Carrion Woods ideas please

[Agrajag]

Oversway said:
Yeah, the one that casts lighting. But its 20 air gems, right? I'm not sure its worth it, since your carrion dragon is probably doing enough damage by itself.

Think of it like this, if a normal battle is going to last 5 turns, the hat is probably going to kill 4 people (thanks to uber precision) after 20 battles that's 80 people. Since most will probably be weakling indies I'll say an average cost of 10 gold apiece, that comes to 800 gold worth of kills. 20 gems => 800 gold is better than alchemy IIRC (but not by much)
I'd say this makes the hat a decent investment if you haven't got anything better (and were going for the required research anyway).
However, if you find that your battles last longer than that changes things.
I think you should just make a test game and see how effective the hat works with your pretender and chosen spells and work out if its worth it.

[Cainehill]

But something like the Starshine Skullcap or Wraith Crown will help keep your expensive pretender alive. As Oversway said, the carrion dragon is going to kill a lot of units, especially if it has water or fire for BoW / Fire Shield. That is, of course, as long as it stays alive : I've lost CDs to a sleep spell (which the SS might have prevented) and to mass XBow fire, which the WC probably would've prevented.

[shovah]

starshine if you will be facing mages, wraithcrown for (expensive) all purpose and horror helm for routing (horror helm gives+5 fear, carrion dragon has good fear base AND death magic adds fear). for the misc's give him luck and something (maybe reinvig)

[Vicious Love]

Also, bear in mind that many of the units killed by the helm would have been killed anyway, either by hurling themselves at a fire shield, freezing to death, being souldrained, or being picked off by a spare attack when they're the last unit in base contact with the carrion dragon.

Edit: Oh, and do factor in the forging time, plus the fact that gems are often worth much more than their alchemy value, as well as the fact that Dominions isn't exactly short on summons, spells and items that give you a 100% return on investment in a full 20 or more turns.

[Agrajag]

I wasn't saying the helmet is better than other alternatives, I just responded to the part about it costing too much by saying that if you haven't got anything better it can be worth its price. I did not say it was the best/ultimate option.

[Saxon]

I thought regen didn't work on undead, like my Carrion Dragon or a Banelord? Let me give it a shot!

That said, it looks like I will be able to dominion them out. I have been pushing hard to keep the carrion critters coming and am slowly overwhealming C'tis. They are also on a long peninsula and I am taking the ocean around them and building temples. Hitting them from both sides should help. The game is taking a long time, the higher level of difficulty has made the AI pretty good.

[Wish]

regen works on undead, but not on the lifeless. all the carrion things (dragon, ettin, mandragoras, etc) are lifeless, and thus - no regen.

Though lifedrain still works for them.

[shovah]

yea, regen really helps if your sending your banelord vrs undead.

[Saxon]

Thank you again, I have been able to drag myself out of the hole and am moving forward again. As you say, the mass of carrion critters are impressive, except against mechanical men... However, once they were out of the way, the green tide is rolling again.

The map is relativly small and gems are a bit short, so I have not been able to boost my units too much. However, more conservative play has helped me ensure that each attack is a win.

The AI is doing something interesting with Desert Tombs. It is holding some 1500 undead at the C'tis capital. Not quite sure what to do about them! I can eventually win the map if they stay passive, as I can win with provinces. However, I may see what a battle that big looks like. With Mass Protection, I know I am far more than a match for them with equal numbers, but 1500 is a fair bit.

[shovah]

get a fairly strong commander (banelord/carrion lord/tartarian/pretender) and give them regen, reinvig and very high regen. Aslong as the enemy mages dont cast decay he will plow through undead armies like nothing you've ever seen and regenerating any wounds he takes due to godo hp, prot and regen.