With the recent changes, more specifically to Pariden, I'd like to take the time to do a brief, yet descriptive report on the game I'm about to play as Pariden.
I am no Queen, or even King if it were, so instead, I will create my own custom Sovereign which will allow me to design my leader as I envision. So, with that in mind, what makes Pariden... Pariden? My first thought is magic and... lots of it. Okay, that's all good and glee, but what can I do to make my sovereign more magically apt? The current professions are pretty straight-forward, and with a magic-focused character, I can only lean on Summoner or Warlock. Now this decision is more about playstyle as opposed to only one valid selection. This is a good thing, in fact, there should be lots of deicions like this. Am I a melt-your-face type of sorcerer or a conjurer or the mystical elements who do my bidding as I command them? Based on my vision, I see myself testing the waters as a summoner even though my gut instinct is that I would get more bang for my buck as a Warlock. Well that's that decision and I guess I'll just roll with the punches, or Summons!
The talents are not something I fully understand, probably either due to the lack of detailed tooltips or a user-guide. I mean, does the +3 attack mean only to melee? or to magic as well? I think of Might and I think melee, but who knows without the guide or digging up the xml. Impulsive seems like a powerful trait to me as well. Those quick fireballs are always so lethal, but as a summoner, I won't be frying the fur off anyone's tail. The +2 mana per season from attunement seems like a logical choice for a caster-orientated build. I also choose Brilliant. The bonus experience is always handy and the higher level your sovereign, the more prestigous they are, which, in turn, grows your cities faster. The additional spell mastery is no attribute to sneeze at either.
This leaves me with three points left and, some of you more savvy players, may have noticed I left out my magical profeciencies. Why? Well, Pariden gets these nice books and any champion can be an adept in the four major magic schools provided you have the Gildar to buy a book. However, these are not unlocked right away nor is there a life book. So, point number one will go into life. Now, of all the elementals, my favorite is the earth elemental. Why? They're big, they''re rock-solid, and they're hardy; great guys to keep on the front line, especially in conjunction with life magic. So point number two will unlock the earth element so I can get a headstart on the line. This leaves me with one last point. Truth be told, I looked at Procipinee's crown more than once. It's just so nice and great for magic-minded characters. But... it's a Queen thing and I am no Queen. No crown. No King. No Royalty of any sort. So the point goes to life. I guess being able to cast heal out the door is not so bad. Maybe useful for keeping myself alive early on. Now the rest is purely cosmetic. I click random a few thousand times until I find something I like.
Nokaeh of the Kingdom of Pariden.
And with the customization done, it's time to setup the map.
Again, some tooltips or a user-guide could explain the differences in each difficulty setting. I had been playing on challenging and I think I just noticed that challenging is not the hardest difficulty at all, but rediculous is. Ah well, move up a notch and go from there.
Last, but not least, my starting position.
River is always good but I imagine I'll settle one tile to the southwest and have a food-heavy city on the early-game. There is a prestigous location to the north east as well. I've never been fond of the units in the civic tree, but maybe this game I will give them their fair shake as well.
And that's the start.
The "Might" trait gives +3 attack to all weapons held in hand, be it a Big Blunt Hammer, Tiny Pointy Dagger, Rapid Firing Shortbow, or Powerful Magical Blasting Mage Staff.. But only +3 to the weapon, it will not alter the damage of any magicks you cast, or any of your teammates abilities or attacks..
Sincerely~ Kongdej
And New Pariden is founded.
Now it's time to decide on the build queue. With the new Arcane Monoliths, I certainly don't have to spam pioneers to claim resources, but to claim cities instead. Since my founding tile is only two materials, my production is very lackluster--8 production. Ouch! But hopefully as the game progresses on and the city continues to grow, that lack of production will be made up with population. Not knowing the lay of the land all too well, yet, I go ahead and put a Tower of Dominion in the queue. Nokaeh will travel to the northwest and sign up our second champion but not before he casts his first spell.
No, no, not Arcane Monolith, but Summon Shadow Warg! and I promptly rename him Buddy. I suspect he will be a life-long friend on this adventure of ours.
I end my first turn and then greeted with the ever-so-popular message to research something. Right. I forgot. Again. After dozens of games, it seems like I would remember to do this at some point.
