Blood?

[apoger]

>instead of getting maenads, they get blood slaves!

I wouldn't mind at all if Pandemoniacs attracted a blood slave or two, particularly if it also required turmoil scale.

Good suggestion.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by apoger:
>instead of getting maenads, they get blood slaves!

I wouldn't mind at all if Pandemoniacs attracted a blood slave or two, particularly if it also required turmoil scale.

Good suggestion.

I think this might require yet another Version though. DIfferent than the no-maenad and the create-vine-things Versions

Also as to the "old gods" I havent checked but if Illwinter held to form they are still around in the monster database, just not used. A new Version would have been made. That means its available for assigning it to yourself or more interestingly to the AI's to use.

For now that would be done with a .map file but soon they will be available as MOD units which would be cool since that effect would be hard to add. MOD means you could use it as a base and change the picture or add other features

[ December 29, 2003, 14:21: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Keir Maxwell]

Originally posted by Endoperez:

And then the thought caught me: instead of getting maenads, they get blood slaves!

Great thought. Lured by the hypnotic attraction of the corrupt Pan the beautful lass gave herself up to the trance and before she knew it she was on the Altar in a role quite different to the one she had imagined.

cheers

Keir

[Keir Maxwell]

Originally posted by apoger:
Early expansion must be done in order to fuel the blood ramp-up later. Same goes for other magics as well. Now that the elemental summons are weakened (compared to Dom1) there is no very early game magic to rush for. This changes the magic dynamic a lot. Better to expand first, then power down on magic work once things are a bit more secure.

National spells have become alot more significant. Panic and Terror being two spells I have usd alot in Dom2. Eagle Eyes is my most commen early spell target and a pretender can often knock that off quickly. For Ctis Raise Dead is still something to keep a serious eye. In general I agree that it was Seasonal Spirits that defined early magic use/abuse in Dom1 and in Dom2 there is no comparable must have early. However there are still a range of useful spells to go for and oddities such as Anathament Salamanders with eyes of aiming casting fireball or air mages with lightning bolts or Astral with its various nasty low level battle spells. Its not hard at all to knock off a moderate level of magic if you are not using your pretender as a SC early and get a useful dish of magic to play with early in the non-blood paths. Sometimes it makes a big difference but mostly its the national spells that I have made a big difference with early.

Cheers

Keir

[Saber Cherry]

Blood Solution

Yay! I got it!

Blood empowerment could be cheaper than other empowerments. I've thought a Dousing Rod should be usable by any mage, not just blood mages. But if not... then since mortals are much more tuned to raw blood energy than other forms of magical energy, why not make blood empowerment much cheaper? Like... say... half price, or a straight 15 slave reduction for every level, or maybe 30 slaves instead of 50 slaves for level-1 blood.

I've also found it nearly impossible to start a blood program soon enough to have it affect the game, even with a large investment, which is sad.

Or... to keep the game more thematic... simply giving all blood races a cheap blood mage would solve the problem... which is, of course, that blood is too slow to make a difference except in long games, and that being a "blood nation" does not really help.

-Cherry

[Jasper]

IMHO this isn't a solution, but makes the situation worse. Why should it be easier for everyone to get into blood magic? It's already pretty easy, considering how cost effective blood hunting with scouts is.

It doesn't take much effort to start summoning Ice Devils, which are effective. Hordes from Hell is even easier to get.

[ December 30, 2003, 10:05: Message edited by: Jasper ]

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Jasper:
IMHO this isn't a solution, but makes the situation worse. Why should it be easier for everyone to get into blood magic? It's already pretty easy, considering how cost effective blood hunting with scouts is.

It doesn't take much effort to start summoning Ice Devils, which are effective. Hordes from Hell is even easier to get.

What's the rant about Horde from Hell? I saw it mentioned as being such a strong spell, but from what I've seen so far, Imps are pretty lousy, and it doesn't look like 25 of them will do much damage to even a low defense Province. Is it really worth the 30 slaves?

(Caveat: I'm mostly playing SP, with lowish AIs - if the spell becomes especially useful vs human opponents or higher AI levels, I wouldn't know)