31-05-2002 13:18									#31
	Inflate your Upload Space

I invariably end up with a 1x countermagic in my artificer staff.

Sweet!

	31-05-2002 13:35									#32
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Heck... i have to try this...
Retorts: artificier, runemaster
books: 1 nature, 1 chaos, the rest goes to sorcery.

start making mana with create artifact & cash in the anvil
create staff with -4 spell save & 4xConfusion
create misc. item with flight, invisibility, move +3 and -3 spell save
And remember to get the first spellcaster coming your way.

This guy could clear out tough nodes all by him/herself. Well, not those infested by blue dragons (they are immune to illusions -> they can see you).

But the death creatures couldn't be fooled with this...

	31-05-2002 14:17									#33
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

That's nice as well. I think artificer is close to overpowered. It allows you various magic bonuses on your heroes that can't be dispelled, and you get two great early trading spells that the AI will exchange most everything for but still doesn't ever use.

	31-05-2002 14:31									#34
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Yes, but still you lose one pic on the artificer-retort. Artificer gives only 50%reduction, thus you cannot make mana with that...

But yes, the games get pretty boring, when you have no lack of mana. But propably the only drawback of this kind of mana-making is, that in the early stages when you are creating items, you cannot cast anything else (which could be useful to you in that moment). But that really isn't even a drawback

	31-05-2002 14:59									#35
	Tired of ads?

It'd be totally wicked if it didn't even cost a pic, wouldn't it?

I dunno, I'm just sold on artificer. It enables me to turn out artifacts just about the time I need them - when my heroes are begining to be strong enough to go on their own, but aren't yeat strong enough to take on the fat critters or big towns all by themselves. A set of nice, strong and quick arties help out mucho by then.

And the early spell trading is important. Soon enough everybody's at war with you and then their's no trading at all any longer.

	31-05-2002 19:27									#36
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Something buggy about my MOM... I made artifacts with hasted-flying-invisible... but the heroes using these artifacts didn't become invisible... well, they did (the AI didn't/couldn't use their ranged attacs) but the AI allways moved towards my invisible heroes (the heroes weren't invisible in the battlemap). And the AI could cast spells against those heroes too... how strange...

Actually, when you attack, the AI always 'see' the spot where your first critter appears. You can bring a single invisible unit to attack a town. The AI will attack it as long as it doesn't move. Thus you can take an invisible hero, wait for all the hand-to hand enemy units to move out of the walls, then take them out one by one just by stepping aside.

	31-05-2002 22:35									#37
	Suffering from ads?

Nah, that'd be cheatin'.

	31-05-2002 23:41									#38
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: you can take an invisible hero, wait for all the hand-to hand enemy units to move out of the walls, then take them out one by one just by stepping aside.

In my experience, the AI units will virtually never move outside the walls; the only exceptions I can remember were when I cast Call Lightning or Magic Vortex. If you want to attack them, you have to come to the gate yourself.

One amusing sidelight of the AI vs. invisible units is that even though it can only see you (to attack and cast spells) if it has a unit adjacent, it always knows where to case Earth to Mud. I've often seen it case that spell at the spot where my invisible hero is, even after I've moved him.

	31-05-2002 23:44									#39
	Tired of ads?

Shame the AI never seems to cast True Sight on it's units. Probably considers it unneccessary, since it knows darn well where you are anyway...

	02-06-2002 03:53									#40
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Does anyone else have the problem of local disenchant spells making the machine freeze?

	02-06-2002 18:17									#41
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Oh, there are a lot of bugs that will occasionaly freeze the game. I get the best results playing off a nice, clean boot disk. And save ever so often, of course.

But sometimes I can play for hours without a glitch. Don't really know why.

	03-06-2002 18:31									#42
	Inflate your Upload Space

About the 'disenchant area' or 'disenchant true' spells in combat. I have cast this spell a couple of times, and sometimes it dispells the positive enhancements (heroism, lionheart, ect.) from my units!!! This is not right, I say!!!

	04-06-2002 01:33									#43
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I don't know about disenchant true, but if you're gonna wield disenchant area around, it sure stands to reason your own units are afected unless your careful.

	03-07-2002 02:46									#44
	Okay I looked for it... Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

11 death books plus wraiths, game over. Never lost a game with that combo. Once that first pack of wraiths shows up, all bow down and serve the dark lord.