With the prestigous location nearby, I am thinking of the civilization tree first. If not for the units I may or may not be able to unlock, but for the inns and the ability to rush build with such a weak production base. I queue up civics. 25 seasons until it is done. That number will drop some as population continues to trickle in or at least I hope.
In the Summer of 159 A.C. (or the very next turn), I meet Hannis. Apparently a braggart. And a battlehammer wielder. Brag all you want, just keep that hammer moving in a positive direction and I'm happy. Not happy about paying the 109 gildar, but I digress. Welcome aboard!
Immediately after hiring, I notice my gildar go into the red. Not only were you expensive, but you have an upkeep now? You best swing that hammer as much as possible then!
And the victory yields 8 gildar and...
For a net of 38 Gildar. She's a keeper!
After the clearing, two shards are illuminated from the Fog of War too!
Sadly, no earth, but that death (soon-to-be-life) shard will prove handy.
and a few seasons later, Nokaeh and Buddy have their first encounter.
Dispatched with relative ease which also net Nok's first level!
I think I'm going to continue to reference him as Nok. Something with three letter acronym names makes it for so much easier to remember. Besides, it also rhymes with a great deal of inappropiate words I can mutter to myself when something not-so-good happens.
And this is where I take a short break. I need to walk my dog (Buddy!) who has been patiently waiting at my feet.
Any of you out there reading this while I'm away, what trait do you think I should take and why? None of these are game-breaking traits, but curious to what paths people generally take.
Be back in a flash!
Thanks Kongdej!
Now if we could only shorten that up into a tooltip, I'd be happy as a clam!
... well, and perhaps see the +3 attack work for all attacks, be it magic or not. But start small and work you're way up. Tooltips are always a good thing. Can never get enough of them!
After glancing at the traits, only two really stand out. Potential and Quick. Potential is a common trait, but its value increases as each combat is done and the value increases even more with subsequent traits. So it really pays off in the end. I also like Quick because you can never have too much initiative, especially as a mage. Spells that take multiple turns to cast can turn the tide of a very big battle. The main thing with high initiative is mana is a hard cap. Which means that if you don't have enough mana, no matter how high your initiative is, you won't be able to cast. Simple, yes? But always important early on. For this very reason, I opt for potential. Hopefully with Brilliance, the gained experience from this trait will pay boatloads as the game progresses.
I'm also still curious to what other players choose for the opening sets, or there is/was a better trait worth considering here. Discussion is always good. The discussion is not always to make the player better, but help the devs see balance issues and... well, if 10 different people all argue that one trait is better than another then it's a pretty much safe to say that balance is right where it should be.
The bandit camp also yielded a rusty shield. If I only had a weapon to go with it, I'd certainly use it. Not very magery-feeling, but it doesn't affect my initiative at all and hopefully, I can find a dagger or sword that offers some +initiative.
Well, time to test Hannis' steel yet again.
Which is easily dismissed (that maul isn't so scarey anymore!) and...
Now this one is not quite as easy to decide. The Potential trait carries the same weight but Brute and Quick are both worthy of mentioning. Having strength and bash already, I forsee Hannis being an up-in-your-face type of melee character. Brute will increase her damage by 3, which is a ~28% increase in damage if the mob is of a lower level. Being at only level two, I guess I can write that one off. For now. Quick, again, is also handy and becomes extremely important as an agile/assassin type. However, I again opt for Potential in favor of a stronger mid-game rather than early.
Apparently I have some neighbors...
And what a better time to finally test out my arcane monoliths! It will claim both the shard and iron before whoever my neighbor is can claim it. Speaking of borders, is there any way to reference a faction by something other than color? Being colorblind, it can be extremely difficult to distinguis one from another, especially the greens (for me at least).
And it looks like I have a choke-point to whomever is on the other end...
Well met my swamp-dwelling neighbors. Yes, yes, I claimed this area many a time ago, fighting off bandit, bear, and beast alike.
And to my dismay...
And Tarth is making a pioneer too. Well. I am the Kingdom of Magic and hence, that crystal shall be mine!
And I'm beginning to think keeping this area is unlikely...
