Thoughts on EA Abyssia (guide)

chrispedersen · #1 June 14th, 2008, 10:27 PM

I can't add a lot on abysia except:
The one person I aw expand very quickly in a mp with abysia did so using salamanders.

when I asked him his trick, he said:
"dont fight archers".

I have no idea about taking death 3 scale - however you might wish to mention that abysia is not fully affected by it.

Doesn't abysia get access to baphomet? If you wanted Astral its a pretty good chasis.

Dragar · #2 June 15th, 2008, 12:41 AM

I took the Astral 10 with a sphinx. Base 3 astral on a cheap chassis means getting to 10 wasn't so difficult. Given that the mind hunt type spells risk killing your own mage I figured it was worth maxing out, and +4 MR is solid

I also run 4 earth and 4 blood. Only the blood bless is wasted on mages (very good on your sacred troops though), and it really opens up a lot of spells for casting by the pretender

Interesting thoughts on the Falling fires, i might start a game with the same pretender and give that a shot

MaxWilson · #3 June 15th, 2008, 12:56 AM

What do you mean about the Mind Hunt spells? Mind Hunt feebleminds you if there's any mage, even an S1, in the territory. Only Magic Duel cares about the relative levels, and since the Sphinx is immobile (IIRC it can't even Teleport) you won't be getting in very many of those because you'll rarely be in combat.

-Max

kasnavada · #4 June 15th, 2008, 03:50 AM

To chrispedersen :

The only pretender with base astral for EA abyssia are :
- sphinx (3),
- solar disc (2),
- great sage and great enchanteress (1)

I also need you to explain a bit more about abysia not being affected by death scales ?

On ths subject of astral magic, the +4 to MR is pretty good since most of your mages can be blessed actually, but it works only in battle unless you equip them all the time with a shroud of the battle saint. That equipment costs as much as the amulet of antimagic, so in my opinion it's good (different spot so they add up) but not worth 100 extra points (with the sphinx : 120 points to 8, 224 to 10).

Twist fate is quite good too even for 50 extra points since it protects you from spells like flying arrow (again, with the shroud).

Dragar · #5 June 15th, 2008, 04:35 AM

Am trying a modified build - changed sphinx to Divine Glyph, dropped Astral to 9 and Grabbed Fire 4. So F4E4S9B4. Had to drop one scale to do it. It looks like a goer in the early game at least, +2 attack is useful

JimMorrison · #6 June 15th, 2008, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Dragar said:
Am trying a modified build - changed sphinx to Divine Glyph, dropped Astral to 9 and Grabbed Fire 4. So F4E4S9B4. Had to drop one scale to do it. It looks like a goer in the early game at least, +2 attack is useful

That's quite a bless, Imprisoned I take it?

I just assembled an E6/S9 Sphinx with O3/P1/H3/L1/M3..... It looks pretty hot, so to speak.

I kind of like the ability to reach M3 for them, especially with an S9 pretender, you could potentially do well by shooting straight up Evo, Probing everything you own the whole way. Maybe take a brief pit stop just to get Augury, and try to alchemize into as many extra paths as possible, to prepare for Strands.

chrispedersen · #7 June 15th, 2008, 03:47 PM

Dragar: I think that the B4 on the Glyph is superfluous. If you are going to take that build, I believe the Fountain of Blood might be cheaper.

But that wouldn't be my primary objection: Waiting three years for a 4 blood mage probably isn't a worthwhile return.

And the +2 str for sacreds ... isn't necessary.

Dragar · #8 June 15th, 2008, 09:57 PM

its more a case of a bunch of the good blood summons are combination astral/blood, I was thinking there was no rush for the blood magic as I'd need time to accumulate that many slaves anyway? Especially with a lot of my early hunting going towards Boots of Youth

In terms of the +2 Str, early to mid game I'm relying on Lava warriors (MA), who use flails and have two attacks, I figured they'd get good use out of the bless? Especially when against high prot targets. What would you advise as an alternate minor bless?

I'll check out the Fountain to see if its cheaper, cheers.

D

JimMorrison · #9 June 16th, 2008, 03:51 AM

Well S/B may be a worthwhile combination, but the 4B is 112 points, which is 2 Dom and 2 scales (if you left it at Dom4, which the math suggests you might have). I think the idea is that 2 scales and extra early capacity on your sacreds could be leveraged into affording more bloodhunting, affording you the ability to empower in B as much as you feel necessary.