Don't play that combo much, too easy.

11 life books and just about any city special is also very powerful.

	04-07-2002 03:11									#45
	Got spare money?

All magic types, if you pick 11 books in them are too much of an advantage.

	08-07-2002 18:21									#46
	I checked the thread... Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

... so I am even more confident throwing down the challenge... just what does the 11 pick sorcery player win with?

The 11 pick death wins because the regenerating wraiths conquer everything while leaving free defenders in their wake.

The 11 pick growth win on prosperity because they buy an army too quickly.

The 11 pick Nature is useless because the behemoth loses and gaias belssing provides benefits too slowly.

the 11 pick Chaos loses because the destructive spells ruin the world and the monsters are weak.

the 11 pick sorcery is well, worse than useless...

	08-07-2002 18:43									#47
	Got spare money?

11 nature books: Gorgons! Gorgons! They have -2 stoning gaze!

11 sorcery books: Flying (invisible) warships! Flying (invisible) warships!

11 chaos: chaos spawn? could it work? then there is also hydra... but it's in the late-game...

	08-07-2002 18:50									#48
	Gorgons are cool... Increase the size of your Attachments

I agree with your style (except for the chaos spawn), they are very effective against neutrals, but too weak to survive opposing magic.

the key to the wraiths is that they regenerate the magic losses from the early stage defenders and can thus a single wraith can take a fully guarded mages castle.

	08-07-2002 20:22									#49
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

How do you win with 11 Sorcery books? What about Sky Drake? One of those will rip through nearly any stack of city defenders the AI ever uses, especially if you cast Guardian Wind on it.

	08-07-2002 20:40									#50
	Forgot about that Sky Drake... Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

I wonder why I didn't try that... I may just have to knock the dust off to see

	08-07-2002 21:19									#51
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

They're especially fun against Dark Elves, Halflings (if you cast Guardian Wind so that they're immune to slingers as well as shamans) and Trolls (the AI likes to put together stacks of shamans). With any luck, a Sky Drake will knock off a 9-high stack of city defenders from one of those races without taking a point of damage.

	12-07-2002 12:19									#52
	Increase the size of your Attachments

I like Chaos magic best because of the damage-dealing spells. A bit of Nature as well for the map-related spells. A typical starting pick for me might be 7 Chaos, 2 Nature, 1 Sorcery and Node Mastery.

	12-07-2002 15:37									#53
	Increase Your PM Length

Interesting. I'm always in severe pain unless I can get healing. I really think it should be an arcane spell.

	17-07-2002 04:44									#54
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Yikes! There are so many MOM people here.

I agree that picking 11 Death or 11 Life(Torin) is too easy to be fun and it put me off using life as too easy, especially with Halflings.

So then it becomes what is the most fun - and I enjoy playing 9 Nature or chaos with various specials.

I gave up trying to win with node mastery (plus mostly Chaos and Nature), because the start is so hard. So, I guess that I challenge anybody to make that work.

	17-07-2002 09:12									#55
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

My favorite spell combination

7 life, 2 nature, 1 chaos, 1 sorcery with Lizardmen with the dragon turtles.

	18-07-2002 02:15									#56
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OK, MattyBoy, I'm taking your challenge. I just started a game at Hard level, with 4 opponents, large land and powerful nodes. I took Node Mastery, 5 Chaos books, 4 Nature and 1 Sorcery (had to take at least one or I couldn't choose Node Mastery). My race is Barbarian. I'll report back when I've either lost the game or reached the point where victory is inevitable (from that point, the actual mopping up can take hours).

	18-07-2002 09:38									#57
	Put an end to popups!

Go Rex, Go.
I was trying 2 opponents on Impossible, but the name proved appropriate. No need to conquer all to know you have won - I find node mastery makes for lose early or blitz games.

	20-07-2002 04:31									#58
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Node Mastery is good enough. Why do you find it hard? You get to cast confusion in all nodes, plus web and turn your units into flying chaos creatures, then what do you fear?

	22-07-2002 04:49									#59
	Got spare money?

My enemies have been getting on top of me before I get strong enough to take many nodes. I am about to look into those chaos creatures.

	25-07-2002 14:49									#60
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Nature -> Gorgons (-2 stoning gaze) = WOWWOWWOW!