Enjoyable. As someone who up to now has played almost exclusively Pariden, it's interesting to see different approaches at work. When I set up a new sovereign, I go for a large world, since Pariden has a chance to really grow into their magic. I go for no spellbooks except Life Apprentice--which bit me in the ass on this current game, since as you know the Heal spell requires a Life Disciple, and she actually didn't get offered this until she reached level 10...! She gets the crown, as it's a natural to have plenty of spells, and giving benefits to a frontline tank makes sense. She's Clumsy, as she's staying out of melee, since killing a fly would break an arm, but her traits also include Attunement, Brilliant, Scholarly, and Natural Leader. Finally, her background is Warlord, since a Pariden ruler without spells except as Life Apprentice is otherwise doomed to a short and nasty life.
Best of luck on your game. Looks great. I'm curious to see how you'll develop your sovereign over time.
Point of fact, any magical attack that does no physical damage such as a mage's staff, will not gain anything from the +X to attack bonuses. That kind of bonus only works on physical damage, such as a bow or sword.
Okay, so I may have over exapnded a little bit and then got greedy on top of the expansion. I rolled the dice and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. So these Asok knights are 23 health a pop, 8 defense, and 11 attack per unit of three. Now I do have heal, but do I have anything that can outlast these buggers? let alone something that can also damage them? The only thing that comes to mind is a disciple and maybe a ranged unit--mage. Going the magic tree was my initial plan from the get-go and my over expansion did yield a crystal mine. Mine as well try to put those to good use.
So, not only will I need to train a disciple, but also tech and build a mage. 17 seasons for a disciple. I queue one up. At at least there is only five more turns until civics is done and then I'll be able to purchase stuff if I have the gildar to do so.
A few seasons pass and I'm taking the scenic route back home...
And the battle is won, though a little beatup. However... Nok did gain a couple levels and I unlocked Earth Disciple and Path of the Mage. I definately see stone skin being an important spell coming up. The -25% cost to tactical spells will also be handy.
However beatup I may have been, the reward was most definately worth it. Two levels and some robes to boot!
Being the food-heavy city that it is, New Pariden gained a level.
Well, sort of a toss-up between Gallows and Garden. Gallows is an immediate gain for the short-term, but not-so-much for the late-game but Garden is a late-game push for a level 5 city. Training yard would be great for a heavy material city that plans on cranking out units, but something New Pariden certainly will not be doing. Mason would help a little bit on the overall construction front, but with only 12 materials per season, I don't forsee the mason holding its weight. Merchant is good. If I plan to use the rush-building tactic, more gildar is always welcome.
Well, I really do want a level 5 city. So to make that job easier, I opt for a garden.
While out exploring, Nok stumbled upon a chest. A very valuable chest at that.
Only problem is that it requires level 7.
In the Spring of 165 A.C. the Asok knights finally do their first blow, destroying my life shard.
31 seasons into the game and I have my first military unit. A disciple. Their sole purpose... to dodge and let other units step on the Asok knights. Unfortunately this also drop my wages to the red at Normal tax rate.
Bumped into a Magnar pioneer to the southwest of New Pariden. Already donning leather armor, I hope he isn't planning on enslaving me in the near future.
Also, if anyone has suggestions or critiques, please post them. I'd gladly take a tip or three, even if it's the "you should have went warlock" snip.
Potential is a common trait, but its value increases as each combat is done and the value increases even more with subsequent traits. So it really pays off in the end. I also like Quick because you can never have too much initiative, especially as a mage. Spells that take multiple turns to cast can turn the tide of a very big battle. The main thing with high initiative is mana is a hard cap. Which means that if you don't have enough mana, no matter how high your initiative is, you won't be able to cast. Simple, yes? But always important early on. For this very reason, I opt for potential. Hopefully with Brilliance, the gained experience from this trait will pay boatloads as the game progresses.
I'm also still curious to what other players choose for the opening sets, or there is/was a better trait worth considering here.
early with mages those 2 are definitely the choice
in my last game with proci i picked summon>quick>exp traits>schools of magic
quick b4 exp cause 1) its rare and i may not have it again soon enough 2) early i really need a small initiative bonus to summon and start devolping my combos, proci has no dmg early so i really need to start b4 the enemies
So the shape of the world as of Winter 166 A.C. (Season 32)
Not much of the world discovered, yet. Not much of a run-away player from what I can see either.
