Early game equipment for Niefel Jarls?

[Xavier]

yeah, i'm well aware of the petrify weakness, as I'm sure you know

[Lingchih]

Yes, you taught me the petrify lesson Xavier. You did notice that my later Jarls were paralyzed frequently, but never Petrified again.

[Xavier]

Sure did. And because I was fighting C'tis and Tir as well, I had to split my army up so I couldn't dedicate enough casters (or troops!) for the paralyze to be sufficient to take you down. Losing those two or three battles in your second fort after taking your capital really, really cost me.

Back on topic though:

You don't use boots of the messenger or amulet of resilience or anything? Fatigue hasn't been a problem yet with the E9 bless, but with quickness up they *are* gaining 4 fatigue per turn, and their buff cycle puts them up over 20 fatigue to begin with. In a prolonged battle that's certain death, is it not?

[HoneyBadger]

I use both of those, when I can get them. Resilience is just as important as anti-magic and regeneration. The boots are nice to have, as soon as you get a good nature income. You need hags for that, though, and that takes away from other things, for a unit that may start out decrepit.

Lately, I tend to play Niefel with an 8 astral, 8 earth, 4 nature bless Great Enchantress, which means that building hags-or Skratti, for that matter-before she wakes up generally isn't worth it. My whole economy goes into Jarls and Niefels.

[Lingchih]

I do the 9 Earth, 9 Nature double bless. The earth bless pretty much takes care of fatigue, and the nature bless gives them good regen. I have never had a problem with fatigue on them, but yes, I'm sure some boots would be helpful.

[OmikronWarrior]

HoneyBadger said:
I use both of those, when I can get them. Resilience is just as important as anti-magic and regeneration. The boots are nice to have, as soon as you get a good nature income. You need hags for that, though, and that takes away from other things, for a unit that may start out decrepit.

Lately, I tend to play Niefel with an 8 astral, 8 earth, 4 nature bless Great Enchantress, which means that building hags-or Skratti, for that matter-before she wakes up generally isn't worth it. My whole economy goes into Jarls and Niefels.

Why 8-Astral? You do realize that you cannot use an astral bless to go over 18 MR, and N. Jarl's start there? If its to cast the important globals later, than you can probably afford to go a little less and use boosters, unless you are real min-maxer.

[HoneyBadger]

Actually, it's not for the Niefel Jarls at all. It's more for the Niefel scouts (which are holy) and the regular Niefel recruitables. Astral 6 is plenty, though. I only go for 8 Earth/8 Astral because they're cheap with a Great Enchantress.

If you want a really fearsome Bless for Niefel that works well in the longer term, try an Imprisoned Enchantress with Earth 6, Astral 6, Nature 4, Fire 4, Air 4, and Death 4. It requires a certain amount of spell support in the mid to late game, but it's enough to thrash the early game, without sacrificing too much in scales.

I'm working on a Niefel strategy guide right now, though, which hopefully will lay out Niefel strategy a little more clearly than has been done before.

[OmikronWarrior]

I'd say loose the Air, Fire, or Death in exchange for W4, as Jarls can really boost their defense and that +2 helps.