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[EuchreJack]

You'll want something with regeneration for non-prophet Black Lords.  I wouldn't waste gems on Black Steel anything, as they start with similar equipment.

I understand Charcoal Shields are popular.  You might also look into shields that do damage upon striking by the enemy.

What does your gem income look like?  You generally want to forge with gems you can get abundantly, and don't need for any other purposes.

[gp1628]

From the Dom3 songbook on Shrapnel...
I am the very model of a cheap generic thuggable,
I've good Protection, high defense, and gemcost nearly neglible;
My built-in gear's a plate hauberk and Bane Blade, which is adequate
For PD which will route if you can only make them hurt a bit.
I'm zero enc (like most undead) and rarely take a critical hit
I benefit tremendously from a simple lucky amulet,
I have the slots to use whatever gear that you can forge for me,
From Winged Boots to Aegis or a Vine Shield to a Brand or three.

I've resistances respectable, most Hydras find me affable,
A Niefel Giant's cold aura to me is merely laughable.
In short in matters economic, tactical, and Bog-beast huggable[1]
I am the very model of a cheap generic thuggable!

-Max

ALSO the new patch has been announced for release
http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom3/dom3progress.html

[EuchreJack]

What did they add for the new release?

[gp1628]

What did they add for the new release?

Its on that link. Screen size additions (mostly laptop I think), server fixes, and a bunch of modding commands.

Patch has been released by the devs but is still in beta testing. Its expected soon. Patching can shake up a game. The host WILL patch (only a couple offer continuing to run a game on old versions) and all players will then have to rush to patch before the next turn. That means every active Dom3 MP player is in a rush to get the patch from the little Shrapnel servers (your desktop machine is probably bigger). Also some players tend to disappear with each patch since it "fixes" torrent downloads

[Bluerobin]

Just wanted to pop in real quick and let people know what's going on. I've been good about doing a post a day so far, but yesterday and today I just haven't had time to work on the LP. There should be something tomorrow, but it MIGHT be Wednesday before the next post. Sorry!

[Bluerobin]

Finally a post! Only two seasons, but it's got the end of year report too.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Late Winter-
Cerne, ever the target of Ermor's aggression, was defended against another undead attack.

Spoiler: Cerne defended... again (click to show/hide)

Alright, I'm really getting tired of these attacks. Gotta round up the army and the new recruits and hit Ermor's capital soon.

Wallin used his knowledge of Astral magic and some of the results of the Smiths' research to probe for Astral sites in Holburg, but none were found. I met with him to discuss this new method of searching for magic sites to investigate whether a similar method could be used for other paths of magic. He got partway through his explanation before he started stumbling, unable to put the the finer points of the technique into words. It was at that point that another Smith spoke up, one I had not seen before and who seemed much older than any of the other Ulmish men or women I had seen thus far. He picked up the explanation where Wallin had left off and afterwards introduced himself as Confar the Locksmith.

Spoiler: Confar! (click to show/hide)

We got our first hero! Heroes are unique commanders, some of which are actually useful. They show up randomly and higher luck scales make them more likely to show up. This isn't the one we wanted to make into our prophet sometime down the road, but he's a pretty great Smith with Astral 3 magic, which will definitely come in handy. For now he's doing his civic duty and helping research, but he'll probably build things down the road.

The reports from Stene are beginning to get less frequent, but the most recent one details the location of C'tis' capital fortress, a Swamp City in a province adjacent to the Forest Ramparts he is currently investigating.

Spoiler: C'tis's capital fort (click to show/hide)

So, you CAN build forts right next to each other, but you likely don't get as much benefit from it as if you spread them out a bit. I'm guessing this was just a case of the AI thinking "I need a second fort!" before it had enough provinces to spread them out. It could make it a pain to take them though, because if I siege one the other can make troops and send them over immediately since they're adjacent.

The council has decided that the combined forces of the army camped near Ermor and the newly trained reinforcements will march on Ermor. The first test of the new recruits will be to lay claim to the swamplands adjacent to the Fever Fens.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is the Laerian Swamps, and it's the first target. I wanted to train a few more troops, but I figured I may as well take these two provinces while I was waiting. Two smiths from Ulm were sent with archers and one smith from Sermioc was sent with infantry.

Early Spring-
Ermor seems to be getting desperate and while raids continue, they seem to be getting smaller.

Spoiler: Ministra Defended (click to show/hide)

The Laerian Swamps were taken, rather handily, with only one loss.

Spoiler: Victory in Laerian Swamps (click to show/hide)

It seems that with Confar's aid Wallin was more successful in his searching of Tirannea and he found a Painted Crypt.

Spoiler: Painted Crypt (click to show/hide)

That's a neat site, Astral and Death income, both very much needed.

Clovis, a Smith defending Tirannea, discovered a site of power during his patrols as well.

Spoiler: Forest of Truffles (click to show/hide)

Another two-gem site, this one with Earth (already have a pretty solid income, but more's always better) and Nature (which I could use more of too).