So, not too bad, not too good; average! That's a good mix of balance for 31 seasons.
Okay, so my plan was secure my homeland.
The first part of that plan is to remove hostile threats and right now, that seems to be some wandering Asok knights. With the recent arrival of Magnar and an aggressive pioneer no less, I should certainly take a look at what he is up to. New Pariden just finished a disciple and I queue up a scout to get a better view of that part of the world. I also plan to continue the trek to some ranged magical units. 9 seasons until channeling is unlocked and an additional 52 for enchantment. Toss in some population and a study and that number should drop a little bit.
However, with the new disciple, there is a mite camp directly southwest of New Pariden which needs to be addressed.
A few seasons later and the Asok Knights return and... claim the life shard again. I didn't build on it, thankfully, but I want to get rid of these guys for the bonus mana at the very least.
I always liked Janusk in the original elemental. He was my substitute for tool-tips when I just started playing Elemental. However this daring move doesn't look to be too healthy...
Well hmm. I think the knights just ignored that party but I'm not entirely certain. I didn't see any combat on the interim nor have the knights lost any hitpoints. Janusk would now be in the fog. Hopefully they made it out. A bold, but perhaps a rewarding move for the AI.
And on my end...
I'll probably start to filter out the combat pictures since it's no longer the beginning of the game. Will definately keep the big battles listed or anything that requires a fair bit of tactical strategy. Most of these are tank and spank, for now.
Winter of 168 A.C. (Season 40)
The scout is done and I promptly send him towards where I think Magnar is--to the southwest.
And Nok gains another level.
Sort of torn here. I really like evoker and that line, but I don't have any direct damage spells or any damage spells for that matter, but I know if I don't take that trait now, I may miss it for a very long time. On the other hand, I'm trying to get my big buddy, the earth elemental, out soon too and that requires a level 4 earth rank. Healer I can write off since I can cast heal, Spell Resistance not-so-important as I've yet to encounter anyone to cast anything at me and strength, well I'm not wearing any armor! So earth mage vs. Evoker.
What do you guys think I went with and why? Or better yet, what would you go with and why?
I have no idea what you went with. The choice is yours. For myself, it's not even a question: I'd go for Earth 4, as Evoker will reoccur, and you can buy a fire book to start up the path to blissfully administered direct damage.
I would pick Earth mage for the sheer fact he have no spells to grant more damage to with evoker... Therefore it can probably wait
Well, as you guys have guessed, I did indeed go with earth mage. It's one more step closer to the mean, green,... uh, giant. Right. I could have went with evoker and, well I could have went with warlock to start the game too, but I simply did not want to play a devestating direct-damage type caster. At least not from the start. I have no idea where the game will lead me, but one thing is for sure; right now, I am a soon-to-be-summoner!
The lay of the land hasn't changed much other than Magnar is now leading Tarth and myself by a couple points. My scout is heading that way to get the scoop on that change. The city is capped at 100 population and has nothing in the build queue. Well, had I not been in such a rush to get a decent military unit, I could have timed my growth a little better. Instead of having my food-heavy city doing what I wanted it to do best--continue to grow, it's stalled. Strategical blunder, but one I'll live and learn from. So, on that note, I queue up a garden. 25 seasons to complete. That lack of material in the capital is really noticeable. I had thought that maybe with a bigger population, my Gildar might have been a little stronger, which would allow me to rush-buy, but even at Normal tax rate, I'm -0.8 Gildar per Season. Time for some mathematics!
Current predicament ~25 seasons for a garden. Rushing one costs 360 gildar at 360 production. A 1:1 ratio. Not bad. At oppressive taxing, I make 5.2 gildar, but only 2 production. So... season) + Y(season) = 360. In this example, X = 5.2 and Y = 2; if I can build a garden in 25 seasons right now and break even, it's safe to say that the longest I want to wait is 25 seasons. So... 5.2(25) + 2(25) = 180. A net yield of 180 production. Clearly not the most efficient way to build at all! Well, scratch that one out of the ol' strategy book. I could reverse the equation by going the opposite way with my taxes, but I am already negative gildar and, at some point, I may want another hero. I guess that leaves me with the trading resource(s) option with Tarth and Magnar to get the Gildar I need to build in a timely manner. Crystals are usually a good commodity to trade and I do have a small income of those. Let's hope it's enough!
