parts but lack in pure protection. If that'd be all they'd be

compared to most enemy counterparts but lack in pure protection. If that'd be all they'd be

very good troops. Too bad they got shockingly high encumbrance (8!) for cavalry. Their

puny morale of 11 also leaves a lot to be wished for (especially as the squads are

generally small). These factors combined with their slight lack of hitting power make them

quite weak on the actual field of battle. Hey, at least they're cheap as cavalry goes.

I'd forget Centaur Cataphracts and buy more War Minotaurs if I were you. Mixing Centaur

Cataphracts with War Minotaurs might lessen the casualties to some extent but I doubt it

will be worth the trouble.
6.5.1.3.1.5: (War) Minotaur

Cost: 50 Res: 7(41) Weapons:

Hp: 25 Ap: 15(13) Battleaxe (9,0,0,2)

Prot: 4(15) Enc: 3(5)

Str: 16 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 8 Prec: 8 (Plate Cuirass) (11,-1,2)

Def: 8(7) Mrl: 13 (Helmet) (1,0,0)

Mr: 11

size 2 infantry will bite it hard when faced with these things. Their high Hp and average

protection will also see them through quite a bit of damage (massed crossbows will still do

them in like any heavy infantry). Trampling is very powerful with these troops as you're

often able to buy quite many of them (90% of the troops I buy are War Minotaurs). Trampling

targets the whole target square (3x size 2 infantry for example) and is armor piercing.

Nations like Ulm will hate these troops. Too bad they also got the crossbows to partially

counter them. That's why you should protect these from missile fire with screening troops.

Size 3 or larger troops with high defence values also cause them problems. At least would

if they weren't capable of going berserk. While their normal attack skill is puny 8, it

goes up to more manly 11 when wounded. Enemy cavalry and other such troops will suddenly find

themselves at the receiving end of strength 19 battleaxes. Also, buy War minotaurs whenever

possible as they're almost three times as effective as their unarmored counterparts and all

this for the same gold cost. Select +3 production and a fort with high admin at Pretender

creation in order to afford lots of these babies.
6.5.1.3.1.6: Harpy

Cost: 7 Res: 1 Weapons:

Hp: 7 Ap: 4 Claw (0,0,0,0)

Prot: 0 Enc: 3 Claw (0,0,0,0)

Str: 8 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 8 Prec: 8 -

Def: 10 Mrl: 8

Mr: 11

that they're quite weak individually, they are more than capable of killing unprotected

enemy commanders and mages (especially province defence as there is never a bodyguard).

Their true role, however, is that of a very cheap patroller. My very first move is to buy

50 of these (led by a White Centaur) to patrol my capital for 200% every single game.

Every single province with decent income (say, 100+) should have a squad of Harpies

patrolling.
6.5.1.3.1.7: Maenad

Cost: - Res: - Weapons:

Hp: 10 Ap: 12 Claw (0,0,0,0)

Prot: 0 Enc: 3

Str: 10 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 10 Prec: 0 -

Def: 10 Mrl: 14

Mr: 10

automatically. They're weak but their high morale of 14(!) allows them to stay around

for quite a while. They're also capable of going berserk which increases their offensive

potential and also prevents them from running. You should never count on your maenads

doing a lot but they're still a useful middle screen that stops powerful enemy troops

for quite a while. Mass Protection really adds to their survivability so when using

lots of Maenads, you should also consider researching the spell.
6.5.1.3.2: Commanders

6.5.1.3.2.1: Black Harpy

Cost: 20 Res: 1 Weapons:

Hp: 8 Ap: 4 Claw (0,0,0,0)

Prot: 0 Enc: 3 Claw (0,0,0,0)

Str: 8 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 9 Prec: 8 -

Def: 9 Mrl: 10

Mr: 11 Ldr: 0

Special: Flying, Stealthy

and flying ability allow them to find out enemy positions quickly. They're fantastic

commanders in many other ways, too. I often use them as delivery boys carrying items and

gems to the front line and back. They're also the prime candidate for carrying food items

around as your armies advance. They ensure that your food items and gems will be safe even

if you lose every single commander you have. They also make for nice surprises when you

