Warlock II: The Wrath of Pete

[TheCommandTent]

Thx for taking the time, enjoyed it.

+1.  Great read and a nice victory you achieved.  I hope after all that hard work you can some how get the avatar to appear.

[MetalDog]

Thx for taking the time, enjoyed it.

+1.  Great read and a nice victory you achieved.  I hope after all that hard work you can some how get the avatar to appear.

Tent, I appreciate your following all the way through.  I'm hoping that something I do will trigger the Avatar sooner than later.  It's always fun exploring the other planes though.  As a matter of fact, I'm jumping in there now.

[Martok]

Thanks for doing the AAR, MD.  It was a blast to read! 


Here's hoping you manage to trigger a god's avatar eventually... 

[-budd-]

is the multplayer warlock AAR still coming?

[MetalDog]

is the multplayer warlock AAR still coming?

It's with the powers that be.  At least as much as has been submitted.  More than enough to whet the appetite.  Not sure when the fellas will get around to putting it on the front page, but, they have a lot going on there already.  Maybe they are saving it for a quiter time.  In any event, it will be neat to see my name on the front page.  And even cooler to see how we all reacted to one another.  We've made a pact not to read it until it's finished.

[MetalDog]

I found the Avatar.  More to come soon.

[bob48]

I found the Avatar.  More to come soon.

Stand by for sparks flying! Go get 'im Champ.

[Martok]

Knock 'em dead Pete! 

[TheCommandTent]

I found the Avatar.  More to come soon.

What a tease!

[MetalDog]

I had four or five more shots to share, mostly of the isanity that met me on the first underworld I went to, but Photobucket is acting weird and I can't find them.  Imagine Earth Elementals, Fire and Greater Fire Elementals, Imps and Demons in a solid wall three or four hexes deep and six or eight hexes long.  It was a tough slog, but I made it.  I was able to get a screenie of a unit I had never seen before, Evil Sorcerors.

[MetalDog]

I finally cleared the first underworld, Birth, and had moved a couple of units to Lune, the second underworld I had undertaken to clear, when the Avatar Quest popped up.  You will note from the screenshots that these bastards are going to be no easy feat.  At least 65% of all damage I do will be negated at the point of attack.  And his damage capability is immense.  100 per attack, split 50/25/25 Melee/Death Magic/Spirit Magic.  And he flies.  And has a thousand Hit Points.

[MetalDog]

Now, I have no concrete evidence of how the Avatar finally showed up.  My speculation is this: I built a Temple to Helia in an Elven city on Birth.  The building of the Temple allowed me the Spirit of Light unit.  Either the building of the Temple pushed me over some threshold, or the Spirit of Light is the unit I need to defeat the Avatar.  I suspect the former.  It could also be something random, or something I would never think was true.  In any case, I have to figure a way to beat it.

Knowing my enemy, I will have to attack with units with high resistance in Melee, Death and Spirit Magic.  The Paladins of Death are Immune to Death and Life and possibly Melee, too.  My Grand Master Stubborn Knight should have high resistances, too.  I have some Corrida Minotaurs that deal 105 Damage, but I'm not sure how well they can sustain the type of punishment that Avatar is going to hand out. 

And that's another thing, the Avatar sits out side one of my cities garrisoned by Dwarves.  Will he be interested in taking my cities?  He can certainly do so quickly and efficiently.  He is also six or so hexes from my capitol.  In this game, your capitol goes, and you lose.  I have a Spell that will allow me to transfer my capitol.  Most likely that will be my first move.  Pick a city on Birth and move the capitol there.

My Gold, Food and Mana per Turn are very healthy.  I want to be able to save money to pay for the Spirit unit, but, I'm going to need bumps for the units I throw in the way of the Avatar.  And that means Gold.  And if he is interested in taking my cities, my Gold, Food and Mana will go down steadily.  I believe that the number of cities I have and the maturity of them will slow him down and allow me some wiggle room, but, DAMN a thousand is a lot of Hit Points!

Anyways, wish me luck boys, I'm going in!

[bob48]

Good luck, MD. You have discovered stuff that I've never seen in the game before.

I bow down to your Greatness, O mighty One.

[Martok]

Good luck 'phro!  Take the bastard down.  8) 

[MetalDog]

Thanks gents. 

I have to bring forces from all over for this one and make them as tough as possible and damage producing at the same time. The Avatar heals +50 HP every turn and can move after it attacks.  It is invisible, so I gave all my units True Sight to keep him in view at all times.  His attack is a scything move that tagets three hexes in a sweeping arc.

I'm still not sure what his objective is, if any.  He has attacked units and cities in varying pattern.  I gain a defensive bonus from being in a city, so I am going to try to make my attack center around a city.  With three units encircling him, spaced one empty hex between each of them, and distance units one hex back and in line with the empty spaces in the inner circle, I attack.

This is the situation as of Turn 220.  My forces are gathering.  I have some Black Minotaurs that do 133 HP of damage, but they don't have enough Resistances to survive more than one attack round of battle (my attack, then his attack).  So I deposit them in a city.