Trying to improve my MA Abyssia Pretender Design

[DeadlyShoe]

Why are lava warriors crap? They have good hp, good prot, good AS, berserk, lotsa stuff. Their only real downside in my view is expense. (At least in CBM 1.71. Bear in mind the armor revamp.)

[Squirrelloid]

Originally Posted by DeadlyShoe

Why are lava warriors crap? They have good hp, good prot, good AS, berserk, lotsa stuff. Their only real downside in my view is expense. (At least in CBM 1.71. Bear in mind the armor revamp.)

Generally, there are two types of good sacred troops:
(1) low resource troops that can be massed easily and given a big bless like F9W9 which multiplies their combat effectiveness. See MA Ermor (S9 is the key bless here), all Mictlans (often dual-triple blessed), EA TC, etc...

(2) Troops who can be given enough survival and net-neutral encumbrance to outlast almost any opposition. Nieflheim, many sacred cavalry, Ashdod, etc... EA Abysia's sacreds are good enough to qualify here, mostly because of their fire shield and powerful heat aura.

So what do lava warriors have?
Massability: no
Survivability: no. No shield, only 17 protection, abominable defense which berzerker only makes worse, impossible to get net neutral on fatigue because of berzerk.

Really, the moment you see 41 resources, its time to seriously reconsider using them.

And even if you were to use them, they would absolutely need an E9+N4+ bless. They're pointless without it. And MA Abysia cannot afford the pretender design points for that, nor does it really care to.

Which leaves lava warriors as just a crappy unit that should never see play.

MA Abysia is not about national troops. They're about demons, demons, and more demons. With a side of demons. National troops are glorified arrow catchers.

(Burning ones vs. Lava warriors: Burning warriors have 1.33x as many hp, more str, 1 higher attack, 2x as much heat aura, *fire shield*, and the exact same resource cost. They also belong to a nation that can't dive into blood as easily as MA Abysia can, so they don't really have an alternative strategy).

[Mardagg]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

So what do lava warriors have?
Massability: no
Survivability: no. No shield, only 17 protection, abominable defense which berzerker only makes worse, impossible to get net neutral on fatigue because of berzerk.

Really, the moment you see 41 resources, its time to seriously reconsider using them.

And even if you were to use them, they would absolutely need an E9+N4+ bless. They're pointless without it. And MA Abysia cannot afford the pretender design points for that, nor does it really care to.

(Burning ones vs. Lava warriors: Burning warriors have 1.33x as many hp, more str, 1 higher attack, 2x as much heat aura, *fire shield*, and the exact same resource cost. They also belong to a nation that can't dive into blood as easily as MA Abysia can, so they don't really have an alternative strategy).

damage output: yes

Really,you have played/you see Lavas the wrong way .
You are right in saying they arent worth to go for the E9N4 classical bless nation theme.Absolutely.
But you obviously havent actually tried it the other way:
Improving the strength of a unit and living with the weakness.
F9 or F6B4 make them VERY strong offensively.Sure,you rely on killing your enemies fast,so that your low def/high fatigue troops dont die like flies.But that is possible.
Only some strategical placement is needed.It mixes well with the regular troops.Place a squads of shield wielders in front.Lavas behind mixed with regular Heavy infantry/no shield.Rush for evocation for strong magic support,build more anathemant dragons than usually,less warlocks,less demonbreds,less blood focused in general.

Concentrate on damage output.Attack,attack,attack.Relentlessly.Churn out 6+ lavas per turn and several dozen heavy infantries in your other castles by turn 15+.P3 makes sure you can afford the resources.Back them by hordes of slayers to threat the precious early game commanders of your opponents.
Advisable on small to medium maps only.
Aim for early game lead because later on you are toast.

(how can you ever compare Lavas to burning ones or EA to MA in general.
EA Aby is so bad at blood hunting for example compared to MA.So much differences.You cant do that)