"uncloack" one of your harpies to lead a previously leaderless army of yours. It has caused

enemy plenty of surprises when they just tried to chase them away with a weak force. You

can also use Black Harpies for conquering undefended enemy provinces (not that it happens

all that much, they can still beat Ulm province defence a it is usually led only by a

priest).
6.5.1.3.2.2: Centaur Commander

Cost: 50 Res: 36 Weapons:

Hp: 21 Ap: 24(19) Spear (3,0,0,3)

Prot: 0(18) Enc: 3(8) Hoof (0,0,0,0)

Str: 13 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 11 Prec: 12 Plate Hauberk (14,-2,4)

Def: 15 Mrl: 12 Helmet (1,0,0)

Mr: 13 Ldr: 25 Round Shield (3,2,1)

Special: -
Centaur Commanders aren't all that hot in my opinion. They're quite costly and have a

leadership of only 25. I'd much rather buy a Minotaur Lord of a Dryad. Buy him if you need

a cheap commander fast but otherwise you should leave him alone.
6.5.1.3.2.3: Minotaur Lord

Cost: 90 Res: 57 Weapons:

Hp: 27 Ap: 15(11) Battleaxe (9,0,0,2)

Prot: 4(18) Enc: 3(7)

Str: 17 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 10 Prec: 9 (Plate Hauberk) (14,-2,4)

Def: 9(7) Mrl: 15 (Helmet) (1,0,0)

Mr: 11 Ldr: 25

Special: Trample
Minotaur Lords share all the strengths of War Minotaurs. They're even more powerful, though.

I nowadays use quite a many of them to lead my War Minotaurs from the front as it makes

enemy archers target them instead of my more vulnerable mages. Flyers on 'attack enemy

commanders -mission are also often fooled by these brave individuals. They score kills

easily and can rack up nice heroic abilities on the way. I rarely equip them no matter how

powerful they get, though. Even though they're one of the most powerful standard commanders,

they're still not durable enough to warrant possession of magic items. A Minotaur Lord with

Heroic Toughness or Heroic Quickness might get a Hell Sword and Boots of the Messenger, but

not much else.
6.5.1.3.2.4: White Centaur

Cost: 80 Res: 2 Weapons:

Hp: 23 Ap: 30 Longbow (13,1,30,12)

Prot: 3 Enc: 3 Hoof (0,0,0,0)

Str: 14 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 11 Prec: 13 -

Def: 14 Mrl: 13

Mr: 15 Ldr: 50

Special: Sacred, Stealthy

Magic: 2 Holy

priestly skills. Two levels aren't just going to cut it. All it's good for is Blessing and

really weak banishment. White Centaurs are also very expensive. I don't thus use them a lot

even though they're stealthy and got nice leadership value of 50. Even though I don't use

them a lot I still use them. He's the most economic way to command 50 patrolling harpies

as his upkeep will be halved. He's also the guy who gets the odd magic bow I happen to use

(Ethereal Crossbow and Bow of Botulf being the prime examples).
6.5.1.3.2.5: Dryad

Cost: 110 Res: 1 Weapons:

Hp: 11 Ap: 15 H oof (0,0,0,0)

Prot: 0 Enc: 3

Str: 10 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 10 Prec: 10 -

Def: 12 Mrl: 10

Mr: 14 Ldr: 25

Special: Sacred, Awe (+2), Stealthy

Magic: 1 Nature, 3 Holy

Pangaea. Whatever you're looking for (bar combat prowess, she can do some of it but not

much) you got it here. She's stealthy, got decent priestly powers and has been blessed

with 1 level of Nature magic on top of that. She also got a nice Awe aura that keeps her

alive pretty well as long as she's not surrounded. The main thing you're using her for

is research. She's about twice as effective researcher as a Pan for the same gold cost.

This still isn't much, though, as you're paying for her priestly powers. She also makes

for a nice stealth preacher and is better at the job than most of them. She got a job

on the field of battle, too: She can quickly master the venerable Tangle Vines. This

little spell helps can stop any unit dead in its tracks no matter how powerful. She can

also use the spell Protection to give your stealthy Centaurs a fighting chance (prot 10

vs prot 3). In any case, you should be building Dryads in your every castle unless you

got a reason to do otherwise (ie. low on cash and want to get as many War Minotaurs as

possible).

