Scorpion King and Medusa pretender...any use ?

[Ragnarok-X]

Hi everyone, see topic.
I particually like the idea of having a medusa or giant scorpion as a god, but somehow they dont play very well. They seem to be a mix between magic and combat, not good at both but not weak either. Any suggestions on how to use them effectivly ?

[Teraswaerto]

Every time I see the Scorpion King I want to use him, but with the low starting dominion, low starting paths and no feet or body slots, I never end up choosing him.

[Ragnarok-X]

about my thought

[Scott Hebert]

Well, the Medusa has the same paths as the Great Mother, with 1 greater magic (Nature, I _think_), and costs less. If you're wanting those paths for their excellent Rituals (rather than an overt combat Pretender), I would go with the Medusa.

As for the Scorpion King, he's a tougher sell. Still, he seems to have uses as an early combatant. As Abysia, you could arm him with 2 Fire Swords and send him out to attack provinces early, for instance. He also is the only Pretender with Fire and Earth magic innate.

[Evil Dave]

I once played the scorpion king with Abysia. Bought his magic up to E9 F9, and played a bless strategy. I'm not sure this would work well in MP, but in SP, the effect on indie provinces was suitably gratifying. Not only do lava warriors get two flaming attacks, but with a shroud of the battle saint, slayers get one. At E9, the shroud is not bad armor.

[Ragnarok-X]

anyone else ?

[Mardagg]

I used the Scorpion King several times in SP and also 1 time in MP ,always when playing Abysia.
I took E4/F4,goal was to find all Earth and Fire Sites as fast as possible and then alchemize it into Gold,to get a very quick start with Abysia.

This tactic always ended up very succesfull for me,mainly because the good gold income gave me the ability to get a blood economy going very quick.

For initial expansion,the Scorpion King helps a lot with Flare/Legions of Steel(if you go for construction first).
Search all mountain provinces you conquer as fast as possible ,other terrain whenever you can spare the time.
Your goal should be to get at least 150 Gold per turn through alchemy by turn 12.During the initial expansion phase,where all nations dont have that much provinces,and thus income,this means a huge advantage for you.
You are therefore able to field bigger armies soon,to build more castles and to build more mages.
Thats the key.


Later on,the Scorpion King can be formed into a reasonable SC or ,with help of items into a ritual caster.

Personally,I dont think you need a melee SC Pretender with Abyisa...after all your troops are all very potent in melee and later you get very good SC`s with Blood Magic.
Thats why I looked for a Pretender who supports the economy as well as the initial expansion phase by making use of the potent starting spell.

E4/F4 leaves a lot of points for the scales and thus fitted perfectly.

[ July 02, 2004, 21:22: Message edited by: Mardagg ]

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Ragnarok-X:
anyone else ?

Me. I like the SK. No body slot but enough natural protection to somewhat make up for it - just consider he comes with a free builtin (and *cursed* ) Black Steel Plate. No feet slot, but the nations he's available to are hot ones and get design points from that, so he can easily buy Quickness thru Water magic - and in exchange you get 2 extra weapons (Pincer and Stinger).

So what's not to like?

And there aren't that many 50-points pretenders that come with 2 magic picks. The SK may not be well suited to a level-9 bless strategy, but it's an extremely effective (and cost-effective) combattant if you give him only the magic he needs to be able to buff himself before entering H2H combat.

[PvK]

Scorpion King is quite good. Like most things, you just need to use it for what it is, rather than trying to use it like something else you're used to using. The high natural defense is better than "free full black steel plate" because it has no defense or encumbrance penalty. Earth power adds to it. He has nice built-in attacks, and the two paths are good. I took a 3-path SK in my first MP game and won, though I didn't have to use him very much - I mainly had him forge and cast.

The Medusa does seem to have more style than substance. Seems like she should have more awe or fear and/or a short-range paralyze attack (paralyze shield?) to live up to her reputation. Though from a practical standpoint, she's probably fine, as long as you're not trying to use her as a SC without the right extras, and as long as you aren't married to the "every pretender must be a SC" theory.

PvK

[Jasper]

Originally posted by PvK:
The Medusa does seem to have more style than substance. Seems like she should have more awe or fear and/or a short-range paralyze attack (paralyze shield?) to live up to her reputation. Though from a practical standpoint, she's probably fine, as long as you're not trying to use her as a SC without the right extras, and as long as you aren't married to the "every pretender must be a SC" theory.

Hmmm, perhaps the Medusa should have a short range petrification damage shield?

In my experience the Medusa is a bit underpowered (due to IMHO unreasonably low hitpoints), but with carefull play still is an effective super combatant. Her ability to turn entire armies to stone in the early game can be very fearsome once you figure out how to keep her alive. She very quickly reaches 3 stars and tends to sit atop the hall of fame.

IMHO the medusa's biggest drawback is that her Nature and Earth magic overlap with Pangaea's magic, when you'd really like to have access to other paths. Even so, raise her hitpoints from 20->30 and I think she's good.