I also just noticed Janusk and his pioneer are at my forward arcane monolith. I could ask him to leave and risk the chance that Tarth declares war on me. Well, I don't like that option, especially with Magnar already encroaching me. Guess I'll let him pass--sort of defeats the purpose of the forward monoliths, but ah well. The show must go on!
A few seasons pass and I run into Magnar's army. He's level 6 with a level 4 champion. Hard to see what he is doing now so I'll have my scout shadow him.
Wow, he's got a lot of traits!
He also has charge which is hidden right now. What a tough bugger--though I always thought starting out as a warlock sort of catered him to be more caster-orientated. But heck, with assassin and warrior? Do what you want scaley-man!
Well, Magnar's pioneer is stationary as well as Janusk. They must have some pathing issues--going to save the game in case a dev wants to look at the save.
Following Magnar paid off well. Another shard, clay pit and iron ore all in one monolith!
That extra material will come in handy!
And the very next turn I lose track of Magnar. Wonder if he ran into a baddy. In which case, my scout should high-tail it.
Well, the mites, shriekers and fog are all enough to send my scout the other way. Hmm, really wanted to see where Magnar was. Well, he's only one small part of the world and there is the chance that he isn't even located in that area. Does make me wonder, with all the marauders if they are actually located there. He would have became one with the wild, for sure.
I also notice that as I cross the river, I actually step into another river. The tile graphic seems to be off. Well, if the devs want the save, that tile graphic should still be there as well. I imagine it has something to do with the river being snug to a chasm.
And I embark on my first quest.
You know, to be honest, I have yet to see anyone ever cast any frost spells. I have never battled the abominable snowman in the wildlands, though. Well, if he's in this game, I'll be prepared.
Turns out Magnar is indeed not the way he was headed. Looks like I placed yet another aggressive Monolith. I'm sure at some point, one of these leaders of the world are not going to be so friendly about it.
If you can see in the picture, Magnar and his buddy are actually busted up. I guess that land is contested, even for one tough Magnar.
I've also noticed that a fair bit of these pictures are not of the greatest quality. Any suggestions on to make them better, or at least more appealing? I could cut out some of the nitty-gritty and make them bigger to better illustrate the points I'm after, I guess.
And on the interim, Janusk's day just got worst. The quest I started spawned 3 sets of wolves... who all happend to be next to Janusk. Needless to say, the wolves remain and... uh... Janusk is gone. He was already blind in one eye, hope he's not blind in the other now!
Something new, or for me at least. Apparently, inspiration stacks!
Now if I only had the mana to spend on such a treat. Something I may well consider in future games.
Well, Nok gains another level and, as you may have guessed, evoker is available. The dilemna? Well, I could also opt for the life mage which gives me access to growth and shrink. I like shrink and with my lack of direct damage spells, I, yet again, opt out of Evoker in favor of Life Mage. I wish the follow-up trait to Summoner was a little more original instead of the bonus to elemental levels. They can get that through experience too and when I choose a trait, I would like it to be unique; something like enhancing my elementals and maybe the final one allowing multiple elementals of the same type out at once. Just some random thoughts. Sort of pointless at this point since I don't even have a single one yet.
Season 55 and Tarth thought they should share they unlocked the lost magi of heroes. Well, I don't see any local heroes around here that I'll have a dispute with you about, so congratulations indeed. I also had a scout skipping through Magnar for just one turn and he did not like that one bit. Demande that I send him packing or declare war. Well, scout, you must take the boot. Thankfully it's on the other side, but getting through these lands again may be a tad more difficult in the future.
Winter of 173 A.C. (Season 60)
Magnar has a full army, 3 sets of spearmen and his champion Lith out exploring to the west of Imperium. Well, at least that's not in my direction, which relieves me a little bit. That army doesn't scare me, but the fact that they can wield an army of that magnitute does and the continued trend of the AIs climb in power also worries me. Tarth is double me and Magnar is now a handful of points ahead.
And in the Fall of 174 A.C. (Season 63) my garden is finished, which allows my capital to continue to flourish. This should finally allow me to make a positive amount of gildar per turn at a normal tax rate. I also queue up an inn, which will take 13 seasons to complete.
