Water: Unlike fire, water can be part of a long term strategy for Midgard, though it has no immediate synergy with its mages. Items like Boots of Quickness are tremendously helpful for thugs. More importantly, Clams can be forged with Water-3 and Nature-1 give Midgard a substantial Astral income boost. So, using a pretender to site search early is one way to go, and hope to get either independent mages capable of forging Clams with some boosters/empowerment, or summon a Naiad with combined Nature and Water magic. Finally, Water-4 gives a +2 defense bonus to some already incredibly high defense sacred units. Worth considering for the bless alone if the player plans on making Vanjarls thugs.

Physical Forms:

Thanks to Skinshifters, you don't need a Super Combatant to expand. However, some players just like the comfort of knowing they have an 80+ HP unit that can be equipped to take on entire armies at some point in the game. This section is for you. In general, such builds are best set to be asleep while your nation builds up research and items to equip and buff the Pretender when he awakes.

Wyrm (50p) Build 1: Like King Pawn's opening, its hard to go wrong with this build. High HP, Regeneration, and fear when combined with Dominion-10 for Awe+2 creates a great early expansion Pretender in the absence of equipment and magic. The simple utility of this build makes it difficult to disparage it, though it goes against what has been suggested elsewhere. It will help Midgard expand very early on, though its own utility plummets once magic arrives and everyone else allies against you and your enormous early expansion. In addition, the Wyrm is amphibious allowing Midgard to expand into water provinces with out forging.

Wyrm (50p) Build 2: Forgo early expansion, spend less on Dominion to put some Magic Paths on the Wyrm. Certainly doable, but the absence of chest and hand slots suggest another chasis for this strategy.

Titan (125p): Expensive, but probably worth it. He comes with Air and Earth Magic, Size-6, and a phenomenal shield. 50 more points to add a new path, which is not recommended.

Asynja(75p): Cheaper and slightly smaller than the Titan, the most important difference is the lack of base Earth magic. This Chasis also has the highest defense and attack skills. If you choose to forgo Earth magic on your SC Pretender (certainly a viable decision), then chances are this is your chasis.

Keeper of the Bridge (75p): Comes with Air and Earth magic and a giant Patrol bonus. Most useful if Midgard's scales do not include Growth to help income as he can Patrol while taxes are set high. Obviously, keeping him awake is vital to this practice. Other than that, very similar to the Asynja.

Father of Winter (75p): A Size-6 Pretender for cheap and has synergy with cold environments. The base Water magic, however, is less useful than Air or Earth for Super Combatants. Nature magic is recommended as an additional path.

Allfather(150p): The most expensive form available (the VQ might as well not be available). However, new paths are 20p cheaper than other SC's, and the Allfather has a ton of comparative advantages. Air and Death magic are present as bases, which are two paths useful to Midgard. Other advantages of the Allfather include, flying, glamor, Size-6, and sailing.

Rainbow(0-60p): The large variety of rainbow pretender chasis and the lack diversity among them allows them to be described together. Basically, choosing a rainbow lets Midgard invest in 2 to 4 additional paths than what a super combantant would allow. This advantage is compounded by the presence of path synergies, like Astral and Earth. The Sage, the Enchantress and the Crone are probably the best choices for this purpose. The Sage provides an enormous research bonus, the Enchantress comes with two paths and generates an Astral Pearl every turn, and the Crone does not cost any points and has four miscellaneous slots. However, depending on what paths you want almost any of the chasises can be used.