Cost: 320 Res: 1 Weapons:

Hp: 27 Ap: 13 Quarterstaff (3,1,3,3)

Prot: 4 Enc: 3

Str: 16 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 9 Prec: 9 -

Def: 9(12) Mrl: 16

Mr: 16 Ldr: 50

Special: Stealthy

Magic: 3 Nature, 1 Earth

summoning things but will have a role on the battlefield, too. Panii are physically

powerful and quite durable compared to other mages. Their protection is a bit low but

is easily boosted by the spell 'Ironskin'. Panii are skilled in Nature magic and got some

knowledge in the path of Earth magic. That one level of Earth magic isn't going to do

much for you bar enabling them cost cast couple of spells. Unless you get earth mages

elsewhere, you will always be lacking earth gems. A Pan is an excellent battle mage since

he's stealthy, durable and got a very high leadership. Too bad he doesn't have too many

offensive spells. He can greatly help his troops with spells like Howl, Relief and

Wild Growth, though. A Pan also attracts Maenads. The actual amount depends on the

Turmoil scale of the province the Pan is in. I don't think it's worth going full Turmoil

just for the Maenads, though.

Cost: 320 Res: 1 Weapons:

Hp: 27 Ap: 13 Quarterstaff (3,1,3,3)

Prot: 4 Enc: 3

Str: 16 Fat: 0 Armor:

Att: 9 Prec: 9 -

Def: 9(12) Mrl: 16

Mr: 16 Ldr: 50

Special: Stealthy

Magic: 3 Nature, 2 Blood

of magic. Pandemoniacs substitute Earth magic for Blood. This makes them worse as battle

mages but allow them to cast the extremely nice Blood magic ritual called 'Crossbreeding'.

You shouldn't build many Pandemoniacs as even a couple are enough to cast the necessary

rituals and forge blood items for you. Pandemoniacs shouldn't do the actual bloodhunting.

That's what scouts/priests are for.

6.5.1.4: Magic

The Panii are strong in nature magic so you should plan your research path in accordance

with that. Nature magic has useful spells both in conjuration and enchantment, so these two

should eat the majority of your research points. Also, one should never forget to research

construction for all those useful items there. Take note, that a Pan is a horrible

researcher for the cost and you should avoid using him in this role. Try to find provinces

with sages or other cheap mages as soon as possible. Even Dryads are better researchers

than your Panii. What you do with your research points is generally up to you, but I'll list

some spells which are useful and should be researched ASAP.
6.5.1.4.1: What To Research

There are hundreds of spells available to each pretender so testing them all and picking out

the suitable ones can be quite stressful. Well, I'm more or less through that with nature

magic and thus consider myself to have enough expertise in the area to sum up the best bits

from each field of research. I'll concentrate on nature, earth and blood magic as these will

be the ones most readily available.

-Level 1:

-Tangle Vines (a nice little spell to deal with powerful enemy troops)

-Level 3:

-Call of the Wild (CoW is usually used as a very effective strategic weapon later on)

-Level 4:

-Strength of Gaia (gives a nature magic bonus, prot, str and regen, keeps mages alive)

-Fall Bears (I'd say this is the second strongest seasonal spirit after the Summer Lion)

-Level 5:

-Howl (an excellent battlefield summon that can catch unprotected commanders by surprise)

-Awaken Sleeper (Firbolg is one of the best commanders available and can also fight well)

-Level 6:

-Contact Lamias (Lamias are amazing troops for the gem cost, work wonders against armor)

-Contact Lamia Queen (she's a powerful death mage and also has random magic, a good buy)

-Level 8:

-Wild Growth (like Tangle Vines, but much more powerful - generally a nasty spell)

-Faerie Court (your only way of getting air mages bar the hero and Pazuzus)

-Earth Attack (nice assassination spell - not many commanders can fight off an earth ele)

-Level 1:

-Barkskin (a weak protection spell, but might save a Dryad from an arrow or two)

-Level 3:

