Blessed Sacred Troops: what is YOUR view/favorite?

[chrispedersen]

I was the first person that used to argue that Mictlan is an incredibly formidle nation, when it was commonly held to be weenie.

You are using one of the top 3 blesses that I like; I also like a F9, A9, N9, and F9 N9, Ax, where x>=4.

Personally, I think bless strategies are unbeatable (and unbalanced) in Dominions. However, I'm playing my first mp with Dominion pros - sooooooo I may be completely wrong.

My favorite nations for bless strategies are
TienChi, Ermor, Marignon, Mictlan, and Lanka, more or less in that order.

[sector24]

One thing I like about the bless concept is that the paths with the most powerful magic (Blood, Death, Astral to a point) typically have the worst blesses, and the paths that are great for blesses don't have end game spells. For example, nothing in the Earth, Fire, Nature, or Water path requires higher than 6 to cast or forge. There's only 1 Air spell that requires A7.

Air and Astral are a bit of an anomaly, but it holds true for the elemental magic paths. I actually think the Air bless should be significantly improved for this reason.

I think my favorite bless nation is either EA Niefelheim or EA Lanka. When I don't feel like strategizing or heavy micromanagement, I love wiping out the AI with hordes of Niefel Giants. I like Lanka because the sacred bless extends far beyond the capital troops into regular forts, and blood summons.

[archaeolept]

I was the first person that used to argue that Mictlan is an incredibly formidle nation, when it was commonly held to be weenie.

that's a rather strong claim. Serious bless strats for mictlan date back almost four years.

[VedalkenBear]

For myself, I seem drawn to high-Earth blesses to use with Sacred Mages or Astral Mages. E.g., an Earth-9 Pretender for any version of Arco is cute since you can manufacture the Shroud of the Battle Saint for all of your Mystics/other mages. Get 12 Prot and 4 Reinvigoration with no encumbrance and 5 astral pearls is a cute trick.

[Lingchih]

Yes, the Niefel Giants are probably the most fun to uber-bless, and then watch them kill entire armies on their own. They are good, quick, easy fun. Bless 'em, buff 'em, and then send them out.

My personal favorite though, is MA Ermor's Shadow Vestals. With the right bless, they are almost unstoppable (there are ways to stop them, but the AI never figures it out, and many players do not either). It's great fun to watch a handful of them take out a strong Indie, and also fun to watch the first time an unsuspecting player attacks them.

True, they are capitol only, but they are cheap, and they hardly ever die, so you can actually build a good bless strategy around them.

[Endoperez]

archaeolept said:

that's a rather strong claim. Serious bless strats for mictlan date back almost four years.

His first post was on June 16th 2004, suggesting double bless for Mictlan. It was in a thread Tinkthank made about Mictlan being very weak, and in which Graeme Dice, PvK and Norfleet (of posters with 2000+ posts) didn't mention double-bless spesifically. Teraswaerto used a F9 single bless.

It seems he's actually right!

[Ninave]

My favourite blessed troops are LA Tien'Chis Ancestor Vessels. They are good as-is, but with something like quickness, little defence/protection and offencive (fire/death) they are just lovable.

[Cerlin]

My favorite bless is EA Agartha, even though this faction seems underused they are my favorite by far. Give the giants, which can be built anywhere, a E9 bless with F4 and at least N4 and you have powerful weapons. Added to this your already great mages just got that much better when it comes to casting. Magma Eruption ad infinitum is pretty amazing to see, even with low precision. That doesnt even count if you add Earth Reinvig items to said mages, it just keeps getting better.

[Agema]

I'm playing EA Agartha in a newbie MP currently with a heavy bless strategy. I don't know you need a huge Nature bless, and I seriously recommend a Fire bless so they can actually hit anything.

One thing I did pass on was the Earth bless, which I'm regretting in cold provinces, seeing how quickly their cold-blooded bodies fatigue when it's not temperate.

[Maraxus]

I like the Nifel Giants.

The only question for me is: How much nature?

Getting a good Earth/Nature bless with Niefelheim and okay scales is tough. Earth 9 seams like a good idea because reinvigoration and protection are needed.
So is the 4th point of Nature. That regeneration is quite good allready and -iirc- reduces the number of afflictions you suffer. So you have Earth 9, Nature 4 and quite good scales to do some really fast recruiting in the beginning, like:
Round 1: 2 Giants, troops set to patrol, scout is made prophet.
Round 2: 1 Niefel Jarl
Round 3: Jarl and Giants on "Guard commander" and Prophet move out, 2 more Giants
Round 4: 1 Niefel Jarl, 1 Giant
Round 5: Jarl with 3 Giants on Guard commander move out.
...
Every second round another Jarl with 2 or 3 Giant gets ready, what should be enough to fight independants without looses (make sure it's really cold, when you attack Barbariens, though). Against opponents have 2 of your teams join, use mercs or cheap independants to siege the castle.

Your research will start late, focuss on:
Enchantment 1: Breath of Winter
Alteration 4: Wolven Winter, quickness
Construction: Nice stuff
Alteration 6: Sould Vortex

At this point, you should be in the mid-game. Jotun Hirdman make a major part of the troops. Niefel Giants, in bigger packs, run around with much priest and some mage support, Niefel Jarls make thugs in troops of 1 to 4