A few seasons later, I realize that starting the inn was not optimal at all. I'll have max population before it's done. Some simple math would have shown that. Looks like I'll be needing to address the shortage of food right after I unlock magisters.
In the Fall of 176 A.C. the much-awaited enchantment is done. Magisters are now available upon request and I go ahead and queue up agriculture which will require the knowlege pre-requisite. A couple seasons later, my first earth shrine is done. I then cast enchanted hammers on my capital. My mana is starting to look a little dangerous, nearing 200.
In the Summer of 177 A.C. (Season 74) New Pariden reaches max population ~150 able bodies. I finish the inn, which has no value in the present state and I now have the ability to train my first magisters--either by design or pre-made. I am also one battle away from unlocking, at the very least, one elemental. Level 7 unlocks the hummingbird spear which will give me access to an air elemental and, if the dice are good, also unlock an earth elemental with the available trait on level-up. The main dilemna I am running into is lack of gildar which I think will be fixed once I get my second city down. If the mountain range just north of New Pariden is not actually the Andes, I will be clearing out the location for my number 2 city. If it is the Andes, it will be a long journey back to the realm, but definately needed.
Here is a cloth view of the world west of Magnar, which hasn't been shown much in the previous posts.
The area isn't very dangerous, my scout made it through with relative ease, but Magnar could certainly level up a champion in this area, especially with the army I saw in that fascinity. He is also bottle-necked a fair bit and with the rising power of my neighbors, I imagine it's only a matter of time before some declarations of war are handed out. I could pay tribute to one or the other to consolidate the front, which I may wind up doing if one or the other does declare war.
As you may have read, I have made my fair share of mistakes this game, but I'm still very much in it, even if the score doesn't show it. The one level and second city will be a massive improvement of the current predicament. And this is where I settle for now.
Other than the obvious mistakes (like building the inn), what would have you guys done different? My second champion is idle in New Pariden, if you're wondering. I don't have the gildar to support two armies and I really would like that ability. Especially to clear out the fog of war due south/south-east of New Pariden. There could be some gems down there.
I didn't know you could start your sov with two points in a magic sphere! Good write up!
Makes sense. Growth and Shrink are both very useful. In my current game, my melee (assassin-based) hero gets Growth applied at the start of every battle. Helps a great deal. Plenty of time yet for Evoker.
Funny, I never use those spells, meaby shrink on some big monsters, but I think its earth magic who have a better version of growth (If you have both, they stack btw).
Glad I can share some knowledge with you! Now, in return, if you can teach me how to not build +growth buildings when I am capped in population, I'd be eternally grateful. Though, I would settle with the ability to always select a research path at the game start too!
The shrink will be come in really handy vs. all these big and baddy mobs since my defending unit is only relying on his dodge. As I add stronger units, the value of shrink decreases while growth increases--provided I start partying with a melee-orientated character in the party. With the current build, I don't see a reason why I wouldn't. I haven't tried it on an assassin yet, so I'll likely get to see that this game, I hope!
Who needs evokers, right? The bloody vokers!
There's an idea! Growth + the Earth Equivalent on my assassin-type champion. Should deal some top-end damage that way. Now... I just need a champion that can be an assassin. I ran across a handful while exploring too, just have to pick the cream of the crop with my sub-par gildar per turn.
Fun times ahead, for sure!
Has anyone tested their old(er) saves with the new patch? I'd love to continue this, especially if some of the pathing of the AI has been fixed.
It's probably best not to update to newest version if you want to continue the AAR; or start a new one with the latest version.
I usually delete my older saves on new patches, since patches "mess up" the old saves..
With the patch and the drastic changes to the AI, there is clearly no reason to continue this game. I did try, but running into a bug/crash several turns in would make for a less-than-stellar game, let alone story to tell.
With that said, is there any interest in a repeat of Pariden? Same setup type, or a different faction? I'll likely create my own soverign just to test mechanics and, well, I like writing about my character as opposed to someone already well-developed or geared towards a profession I may not want to play like.
Magnar in that picture is almost certainly bugged - probably do to with saving and reloading/starting a new game without exiting the program causing a bunch of traits to get added.
And here I was thinking it was the difficulty setting.
I assume this has been reported? I've no idea how it happend, it just did.
It would have made for a fun neighbor no less!
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