-Ironskin (a good protection spell for your Panii)

-Level 4:

-Destruction (destroys the armor of _many_ soldiers, Ulm guys hate this one)

-Level 5:

-Invulnerability (an excellent protection spell for your supercombatants)

-Petrify (instant death with an area effect, nasty)

-Level 6:

-Mass Protection (good if(as) you happen to use lots of fodder)

-Level 3:

-Sleep Cloud (a decent combat spell for your Panii - Howl is better, though)

-Level 4:

-Blade Wind (a very nice combat spell against lightly armored stuff)

-Level 5:

-Poison Cloud (a decent spell when combined with Poison Ward)
6.5.1.4.1.4: Construction

-Level 2 (lesser magic items):

-Lifelong Protection (summons two imps during every round of combat, nice for assassins)

-Sanguine Dousing Rod (increases chances of finding blood slaves dramatically, essential)

-Soul Armor (provides a blood magic bonus and nice magic resistance, nice for summoners)

-Level 3:

-Legions of Steel (a nice battlefield spell that provides an armor bonus to a squad)

-Level 4 (greater magic items):

-Blood Stone (provides an earth magic bonus and produces earth gems, nice)

-Boots of the Messenger (an item providing reinvigoration at an otherwise empty slot)

-Brazen Vessel (blood magic bonus at a solid price)

-Dwarven Hammer (cuts gem costs by 25% and thus pays for itself quickly)

-Earth Boots (earth magic bonus at a meager cost of 10 gems)

-Endless Bag of Wine (provides 25 supply at a cost of 5 gems, absolutely a bargain)

-Heartfinder Sword (single handed weapon providing instant death, probably _the_ weapon)

-Ring of Regeneration (mandatory item for any supercombatant wanting to avoid afflictions)

-Thistle Mace (nature magic bonus at 10 gems)

-Vine Shield (nice shield for a supercombatant in case the Charcoal Shield isn't available)

-Level 6 (very powerful magic items):

-Blood Thorn (provides a blood magic bonus and is also nice in melee due to life steal)

-Black Heart (essential to have assassins, give this to a Pandemoniac and watch him rip)

-Stymphalian Wings (provides flying, fear and tramping, nasty for a Father Illearth)

-Level 8 (unique magic artifacts):

-Boots of Antaeus (earth magic bonus and reinvigoration at the same little package)

-Fenris Pelt (provides nice protection and casts Howl each turn)

-Soulstone of the Wolves (allows bearer to cast Call of the Wild once each turn)

-The Boots of Calius the Druid (provides massive reinvigoration)

-The Tome of Gaia (both earth and nature magic bonus, useful when casting big stuff)

-Level 9:

-Iron Dragon (flying trampler with immunity to all the elements, one of the nastiest)

-Level 5:

-Faery Trod (a spell capable of transporting entire armies anywhere inside your dominion)

-Gift of Health (increases your troops' hp and heals affliction inside your dominion)

-Level 6:

-Relief (reduces fatigue of every friendly troop on the battlefield, very useful)

-Level 7:

-Forest Dome (weak dome protecting from province-damaging spells, better than nothing)

-Level 8:

-Mass Regeneration (gives regeneration to everyone on the battlefield, pretty nice)

-Level 3:

-Panic (your mages start with this spell, but it is worth mentioning for its usefulness)

-Level 4:

-Gift of Reason (can make commander out of anyone, watch out for Iron Dragon commanders =)

-Level 5:

-Growing Fury (allows your whole army to go berserk meaning that they won't rout)

-Level 7:

-Charm (you can sometimes capture powerful enemy units using this spell)
6.5.1.4.2: Blood Magic

Blood magic differs from all the other paths so much that I thought it deserved a chapter of

its own. The thing that separates blood magic from the other paths is the fact that blood

slaves are required for all the rituals and most of the spells, instead of magic gems, that

is (there are some sites producing blood slaves, though - thanks peke!). You should under no

circumstance use your expensive Pandemoniacs to hunt for slaves. Make them construct Sanguine

Dousing Rods and give them to some cheap commanders like Black Harpies who can do the dirty

work for you. Blood magic causes lots of unrest which you have to take into account. The Harpies

come into aid again by providing you cheap flying patrollers. There are two ways to hunt blood

slaves. First one is to have bunch of collectors in a populated province and patrol it heavily.

