[SPOILERS] BaxAmeliKnight's thread

[HidingKneel]

Well, Amurites won't have any trouble collecting mana: teammates can just gift it to them.

I see the argument against the Lanun in the late game. But another scenario is that the game is decided before reaching the late game, due to an early tech lead letting you hit unprepared opponents. Also, with the EitB changes to shipyards, the Lanun aren't necessarily as production-starved as they used to be.

[WarriorKnight]

Biggest problem with Amurites is just the number of turns to get everything.

Well we have 3 Tower of Divination's we can build, and have Kurio tech speed along with Malakim who want to follow a similar tech path. We should be able to get everything they need a lot faster then usual.

Then it's the question of mages or firebows

Mages are better since we have Varn who follows that tech path.

but for mages you need a lot of mana sources

Edit: In response to bottom, seperate mana nodes.

A Malakim, Kurio and Amurite team have 8 different types of palace mana. Even if we don't use all of them for Amurites we can still easily achieve instant mages via some combination of Form of the Titan/Apprenticeship/Conquest/Command Posts.

cave of ancestors

Which is easier to build now that it's a pagan temple replacement.

and a lot of money to upgrade them into the mages.

Velledia can manage this a lot easier now that she's ING. Also ORG allows Command posts, while Dain's PHI isn't that needed since we already have Kurio's on the team.

All that said, I seem to have misinterpreted how puppets don't add to summon cap and how that only affects wall of bones, and so Keelyn is probably still a better choice then Amurites.

I see the argument against the Lanun in the late game. But another scenario is that the game is decided before reaching the late game, due to an early tech lead letting you hit unprepared opponents. Also, with the EitB changes to shipyards, the Lanun aren't necessarily as production-starved as they used to be.

That's true, although Shipyards are available to everyone and not just Lanun. I really should test how quick the tech pace will be, having never played EitB, but is the difference between Kurio's/Varn/Falamar and Kurio's/Varn really enough to justify picking Lanun? Kurio's are already going to be teching pretty fast.

[nabaxo]

All that said, I seem to have misinterpreted how puppets don't add to summon cap and how that only affects wall of bones, and so Keelyn is probably still a better choice then Amurites.

Care to explain?

[WarriorKnight]

The difference is that permanent summons (ie skeletons) are normally limited by 1 summon per unit that can cast the spell. With summoner puppets, each adept in vanilla can make 5 throwaway units (2 puppets with summoner, 2 skeletons for the puppets and 1 skeleton for the adept). EitB weakens this by not allowing the puppets to count for the summoning cap, so it's only 3 throwaway units.

That doesn't affect temp summons which don't rely on how many units can cast the spell. So puppet multiplicity still applies to temporary summons, which are the primary focus of any good keelyn strategy. Aside from puppets not overriding Gibbon's Illusionist, any mage and archmage strategy otherwise remains the same, which is pretty powerful.

At least, that's how I think it works.

[Amelia]

Vamps are out. So the argument now is between Amurites and Balseraphs?

P.S: Completely forgot about Cave replacing Pagan Temples. Willing to give Amurites another shot.

[nabaxo]

I still feel like we're sorely lacking in might. Hippus was ideal, Clan too, vamps as third. What other choices do we have there?

[WarriorKnight]

Are you guys really that surprised that Vamps got chosen before we could pick again? I'm more surprised that they went with Decius then anything else (although Decius still has half cost Gov manors, that's probably why).

Looks like we're mostly going to be focusing on magic.

Amurites vs Balseraphs is a very good question. I think Bals are probably better overall, but I know and can probably play Amurites better. BTW, since we have a fairly good idea of what civs we're picking, which would you guys prefer to play out of the 3 civs we'll likely have?

I still feel like we're sorely lacking in might. Hippus was ideal, Clan too, vamps as third. What other choices do we have there?

Lots of summons and magic. Additionally we can also get Kurio's to focus on Centaurs, and Malakim can focus on religious units. True, that doesn't seem as scary compared to other choices, but so far we have more tech potential (although with elves and lanun still available, we should really wait until the end of the snake pick before saying stuff like that).

[Amelia]

I think i'll prefer playing the Kurios. Part of my strengths is to get the most out of few cities, so Kurios seems like the best choice for me.

And yeah, we can prob rely upon centaurs for early game power. However, the Kurios will also be the ones producing expansive settlers for you both, so it's a balance.

I'll say Bals, but... there's a chance they're going to be picked as well, so Amurites second.

[nabaxo]

I'm not too good at micro, so Kurios are all yours.

I say we pick Balseraph, I have the most experience with them and Malakim. I would prefer to play Balsersaphs though. If they aren't available at pick, I'll take Malakim.

[nabaxo]

Alright. Keelyn, my favorite of those two, just got picked. Amurites it is then. With Grigori as back up?