And now for religion/strategy:
With 3 different civs who can each adopt a religion, there's certainly a lot of different options available. Here's my take on the religons in order from least likely to most:
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Runes of Kilmorph:[/SIZE]
RoK has changed a bit, both heroes have been boosted and Paramanders are available much earlier then before. On the other hand Mines aren't as valuable as before since it's easier to get Iron Working. I don't think it's the right religion for us though. The Priests are very weak and the gold is nice but by no means essential. Not to mention there will very likely be competition for RoK from the Khazad and the Clan (both on different teams) means we should probably skip it.
If we get a early Great Prophet through Amathon though, I'd be very tempted to bulb RoK to steal the holy city away.
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Council of Esus:[/SIZE]
Looking over the changes in Esus, I'd actually quite like to try a game with Esus sometime. Recon units being able to cast heal, earlier Shadowriders, assassins casting hidden, passively giving gold and allowing other religion passive effects are all abilities I'd like to try with svarts or sidar sometime.
However our recon units aren't anything special, in fact the lack of priests is crucial to both Malakim and Amurites. Being able to get passive bonuses from other religions is probably most useful with RoK, but we probably want to avoid that. (In fact if I was Team 2 I'd advocate going RoK -> CoE. Khazad want the gold, Sidar can use the recon abilities and Hippus can use Shadowriders)
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Empyrean:[/SIZE]
The religion I'm most unsure about. Vicars kinda suck, but the High Priest spell rocks if we get Theology/Commune of Nature. Chalid is the only hero aside from Hemah that has Channeling 3 that benefits from Govannon, but Righteousness is both expensive and has very little reason to be teched otherwise. Ratha's seem to be unchanged, so they are quite nice too. Radiant Guards are changed a bit too, but I rarely build them.
A mid-late game switch into Emp could be worthwhile, but I think the remaining 4 religions are probably better then Emp are.
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Fellowship of Leaves:[/SIZE]
A number of changes have been made to FoL, all of them buffs. Fawns are cheaper and have a bonus attacking forests. Lumber mills can be built in Ancient forests, meaning less micro is needed before switching. Kithra and Satyr's are both available earlier at Hidden Paths.
I like FoL early for Fawns/Satyr's and early Ancient forests. After Priesthood though, FoL has nothing until Yvian, and while he looks badass he isn't anything special. Likewise summoning treants has its limitations since you need to be in a forest. Since Ancient Forests don't get removed by switching, I'd recommend someone with a lot of forests go FoL early, but we probably should switch out mid game.
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Order:[/SIZE]
A number of buffs, Crusader's are earlier, being available with the religion while having almost the same strength as before and also being spawned with each Order spread. Order High Priests get a slightly nerfed Pillar of Fire, but it's not a Divine Spell so it isn't available to Sphener or Confessor upgraded Druids, and there's a reason Theology has never been teched in a MP game here (to my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong). Social Order is available upon founding as well, plus it now also allows Royal Guards which as Guardsmen units would be very useful.
I think this is worthwhile for one of us to go for. Crusader's are very useful now, it's easy to get a decent number of them a couple of turns just after founding. Social Order is early enough that it could be useful, and Royal Guards are always useful. Bless is a solid spell, it's quite worth getting. We do have to be careful with this and AV though, Order can spread very fast.
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Octopus Overlords:[/SIZE]
OO has had a couple of changes. Tsunami is supposed to be 1 range, but tests indicate that it doesn't appear to be the case and instead it still has 2 (may be useful if everyone else assumes otherwise). Stygians have been moved to Malevolent Designs and are now str10, probably a nerf but may be useful since Malevolent Designs has a number of other goodies we want and also there's no National limit unlike most other units of that strength. Don't think there are any other changes.
HidingKneel Wrote:If you're going down the arcane line, you'll definitely want at least one member of the team to go OO. Archmage heroes are fantastic.
nabaxo Wrote:Especially for the Amurites! :D
Couldn't agree more. If there's any decent amount of water we'll need someone going OO. Hemah is quite valuable as well, although we don't necessarily need the Amurites going OO (in fact since Stygians can't be taught it may be better for someone else to go OO). It is available early, but we don't need to go for it early unless we particularly want Saverous or the Holy city, neither of which are that crucial. Krakens are kinda meh, we'd probably control the sea with Cultists, not Krakens.
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Ashen Veil:[/SIZE]
I don't see any changes other than being more expensive. With way of the Wicked/Wise gone though, I dunno if that's much of a nerf, but whatever.
Anyway, since it hasn't been nerfed at all for some reason, and with hallowed ground and compact enforced on, there's probably a better reason to go for AV now then in the base. Ritualists, sacrifice the weak, Infernal Grimiore to Malevolent Designs all rock (although since we have 3 tower of divinations the Grimiore is less useful, still worth grabbing if we can). Balors aren't great for a High Priest summon, but it can't have everything.
[SIZE="3"]Other religion/strategy thoughts:[/SIZE]
Which religion goes where? Hard to say exactly. Being SPI, Malakim would be the best choice for multiple religion switches (Kurio's could use an Adaptive switch, but I think there are better options since we already have a spiritual leader). We would have to keep AV and Order apart, preferably in different civs. Religious Fervor is a key tool for Malakim when we get Priesthood, the best religions for that are AV and OO. Amurites are best with Emp or OO as that keeps them Neutral while also giving a Archmage hero. Kurio's seem kinda flexible, they'd get the most out of the happiness from Social Order and Unyielding Order though.
Other ideas? Well I'd recommend rushing to Arcane Lore, maybe even slingshot it with a Tower of Divination just after we get Sorcery. Free Great Sage, Govannon, Hemah, Crown of Akharien, Spell Extension 2, Mary Morbus and Scholarship if we want it is just too good of a package. We have a number of late game options available, but in this case let's get there first.
We could get Malakim and Amurites to contribute to Kurio early expansion by providing early workers/settlers to get their 5 cities up and running ASAP. It does require us to be close enough that deity barbs don't provide too much of obstacle and Kurio's would have to make sure that the other two don't die to a rush, but I'm sure no-one has anything that could get set up faster if we can pull it off. Once they get set up, it would be simple to get the other two up and running with EXP settlers. We'll need to see the map before trying out any sort of strategy like this (if we aren't all neighbours this strategy goes out the window).
That's pretty much all I've got for pre-game ideas. We definitely need to get out of the early game and into the mid game ASAP.