The second one is the way I use the most: you distribute your bloodhunters to 6-10k provinces

with low income and set taxes to 0%. When you have 1 blood hunter for each full 2k you don't cause

too much unrest. The population level also stays about the same w/ +3 growth. When using stealthy

commanders like scouts and harpies it also allows you to keep your bloodhunters safe while your

enemy passes over them.
-Level 3:

-Cross Breeding (produces cannon fodder and some powerful monsters depending on luck)

-Level 4:

-Bind Demon Knight (Demon Knights are good melee fighters causing fear)

-Level 5:

-Father Illearth (makes for a good supercombatant with high hp, regen and fear)

-Level 6:

-Bind Heliophagus (summons Fiends of Darkness and is stealthy, scary stuff)

-Bind Arch Devil (summons Devils and is a powerful fire mage [Fire Fend!])

-Bind Pazuzu (summons Storm Demons and is adept at air magic [Thunder Ward!])

6.5.1.4.3: Planning Your Research

You should always be aware of your goals when planning research. The Pangaea has it hard

when it comes to researching and thus everything should be planned carefully. Your

expensive Panii are better off summoning troops and finding magic sites than sitting in the

labs - cheaper mages can do that. I always try to think what I need first before deciding

on what to research. This is the research queue I use nowadays.

(Blood 6) (big blood summons, Crossbreeding)

Alteration 6 (Invulnerability, Mass Protection etc.)

Conjuration 6 (Lamias, Seasonal Spirits)

Enchantment 6 (wards, Faery Trod, Relief)

Construction 6 (for couple of necessary items including some magic boosters)

Conjuration 8 (Faerie Court, Wild Growth, Earth Attack)

Enchantment 8 (Forest dome, Mass Regeneration)

Construction 9 (unique items and Iron Dragons)

6.5.1.5: Overall Strategy

So far we've discussed the Pangaean armies, pretenders and mages. We know what they do, but

now there's only learning how to use them. I'll go through basic economy before

concentrating on combat.
6.5.1.5.1: Economy

Dominions has 4 main types of resources you should be aware of. They are gold, resources

(duh!), magic gems/slaves and supply. Usually the nation with most of these wins. It's

all that simple, really. What I'm going through is how to maximize the production of

each.
6.5.1.5.1.1: Gold

Dominions (like many other games of this type) is all about gold. Sure magic has got a

huge impact on things but without gold you get no mages and without mages there's no

boom-boom. Gold is also used to buy all your troops, temples, labs, forts and to pay for

their upkeep. Gold production is influenced not only by province population and richness

but also by Productivity (+5% gold/click) and Growth (+5% gold/click) scales and the possible

presence of a fort (increases gold income by %). If you're wise and got the design

points you always pick +3 Production and +3 Growth just to maximize your gold production.

Order scale is also useful as it allows you to set your taxes to 110-130% (+10%/click)

without any unrest. Pangaea doesn't benefit all that much from order scale as Harpies are

readily available. Any sizable (income 100+) province should be patrolled by harpies and

the taxes should be set to 200%. The increase in income will easily pay for the expense

of buying and upkeeping the patrollers. As told before, forts increase gold production in

any given province. You should thus build forts in rich provinces to increase gold production.

Resources are the other factor in deciding how many troops you can actually build. Heavier

troops cost more resources than lighter ones. Availability of resources is determined by

province population and richness, fort admin and Productivity scale (+15% resources/ click).

Fort admin actually sucks resources from adjacent provinces. For example a castle with

35 admin sucks 35% of neighboring provinces' resource production. Also take note that

province's resource production is halved if there isn't a fort present. This also means that

you shouldn't build castles in adjacent provinces unless they're both very large as they eat

up each other's resources. Unrest not only decreases income but also reduces the amount of

resources availability so you should try to keep it low.

Magic gems are the resource used to summon powerful magical creatures and craft items. You

start with only a meager gem income which you should strive to expand. You should quickly