The recruits are moving on to the Marshlands next. Initial scouting shows that the defending force is larger than the one that had been in the Laerian Swamps, so two more smiths were sent with the troops trained in the past month to assist.

Spoiler: Marshlands Attack (click to show/hide)

This is a larger group of militia and archers with some heavy infantry backup, but five Smiths plus the solid troops and crossbowmen we have means this shouldn't be too hard.

End of Year Report-

Spoiler: Provinces (click to show/hide)

Hmm we're in third. I'm kind of curious why/how C'tis took off this past year. I'm also still curious about Agartha...

Spoiler: Forts (click to show/hide)

Absolutely nothing new in the last year on this graph. It should start changing soon though.

Spoiler: Income (click to show/hide)

Our income's highest, by quite a large margin, but I still run out every turn! It'd be nice to have enough that I could hire Smiths and troops (which I can) as well as having some left over for temples or something like that. Really I guess I just need to get a death mage and air mage of my own and then I can stop paying mercs for that. It's always interesting to compare this chart to the provinces one to see how much of a difference scales make (also how much of a difference fertile provinces can make since they have higher incomes).

Spoiler: Gems (click to show/hide)

We're ahead here too, especially with the most recent site finds. I should probably start using these more.

Spoiler: Research Level (click to show/hide)

Yup we've overtaken even the AI with the most research. Now I just have to put that research to some use...

Spoiler: Dominion (click to show/hide)

We've been shooting up here too. We're running into R'lyeh in the west and northwest and C'tis to the north, but we've got a lot of provinces to saturate more with our dominion and I think our dominion's stronger than theirs (or at least we have more temples to spread it faster!). Ermor confuses me though, because I'm 95% sure they don't have any candles left, but they still have 2 candles worth of dominion on this graph (and they're still in the game). I guess I'll just have to take them out the good old fashioned military way!

Spoiler: Army Size (click to show/hide)

Not a whole lot of new stuff here, except that Agartha's working on a pretty good sized army, so they might break out of whatever problem they're in. I'm not sure if we're actually in second or third, but our troops are quite good per soldier, so it's a good sign either way. This probably also explains a bit of why C'tis is taking provinces left and right.

Spoiler: Hall of Fame (click to show/hide)

This is getting more and more blue every year. Unfortunately it also make a good reminder of all of the good commanders I've lost.

Spoiler: Research Progress (click to show/hide)

We've got some solid research going now. I'm going to Enchantment level 5 like I mentioned in the last update post, but after that I don't know what to do. What do you guys think?

Spoiler: Gem Stocks (click to show/hide)

Here's what we've got for gems and our income so far. Again, we have 2 more water per turn from Selene. Our overall gem income's gone up quite a bit and diversified as well. We could use some air probably, but for now we're doing well.

[EuchreJack]

Will Enchantment give you an air mage and a death mage?  If not, then go Conjurgation for the mages.

[Bluerobin]

Oh I like that idea. Kokythiads or Lamia Queens and a Faery Queen should do it. I suppose that has been suggested in the past too... I should write down the requests somewhere so I can go back and check them without having to go through the thread.

Edit: Read through the thread again and apparently I missed some posts. I'll have to check if my email is in fact telling me when you guys post. We have been getting more obese heroes than I'm used to. Hopefully that'll change.

Edit2: Oh I wanted to try this guy out too. He looks pretty cool.

[KaguroDraven]

Yeah, Iron Angels are fun, esspecially if you give them really good magical weapons and armor.

[Bluerobin]

Mid Spring-
It seems it will be some time again before we see a season without the threat of an aggressive neighbor at our borders. We received a declaration of war from the nation of Vanheim, a people we have not even discovered yet.

Spoiler: Vanheim war declaration (click to show/hide)

I wonder if they actually have scouts in my territory or if there's just a trigger that sets them off. Maybe my dominion found them somehow?

The first attack came from the seas of R'lyeh this month. Participants in the battle relayed stories of monstrosities and malformed beings not of this world on the battlefield. They also reported the presence of Illithids, mentally powerful foes that invaded and attacked the minds of our soldiers. Hopefully the Smiths have found the means to counter these attacks or I fear we could be vulnerable.

Spoiler: R'lyeh stuff (click to show/hide)

R'lyeh has a magic site in their capital that lets them summon random stuff like the Othernesses and Things from the Void at a small risk of the summoner going completely insane and/or being devoured by the thing they're trying to summon. They can get some potentially very scary things from it if the summoner lives long enough to get good. Fortunately most of the things they summon die if you hit them hard enough, so this army wasn't too hard. The main risk was the Illithids which are basically more accurate archers that hit with mind blasts (which obviously bypasses armor and shields, unlike arrows). I think Ulm has a national spell that boosts magic resist of all troops on the field so it could be worth finding that if I'm going to go up against a lot of magic.

The secondary army of new recruits proved themselves again this month as well, claiming the southern Marshlands with little difficulty.

