MA Tien Chi tips

Hadrian_II · #1 May 11th, 2009, 02:06 PM

The minister is cheaper and has more research.

Minister of Magic: 70 gold, 5 research, 4.66 upkeep 1.07 research/gold
Master of the Way: 100 gold, 4 research, 3.33 upkeep 1.2 research/gold

In the long run, master of the way will be cheaper, but with ministers of magic you will have more research, so basically if you have enough money i would use ministers.

About the archers, i think that the horsemen are more enteresting than the footsoldiers, they are more expensive, but are able to fight better.

Tactics:
archers + windguide + flaming arrows are fun.
lots of magic paths = lots of gems & ability to forge nice items, so get some SCs
Redguards are nice, and you also have sacred summons, so you can think about getting a bless (E9 fits nice)
Also Celestial masters can lead communions for battle magic, but as they have very low astral levels, they are easy victims of magic duels.

Festin · #2 May 11th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

With M1, that's 6RP for 70g (4.67g/turn, 0.81g/RP/turn) vs 5RP for 100g (3.33g/turn, .67g/RP/turn)

Yes, I used these numbers actually, and according to them the Master of the Way is a more cost effective researcher. Looks like it makes sense to build Ministers of Magic in a fort without lab or temple, but I would usually build a temple in each fort anyway, to increase my dominion. And don't forget that while Minister of Magic is generally useful only as a researcher, Masters of the Way can always spam Frozen Heart, they can be blessed and have Holy 1, etc. Still I now see that there are some situations, when Minister of Magic is useful.

zlefin · #3 May 11th, 2009, 03:03 PM

when comparing those two as researchers, you can't just consider the cost/turn of research, as the startup cost of buying them matters too. while it's not clear how to compare the amortized cost of higher upkeep to a lower purchase cost (for higher research) it is important to consider. Overall I prefer the ministers.

I haven't played TC in awhile, but i recall the combat magic being heavily based on communions to be effective.
Geomancers alone can make for solid combat support in numbers, with communion they have a number of fine combat options, Gifts from Heaven n various others.