Assassin nations?

[B0rsuk]

I'd like to point out Bane Spider is actually pretty good assassin except for his terrible armor. He gets -6 defense just from armor (1 for full helmet 5 for spider armor). So if you want to use them, replacing armor is the first step. I think Marble Armor is very cost effective - 25 protection +4 defense and that's for 10 gems without hammer. Cold vulnerability is not a big deal against most opponents.
I'm still scratching my head why BS cost so much gold - probably bane blades. 14 hp, nice attack and defense, ambidexterous 3. But still...

Can anyone enlighten me what's the benefit of Forest Survival on a commander with strategic move 1 ? I know there are some minor benefits like Swamp Survival units not getting diseased in Miasma, but other than that ?

[Burnsaber]

B0rsuk said:
I'd like to point out Bane Spider is actually pretty good assassin except for his terrible armor. He gets -6 defense just from armor (1 for full helmet 5 for spider armor). So if you want to use them, replacing armor is the first step. I think Marble Armor is very cost effective - 25 protection +4 defense and that's for 10 gems without hammer. Cold vulnerability is not a big deal against most opponents.
I'm still scratching my head why BS cost so much gold - probably bane blades. 14 hp, nice attack and defense, ambidexterous 3. But still...

Can anyone enlighten me what's the benefit of Forest Survival on a commander with strategic move 1 ? I know there are some minor benefits like Swamp Survival units not getting diseased in Miasma, but other than that ?

- resitance to Beckoning
- flavor

[jimkehn]

Also....aren't they less susceptible to starvation in a forest??

[B0rsuk]

I thought commanders don't starve anyway ?
A bit off-topic : while Bane Spiders have potential, I have yet to find any task fit for Spider Warriors (that 2weapon 36res stealthy heavy infantry). Even pretty weak Pythium province defence rips them to pieces, and they're awfully expensive. Why exactly do Spider Warriors cost 30 gold ?! They could be more useful if I support them with flying/stealthy mages, for example a druid with Treelord Staff can cast regeneration, barskin, and berserkers . But so much fuss - is it worth it ? As far as I know there are no spells which work like Barskin for defence - set base defence to 10 or other fixed value (and optionally provide small defence bonus if def is already 10 or higher)

[Potatoman]

An interesting thing I noticed today is that Jomon Ninjas have 14 base precision! I think that's the highest precision for any recruitable commander in the entire game.

[Endoperez]

Several Vanir commanders have base precision of 14, plus some from Air. Other than that, it seems recruitables with more than 13 precision have Air magic.

[jimkehn]

Sorry BOrsuk, I think you are right about commanders not starving, but I think line units have a lower propensity to starve in forests if they are forest survival capable.