Is Ghost Riders too powerful ?

ywl · #1 January 6th, 2004, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NTJedi:
In the games I have played against human and computer opponents this spell seems to be the one of the strongest per cost. For only 5 death gems a large army of longdead horsemen with a powerful wraith lord.

I know for the single player games this spell is KEY for toasting 98% of any enemy armies.

The other key factor is no other spell even comes close to the amount of damage this spell can do to an army based on the cost.

My advice... either increase the cost of the spell or remove some of the longdead riders which appear.

As Pocus said, it's a Level 9 spell.

Also, the Wraith Lord doesn't do you much good since it is not under your control. I haven't used the spell often but judging my experience with the combat AI, he would probably just rout and disappear once the undead riders are banished. And even if the riders successfully beat the local defense, I think it'll only turn the province neutral. A nuaisance but not much more. There are worse things that can be done to your province with such high level spells.

Pale Rider is a lower level spell which can give you similar undead riders. And to me, a more practical spell.

aldin · #2 January 6th, 2004, 10:18 PM

Also remember that part of the cost is the turn it takes your caster to cast it instead of doing something else.

~Aldin

Lord Hammer · #3 January 6th, 2004, 10:21 PM

I have'nt had much success with it myself,hmmm, will try it again later. I did notice a) Against powerful armies, especially Marignon, it did squat. b) don't cast it in a province your attacking because it will target YOU not the ai

By the time i reach that point in research i've got Well of Misery going and am using Harvester of Sorrows (Metallica

) and Legion of Wights with a dash of Plague and Black Death for flavor

.

Keir Maxwell · #4 January 7th, 2004, 01:34 AM

What? A 9th level spell overpowered? In all my PBEM and SP play in Dom1 and 2 I've never got to cast a 9th level spell.

If I ever do I hope its seriously overpowered!

cheers

Keir

Truper · #5 January 7th, 2004, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Keir Maxwell:
What? A 9th level spell overpowered? In all my PBEM and SP play in Dom1 and 2 I've never got to cast a 9th level spell. If I ever do I hope its seriously overpowered!

cheers

Keir

Hehe. I know exactly what you mean. I'm always amazed at people enquiring into the specifics of wish or the like. Games are (or ought to be) long over before you can cast a level 9 - especially since most take serious empowerment. Just once for giggles I played a game in which the goal was to cast Wild Hunt, just because I was curious to see exactly what it did. I more or less stopped playing after the initial expansion, set research to conjuration, and hit end turn alot

The results of Wild Hunt are fun - a Lord of the Hunt with I belive 6 in Nature, and a couple in Earth goes around with a sqaud of Cu Sidhe and Wolves and randomly assasinates enemy preists

More effective than Admiral whats-his-name from the Ghost Ship Armada (a spell which could stand improvement) but not something you'd want to use in a competative situation...

apoger · #6 January 7th, 2004, 03:41 AM

>Games are (or ought to be) long over before you can cast a level 9 - especially since most take serious empowerment.

A long time ago I used to think like that. Then someone hit my army with Master Enslave. You can play a long way with little or no magic... but if someone gets some funky research done, they can ruin your day.

I'm not saying that everyone should take tons of magic. What I'm saying is that as a game goes long, you have to start worrying about the possibility that your enemies may whip some nasty stuff out of nowhere.

[ January 07, 2004, 01:42: Message edited by: apoger ]

Graeme Dice · #7 January 7th, 2004, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by apoger:
I'm not saying that everyone should take tons of magic. What I'm saying is that as a game goes long, you have to start worrying about the possibility that your enemies may whip some nasty stuff out of nowhere.

Remember also that even an astral 1 mage can cast master enslave if he has a full load of gems. The AI is pretty good about not wasting them on armies you can defeat easily either. Give him a spell focus or rune smasher for good measure to boost it's effectiveness.