Spoiler: Marshlands victory (click to show/hide)

So I've been watching the Smiths hurl their magma in the last few months and it looks like it may not be worth sending them along for just magma spam. The problem with a drain domain is that (I'm pretty sure) it gives everyone higher magic resist in combat, even the enemies, making it hard for the Smiths to do damage. It's still worth having some around for buffing the troops, and some of them have higher accuracy from experience which makes more of their magma bolts find a target. Plus, then I get some good heroes out of it too:

This is on a Smith, which makes him able to cast more spells before he passes out in battle. Always nice.

This one's really nice too. It almost doubled his research ability (up to 11 now, which is quite high). The only problem is this: do I keep him fighting for a bit to make sure he stays in the Hall of Fame for a while (but risking his life and not letting him research) or do I send him off to research right away?

This army will travel through Ulm to gather the newest recruits, then march on Ermor with the primary troops. The battle should be decided by midsummer.

Late Spring-
This month saw fewer battles, a trend in a positive direction. Defenders fought off a raid from Ermor and an assassination attempt failed against Henric, a Smith defending Cerne. On the other side of Ulm one of the Smiths who was assisting the recruits in the Marshlands discovered a strange formation of rocks and, when he went to investigate, realized it was a magical Rock Forest

Spoiler: Rock Forest (click to show/hide)

Woohoo more Earth gems. The Nature ones will be useful when I'm able to summon mages and things, though.

Early Summer-
I've been looking for sites in the Marshlands and Laerian Swamps and have been witness to a series of conspicuously unfortunate things. Blights and famines are striking in lands that should be more than able to support the residents and small rebellious groups are attacking public buildings, forcing national funds to go towards repairs.

Spoiler: A series of unfortunate events (click to show/hide)

There was a blight in a territory over by Ermor last turn too. That's far too many bad events for a domain as lucky as ours, so I smell foul play. I hope it's from Ermor because then it'll stop when we squish them. It could be R'lyeh too though, which would be less good, since it'll probably keep up for a while if that's the case.

I worry that this war is not good for Ulm, but I can't help be feel like this could be the work of Ermorian mages, striking out before we are able to strike back. We wait to strike no longer, however, as the armies converge on Ermor this month.

Spoiler: Ermor Attack (click to show/hide)

Cross your fingers that it goes better this time!

[Frumple]

So I've been watching the Smiths hurl their magma in the last few months and it looks like it may not be worth sending them along for just magma spam. The problem with a drain domain is that (I'm pretty sure) it gives everyone higher magic resist in combat, even the enemies, making it hard for the Smiths to do damage. It's still worth having some around for buffing the troops, and some of them have higher accuracy from experience which makes more of their magma bolts find a target. Plus, then I get some good heroes out of it too:

The damage from magma bolts doesn't have a MR component. Quite a few spells, especially th'elemental evocation ones, don't, so drain isn't going to do much to the damage output. In any case, the smiths shouldn't be effected by the drain component at all, unless they're using spells that can be resisted.

I'm having trouble figuring out what better to have 2e1f mages spit, though If you've got some of the 1 in 1030 (or something like that) 2f ones, they can spew fireball, which is pretty spiffy. Alternately have some of the (very) rare astral ones spit out some communion stones, maybe. You could do some killer stuff with that. Or, if you got the spare gems (and are willing to risk the boosters to combat), slap some earth shoes on the mages. Gazing over the spell list, a lot of the lower earth buffs (earth spells, period) are 3e.

That +MR spell's in Thaum 4, and your 2e mages could cast it. Might be able to get some use out of iron warriors if you've got alt 5, since it only needs 2e to cast. Beware anything spitting lightning, though.

E: Script summon earth power to those mages! Well, if you have th'spell. S'conj 3. If you had that, those mages could do quite a lot more without any forged boosters. The reinvig wouldn't hurt, either
E2: Double checked. Y'ain't got conj3, or... much, really. Conj 3 would be a good idea for a next research target!

As an aside, your bloody LP got me playing Dom3 a bit, again. A pox on you, for it chews up great gobs of time

[Bluerobin]

Oh good point about the no MR check for magma bolts. I'm really not getting very many additional path picks on the Smiths, which is a bit sad, but I have a couple E3 ones following around the army buffing right now. We DO actually have Conjuration 3 now... two turns of research took us from 0 to 3 actually I think. I caught the Smiths casting Summon Earth Power during the last battle I watched so I think we JUST got it or I would have been scripting it. I should look over our spells again now that they can do E3 stuff.

As an aside, your bloody LP got me playing Dom3 a bit, again. A pox on you, for it chews up great gobs of time

And just so you know, that was my goal for the LP. I started it because someone else got me wanting to play again and the only way to get rid of that is to pass it on!

[Knave]

Still watching, excited to see the results of the mass attack!

Also I think I need to take a closer look at the units of R'yleh. They sound too Cthulhu-esque not to be fun!

[Sheb]

Hey, cannot wait for that attack either. I hope we'll get some screenshot of the actual battle.

[Neonivek]

This game is interesting in that it is actually a legitimate strategy to turn luck very high.

Or at least I think it is. I like having constant good things happening to you all the time.